This was another crazy week. (Is there really ever a "normal" week?) Having to reschedule our field trip to MacQueen's Apple Orchard caused a slight hiccup in our plans for the week, but it actually ended up a good thing.
We used this week to do some catching up. We stayed away from our Storytown books, and instead we focused on spelling words, reviewing the types of sentences, and letter writing. It was my goal by the end of the week to have both classes on the same page with these skills, and we came about as close as I could have hoped for! We even managed to sneak in some center time as well!
Next week we will be back to "normal." We will read our first nonfiction selection called Dogs. We will continue to talk about main idea and details. High-frequency words will be bicycle, sugar, exercise, special, and sometimes. Robust vocabulary words will be depend, responsibility, frisky, and affinity. Our spelling words will have the ee and ea spelling patterns (long e sound). We've done lots of practicing with spelling words this week, so I'm expecting great things on next week's test! Words are:
see, please, need, deal, sleep, mean, green, clean, keep, eat, teapot, beehive, seaweed, peanut, mealtime, very, after, things, our, just
Our specials schedule for next week is:
Monday - art
Tuesday - music
Wednesday - gym
Thursday - library
Friday - music
I'm very sorry I wasn't able to be there for the field trip on Friday. I had scheduled a personal day a few weeks ago so I could celebrate my son's third birthday with him. A big thank you goes out to all of our chaperones! Check back next week for pictures - I left my camera in hopes that my sub would take some! Have a great weekend!
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Grandparents Breakfast
Friday morning was our annual 2nd grade grandparents breakfast. We know how much grandparents love to be involved in the lives of their grandchildren, but school is often one of the parts they miss out on. This is our way of showing the grandparents how much they are loved and appreciated by our 2nd graders and to give them the opportunity to peek into this aspect of their lives.
This year we had a fantastic turnout - I think at one point I heard that there were over 250 people who attended! The 2nd graders and their grandparents enjoyed a delicious breakfast of cinnamon rolls and bagels. Grandparents filled out a short interview telling us about their childhoods. I always love reading these!
This year we had a fantastic turnout - I think at one point I heard that there were over 250 people who attended! The 2nd graders and their grandparents enjoyed a delicious breakfast of cinnamon rolls and bagels. Grandparents filled out a short interview telling us about their childhoods. I always love reading these!
It was a real pleasure to meet and mingle with so many grandparents. I
hope everyone who attended enjoyed the morning!
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Working Hard
Ahh, it is so nice to finally be settling into what feels like a normal routine. Another five day week with no interruptions (except for a brief fire drill on Tuesday and pictures on Thursday) makes me feel like we're actually making some progress!
Our story this week was Henry and Mudge. It's a realistic fiction story, so we spent some time talking about the difference between regular fiction and realistic fiction. We were able to relate our discussion back to Frog and Toad All Year from last week and discuss the differences between the two stories that helped determine whether each story was simply fiction or realistic fiction. Our focus skill for the week was main idea and details. As I stated in last week's post, this tends to be difficult for the kids. I don't think this concept is covered at all in first grade, so the fact that it's brand new on top of being such an abstract idea makes it challenging. No worries though, we'll be talking about it again next week and the week after and throughout the entire year!
High-frequency words this week were children, different, ears, finally, hundred, and short. Vocabulary words were deny, consider, opinionated, and bulk. I'm really starting to see the kids pick up on these words. I'm so impressed with their ability to use multiple high-frequency and vocabulary words in sentences. Our goal with the vocabulary is to use them as much as we can in our daily conversations, and the kids are making such a fantastic effort with this.
Grammar this week focused on commands and exclamations. These were fun because we got to be bossy and show strong emotions all at the same time. We continued our letter writing unit as well.
