What's Happening?

     It has been a busy week to say the least. We have begun using our new Best Practices workbook in reading. It is an engaging, color workbook that uses fiction and non-fiction to teach various reading strategies. For example, the first story was a fictional piece about a young man who wants some pizza. The next story was a non-fiction text about making pizza. The students were then to summarize each text and then compare and contrast the two texts. This is an excellent way to improve reading comprehension.
     We also continued to read Ants by Rebecca Stefoff. Today we re-read the text to get ready for our test tomorrow. We also reread the story because rereading is a wonderful way to improve fluency. As we reread the story, the students took turns discussing the story, asking questions, and explaining what they learned. These "mini-discussions" with peers are also an excellent way to improve comprehension.

     Our class is still focused on functional or procedural writing at this time.  We will begin report writing the second week in March.  At this point, the students are trying to finish their pieces for their portfolio.   They really know the standards for this kind of writing.  It is amazing to watch them write their pieces and double check the standards to make sure they have met every aspect of them.  I have also found conferences with the students much easier because they are familiar with the standards.   The students understand when I tell them that their piece lacks a context or sequential steps.  

     Math Investigations has focused on rectangles, symmetry and fractions.  One day was spent creating quick images.  This is when the students are shown a rectangle as shown below.

The students are only given a brief glimpse of the rectangle.  They must then recreate the shape on a piece of paper.  Once they have recreated their shapes, the students were then expected to describe their shape in enough detail so the teacher could then draw what they drew. 

      The students discovered fairly quickly that their rectangles had column and a row.  A column would be the line of tiles that go up and down (vertical).  The row would be the line of tiles that go from side to side (horizontal).   They found that they were able to draw the images if they counted the column and the rows.  They also discovered they could describe the image better in terms of columns and rows.    This new found knowledge will help the students when we move on to our discussions of fractions, multiplication, area, and so much more.

     Our class has also been studying the Arctic and Rainforest this past week.  The students completed a WebQuest on the Arctic at the beginning of the week.  They then created a PowerPoint display.  The class then posted the slideshow to Voicethread and added commentary.  To view the final product, visit the student blog.  They did a SUPERB job!

      Finally, we have been studying famous Americans all week.  The students have learned about Abraham Lincoln, Paul Revere, George Washington, Ruby Bridges and a few other famous Americans.  On Friday, our American Icon Projects will be due.  we are looking forward to seeing what the students have created.  It should be a real treat.

     As a final note, Sheffield Elementary has some adorable new additions to our school.  For photos on these ADORABLE new additions, again visit the student blog.  The students have responded very well to these new additions.  They are very careful to observe from afar rather than try to get up close for fear they may scare them.  We will keep you posted as to their progress since we do tend to feed them daily.   

Take a moment....

Good evening! If you have a moment, read a good book. Punctuation Takes a Vacation is a wonderul text that we read in the beginning of the year. Just click on the eyes to go to the larger version of the text. They will take you to a site where you can also check out some other picture books as well. I hope you enjoy it. Have a nice evening!

Our Classroom

The Latest

     Greetings from Mrs. Cowan's Class.  We have been busy the past few days working very hard.  In Reading, we are still reading Ant by Rebecca Stefoff.  Today the class did a fabulous job of creating anagrams about ants.  I will try my best to post them on the web site.  It will take me a few days since I have more updating to do as well.  

     We are still working on our functional writing pieces in Writing.  Mrs. Robinson introduced a graphic organizer to the students today that will hopefully organize their work.  The organizer comes from the Step Up to Writing program.  It is an excellent program that incorporates many wonderful ideas into writing instruction.  I will let you know how the pieces work out.

     We are studying American Symbols/Icons this month in Social Studies. Each child was required to complete a project. This project is due Friday. Details about the project were sent home 3 weeks ago. This project will count for a grade in several subjects to it is imperative that all students complete it.  Please feel free to be creative in the presentations.  Your child may do a poster, model, a PowerPoint display or even a web page.  I have heard from several students that they are creating web sites.  I look forward to seeing all of your wonderful projects.  Feel free to be creative and have fun!

     Starting this week, I will be sending home a short story with a few questions that need to be answered.  Each short story is specifically created to reinforce a reading standard that has been taught in class as well as improve fluency.  I would suggest reading the story once on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night aloud.  This will help your child to practice reading aloud which will improve fluency (reading speed).  On Thursday, the questions related to the story can be answered.  These stories can count toward the 20 minutes of nightly reading.  

