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Thursday, February 28, 2013

Retelling, Science, and Problem Solving

We had a very busy week!
We have been wrapping up Trimester 2, as well as getting a jump on Trimester 3.
On Wednesday we had a science morning.  All of the second grade classes rotated among the teachers to learn different lessons about light.
On Thursday we did some further experiments with light.  We learned that light travels in a straight line in one direction.  However, it is possible to change the direction of the light by using an object ( a mirror) to reflect the light.
We also tried to line up notecards with holes to see if we could get a flashlight to shine through each of the holes and onto a piece of black paper.


























The ability to retell a story will be a our focus during reading.
We want to tell the important events and details in a story, but not everything that happened.
I read the story Beatrice Doesn't Want To aloud.
The class retold the story to me and I put the retell on paper.





Then the students reread Hedgehog Bakes a Cake with partners.
We wanted to practice a new skill with a familiar story. 
After they finished reading, a retelling puzzle mat was used to orally retell the story of Hedgehog.
















This is a great activity to practice at home!
Please let me know if you would like a copy of the retelling puzzle pieces and mat to have at home.

In math we have been working on problem solving strategies and explaining those strategies in writing.
We have started a math notebook to hold our problems and explanations.







Enjoy the long weekend!

Friday, February 22, 2013

Math Groups and a Sneak Peak at Fluency

 We have started a new part of our weekly math routine.
On Tuesdays and Fridays we will meet and work in math groups.
Everyone will rotate through centers and games.
My goal is to make math instruction more targeted to student needs.
Our goals are to practice and review skills we have already learned, work on extending targets, and
practice problem solving.

We discussed and created rules to follow for our group time to work effectively.


To strengthen our understanding of math we are focusing on being precise in our explanations of how we solved a problem. We will practice this daily both verbally and in writing.




We are also showing the method we used to solve the problem.  This can include drawing a picture, using base 10 blocks, using a number model, drawing a part of a number line or number grid, etc.
We know that we don't have to solve a problem the same way in order to reach the correct answer.

Here are some pictures of our math groups this morning.
The students rotated through:
Hit the Target
Basketball Addition
Problem Solving with Addition Squares
Meeting with Mrs. Yutakis


















I am very excited to begin using our fluency folders next week.
Each week we will have a new passage to practice our oral reading fluency.
The students will read independently, with partners, and they will record and listen to themselves on the Ipads to evaluate their own fluency.




Have a wonderful weekend!