Next week will be our first nonfiction selection. We will read a story called Dogs. I'm really excited about this one because it's a story that really grabs the kids' attention and interest, so they're usually pretty excited to read it. I've even seen a few of them previewing it when they have a few free minutes during class! High-frequency words for next week will be bicycle, sugar, special, exercise, and sometimes. Vocabulary words will be depend, responsibility, frisky, and affinity. Spelling words for next week have the ee or ea spelling pattern (long e sound). Next week's words are:
see, please, need, deal, sleep, mean, green, clean, keep, eat, teapot, beehive, seaweed, peanut, mealtime, very, after, things, our, just
Our specials schedule for next week is:
Monday - music (not sure if we'll make it back from the field trip in time for this, if not we just miss it - it will not affect our schedule either way)
Tuesday - gym
Wednesday - library
Thursday - music
Friday - computer
Don't forget to check those graded paper binders for any work that needs to be corrected. Please send corrected work back to school in the TRAVELING FOLDER, not the binder, as I do not check the binders once they are returned. Anything with a "Please correct" stamp is fair game for corrections - not spelling tests or story comprehension tests. REMEMBER TO SEND THE BINDER BACK TO SCHOOL ON MONDAY!
Also, don't forget that Monday is our field trip to MacQueen's Apple Orchard. A big thanks in advance for all of the parents signed up to chaperone - your help is greatly appreciated! We will go rain or shine, so make sure to send your second grader dressed appropriately for the weather. They will need a sack lunch (please don't send lunchboxes) unless you pre-ordered one from the cafeteria. I will have my camera with me on Monday, so check back next week for pictures from the trip!
Have a wonderful weekend!
* Please note that the Lake Local Schools website has changed. It is now www.lakeschools.org.
Our story this week was Henry and Mudge. It's a realistic fiction story, so we spent some time talking about the difference between regular fiction and realistic fiction. We were able to relate our discussion back to Frog and Toad All Year from last week and discuss the differences between the two stories that helped determine whether each story was simply fiction or realistic fiction. Our focus skill for the week was main idea and details. As I stated in last week's post, this tends to be difficult for the kids. I don't think this concept is covered at all in first grade, so the fact that it's brand new on top of being such an abstract idea makes it challenging. No worries though, we'll be talking about it again next week and the week after and throughout the entire year!
High-frequency words this week were children, different, ears, finally, hundred, and short. Vocabulary words were deny, consider, opinionated, and bulk. I'm really starting to see the kids pick up on these words. I'm so impressed with their ability to use multiple high-frequency and vocabulary words in sentences. Our goal with the vocabulary is to use them as much as we can in our daily conversations, and the kids are making such a fantastic effort with this.
Grammar this week focused on commands and exclamations. These were fun because we got to be bossy and show strong emotions all at the same time. We continued our letter writing unit as well.
Next week will be our first nonfiction selection. We will read a story called Dogs. I'm really excited about this one because it's a story that really grabs the kids' attention and interest, so they're usually pretty excited to read it. I've even seen a few of them previewing it when they have a few free minutes during class! High-frequency words for next week will be bicycle, sugar, special, exercise, and sometimes. Vocabulary words will be depend, responsibility, frisky, and affinity. Spelling words for next week have the ee or ea spelling pattern (long e sound). Next week's words are:
see, please, need, deal, sleep, mean, green, clean, keep, eat, teapot, beehive, seaweed, peanut, mealtime, very, after, things, our, just
Our specials schedule for next week is:
Monday - music (not sure if we'll make it back from the field trip in time for this, if not we just miss it - it will not affect our schedule either way)
Tuesday - gym
Wednesday - library
Thursday - music
Friday - computer
Don't forget to check those graded paper binders for any work that needs to be corrected. Please send corrected work back to school in the TRAVELING FOLDER, not the binder, as I do not check the binders once they are returned. Anything with a "Please correct" stamp is fair game for corrections - not spelling tests or story comprehension tests. REMEMBER TO SEND THE BINDER BACK TO SCHOOL ON MONDAY!
Also, don't forget that Monday is our field trip to MacQueen's Apple Orchard. A big thanks in advance for all of the parents signed up to chaperone - your help is greatly appreciated! We will go rain or shine, so make sure to send your second grader dressed appropriately for the weather. They will need a sack lunch (please don't send lunchboxes) unless you pre-ordered one from the cafeteria. I will have my camera with me on Monday, so check back next week for pictures from the trip!
