Post 24

IMPORTANT DATES:

Friday, April 14, 2017 - NO SCHOOL - Good Friday

Monday, April 17 - Friday, April 21, 2017 - NO SCHOOL - Spring Vacation

Thursday, May 11, 2017 - 12:30 Release

Thursday, June 8, 2017 - Field Trip - Boston Children's Museum

REMINDERS: 

Water bottles: Please make sure to send your child to school with a sport top water bottle (i.e. one that will not spill when tipped over) each morning that s/he should bring into class each morning to keep on his/her table to have easy access to water throughout the day. Thanks! 

Wow words: Please continue to help your child gather new words each week through their reading and your conversations at home and bring them in on Wow Word Wednesday. Here are links to an online dictionary (Merriam Webster for kids - Word Central) and our wow word worksheet in case you need a new one. This is an ongoing reminder for the year. Please make acquiring new words part of your home routine.

CURRICULUM UPDATE:

In reading: 

• We worked on asking questions when we read as a comprehension strategy. We worked on asking an answering questions before, during and after reading.
• We practiced making inferences as a comprehension strategy while reading. We defined inference as: 

              clues from text (words or illustrations) + background knowledge = inference

At home, ask your child what questions they have before, during and after they read. Also see if they can find places in their reading in which they can make an inference. 

Next week, we will continue our unit on inferring and questioning.

In fundations (word study): 

• We completed unit 9.
• We began unit 10, in which we will focus on the vowel teams ai and ay. Students will use the spelling options procedure again to determine the conventional spelling of these words.  

At home, please refer to the Units 1-10 family letter to learn how you can support our word study work at home. Also, look though the fundations/word study section on my website. There, you will find all of the first and second grade trick words. If your child needs practice with these words, please practice through activities such as playing bingo, memory or through reviewing them on flashcards. Here is a link to a great website with different sight word games that you might like to try. 

Next week, we will continue our work in unit 10.

In social studies: 

• We had an amazing trip to the Chinese Cultural Center! While we were there, we practiced calligraphy, learned about the abacus, learned about mahjong, made a Chinese lantern, learned about and made dumplings and watched a dance performance with traditional music.  
• We wrote articles about what we learned on our field trip.
• We read and recalled facts about China.
• We colored the Chinese flag.
• We revisited maps of China to determine the size, location and geographic features of China.

At home, ask your child what they have learned and still wonder about China. Guide them to find answers to their lingering questions.       

Next week, we will continue our unit on China.

In writing: 

• We wrote letters to share our opinions about characters.

Next week, we will continue working in our opinion writing unit.

In math:

• We solved mixed addition and subtracted number stories.
• We practiced telling time on analog clocks. 
• We solved array number stories and played array bingo to begin seeing multiplication as repeated addition.

At home, continue to look for ways to include math in your daily conversations. Here is a website about why it's important to talk with your kids about math. 
  

Next week, we will begin a unit on subtraction, data and fractions.

Have a great weekend!