Happy New Year!
We’re off to a wonderful start in 2020. Now that everyone has had lots of rest and relaxation, we are ready for some challenging new adventures in the coming months. The students made resolutions for 2020 and have new goals for the new year. Ask your child to tell you his/her new goals!
Geography - New Social Studies Theme
During this new unit, the children will "travel America" to learn about various geography concepts. The children made "suitcases" to collect information as they travel. They also brainstormed everything they already know about this topic. We talked about how states can have land and water borders. We tore a piece of paper to reinforce that Illinois has both land borders which are straight and water borders which are wiggly. We also worked to learn Illinois' state symbols.
We also started Mystery State this week. The children receive one clue per day, and they put the clues together to guess the mystery state! They only get one guess, so I encourage them to wait for more clues before they commit to something. I reveal the state on Friday afternoon, and the students who guess correctly get their names listed in this newsletter. Motivation is very high for this fun and information-filled learning experience!
Math
Our first week back to school in 2020 was great fun. The students did more work with the second investigation of Unit 3. They have been solving story problems based on situations involving the imaginary Sticker Station store. An important aspect of our work has been to make sure students understand a problem before they begin trying to solve it! We use "math theater" to act out the problems. This information helps students realize if the action in the problem is to join amounts of stickers (addition situation) or separate amounts of stickers (subtraction situation), and helps them write the equation that matches the problem's action. Through "math theater" students also seek to recognize which part of the equation is unknown. For example, equations for different join situations could be: result unknown (ie. 10+10=?), the change unknown (ie. 10+?=20), or the start unknown(ie. ?+10=20). Of course, the RSW steps for solving story problems are also important for students to understand what to do with story problems!
The solution strategies students use to solve problems about the Sticker Station reinforce the use of place value. Many students are moving away from drawing pictures to solve sticker problems to decomposing numbers in the equation into tens and ones. By recognizing tens and ones, students use their knowledge of basic addition and subtraction facts to solve problems with much larger numbers. For example, 32+58=? can be solved by adding the tens (30+50=80), then adding the ones (8+2=10), then adding 80+10=90. Students who can decompose in this way can use a number line to solve or simply manipulate the equations to solve. You would be amazed to hear students explain their thinking to one another! Our math talks are fascinating!
In addition to solving story problems and having wonderful math talks, the students have played several games, including Get to 100, Close to 20, and Get to $1.00.
Writing Workshop
In writing, the children began working on opinion letters about their favorite books. The students have learned they can write about characters and need to be clear about their opinions, reasons for their opinions and examples to support their opinions. Many students seem to struggle thinking deeply enough about books to support their opinions with evidence from the text. Partners are working together to rehearse before they write. You can support your child at home by talking about the books they are reading and helping them identify what they like about their books and why. We will also be talking about writing opinions about pictures, favorite parts, lessons learned, etc. in favorite books.
Reading Workshop
Second graders at this time of year are reading bigger books and amping up their reading power! For the next couple of months we will focus on three important aspects of fiction reading: fluency, literary language, and tracking longer stories.
This week we focused on the critical foundational reading skill of fluency. Research has shown that fluency has a direct correlation to comprehension. Students worked to "listen" to the voices written on the pages of their books and reread to make sure they are reading as the author intended. Even if your child seems to be able to read many words per minute, you can check to see if they are actually following punctuation, reading according to dialogue tags, reading with voice, etc. We also talked about how students need to scoop words in phrases rather than read read too quickly or read only one word at a time, and how students who read fluently change their voices to reflect the mood or meaning of their text. Additionally, we talked about how fluency is NOT reading fast. Pausing for appropriate breaks also leads to more fluent reading. Ask your child to tell you what s/he has done this week to read more fluently.
We also began a new read aloud, Gooseberry Park, By Cynthia Rylant. The students are becoming deeper thinkers about the text, they are recording their thinking in their Readers' Notebooks, and we are having wonderful conversations about this great book.
Word Study
The first word sorts for 2020 is a continuation of r-controlled vowels, or “bossy r” words. Before break, the children studied words spelled /ar/ such as in shark, remark, etc. and /or/, such as fork, horn, etc. This week, the children learned that /er/ says the engine sound "rrrrrrrrrr" such as in clerk, perch, etc. We compared this to /-ear/ and /-eer/ which both have the CVVC spelling pattern, so the first vowel says its long sound, such as spear, hear, cheer, and peer. Some students also learned that /ir/ and /ur/ also say the engine sound "rrrrrrrrr" so they need to visualize the words to spell them correctly.