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

The Grade 2 Field Trip is coming! On Thursday, October 17, our class will be traveling back in time on a visit to Old Sturbridge Village. The permission slip and fee request will be sent home today. Our class needs 5 chaperones, charged at the student rate of $20. Please contact me if you are interested!

A current CORI check is required for chaperones. If you need one done, this is the week to do it as it typically takes some time for them to get back to us.

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. This place is a unique gem, similar to Plimoth Plantation, that I encourage everyone to make it part of your weekend repertoire. To learn more and take a virtual tour, visit: https://www.osv.org/

Math facts practice begins this week! Our first quiz will be this Friday.

Coming home today is 1) a cover letter with explanations and suggestions for nightly homework practice, along with your child’s level  2) your child’s placement test  3) math fact cards at your child’s level, and 4) two practice quizzes. Please don’t return any of these. I recommend at least 5 minutes per night for practice, since practicing for 20 minutes one night per week just won’t help kids retain the information.

Quizzes are given on Fridays and returned on Mondays. The timed aspect of these quizzes tends to be the hardest thing to master. You can make additional quizzes by using the websites Math Fact Café (addition and subtraction) and Math Aids (multiplication and division). You can also make fancier flash cards at A+ Math Fact Flashcard Maker. All three websites can be found under the “Parent Resources” section above. For those of you who enjoy practicing facts using Xtramath.org, account information and passwords will be sent home next week.

Students will be encouraged and praised for making progress toward the eventual goal of achieving math fact fluency to 10 by trimester one’s end; to 15 by the end of trimester 2; and to 20 by trimester 3 (report card expectations). Students who pass 20 will move on to multiplication, then division.

In the classroom this week, students will be learning the fine points of regrouping when adding, across the ones and tens (think 264+ 158). They will be working with base ten blocks to model the process and show understanding. They will be showing it another way by drawing base ten pictures (squares for hundreds, etc., like on homework). And they will finally learn to write the “1” over the tens or hundreds column when  regrouping–what we used to call “carrying”.

The difference between how we learned it years ago and how it’s taught today is that we’re making sure students have a real sense of the numbers involved and what the process of regrouping is really all about. In your homework packet in the center I have included a step by step picture guide so you can help your child at home if they need it (see Chapter 2). Whether they do or not, it’s always wise to ask them questions: How many hundreds/tens/ones are in that number? Will you need to regroup? How do you know? Does your answer make sense? Could you prove it another way?

A great way to practice regrouping in the 10s and 1s is to play Funny Numbers at Greg Tang Math. Click on the picture above. Choose “Base 10” , then the operation “+“. Notice in the example above: 11 is one 10 and one 1; we regroup by combining the six 10s and the one 10, for a total of 71.

Here’s us at work solving math problems by showing we “Understand” as we act them out!

 

 

The Grade 2 Field Trip is coming! On Thursday, October 17, our class will be traveling back in time on a visit to Old Sturbridge Village. 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 needs 5 chaperones, charged at the student rate of $20. Please contact me if you are interested.

A current CORI check is required for chaperones. If you need one done, this is the week to do it as it typically takes 3 weeks for them to get back to us.

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. This place is a unique gem, similar to Plimoth Plantation, that I encourage everyone to make it part of your weekend repertoire. To learn more and take a virtual tour, visit: https://www.osv.org/

Fall Festival:  If you can’t join us on the field trip, consider coming for Fall Festival. In lieu of Halloween parties, our school engages kids with activities and crafts around fall and halloween. We need 2 more parent volunteers to help run crafts on Thursday, October 31, 9:30-11:00. Please let me know if you can help out!

Math Homework Starts This Week: The district’s recommendation is 20 minutes of homework in grade 2, exclusive of reading. Since students work at different speeds, if you find your child has worked diligently but is hitting a frustration level when time is up, you can stop there and jot a note on the page.

Every night, your child should bring home a blue “Math Homework Resources” folder, in addition to the green communication folder. In the front pocket will be a stapled packet with all 4 nightly assignments. The pages are pre-dated and sometimes they will be double-sided. Students should complete each night’s work; put the packet back in the front pocket; and return the folder the next day along with the green folder. Each morning, I will check the homework and students will return the packets to the folder.

In addition to the packet, there will be 2 optional homework pages sent home each week, marked “Optional Challenge” at the top. They will be placed in the back pocket of the math homework folder. They are great for kids who are ready to think more deeply and broadly about the math concepts we’re working on, and who finish other homework early–but they’re great for everyone else, too! In any case, these pages are not required work; as such, they can be returned any day of the week or not at all.

