Tuesday, October 30, 2012

We worked very hard today. This morning we learned about a new app (and website) that we can use to practice our math and reading skills. It is called "ScootPad." We also tried out a new app, called "Sushi Monster", that we can use to practice addition and multiplication skills. We continued working on comparing and contrasting during I Time. In math we continued working on identifying different angles - acute, obtuse, and right. This afternoon we had a substitute teacher in music, we did a practiced timed reading test, and learned how to log on to Compass Learning Odyssey with the new logins we have this year. It was a busy day!

Monday, October 29, 2012

We worked hard in room 310 today! This morning we began our last week of this session of I Time. We are continuing to work on comparing and contrasting. In math we looked at the attributes of 2 dimensional shapes. We looked at angles and determined whether they were acute, obtuse, or right. After math we got our new spelling words for this week. We had lunch and recess and then Mrs. Prekop came for SEL. She had us do some activities that involved being a good listener. This afternoon we monitored our comprehension as we learned more about the branches of government. The book we read compared the branches of government to basketball. Then we worked on Achieve3000 and during Daily 5 we continued working on monitoring our comprehension.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Today was an awesome day. After our morning meeting we had I Time and worked on comparing and contrasting. Then we talked about polygons and 2-dimensional shapes during math. Polygons must be closed, made of straight edges, and have only 1 inside space. Recess ended up being an indoor recess and we did Adventure to Fitness. Afterwards, we went to music where we played "Just Dance Kids". Then we talked a little bit about being Mayor and brainstormed questions to ask our Mayor tomorrow. We watched the Jefferson Spelling Bee (congrats to the winner, Jesse!). We did a little reading and had physical education. After physical education we had cookies for Ava's birthday and watched a Tumblebook.

Reminders:

• Bring Library Books tomorrow
• Dress for our walking field trip to City Hall tomorrow
• Parent/Teacher Conferences are tomorrow

Monday, October 22, 2012

It was a cloudy and gray day outside, but lots of learning took place inside room 310 today! This morning we took a pretest on Geometry. We talked about some of the new activities in our BUILD math centers. Geometry has lots of new vocabulary for us to learn. This afternoon we discussed features of nonfiction texts. We did a partner scavenger hunt through a book to see what features we could find. After we celebrated Ty's birthday with a special treat, we went back to the text features. This time we each got our own book. We looked for three features in our own books. We identified the feature, illustrated it, and wrote it's purpose.

Reminders:

• Conferences will take place on Wednesday evening. Reminders were sent home today. If any conflicts should arise, please let me know as soon as possible, so other arrangements can be made.
• Wednesday we will be walking to City Hall. Students should dress appropriately for the weather and the walk.
• We do NOT have spelling words this week.

Friday, October 19, 2012

This was a busy week and we accomplished a lot in room 310. Today we finished our multiplication and division unit - we took our post-test and we all got better scores. We showed growth! Next week we are going to be doing a lot of learning in only 3 days. Here are a few reminders for next week:

• Conferences are on Wednesday, October 24th. Reminders will be sent home.
• Wednesday we are also going on our field trip to City Hall. Remember to dress appropriately for the weather (we will be going rain or shine) and for a walk. We will be back at school in time for lunch, so there is no need for a bag lunch.
• Since we have school for only 3 days, we will not be having spelling.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

We accomplished a lot today! This morning we continued comparing and contrasting during I Time. Afterwards, we reviewed multiplication and division fact families and writing number stories. We solved some multiplication number stories. Before lunch we got to go to the library to return our books and get new books. This afternoon, we had music right away. Afterwards, we read more of Ramona Quimby, Age 8. The author (Beverly Cleary) uses lots of good word choice. Since we only had an hour for math in the morning, we finished math in the afternoon. Then we moved on to reading. We read an article about the branches of government. Some of us met with Mrs. Benedict in a group to work on test-taking strategies. Others of us worked on Daily 5 and Achieve3000.

Tomorrow is Picture Retake day! Remember to dress appropriately if you need to have your picture retaken.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Today was a crazy day and filled with many absences! This morning we did not have I Time because Ms. Huebner's class had another commitment and Mr. Bagurdes was absent. Instead, we got to have extra math time. We reviewed using multiplication facts (and our multiplication charts) to solve division problems. We also reviewed what multiplication facts we are able to instantly recall at this point. We should be able to answer all facts that are x0 or x1. We might also be able to answer x2 and x5. After lunch we were supposed to have music, but Mrs. Bina was not here either. Mrs. Benedict showed us how to use two new apps for reading on our iPads - Storia and National Geographic. The online books and magazines often have special interactive features. We got to spend some time trying out both apps. Then, since we missed music we got to do an activity on "Adventure to Fitness". For our second workout, we got to have physical education. We had a substitute teacher in physical education, too, because Mr. K was absent. We finished the day with more Daily 5. Mrs. Benedict was happy that with all of the absences, at least all of the students were here in room 310 today!

