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

Just 3 weeks to go! It’s so awesome to see the amazing growth in these young scholars. There is much to be proud of!

Thank you for supporting our classroom’s health by sending supplies this year! We still need kleenex, if you haven’t sent any yet, and we need band-aids (plain, no antibacterial) and hand sanitizer to wrap up the year in healthy style. Thank you!

Field Day is coming! This is an event kids remember and write about for years. The blacktop and soccer field will host an array of individual and team challenges designed to engage kids mentally and physically. Grade 2’s day is Thursday, June 8, in the afternoon. Please plan to send your child in a blue t-shirt that day (classes are color-coded for easy identification and safety). Also, there is a pirate theme to this year’s games. Students are welcome, but not at all required, to wear pirate accessories (minus weapons) as long as it doesn’t pose a safety issue when they are running, jumping, etc. Check back here next week for field day tips!

Some end-of-year notes:

• There are 2 more weeks of reading, math, and math facts homework, ending on June 9.
• Students will be taking reading tests in class (DRA’s). These are not sent home, but their independent reading level is noted on the final report card, issued on the last day of school. On-grade level= Independent Level 28M.
• This Friday, students will take the district problem-solving assessment. This week’s math homework is all about preparing them to respond in ways that are Clear, Complete, and Accurate.

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!

Students have been taking their blogging to the next level by engaging in discourse around the bag ban debate. They are learning to agree and disagree respectfully, and to pose questions to each other to stimulate discussion. Wow! Students are welcome to share our class blogs with you when at home by following this link and entering their password: https://kidblog.org/class/mr-averys-class8/login. They should not however post or comment from home.

This week they will learn to take and upload a photo of their math work and challenge each other to identify the shapes in figures they create with pattern blocks. Cool!

Our final math topic of the year is multiplication facts for 3 and 4. The Common Core states that grade 2 students only need to master multiplication through adding equal groups of objects (e.g. see that 3 + 3 + 3 is 3 x 3, and count out objects to show it). However, we know students are at various levels of understanding, and daily work will be differentiated to allow students to work at a more accelerated pace where appropriate. Like in the picture below, some students will be learning to count by 3s; some will be using number lines to show the repeated addition; and some will be learning rote facts as with math facts  practice. There are plenty of online games to practice facts such as this one at ABCYa; however the games I’ve seen are best played with multiplication tables handy to reference.

Floral Goes Green was a big success! The school was transformed into an environmentally aware, interactive showcase on Friday. Our class played host to second and fourth grade classes, engaging them in a game show we created using facts and information learned about water and conservation over the past several weeks. Students then used displays they created to teach peers about ways they can save water at home. They did a superb job!

In addition, we visited other classrooms for lessons in pizza box re-purposing, creating reusable bags out of t-shirts, and how to create a biome in a bag using the water cycle to continuously water bean seeds we planted. A note on the bags: they can be placed/hung on windows for sunlight as they grow. If they were over-watered (e.g. if the soil has absorbed all the water it’s going to and there’s still a puddle on top) you might want to pour off the excess!

Our comprehension focus this week is on Synthesizing. This is the last big idea to learn and practice this year, and it gets at the heart of what it means to learn from reading texts. When we start reading books or articles, we have some idea what we’ll discover by using our background knowledge and making connections. As we read however, we start to digest the story or information, causing good readers to make inferences and draw conclusions as we go. Then by the end we understand something deeper and perhaps different than when we began. For example, in Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, we learn as we read that the Onceler is determined to grow his business, whatever the cost. We infer he doesn’t know better and thinks he is doing a service. By the end, we understand that depleting the world of natural resources will lead to serious consequences–but that we can take a stand to improve things ourselves. This is our synthesis–our putting together of the big ideas we learned from the text. When reading with your child, look for ways for them to show how their thinking has changed by the end of the text: At first I thought, but now I understand…

The bag ban question has been decided in Shrewsbury for now, but the debate will surely go on! Students for their part engaged in this topic as a way to learn civic discourse by presenting their arguments though opinion writing! Here are some great examples from 1) Aditya and 2) Vennela FOR the ban, and 3) Prisha AGAINST:  1) First, only 5% of plastic bags are recycled in the USA each year. So that means the rest, 95%, pollutes the planet.  2) Airplanes, buses, cars, and trucks make a lot of air pollution when they carry plastic bags from factories to stores.  3) Making paper bags cuts down trees. Paper bags need lots of trees cut down to make them and the more trees we cut down the badder it is for the environment.  Terrific!

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!

Happy Mother’s Day! I hope your weekend was full of all the good things you deserve!

Floral Goes Green is almost here! Our class has learned about where our water comes from; the precious resource that it is, and threats to it, including point and nonpoint source pollution. This week lessons will hit close to home as students look for ways that water can be wasted in our houses and apartments as well as ways we can all take steps, large and small, to conserve water. They will be analyzing texts, creating and analyzing bar graphs with the data they collected on water sources at home and in school, researching topics of interest, and playing games designed to heighten awareness. Here’s a great site with kid-appropriate info and a smart Pac-Man-like game to test their knowledge (requires enabling Flash if using Chrome)! I’m a little rusty at the controls as the kids will tell you, but I bet you can do better at home:

 

The next step in our learning is to create a presentation of our findings to a greater audience, e.g. the student body. Our class will engage visitors to our classroom with water awareness and conservation by creating a gameshow for them to play, after which they will share their top 10 tips for conserving water at home. Likewise, we’ll be visiting other rooms to benefit from their work on various environmental topics too!

