Optional Math Assignment 2

Write the numbers which complete the pattern.

• 23, __, __, 32, 35, __, 41
• 11, __, __, 23, 27, __, 36
• 17, __, 37, __, 57, __, 77
• 42, 40, __, 36, __, __, 30

Make up your own recursive pattern puzzle for someone else to solve.

Thank You

Thank you to those parents contributing treats for our Holiday Celebration. The children seemed to have a great time ("this is the best day ever"). A special thank you to our parent volunteer who not only helped set up and clean for our affair but also assists every morning for our Breakfast in the Classroom, as well as helping out in the Parent Center.

Optional Math Assignment 1

Dora has 3 cards each with a single digit printed on the face. The cards read 3, 5, and 7.

1. What is the largest two-digit number (the number of greatest value) Dora can make with her cards?
2. With the same cards what two-digit number can Dora make that is closest to 66. Show how you found your answer using pictures, words, and numbers.

Rather than showing your child how to solve this problem, provide a variety of tools (e.g. number line, hundred chart, counters) and observe their strategy. Assist them in articulating their explanation.

Eighty-Fifth Day of School

December reading logs due tomorrow.

Eighty-Third Day of School

No homework today.

Optional homework will be posted intermittently during the winter holidays. It will mainly consist of math problems incorporating skills necessary for quickly approaching assessments.

Hold on to the Hundred Chart recently brought home. Another useful tool will be a number line.

Day Eighty-One Homework

With your Hundred Chart, find the missing number for these equations using the following format:

65 + __ = 80

answer:
65 + 15 = 80
Down 1, forward 5

OR think
80 - 65 = 15
Up 6, back 5

Homework:

1)  75 - 23 = __

2)  50 + __ = 71

3)  65 - __ = 23

4). 18 + 66 = __

Holiday Celebration

If you would like to donate a treat to our holiday celebration, contributions are greatly appreciated. District guidelines dictate that treats should be store bought. Setup for the occasion will begin around 11:30 on Friday.

Notes From the Week

A quote lifted from Room 11 Blog from a previous year:

"FYI: I read a book about Santa Mouse (a treasury from my childhood) to the children. A child asked me after I finished story 2 the other day, 'Are you sure that's true?' Hmm....So the legend goes, that if you should happen to find a small (tiny) gift tucked somewhere in your tree, perhaps tied with a yellow bow, then you will know that Santa Mouse has been to your house. *Shrugs* I don't know, it's just what I heard. Who knows how these stories get started?

The same book was read again this year. The comments were quite different than in the past and varied. A debate ensued. The teacher neither confirmed nor denied the accuracy or truth to any of the claims made in the book or the comments made by the students. The management would simply like to advise all tree displayers to carefully check the branches of their holiday trees before proper disposal or storage for any possible gifts wrapped with a yellow ribbon."

The book was read again this year to nary a comment.

From the subset of literary techniques, we explored the literary device of alliteration. We contrasted it to the device of rhyming and tried our hand with a partner.

Topic 7 Math Test

Of 22 students taking the test on Friday, 16 students passed with a score of 12 or better. Five students achieved a perfect score while 8 students scored 15 out of 16 possible.

Unit 3 Week 2 Preview

This week we ask the question: What do family members do with one another to have fun? Our comprehension skill focus will be to make and confirm predictions using the strategy of analyzing story structure. We will take a brief look at alliteration (consonance). We will continue our exploration with long vowel spellings in particular: long vowel-u spelled 'u_e' (cube, fuse) and 'open syllable with u' (future, amusing). In grammar we will examine present-tense verbs.

Our oral vocabulary words are typical, possessions, connections, relief, and support. Our high-frequency words are call, funny, how, more, so, there.

As you read with your child at home, please continue to predict and confirm as you read (What do you think will happen? Do you think Goldilocks will get caught?). When finishing a fiction selection or chapter, ask your child to confirm predictions and summarize what happened. When reading a nonfiction selection, have your child state the main idea and details.

We will learn the second of the five stanzas of our vowel poem this week; so, we will have completed learning the poem this week and will begin our in-class solo recitations.

In Social Science we will continue to compare the past and the present. We will also work towards understanding our location in the world while learning the continents and the oceans (tested). We will compare globes and maps.

We will also have a test on Topic 7 Math.

17th Week Preview

This week we will review long-vowel spellings learned so far and focus on several writing projects. We will be taking the District Writing Exam on opinion writing. We will also be learning the basic form of a personal letter by writing to Santa Claus. If parents would like to see the letters before they are sent to Santa (*wink*) just come to the classroom at the end of the week or before winter break. Additionally, we will be working on our Unit Project of writing instructions for a game we will invent.

Math Topic 6 Test Results

With 21 students taking the test, 19 students passed with a score of 13 or better. Three students earned a perfect score.

Seventieth Day of School

Today table groups took turns retelling/acting out the story The Hatseller and the Monkeys. Groups had 2 minutes to tell/act an interesting, clear story. Everyone participated.

We took the Topic 6 Math Test. Results will be forthcoming.

Sixty-Ninth Day of School

Yesterday we tried our hand at writing an opinion (CCSS.W.1). This is a tested skill this reporting period. Students need to be able to state (introduce) their opinion, then back their opinion up with reasons using descriptive language (CCSS.L.1.f) and then provide a sense of closure (CCSS and rubric requirement: score 3) or provide a concluding statement (CCSS [grade 2] and rubric requirement: score 4).

Students now have the 3rd stanza to the vowel poem. We worked on the vowel spellings 'o_e' (broke, joke) and 'open syllable o' (broken, joking).

