Public Service Announcements!

Hi there! This week we read about protecting our natural resources.  The kids made Public Service Announcements to tell people how to care for our world.  They could choose to make a powerpoint, a paper slide video or a regular video with our flip video cameras.  Please enjoy the three videos below.  Paperslide videos and powerpoints will also be posted next week sometime!

 

Math, Math, and More Math!

Hello!  I wanted to touch base with everyone about how math is going.  All in all, the kids are making great progress.  We practice our facts each day, and kids take timed tests, and record their progress.  Knowing addition and subtraction facts FLUENTLY by the end of second grade is a huge standard.  It is basic in being able to effectively solve problems that get much more complex.  The Mastering Math Facts Program we are using only quizzes kids on two new facts per level.  The rest are review.  If your child is hesitating for a few seconds before answering, have the child repeat it at least 3 times out loud.  Each time he/she hesitates, she must stop and repeat that fact three times.  Much of it is memorization and practice!

I really want the kids to practice their facts each evening - this can be in the car, at the dinner table, five-ten minutes is all it would take.  A little bit each day will help them master this very quickly!

I would like to congratulate the following kiddos who have passed all of their addition facts and are now on subtraction:

Congratulations! 

Angela Davis!   Kamryn Myrick!   Kadie Shook! 

Aliyah Bridges!  

I am so proud of you!  Everyone can do this!

Lately, the kids have been a little relaxed about bringing back their math fact practice sheet.  This was an actual excuse I heard today:  "My mom won't let me."  I had a good laugh over that one!  These darlings make me smile!  Anyway, just wanted to give parents a heads up - if they bring back their practice sheet, I will recognize them for it - I want to encourage extra practice.

Thanks so much for your support!  You are the best!

MONEY MONEY MONEY- We have started our unit on money.  Basically, the kids need to be fluent in counting by 1,'s, 5's, 10's and 25's interchangeably.  You can help at home by counting pocket change, including bills and coins.

In addition, here are some good online games for practicing money:

www.everydaymathonline.com ( kids should have their login info taped to the inside of their binders)

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/math.htm  (scroll down until you find money games)

http://www.gpb.org/countonit/games/second/money

http://internet4classrooms.com/skill_builders/counting_coins_math_second_2nd_grade.htm

However, in order to make sure your child is doing the problems correctly, you will need to monitor and check in on the game.  Otherwise, we can't be sure they are learning anything.

Again, thanks so much for your help with this!

Mrs. Stiffler

Happy New Year!

So far, our year has gotten off to a great start!  In language arts this week, we are learning to take notes while reading.  We will read about different animals, and compare and contrast how similarities and differences.  In addition, some new vocabulary words this week were preen, affectionate and crave.  Ask your child if he/she can give you an example of each word.  In spelling this week, we are learning to read and spell ar and or words.  Please make sure your child is doing spelling homework, reading log, and math homework each week.  All kids need to be studying math facts each night so that it becomes automatic!

I sent a note home today asking for spiral notebooks.  We use them for different subjects, and we are starting to have the kids paste weekly reading questions in their journals, so they can respond in a journal, and everything stays neat and tidy in one place.  Thank you so much!

Here are a few photos I took earlier in December.  We were working on cause and effect, and the kids were in groups playing Showdown.  During Showdown, one child reads a scenario and asks the group a question.  The group records the answer and then they check their answers.  If they all got it correct, they do a cheer.

Here are some pics from the WSU game we attended - better late than never!