Good afternoon!
We hope you are enjoying this first weekend in November! It seems that winter is already making its presence known with chilly temperatures. A few reminders for the coming week:
-due to the recent drop in temperature, please make sure your child comes prepared with jackets or coats, gloves, and proper outdoor shoes.
- With our continued school wide effort to keep everyone as healthy as possible this season, please send a reusable water bottle with your child to school each day. Students are able to refill their water bottles at numerous locations throughout the school. This is another effort that will help to keep germs from spreading.
Also, a very special thank you to everyone who made Halloween special for the students of the OK Corral. Thank you to Amy Rey and Melissa Tudor for coordinating this fantastic event! The students really enjoyed themselves!
In other news, this week students dove into a new IB Unit, "Sound is a tool for communication and creative expression." With this unit, students will explore how sound is produced, interpreted, and tied to emotions and senses. Students have already begun to study sound waves in Technology, meaning behind sound in Performing Arts, and started discussions on their "wonderings" about sound in class.
In writing, both 2nd and 3rd grade students are exploring aspects of sound. For Grade 2, students are jumping into onomatopoeia. As they write stories, students are incorporating "sound" words, including words like buzz, sizzle, tweet, and whoosh, to enrich their story lines. For Grade 3, students are both incorporating onomatopoeia as well as writing historical fiction stories about influential musicians. Students have chosen from a variety of genres and eras, including The Beatles, Mozart, Louis Armstrong, and Elvis. As they research, students are learning about music throughout the centuries, challenges and successes made by these musicians, and the impact their music has had on both music development and the world. We look forward to publishing these stories in the coming weeks!
In reading, students continue to build upon their reading skills and strategies. For Grade 3, this means reading historical fiction books. As they begin to study author's craft in this genre, they are able to continually transfer this knowledge into their own writing. Students are discovering the importance of factual details, settings, and characters, all while beginning to generate their own plot lines. With Grade 2, students are continuing to reach to their reading goals as they read in guided reading groups, partnerships, and independently. They are also studying authors who utilize onomatopoeia to gain a deeper understanding of how to incorporate the literary device. We are seeing both grades make fantastic progress in reaching their goals!
Heard around the reading nooks:
"In reading I practiced chunking words and looking at pictures. It helps me to stop and think about what I am reading."
"I am learning about onomatopoeia, which is like, "smash, smush, clap, squiggle."
"I am reading historical fiction and also research. So I am reading both nonfiction and fiction. The nonfiction helps me to see how I can be a great historical fiction writer. The research I read helps me get to know my person, then I can have true facts in my story."
Heard around the creative writing tables:
"We are looking at historical fiction. I am studying Elvis Presley. It is great to do historical fiction because you can get really creative"
"We are writing historical fiction. I am still trying to plan more and think about what my plot is going to be. I picked Louis Armstrong because his music is so beautiful."
"For my historical fiction, I am writing about Isaac Presley, Elvis Presley's fictional son. He has the problem that he can't really sing, but he wants to be just like his dad, so he has to find a way."
"The fiction part of my story is that some things I create, but I make sure that lots of things are, like the characters and setting. I can't be something like, 'He walked on the sidewalk and got into his car' because I am studying Mozart, and there were no cars!"
"I am writing a story with a lot of suspense. I know what to write because I really think about it. If I want something to be spooky, I use the right words for it, like 'knock, knock, knock on the creaking door."
In mathematics, students are exploring numerous mathematical concepts. This past week, Grade 2 focused on rounding numbers, finding patterns, and beginning number talks. With the coming week, Grade 2 will focus on addition strategies and comprehension. For Grade 3, math included regrouping addition with 3 to 7 digit numbers! They enjoyed tackling regrouping these substantial numbers as they applied their growing mastery of addition. They also began their multiplication unit. They are ecstatic to begin exploring multiplication, its relationship with division, and how it can be used in everyday life.
Heard around math tables:
"In math we began some multiplication this week. I am looking forward to learn fast facts with multiplication!"
"In math I was looking at finding the value of a missing number. Sometimes when you see an X you need to solve for what X is."
"I studied addition with regrouping this week. I even got up to the hundred thousands! The big thing with regrouping is to stay organized. You have to know where the ones go when they become a ten, you need to regroup!"
"I am really good at rounding now. I know that you round to the nearest ten, like 11 would round down to 10 because it is closer to ten than to twenty."
We look forward to another fantastic week of learning and goal reaching!
As always, please contact us with any questions!
