Newsletter 4

2006-2007…Room 302—Newsletter 4…http://room302.blogspot.com

October 19, 2006

Dear Families,

The year seems to be going by so very quickly. We’re already planning the Halloween celebration, and I’m already thinking about that first round of report cards. I hope the school days are going well for your child. Here is the latest:

Substitute

I missed some work time the week before last, and I didn’t like it. I enjoy being here teaching your children. Judy was out of town, so I was a full time dad, and a part time teacher. Luckily, we were able to get two fantastic people to fill in.

Reading

I have started to do Developmental Reading Assessments with the students. This is where I sit down with the students, one at a time, and really try to figure out just what skills and strategies they use when they read. Knowing what they already do helps me figure out the next thing I can teach them. The other good thing about this is that it requires the rest of the class to read quietly by themselves, which is another useful skill.

Writing

During writing, we split into groups. The groups sit at a different table every day, and one day a week they do guided writing--we call it “special project”. Our first special project was making birthday cards for people. This was a chance to talk about purpose for writing, audience for the writing, and all the things that should happen when writing a card, including greeting, message, closing, decorations, and overall personalization of the card. I’d expect that you’d see some evidence of this when the children are making cards (birthday, thank-you, etc.) for people at home.

Math

Sometimes our afternoons are so full, that we move right into science. We usually do math first, so does that mean we skip math on those days? You can perhaps guess where I’m going with this: I’m concerned that students will think that we’re doing math only during “math” time and nowhere else. I used part of our time together the other day to point out all the ways we use math when we’re doing science. Math is simply a form of communication (like writing) that we use to communicate understanding about the world. When we want to be precise, we use numbers to quantify; but we can do math without numbers: He is heavier, she is taller, mine is longer, yours is higher are all examples of math without numbers. Any sort of pattern is math without numbers. Numbers could be used to quantify all these examples if they were real, but often we don’t need the numbers. I think it’s helpful for students to look beyond numbers when thinking about math. I think it can provide a different filter for their thinking, and I think it could help them avoid the perspective of “I’m not good in math.” If you think of it (next time you hear “I want more.” or “Can I stay up later?” or something similar) you could point out the many ways they use math every day.

Science

We began this science unit with the “balance” in Balance and Motion. Now we’re experimenting with motion. We’ve done a lot of work with spinning. Ask your child about the tops, zoomers, twirlers, wheels and axels they made.

Halloween Party

We’ll have an afternoon celebration on October 31, starting about 1:30. I’ll be sending a separate note with details about how you can contribute.

Chapter Book

We finished My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannet. Actually, the sub finished it while I was gone. L If your child is interested, there are two more books in that series: Elmer and the Dragon, and Dragons of Blueland. Our latest one is Bunnicula by Deborah and James Howe.

Field Trip

We’re signed up to go to the Seattle Children’s Theater to see The Sorcerer's Apprentice by OyamO. We’re going with the other second grade class, leaving right away in the morning and returning to school about 2:00. I think we’re about full on the chaperone list, but if you still want to go, I can put you on a waiting list, in case we end up with extra room. I tried to email confirmation to those who already contacted me, but I was out part of the time and may have missed you, so if you wrote and I didn’t write back, please let me know. I’ll be sending permission slips for the kids soon.

Class Video

From time to time I video tape things that are happening at school. Then the students take turns taking the tape home to share. The tape should return to school the next day so the next person gets a chance; please help your child remember.

Email List

I’m hearing every now and then that people aren’t seeing this newsletter—the hard copy is not always making it home. If you’re one of those people, then you aren’t reading this. If you do happen to see the newsletter sometimes, and would like to get every copy via email, please make sure I have your email address. I currently have 12 families on the list.

Volunteers

We’re quite fortunate to have a number of parents helping out in the classroom this year. I know that not everyone can (I wish I could for my boys) but if you can and want to, there is still plenty of opportunity. Please let me know. We’d love to have you.

Calendar

Friday, October 27—early release, 12:15	Tuesday, October 31—Halloween party, 1:30
Friday, November 3—Science Fair, 6:30-8:30

Sincerely,

Jeff

Friday, October 20, 2006

In library today we learned about leaves. The leaves go on a tree. The tree sends the sap to the leaves so they can grow. If it’s cold the sap goes slower and slower. And then the leaves change colors, and then they fall off.

We also learned that people make syrup out of Sugar Maple tree sap. They drill a hole in the tree, and they put a thing like a faucet in there. They leave it there for awhile. They put a big bucket under it and turn the handle. The sap comes out of the faucet and into the bucket. Then they give the sap to a company and the company makes syrup. Then they sell it in stores.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

In science, we made Twirly Birds. The Twirly Birds can spin in the air when you throw, or toss, or drop them. The Twirly Birds were made out of paper—they weren’t real birds. We folded the paper on the dotted lines and cut on the solid lines. Some people colored them paper to make designs. Taylor T. made a design that hypnotized us. Instead of using straws for weights like on the spinners, we used paper clips. It was really fun and exciting.

