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

Thanksgiving Week Changes: There will be math and reading homework as usual Monday; however, there is no reading log required, nor is there a math facts quiz. Also next week, our blog will be taking a break for Thanksgiving. I hope you and your family have much to be thankful for this year, and I wish you the happiest of holidays!

The PTO sponsored Floral Family Fun Fair is coming on October 19th! Volunteers are still needed for this awesome event. Please consider signing up here: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0d4aa5ae2da1f94-2015

Rotary Readers are coming! In an effort to promote literacy across the town, Members of the Shrewsbury Rotary Club visit and read to second graders using engaging picture books that are then donated to each classroom’s library! We welcomed Rotarian Brent Arnold to our class today, and we’re grateful for the organization’s good works.

This week we are learning to use bar models to make sense of comparison problems. The model looks different from before because our thinking about solving the problem should be different. For example, consider this problem:

Notice how setting up the model this way shows understanding of what “more than” means. Using our knowledge of the parts-and-total bar model previously taught, it makes it easy for kids to see that what is required to solve this problem is addition.

The same can be said of using modeling to make sense of “less than” problems:

 

Students who set up the problem correctly can immediately see that Susan’s amount is smaller than Rosa’s, and that subtraction is called for to solve it. Like a parts-and-total frame, we subtract the part (157) from the total (824) to get the remaining part. See how helpful a tool bar modeling is?

Remember, you can access the student e-book from your Powerschool family page, or from the “Think Central” link above. It shows step-by-step with pictures how the math is being taught. This week is Chapter 4, Lessons 2 and 3. Additionally, see your child’s Math Homework folder center section, where I’ve included a tutorial on how kids are to draw bar models.

In writing this week, students will learn about the heart of writing narratives: the Main Event. This is where the young author should really stretch out the action and take the reader step-by-step through the event.

Consider how a good writer would tell about the following video. Instead of this: “I picked up the bat. The pitcher threw. I hit it,” good writing should sound more like this: “I grabbed the long, wooden bat and swung it up to my shoulder. The pitcher went through his warmup, smacking the ball in his glove to try to shake me. I dug my white high-tops into the dusty ground to show him I meant business.” See how the latter puts the reader in the picture? Try making up your own narrative to go with the video!