MAPs Testing
The students took their first ever MAPs test today! Congratulations to them all for doing a great job with the Math portion of the test! They will take the Reading portion on Monday.
Math
The children spent the last two weeks practicing addition and subtraction strategies to twenty. We discussed the commutative property of addition, by addressing the question, "Does order matters in addition?" The children discovered order does NOT matter, and they are developing their own explanations for this. Please note, I introduced the word, commutative property, but don't expect them to use it yet. By building their own explanations, they will develop a solid, conceptual understanding of this property, rather than just memorize the words. The students have enjoyed playing several wonderful games to support this learning. Ask your child to tell you about the games.
The students have used the commutative property to solve number strings, and they've discovered that looking for facts they know--facts to ten, doubles, or doubles plus or minus one--can be helpful and make solving these equations very efficient. The students took an assessment for this benchmark: Uses known combinations to add several numbers in any order. The rubric and the scored assessment was sent home Tuesday and shows your child's progress to date. This concept will be discussed throughout the year. The goal is for students to become flexible in solving equations.
For example 8+7+3+3+2=?
A very efficient strategy would be: 8+2=10, 7+3=10, so 10+10+3=23.
A less efficient strategy would be: 3+3=6, 6+2=8, 8+8=16, and 16+7=23.
The children have also been working on solving story problems. For example, if a class has 22 students and the teacher has 16 erasers, are there enough for the class? If not, how many more are needed? This could be solved with addition (16+__=22) or subtraction (22-16=__). Students are sharing their strategies for solving problems like this, and we're having math talks about their ideas. This work also provides practice with the eight math practice standards.
Finally, the students have been practicing subtraction facts within 20. They have sorted their fact cards into "Facts I Know" and "Facts I Need to Practice." The children are writing clues to help remember and solve harder equations. Ask your child to tell you the equations s/he is practicing.
For example 16-8=?
If you know your double a good clue would be: 8+8=?.
To get back to ten a good clue would be: 16-6-2=?
Reading Workshop
During read aloud, the children have been learning how to identify character traits and to infer the meaning of unknown words. We finished reading Gooney Bird Greene, and next week the children chose from activities to demonstrate their comprehension of the book including identifying one of the character's traits, identifying ideas the main character taught about writing stories, and identifying the author's message in the story. We are excited to celebrate finishing our first chapter book read aloud.
During reading workshop, our reading focus has been on accuracy and decoding long and tricky words. The students have learned they can take off prefixes and suffixes and flip the middle vowel sound, to name a few strategies for decoding longer words. Meaning is also important when decoding new words. If they read a word and don't know its meaning they must stop to think about what would make sense in the text, then check the letters to help decode the word. We are also working on retelling as we read with partners. Students have marked pages they want to discuss with sticky notes to remember important points for their partner conversations. This is very tricky for most students, and we will need much more work in this area!
Next week we will begin a genre study of folktales. We will use this to learn about story elements and author's message.
Writers’ Workshop
The students have been hard at work writing moments. The children worked with a partner to analyze how published authors of books we love, such as Jane Yolen, Julie Brinkloe, Jonathan London, and Donald Crews add detail to their stories so their readers can make mental images. The students discovered that writers add detail by using dialogue, telling "the inside story" such as how they feel and what they think. Writers also add detail by comparing unlike things using similes and metaphors, and by using onomatopoeia. They also use precise language and carefully choose the words they use. Our writers marked our favorite books with sticky notes to remind themselves where great writing exists. The students are learning how to make decisions like a writer and work independently as they try writing "moves" like our favorite mentor authors.
Social Studies - Communities Theme
We read and talked about about types of communities in our social studies book and by watching Brainpop Jr. The children learned that communities are places where people live, work, play, and have fun together. They wrote and drew about urban, suburban, and rural communities. We had great discussions about various aspects of these communities, and they discovered River Forest is a suburban community because it is close to the urban community of Chicago. They also learned about customs, traditions, and culture. This discussion will lead us into thinking about topics for their Living History Fair presentations.
Word study and high-frequency sight words
We have compared short vowel and long vowel /o/ and /e/ spelling patterns over the past two weeks. Through our word study activities, your child should know that short vowel sounds are commonly found when the pattern is CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant). They should also know that the “sneaky” silent /e/ at the end of words CVCe) AND vowel teams (CVVC) make the vowel say its name! The children are expected to differentiate between the spelling patterns and know the rules for each pattern. They write the patterns and the rules on the top of their word work assessment each week. Ask your child to explain his/her spelling patterns and rules to you!
