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Read Aloud

The students have been LOVING our recent read aloud, The Doll People.  While I read to them they are focusing on thinking about the story.  More specifically, really listening and picturing (in their head) what is happening.  Then they write a summary using transitional words to describe the events in the chapter.  While this is highly guided, the goal is that through this practice the students will begin/continue to synthesize more information as they are reading longer texts (chapter books).  

There are several books about The Doll People.  A.D.E.'s library has a few.  I am guessing the students will want to check these out!  As the children learn to navigate longer texts it's beneficial for them to read books in a series.  By doing this they get to really know the characters, they can make connections between the story lines and they aren't having to "get to know" completely new characters each time they begin a new book!

More information the author click here:
Ann Martin  (Ann Martin has several series - one based on a second grade class!  Information can be found at the link).

Writing Workshop

About a month ago the students participated in an "on demand writing."   The students were given 45 minutes to write a story about a memorable moment.  They are prompted to do their best and show what they know about writing the best possible story!  I then used these stories to plan our "next steps" in writing workshop.  What the majority of the pieces revealed is that the children have a great sense of story.

Overall strengths were:
-Strong leads
-Details (moving, thinking, talking)
-Overall structure (beginning, events told step by step, ending)

Overall needs were:
-Using punctuation consistently
-Capitalization (when and where)
-Use of quotation marks
-Word endings (ed, er)
-Use of common spelling patterns (CVCe) and word chunks (flap, strap, street, meet, night, right)

With this information I decided to work through the writing process from beginning to end.  The emphasis being placed on editing.  The students began by collecting, planning and writing drafts of memorable moments (personal narratives) for about two weeks.

They then choose the story they wanted to publish!  This week the students revised their pieces.  In doing this they were reminded that when we revise we can move, add, delete or change parts of our story to make it better.  Everyone did at least one of these actions, several students choose to do a few.

The next step was editing - and this is where we really needed to focus our attention.  The students learned to use editing marks.  They agreed that these marks are useful because we all know what they mean and this allows us to edit on another's work as well.   Some students even attempted peer editing - peer editing is powerful!  I explained to the students that adults often peer edit for one another (think of all the times you've asked someone to read over something before sending it out;)

One step of the writing process that we practice in our classroom is "author's options".  This is part of publishing.  Author's options included; dedication page, about the author page, prologue, epilogue, illustrations, photos, links, really anything the author would like to do to customize their work.

Some students were ready to publish this week.  Before they were permitted to "press print" they had a final conference with me.  At this time we went over the use of punctuation, capitalization and use of quotation marks.  Some of the students that have published are now waiting for their stories to be bound and/or laminated.  Once they are ready your child will bring home their story - be sure to look for this and celebrate their published work!

Math

We kicked off our geometry unit this week!  The students are enjoying LOTS of hands on experiences as we learn about the features of shapes.  Next week we will focus on 3-dimensional shapes.  While this unit requires the students to remember a lot of shape names and vocabulary it is one that they LOVE!  Be sure to follow us on Twitter (@adekleman) to catch a glimpse into our math lessons!

Click here for the geometry standards we are focusing on.

Social Studies - Mapping!

In second grade, students begin to interpret the information found on maps. At this level, students understand that maps can answer the following questions: 

Where is something located? 

What is the place like? 

They students will learn:

• The names of places on the map indicate location relative to other places on the map. 
• Map symbols explain the physical characteristics of places on the map. 
• Grade-appropriate landforms: plateaus, islands, hills, mountains, valleys.
• Bodies of water: creeks, ponds, lakes and oceans. 
• The map key explains what each symbol means. 
• Maps can be printed or in an electronic format

The children have created their own islands and (of course;) treasure maps!  Next we will focus on landforms and bodies of water.  

Click here for an online memory game - you match landforms and bodies of water photos and names!   

Our Latest Happenings...

Math

We continue to focus on making sense of what the question is asking, creating a plan to solve, examine our thinking for reasonability, and changing our thinking when necessary.  To help us with this process, the students have been given several opportunities to look at other students' work.  Do you agree with them?  Would you have thought about this in a different way?  Was the strategy they used efficient?  Are they accurate?

We will continue to practice telling time to the nearest five minutes.  This is something we do naturally throughout the day.  It's also easy to practice at home;).

Online math games and "math problem generator" can be found here!

Groundhog's Day

While we all agreed that a little sledding would be fun, most of the students were hoping for an early spring.  Through informational text, we learned a lot about the history of Groundhog's day on Feb. 2nd.  Including, why it is celebrated on this day each year!  Many of the students were surprised to learn that Ohio has it's own groundhog, Buckeye Chuck.  Did he see his shadow?

These students are locating Marion on the  map.  This is home of Buckeye Chuck!

Thank you Mrs. Bartholomew!

The students loved "crafting" with her.  All are welcome to come in and share/create with us anytime!

Behind these cuties is a Popplet we created to record our personal goals in writing workshop!

 Popplet

In reading workshop the students are working on sustaining longer texts over time.  As many begin reading chapter books, they are required to sustain a story from one reading time to the next.  In addition, there are more characters, each having their own traits and story lines.  This can be a lot to navigate!  To help us with all of this "thinking" we have been using the app called Popplet to create webs.  Ask your child about this at home!  While the app isn't free, it's well worth the $5, if I don't say so myself;)  Click here for more info if you are interested!

