Learning To Go Mr. Avery's Class on the Web 

There’s just 3 weeks to go! This class has worked very hard all year, and come so far. They can be well proud of their accomplishments!

NOTE: This is the last week of reading, math, and math facts homework! Thank you for your help establishing routines with your child this year. It was extremely helpful!

Field Day is here! This Thursday marks the big event. Students will participate in their choice of a variety of games designed to engage and challenge them physically and mentally. They’ll compete against others to do their personal best, and work with partners and teams to exercise skills of teamwork and sportsmanship. To make the day run smoothly, we need your help:

1. Please send your child in a red shirt OR Hawaiian shirt of any kind that day.

2. Sneakers are a must: no flip-flops or sandals.

3. Sunscreen must be applied at home, not at school.

4. Well-fitting hats (e.g. baseball caps vs. big sun hats) and Hawaiian accessories are welcome.

5. Dress students for comfort: they will be very physically active and hot, and a few games involve water so expect a little wetness.

6. Please be sure your child’s name is on hisorher water bottle. There will be over 100 of them out there!

Our latest blog posts show what students have learned about data and graphing. After designing a survey to be answered by classmates, kids collected data and created picture graphs and bar graphs to represent the information. Then they interpreted the graphs in writing on their blogs, and challenged their readers with a question about the information–wow! As always, students may view blogs from home but should not change or post anything on there.

Floral Goes Green was a blast! Students all over the school displayed projects that reflected their learning about plastic’s impact on the planet, and spent the day learning from each other. Students in our class were on-hand near the games they created to explain and share with kids from all grades. Then we visited other rooms to learn about repurposing t-shirts, what to about bee decline, and much more. Kudos to them on the great job they did!

Students have been working hard on their projects for Floral Goes Green! After learning about the value of repurposing plastic, they’re working with teams of students from our class to design, build, test, troubleshoot, and customize games using all plastic parts. My favorite part of this process? The projects are 100% student work. I merely asked guiding questions related to engineering and design, and stood ready with a hot glue gun! These games will be set up in the gym on Thursday for all the school to try, with our students on hand to lead them. Can’t wait!

On Thursday, we will also engage in peer-assisted learning by visiting other classrooms. The Ridder classroom will be teaching us to repurpose t-shirts into bags! To do this, each student will need a t-shirt sent in from home that will be cut and tied. All sizes are welcome: the bigger the shirt, the bigger the bag! Please send them in by Wednesday this week. Extras for students without are always welcome.

Students are making great strides with Informative Writing. The big idea is to develop a topic with enough detail so the reader understands. Here are some great examples from: 1. Alivia, on Butterflies; 2. Ronav, on Cricket; 3. Aislinn, on Stars; and 4. Ekansh, on the Solar System: 1) For one thing, they hatch from an egg, then they turn into a caterpillar. Then they go into a chrysalis and turn into an adult butterfly. 2) Another important thing about Cricket is you can get extra runs to win the game. For example, if you hit the ball and it bounces and goes out, you get 4 runs. 3) Another important thing about stars is the sun. The sun is a star, too. It’s a big fireball of gas like other stars. 4) There’s comets and asteroids. Asteroids are made of hard rock and gas, while comets are made of ice and gas.  Super!

This week in math students will be learning to identify 2D and 3D shapes by their properties; to recognize them in figures and models; and to create designs and structures with the shapes of properties in mind. PBS Kids has game apps that let students take advantage of mobile technology to apply math and literacy concepts. In general, the skills taught in grades 2 and 3 match the shows for these grades, such as Cyberchase, Arthur, and Word Girl. If you’re looking for fun ways to keep the learning going this summer, give them a try!

 

With just 5 weeks to go, it’s time to think about the end of the year! Please read this message from our Media Center:

“Dear Floral Families:

It’s hard to believe that the end of the school year is just 5 weeks away!

It is a big undertaking trying to get the Media Center back in order by the end of the school year, so we wanted to let you know that the last day students will be able to check books out will be Friday, May 17th. All books will be due the following Friday, May 24th.

If there are any books you are unable to find, please let one of us know and we will send you a bill for the replacement cost.  Your child can bring in a check made out to the Shrewsbury Public Schools.  Please do not buy another book. Paying the replacement cost allows us to purchase a library bound hard cover book that will withstand years use.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Sincerely,

Shelley Crowell scrowell@shrewsbury.k12.ma.us and Karen Geddes kgeddes@shrewsbury.k12.ma.us

Floral Media Center”

Thanks for the great response to our request for Field Day volunteers! This year will be even more special with the addition of a Hawaiian theme. Students are welcome to wear costume extras to get in the spirit–though keep in mind they’ll be very active. Classrooms have been assigned colored shirts for easier identification. Ours is red, but students can either wear a red shirt or a Hawaiian style shirt of any colors on Field Day, May 30.

Our next two math chapters for study involve geometry. This week, students will learn that figures are made up of lines and curves. They will identify the same, and create figures of their own. In addition, they will learn about surfaces of solid objects and identify them as curved or flat. Finally, they will learn properties of solid objects, in particular which objects can stack, slide, and roll. All of this is a precursor to the geometry of plane shapes and solids which we will take on in the 2 weeks following. If you’re accessing the student e-book at home, this is Book B, chapter 18 & 19. It’s a great resource, especially if your child has questions on homework!

In science, students were introduced to the properties of solid objects, including scientific vocabulary of classification (rigid; flexible; pointed; opaque; translucent; etc.). They applied these ideas as they worked to design hats using a variety of materials and based on their properties (absorbent, soft, etc.)!

Field Day is coming! The kids absolutely LOVE this day, when grade level peers play solo and group games outside. We need your help to run games that day! All that’s needed is to give your time–everything else is provided for you. Our Field Day is Thursday, May 30, 12:30-2:45. Please sign up using this link, and thank you: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050f44aeaa2aa13-fsshawaiian

Our end of year ELA focus is on identifying and recognizing parts of speech. We’ll learn about the purpose of pronouns, verbs, and adverbs in sentences, and how to identify them in text. A fun part of our instruction will be singing along to Schoolhouse Rock (remember those old tunes? Turns out they were right on!). Peruse them at home, and ask your child to identify the learning going on!

In writing news, students have been busy practicing their informative writing skills. They are learning to write with details that expand the main idea. Here are two excerpts from pieces on recycling from 1) Sahithi, and 2) Charlie: 1) The first thing you should know about recycling is food scraps can be recycled. For one thing, food waste turns into compost. Plus, compost gives soil nutrients. 2) Another important thing about it is you can recycle plastic. They melt plastic into beads. Then the beads are turned into new plastic materials.  Super!

This week we wrap up our learning on data and graphing by examining line plots and bar graphs. What’s important for kids to know at the end is that information can be shown visually in a variety of ways; that a “key” holds important information for interpreting graphs; and that there is a difference between reading a graph (just saying what you literally see) and interpreting them (telling what the tallies, bars, numbers, and words mean);  and that graphs can be used to solve real world problems. This page from the student book illustrates these points well: