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Week of March 2, 2015

2/26/2015

 
Cool T-Shirts
    Several of you have asked where I get my fun t-shirts.  Many of them I purchase from a site called shirt.woot.com.  They have a different shirt every day, but you can purchase any of the old shirts, too.  All the shirts come in sizes for children as well as adults.  The shirts are on many different themes; not all are appropriate for children (or teachers).  I tend to like the ones with an ABC theme. The latest one that the Cool Kids are interested in is called Now I Nerd My ABCs.

Read Across America
    Monday, March 2, is Read Across America Day.  We have many guest readers coming to campus on that day to read books to the students.  While we will still be doing academics like math and social studies, we will spend the bulk of the day participating in various reading activities.  We will listen to at least two guest readers, possibly more.
    Students may bring favorite books from home and a comfy blanket or sleeping bag.  It's always a special and fun day.


Upcoming Assessments
    This week we will have assessments on Math, Unit 4 and on the Social Studies unit on heroes, as well as a Reading Comprehension test.

Math
    If your student has been able to do the math homework independently, they won't have difficulty with the assessment.  They need to be able to add and subtract two- and three-digit numbers up to 200, as well as read, understand, and solve story problems involving these numbers, including two step story problems. They need to be able to solve problems involving coins; they should be able to look at a list of coins and tell the total amount. They should be able to round a two-digit number to the nearest ten. Students should be able to explain the steps they use to subtract with ungrouping.

Social Studies
    If you have been reading and discussing the weekly fluency passages, as well as reviewing the social studies "text" I sent home, then your student will do well on the assessment.  Students should be able to tell what character traits make a hero.  They should know a little something about the heroes we have discussed in class.  From the "text," they should a little bit about Louis Pasteur, Sitting Bull, Jackie Robinson, Golda Meir, Albert Einstein, and Marie Curie.  They should be able to identify what makes a person a hero.  They should be able to identify people from the past and the present who are heroes and/or leaders and tell why that person is a hero and/or leader. From our classroom explorations, they should be able to tell something about Martin Luther King, Jr., Sally Ride, Jane Goodall, Thurgood Marshall, Amelia Earhart, Ruby Bridges, and Rosa Parks. They should be able to tell something about everyday heroes in our community, such as fire fighters, police officers, and so forth.

Reading Comprehension
    Our reading comprehension assessment asks students to be able to read a passage written at the second grade level.  They should be able to answer who, what, when, where, and why questions about these passages.  They should be able to compare and contrast two similar fiction passages and two similar non-fiction passages. These are skills we have been practicing and working on since the beginning of the school year.

Language Skills
    Students should be able to identify common vowel teams (ea, oi, oy, ai, etc.) and the sounds they make.  They should be able to read an unfamiliar compound word and determine its meaning. Students should be able to make correct plurals and know when to add -s, -es, -ies, etc. They should be able to make plurals from words ending in the sound f (knife, knives).  They should be able to make identify common irregular plurals, such as child/children, man/men, deer/deer, mouse/mice, etc. Students should have a good command of present and past tense forms of common verbs. They should know when to use I/me, we/us, etc.  (Examples: My friends and I went to the movies. My friend gave me a book.) They should know common reflexive pronouns such as myself, ourselves, yourself, himself, themselves.  Once again, we have been practicing and building these skills slowly since the beginning of the year.

Accelerated Reader
    Congratulations to all of you who met your AR goals for Trimester 2! Meeting their goals are: Alex, Jeremiah, Brandon, Christian, Ryan, Josh, Oscar, Justin, Mareia, Nick, Makenna, Kailani, Christine, Aden, Lukas, Sebastian, Mia, Sabrina, Daniela, Genesis, and Alan.
    50 Point Club members:
  •     Brandon (60.9)
  •     Alan (60.2)
  •     Justin (57.2)

    25 Point Club members:
  •     Sebastian (40.4)
  •     Christine (34.6)
  •     Nick (28.9)
  •     Mareia (27.8)
  •     Josh (26.7)
  •     Kailani (25.2)
   

Week of February 23, 2015

2/22/2015

 
Sign Up for Parent Conferences
    Parent conferences are coming up in just a few weeks.  They are scheduled for the week of March 9.  To sign up, click here.


Accelerated Reader
    Congratulations to all of Mrs. Quitt's Cool Kids who have made their AR goals this trimester:  Alex, Brandon, Christian, Ryan, Josh, Oscar, Justin, Mareia, Nick, Makenna, Kailani, Christine, Lukas, Sebastian, Mia, Daniela, and Alan.
    If you have not made your goal yet, you still have until the end of THIS week. You can do it!!

Student Contributions
    Our first student contribution to our website:
Picture
by Brandon

Week of February 16, 2015

2/16/2015

1 Comment

 
    I trust that everyone had a wonderful, family-filled Presidents' Day weekend. I spent Friday relaxing and doing little errands, with a wonderful lunch at Hibiki. Did you know that they have wonderful asparagus there?  Who knew that a sushi restaurant would have great asparagus? On Saturday I was lucky enough to ride one of my favorite horses, Cally, at the barn where I take lessons (www.goldspiritfarm.com). And today? Today is update the website day, laundry day, and some house cleaning.

