News from Room 5

Hard to believe this will be the last Class Notes for the school year! The kids have grown up so much this year. I love these last two weeks together for we have time to celebrate what we have learned this year and focus on tying up loose ends to prepare for third grade.

In math we are working on our last group of work places. We are focusing on independent practice with adding and subtracting larger numbers, understanding place value and comparing larger and smaller numbers. Please feel free to come in and join us!

I also want to remind everyone to try to make it to school on time everyday. I am still collecting assessment data for the report cards and will be for the rest of the year!

News from Room 5

Hard to believe we have 2 weeks of school left! We sure have grown as a group this year! I was looking back at photos from the start of the school year, and am amazed by the amount the kids have grown up!

We have finished our Scott Foresman stories and are now focusing on “The Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson” as a read aloud. We are working on comprehension skills and strategies that will be valuable when reading chapter books independently and in a group. This past week, we are focusing on vocabulary words that we don’t know and guessing what the definition’s are. We are guessing based on the clues that are in the stories and later checking them in dictionaries. We are learning a lot!

In science and writing the class is finishing up their research reports on their pond animal. They students have learned what a paragraph is, used headings, have indented their paragraphs and created a broad topic sentence. The first drafts are being completed and editing will be out next step. We will then create E-Books using the same animals or (in a few cases) a new one.

News from Room 5

Art Night was so much fun this year! It was a great turn out and our student docents were so professional! A big thanks to all of you who came and participated. Our field trip to James and the Giant Peach was amazing! It was my favorite children’s play we have seen so far. Please ask your students about the play and who their favorite character was.

Math has been so much fun here in room 5, especially with our new math workplaces in full effect. PLEASE contact me if you can come in and help with one of the games! They have tricky rules and have double and triple digit subtraction and addition problems. One of the games is adding coins. Some of the children are having a hard time identifying the different coins (front and back). Please be sure to review and practice counting and identifying the coins at home!

Science and writing are one in the same these days! We have decided to do our research reports on our pond duck we have been studying. This week we focused on the introduction and the first paragraph (which is what habitat they live in and describing it). We are also learning about other animal habitats and the animals that live in them. We will later choose our favorite animal and create an E-Book with Ms. Cyndi.

This is our last week reading our stories from our Reading Street curriculum. It is hard to believe we are reading the last story! It will also be our last week for spelling homework this week as well.

News from Room 5

Art Night is tomorrow! I am so excited for the kids to share the art work we worked on this year with me and our fabulous Art Teacher,Ms. Gina! We will be sharing print making, collage and mixed media. There are 10 docents signed up to talk about our art work. We look forward to seeing you all back at Lewis for this fantastic event!

Math has been super exciting here in room 5. The kids are working on adding and subtracting double digit numbers and beginning to get more confident the more we practice! We have started another round of work places in the class where the kids can practice adding coins, adding multiples of 10 and 100. Please contact me if you would like to come in and work with us during math time! We would love it!

We have two more weeks of Reading Street stories. This week we are reading “Cowboys” and focusing on Cause and Effect. This non-fiction story has been quite informative. We have learned so much about cowboys and what their life style was like. It sure was hard work! Not as glamorous as we all imagined!

News from Room 5

This week we had a representative from the Audubon Society visit us to share amazing facts about “beautiful birds”. We learned about what the Audubon society is and where it is in Portland. We learned about the various adaptations birds have in order to be successful in their various habitats.

Friday is our last day for “Loud and Clear”, which was our residency brought to us by “The Right Brain Initiative”. In our final class the students will give a speech about their favorite bird from a pond or wetland habitat. The kids have worked really hard on their informative speeches! This has been an awesome experience for the kids! Our field trip to James and the Giant Peach in intended to be a closure to our fabulous residency with Oregon’s Children’s Theater.

News from Room 5

Please come to our classroom and take a look at our new word problems! The kids worked hard on creating a celebration themed word problem which worked with numbers larger than 10 and typically under 100. We really worked hard at analyzing the language to look for clues for what type of equation we will use to solve the problem.
As we move on to adding and subtracting larger numbers (multiplying too) we are learning how to use base ten pieces, and an open number line (which we just gained some exposure from, today). The students are expected to share their strategies prior to learning the common algorithm in order to really understand the math behind it. Don’t we wish we all learned this way!? It sure does clarify the reasoning behind the algorithm, (like what the real reason is for borrowing a 10).
Our research continues in room 5 about our favorite bird from a “wet land” and pond habitat. The students are filling out graphic organizers which will help them organize their information prior to drafting up a written draft. This will accompany a realistic portrait of their bird. Please look for these out in the hall before or after art night. Although, many folks have been trying to convince me to hang these for art night! We will just have to see.
I hope we will get a handful of volunteers to be docents at our annual art night! We are still deciding on what our class will show case. I would love parent help the day of art night and an afternoon before as well. Please look for an email or a text (if you signed up through the remind app). Feel free to email me if you can donate ANY time for our class to help with students or with clerical activities.
A friendly reminder to leave distracting toys at home or in your back pack. Thank you for your understanding and support of your children’s learning!

