What's Happening in 2A?: Ice Cream Sundaes

Friday, October 16, 2009

Ice Cream Sundaes

Wow!! It's amazing what an ice cream incentive can do to a 2nd grader!! I am very impressed with how well 2A students are learning their addition facts. I have found time to test students about 3-4 times a week. Almost everyone has passed the "easier" facts: 0's, 1's, and 10's. They are quickly learning that the other ones are a bit harder. Please make sure that your child is practicing each "family" at least 2-3 nights at home before coming to school to get tested on them. If students use their fingers or are stuck on a fact I will tell them to go home and practice some more before testing.

Thanks for practicing with your child and keep encourage them!!

2 comments:

UnknownOctober 25, 2009 at 6:19 PM
How long until the party?
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Sarah BrynsaasOctober 26, 2009 at 2:43 PM
I don't know the exact date yet but probably the week we let out for Thanksgiving. I'll send a note/blog post as soon as I get it figured out. You're 1 step ahead of me:)
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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