Sunday, December 13, 2015

A Happy Christmas To All And To All A Good Night!!

Christmas examplesChristmas examplesChristmas examplesChristmas examples

                                                                                                        December 14, 2015

Dear Second Grade Families,

We are down to the last 4 days before Christmas Break!!  I know that everybody has busy households as we finish all our Christmas preparations, yet stay caught up with our day to day activities.  Easier said than done--but try very hard to enjoy some peace within this busy time of year.

Along with being the last 4 days until break it is also the last 4 day of the 2nd quarter.  Our week will be spent completing report card assessments.  The second quarter report cards will go home in January.

Since we have been busy reviewing addition and subtraction strategies and solving word problems, the homework this week will be focused on word problems.  Last week students worked with a partner to add and subtract two given numbers to become an expert in one of our 3 strategies.  They then wrote an addition word problem and a subtraction word problem using the same two numbers.  Students are creating posters with all their work.  All student pairs will be presenting their posters during math class over the course of this week.  

Here’s our math homework for the week.
Monday
Word Problem Worksheet
Tuesday
Write Your Own Addition Word Problem
Wednesday
Write Your Own Subtraction Word Problem
Thursday
No Homework--Happy Christmas Vacation

As we close out the year 2015 and the 2nd quarter, I’m wishing all Second Grade Families a wonderful, restful, and safe holiday season!

Sincerely,
Anne Bloomfield
Christmas ornaments isolatedReading information from Mrs. Loop...
Hello Second Grade Families,

We are finishing up our last week before Christmas break begins.  The 2nd grading period also finishes up this Friday so report cards will be ready to be handed out in January.  I will be completing the last of my report card assessments this week during reading class so your child will not have assigned reading books this week.  Please have them continue to read each night, they will be allowed to bring books home from my class library to read.  Remember to have your child write down books that they are reading on their own at home on their reading log so that they can earn a pizza certificate.

If your child is still working on their reading fluency please have them practice reading their fluency passage a minimum of 3 times each night.  Second graders should be able to read 100 words in 1 minute or less.  Reading fluency will be assessed on Wednesday.  

Happy Reading,
Katy Loop
                                                                                     


                                                                                                           

Sunday, December 6, 2015

Christmas Is Around the Corner!!



 Christmas, Cute, December,  
 
December 7, 2015
Dear Parents,

The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is going soooo fast. Students are very excited about all the holiday activities that are going on around them. Many students have been coming to school so happy to share about all the fun family activities whether it be attending the tree lighting ceremony, going tree hunting, trimming the tree, or about the "Elves" that have been visiting them. It is such a magical but busy time!

Math
Our work in math centered around composing and decomposing shapes and identifying and extending patterns.


Students spent quite a bit of time cutting out shapes and putting them together to compose another shape from the orignal shapes. Students got very creative with their composed shapes!  

We also spent some time decomposing a square (tangram) into 7 shapes, (5 triangles, 1 parallelogram, and 1 square) called "tans". After cutting them apart students had to try and put them back into a square, this was a little tricky. After working at this challenge for awhile each group was given a tangram template with the lines showing the placement of the shapes.

Finally, we worked on reading, naming, extending, and creating patterns. Students used shapes to create a pattern with a pattern unit of 3 or 4. We practiced with patterns that used orientation and students were encouraged use that attribute in their own pattern.

▲▲▶▼▲▲▶▼▲
This pattern is an AABC pattern. It's repeating unit is 2 triangles pointing up, 1 small triangle pointing to the right, and 1 triangle pointing down.

Here is the homework for Week 17...
Monday
Review pg. 165&166
Tuesday
Pg. 167&168
Wednesday
Computation Worksheet
Thursday
Word Problem Worksheet

Writing
The writers of Room 17 will be moving into informative writing. Students have spent some time this week discussing Christmas in the United States. We focused on traditions, decorations, music, and food. As a class we are researching and writing about Christmas in Germany. Students will be learning about their special traditions, decorations, music, and food. This work is getting students ready for our next project that will focus on research, economics and geography.

Language Arts
In Language Arts students finished up our unit on capitalization. Students enjoyed reviewing capitalization by working with a partner on Scoot! In Scoot students go from place to place in the room working completing capitalization exercises. .

Students assessed on capitalization this week. Although students did quite well on the assessment overall, we will still be working hard to make sure that the capitalization skills learned carries into our daily writing.

Projects
This past week students finally got to heat and cool their matter of choice and make observations. Students also worked on their group tri-fold board. We will be presenting our findings to our 1st grade friends next week.