The pages in the center of the homework folder are there for several reasons. There are vocabulary pages that remind students of the math terms taught in class that they are expected to know (and that show up on homework and tests). You’ll also see sample pages copied from our math book that show how concepts are being taught, and what the homework is looking for students to do. You will also find pictures of base-10 blocks. These can be cut out and kept at home to help when students are stuck understanding and computing with 3-digit numbers, and any time the numbers involved prove too challenging to do it all mentally.  I will add to the pages periodically throughout the year.

Regarding how much help to give your child: Please DO help read directions if s/he needs it. Then ask how s/he thinks they should go about solving items. Remind them about using resources in the folder when writing words, etc., and by all means help them if they’re stuck or need a hand getting started. Please DON’T write answers for your child.

For additional fun practice, students can use the Greg Tang game Break Apart (see link under “Student Resources” above). Select “Addition”; choose which strategy; and click “easy” or “hard”.

In science, students practiced the skills of asking questions and testing ideas. They were challenged with the task of creating slow-falling devices based on designs found in nature. The room was buzzing with activity as they followed their curiosity and refined their thinking!

Thanks for the great turnout Wednesday night! I appreciate the dedication and generosity of spirit you showed as we accompany your children on their respective journeys. Here is the link to the Mystery Doug site I shared with you. It’s free for parents & families. We’ll use it at times this year, while the bulk of our lessons will be taken from Mystery Science (subscription-based).

Parent Conferences & Contact List I will send out an email this afternoon for you to sign up for conferences. Simply click the link in the email, which will take you to my Signup Genius page where you can choose an available time. You can choose to enter your email to receive a reminder, but it is not required. If you do, Signup Genius will send a reminder 4 days prior to meeting.

Attached to the email will be our class contact list. Please use the list for birthday parties, play dates, etc. Please don’t send paper invitations to school unless everyone is invited. <“)

Fall Festival In lieu of Halloween parties, classes at Floral St. will be celebrating with special crafts and learning centers. Our class needs 2 parents to come in and help by running a crafts center from 9:30-11:00 on Thursday, October 31. Please email me directly if you’d like to come!

Supplies  A few times during our year, I will be asking for your help with supplies to keep our classroom and kids healthy. If you haven’t yet done so, please send in 1 box of kleenex, 1 tub of antibacterial wipes, and 1 box of bandaids (plain, not antibacterial). This will help immensely!

CORI Background Checks  Do you have a current CORI background check with the Town of Shrewsbury? You can download a form using the link under “Parent Resources” on the right side of this blog! 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; bring your CORI form or fill one out there; 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. CORIs need to be done every 3 years.

In math this week, students will learn how to use place value to order numbers, e.g.: 253; 258; 340. By understanding the value of the digits, it becomes plain how large numbers are in relation to each other. If you’re following along at home, we are in Book A, Chapter 1, Lesson 4. Also this week, students will take their first test! Here’s a game from Topmarks that kids can use to practice this week’s skill. Just select “ordering” and “0-999”.

Homework: 1) Math homework begins next week, 9/23. There will be nightly assignments, M-Th, and 2 optional challenges weekly.  2) Math Facts homework begins the week after, 9/30. This involves nightly practice and a quiz every Friday. 3) Reading homework begins the following week, 10/07. Students read every night and complete a reading log to be returned Fridays. More detailed information on homework will be provided on our blog over the next 3 weeks!

 

Promoting the social and emotional development of kids is a priority at the district and state levels. As we build our classroom community, students will engage in lessons around diversity and acceptance. This week, we’ll read together One: A crayon’s story, by Michael Hall. (Click the book cover to see it read aloud.) This allegorical tale sends the message that we all have a unique inner self, one that often belies what is seen on the outside and is subject to categories and labels. The kids will be sharing thoughts and feelings about what makes them special, in a supportive environment.

Supplies  A few times during our year, I will be asking for your help with supplies to keep our classroom and kids healthy. If you haven’t yet done so, please send in 1 box of kleenex, 1 tub of antibacterial wipes, and 1 box of bandaids (plain, not antibacterial). This will help immensely!

CORI Background Checks  Do you have a current CORI background check with the Town of Shrewsbury? You can download a form using the link under “Parent Resources” on the right side of this blog! Parents who wish to chaperone field trips, 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; bring your CORI form or fill one out there; 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.

