Great BUGS We're Bloggin!!

I am always amazed at how quickly kids learn technology!  Today I showed the BUGS how to write a document in Google Docs.  It takes more steps than you might imagine!  First, they have to learn how to log in to Google.  Google opens up in Mail and they have to learn how to switch to Google Drive.  Then they have to choose what sort of document they want to make (presentation, document, spreadsheet, etc.) After choosing to create a new document, they have to remember to change the title of it to include their name.  NOW they can finally begin to type!  But typing is new to most kids!  They have to learn how to make capital letters and spaces, and how to get things like exclamation points and question marks to show up.  They also learn what the red squiggly line means underneath a word (spelled wrong) and what to do about it.

Finally, when they have conquered all of these steps and written something amazing to share with the whole world (abiding by our internet safety rules: never include your full name or contact information and never be mean), THEN they share the document with me (electronically) so I know to post it to our blog!  Do YOU know how to share a Google Document?!  I'll admit, my teenager taught me a couple years ago.  But now your second grader is learning how to do this!

So, when you read the BUG Blogs, keep in mind all the things they are learning in this process and how much this helps them to take online state assessments and to have internet safety lessons early on and to learn keyboarding functions and document formatting (like changing the font, the size, the color, etc.)   Be very proud of all that your child will learn this year - and you thought we were just blogging!!  :)

I am sowe ecsided that ime am going to the football game to nihnt. by ana

I love mazry  and I miss loki  he is cute and he is a dog    by selah 

 I am  going to  the  park  today. I am  so   exided.        by    tanner

samy play whith me  i play fech samy  by thomas

 I Iike to play  wif  my cat my cat like   to like   by emma

Great job blogging, BUGS!!  

Studying

Ana's mom shared this picture of Ana studying her Magic E spelling pattern.  How do YOU practice spelling patterns?

Be The Illustrator

Today we read one of my favorite passages from Charlotte's Web  in which E.B. White describes a swing.  I read the passage aloud to the class and we talked about how authors help shape a picture in your mind to help you see the story.  We made a note about how Mr. White even makes his sentences feel like a swing, "then in again, then out again, then out, then in..."  We took some time during our reading stations today to try our hand at being the illustrator.  You child should be bringing home their illustration of this passage today.  This is a great talking point about listening and paying attention to the details in a story so we get a clear image of what's happening!!  

“Mr. Zuckerman had the best swing in the country.  It was a single long piece of heavy rope tied to the beam over the north doorway.  At the bottom end of the rope was a fat knot to sit on.  It was arranged so that you could swing without being pushed.  You climbed a ladder to the hayloft.  Then, holding the rope, you stood at the edge and looked down, and were scared and dizzy.  Then you straddles the knot, so that it acted as a seat.  Then you go up all your nerve, took a deep breath, and jumped.  For a second you seemed to be falling to the barn floor far below, but then suddenly the rope would begin to catch you, and you would said through the barn door going a mile a minute, with the wind whistling in your eyes and ears and hair.  Then you would zoom upward into the sky, and look up at the clouds and the rope would twist and you would twist and turn with the rope.  Then you would drop down, down, down, out of the sky and come sailing back into the barn almost into the hayloft, then sail out again (not quite so far this time), then in again (not quite so high), then out again, then in again, then out, then in; and then you’d jump off and fall down and let somebody else try it.”

-     E.B. White, Charlotte’s Web

Scholastic Book Orders Online

Choral Reading

We have been gearing up for reading groups (starting next week!) and choral reading is a high priority each day during reading.  

Students will read an appropriately leveled text with three other classmates for twenty minutes.  

This is the same book that the students will be discussing during guided reading with Mrs. Koehn.  

Reading aloud, simultaneously with others helps increase vocabulary, correct mispronunciations, help phrasing and intonation, and increase fluency.  All great skills!!  

Spelling Rocks!

We are so excited to get to learn the spelling RULES and not just memorize words on a list (thanks to Rewiring the Brain)!!  This week, we worked on closed syllables and we were all excited to show off our skills on the Friday Spelling Test. 

This weekly assessment lets us practice our handwriting as well as our spelling!  We set personal goals and track our progress to help motivate us to learn and practice the spelling rules.  Great job this week, B.U.G.S.! 

Working on Math

We start each day working through a math story problem.  We treat it like a story to start with, finding the characters, setting and main topic. We give it a title and even draw an illustration to go with it.   

As the week progresses, we start thinking about the math-what are we supposed to figure out?  What strategy might we use? Does the problem have an extra information we don't need?  On Thursdays, we try our hand at solving the problem.  We see how other kids approached the problem and we talk about some reasonable wrong answers as well as the correct one. 

On Fridays, students get a very similar problem to work through on their own.  They use their math notebooks with the problem we worked on all week together to help guide them and they see if they are able to independently find a solution!

We also do whole-class and small group math instruction every day, working on concepts, skills and knowledge as guided by the Common Core Standards.

 Finally, we do math stations (centers) every day.  It is in these math stations that the kids are given time to practice math skills.  One station is working on the computer, on Sumdog, a program that tailors math activities to each student's ability level; (starting next week, students will also be using our two iPads with math apps to practice skills!); another station is playing a math game with peers at their table; and finally, students have time to work in small groups with me on practice problems that follow the lesson of the day!  Even the homework each night is related to the concept of the day and gives each student more time to master the concept! 

If students finish the practice pages early, they work on math facts with flash cards. Right now we are all working on getting lightning fast on our zero and one addition facts!! 

School Calendar

Reminders

Just as a reminder (I know some of you didn't realize...) we have PE twice a week, both times at the Later Elementary.  Classes have been doubled up for PE this year and the EE gym is not large enough to accommodate nearly 50 students at a time.

Please send your student to school on Mondays and Thursdays with a jacket or rain coat if it looks like rain or colder weather.

In addition, if you need to pick your student up early, please know that we are at the LE from 2:50-3:25 on Mondays and 2:15-2:50 on Thursdays, so allow yourself extra time if you have an appointment.

First Day of School

     1 classroom

     2 iPads

     3 specials

     4 tables

     5 computers

     7 subjects

+ 24 new friends

1 year of laughing and learning together!!