Students have also been busy writing and posting opinion writing pieces on their blogs! The goal here is to engage in academic discourse by commenting and asking questions of classmates in order to further their thinking about a topic. Here are some book recommendation excerpts from 1) Martin (on Julius Zebra: Rumble with the Romans), 2) Arin (on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory),  3) Srinitin (on Peanut Butter Rhino), and 4) Alana (on Night Cat): 1. To begin with, there are hilarious characters. Julius says some funny things like when he thought some hairy men were juggling monkeys! 2. Second, there is an interesting setting. There is an elevator which can go any type of way you can think of. 3. First, Rhino is a funny character. He say on his peanut butter sandwich and couldn’t find it. 4. Another reason is it has a scary setting. Strange animals come out of nowhere and there’s wind howling and there is darkness. Super!

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!

If looking for websites/apps/games to play, the internet abounds with  a geometry/shapes theme, from basic to advanced. Here’s a challenging one that develops rotational understanding while requiring students to use knowledge of basic shapes and figures:

 

 

As part of our study on water conservation, students went on a hunt throughout Floral looking for the ways in which water is used in our building every day. Custodian Mr. Poe led us on a guided tour of the hallways, kitchen, and basement, where both kids and teachers were surprised by the amount of potable water needed to keep just one building in operation every day. The intent is to make kids aware of the precious and limited resource that water is in our community and our world. This week, students will learn about sources of pollution, including erosion, point, and nonpoint sources; the cost involved, both economically and environmentally; and possible solutions.

We will also collect data on water sources at home. In this week’s math homework packet is a tally sheet for students to use. Please help your child find sources they may not think of or see, such as underground sprinklers/irrigation, heating and cooling units, and communal facilities if you live in an apartment or condominium.

THE ZEN DIARY via Compfight

Shrewsbury’s bag ban is once again the subject of debate this month! It’s a perfect opportunity for students to use their skills of analysis, reading comprehension, and critical thinking to learn more about the pros and cons related to the issue. They will then craft opinion writing pieces in which they take a side and defend their argument with reasons based on their research. A kid-friendly summary of the arguments for and against bag bans in general can be found here.

Students have been otherwise engaged in the opinion-writing process! The Common Core’s throughline is “College and Career Readiness,” and it starts here with students creating pieces in which they reference texts they have read. Here are a few samples from book recommendations from 1) Vinnie, on Splat the Cat, 2) Melanie, on Belle the Birthday Fairy, and 3) Arin, on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: 1) First, it has funny characters. For one thing, Splat the Cat does silly thing. He swims with the sharks, searching for buried treasure. 2) Second, there’s an interesting setting. There’s Fairyland, the most incredible place. And a non-freezing ice castle!  3) The plot has lots of action, like when Violet turns into a blueberry and when Mike TV goes in the television. Terrific!

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:

Here’s more pics of us learning about water sources; determining importance using nonfiction articles; and more:

          

Thanks to all who came out on Saturday to pitch in for our community building project! What a great way to involve students in the care of their school and community. And speaking of that…

Floral Goes Green will soon be here! This renowned annual event focuses student work on the environment, locally and globally, culminating in a day of exposition on Friday, May 19. Our class will be learning all about water, from resources to pollution to conservation. This week, students will learn how precious a commodity it is on earth (just 1% of ALL water on earth is potable). They will also learn how it used inside and outside our school and begin to understand its importance in our daily lives. In addition, we will learn how Shrewsbury gets its water, from aquifers to wells to tanks.

Check out the map above (click on it for larger image, or use the link under the Parent Resources section to the right). It reveals the location of 6 water tanks throughout Shrewsbury. Think of it as a treasure map, and drive/hike to find them all with your child! If you take pictures of your child standing in front of each one, print them out, and send them in to school by Friday, May 12, I will display them! Note: a few tanks are on hills; simply take the photo at the bottom of the hill where the fences are.

This week, students will learn to comprehend nonfiction text by paying close attention to titles, subtitles, and headings when reading informative articles. These nonfiction text features are used by author’s to guide our thinking, and they lead us to understand the most important things worth remembering. You can try it out at home with articles from NationalGeographicKids.com, such as this one on Denali National Park. Notice how the headings cleverly point us in the direction of what’s important.

We wrapped up our narrative writing lessons with a bang, “exploding the moment” when writing about a roller coaster ride. Here are some from 1) Teagan and Srinitin, 2) Prisha and Oliver, and 3) Alana and Vinnie: 1. As I walked along, I saw a measuring stick. Would I be tall enough? “Load ’em up! Two to a seat!” the ride operator said.  2. Suddenly, the ride operator let go of the brake. The car went up, up, up, clickety-clackety. Zip and zoom! It plummeted down the hill.  3. I felt tired and my legs were wobbly. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go again!  Super!

This week we will return to Opinion Writing one last time, as students create book recommendations based on plot, suspense, characters, humor, etc., and using evidence from the text to back up their thinking.

Our next area of study in math is graphing. As outlined in the Common Core, students should understand how to collect and organize data. They should be able to  analyze, interpret, and create a variety of graphs including picture graphs, line plots, and bar graphs. As usual, MIF challenges students to go beyond the literal. New for kids is the concept of “key” in graphing. Take a look at this picture from the student book.

Notice how the key provides necessary understanding to interpret the graph correctly. Please check your child’s homework to be sure they are reading the key when answering questions. You can find lots of great information with very helpful picture support at the Think Central site! (Link to it via the Parent Resources section of this blog.) This unit is Chapter 17, found in eBook B of the student book.

Our blogging work continues this week with students learning to navigate the virtual online space their blogs represent. They will learn how to upload selfies as avatars; how to customize a webpage/blog; and how to communicate appropriately in an online community with friendliness and respect by creating their first posts!