As the time until Christmas gets shorter, we all get so busy!! My hope for all my 2nd grade families is that even within the "holiday rush" you are able to step away and enjoy the beauty of the season. Here's to a peaceful week.

Sincerely,
Anne Bloomfield

Here is some Reading Information from Mrs. Loop...


Hello Second Grade Families,


Last week we practiced determining the main topic of multi-paragraph reading passages.  Students continued meeting with me in their reading groups and assigned books were sent home nightly.  Last week’s spelling words were part of the -ay spelling pattern.  This week’s spelling words will be part of the -ow spelling pattern.  It is hard to believe that there are only 8 days of instruction left before Christmas break begins.  This week will be a normal week of reading and assessing.  Please make sure your child is completing their 20 minutes of reading each night.


Katy Loop

Sunday, November 29, 2015

Here comes December, ready or not!!

road, street, winter
                                                                                          November 30, 2015
Dear Big Horn Families,

I hope that everyone enjoyed a peaceful Thanksgiving, filled with family, friends, feasting, and fun!!  I thoroughly enjoyed celebrating the holiday with my family.  It was so nice to have both of my older boys home for Thanksgiving.  Just the time together was great!!

With the past week being so short this Blog Entry will be on the shorter side.  

Math
Last week we started some work in geometry.  Our focus was categorizing 3-dimensional shapes.  We worked on this in whole group as students suggested different ways to sort the solids.  Students came up with many different ideas such as color, shape, and size.  Eventually student sorted them by solids with curved faces and solids with flat faces.

During the week students also made 3-dimensional shapes.  We are focusing on identifying the 3-dimensional shapes by name (sphere, cube, cone, retangular solid, triangular solid, pyramid, and cylinder.  Students are describing the 3-dimensional shapes by talking about their edges,vertices, and faces.

We are also very busy with working with our "big number".  Students are working with their "big number" daily and  will be assessing 2 times per week.  The goal for students is to complete 50 mixed problems (addition and subtraction) correctly in 5 minutes.  Students will be graphing their progress weekly. 
Here's the homework for the upcoming week.

Monday
IXL T.6 Compare Sides and Angles
Tuesday
IXL T.5 Count Edges Vertices and Faces
Wednesday
pg. 155 & 156
Thursday
pg. 161 & 162

Writing
All students finished the final copies of their letter to Judge George trying to persuade Judge George to spare Tom Turkey's life.  Students were very creative with their reasons and explaining their reasons.  These letters will be out in the hall for everyone to enjoy for a couple of weeks.

Language
 We will finish up our work with capitalizing words this week.  Students have been practicing capitalizing the months of the year, days of the week, the word "I", names of important people, places, and things, titles of books, songs, and plays, and the start of every sentence.  Our main focus has been the names of places (geographic places) and the names of products (Snickers Bar).

Projects
Students will finish up their matter projects this week.  The scientists of Room 17 will be presenting their findings to Miss Garcia's class and a 1st Grade class.  

Enjoy your week!!

Sincerely,
Anne Bloomfield

Here is some information from Mrs. Loop...

Hello Second Grade Families,

I hope you all had a wonderful time with your family for Thanksgiving.  Last week we reviewed some report card assessments that some students had struggled with earlier in the quarter or at the beginning of the year.  Students also read short passages last week and had to determine what the author’s purpose of writing the passage was--to entertain, to inform, or to persuade.  We will continue discussing the author’s purpose when reading in class.  Last week students also practiced using the glossary, index, and table of contents to find information in a non-fiction text.  This week we will be discussing how to find the main idea of various reading passages.  Please encourage your child to read in their free time or before they go to bed.  Remember all 2nd graders should be reading 20 minutes each night.

Happy reading,

Katy Loop

Sunday, November 22, 2015

Happy Thanksgiving

Original (3888 × 2592)

November 23, 2015
Dear Parents,

It's the week of Thanksgiving and thankful, thankful, thankful is how I feel!! When I look back at the last three months, I give thanks for the amazing students that I get to teach and learn from everyday. I am thankful for the wonderful parents that support their children and myself in the educational process. I am also very thankful to work with every member of the Oasis Academy Staff; the past three months have enabled me to learn and grow as an educator and a person!!

Math
Last week in math we continued our work with money. Students worked on reading and writing money amounts in words, making equivalent values of money using different denominations (1 quarter = 2 dimes and 1nickel), converting cents to dollars and cents (342 cents = $3.42), and converting dollars and cents to cents ($4.27 = 427 cents).

