First Day of Quarter 2

I want to thank Mrs. Petrolle and all of the parents who helped plan the fabulous Halloween party. I was truly sorry that I missed it but the children certainly had a great time!

Today is the beginning of the second marking period.

In math we began unit 2 which focuses on linear measurement, including conversions (such as, 12 inches = 1 foot) and area and perimeter. Today we spent a great deal of our time comparing different types of rulers. My goal was to help the students understand that some rulers begin at the edge while others have a definite starting point. I also wanted the children to notice that sometimes the metric side is measured in centimeters, while others use millimeters. For homework there is a subtraction worksheet. We were not ready for the measurement worksheet that I had planned to send home.

We began reading by identifying questions that will help guide us to identifying the main idea in text. Tomorrow we will use these questions to help us find the main idea in a National Geographic magazine article. After that we reviewed nouns. Then we discussed our new focus for writing this quarter...writing to inform. We talked about making a list of topics that each student knows a lot about.

This afternoon, while I meet with reading groups and Mrs. Hepner helps with writing, the children will develop personal topic lists for writing to inform. They will also identify nouns on a worksheet. Lastly, they will add words to their personal dictionary from our last word study unit.

Before going to lunch and recess, we visited the computer lab. The students practiced opening and printing a saved document, among the other skills we have been developing over the last few weeks.

This afternoon, I met with two out of three reading groups!

Bears: Practiced new vocabulary in their new book. Identified text features and their function within the book, too. Tonight they need to preview their new book and write any unknown words on the post-it note that is on the front cover.

Tigers: We finished reading The Wednesday Surprise. Tonight they need to read it to an adult, stopping at page 23 for the adult to make a prediction.

We will end the day by reviewing vocabulary that is specific to geography.

Oh...and today was picture day...if you forgot to send in money, no worries...you will get to see proofs and decide whether or not to order!