Becoming Mathematicians

We have been working incredibly hard in math this year! We started off our year brushing up on our basic math facts and money. The kids worked on combinations up to 10 as well as counting money up to $1.oo. Since the beginning of the year, we have also been teaching a number of strategies to solve word problems and double digit adddition/ subtraction problems. These strategies include mental math, using a hundreds chart, drawing pictures with sets of 10s, 5s and 1s, and writing equations. Our students never cease to amaze us in this area!

In November, we began our geometry unit, which has been a lot of fun so far! We began by exploring how shapes fit together and how shapes fit within each other. The students used pattern blocks and geoblocks to build shapes.

We also created shape monsters to help us apply new information about shapes!

After that, we learned about quadrilaterals, focusing on building and describing rectangles using rows and columns. Starting tomorrow, we will begin learning about fractions!

The wonderful world of writing!

We've done a lot of different writing so far this year! We started off just trying to get our students interested in the writing process (brainstorming, rough draft, editing, final copy), so we focused on creative writing.  We read the story "Where the Wild Things Are" as a class, and then had the students write their own "Wild Thing" story, in which they changed to fit their interests and experiences. . . Needless to say, they were very creative and very funny! Here's a picture of the start of the bulletin board.

Then we moved on to our poetry unit. In this unit, we study all different types of poetry, by reading some famous pieces and some silly ones (Shel Silverstein).  The children have really been enjoying this and have proven to be excellent poets in the making! For Halloween we wrote Cinquain poems about spiders. Here's a look at those. . .

Most recently, we have been working our haiku poems, which you saw in the previous post about the moon.  We also let the children write a haiku poem about anything they wanted (remembering that haikus are always about nature, and have to stick to the "5 syllable, 7 syllable, 5 syllable" format) It's a lot to ask, and as always, they impressed us with their skills!

 

We are taking a break from our poetry unit now (we will go back later on in the year), and are moving on to "How Tos".  This is an important part of the writing process, because it helps students with their organization within their writing.  By giving step by step directions, they make sure to include all details, ensuring they have a strong beginning, middle, and end.  This should then carry over to their regular writing effortlessly, making their written pieces stronger.  For Thanksgiving, the kids worked on "How to Cook a Turkey", which were funny seeing how seven year olds would do that! Today they worked on simpler "how tos", such as, how to make a peanut butter and jelly.  This has less steps, ensuring students don't leave out a crucial part of their piece.  They seem to be doing well with these and we will continue working on this type of writing for the rest of the week, then we are going to work on persuasive writing : ) Have an excellent Tuesday!

Exploring our world : )

In second grade, the main focus in social studies is Japan. However, we decided there is so much more we can teach the kids, and we decided to study all of the continents.  We finished our study of North America last month, and are currently exploring South America! Each time we move to a new continent, we take a "plane ride" to our next destination.  We move the chairs into rows on the rug, print our boarding passes for the students, and play videos of animals and cultures the students will learn about during our time there.  The kids REALLY enjoy this (and so do the teachers!).  We've been doing a lot of activities on the IPads during class, as well as center time.  They've had a wonderful time learning about the animals found in the rain forest and now have a deep appreciation for where we live after seeing that there aren't many "luxuries" in other parts of the world! We are finishing up our visit to South America this week, and then will be flying off to Antarctica on Friday!

Crazy about the moon!

Hello Families!

This is officially our first post to the webpage this year, and I promise they will be coming more frequently now! We have just finished up our study of the moon, and the kids had a blast! Aside from working hard and learning some very tough material, the kids were able to do a lot of fun experiments and projects. They all did incredibly well with this unit, and Kelsey and I were so proud of them.  Here are some pictures of the fun things we did!

We made phases of the moon crowns (surprisingly, the boys were even excited to wear them!). . .

 

 

We made "Moon Goons!"

 



And we wrote haiku poems about the moon (and sponge painted!), which went along with our literacy unit : )

 

 

PLACE VALUE

Hi everyone!

