Newsletter: September 26

Dear Families,

The format for this week's newsletter will show our week in photos then conclude by sharing the wonderful stories you sent me detailing the home literacy practices you've developed over the years to support your kids as readers. Enjoy!

In science the kids worked in small groups to sort a collection of
twenty-eight animals into groups. They could group them however they
wished so long as all the animals within each group shared one or more
common trait.

As much as this engagement was about finding commonalities and grouping based
upon these shared characteristics, this called on the kids to work within
a group of peers and negotiate roles, jobs, and ideas. That can be hard work at
any age - but especially in second grade. That said, they did a remarkable job.
Any conflicts that emerged were treated as learning opportunities in regards
to how we work alongside others. 

It was so interesting to see how each group chose to categorize their animals.

The groupings included (but were not limited to): furry animals, slimy animals, zoo animals,
house pets, four-legs, two-legs, insects, and slither.

Once they finished sorting, the kids created a poster to show the rest of
the class how they went about this task and the decisions they made. 

Presenting to the whole class provided an opportunity to talk about public
speaking. At this point, many of them want to turn their backs to us and read
the board they have created. This, of course, makes it hard for the rest of us
to hear them or to see the contents of their posters.

Each group that came up offered us new opportunities to think about what
we prefer when listening to presentations.

Each group also helped us see the endless ways in which things (in this case animals)
can be grouped. 

After presenting the kids learned that scientists have grouped all vertebrate animals
into five categories: birds, fish, amphibians, mammals, and reptiles. They are now
working with new partners to research one of these groups of animals. Soon they will
present their findings to all of us.

In math we have continued to play lots of fun games together to work
 on new strategies for computation.

A recent strategy has been to play around with the numbers within a math sentence
to turn it into an easier "10+" problem. For instance, 9+5 is the same as 10+4. 

Today we learned to play "Beat the Calculator" in which one student uses their
brain to compete head-to-head with the calculator when solving basic addition
problems. We found that our brains worked more quickly than the calculators
when solving these problems. That's our goal!

In reading we have launched an inquiry into strategies readers use
when confronted with an unknown word. We started by engaging with
texts in which some words were covered then paid careful attention
to the strategies we used when figuring these words out. 

The kids offered all kinds of possibilities for the missing words, making sure
each one made sense within the context of the sentence (that's one strategy!).
In doing so, they read ahead as well as backed up to reread parts of the text.
Yet another strategy was to consider the length of the word. Finally, I revealed
the first letter of the word and the possibilities were narrowed down.

The kids engaged in this work within small groups as well. In the end, we learned
we often use multiple strategies simultaneously when solving unknown words. At the
heart of all these strategies was thinking about words that would make sense in
the sentence. All too often readers who are struggling to make sense from their
reading  miscue on many words but read on despite the fact the word they
just said made no sense at all. Teaching them to expect the text to make sense and to
take the time to revisit these words can make a big impact on their reading. That
said, the goal of reading is not to get 100% of the words correct. Rather, the goal is
to understand what you are reading. There are times, for all of us, when we are
not sure of a word or two but still understand the whole of the text.

 

Speaking of reading, last week I asked you all how you go about supporting your kids as readers who not only develop strong skills but a genuine love of stories and text. As you can see below, the list you collectively provided is nothing short of inspiring and should be broadcast to families everywhere. Last week Mr. O wrote in his class newsletter “It’s pretty obvious to me that kids who fall in love with reading become strong readers.” I couldn’t agree more. So much of what you do at home works in deliberate and effective ways to raise kids who have (or will)  fall in love with reading.

Like all of you, my wife and I thought a lot about this when our kids were younger. We gave books as gifts, regularly visited the library together, frequented the bookstore when we could afford it, read together before bed each and every night, shared pieces of the things we were reading in our own reading lives, read constantly ourselves, listened to books on CD during long trips as well as the way to and from school,  talked about issues and thoughts that emerged from certain stories, and extended their bedtime a half-hour should they want to read for 60 minutes instead of 30 (of course they all chose the extra time). I wish now I could have accessed your ideas to supplement our own. Hopefully you’ll find something in the collection below you’ll want to borrow as well!

Ways you make reading special in your home...

Give books as a gift...take a trip to the bookstore as a reward or celebration of an accomplishment...listen to books on CD together in the car...visit the library together and often...sit and read together over a mug of hot chocolate at Books-a-Million...read holiday books together to celebrate the season...get the kids book lights and let them read in bed “camp” style...participate in the summer reading challenge at the Richland County Public Library...read a special book as a tradition marking an important part of the year (such as the first day of school)...order books from Scholastic book orders and book fair...read some of the same chapter books as the kids...do religious readings together...bring books everywhere (including the car) and read during down moments instead of playing or texting on a phone or tablet...read together every night before bed...buddy read where each person takes a turn reading a page to the other...share appropriate reading material we are currently reading on our phones (stories, articles, etc)...use phones to look up answers to questions that pop in our minds...read with expression with the kids to model what exciting reading sounds like...have the kids read to their younger siblings...share interesting things that have been read throughout the day while at the dinner table...build or purchase special bookshelves to show the importance of a book collection...leave books in different places around the house so they’re always at hand...let the kids choose what they’d like to read but make sure it’s a good fit...make sure there’s a space for reading during the day where it is not rushed or seen as “getting it done”...bond together over a great book...cuddle on the couch together when reading...read more challenging books together before they are read independently...read independently but in the company of one another...take interest in and talk about the books the kids are currently reading...praise the kids for their love of words, books, and information (not for the idea of what “level” we think they’re on).

Wow. Thanks again for taking the time to share!