New from Room 5

Our filed trip to the Crystal Springs Rhododendrin Gardens was fabulous!  The Audobon society provided us with binoculors and field guides in order to observe and identify birds in the wetland habitat.  Students saw mallards, wood ducks, Canadian geese, Buffle Heads, American Widgeons and a few more. When we returned to school we found an awesome website called wedrawanimals.com which allowed us to follow step by step instructions to draw a particular animal we chose from the wetlands.  This week, we are going to do research on our bird to accompany our portrait.  Hopefully we will have them up in the hallway next week!

“Loud and Clear”, our residency from Oregon Children’s Theater, came this week!  We are learning to use public speaking skills by projecting our voice, using expression and gestures.  We plan to utilize our new skills to share facts about our birds.

News from Room 5

Today was our field trip! Thanks to all the parents that were able to join us on the long walk over to the Rhododendron Gardens!  We could not do it with out you.  This trip kicked off our new science unit on Habitats.  More to come on the field trip details next week!

Report cards go home this Friday.  Please let me know if you have any questions about report cards and progress notes (if your child gets them).  Your students have been working so hard this past quarter in all subjects!  It has been so much fun seeing their growth in math, writing and reading while doing formal assessments the past few weeks.

In science we have started our new unit on habitats.  This week, we have discussed what a habitat is and focusing on animals.  Ms. Cyndi has been leading discussions about various animals and their specific needs. The students are enjoying brainstorming ideas!

Our artist in residence, Gina, will be joining our class again on Thursday.  We are hoping to get our selves ready for Art Night in the next few weeks.  Please feel free to contact me if you are interested in helping with Art Night!  We would love some volunteers on the calendar (please contact me).

On Friday we will begin work with Oregon’s Children’s Theater.  They will be leading a workshop called: Loud and Clear, which will focus on public speaking skills and theater play.  I am super excited for this experience brought to us from Right Brain Initiative.

 

News from Room 5

We are really becoming mathematicians in room 5!  Late last week we started the unit: Branching into Larger Numbers: Money and Place Value.  Students will work extensively with numbers above 10.  We will use visual models provided by base ten pieces and hundreds grids.  Students will gain problem solving skills by working in 5’s, 10’s, 25’s and 100’s rather than by ones.  We kicked off the unit with solving word problems involving 10’s and 1’s.  We have began looking at the words used in the word problems to hint if the story problem will be an addition problem or a subtraction problem.  It has been so much fun working with the group on these and seeing their different strategies!

We finished our Extreme Weather slide shows this week and shared them with our buddies from room 24.  Please check these out when you pick your child up from school or ask me to share it with you if you have a Chrome Book!  We start our next Science unit on Habitats this week!

Our goal is to bring our folders in every Wednesday!  Please help us reach our goal by remembering!  Thanks so much for your support and PLEASE let me know if you have any questions!

News from Room 5

Tomorrow is our field trip to OMSI!  Be sure to remember your bag lunch from home if you did not have me order a sack lunch from the cafeteria.  We will be dining in our classroom at 10am.  Chaperones, if you would like to bring a snack or a lunch to eat while the kids are eating, please do!  Chaperones, most likely you may need to drive to OMSI because there is one bus coming for both second grades and Ms. Brenan’s class (1st and 2nd mix).  Hopefully adults can drive together if needed.  The bus will pick us up at 10:30 am  to get us to our Wild Weather Presentation at the OMSI theatre.  There will not be time to explore on this particular field trip.  Students will be assigned a chaperone during our time at OMSI.  We will head back to Lewis at noon.

Ms Cindy has been back in our room during science to help us conclude our science unit on weather.  The children have been working hard on “Extreme Weather” presentations which will include photos, images, captions, causes, effects, locations and other interesting facts. We are hoping to share our slide show presentations to our buddy class and you!