Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Changes in Matter

Over the past few weeks, we have been discussing what Matter is. We have also been concentrating on the 3 different forms: solid, liquid, & gas. Today, we observed liquid changing into a gas as we participated in "Blowing up a Balloon".

1. Place 1 tsp of baking soda in a balloon.
2. Place 4 Tbsp of vinegar in an empty water bottle.
3. Stretch the balloon over the mouth of the wter bottle and let the soda fall into the vinegar.

Ask your child:
What happened when the baking soda and vinegar mixed together?

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Back To School

How Parents Help

Many things that you do at home on a daily basis will help your children the most. Here are a few activities to try:

Set aside a special reading time. Tell your child you look forward to and enjoy your reading time together. Children who are read to – read.
Listen to your child. Oral language experience is also a foundation for literacy.
Talk to your child.
Make time to play with your child.
Solve problems with your child, instead of for him / her.
Have your child count everything and anything.
Write stories out as your child dictates them. Children love to see their ideas in print.
Praise your child whenever possible.
Talk with your child about school and everyday events.
Supervise homework. Give your child a quiet place to work, and check that assignments are completed.
Encourage exercise and good nutrition.
Encourage your child to write.
Broaden your child’s horizons by taking him / her to parks, museums, libraries, zoos, and historical sites. All of these places offer fun learning experiences.
Tell your child education is important, and encourage him / her to do well in school.
Children do not know intuitively how to behave: kindly but firmly teach your children.
Help your child get a library card from the public library. Take your child to the library as often as possible.
Help your child pick out interesting books to read.
Talk to your child about subjects that interest him / her.
Give your child his / her own place to keep books.
Write notes to your child. Leave them to be found in special places – under pillows, in lunches, or in favorite books.
Encourage your child to keep a scrapbook about a subject that interests him / her (ie. stamps, dogs, birds, trucks, photos of family activities).
Limit your child’s television watching. Turn the television on for a specific show, and turn it off immediately after the show is over.
Read and discuss schoolwork with your child.
Provide materials for creative projects (ie. crayons, pencils, paper, paint, scissors).
Help your child make a telephone directory with the names and telephone numbers of his / her friends.
Ask your child to write or dictate a sentence or two for letters you write to faraway relatives.
Give your child specific duties at home to perform on a regular basis.
Invite your child to help you prepare dinner.
Subscribe to a children’s magazine in your child’s name.
Bring books for your child to read in the car.
Look up words in the dictionary with your child.
Encourage your child to show hi / her schoolwork to your friends and relatives.
When traveling, read road signs with your child. Discuss what they mean.
Show your child how to use a yardstick, ruler, or tape measure to measure things around the house.
Give your child a special place to keep items he / she must regularly take to school.
Show your child how to tell time.
Hug your child daily.

What did you do at school today?

Every day parents ask their children what they did at school. Every day students answer, “Oh, nothing.” Try asking these specific questions to get real answers.

What was something nice you said to a friend today?
What did you do in math?
What gook book did your teacher read to you today?
Who did you play with today?
What did you write about today?
What was your favorite part of the day?
How are you going to make tomorrow even better?
What centers did you go to?
Who did you sit beside at lunch?
What did you learn in science?

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Meet The Teacher 2010 (26 photos), by theresa trevino


I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Scholastic Book Orders

1. Go to www.scholastic.com
2. Create a login for yourself.
3. Class code: GQVZL

Homework Ideas

Word Study:
From time to time, we have different activities that we do to help the children become familiar with their words. One of those things is to sort their words. Each Monday, your child will receive a copy of their words to take home. I will also do my best to email them to you. If I forget, please just remind me!

Reading:
I’ve explained to the children that they can go to Tumblebooks (occasionally – maybe once a week) and listen to books at home. To get there, go to:

http://www.springbranchisd.com/

Click on Library Resources (it is located on the left hand side)

# 6 on that page is a link to Tumblebooks
The logon is: springbranch
Password: books

Primary Reading Program:
Don’t forget that their homework (reading every night for 15 – 20 minutes) can count for this! It would be awesome if I had 100% participation come October 31st! Unfortunately, listening to the books does not fit the criteria…

Math Facts:
Also, for math facts, they can visit my blog (I showed them today) and click on any of the links under my avatar w/ the bear. They need to at least practice their math facts, as well as read, every night!

Language Arts

The Daily 5 has been going very well! In fact, I'm wondering where this program has been in the past 9 years of teaching 2nd grade! At any rate, I've found it and LOVE it! This past week I introduced Working on Words. The kids helped to brainstorm things that we could add to the "I can..." anchor chart.

Read to self



Work on Writing & Read to Someone



Work on Words



This next week, the students will be introduced to Listening to Books. We will use the earbuds that were sent in and I will have some that they can purchase using their tickets.

In conjunction to the Daily 5, we are also using the CAFE. It is more of a curriculum based program that helps students with their Reading Strategies.

Singapore Math & Problem Solving Model

Here are a few examples that we worked on in class last week. My main goal this year, is to give the kids several different ways to solve problems.





For more information about Singapore Math (with details), please visit this website: http://www.teach-kids-math-by-model-method.com/part-whole-concept.html