Just wanted to update you on what the students are learning about currently in math. We started slowly bridging the topic of "place value" over the last few weeks. We worked on "expanded notation" which is breaking a number apart based on its place value (369 = 300 + 60 + 9). On Thursday, I began teaching the students the standard algorithm.  This is usually a very complex and confusing concept for children of their age, but I am happy to report they are doing exceptionally well! Each student seems to have a solid understanding of regrouping within addition, and can accurately apply the algoithm into the hundreds! Tomorrow I will begin teaching them how to "borrow" (subtraction), which I am predicting will be a bit more difficult.  If you have any questions, or notice your child is having a hard time with homework, please do not hesitate to contact me! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend : )

OuR StUdY oF ThE MoOn!

The students created "Phases of the Moon" crowns which came out fabulous!!

Some old Halloween pictures!

So MuCh FuN iN RoOm 212 : )

Valentine's Day Party Pics!

Last Day Before Vacation

We are very excited that tomorrow will be the last day before vacation! However, the kids might not be as excited, since we will be having two tests tomorrow.

One will be on what they have learned about the moon, and the other will be the middle of the year (town wide) math assesment. We have been studying and reviewing for both in class, so we believe the students will be fully prepared.  Also, the children should have a "Phases of the Moon" worksheet that they were told to keep at home to review from time to time.  If you still have that laying around, feel free to have your children look at that tonight.

The town wide assesment will cover everything our students have learned since Decemeber.  We have been doing practice problems & sample tests this week, and they are doing very well!

If we don't see you today or tomorrow on the playgrounds, we want to wish you all a wonderful and safe February vacation : )

VaLeNTiNe'S DaY!

Hello Parents & Students!

Tomorrow we will be having our Valentine's Day party.  Due to the early release, and the changes with out lunch time, we will be having our party at 9:30! I have purchased mini mailboxes for each student, and we are going to decorate them as an activity.  I think they will be really excited : ) As a reminder, please make sure your child has an valentine for EACH student in the class. 

CLASS LIST

Alex Carpenter
Laura Davies
Tycho Dickerson
Elisse Dorato
Kalyani Duva
Lillian Forney
Emily Glynn
Maggie Hogan
Matthew Hutchinson
Tade Kotyan
Brandon Kwok
Sofia Labudovic
Katherine Lewis
Sasha Monks
Olivia Plotkin
Nicole Pugliese
Amelia Schizas
Jalen Smith
Jerry Takang
Thalia Voliantes
Dylan Walsh
Cecelia Weber
Ms. Coletti
Mrs. McKenzie
Ms. Sannella
Ms. Moore

We also want to thank Mrs. Forney and Mrs. Schizas for helping us with our party tomorrow. It is much appreciated!

Let's measure!

This week, we started introducing measurement to the students. They have begun to learn units of measure and will learn how to measure in centimeters and inches. Tomorrow, we will have some interactive activities to help introduce these skills. :)

Math Groups

Today in Math we split into three different groups. Since Telling Time is very complex, there are a lot of different things we could teach, from the basics of telling time in intervals of 5 to telling time to the minute to elapsed time. The students are at different stages of telling time so today we tried to split them into groups more tailored to their knowledge and needs. If you feel that the homework your child has at some point is either too hard or too easy please let us know because we are trying to tailor it to their level.

Math groups will not be an everyday thing. They will be done occasionally in order to provide students with an extra challenge or practice.  We will always split them according to how they are doing with the current math topic so students will probably move within groups. They will all get a chance to work with all the teachers as well. All of the kids did excellent in Math today and we are looking forward to doing them again!

SyMmEtRy PiCtUrEs!!

Our students did a phenominal job with their symmetry unit, and created some beautiful artwork using the rules of symmetry!

Beautiful, bright moon!

Students and parents, Tonight the moon is finally out, and very bright I must say! I hope you all have a moment to check it out, especially since this is out last week observing the moon : ) Have a wonderful evening!

Little Bloggers : )

           The amazing students of Room 212, excited for our new blog : )

Telling Time!!!

Yesterday in class we introduced the terms 'quarter after', 'half past' and 'quarter til'  and began to teach the students how to identify this on the clock. They are beginning to get it, but any help at home to back up the information will be so helpful. Time can be tricky and any practice with reading a clock is good for them. :)

Kelsey and I were out for the first part of the day today, due to mentoring.  We are now back in our classroom and I will be observed by six teachers from around the district! Yikes! Our students are going to be writing Haikus about the moon, and then will be able to sponge paint them. 

These moon haikus will eventually be displayed in the front display case for you all to see. Here's hoping today goes well, and I hope you are all enjoying our new blog : )