Today we took our 4th timed Math Test. Nine students passed and received stars. Tomorrow is our Topic 6 Math Test. There will be no homework tomorrow. Reading logs are due tomorrow.

Sixty-Sixth Day of School

Topic 6 Math Test Friday.

Some students may want to teach parents the main idea/detail game we played today.

Unit 3 Week 1 Preview

In our new unit we will be exploring fun and laughter. In the first week we ask what makes us laugh and how do we make other people laugh. Our oral vocabulary is amuse, delighted, humorous, mood, ridiculous. Our reading sight words are away, school, today, way, why. For spelling we will focus on 'long-a' spellings. We will listen to and generate rhyme. We will use a Flow Map to generate a retell. We will incorporate time-order cues and words into our retell.

In Social Science we will discuss good sportsmanship and rules (HSS 1.1.2) We will also learn the basic components of a simple map.

In Science we will be studying the elements of weather.

In Visual Art we will discuss line as the first basic element.

Sixty-Fifth Day of School

Report cards for those parents who have not yet received one and who have already met with me will go home on Monday.

There is no homework today by special recommendation of the Class President. Enjoy your weekend.

Sixty-Fourth Day of School

Today we reviewed how to include the theme of a story in the summary. Some parents may have heard the summary: One day at the park, Beth and her friends made instruments to play in a band. The theme of the story is having fun. So then, the summary with the theme included would be: Beth and her friends had fun one day at the park making instruments and playing in a band. This corresponds to our theme of the week which is: having fun with neighbors.

You should find our second stanza for the vowel poem in your child's folder which is actually the third stanza for the poem about the vowel 'i' (we will come back and learn the stanza for 'e' later). We concentrated on two spellings for 'i' today: Open syllable 'i' (pilot, spider) and 'i_e' (pile, spice).

Today we also had a "timed" math test with subtraction facts. Two students got 100%. Many of the mistakes were due to students inadvertently adding instead of spelling.

Sixty-Third Day of School

Today we took a good amount of time to work on unit projects. Those who are finished are now working on a persuasive piece.

We read a realistic fiction selection called Beth and the Band.  In groups, we wrote a summary of the story (one sentence which captures the main idea of the story). We then wrote a summary of the story as a class and learned some hints to help our summary sound concise.

For discussion, ask your child if they can remember one of the summaries for the story and make sure to practice this skill on occasion with them after reading at home.

Unit 2 Week 5 Preview

For the next few instructional days we will ask what neighbors do together for fun. Our oral vocabulary words will be: audience, entertain, brilliant, enjoy, perform. Our sight words will be: all, put, show, together, under, want. In phonics we will be introduced to the digraphs 'sh,' and 'th'. We will again generate retells and summaries of our selections using visualization and Flow Maps

Keep in mind the special dismissal times for each day of the week this week and the beginning of next week.

Fifty-Seventh Day of School

The grades for Topic 5 Math Test were very encouraging including 3 perfect scores. All students passed exceeding the adjusted minimum passing score of 14. Eleven students scored 20 or better.

Four Unit Projects have been published for Unit 2. Keep in mind, some students have yet to complete their project for Unit 1 and we are quickly approaching the end of Unit 2.

A significant number of 2's have been earned for the homework grade on the report card due to missing reading logs. If you have an August, September, or October reading log at home, make sure it gets turned in tomorrow as grades are due in the office tomorrow. Coincidentally, this class has also earned a significant number of 4's in the very same category. This is a grade where a parent has almost complete control as to what is earned.

Hang on to your child's Social Studies and Science notes as they can be used for the finals at the end of the year. A large portion of your child's Science and Social Science grade is based on written tests in the final reporting period.

Fifty-Sixth Day of School

Today we learned about spelling the long-a sound with an open syllable (baker, lady, gravy) and with the spelling pattern a_e (bake, grave). We are continuing work on Unit Projects. One student has already completed work on their Unit 2 Project with others close behind. We also started memorization of our vowel poem. Today we brought home the first stanza about the vowel 'a'. There will be 5 stanzas altogether.

We also began work on a math project aligned to CCSS. We will continue work with this tomorrow and take our Topic 5 Math Test on Wednesday along with our Social Science and Science Tests.

Unit 2 Week 4 Preview

Continuing our exploration of families and neighbors, we ask the question: what is a home? Our oral vocabulary words are collapse, company, construct, entire, and material. Our high-frequency focus words are again, could, make, one, then, three. For spelling we will focus on short-vowel 'u'. Our grammar rule will be proper nouns and capitalization.

For discussion: What constitutes a home? (A family or dweller, the building materials, and the neighborhood or community.)

Every year Room 11 has the tradition of electing a class president. This supports the government portion of our Social Science standards. Those students interested in running for Room 11 Class President 2013-14 will work on a speech at home to be delivered to the class. Due to our busy schedule and other reasons, we will postpone our class president speeches until November 12. Voting will take place on the following Wednesday. Credit for that At-Home Project will count towards the second reporting period.

Fifty-Fourth Day of School

Today we took a reading comprehension test with a lexile level of 260-270. Of 23 students taking the test, 14 passed and there was one 100%.

We had discussions today using new discussion procedures. Mr. Brooks used our class as a recording sample.

Notes for our upcoming Science and Social Studies Tests went home today. The Social Studies Test will look very much like their notes only the boxes will already be on the page for them. They will need to draw label and write. For the Science Test they will be writing responses to questions about the forms and properties of matter.

There will be no homework tomorrow night.

