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

Reading homework starts this week! Students must fill out the homework log from the purple folder completely, and bring it to you to sign each week. The log is due every Friday for credit. If your child loses the log, simply write down the same info on a piece of paper, sign it, and send it back.

Every night, students should read for 20 or more minutes for enjoyment and to learn. This week, they will bring home books that are on or just below their independent levels. Reading aloud to you the whole time is no longer a requirement in grade 2; however, it is a good idea to have your child read a passage aloud. This helps them practice fluent-sounding reading, and allows you to prompt them to use reading strategies (Does that make sense? Does it look/sound right? What other words do you know that can help you read that word?) when stuck. Use the suggested reading comprehension prompts sent home in the Curriculum Night packet to check for understanding. As I mentioned: last year we learned to read; this year we learn to read–very exciting! Next week students may begin reading from Raz Kids–more on that to come.

Fall Festival is coming on Friday, October 31! At Floral, we opt for a fun day of fall activities instead of Halloween parties and costume parades. In the morning, we will participate in craft activities; in the afternoon, we will be square dancing in the gym at Floral’s own annual hoedown! Students may wear cowboy/girl attire to school that day to join in the fun–grownups, too!

I need 4 parents to come in and run the activities that day, from 9:30-11:00. The crafts will be ready, and I’ll demonstrate them for you. If you’d like to volunteer, please contact me: kavery@shrewsbury.k12.ma.us

Volunteers must have a current (e.g. within 3 years with the Town of Shrewsbury) CORI background check. If you need one, simply stop into the front office with your ID as soon as possible–it takes just a few minutes to apply for. This is especially important if you wish to apply to join us on our Field Trip on Oct. 10th, since the CORI takes some time to process and the date is fast approaching.

In case there are more volunteers than spaces available, consider coming in to help us during literacy times (mornings before 11:00 for 1/2 hour) on a weekly basis. I will post a link to an online signup board at the beginning of November for you to choose a time and day.

This Week’s Learning:

 We continue to learn about recognizing personal connections to the texts we read. Young children may say they have no connections to a story (about, say, the first day of school). This just means they’re still learning to become aware of how situations in text relate to their lives. When reading with your child, help her/him see the way characters and plots are similar to people and events s/he knows. The next step is to teach kids to see why this is meaningful: when they make a connection to a text, it helps them understand better, make predictions, and follow the choices made by the characters. More info on the different types of connections we encourage students to become aware of, as well as good prompts for adults to give: http://www.readwritethink.org/professional-development/strategy-guides/making-connections-30659.html

In math, we are nearing the end of chapter 1. This week will be spent finishing work, practicing and extending skills, and summarizing learning. Students will take their first test, which will be scored and sent home. In addition, you will receive the chapter 1 wrap up (skills expected to be mastered) and chapter 2 overview in paper form. We will also spend time this week on problem solving (see the Standards for Mathematical Practice in the Curriculum Night packet). Our focus is less on the correct answer and more on helping children to develop the kind of thinking necessary to perform multi-step actions requiring mathematical thinking. See a parents’ guide here: https://www.sandi.net/cms/lib/CA01001235/Centricity/Domain/217/MPS%20PARENT%20Guide.pdf

 Our writing focus this week is on opinion writing. The ultimate goal for college and career readiness is for students to clearly state and justify opinions (academic and otherwise) using facts from research. We begin at this age by learning the difference between facts and opinions. Then students will analyze pieces of opinion writing, and learn to write their own using the Opinion Pillar as a guide (see Curr. Night packet).

 The goal of social studies is to use critical thinking skills to understand the world and our place in it by examination from the points of view of history, geography, economics, civics, and culture. This week, we will analyze biographies of a historical figure from Massachusetts: Johnny Appleseed! We will compare life long ago with today, and learn to separate historical facts from tall tales. Kid friendly info and games can be found at: http://www.bestapples.com/kids/teachers/johnny.shtml This week we will also continue map studies by developing a sense of 3-d space by building models of our classroom, and of 2-d space by drawing representations of places around us.

 Our science focus this term is on biology.  Specifically, we will use the topic Frogs and Toads to explore characteristics of living things. We will learn to ask scientific questions and research answers, and to make scientific observations with accurate drawings, labels, and descriptions. We start this week by classifying living vs. nonliving things; asking questions for research; and identifying elements of habitats. For online learning and games, try: http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/gamesactivities/plantsanimals.html