There's an app for that;)

There are several pictures below of students working together during math workshop.  They choose an app to help them explain their thinking and strategies.  A few of our favorites are Draw and Tell and Number Lines.  Together they came up with a plan for solving, and then worked through the problem.  By partnering up, the students were able to "check one another" and self-correct common errors.  This is something we have been working on independently, but are realizing that math is about communicating our understanding!

                                               

                                     Sing-a-Long 

We've been listening/singing along to a few of our favorite transition songs with a new purpose...to discover the main idea!  It's amazing how songs often repeat the lyrics that the writer wants us to really understand, and then supports this idea with supporting details.  Just like authors do when they write!  A few of the songs we have listened to and discussed are below.

The standard reads: Identify the main purpose of a text, including what the author wants to answer, explain, or describe.  We will certainly apply this skill to books, online articles and several others forms of print!

Thank you for taking the time to see what we've been up to!

January!

There is so much to share from the past two weeks!  Here goes...

You may have heard...the students have been researching topics of their choice!  This process began with the students wondering.  They asked themselves, "What do I want to learn more about?"  

Next we headed to the media center and worked with Mrs. Dornburgh.  

There the students learned:

How do I write a good question about a topic I am interested in?

How can I use the online library catalog to find available books?

Where can I find informational text in the library?

How do I record new learning?

What's next?

The students researched for  a few days.  Some students choose to change their topic along the way.  This was great!  They learned that sometimes you get the answer to your question and you are ready to move on to other interests.

Once the students were ready they decided on a mode for sharing their learning.  Many are using/used Google Slides and a few choose to use Kid Blog.

As they were "in the thick of it" and creating their presentations, there were several teaching points.

Among them:

Check out the pink quote!
We created this infographic to help us think
about  how we read informational texts.

Certain words (proper nouns) begin with capital letters.

An introduction and conclusion page are great ways to begin and end your presentation.

Headings and captions help the reader understand the information you are sharing.

You import a video into slideshow to help your reader better understand your topic!

Next Steps...
As we read lots of informational texts, we began to notice that within this genre, authors are writing to inform.  Taking this a step further, we've started to determine what the author wanted us to learn - the MAIN IDEA!

                                               Math

        

           

Above you'll notice two clocks, one accurately shows the time and the other was our "favorite no".  We discussed confusions that often occur when we tell time.  This will help the students attend to precision as they begin telling time independently!

                             Google Slides = Collaboration!

One of the most powerful capabilities that the students have with Google Apps is sharing with peers!

This allows them to work on the same document or presentation from ANYWHERE they have internet access.  

How can they access their account online?

It's easy!

http://www.hilliardschools.org/elem/

Above is the actual address you would use in your browser (I would bookmark this;), or click here.

From this page the students know what to do!  In case they forget, details are in your email;)

These cuties shared their presentation with their fifth grade brothers and were getting feedback as they worked!

These two sweethearts were editing their presentation on whales.  They focused on proper use of capitalization!

Time to Share!

Below are pictures of the students sharing their work today.  

Several siblings from the preschool came, which was super exciting! 

Be sure to have your child share his/her work with you at home.

Thank you for taking the time to read our blog!

2017!

Welcome 2017!

As soon as we returned from Winter Break we started preparing for our presentation to the P.T.O.  The students choose the jobs they wanted to complete and WERE OFF!  Read the captions below for more details!

Students signing up for the job(s) of their choice.

These students counted all of the change we collected and combined this total with the cash total to help us arrive at our final amount earned.

Several students worked together to turn our "Aaron Becker Timeline*" into a Google Slide Show.
*The students used our Twitter posts to create a timeline of events leading up to the meeting. 

The girls above worked hard on personalizing Thank You cards to pass out to those that attended the meeting.  They attached finger weaving creations to the cards.  The adults in attendance really enjoyed getting these surprises.

The students above also used our timeline to write a script that was read at the meeting.  This provided details of what the students had done up to that point.  

One of our Problems of the Day is pictured above.
"How much more money do we need to fund the author visit?"
Several students used the Draw and Tell App to share their thinking.

Above the students are presenting to PTO.  To view the presentation, click here.  Don't forget, the students created the presentation!

Blogging with a Purpose!

This week our read-aloud focus was on character traits.  The students blogged about specific characters in the books we read.  From here we will look at how characters' actions help us determine the theme, moral or central message of the story.

The most important take-away for many of the students was that they need to be sure to answer the question that is being asked.

The students can share our Blog by clicking here and logging in - they know how to do it;)

It's About Time! 

(we learn to tell time;)

First we focused on the hour hand and what it's placement tells us.  

Is it...

a little before____?

a little after _____?

____ o'clock?

_____ thirty?

  

 Next we moved to the minute hand.  After making a linear number line from 0-60, we wrapped it into the shape of a clock and VIOLA!  This is how we tell time to the nearest 5 minutes.  

Practice telling time to the nearest five minutes at home.

One  Problem...lots of strategies to solve it!

 

 

      Research and Wondering!

The students reviewed how to use our online library catalog to look-up books of interest.  We then learned where to find different genres in our library using the information from the online catalog.

Next...the students practiced using informational texts to learn and record new information.

We will begin (a few students will continue) individual or small group research projects next week to practice the skill of learning and recording new information.

Great online resources can be found here, in case your child wants to explore at home.

Water Princess

The fifth graders shared a Reader's Theatre they wrote, based on the book Water Princess.  It is a story of an African Village that only has access to dirty water many, many miles away. 

The fifth graders are currently collecting money to support a project working to get clean water to the village.

The students listened to this song during team time today - it has a powerful message!  

Check it out!  We will revisit the lyrics and discuss the songs message/theme next week.