Unit 2 Week 3 Preview

This week we will emphasize comparing the past and the present (tested), review comparing the effects of geography on lifestyles (tested) and some of the concepts learned in Science in order to be able to pass a test next week in Science and Social Science. Students should be bringing home their notes from class in order to study (discuss) with you for their test. They should be able to name several differences in lifestyle between people that live in a warm climate from those that live in the cold. They should also be able to mention some differences between living in the past and the present. We will discuss differences in shopping (in the past- fewer stores with a wider variety of items and services), transportation (in the past- slower animal-powered vehicles on dirt roads), school (in the past- one-room school buildings for all ages without computers), and clothing (in the past- long-sleeved dresses and shirts with high collars and bows or ties, stockings or high socks and boots).

We will be spelling with 's' and 'r' consonant blends this week (step, spend, grab, trap).

Reading logs are due on Thursday.

PearsonSuccessNet

PearsonSuccessNet Registration

1. Access at www.pearsonsuccessnet.com
2. Go to Register
3. Enter access code (case sentsitive): 
4. Click Next create username and password
5. Log-in

Forty-Ninth Day of School

Today we read about Alaska and Spain. We compared lifestyles of two different climates to that of ours in and near Carson.

You should find your child's Topic 4 Math Test with them today. Of the 22 students taking the test, 19 students passed with an adjusted score of 12 or more. One student scored 100%.

Unit 2 Week 2 Preview

This week we discuss cooperation and our role in helping out. We discuss families and neighbors working together to help each other. Our oral vocabulary words are appreciate, partner, cooperate, responsibility, and delectable. This week we will continue with the comprehension strategy of summarizing. We will focus on short vowel 'e' (tell, went) in spelling and touch on long 'o' spelled 'o_e' (hope, note). Our sight vocabulary words are eat, no, of, some, who. For grammar we will pluralize nouns requiring '-es' (lunches, dishes). We will complete a simple Flow Map in order to retell a story. We will complete our personal Tree Map of favorites and then begin work on a Tree Map which we will use for the brainstorming (prewrite) of our unit project on neighborhood workers. I would expect for our parents to know the neighborhood worker of their child's choosing and to be discussing the tools, dress, and duties of the worker in order to facilitate and improve writing fluency. 

In Social Science we will discuss at length how physical environments affect the way people live (food, shelter, clothing, transportation, recreation) (HSS 1.2.4) (tested). We will compare the environments of Alaska, Spain, and California.

Forty-Sixth Day of School

In Science today we worked in small groups to solve a problem concerning small particle solids using graduated separating screens. More groups than expected (based on performance in years passed) were quite successful.

Great News! The equipment request for our Final Project (it is being referred to as "final" but is not exactly final as the majority of the work will take place in March) has been funded through DonorsChoose. A great big thank you to those parents, other family members, and foundations for their generous gifts and quick response. The project was funded much more quickly than anticipated. Look for progress updates posted here. The tentative plan is to have an early evening filming in early March (probably beginning at 5:30) during Family Literacy Night. We will probably need to start earlier than 5:30 for those that can be there earlier so as to accommodate everyone.

There is Math homework this weekend and a test on Monday.

Reminder: We will not be sharing treats the day of Halloween.

Forty-Fifth Day of School

Today the students worked in groups to develop interview questions for a particular type of animal about which their group read (RI.1.1). Three of the 4 groups were very successful with this task.

We will likely have a Topic 4 Math Test on Monday.

Forty-Fourth Day of School

Today we read several selections about baby animals and their development and how they are raised by their families. We used the texts to differentiate between the  main idea and details.

We examined photos of school rooms from two different eras and found that children wore different clothes to school long ago and the girls specifically were required to wear dresses. The new classroom had computers and chairs made of a composite material as opposed to wood. Our classroom as well as the old classroom both had chalkboards (tested).

Some students wanted information to be posted about the downtown Los Angeles Library. If you have never been, it's quite an amazing place just to walk around and see. It is very accessible from the end of the blue line by just walking north 3 blocks. There is also an amazing children's section with a beautiful, appropriately-sized theater. From the library, if you continue walking one block east and 2 blocks north you will reach the historic Angel's Flight just past 4th on S. Olive. Riding the flight to the bottom of the hill puts you directly across the street from the Grand Central Market. There you will find a wide variety of foods to sample. From Grand Central Market walk two blocks south to Pershing Square. Board the red line with a transfer back to Metro Center Station and then transfer back to the blue line. There is a blue line park-and-ride on Wardlow (223rd turns into Wardlow) and Pacific.

Another good family outing is to take the Balboa Island car-ferry. Take PCH south to Jamboree and turn right. Jamboree becomes Marine Avenue which ends at South Bay Front. Turn right on South Bay Front which takes you to the ferry. However, if it is busy, the queue for the ferry may build from the north-approaching street which is Agate. Once across the bay you will be on Balboa Peninsula. Once there you will find the Balboa Fun Zone and Pavilion. Continuing northwest on Balboa Blvd. brings you to Newport Blvd. and then back to PCH.

Bring me photos/drawings or post a link to untagged images (in the comment section) of your excursion for extra homework and have fun.

Eight Unit 1 Projects are now complete.

Final Project Update

A DonorsChoose project was placed in Room 11's name recently to supply most of what we will need for our final project. I am posting this link because until October 22, the DonorsChoose board is matching all donations which use the promo code INSPIRE during checkout. All gifts are tax deductible. So, if you know of anyone with some extra cash laying around looking for a tax write-off send them our way. We are already $70 dollars up.