Building stamina for reading is an important strategy for young readers. Students have been working hard at it every day and learning what it looks like and feels like to really engage with texts at their levels during Read to Self time. This week, 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! This video shows how the strategy is introduced (source: The Balanced Literacy Diet via Youtube)

Self regulation is at the heart of teaching children to care and building a learning community. To help them achieve it, students are being taught to monitor their emotions using a social thinking thermometer. Notice the key? We say “3 is the key,” meaning it’s time to ask for help or use a strategy. One such strategy with proven success is yoga for kids. We’ve been practicing poses that focus on breathing and bringing down the temperature on our thermometers! For more on the importance of breathing for self-regulation, here’s an article from Peter Montminy. And here’s a good tutorial on breathing for kids from Gaia via Youtube!

The math focus this week is all about numbers: how to understand them using their place value; how to recognize and identify them in standard, word, and expanded form; and how to add/count by 1s, 10s, and 100s by understanding the value of each digit. It is especially important that students develop an understanding of the hundreds, tens, and ones involved in these numbers. They will engage in various activities with base ten blocks, base ten pictures, and with written numbers.

Another important skill with which students struggle at first is finding the missing addend or minuend/subtrahend (algebraic thinking). For example, they will be asked to solve problems such as ____ – 20 = 351, or 268 + ____ = 288. Even solving these up to 10 or 20 can be hard at first ( 9 + ____ = 15, etc.)  I recommend going to GregTangMath.com for practice. Select the Missing Numbers game, and work your way up through easy and hard addition and subtraction. As with all of his games, the short length of each round can be misleading: it’s meant to provide quick gratification and feedback while discouraging fatigue. However, when you play, shoot for a time-related goal (e.g. 10 minutes or more total). When kids are done they’ll have solved tens of computational problems, if not more!

 

 

We’re off and running! The first six weeks of school, we devote much of our time to building a classroom community of learners. Every routine, every expected behavior, and every interaction is modeled and practiced with the clearly-communicated message, “You can do it! I believe in you–and it’s OK to make mistakes.” Our work follows practices outlined in The Responsive Classroom and is shared school-wide. It’s one of the things that makes Floral such a special place, and its students so successful!

In addition, we are committed as a school to developing Social Thinking in children. This means teaching kids how to recognize and monitor their emotions and behavior, and how to interact with others. We begin by teaching Whole Body Listening. This means using our eyes, ears, hearts and minds to understand what others say and mean. We’ll pay special attention to “listening with your heart,” helping kids to understand what it looks like and sounds like when you care about yourself, your classmates, and the learning that goes on here. And as is often the case in our classroom, we’ll be using music to help us learn!

For more info on Social Thinking, visit this site and explore its links: https://www.socialthinking.com/what-is-social-thinking

Supplies Just a few times during our year, I will be asking for your help with supplies to keep our classroom and kids healthy. To start us off, please send in 1 tub of antibacterial wipes, and 1 box of bandaids (plain, not antibacterial). This will help immensely.

Screenings At the start of the school year, we seek to find out the students’ just right levels in English Language Learning, Reading, and Math, so that we can meet each child where he or she is academically. We also use the information to determine eligibility for extra help such as through Title One or E.L.L. Your child may therefore tell you that heorshe played math games/read/wrote with another teacher during these first weeks. This is especially true of students new to our school or district. These adults are tutors and specialists in the building. If your child is eligible for additional help, we’ll let you know soon.

Reading We’re learning how to choose just right books from the classroom library using “I-PICK”: Purpose (why do I want to read something); Interest (do the pictures/topics interest me); Comprehend (do I understand what I’m reading); and Know (can I read almost all the words). Research points to the importance of beginning readers spending time in books that are at their specific levels, or just below, and not above. This week we’ll practice reading books on our own for longer and longer periods (the eventual goal is 20 minutes at a time), at what we call “Read to Self” time. I-PICK and Read to Self are methods taken from the Daily 5, a literacy management program we’ll be following to improve our reading, writing, and understanding.

Homework Homework will begin in a few weeks. Until then, here are some basics to go over with your child. Please help by setting aside practice time if your child is not yet independent knowing the following: address; phone number; birthday; how to tie hisorher shoes; how to zipper/button all of hisorher clothes; and very importantly, how to sneeze into hisorher elbow! There’s evidence that this last one goes a long way to stopping the spread of germs. Thanks for your help!