The students took their first ever MAPs test today! Congratulations to them all for doing a great job with the Math portion of the test! They will take the Reading portion on Monday.
Math
The children spent the last two weeks practicing addition and subtraction strategies to twenty. We discussed the commutative property of addition, by addressing the question, "Does order matters in addition?" The children discovered order does NOT matter, and they are developing their own explanations for this. Please note, I introduced the word, commutative property, but don't expect them to use it yet. By building their own explanations, they will develop a solid, conceptual understanding of this property, rather than just memorize the words. The students have enjoyed playing several wonderful games to support this learning. Ask your child to tell you about the games.
The students have used the commutative property to solve number strings, and they've discovered that looking for facts they know--facts to ten, doubles, or doubles plus or minus one--can be helpful and make solving these equations very efficient. The students took an assessment for this benchmark: Uses known combinations to add several numbers in any order. The rubric and the scored assessment was sent home Tuesday and shows your child's progress to date. This concept will be discussed throughout the year. The goal is for students to become flexible in solving equations.
For example 8+7+3+3+2=?
A very efficient strategy would be: 8+2=10, 7+3=10, so 10+10+3=23.
A less efficient strategy would be: 3+3=6, 6+2=8, 8+8=16, and 16+7=23.
The children have also been working on solving story problems. For example, if a class has 22 students and the teacher has 16 erasers, are there enough for the class? If not, how many more are needed? This could be solved with addition (16+__=22) or subtraction (22-16=__). Students are sharing their strategies for solving problems like this, and we're having math talks about their ideas. This work also provides practice with the eight math practice standards.
Finally, the students have been practicing subtraction facts within 20. They have sorted their fact cards into "Facts I Know" and "Facts I Need to Practice." The children are writing clues to help remember and solve harder equations. Ask your child to tell you the equations s/he is practicing.
For example 16-8=?
If you know your double a good clue would be: 8+8=?.
To get back to ten a good clue would be: 16-6-2=?
Reading Workshop
During read aloud, the children have been learning how to identify character traits and to infer the meaning of unknown words. We finished reading Gooney Bird Greene, and next week the children chose from activities to demonstrate their comprehension of the book including identifying one of the character's traits, identifying ideas the main character taught about writing stories, and identifying the author's message in the story. We are excited to celebrate finishing our first chapter book read aloud.
During reading workshop, our reading focus has been on accuracy and decoding long and tricky words. The students have learned they can take off prefixes and suffixes and flip the middle vowel sound, to name a few strategies for decoding longer words. Meaning is also important when decoding new words. If they read a word and don't know its meaning they must stop to think about what would make sense in the text, then check the letters to help decode the word. We are also working on retelling as we read with partners. Students have marked pages they want to discuss with sticky notes to remember important points for their partner conversations. This is very tricky for most students, and we will need much more work in this area!
Next week we will begin a genre study of folktales. We will use this to learn about story elements and author's message.
Writers’ Workshop
The students have been hard at work writing moments. The children worked with a partner to analyze how published authors of books we love, such as Jane Yolen, Julie Brinkloe, Jonathan London, and Donald Crews add detail to their stories so their readers can make mental images. The students discovered that writers add detail by using dialogue, telling "the inside story" such as how they feel and what they think. Writers also add detail by comparing unlike things using similes and metaphors, and by using onomatopoeia. They also use precise language and carefully choose the words they use. Our writers marked our favorite books with sticky notes to remind themselves where great writing exists. The students are learning how to make decisions like a writer and work independently as they try writing "moves" like our favorite mentor authors.
Social Studies - Communities Theme
We read and talked about about types of communities in our social studies book and by watching Brainpop Jr. The children learned that communities are places where people live, work, play, and have fun together. They wrote and drew about urban, suburban, and rural communities. We had great discussions about various aspects of these communities, and they discovered River Forest is a suburban community because it is close to the urban community of Chicago. They also learned about customs, traditions, and culture. This discussion will lead us into thinking about topics for their Living History Fair presentations.
Word study and high-frequency sight words
We have compared short vowel and long vowel /o/ and /e/ spelling patterns over the past two weeks. Through our word study activities, your child should know that short vowel sounds are commonly found when the pattern is CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant). They should also know that the “sneaky” silent /e/ at the end of words CVCe) AND vowel teams (CVVC) make the vowel say its name! The children are expected to differentiate between the spelling patterns and know the rules for each pattern. They write the patterns and the rules on the top of their word work assessment each week. Ask your child to explain his/her spelling patterns and rules to you!