Forty-Third Day of School

Today we learned the important skill of how to summarize a selection. A summary is different than a retell in that it only gives the main idea of a selection without details. A good summary is about a sentence long and answers the questions: where, when, who, what, and how, often in that order, Today we summarized two selections. We found that some genres may not have a setting so where and when will be excluded from the summary. Summarization is a good skill to be practicing at home during reading time especially if a child is being read to.

We also recalled the selection we read about Alexander Graham Bell and developed essential questions to ask in an interview. Some students shared their interviewing skills again. The students who shared their interview are quite likely the same students to be earning a 4 on their report card in speaking. Our essential questions were:

• What did Alexander Graham Bell do for a living?
• Tell me about Alexander Graham Bell's mother.
• What did Alexander Graham Bell try to do when he was young?
• Tell about Alexander Graham Bell as a teacher.
• What was Alexander Graham Bell famous for?

Six students have completed and turned in their Unit 1Project.

Tomorrow the following question will be asked in class.

Hal has 3 chance tickets. Jude has the same amount of chance tickets as Kip. Altogether there are 15 chance tickets. How many chance tickets does Kip have? Explain how you know.

Unit 2 Week 1 Preview

Our weekly themes in this second unit will center around our families and our neighbors having already examined ourselves, our abilities, and our growth. Our last idea about teams was that families are the most important kind of team. This week, we will explore the idea of families taking care of each other. For a unit project students will focus on a worker of their choice and write an expository piece about them. Our oral vocabulary words are guide, protect, provide, separate, wild. Our sight words are her, our, they, two. Our comprehension strategy this week will be to focus on summarizing a selection. We learn to summarize by developing the skill of distinguishing main ideas from details. Summarizing a selection is a different skill than a retell. Where a retell would be to tell a story in our own words with as much interesting detail as possible, a summary isolates only the most important ideas answering the basic questions of who? what? where? when? why? and perhaps how? This story is about a girl walking in the forest who seeks food and rest in the home of 3 bears. In phonics and spelling, will take a more detailed look at some long vowel spellings this week beginning with 'a_e'  (cane) and 'i_e' (ride) along with inflectional ending '-ed'. In grammar we will discuss sentence subjects and nouns.

For Social Science we will continue comparing and contrasting the past with the present (HSS 1.1.4) (tested). We will examine photos of schools long ago.

Forty-First Day of School

Students will be coming home with their Science experiments in a zip-lock bag. The compound is largely harmless. They have been instructed to keep it away from carpet and furniture.

There is Math homework this weekend.

The class will have a substitute teacher on Monday. Availability for after school conferences will continue on Wednesday.

Reminder

Please remember it is necessary to have appropriate shoe wear for school. It has been necessary to exclude children from P.E. because of their shoes. Please consider shoes with ties or straps and that practicality and safety supersedes fashion. It is also better that children have one pair of well-fitting, comfortable, secure shoes rather then a pair to match each outfit. Children should also not be wearing platforms of any type or shoes with a raised back heel.

Thirty-Eighth Day of School

Today we read about American Hero Roberto Clemente. We formulated questions to ask about Roberto Clemente based on our new knowledge. We then used those questions to interview a partner about Clemente. Some partners brought their interview to perform at the front. One pair performed their interview for the principal. We were so pleased with our abilities to be interviewed, to interview, and to speak almost extemporaneously, we thought it might be a good idea to use this format for our end of the year project.

Here's the way this may be unfolding: Students will become an expert on a particular subject [an aspect of nature (e.g., bees, clouds, a planet), or a famous person]. They will develop 6 to 8 questions which will be asked of them regarding their subject. They will memorize answers to the questions they have prepared. They will be interviewed as an expert on their subject by another student while being recorded on camera. They will dress professionally as an expert would dress on a talk show.

Our Roberto Clemente questions:

• Who was Roberto Clemente?
• What kind of person was he?
• How did Roberto Clemente die?
• What did Roberto Clemente want to build?

Unit 1 Week 5 Preview

We close out the unit discussing what we like to do with our friends and what we can accomplish with teamwork. Our oral vocabulary words are challenging, charity, admire, focus, offer. Our sight words are help, now, use, very. We will develop our skill of identifying the author's purpose to develop the comprehension strategy of analyzing text structure. We will analyze texts where authors use description to give information. We will focus on final consonant blends (eg. -nk, -nt, -sk, -st, etc.) for decoding, and spelling.

For Social Science we will discuss the significance of Independence Day (HSS 1.3.2) and some national iconic symbols (HSS 1.3.3) (tested).

In P.E. we will be using teamwork to accomplish various goals.

For our upcoming unit it will be necessary for students to focus on a particular occupation of their choosing. Parents should be aware of their child's choice and possibly help their child research information about that occupation. Your child will need to know and be able to articulate where a person in the selected profession works, what they they wear, what tools they use, and what task they perform.

Thirty-Sixth Day

All 22 students taking the Topic 3 Math Test passed with an adjusted score of 12 or better.

From our discussion on the humane treatment of animals and their habitats, some students suggested that one of our tangents be mentioned here online. A simple and effective solution for ridding your home of unwanted vermin is to pour peppermint oil on some cotton placed in a cup and to then place those cups in each room of your house. This has the added benefit of making your home smell minty fresh. It is best to use pure peppermint oil which can be purchased online for about $36 for 16 ounces. This should last quite a while for a small to medium sized home. When purchasing, make sure your product is pure and not diluted with a carrier oil.

Thirty-Fifth Day

We have begun work with formal talk moves in order to practice accountable academic discussion. We are practicing using the following sentence frames within discussion:

•  I agree with (*) and would like to add...
• I disagree because...

