Posted by kavery508 | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on September 14, 2015
All School Meeting was a hit! 750 students and their teachers met at our monthly community-building event, demonstrating focus, stamina, cooperation, and participation. I’m particularly proud of our class for showing their best! This month’s meeting ended with a focus on perseverance, a character trait that we promote daily in the classroom. We build stamina for reading, develop strategies for when we’re stuck writing, and teach concrete steps students can take when attempting to work through challenging math. In fact, perseverance is one of the Standards of Mathematical Practice at the heart of the Common Core. For a full list and explanations, visit: http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Practice/
Source: Sesame St. via Youtube
Reminder: Please call the office when your child is absent, tardy, or when there is a change in dismissal plans. I appreciate the emails updating me as well; however please let the office know directly.
Do you have a current CORI background check with the Town of Shrewsbury? Parents who wish to visit classrooms or even join their children for lunch in the cafeteria must have an approved background check. The process is simple: drop by the Floral school office any school day; fill out a quick form; and present a driver’s license or proof of identity. It usually takes a couple of weeks to be approved, so the sooner you have it done, the easier it will be for last-minute plans. Note: Clearance through CORI remains current for 3 years, so if you’ve had one done in Shrewsbury within that time then you are all set! Just in time, too, because…
The Grade 2 Field Trip is coming! On Friday, October 16, our class will be traveling back in time on a visit to Old Sturbridge Village. The educational purpose of the trip is to investigate and learn about economics in a hands-on way, through the lens of local history. We will examine how wants and needs affect the goods and services provided to consumers of a community, and each student will produce an artifact to bring home. I’ve already heard from the kids that several of you have visited the village before! This place is a unique gem, similar to Plimoth Plantation, that I encourage everyone to make part of your weekend repertoire. To learn more and take a virtual tour, visit: https://www.osv.org/
The permission slip and fee request will be sent home at the beginning of October. I’m posting this in advance, to encourage dads and moms who can’t typically volunteer for daytime school activities to plan to join us as chaperones on that day. Our class is allowed 6 chaperones at the student rate. Please contact me if you are interested.
*Important* All chaperones MUST have a current CORI on file. If you need one and plan to chaperone then please have it done as soon as possible since it takes weeks before you’re cleared and you cannot accompany us without that clearance.
Along with building stamina during independent reading time, students will learn the ins-and-outs of reading with a partner (what we call Read to Others). At Read to Others time every day, students sit side-by-side and take turns reading from the same book or different books. They both look at the text while it’s being read, and take turns summarizing a page or section of text. Research supports this as a way to increase engagement; build fluency; and improve comprehension of what was read or heard!
In writing this week, students will continue to learn and practice classroom expectations at writing time including getting started right away and writing for the whole time. In addition, by analyzing read-alouds they will learn elements of good writing, including: ideas that are interesting and important, with a main idea and details; organization that is logical and effective; a sense of author’s voice that is individual and appropriate; and word choice that is specific and memorable. These are the qualities by which student work will be evaluated and reported out at report card time.
Our math focus this week is on problem solving. Strong problem solving requires a flexible, discriminating application of knowledge and skills, and is the means by which most math will be practiced this year–both in class and at home. This week, students will learn and practice how to understand a problem by reading, restating, and visualizing it; represent a problem by using objects and drawing pictures; solve a problem by choosing the right mathematical application; and check their accuracy by doing it over or applying an inverse operation. Building independence with these elements is an entire math goal in and of itself all year long!
