What's Happening in 2A?: And.....We're Off!!

Thursday, August 25, 2011

And.....We're Off!!

We are definitely into the full swing of things in 2A! We spent the first couple of days discussing and reviewing Cadet Pride. This was a review from last year but it needs to be retaught every year. We began implementing Cadet Pride last year and it was VERY successful so we are hoping for the same results this year. We are busy working towards a reward and students are busy trying to earn their blue tickets.

Now that I have taught the students all of the Cadet Pride expectations for school I am going to expect that I see Cadet Pride throughout the day. Unfortunately, a lot of 2A friends are struggling with this. I have to talk to the class MANY times throughout the day and remind them of my expectations. I have a lot of very chatty kids and I need them to understand that with 21 kids it's really difficult to teach when I have them talking. Also, it is unfair for those that are trying to listen. Please discuss Cadet Pride with your child at home and remind him/her of the 4 Cadet Pride rules: Be Caring, Be Respectful, Be Responsible, and Be Trustworthy. Thanks for help with this.

This week I introduced Daily 5 to the students and we have been busy practicing Read to Self. So far 2A students have built their stamina up to 9 minutes. We can't seem to get past that but we are hopeful that tomorrow will be the lucky day! My goal for them is to get their stamina up to 25 minutes. This means that everyone in the class needs to be reading quietly and for the full 25 minutes. This definitely takes teamwork and practice! Please encourage your child to be reading every night at home. Now that your child is in 2nd grade he/she should be reading 15-20 minutes each night!!!!!

We also started math this week. So far we are just busy reviewing skills that were to be learned lat year: basic addition, time, money, etc. We are also busy establishing math routines so that we will have a successful math class for the remainder of the year.

Thanks to everyone for sending money to school with your child. They appreciate using real money during math class!!!

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Comprehension Skills and Strategies

Distinguish Fact and Opinion: Your child learned that facts are statements that can be proved. Opinions are what someone believes. The words I believe, I think, and in my view are clues that someone is expressing an opinion. Most students are able to state a fact; however, opinions are more challenging. Please practice this at home.

Sequence Events: Sequence is the order in which event take place. Clue words such as first, next, then, and last help readers know when events occur. When your child is summarizing have them sequence the events using the clue words.

Make Inferences: This is a strategy that readers use to understand what they are reading. When making an inference, readers need to fill in information that the author did not include. Readers must combine what they know with details from the text.
Pictures and words (text clues) + background knowledge (what we know) = an inference

Summarize: A summary is a paragraph or a statement in your own words that gives the most important ideas from the text that was read. Step 1: find the main ideas from the selection. Step 2: shorten and combine those ideas.

Categorize and Classify: We can categorize and classify objects, evens, ideas, and characters by how they are alike and how they fit into groups. When students are reading they can find types of things that are similar and group them into the same category.

Monitor Comprehension: Students must ALWAYS monitor their comprehension while they are reading. If they don't understand what was read they need to reread it. When readers are confused they can use "fix-up" strategies. Here is a list of those strategies:
*reread more slowly
*look up words
*read on
*use picture clues
*summarize
*ask for help