September 29, 2017

Collaborating with our kindergarten buddies.

This week our kindergarten buddies visited our classroom and chose materials to use as they practiced how to collaborate with one another.   They used this time to continue to talk and learn more about one another better.  

Ask your child: What did you learn this week about how to work collaboratively?  What did you learn about your buddy by working together?

Mistakes Can Be Good

Mistakes can be good.

They can help you grow.

They can show you

what you need to know.

So whenever you make

a mistake,

Just say:

"Now I'll try another way."

--Judy Lalli

We work a lot in second grade to encourage the children to be willing to take risks.  We want them to become resilient and understand that people think differently and often arrive at answers or ideas in ways that might not be the same as their own. One way to broaden their thinking is to have them experiment with new ideas and, at times, they will have the wrong answer.  People often make mistakes and thus, the invention of Liquid Paper and correction tape.  Sometimes publishers make mistakes, leave pages out of books or print calendars with more days than they should.  We all learn though our mistakes and we say "oh well, I've learned that way doesn't work." Then they try again!  If Thomas Edison hadn't kept trying through his failures, we might not have discovered the light bulb so soon in our history.  We acknowledge that we might make an "OOPS", but that just means we need to try something in a different way.  Please support your child in their risk taking through the year.  The children were introduced to the book Beautiful OOPS! by Barney Saltzberg when Warren's grandmother, Susan, visited our class yesterday.

"A person who makes few mistakes makes little progress." -Bryant McGill

What has been happening in....

Reading
The children have continued practicing "Read to Self" strategies: finding a "good fit" book and reading "voraciously" while "checking for understanding."  The children have also worked with partners in "Reading with Someone" and discussing new vocabulary they encounter in the books they choose together.

Math

The children are working toward a better understanding in working with odd/even numbers, manipulating number combinations equal to 20, and they are striving to express their thinking in pictures or words with someone else. It is often easy to calculate an answer quickly, but it takes time to slow down and share how you solved a problem.

Example:    13+12= 25

Child one:  I know that there is one ten in 13 and one ten in 12.  I added the two tens together and then added 3 +2.

Child two:  I added the two to 13 to equal 15 and then I added ten more.

Each of the answers is correct and by explaining their thinking with one another we show the various ways that numbers can be manipulated into new groupings.

Writing

The children continue to write their own creative stories in booklets.  When each child finishes the book it is read to me and then put in our class library for others to enjoy.

Homework

Congratulations on a great first week of homework! Thank you for all you do to support your child in completing reading logs and reviewing homework expectations/agreements.  Just a reminder that your child’s first reading log is due on Monday, 10/2. Next week we will be introducing our math homework routine. Your child’s homework and due dates are as follows:

Homework due Monday, 10/2:

• Reading log

Homework assigned for the week of 10/2 (due 10/9)

• Read for at least 15 minutes Monday through Friday (weekends are bonus) and fill in the reading log nightly

• Conduct the reading interview questions throughout the week (parents may help with the writing at the beginning of the year)
• In Math Journal: Highlighted Page 5-6 Please do not have your child work ahead.
• **Optional: Your child can also complete pages 1-5 for additional practice.

• Return the Reading Log and Math Journal to school on Monday, 10/9

No Uniforms, next Friday, 10/6 Homecoming

Next Friday, 10/6 will be a non-uniform day in honor of the Homecoming, starting with a “kick-off” assembly at 8:10 AM in the LS Dining commons.  Students are encouraged to wear OES spirit wear. Our grade level color is blue.

A Note from Mrs. Kenney-Norberg

Planning for projects . . . please keep old shoeboxes, and any broken machinery you might have (think pencil sharpeners, drills, clocks, VCR’s etc) for future science projects. Please gather these items at home.  We have limited storage space so we’ll let you know in a future newsletter as to when they may be brought to school. Thanks!