In math, the first graders tried to make 12 for their Daily Equation.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

We had a fire drill, an earthquake drill, and a lockdown. Every time we were waiting for one of them to start, we pretended to work at our tables. It was exciting. When we did the earthquake drill we had to hide under the tables. If you don’t have tables in your house, hide inside a doorway. If you’re in your room, you could hide under your bed.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

We had a fire truck outside in the field. The fire fighters had stickers and magnets for us. The fire truck had headphones hanging down from the ceiling. Noah got to put them on and heard what the people were saying. Some kids heard that somebody was sick, and the firefighters had to go back and help the sick people. We hope the sick people got better.

Thursday, October 05, 2006

We made zoomers. We used plastic disks with holes in the middle. We put string through two of the holes and tied it to make a loop with the disk in the middle. We wound the string, then pulled it out gently and pushed it in to hear it make a whooshing sound. We had Mrs. Couch as a teacher this morning. Most of us gave her a hug.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

We had a substitute teacher. She was so nice. She helped us with math. We had library and checked out books. We also had much and physical education.

Newsletter 3, 2006-2007

2006-2007  Room 302—Newsletter 3  http://room302.blogspot.com

October 2, 2006

Dear Families,

Here is what I have to share:
Reading
Good readers are always making connections between the story and something that they’ve experienced or read:  the story reminds them of other things that aren’t in the story.  We often take a second to share these connections when I’m reading aloud, but we can never share all of them.  This is one of those things that you can do much better at home than I can do at school.  When you’re reading aloud, take the time to share your connections, and take the time to let the children share theirs as well.  You may only have time for one or two books, or one or two pages, but the conversation can be just as important.  It helps make the stories personal, relevant, and meaningful—this means that reading becomes personal, relevant, and meaningful.
Math
The first graders are moving into the book called Building Number Sense.  The second graders are starting Coins, Coupons, and Combinations.  As we finish a book, the students will bring home their old workbooks.  You’ll find that we’ve done some of the work, but usually not all of it.  Sometimes the books have lots extra, or things we don’t need.  The students may use those books as they like.  We don’t need them back once we’re done with them.
Science
For our first science investigation, we balanced tag board shaped like crayfish, triangles, and arches.  We also tried a tag board pencil and a real pencil.  We used clothespins for counterweights, and figured out which configurations were stable.  There is a lot of excitement and interest during our science times.  It’s great.  Now we’re into experimenting with tops.
Book Orders
I’m going to start sending book orders home.  Order if you like, but don’t feel obligated.  If you do order, please do not send cash, only checks.  And please make out checks for each book order, rather than one for all.  
We’ll always take time to look through the orders and circle the books that look interesting.  I encourage the children to save the part with the books and use that section to help find new things to read.  Sometimes a library can be a bit intimidating because it has so many choices, but if children walk in with a list of interesting things, it’s easier for a librarian to help them.  
Library
We’ll again have library on Wednesday this week, due to an assembly on Friday afternoon.
Chapter Book
Our current one is My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannet.  Before that we finished Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus by Barbara Park.
Field Trip
We’re signed up to go to the Seattle Children’s Theater on to see The Sorcerer's Apprentice by OyamO.  We’re going with the other second grade class, leaving right away in the morning and returning to school about 2:00.  It looks like we’ll have room for 10 adults to chaperone, so let me know if you would like to join us.  I’ll take the first ten.  I’ll be sending permission slips for the kids at a later date.
Class Video
From time to time I video tape things that are happening at school.  Then the students take turns taking the tape home to share.  The tape should return to school the next day so the next person gets a chance; please help your child remember.
Email List
In an effort to help with communication, I’d like to put together a mailing list so that I’ve got another way to get you information like this.  If you’d like to be on it, please send me an email requesting that I put you on the list.  Include your name and your child’s name so I can identify you.  (If you got this newsletter via email, you’re already on the list.  If you didn’t, you’re not.)
Classroom Visits
Any time you’d like to visit, you’re welcome to do so.  Just make sure to stop in at the office to sign in and get a Visitor sticker.
Calendar
Friday, October 6—Taylor’s birthday     Friday, October 13—no school
Thursday, October 12—70’s Dance, 6-8:30     Friday, October 27—early release, 12:15
     


Sincerely,


Jeff

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Today in science some of us decorated our tops. The tops spin on our tables or on the floor. We used plastic disks and straws to make the tops. We had paper circles with black and white designs on them. There was also a blank one we could decorate with any design we wanted. We put those paper disks on the tops to make them look very cool while they were spinning. The rest of the class finished painting the pictures for their October calendars.

Monday, October 02, 2006

A librarian came from the public library to our school. She read us two books named Mudball by Matt Tavares, and Mabela the Clever by Margaret Read MacDonald. She gave us library cards that need to be activated. They have little bracelets attached to them. They’re stretchy and they cling to your wrist. Everybody in the whole school gets one.