Dear Grade 2/3 Families,
Winter break is great, but it’s always nice to get back to school. We’ve had an exciting first week getting back into curriculum, and we even had some snow to play in on Friday. With that, we wanted to remind everyone to please make sure your child is prepared to play outside each day. Please send snow pants, boots, hat, and gloves to ensure your child stays comfortable outside each day. Also please be aware that children may bring a sled to school to use at recess time. You may want to label your sled before sending it.
I'd like to thank everyone for helping the children get a birthday card prepared for me. It was a treat and is really appreciated.
We would like to welcome a new student and a new student teacher to our classroom. Charles Liu will be visiting our class until January 20th. He is a third grader visiting from China, and the rest of the children really welcomed him warmly last week. Our student teacher Tom Elliott will be with us through April. I’ve copied a message from him here:
Hello Parents,
My name is Thomas Elliott and I will be student teaching in Mr. Anton’s and Mrs. Vovsi’s 2nd and 3rd grade class until late April. I am a graduate student at Rider University and I am part of the Teach First Class Residency teaching program. Over the past few months, I was placed in a 4th grade class at Antheil School in Ewing, New Jersey. Along with months of classroom experience, I attended classes at Rider University and was taught countless teaching strategies that I look forward to implementing in the classroom. I am beyond excited to get started and work with your children! During my short time at Princeton Junior School, I have been impressed not only by the intelligence of all of your children, but also their desire and passion for learning. What I look forward to most is building a trusting, working relationship with each and every student as we conquer this challenge of learning together! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact either Mr. Anton or Mrs. Vovsi via email.
In Grade 2
Math Workshop: We focused on adding two-digit numbers last week. We used blocks to look at how we regroup, and we also worked on using the standard algorithm to add and regroup. It was interesting to see some aha moments when children used the blocks. Several of the children were of course familiar with carrying the one over to the tens place, but they were a bit fuzzy on what that meant. It was a good reminder of why we stress understanding of the concepts while of course teaching the standard algorithms. This week we will continue our investigation by looking at subtracting two-digit numbers.
Readers’ and Writers’ Workshop: We started a study of series books last week in reading. We are reading the Frog and Toad books together in class, and each child has also chosen a series of his/her own to read. We also started an author study of Tomie dePaola last week. We looked at some of his books and even learned some things about his life as a writer. We will continue learning about series books and Tomie dePaola next week as well.
In Grade 3
Math Workshop: Division is in full motion as we looked to relating multiplication to division using ratio tables! A wonderful way to represent thinking of division patterns within real world context. Ie:
Winter break is great, but it’s always nice to get back to school. We’ve had an exciting first week getting back into curriculum, and we even had some snow to play in on Friday. With that, we wanted to remind everyone to please make sure your child is prepared to play outside each day. Please send snow pants, boots, hat, and gloves to ensure your child stays comfortable outside each day. Also please be aware that children may bring a sled to school to use at recess time. You may want to label your sled before sending it.
I'd like to thank everyone for helping the children get a birthday card prepared for me. It was a treat and is really appreciated.
We would like to welcome a new student and a new student teacher to our classroom. Charles Liu will be visiting our class until January 20th. He is a third grader visiting from China, and the rest of the children really welcomed him warmly last week. Our student teacher Tom Elliott will be with us through April. I’ve copied a message from him here:
Hello Parents,
My name is Thomas Elliott and I will be student teaching in Mr. Anton’s and Mrs. Vovsi’s 2nd and 3rd grade class until late April. I am a graduate student at Rider University and I am part of the Teach First Class Residency teaching program. Over the past few months, I was placed in a 4th grade class at Antheil School in Ewing, New Jersey. Along with months of classroom experience, I attended classes at Rider University and was taught countless teaching strategies that I look forward to implementing in the classroom. I am beyond excited to get started and work with your children! During my short time at Princeton Junior School, I have been impressed not only by the intelligence of all of your children, but also their desire and passion for learning. What I look forward to most is building a trusting, working relationship with each and every student as we conquer this challenge of learning together! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact either Mr. Anton or Mrs. Vovsi via email.
In Grade 2
Math Workshop: We focused on adding two-digit numbers last week. We used blocks to look at how we regroup, and we also worked on using the standard algorithm to add and regroup. It was interesting to see some aha moments when children used the blocks. Several of the children were of course familiar with carrying the one over to the tens place, but they were a bit fuzzy on what that meant. It was a good reminder of why we stress understanding of the concepts while of course teaching the standard algorithms. This week we will continue our investigation by looking at subtracting two-digit numbers.
Readers’ and Writers’ Workshop: We started a study of series books last week in reading. We are reading the Frog and Toad books together in class, and each child has also chosen a series of his/her own to read. We also started an author study of Tomie dePaola last week. We looked at some of his books and even learned some things about his life as a writer. We will continue learning about series books and Tomie dePaola next week as well.
In Grade 3
Math Workshop: Division is in full motion as we looked to relating multiplication to division using ratio tables! A wonderful way to represent thinking of division patterns within real world context. Ie:
Learners rotated in small groups during Math Workshop to play Factor Bingo with Mr. Elliot, Dreambox, Division Triangles, and teacher conferencing with Mrs. Vovsi where they conferred about their understanding of the concept of division. Please remember to check your child’s backpack for his/her fact fluency assessment where new goals are attached. The goal sheet must be signed and returned to Mrs. Vovsi’s INBOX outside the classroom door.
