Newsletter: November 10th

Thanks so much to Becca for inviting me out to see her and Haley's softball
game last week. I love getting to see pieces of the kids lives and interests
outside of school. Please let me know what your kids are up to and feel free
to invite me out from time to time. Though I can't always make it, I sure do my
best to do so!

Dear Families,

It really is hard to believe we're already about to hit the 1/3 mark of the school year. The weeks have been going by so quickly. Of course, this also means the weather outside is beginning to cool. With that in mind, it would be incredibly helpful if you would take a moment to write your child's name inside their jacket since these often get left lying around the classroom, school, and playground. We do our best to return them to their rightful owners but it's not uncommon at all for one or two to seemingly fall into the abyss - never to be seen again.

Our classroom has been a busy place over the past week. Take a look at this week's photos to see some of what we've been up to...

In math we've been exploring place value. This has seen us using blocks to build numbers,
writing numbers in both standard and expanded form, and playing games that call  on us
to build, read, and compare two numbers. From here we have now launched into one of
our most challenging topics of second grade math -- adding multi-digit numbers with
regrouping. We've spent the past few days using the blocks to help us understand what
it means to "carry the ten" or "carry the one" (for the record, I would never use the term
"carry the one" because it is both inaccurate and confusing for the kids when learning
how regrouping works). Today we moved from the blocks to attempting to solve these
problems with only paper and pencil (while imagining the blocks). Some were ready,
some were not. Either way, we'll support all the kids into a strong understanding of this
concept over the coming weeks. 

In reading, we are continuing our inquiry into fluency. This began weeks ago with us
listening to strong examples of oral reading and identifying what we noticed readers
doing with their voice to make the story sound good in our heads. 

We are now trying to put these qualities of strong reading into practice. The kids
are working in small groups to read, rehearse, and perform Reader's Theater scripts.
This work has found them in the Gathering Room reading and rereading as they
think about how they want the text to sound when the perform it.

Revisiting the same text is a great way to become increasingly comfortable with the words
on the page allowing them to focus greater attention on the flow/rhythm of their reading.

Reader's Theater is always a big hit. There will be more scripts made available to them
during Explorations, should they choose to rehearse additional scripts to perform for
the class.

This is an example of one of the plays the kids are performing. 

The performances have been a lot of fun to watch and listen to. The kids sound so confident!

And of course there are lots of shared laughs.

We also read this month's CFI Book of the Month. It was titled Come with Me. Each
class around the school will read it over the course of the month and discuss it in
their classrooms. Those sharing their learning at Gathering will also take a few
moments to speak to what they have done with the book. I especially loved this
particular book. It told of a family dealing with the negative and hurtful things they
see and hear on the news by going out into their community to see all the ways
their neighborhood comes together to care for and respect one another. After
we discussed the book in class I asked the kids to write a short reflection on their
thoughts.

In writing we have just wrapped up sharing all our most recent published pieces -
a structure we refer to as Author Share. Afterward I asked the kids to look back at
their first published pieces and speak to the differences they noticed in their writing now
in comparison to the beginning of the year. There were a lot of people saying things like
"OH MY GOSH, I didn't..." It was so cool to see their current selves reflect back on the
writers they were just a few months ago. For a good number of the kids, the difference
was quite remarkable. They'll share this transformation with you later in the year
during Student Led Conferences. 

That's it for this week. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Remember that Monday is a pajama day as we will be watching Matilda to celebrate the conclusion of our most recent chapter book read aloud. Also, I will be out next Thursday and Friday. I am travelling to St. Louis with a few other teachers to present at a conference taking place there.