Writing: This week we began to work on getting our poems ready to publish. This means finishing up some poems we didn’t get to complete during the unit and also beginning to revise and edit our ideas.
Math: In math this week we began working with adding and subtracting larger numbers. We reviewed fact families and generally learned strategies for computing with larger numbers. One strategy was using a 10 to add and subtract 9 or 8. We also have begun to use cross number puzzles to show addition of two digit numbers. Please watch the following video if cross number puzzles are confusing to you or if you’d like to understand why cross number puzzles are taught before the traditional algorithm. Also, I’d like to emphasize that the traditional algorithm is not a second grade standard. The cross number puzzle is one strategy I teach for solving these types of problems.
Fundations: We worked on using the suffixes -y, -ly, and -ty. We are continuing to work hard on applying all the spelling rules we have learned.
Second Step: We now have a worry box in our classroom. This is a place where your child can write a brief note to me about a worry he/she has. This can be related to anything, though will mostly be used for friendship issues. We talked about how these are not BIG problems that need teacher help right away, but are worries that kids just want a teacher to know about. We’ll continue to use this throughout the remainder of the year.
Conversation Starters:
Look for 3 objects in your room that were made in another country. Where are each of these countries located?
Why is it easiest to break a number apart into tens and ones when solving a problem in a cross number puzzle?
How is a character trait different from how a character is feeling?
Dates to Remember:
January 29th- Early Release