Monday, October 15, 2012

Today was a wild day. This morning we worked on multiplication and division story problems in math. We had an assembly during I Time. We did all of our team cheers and we learned a new Jefferson school cheer (Ms. Wall might still change it a little bit). We also got our new spelling words this morning. This afternoon, in literacy, we found several great vocabulary words in Ramona Quimby, Age 8. Then we read about our country's government and Washington, D.C. We learned that Washington, D.C. is a city that belongs to all of the states in the United States. It is not a city that belongs to one state like other cities.

Reminder: "Let's Spell" worksheet is due tomorrow

Friday, October 12, 2012

Today was a kind-of crazy day. After our class meeting, we started working on math, but only for a little bit of time. Then we switched classes for I Time and continued to work on comparing and contrasting. Comparing is telling how two or more things are the same or alike. Contrasting is to tell how two or more things are different or not alike. We made multiplication strategy charts during math. Read our KidBlog posts to see them and learn more about them. This afternoon we learned how to include pictures in our KidBlog posts. We worked on writing, we worked on reading and monitoring comprehension, and we worked on Daily 5.

Thursday, October 12, 2012

Today was another crazy, busy day in room 310! This morning we continued to work on multiplication strategies. We also worked on writing multiplication/division fact families. During I Time we continued to work on comparing and contrasting. This afternoon we read more about local and state government. We left tracks of our thinking as we read. We also did Achieve3000, glued our spelling sorts into our notebooks, and did Daily 5.

Spelling tests tomorrow!!

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Today, we wrote our own individual posts about today on our kidblog website. Please visit it!

http://kidblog.org/MrsBenedictsClass-2/

Tomorrow we have LIBRARY!! Please bring your books.

Monday, October 8, 2012

Today was another busy day. We began the day with two pretests - one in math and one for I Time. In math we are learning about multiplication. We learned the rules for multiplying by 0 and by 1. Any number times 0 always equals zero Any number times 1 equals that same number. We switched classrooms for I Time today, too. We are working on identifying features of nonfiction texts and comparing/contrasting texts. This afternoon we started new guided reading groups. We also finished reading Jake Drake, Bully Buster. In addition to all the work we did, we had two fire drills!

Homework tonight:
1) Finish "Let's Spell" worksheet
2) Return progress report slips and conference slips ASAP

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Today we did a lot of work! This morning we learned about area in math. Area is the amount of space inside an shape - like the tiles on a floor. We found the area by counting square tiles, using repeated addition, and even using multiplication. In the middle of math we went to Ms. Raab's room and read Ladybug Girl and the Bug Squad for "Read for the Record". We finished area when we got back to our classroom and then we played the "I have...who has..." measurement game. This afternoon we reviewed our spelling sorts and glued them into our notebooks. One reading group did a play about bullying. We used TTQA (turn the question around) to write complete sentences about what we would do in different bullying situations. Then it was time to head home.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Today was an amazing day! It was "Wheeling and Walking" to school today - many of us were able to walk, skateboard, ride a Razor, and roller skate to school. We got to go to the library and check out books for the first time this year! Mrs. Rivest (our new librarian) said that we were the best class in the library yet. In art we earned five tickets towards our chance to win the Jefferson Traveling Bear award. This afternoon we got to do Adventure to Fitness.

We have two special homework assignments tonight:
1) Correct & Finish Timed Test
2) Write address (including city and state) on index card

Big Goal Setting Day

Today was a big goal setting day! We set all kinds of goals. We wrote a goal and a learning plan for math, writing, and reading. In math, many of us are working on building our number fluency. In reading, many of us are working on monitoring our comprehension as we read. In writing, many of us are working on writing an on-topic paragraph with five sentences. In addition to goal setting, today we wrote about math on kidblog. We also practiced finding the perimeter of different shapes. The perimeter is the distance around an object, kind of like a fence. We did Daily 5 and got to go on raz-kids on our classroom computers. Unfortunately, raz-kids doesn't work on our iPads. Besides all the work we did in our classroom, we also had physical education and music today.