In practice this may sound like:

Mediator: Which character's response to the problem was most sensible?

Student 1: I think the 3rd pig's response was most sensible because a house of bricks would be strong.

Student 2: I agree with (Student 1) and would like to add that sticks and straw are not very sturdy building materials.

Today we learned how some herbivores have to eat for most of their waking hours in order to satisfy their dietary requirements. We learned that some carnivores can go several days without eating. We learned this in conjunction with what animals need to survive.

We took our second timed math test today and will take Topic 3 Math Test tomorrow.

Thirty-Third Day of School

Unsatisfactory notices went home today. If we have already conferenced regarding areas of concern an unsat. notice was not sent home. Keep in mind that these notices are only for your child's reading, writing, and math grades. Also, it is unnecessary for your child to know the contents of the unsat. notice at this time. Remember, an unsat. notice is sent to the parent per district policy to inform a parent that their child may have earned a 2 or a 1 on the report card in the indicated core subject. I does not mean that your child is in danger of failing or repeating their current grade. If you are one of the parents who received a notice and would like to discuss your child's progress, please come after school (not Tuesday) for a conference. There are approximately 5 weeks left before first report cards go home.

We will likely be taking the Topic 3 Math Test this coming Friday.

Unit 1 Week 4 Preview

During week 4 we will tread lightly on the subject of pets. We will read/listen to various selections about pets including a nonfiction selection about White House Pets. Our oral vocabulary words are adorable, dear, needs, sensible, and train. We will continue the comprehension strategy of analyzing story structure using the skill of recognizing parts of the plot. Our sight words will be come, down, good, pull. In spelling we will focus on words having an initial consonant blend with the letter 'l' (fl-, pl-, cl-). We will continue working our way through seminar. Those students who are ready may start working on publishing their pieces. 

In Social Science we will discuss traditions in a variety of contexts, for example, the classroom, community, and family. (HSS 1.5.1) We will also begin comparing the past with the present (tested) reading a nonfiction selection titled Learn About the Past. 

Thirty-First Day of School

Today we examined a collection of liquids and generated a list of properties for liquids in general. The new vocabulary discussed was, viscous/viscosity, opaque, transparent, and translucent.

The statistics were a little disheartening for the Topic 2 Math Test. Upon reflection there seems to be a number of issues coming to surface with the new standards system. The adjusted passing score for the test was 14 which left us with only 14 students able to achieve a passing score. Sixteen was the modal average and 15 the mean average. Two students earned a perfect score.

There is math homework for this weekend.

Reading logs are due Monday.

Twenty-Ninth Day of School

Yesterday we took a quick reading comprehension test. Fifty percent of the students passed. Two students got 100%.

Today we took our speed math test. Nine students received stars on the star chart.

As it stands currently, there is a 3-way tie for the most number of stars at 8.

Tomorrow is the Topic 2 Math Test.

Fifteen students have now completed their personal narratives. One student has completed and typed 2. Four students have completed typing of their essay.

Twenty-Seventh Day of School

Nine students have now completed their personal narratives. Two students have used a word processor to digitize. Thank you to the parents who have already provided a flash drive for their students; this makes the process much easier.

Unit 1 Week 3 Preview

In this week's instruction we focus on  how we will change and how we have changed as we grow. If your child would like to bring in a photo showing themselves as a baby, we could display these and guess who they grew into. We will also explore how animals change as they grow. We will draw conclusions about animals that change greatly and those that may only change in size as they mature. We will analyze text for character, setting, and plot. We will focus on spelling patterns: ,-in, -it, -iss. Our oral vocabulary words will be change, adult, learn, imitate, and practice. Our reading sight words will be be, ride, and run. In grammar we will distinguish between statements and questions. We will continue writing our All About Me books and continue to work on our narrative piece to wrap up this unit's writing task.

In Social Science, we will discuss the difference between rights and responsibilities and what they mean for United States citizenship (HSS 1.1).

In Math we will finish with topic 2 and take our topic test.

In Health we discuss how our relationship with our friends can affect our health.

Twenty-Sixth Day of School

A total of 5 students were able to complete their personal narratives and bring them to seminar. Those students completed will likely have time to begin digitizing their work to put on their flash drive.

We completed an important Science task today after classifying solid properties. Some students were able to complete a diagram of their finished work.

We did not have enough time for our timed Math Test, so that will be postponed. We will have our Topic 2 Math Test this coming week.

Twenty-Fifth Day of School

Today we worked on a rough draft for a personal narrative on a topic of our choice from our Unit Project. This task will be a good portion of the first reporting period writing grade since 1st grade does not have a district periodic assessment in writing this period.

We have also been working on our drama skills in order to improve our retell ability. We are learning to use our body, voice, and imagination to make our presentations more interesting.

Twenty-Third Day of School

Sixth week fluency scores are available and posted in the class room. Fluency is one portion of the reading grade and used in combination with a complete battery of reading tests.

Unfortunately, parent conferences have been postponed due to the large number of students needing to transfer classrooms. If you would like to meet sooner than whenever the first conferences will be scheduled, feel free to come see me. I am almost always available after school except on Tuesdays. This will lessen the scheduling burden on the rescheduled parent conference week. I have already met with some parents. You can always send a note with your child to let me know what day you are considering in advance. We also won't be limited as much by time constraints if we meet outside of conference week.