This week we will start a unit on geometry. We will complete our work in geometry before Christmas Break.

Since we have a short week, students will only have homework on Monday. Enjoy the Thanksgiving Break!

Here's the homework...
Mon. IXL--T.4 Count Sides and Angles
Tues. No Homework

Writing
In writing students have been working on writing a persuasive letter. This letter is being written to convince Judge George to spare Tom Turkey's life. As a class we brainstormed why reasons Tom Turkey should live. The students were very creative with their reasons. Then students followed the same format we have been using in our opinion writing--state an opinion, give reasons, explain reasons (details), and finally restate the opinion. Students are getting very good at following this format. Each letter follows letter format with a heading, greeting, body, closing, and signature. These will be up in the hall this coming week.

Language
Our work in language this week was all about words that need to be capitalized. We used the acronym MINTS to remember the words that need to be capitalized, M=months and days, I=the word "I", N=names of important people, places, and things, T=title of books, songs, and plays, and S=start of a sentence. This is a skill that we will continue to practice this week as well.
Projects
Students started designing lab reports that follow the scientific method. They will be determining how the solid or liquid they selected will change when heated and cooled. They will also be experimenting to see if the changes are reversible or irreversible. As a class we experimented with salt water, students were surprised to find that the salt water didn't freeze as was hypothesized. As students discussed the results, many students connected with the salt that is used in the winter to melt ice on the road and the salt that is added to the ice when making ice cream.

As we make our way to Thanksgiving on Thursday, I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving that is filled with special memories.

Gratefully yours,
Anne Bloomfield

News from Mrs. Loop

Well this will be a quick and short week of school before Thanksgiving break.  Due to our short week I will not be meeting with students in reading groups this week. Instead I will be meeting with students in small groups or one on one to complete report card assessments of past skills that have been taught.  All students will asked to  determine an author’s purpose of various reading passages.  It could be to provide entertainment, information, or to persuade the reader.  They will also be asked to locate nonfiction text features in a book such as the glossary, index, and table of contents.  Students will need to use these parts of a nonfiction book to locate information in the book.  I hope that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends.

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Thanksgiving is just around the corner!!

Thanksgiving, Pumpkin, Harvest

                                                                              November 16, 2015
Dear Bighorn Families,

Although it is hard to believe, the holiday season is almost upon us.  As we go from Halloween into Thanksgiving and then onto Christmas it can be such a busy time!! This is a time to enjoy special family traditions and celebrations but at the same time balance work and school obligations.  At this exciting time of year it is important to remember that home and school routines are very important to maintain.  

Here's a bit about last week...  
  
Math
We finished up our unit on graphing this week.  While the formal teaching of graphs has been completed, our work with graphs will continue in using them to graph data in projects and occasionally through a review on graphs.

Our new work in math is our money unit.  This week we focused on reviewing coins, their values, and counting on by pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and half dollars.  Students also got practice using coins to make a target money amount.  For example the money amount is 42 cents, here are some of the ways students made it.
...4 dimes and 2 pennies
...1 quarter, 1 dime, 1 nickel, and 2 pennies
...8 nickels and 2 pennies
...1 quarter, 3 nickels, and 2 pennies
It was interesting to see the different ways students made the target money amount.  Our work with money will continue this week with money amounts that include dollar amounts.

Here's the homework for the week...

Mon.  IXL P.3 Count Pennies, Nickels, and Dimes
Tues.  IXL P.4-Count Money Up to One Dollar
Wed.  Homework Page
Thurs.  IXL P.7 Equivalent Coins

Writing
In writing students are continuing to work on opinion/persuasive piece.  The purpose is to have students make a statement, state an opinion or take a stand to persuade, give reasons that support that statement, give examples or explain the reasons, and finally restate their statement.  

On Monday and Tuesday we practiced this format orally with "Would you rather questions", like--Would you rather have super strength or be able to fly?  On Thursday students partnered up, selected a question, and used a "flee map" to put their ideas down in pre-writing.  
 

Language
Our work in language continued with adverbs.  We got in a final review on Monday and Tuesday and assessed on adverbs on Thursday.

We also spent some time in language/writing looking at a friendly letter format.  Our main focus was naming the parts of the friendly letter--heading, greeting, body, closing, signature.  Students also paid close attention to the proper location of commas in the friendly letter--in the date, after the greeting, and after the closing.  This work will be practiced more this coming week in writing as well as language.