Kindly,
Britt and Anne
We hope you are enjoying this first weekend in November! It seems that winter is already making its presence known with chilly temperatures. A few reminders for the coming week:
-due to the recent drop in temperature, please make sure your child comes prepared with jackets or coats, gloves, and proper outdoor shoes.
- With our continued school wide effort to keep everyone as healthy as possible this season, please send a reusable water bottle with your child to school each day. Students are able to refill their water bottles at numerous locations throughout the school. This is another effort that will help to keep germs from spreading.
Also, a very special thank you to everyone who made Halloween special for the students of the OK Corral. Thank you to Amy Rey and Melissa Tudor for coordinating this fantastic event! The students really enjoyed themselves!
In other news, this week students dove into a new IB Unit, "Sound is a tool for communication and creative expression." With this unit, students will explore how sound is produced, interpreted, and tied to emotions and senses. Students have already begun to study sound waves in Technology, meaning behind sound in Performing Arts, and started discussions on their "wonderings" about sound in class.
In writing, both 2nd and 3rd grade students are exploring aspects of sound. For Grade 2, students are jumping into onomatopoeia. As they write stories, students are incorporating "sound" words, including words like buzz, sizzle, tweet, and whoosh, to enrich their story lines. For Grade 3, students are both incorporating onomatopoeia as well as writing historical fiction stories about influential musicians. Students have chosen from a variety of genres and eras, including The Beatles, Mozart, Louis Armstrong, and Elvis. As they research, students are learning about music throughout the centuries, challenges and successes made by these musicians, and the impact their music has had on both music development and the world. We look forward to publishing these stories in the coming weeks!
In reading, students continue to build upon their reading skills and strategies. For Grade 3, this means reading historical fiction books. As they begin to study author's craft in this genre, they are able to continually transfer this knowledge into their own writing. Students are discovering the importance of factual details, settings, and characters, all while beginning to generate their own plot lines. With Grade 2, students are continuing to reach to their reading goals as they read in guided reading groups, partnerships, and independently. They are also studying authors who utilize onomatopoeia to gain a deeper understanding of how to incorporate the literary device. We are seeing both grades make fantastic progress in reaching their goals!
Heard around the reading nooks:
"In reading I practiced chunking words and looking at pictures. It helps me to stop and think about what I am reading."
"I am learning about onomatopoeia, which is like, "smash, smush, clap, squiggle."
"I am reading historical fiction and also research. So I am reading both nonfiction and fiction. The nonfiction helps me to see how I can be a great historical fiction writer. The research I read helps me get to know my person, then I can have true facts in my story."
Heard around the creative writing tables:
"We are looking at historical fiction. I am studying Elvis Presley. It is great to do historical fiction because you can get really creative"
"We are writing historical fiction. I am still trying to plan more and think about what my plot is going to be. I picked Louis Armstrong because his music is so beautiful."
"For my historical fiction, I am writing about Isaac Presley, Elvis Presley's fictional son. He has the problem that he can't really sing, but he wants to be just like his dad, so he has to find a way."
"The fiction part of my story is that some things I create, but I make sure that lots of things are, like the characters and setting. I can't be something like, 'He walked on the sidewalk and got into his car' because I am studying Mozart, and there were no cars!"
"I am writing a story with a lot of suspense. I know what to write because I really think about it. If I want something to be spooky, I use the right words for it, like 'knock, knock, knock on the creaking door."
In mathematics, students are exploring numerous mathematical concepts. This past week, Grade 2 focused on rounding numbers, finding patterns, and beginning number talks. With the coming week, Grade 2 will focus on addition strategies and comprehension. For Grade 3, math included regrouping addition with 3 to 7 digit numbers! They enjoyed tackling regrouping these substantial numbers as they applied their growing mastery of addition. They also began their multiplication unit. They are ecstatic to begin exploring multiplication, its relationship with division, and how it can be used in everyday life.
Heard around math tables:
"In math we began some multiplication this week. I am looking forward to learn fast facts with multiplication!"
"In math I was looking at finding the value of a missing number. Sometimes when you see an X you need to solve for what X is."
"I studied addition with regrouping this week. I even got up to the hundred thousands! The big thing with regrouping is to stay organized. You have to know where the ones go when they become a ten, you need to regroup!"
"I am really good at rounding now. I know that you round to the nearest ten, like 11 would round down to 10 because it is closer to ten than to twenty."
We look forward to another fantastic week of learning and goal reaching!
As always, please contact us with any questions!
Kindly,
Britt and Anne