Monday's Performance Task Preview

Performance Task Preview:

(For Parents' Information: In the game of Battle Towers, number tiles 0-13 are placed randomly face down. Students each draw one tile from the set and build a tower to match the number on their respective tile. The towers are compared. The child with the taller tower keeps the difference and stockpiles to build their ultimate tower later. Used tiles are discarded from play. Play continues until all tiles have been drawn, usually 7 rounds. The child with the largest ultimate tower wins the "war".)

Students will read a story about 2 children playing 2 rounds of Battle Towers. They will be asked to tell which student won the two-round match and to explain why. They will need to model their explanation. One way to do this is to use the patterns and models already discussed in class (part, part, whole). They should remember that the larger tower (whole) minus the shorter tower (part known) equals the difference (unknown part). Basically, (and this can be discussed at home) if 2 children have their own collection of pennies, to find the difference in the number of pennies each child has, the smaller collection amount is subtracted from the larger collection amount to find the difference:

Large collection - Small collection = Difference

Another model children might use is a pictograph/bar graph to show the size of the towers. The difference in length of the towers for the first round compared to the difference in the length of the towers over the second round reveals who won the two-round game of Battle Towers.

Finally, students will be asked to give an example where in a 3rd round of Battle Towers the difference in the two towers would be 3. (Reminder: in any subsequent round of Battle Towers, the numbers already chosen for the length in towers of previous rounds cannot be chosen again, because they have been removed from play.

Unit 1 Week 2 Preview

During week 2 we discuss how physical activity is an important part of our lives. We learn how activity keeps our bodies healthy and strong. Our oral vocabulary words are movement, energy, express, exhausted, and stretch. Our sight words are: it, over, too. We will analyze story structure to discover selections with patterned text. Examples of famous patterned text are Monday, Monday, I like Monday (Bill Martin Jr.), and The Important Book (Margaret Wise Brown). Ask your librarian for other examples. Patterned texts often become bedtime favorites and re-reading them is a good way to build fluency. We will not often use a patterned text for retelling purposes. We will read the West African folktale The Great Rope Tug and diagram the story together using a Flow Map to highlight the beginning, middle, and end. We will continue to encode and decode single syllable words with short vowels (a, e, i). We will listen to rhyme, movement, and rhythm in poetry.

In Social Science we will look briefly to the original people of Australia and learn that a tradition is a special way of doing something. often repeated annually that becomes part of a people's culture.

For discussion: What is a tradition? What traditions does your family share?

For Math we will continue our exploration of subtraction. It looks very likely that our Topic 2 Math Test will be during the week of the 23rd. This Monday students will work together to solve a story problem about the game Battle Towers. They will orally present their results to class. For oral presentations and group work, the students are graded on their ability to present an idea clearly (report card). In Math, they are graded on their ability to explain their thinking, their precision in calculations, the organization of their ideas, and the completeness of their work/solution. Additionally, they are graded on cooperation (report card), perseverance (Common Core Mathematical Practice # 1), and ability to model with mathematics (CCMP #4). As you can probably tell, being able to work together to solve a problem is an important process. We will likely have our first speed addition test this week as well. Those passing (perfect test) will earn a star on the Star Chart.

Twenty-First Day of School

No homework this weekend.

Twentieth Day of School

Today we learned that different disciplines have different language used to express the ideas inherent to them (GATE concept). For example, a math sentence (usually called an equation) uses "symbols" and requires proper syntax like a grammatical sentence which uses "punctuation."  So, if the homework asks for a "math sentence" 8 - 5 = 3 is a proper response and nothing needs to be spelled out. This is in contrast to a math expression (phrase) which is not an equation such as 2 x 3.

In Math we learned the important concept of "difference" which is explained in today's math classwork. In keeping with our theme this week of comparing and contrasting,tomorrow we will be playing a game where we will be find the difference in the heights of towers: Tower Battle.

In Music we learned our third element of music: rhythm. We played a game where we had to follow a movement pattern in time with a song.

Nineteenth Day of School

This was a very busy day. We began the day with a discussion of survival needs (tested). We then read our main selection of the week and analyzed the story with respect to character. We then used our character analysis to help us retell the story to a partner. Then each table chose two people to retell the story to the class. The class then judged each retell based on  4 criteria (critical thinking skill satisfying GATE instructional requirement): was the retell accurate, clear, interesting, complete. We then read a companion piece called Mrs. Goose's Baby. We used a Double Bubble Thinking Map to compare the main characters. We then began work on our own Double Bubble Thinking Map to compare ourselves to another person in the class.

Today's homework was again bonus homework. Those with correctly completed homework received points for their table.

In Math we began to construct math expressions, and sentences for subtraction. We used the oral pattern: Whole - part = part to complete our classwork. Some students struggled with this idea.

Eighteenth Day of School

Today we read The Princess and the Pea and discussed its structure. We were introduced to the word genre. So far, the genre's we have discussed are realistic fiction, fable, fairy tale, folktale, and fantasy. It is a good idea if every student is familiar with characteristics of each type of story. We also learned the meaning of compare and contrast and practiced expressing our ideas of similarities and differences in order to highlight our uniqueness and commonalities.

In Case You Weren't Already Aware

From a recent article criticizing a recent milk producing lobby petition to the FDA regarding milk additives:

But now the situation is getting even more insane than you could have imagined: the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) have filed a petition with the FDA asking the FDA to alter the definition of "milk" to secretly include chemical sweeteners such as aspartame and sucralose.

...pints are (already) riddled with aspartame, which has been linked to leukemia and lymphoma in certain animal studies.

http://health.yahoo.net/articles/nutrition/photos/10-gross-food-trends-avoid#9

Seventeenth Day of School

Today we read and analyzed That Big Cat. This story is a realistic fiction piece written in the 1st person like the Junie B. Jones series. So, it is a very good example of a personal narrative in the voice of a young child. We learned that when the reader is aware of the main character problem (conflict) then we have reached the middle of the story. When the conflict is resolved, we know we are at the end.