Projects
We completed our work with exploring changing solids using heat and cooling.  Students heated crayons in a crockpot, poured the liquid wax into molds, placed molds in the freezer and enjoyed their new solid!  Students got to discuss and write about the changes in matter that occurred.  We also discussed whether this was a reversible or irreversible change.  This week students will partner and pick their own form of matter to observe changes as it is heated and cooled. I wonder what the Scientists of Room 17 will discover?
Check out the great typing posture and finger placement on the home row!
As students are working more with their chrome books to type documents, I am seeing a need for students to learn some keyboarding skills.  This week students started using typingclub.com to work on keyboarding skills.  We will use this program twice a week to familiarize students with the keyboard--posture, finger placement, and the home row.  As students move through lessons they will also work on speed and accuracy.  So far students have been enjoying this program.  

Looking forward to a busy and productive week!!

Sincerely,

Anne Bloomfield

Reading information from Mrs. Loop...
News from Mrs. Loop

All of my second graders are progressing nicely with their reading.  Students are beginning to bring home comprehension questions to answer with their assigned book.  One of the second grade standards states that students need to be able to answer questions about what they have read.  Students should be able to answer their questions quickly and they need to restate their question and answer in a complete sentence.  They should not begin their answer with the word because.  Continue to have your child practice reading aloud to you and continue to have them work on their reading fluency as well.



Sunday, November 8, 2015

Feeling Thankful


Veterans Day | by                      November 9, 2015

Dear Second Grade Parents,

Room 17 had another fantastic week!  The students of Room 17 are a truly AMAZING bunch of kids!  They are kind, caring, and hard workers!  I am very thankful for each and every one of them!! 

With the cooler weather comes sweatshirts, sweaters, and jackets.  I can't emphasize enough how important it is to label your child's clothing.  Even if you have labeled your child's clothing recheck the labeling because after several times through the washer and dryer the label can fade (even when written in Sharpie).  Our "lost and found" table is overflowing, so if your child is missing something be sure to check out the "lost and found" table.
Charles Mc Shane
Dennis Bloomfield 1979

Veteran's Day is Tuesday, November 11th and we will not have school.  In class we will be discussing this holiday.  I will be sharing some pictures of my favorite veterans, my Dad, Charles E. Mc Shane (US Navy during WWII served as a signal man on Liberty Ships) and my husband, Dennis Bloomfield US Navy 1979-85.  

Math
Graphs, graphs, and more graphs, students have continued working on graphing data.  Students have taken data and made tally charts, picture graphs, bar graphs, and line plots.
Measuring "fish" to gather data for a line plot graph.
Plotting data on a line plot graph.

Students are even graphing their snacks.
More graphs with snacks.
                    
Students have really enjoyed their work with collecting data and creating graphs.  The work we have done with graphing will come in handy in future projects.  

Here's the math homework for this week...

Monday
Line plot homework pg
Tuesday
IXL- P.1 Names and value of coins
Wednesday
Veteran’s Day - NO homework
Thursday
IXL- P.2 Name and value of all coins
                                                                                                 
Writing
We were inbetween formal writing pieces this past week.  We are gearing up to to write another persuasive piece.  So this week we have spent time giving an opinion and giving reasons to support the stated opinion.  We also spent some time writing in our journals.

Projects

Rubbing the ice cubes.
Squeezing the ice cubes.
This week in projects it was all about changing matter.  Students completed an ice cube race.  Each group was given a baggie with 2 ice cubes with the direction to change the ice cube.  Here is how different groups went about changing the ice cubes...
Blowing on the ice cubes.
Crushing the ice cubes.









Language
In Language, students continued to work with adverbs.  We have learned that adverbs tell how, when, and where.  Students are doing a great job identifying adverbs within sentences.  We will assess on adverbs this Thursday.

Remember the Veteran's Day holiday is Wednesday, so Oasis Academy will be closed.  As you enjoy this holiday please remember with grateful hearts all the Veterans who have served our country.  Here's wishing you a week filled with gratitude.

Sincerely,
Anne Bloomfield 

Reading information from Mrs. Loop...


Hello Second Grade Families,


What is happening in reading class:
  • Students are beginning to bring home comprehension questions to answer with their assigned book.  One of the second grade standards states that students need to be able to answer questions about what they have read.  They should be able to answer these questions quickly and I ask that they restate their questions and answer in complete sentences.
  • This week we will continue reviewing how to read nonfiction books as well as the text features found in nonfiction books.
  • Continue to have your child practice reading aloud to you.


Happy reading,

Katy Loop