Have a wonderful weekend!
* Please note that the Lake Local Schools website has changed. It is now www.lakeschools.org.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Busy, Busy, Busy
This week we read a story called Frog and Toad All Year. We talked about characters again, and we focused on ways that Frog and Toad (the two main characters in the story) were different and alike.
Our high frequency words for the week were covered, through, everything, woods, and guess. The kids did a great job recognizing these words this week. We practiced using them in sentences every day, and by the middle of the week many of the students were able to use more than one word in a sentence! Our robust vocabulary words were anonymous, unselfish, satisfied, and neighborly. The kids picked up on the meanings of these words pretty quickly and were using them like pros all week long!
Our grammar skill for this week was statements and questions. We practiced labeling sentences, adding the correct punctuation to the ends of sentences, and writing statements and questions. We began our letter writing study in writing. We read two stories about a dog named Ike LaRue who likes to write letters to his owner about all of the crazy things that happen to him. We practiced labeling the five parts of a friendly letter (date, greeting, body, closing, and signature) - see if your second grader can name them all!
Next week we will read a story called Henry and Mudge. We will focus on main idea and details, which usually proves to be a difficult concept for second graders to comprehend. Next week's high-frequency words are children, different, ears, finally, hundred, and short. Robust vocabulary words for next week will be deny, consider, opinionated, and bulk. Our grammar skill will be commands and exclamations, and we will continue our letter writing unit. Spelling words will have long vowel patterns with a silent e at the end. Next week's words are:
same, kite, home, plate, ride, rope, race, rule, broke, tune, mistake, bedtime, homemade, classmate, notepad, live, me, back, give, most
Our specials schedule for next week is:
Monday - gym
Tuesday - library
Wednesday - music
Thursday - computer
Friday - art
Graded paper binders are coming home for the first time today. Please do NOT remove any papers from the binder unless they are being corrected. The binder will house all graded assignments for the entire quarter - we will empty them together after conferences in November. If you wish to correct any D or F assignments, please take them OUT of the binder, help your child correct them, and send them back to school in your child's TRAVELING FOLDER. Please note that tests may not be corrected (spelling tests and story comprehension tests). Look for the blue "Please correct" stamp on assignments that need corrections!
Don't forget...next Thursday is also picture day! Have a wonderful weekend!
Our high frequency words for the week were covered, through, everything, woods, and guess. The kids did a great job recognizing these words this week. We practiced using them in sentences every day, and by the middle of the week many of the students were able to use more than one word in a sentence! Our robust vocabulary words were anonymous, unselfish, satisfied, and neighborly. The kids picked up on the meanings of these words pretty quickly and were using them like pros all week long!
Our grammar skill for this week was statements and questions. We practiced labeling sentences, adding the correct punctuation to the ends of sentences, and writing statements and questions. We began our letter writing study in writing. We read two stories about a dog named Ike LaRue who likes to write letters to his owner about all of the crazy things that happen to him. We practiced labeling the five parts of a friendly letter (date, greeting, body, closing, and signature) - see if your second grader can name them all!
Next week we will read a story called Henry and Mudge. We will focus on main idea and details, which usually proves to be a difficult concept for second graders to comprehend. Next week's high-frequency words are children, different, ears, finally, hundred, and short. Robust vocabulary words for next week will be deny, consider, opinionated, and bulk. Our grammar skill will be commands and exclamations, and we will continue our letter writing unit. Spelling words will have long vowel patterns with a silent e at the end. Next week's words are:
same, kite, home, plate, ride, rope, race, rule, broke, tune, mistake, bedtime, homemade, classmate, notepad, live, me, back, give, most
Our specials schedule for next week is:
Monday - gym
Tuesday - library
Wednesday - music
Thursday - computer
Friday - art
Graded paper binders are coming home for the first time today. Please do NOT remove any papers from the binder unless they are being corrected. The binder will house all graded assignments for the entire quarter - we will empty them together after conferences in November. If you wish to correct any D or F assignments, please take them OUT of the binder, help your child correct them, and send them back to school in your child's TRAVELING FOLDER. Please note that tests may not be corrected (spelling tests and story comprehension tests). Look for the blue "Please correct" stamp on assignments that need corrections!