Publish on Our Class Website!
    I've been thinking how great it would be to publish contributions from the class on the website! Have you written a story you would like to publish? Do you draw, paint, or sculpt? I would love to publish some of your creative work right here! I won't publish photos of students or include last names. You can email me photos of your art, or bring it into class and I will photograph it.  You can bring in your writing, and I will type it into the blog for you.

Student Teacher
    We are lucky to have Ms. Natalie Badalof, a teacher-in-training from the University of LaVerne, visiting our classroom from time to time to observe and teach occasional lessons. 

Six Flags Read to Succeed
    The deadline to turn in your forms for the Six Flags Read to Succeed program is coming up.  All forms must be turned in to me by February 20th.  If you need another copy of the form, just let me know.

Accelerated Reader
    Our second trimester for AR will wrap up on February 27.  You still have time to make your goals!  Congratulations to the Cool Kids who have already made their goals this trimester: Alex, Brandon, Christian, Josh, Oscar, Justin, Mareia, Makenna, Kailani, Christine, Lukas, Sebastian, Mia, and Alan.
    Also, congratulations to the following students for joining Mrs. Stump's point club and earning 25 or more AR points this year: Josh (25.2 points), Mareia (27.8 points), Christine (29.0 points), Sebastian (36.8 points), Justin (50.6 points), Brandon (55.0 points), and Alan (56.0 points).  Keep reading and quizzing!

1 Comment

Week of February 9, 2015

2/7/2015

 
Social Studies Test
    Last week we wrapped up our unit on Long Ago and Yesterday with a test. The questions on the test were fairly basic ones that included the important vocabulary words I have referenced in the blog and have sent home in the weekly fluency passages.  As you review the results with your child, please keep in mind the following:
    The weekly fluency passages are almost always themed to go with our current unit.  They contain most of the important vocabulary that the students must know.  You should keep the fluency passages and review important ideas and details with your child throughout the unit.  Also, I send home full color text "newsletters" with that same important information.  Please, please help your children understand and learn these basic concepts.  Believe me, we have spent a lot of class time reading, discussing, and writing about these items. I even leave the cognitive content dictionary (see below) up in the room for students to refer to during tests!

Cognitive Content Dictionary
    As we move through a unit, we keep a progressive document up in the classroom called a cognitive content dictionary.  We use it to show/learn/teach the important vocabulary words from the current unit.  We show the word, break it into syllables, show prefixes and suffixes, and parts of speech.  We predict what we think the word means. We write a definition of the word and use it in sentences. We learn the sign language motions for the word and its definition. We use that word repeatedly throughout class as a "transition" word.  That is, when I say the word, the students repeat the word, say the definition, and do the movements for the word before they move to their next task. By the time we are done, students should be able to easily recall the word and use it in a sentence. 

Our Current Unit: Heroes
    Our current unit is a short one, only four weeks long, with the theme of Heroes.

    Important vocabulary:
        achievements
        activist
        astronaut
        aviator
        courageous
        determinations
        hero
        history
        humanitarian
        inspiration
        integrate
        leader
        naturalist
        segregation
        space shuttle
        slavery
        symbol
        thesaurus
        university
       
A Note About Common Core
    In meeting the common core state standards, the emphasis is less on picking a right answer from a list, and more about being able to explain concepts.  It's about reasoning skills and applying higher level thinking skills such as application and analysis. It's not just being able to memorize and give back facts. Therefore, we are moving away from multiple choice questions and adding more short answer questions.
    Second grade students midway through the school year should be able to read and understand a question, then write a complete sentence (or sentences) to answer the question, using the concepts and vocabulary we have been learning about.
    If you look at the diagram below, you can see that the easiest learning level is Remembering.  Most of our students can memorize and give back a few facts.  As we move up the diagram, deeper thinking is required. This is what we are asking students, even our seven- and eight-year old second graders to do.  It's not easy, but thinking skills can be learned and strengthened with practice, just as physical skills like jump-roping or playing soccer get better with practice.

Picture
    So, what does all that mean to you?  It means that you should engage your child in conversation about topics that interest you and your family. Ask your student questions about the fluency passages and about other material that comes home. Ask their opinions.  Students need to be able to back up their opinions with facts and/or elaborations.  It's the WHY that is important here.  If you ask, "What's your favorite ice cream flavor," it's not enough for them to just answer, "vanilla."  Students need to be able to describe and tell you WHY that is their favorite flavor.
    When reading books together (you ARE reading books together with your student, right?), ask questions and discuss more than just the events.  Try to get students to say why a character does something, or how the character is feeling, or what might happen next, or make up a new ending for the story.

    Upcoming Events

    8/14 School Starts!!
    8/22 Early dismissal (2:15)
    8/23 Paper Bag Speech
    8/25 Picture Day
    9/04 Labor Day Holiday
    9/05 APEX Fun Run Kick-Off
    9/07 Minimum Day (1:30 dismissal)
    9/07  Back to School Night, 6:00 p.m.
    ​9/29 Spirit Assembly

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