     On Thursday, February 21, the 2^nd grade presented a PTA program in honor of Black History Month and President’s Day.  It was a wonderful success.  I wish to thank all of those that participated and joined us for an entertaining evening.  The children worked hard and did a fabulous job singing.  Great work!  Pictures of the event will be given to you at the end of the year on our Digital Class Yearbook. 

     As a sidebar, I recently completed a proposal at Donorschoose.org where I am asking for books that will allow our students to write reports and create PowerPoint displays.  The proposal is called Researchers Abound.  The id number is 161849.  If you are able to help us out, simply enter the id number into the search box and our project will be displayed.  These books will help our students to become better researchers and writers.

     Finally, you will notice a new button on the side of the blog that says, "Call Me."  You can click on this button to type in the phone number you are calling from and your name.  Once you have entered that information, you can actually call me.  Give it a try if you would like to contact me.  It does work.  This way, if you have a question about the blog or what we are doing in class, you can call me right away.  Isn't technology grand?  Well, have a nice evening.

Total Lunar Eclipse

     Good evening!  I hope everyone is having a wonderful night.  If you have not already heard, there is going to be a total lunar eclipse this evening.  A lunar eclipse occurs when the full moon passes into the Earth's shadow.  The shadow then blocks the sun's rays that normally illuminate the moon.  It is rumored that Saturn will even make an appearance this evening.  

     Weather permitting, we should be able to see this treat around 10:00 p.m. until

 approximately 10:52 p.m..  During this time, the entire moon will be blocked by the Earth's shadow.  Take a few moments to check it out because this will not happen again until December 20, 2010.  

      I stepped out this evening and snapped a few pictures of the moon.  Here they are. 

 

     Look for more pictures to be posted later this evening.  For more information, go to Discover Channel on the web.  They will be posting live updates.  You can also visit NASA for even more information.  Better yet, check out the eclipse for yourself from your front porch.  It will be a real treat.

Check out our Valentine's Day Math Fun

     Here are some photos of the various math activities we did related to Valentine's Day and our current investigation.  The students had to create a quilt pattern using different colored shapes.  The idea came from Mathwire, a site devoted to math resources for teachers.    Then we had the students graph their hearts they were each given in a bag.  They also had to guess how many of the smaller hearts were needed to to fill the larger heart.  Then we exchanged valentines and had treats in the afternoon.  It was not a bad way to integrate art, math, and a "social".  Enjoy!

Happy Valentine's Day

     I just thought I would wish everyone a HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! We have accomplished so much this past week. In reading, we have been working on monitor and clarify while reading. For more information on monitor and clarify, check out the slideshow below. It was the slideshow I used to present the strategy to the students. They even took notes on how to monitor/clarify when reading.

     We also spent the week reading Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann. It was a wonderful story that the students really enjoyed. It is about Officer Buckle trying to teach students about safety. Initially, most students are off-task for his presentations until Gloria (his partner that is a dog) decided to spice things up with her acting skills.  It is a wonderfully written story that the students loved.  

    We are still working on our procedural writing pieces.  The students are meeting most aspect of the standards.  We just need to work on using more adjectives and vivid verbs.  We just need to spice it up!  Here are a few links to help your child better understand adjectives and vivd verbs.

Adjectives:

Match the Adjective to the Noun

Using Adjectives

Find the Adjective

Quiz Time

Grammar Blaster

Skillswise

Verbs:

Verbs versus Nouns

Catch the Verb

Grammar Gorilla

     In math this past week we have begun our study of shapes.  The students have been breaking shapes down, taking notice of their attributes, composing shapes,  graphing, and making educated guesses as to how many shapes would fill another shape.  Mrs. Robinson did a wonderful job of tying the Valentine's Day math activity to our current unit of study in Math Investigations.  The lessons seemed to flow together.  I know the students had fun trying to guess how many candy hearts would fill the shape.  They also enjoyed graphing the colors of hearts in their bags as well.  I will be posting pictures of that soon.