In Health we learned the importance of and ways to stay clean and fit.

For Discussion: What did Allie like to do? (beginning: she used her imagination to play, she also picked out her own clothes, she pretended to be a super hero) What was Allie's problem? (middle: she was afraid to go near/pet that big cat). How was her problem resolved? (end: she learned the cat was friendly, she overcame her fear). How can you stay clean and fit?

All students returning Friday's homework today completed correctly were awarded bonus points for their table.

Reminder: First graders should go to bed at 8:00. If they wake up at 7:00 this gives them the recommended 11 hours of uninterrupted sleep necessary for proper growth. An 8:00 bedtime is also appropriate for 2nd and 3rd graders.

Sixteenth Day of School

Today we generated a list of properties for a collection of solids which we will use for another activity next Friday. Friday afternoons will be our time for Science.

There is homework for this afternoon in Math. Additionally you may want to review your child's math test with them. There were 2 redundant problems we skipped on the insert page. The students were instructed to create a model for the last question on the front of the fold-out sheet which counted for an additional point (3 + 5 = 8).

Math Topic 1 Test Results

Of 24 students taking the Topic 1 Math Test, 20 students passed with an adjusted score of 14 or better. Ten students scored 18 or better. One student passed with a perfect score.

Math tests will be returned tomorrow.

Unit 1 Week 1 Preview

As a part of our theme: What Makes Us Special, our focus questions are: What do we like to do, and how do the things we like to do make us special? We will discover that the things we like to do help to make us who we are. Our vocabulary words for the week are cheerful, interest, unique, prefer, and genuine. We will analyze story structure for the beginning, middle, and end (comprehension strategy). We learn that this is the way that most realistic fiction stories are structured and that good readers pay attention to these parts (R 1.3.1). We will also pay special attention to the characters and setting of stories (comprehension skill). In phonics we will blend words and identify rhymes with short 'a' and short 'i'. Our reading sight words for the week are jump, not, up. In grammar we will discuss how a sentence tells a whole idea. We will continue with our Unit Project while referring to our 2 previously constructed Thinking Maps. We will analyze the structure of the fairy tale, The Princess and the Pea. We will analyze how an author develops character by what they say and do. In writing we discuss and practice how using describing words adds detail and interest. We will listen to the fable, Town Mouse and Country Mouse, and discover how preferences make characters unique. We will read an informational text and use structure to deduce main idea.

In Science we will make a connection between what we have been learning in music and what we know about Alexander Graham Bell and discuss the discipline of acoustical science and engineering. In life science we discuss basic needs of people and animals using the vocabulary: shelter, energy.

In Math we will begin Topic 2 exploring subtraction.

In P.E. we will work on balance, catch and toss to ourselves and to a partner.

• How are you different than other people in your family/class? How is your family different than other families?
• What are the states of matter?
• What does an animal need in order to survive? 

Twelfth and Thirteenth Day of School

We have discussed the 3 states of matter (tested) and how the forms of matter change from one to the other (tested). Later this week the students will observe various solids and generate properties for them.

Today we read a biography of Alexander Graham Bell. Tomorrow we will discuss what we remember from the selection and how a biographical piece is structured.

We are continuing our work on our in-class Unit Project.

Tomorrow we will take our Topic 1 Math Test.

For discussion: How were Alexander Graham Bell's interests as a child related to his adult accomplishments? What do you think caused Alexander Graham Bell to be interested in sound technology and also to become a teacher?

Addendum to Back-to-School Math Notes

A special thanks to the many parents who came to the Back-to-School night and last week's game night. It was nice to see so many parents taking an active role in their child's education.

A few more comments about our math program. Parents might view the homework as a way to foresee what will be on the upcoming topic tests. The questions which the students see on the test are going to look very similar to many of the questions on the homework. Additionally, the classwork which comes home (two-fold page which corresponds to the homework) can be used as a tool to open discussion about what was learned that day in class. The classwork does not need to be returned to me. It may be likely that you will find the classwork is not completed when your child comes home. There may even be mistakes.

As for the math test, in addition to questions that are typical of what the children have seen during instruction of the topic/unit, there will be questions which require students to apply what they've learned to a newer idea or perhaps to extend the thinking just beyond their instruction. These questions are used to help determine the score of a "4" on the test. When calculating the 70% cut off for a score of "3", the points for the more difficult questions are deducted from the total possible giving an adjusted score minimum necessary for passing. So students will be passing with 70% of the adjusted score and not the actual total which will show under your child's score at the top of the test. After each test, I will post statistics letting you know what the adjusted minimum score was necessary to pass (to obtain a "3") the test.

When we take the test, each question is read aloud at least once (usually more) and time is given for all or most of the children to complete each item. Students are allowed to ask for questions to be repeated. Students are encouraged to review their answers before turning in their test or to go back and complete items they may not have had a chance to complete. They are allowed to take as much time as they need to complete the test. For these reasons, make-up tests due to absences are usually not given but with occasional exceptions.

Advance notice for exactly which day a test will be given is not always possible due to various reasons including allowing for absences on any given day. With that said, we will likely be taking our first math test some time next week.

Seventh Day of School

Today's bonus question worked so well, we'll try to repeat it again tomorrow. Tomorrow the students will be asked if anyone knows two more story elements besides plot. The answer to this question is: I know that character and setting are two more story elements besides plot.