Don't forget...next Thursday is also picture day! Have a wonderful weekend!
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Quick and Crazy
This week was a whirlwind! On top of it being a short week, I was out on Tuesday for some individual testing and evaluations of the tests the kids took last week. Our sub on Tuesday, Mrs. Hart, did a wonderful job!
This week we read a story called Arthur's Reading Race. We talked a lot about characters - what characters are, how to pick out the main characters, and who the characters were in this particular story. We completed a character map using Arthur and D.W. and talked about how these two characters are similar and different.
One thing the kids will be working on weekly is the recognition of certain high-frequency words from the story. The words for this week were already, prove, police, eight, and sign. Your child should now be able to recognize these words when reading other texts as well. Also introduced this week were robust vocabulary words. I explained these words to the kids as "grown-up" words. These are words that pertain to our weekly story, but may be words the kids haven't heard before or don't quite know what they mean yet. Each week we will have four new robust vocabulary words - our challenge is to try to use these words as much as we can throughout the week so that, by Friday, we all know and understand what they mean. Our robust vocabulary words for this week were challenge, underestimate, proficient, and heed. See if your second grader can use any of these words in a sentence for you - I'll bet you're impressed!
Our grammar skill for the week was sentences. We talked about examples of sentences vs. non-sentences. We discussed the importance of word order in sentences. We stressed that a complete sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with some type of punctuation (more on this next week). We practiced writing sentences about pictures and focused on staying on topic when writing these sentences.
Next week will be lesson two in our Storytown textbook. We will read Frog and Toad All Year. We will continue our study of characters. We will have five new high-frequency words to recognize (covered, everything, guess, through, woods) and four new robust vocabulary words to learn (anonymous, unselfish, satisfied, neighborly). Our grammar skill will be statements and questions. We will also begin talking about writing friendly letters. Spelling words will have a short e, o, or u spelling pattern. Next week's words are:
not, bed, run, job, bed, spot, get, mud, ten, duck, helmet, puppet, rotten, subject, contest, little, work, know, place, years
Our specials schedule for next week is:
Monday - library
Tuesday - music
Wednesday - computer
Thursday - art
Friday - music
Have a great weekend!
This week we read a story called Arthur's Reading Race. We talked a lot about characters - what characters are, how to pick out the main characters, and who the characters were in this particular story. We completed a character map using Arthur and D.W. and talked about how these two characters are similar and different.
One thing the kids will be working on weekly is the recognition of certain high-frequency words from the story. The words for this week were already, prove, police, eight, and sign. Your child should now be able to recognize these words when reading other texts as well. Also introduced this week were robust vocabulary words. I explained these words to the kids as "grown-up" words. These are words that pertain to our weekly story, but may be words the kids haven't heard before or don't quite know what they mean yet. Each week we will have four new robust vocabulary words - our challenge is to try to use these words as much as we can throughout the week so that, by Friday, we all know and understand what they mean. Our robust vocabulary words for this week were challenge, underestimate, proficient, and heed. See if your second grader can use any of these words in a sentence for you - I'll bet you're impressed!
Our grammar skill for the week was sentences. We talked about examples of sentences vs. non-sentences. We discussed the importance of word order in sentences. We stressed that a complete sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with some type of punctuation (more on this next week). We practiced writing sentences about pictures and focused on staying on topic when writing these sentences.
Next week will be lesson two in our Storytown textbook. We will read Frog and Toad All Year. We will continue our study of characters. We will have five new high-frequency words to recognize (covered, everything, guess, through, woods) and four new robust vocabulary words to learn (anonymous, unselfish, satisfied, neighborly). Our grammar skill will be statements and questions. We will also begin talking about writing friendly letters. Spelling words will have a short e, o, or u spelling pattern. Next week's words are:
not, bed, run, job, bed, spot, get, mud, ten, duck, helmet, puppet, rotten, subject, contest, little, work, know, place, years
Our specials schedule for next week is:
Monday - library
Tuesday - music
Wednesday - computer
Thursday - art
Friday - music
Have a great weekend!