     In Social Studies, we have spent this past week learning about holidays.  The students read a book about Groundhog Day and Valentine's Day by Gail Gibbons.  Gail Gibbons is a wonderful author who is able to write non-fiction texts that the students can easily understand.  If you ever have the opportunity to check her work out, please do so.  The students were able to learn so much about both holidays by using her texts.  The students also learned about Abraham Lincoln.  Mrs. Robinson read a story to them and showed them a PowerPoint presentation about President Abraham Lincoln. They were then able to complete a non-fiction book report using both resources.  If you wish to view the PowerPoint presentation they saw, click here.  We will hopefully be making our own PowerPoint presentations when we switch to report writing in a few weeks.  

     In Science this week, the students were busy learning about various animals such as fish and reptiles.  This will assist them in the coming weeks when we switch to report writing.  They will be able to use their science text as a resource.

     The class has also been busily practicing for the upcoming PTA program.  They have been trying to learn the songs with Mrs. Robinson's help and have been doing a wonderful job with it.  We look forward to seeing you there on Thursday!  Please check out the slideshow below for more information on monitor and clarify when reading.  Thanks and again, Happy Valentine's Day!

Technology in the classroom

     The following videos are short videos that display the newest program acquired by the county called Destination Success.  Destination Success can be used by the students individually or as a means of whole group instruction.  Check out the videos below to see it in use in my classroom for whole group instruction.  The first video features a mom and her daughter discussing the lizard her class were given.  The focus of the lesson was adjective use.  I selected this lesson because the student's writing lacked adjectives.  It is my hope that this lesson will help them to better understand how to use an adjective to enhance writing.

     The second video features my students completing the on-line activity that follows the lesson above.  It serves as a means of checking understanding.  As you could tell from the video, my students were able to correctly identify the adjective needed for each sentence.  

     The writing following the lesson reflected a better understanding of adding adjectives to writing to make it better.  The majority of the students were able to add more details to their functional writing pieces to create a clearer picture of what they wanted the reader to do.  Great work!

Check out the Manatee

     I captured this video while at Disney's Epcot this past weekend.  It features a manatee from The Seas exhibit with Nemo and Friends.  I decided to share it since we are learning about animals and their habitats in science.  I believe that it is romaine lettuce floating in the water with manatee.  This manatee is a male that weighs over 1100 pounds.  He was brought in because he was orphaned at a very young age.  The video is only about a minute long but you can tell what a majestic creature the manatee is.  Enjoy!

  

News from the fast lane...

      Time sure does fly when you are having fun! Mrs. Robinson has begun taking over several classes. She is doing a WONDERFUL job! In Math, for example, she has been busy starting our brand new unit called Shapes, Halves and Symmetry. You may have already guessed that this unit will involve shapes.
     The first few lessons are spent composing and decomposing shapes. Now I realize you may be wondering what that means. Well, this is when the students try to see what shapes can be put together to make other shapes as well as what shapes can be used to take larger shapes apart. The students had a blast trying to decompose and compose shapes. During this Investigation, students explore sorting, identifying, and describing shapes based on various attributes as well. This is also when they begin to describe the spatial and numerical relationships among shapes. It is really an interesting unit.
     Here are some pictures of the various lessons we have already done. If you can, take a moment to check it out. Please take a look at how the students composed and decomposed various shapes. Also check out their sorted groups of shapes. It is interesting to see how many different ways the same shapes can be sorted. It is all a matter of perspective.

     Mrs. Robinson has also begun teaching the students Social Studies and Science. She engages the students through authentic literature, technology, hands-on instruction and various other techniques. For Science, she had the students create the plants and animals based on their habitats. She also visited an array of websites that grabbed the students attention and kept them focused throughout the lesson.

     We have also begun practicing for our PTA program.  Our 2nd graders will be performing on February 21st.  It will be a wonderful program devoted to being an American.  The students have been working very hard learning the songs.  They even have a script to memorize.  It should be a real treat! 

     Well, I must be going.  There are many more pages that I must update.  Look for more updates soon.  Have a wonderful evening and take care!

Web 2.0 and the Classroom

Web 2.0 Tools in Your Classroom

From: markwoolley, 10 months ago

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A workshop presented at the Sandhurst Diocese Education Conference
This workshop will focus on the “New” read-write web and look at the many opportunities to use these web tools in your classroom.
The support bog can be found at http://sandhurst.edublogs.org


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