Today we began work on our second Thinking Map, the Circle Map where our topic was ourselves. These will be used to complete our upcoming Unit Project.

In math we worked on building physical representations for the number 8. Tomorrow we will learn how to record the information from our models on paper. Students who are able to successfully record a complete and organized set of number models will earn a rubric score of 4 on their math report. Students completing 5 examples will earn a score of 3.

A note about homework: on last night's homework, the final question was an open ended response question with two blank lines. These lines on the homework should indicate to parents that some type of explanation is required. Here are some examples of very good responses received:

• I know 8 is the other part because 8 - 0 = 8.
• If one part is the same as the starting number, then the other part has to be 0.
• If the whole is 8 and one part is 8, the other part has to be 0 because 8 + 0 is 8.

Please note: it is unnecessary to spell out numbers unless a number starts the sentence. Complete answers should not start with the word because. I will be speaking more about how to answer these open ended response questions at Back-to-School Night. Homework that is returned due to incomplete or incorrect answers should be corrected and returned to class for credit.

Bonus for Students Whose Parents Read This Blog

Today we reviewed that stories usually have a beginning, a middle, and an end. We discussed some examples and analyzed some stories for their 3 parts. I failed to mention that these 3 parts make up the story's plot. If you get a chance to talk with your child about this idea, I will be asking if anyone knows what story element (answer: plot) comes from the beginning, middle, and end of a story. If only one person knows the answer then that will be an opportunity to earn a chance ticket or extra homework credit. If possibly more children know then, great! I will have to award table points or something of equal or greater value. Let's see what happens.

If this oversight turns out useful, I may be making planned oversights in the future.

Fifth Day of School

Today we practiced forming and spelling with 'f' and 'h'. We learned a good word during word building: span. We practiced making and identifying rhymes and discussed what makes a rhyme. We also learned the meaning of antonym (opposite).

We began the pre-write portion (Bubble Map) of our first Unit Project. Ten students had enough time to complete their pre-write exercise correctly.

We began our first unit in Math.

For At-Home discussion:

• Name 6 adjectives to describe yourself.
• Define the word span. Show your arm span. Compare your child's height (have them lay on the ground feet flat against a vertical surface and mark where the top of their head lays) and their arm span (have them spread their arms between the point on the wall where their feet were and where the top of their head was). What do you notice?

Reminder

For safety reasons, children are only allowed to wear stud style earrings to school.

Per LAUSD dress code socks must be worn with shoes.

Third Day of School

Today we had our first blending lesson. We learned the importance of raising our hand to ask questions and listening to other student's responses. We also learned how we were required to raise our hand during blending if we needed clarification.

In math we again discussed models and representations of numbers. We then worked in teams to create models using our bodies as counters.

No homework was assigned for this evening.

Second Day of School

Today we reviewed letters 'p' and 't'. We reviewed sight words we and like. We made our first entry in our writing/response journals. We sorted objects by one attribute, We reviewed histograms and discussed some more number models.

In PE we learned how to find personal space for warm up activities.

First Day of School

Today was a good day. We studied the sounds and formation of the letters 'm' and 's'. We learned the meaning of the word threshold and a new meaning of the word arcade which some students will be able to articulate to parents. We also began our violence prevention training (Second Step). For homework we brought home math classwork to complete and return as well as a very short book to read to family members which contains some review words from kindergarten. It would be very helpful as well if each child brought back their emergency form filled out legibly tomorrow.

A personal note: I have to tell you that this was one of the smoothest (if not the smoothest) first days of school I have experienced. I believe it speaks volumes to so many things you do as parents. It's nice to have a class full of children prepared for school and ready to learn. Thank you for all you do.

Tomorrow I will send a reading log home for the month of August due at the end of the month (08/30/13). You will receive 3 reading logs for each reporting period. The logs count for part of the homework grade. If a reading log should happen to get misplaced, simply turn in a list of the books you read with your child for the month with your signature, child's name and number, and the month written on it. Books sent home from class do count as reading material for the log. If you are reading chapter books, one chapter can substitute as one night's reading on the log.

Start Smart Week 1 Preview

In our first unit of learning we will explore some of the things that make people unique. This week we will look at the characteristics of ourselves and others that make us special. Within this idea we will review the simple elegance of the Golden Rule for our Social Science lesson as we reinforce the importance of respecting the differences we discover in others (HSS 1.1.2).

For the first 3 weeks in Language Arts, we will review many of the concepts learned in Kindergarten. We will review the Kindergarten sight words as well as letter sounds and proper writing formation. We will also review rhyme and syllable segmentation. We will be reintroduced to our first thinking maps, the Circle Map and the Bubble Map as we learn how to describe ourselves in order to begin our first theme project: a book about ourselves.

In Math we will review number sense concepts emphasizing visual patterns and ideas for the numbers 0-12. We will begin our first topic: Understanding Addition (1.OA.1). We will be representing and solving problems using addition and subtraction.

In PE we will focus on balance and cooperation.

Welcome to Room 11

This blog has been created to keep parents and guardians of the students in room 11 at Caroldale Learning Community informed about daily activities in our classroom and school. Please discuss what you read here with your children when appropriate. Ask them clarifying questions. They don't necessarily need to know how you know what happened during their day, they should simply know that you are informed. Feel free to  respond to what you read. Please remember the most efficient way to communicate with me on timely issues is to write a note on or attached to your child's homework. Please avoid including students' names when responding to posts. General comments and questions are best in this arena. For convenience, you might consider linking to this page through an rss feed or through the google reader application.

Thank you,

Mr. B