Please practice multiplication and division fact fluency with facts up to 12 at home in order to ensure success on weekly Friday assessments as fluency practice is no longer happening during classroom time with consistency.
In Readers’ Workshop, we are pressing the pause button on our fiction writing in order to examine non-fiction more closely. We are examining non-fiction text features such as charts, tables, bold and italicized print, photos with captions and sidebars….to name a few! We also examined opening lines of expository texts and identified clear distinctions between non-fiction and fiction books and what makes them so interesting and effective in informing the reader! Turns out some of us prefer books that list many questions we may have about a topic, where others enjoy reading a more humorous or imaginative book about a topic, that has facts tucked into striking sentences.
In Writers’ Workshop, just a “retweet” of the last blog post in case you missed it: We completed another successful dictation. Just a gentle reminder to make sure your learner’s spelling journal lives in his/her backpack. A helpful way for your learner to practice the spelling words is to give him/her interesting mini-dictations requiring them to use different spelling and punctuation. Spelling List #7 is in your child’s backpack right now! Go run and see it now! : ) Just as we are exploring non-fiction up close in Readers’ Workshop, we are doing the same in Writers’ Workshop as we examine mentor texts and their opening lines and improve our own as well as add details to our non-fiction expository writing. Writers made a list of topics they know a lot about in their gathering journal. Then, they put a star next to 3 things they thought they could write and explain about. Then they circled one to move to paper. Turns out we have experts who know quite a bit about the history of baseball, tennis, how to ride a bike without training wheels, and how to bake a variety of baked goods! It’s such a relief to know we are surrounded by such expertise. If you ever need a dog-walker…..just let us know, we have several 3rd graders who are up for the task!
In our 2/3 learning community
IB Unit Inquiry: What an exciting week in our study of the earth’s surface! Children chose a specific topic to study, chose a mode to present their findings, started research, and came up with a list of materials needed for their projects. If you visit our classroom next week, you will see a busy (and potentially messy) workshop. We can’t wait to see the projects that your children will turn out.
Important Dates and Reminders:
January 9, Monday - ASG - PJS Spirit Day, January Birthdays, Student Commendations - 9:00am
January 10, Tuesday - PJSPA Meeting @ 7:00pm
January 16, Monday - Martin Luther King - NO SCHOOL **Please consider having your child volunteer to help Dylan with the birthday project. Don’t forget to donate what you can to this cause this week.**
January 17, PJS Curriculum Night @ 7:00-8:30pm *This is a chance for you to visit your child’s classroom for next year. Current 3rd grade parents should attend the 4th grade presentation. Current 2nd grade parents should come to our presentation which will be about the 2nd and 3rd grade curriculum for next year.*
January 19, Pizza Thursday
January 20, Friday Focus
January 30, Monday - ASG - Open Mic
Please practice multiplication and division fact fluency with facts up to 12 at home in order to ensure success on weekly Friday assessments as fluency practice is no longer happening during classroom time with consistency.
In Readers’ Workshop, we are pressing the pause button on our fiction writing in order to examine non-fiction more closely. We are examining non-fiction text features such as charts, tables, bold and italicized print, photos with captions and sidebars….to name a few! We also examined opening lines of expository texts and identified clear distinctions between non-fiction and fiction books and what makes them so interesting and effective in informing the reader! Turns out some of us prefer books that list many questions we may have about a topic, where others enjoy reading a more humorous or imaginative book about a topic, that has facts tucked into striking sentences.
In Writers’ Workshop, just a “retweet” of the last blog post in case you missed it: We completed another successful dictation. Just a gentle reminder to make sure your learner’s spelling journal lives in his/her backpack. A helpful way for your learner to practice the spelling words is to give him/her interesting mini-dictations requiring them to use different spelling and punctuation. Spelling List #7 is in your child’s backpack right now! Go run and see it now! : ) Just as we are exploring non-fiction up close in Readers’ Workshop, we are doing the same in Writers’ Workshop as we examine mentor texts and their opening lines and improve our own as well as add details to our non-fiction expository writing. Writers made a list of topics they know a lot about in their gathering journal. Then, they put a star next to 3 things they thought they could write and explain about. Then they circled one to move to paper. Turns out we have experts who know quite a bit about the history of baseball, tennis, how to ride a bike without training wheels, and how to bake a variety of baked goods! It’s such a relief to know we are surrounded by such expertise. If you ever need a dog-walker…..just let us know, we have several 3rd graders who are up for the task!
In our 2/3 learning community
IB Unit Inquiry: What an exciting week in our study of the earth’s surface! Children chose a specific topic to study, chose a mode to present their findings, started research, and came up with a list of materials needed for their projects. If you visit our classroom next week, you will see a busy (and potentially messy) workshop. We can’t wait to see the projects that your children will turn out.
Important Dates and Reminders:
January 9, Monday - ASG - PJS Spirit Day, January Birthdays, Student Commendations - 9:00am
January 10, Tuesday - PJSPA Meeting @ 7:00pm
January 16, Monday - Martin Luther King - NO SCHOOL **Please consider having your child volunteer to help Dylan with the birthday project. Don’t forget to donate what you can to this cause this week.**
January 17, PJS Curriculum Night @ 7:00-8:30pm *This is a chance for you to visit your child’s classroom for next year. Current 3rd grade parents should attend the 4th grade presentation. Current 2nd grade parents should come to our presentation which will be about the 2nd and 3rd grade curriculum for next year.*
January 19, Pizza Thursday
January 20, Friday Focus
January 30, Monday - ASG - Open Mic