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Some Pictures from the First Day!
Here are some pictures I took on the first day of school.
This is our amazing second grade team!
(left to right: Miss Murphy, Mrs. Myerholtz, Mrs. Lawniczak, Miss Sarks, Mrs. Rethman, Mrs. Schulte)
Look how hard these kids are working!
Our first class picture of the year!
Silly faces!
Friday, September 2, 2011
We Did It!
Well, we've survived the first two weeks of school! These two weeks have been absolutely crazy! The kiddos are doing a great job adjusting to a new building, new teachers, and a new routine. They've been tested to death, especially in my class, but they are troopers. We are all looking forward to getting into a somewhat normal routine beginning next week.
In language arts this week, the kids took a standardized reading and writing test. These tests are scored by our testing team and compared to the results from the end of the year first grade tests. We then use these scores to determine placements for Title 1 Reading and Ohio Reads. It also gives me an idea of what the kids will need a lot of help with this year and what they already know.
We also spent some time talking about R.A.P. This is a test-taking, question-answering strategy that we will be spending a LOT of time talking about this year. R.A.P. stands for repeat, answer, and prove. It encourages the students to answer short-answer and extended response questions using complete sentences in order to obtain the maximum number of points on a test. The students will continue to use this strategy throughout their time at Lake Elementary.
The kids worked really hard on a Readers' Theater performance this week as well. They practiced in small groups for three days and then performed for the class on Friday. Our goal with the Readers' Theater is to encourage and practice fluent reading (reading that sounds like speaking - not too fast and not too slow) with expression (showing the character's emotions). The kids did a great job with these. They not only practiced, but they also worked to create a poster of scenery that we hung behind them as they performed their scripts.
Next week we will begin our first unit from the Storytown reading textbook. We will be reading a story called Arthur's Reading Race and talking about characters. The kids will be learning about sentences in grammar and writing sentences about a picture. Spelling words were sent home on Friday and consist of 15 words with the short a or short i sound and 5 sight words. This week's words are: flag, fin, ran, has, fill, sat, list, sit, bag, win, picnic, plastic, rabbit, fabric, napkin, over, new, sound, take, only
Please note that spelling tests are on Thursdays!
Our specials schedule for next week is:
Monday - no school
Tuesday - computer
Wednesday - art
Thursday - music
Friday - gym
In language arts this week, the kids took a standardized reading and writing test. These tests are scored by our testing team and compared to the results from the end of the year first grade tests. We then use these scores to determine placements for Title 1 Reading and Ohio Reads. It also gives me an idea of what the kids will need a lot of help with this year and what they already know.
We also spent some time talking about R.A.P. This is a test-taking, question-answering strategy that we will be spending a LOT of time talking about this year. R.A.P. stands for repeat, answer, and prove. It encourages the students to answer short-answer and extended response questions using complete sentences in order to obtain the maximum number of points on a test. The students will continue to use this strategy throughout their time at Lake Elementary.
The kids worked really hard on a Readers' Theater performance this week as well. They practiced in small groups for three days and then performed for the class on Friday. Our goal with the Readers' Theater is to encourage and practice fluent reading (reading that sounds like speaking - not too fast and not too slow) with expression (showing the character's emotions). The kids did a great job with these. They not only practiced, but they also worked to create a poster of scenery that we hung behind them as they performed their scripts.
Next week we will begin our first unit from the Storytown reading textbook. We will be reading a story called Arthur's Reading Race and talking about characters. The kids will be learning about sentences in grammar and writing sentences about a picture. Spelling words were sent home on Friday and consist of 15 words with the short a or short i sound and 5 sight words. This week's words are: flag, fin, ran, has, fill, sat, list, sit, bag, win, picnic, plastic, rabbit, fabric, napkin, over, new, sound, take, only
Please note that spelling tests are on Thursdays!
Our specials schedule for next week is:
Monday - no school
Tuesday - computer
Wednesday - art
Thursday - music
Friday - gym
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