And if you’re looking for more academic work to do at home, I suggest the following (link to #1 can be found in the Student Resources section to the right of our blog–all links there are recommended for home use):

1) Greg Tang Math. In my opinion, this guy has absolutely nailed down what kids need to be doing with regard to number fluency. His site is an excellent resource for applying number concepts through the use of games that start easy and progress to well above this grade level.

2) Keep reading just-right books from the public library! They can help find books at every level.

3) Listen to stories/read stories together at Storyline Online. This awesome website features famous actors reading aloud award-winning picture books. Talk about engaging!

4) Research upcoming dates. I encourage families to teach kids how to safely take advantage of the vast amount of info on the internet by surfing, finding, printing out, and preparing to share with our class information found. Some suggestions: What does the first day of autumn mean (astronomically speaking)? The birthday of what local legend is coming on September 26, and what can you tell about that person? What is the next U.S. Holiday coming up, and why/how is it celebrated? Kids find out answers, then become experts who teach us–smart!

 

 

Welcome to your classroom blog! It’s purpose is to keep parents and students informed and engaged with the learning being done at school. It is the main source of information and communication for our class, replacing paper newsletters. Once the year starts, expect updates every Monday. Please be sure to check it weekly! You can receive update alerts by entering your email under the “Subscribe by Email” button at the bottom of the links on the right-hand side. It’s guaranteed spam-free!

Until then, feel free to poke around. Past year’s archives will give you some idea on what to expect, as will exploring the links on the right. Have fun!

We’ve arrived! I’m so very proud of these second-graders, and the work they have accomplished. When we met in September, I predicted their effort and perseverance would make the difference, and it’s exciting to see how far they’ve come.

Please accept my heartfelt thanks for the many ways you support your child’s education, and for your generosity of spirit, donations, and gifts. I wish you all the very best as you continue on the road of lifelong learning!

Field Day was a blast! Thank you for helping your child prepare at home: it was smooth sailing all day. Thanks also to Darren Berge, Mukta Munjal, Shwetha Adhikari, Ying Chen, and Sam Boardman for volunteering. Our classroom was very well represented!

Instead of a single year-end classroom event, we will be celebrating our classroom community with several Fun Days, starting next Monday. These days are based on the Student Council’s school-wide Spirit Days planned for the last week, with some very special enhancements for our classroom:

• Monday: Disney and Game Day. Kids can dress up in anything Disney to wear to school. Kids in our class are also welcome to bring a game from home (board game; card game; etc.). We’ll have several times available for them to play their own and others’ too. In addition, we’ll watch the rest of Peter Pan, started during our Friday Homework reward lunches!
• Tuesday: Hawaiian Day. Any colorful clothing, leis, sun hats, towels, etc., are welcome. Our class learn to hula, hear some island tales, and enjoy the sounds of Hawaiian music!
• Wednesday: Wacky Wednesday. Kids are invited to dress up however they like (sports uniforms, costumes, mismatched clothing, etc.). In addition, there will be surprise dance party breaks, and a classroom version of Show Off Day in our room.
• Thursday: All American Red White and Blue and Bring Your Friend to School Day. In addition to wearing the colors of Old Glory, students can bring in a stuffed animal to share the fun all day!
• Friday: School Spirit Day. Students and staff will be wearing our Floral School gear with pride!

With just 10 days to go, vacation is right around the corner. Over the summer, many students lose some of the gains they made during the school year. You can help avoid this with some easy tips:

a. Our subscription to RAZ Kids continues through the first 1/2 of summer. Keep on reading and take advantage of this on-the-go option! In addition, the Shrewsbury Public Library has a fantastic collection of leveled books your child can borrow. See the report card for your child’s just-right level, then choose books on–and just below–that level.

b. There are some great online math programs for helping kids stay engaged. Scholastic has a short list, all of which are recommended: https://www.scholastic.com/parents/school-success/learning-toolkit-blog/online-summer-math-programs.html 

c. In addition, Greg Tang’s math site is offering a “Summer Challenge!” http://gregtangmath.com/summer . I highly recommend visiting the site often. His vision for building math fluency in kids is spot-on.

With your help, we can avoid the dreaded regression of skills (or as we call it, The Summer Slide)!

The great book return is on! Please be on the lookout for all books belonging to school. This includes:

a. books from our classroom, with my name on them or with a letter written on the back cover

b. books from our bookroom, with a big, round blue sticker on the back cover, or a small white rectangle sticker with the school’s name on either cover

c. Floral Media books, with a bar code on the front cover. Should you find any of the above books after school ends, you can return them to the office or media center once school begins again.

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!