Thank you!

Thank you to all those who were able to make donations for our Valentine celebration!  The students had a fun time sharing Valentines and enjoying snacks. 

Also, thank you to those who were able to donate toward the Penny Drive.  Mrs. Taplin collected all the money from the K-2 classrooms today.  We will get a total later on.  I know the receiving family is very grateful for all the help this community has offered. 

I have added new links to my Blog page.  There is a link for IXL, and also a link for Sheppard Software, an educational game site.
Have a great vacation!

February News

We have a new Practicum Student in our classroom!  Her name is Miss Cameron.  Miss Cameron is a student at Husson, and will be working on her 30 hour Practicum placement in our classroom.  She will be observing, helping, and eventually teaching her own lessons.  Miss Cameron will mostly be in on Wednesday mornings.

Thank you to Emily's mom, Mrs. Faulkingham, who has been coming in every other Friday in the afternoon to help with typing up student writing.  You have been a great help!

In math this month, we are continuing to work with subtracting 2 digit numbers.  Now we are challenged with thinking about all that we know.  When we see a paper with mixed problems on it, we have to think about everything we know about adding and subtracting to help us come up with the answers.  We will soon take a short break from adding and subtracting, and focus on basic fractions.

In Social Studies we are learning about the US Constitution, and will soon be discussing Presidents Lincoln and Washington.  This will tie in with the reading and writing concept of the genre "biography".  In Reading, we are taking a closer look at nonfiction and the features of nonfiction (what is a caption, diagram, fact box, etc).  After February vacation, in Science we will look at the Rain Forest habitat.  We will learn about the layers of the rain forest, plant and animal life, the importance of the rain forest, endangered animals, and the interconnectedness of life in that habitat.  Students will learn how to do research and write their own nonfiction book about a rain forest animal of their choice.  

Don't forget:  February 20 - 24 is school vacation!

Subtraction!

We started this week learning about two digit subtraction.  It quickly got tricky as we learned that sometimes we need to "borrow" when there are not enough ones.  When subtracting from a two digit number, follow the steps below:

1) Check to see if you need to borrow. If yes, go to step #2.  If no, go to step #4.
2) Cross out the number in the tens place.  Write the number one less above it.
3) Cross out the number in the ones place.  Write the number ten more above it.  (This is instead of squeezing in a little 1 like we were probably taught)
4) Start in the ones place - subtract.
5) Move to the tens place - subtract.
6) Check your work!  Ask your child how s/he can check the answer to a subtraction problem. (By adding the answer - the difference - to the bottom number of the equation.  That will total the number you were subtracting from.)


Example:

    4  12
    5   2
  - 2   8
     2  4

Think:  I can't subtract 8 from 2, so I need to borrow a 10.  Cross off the 5.  Instead of 5 tens, I now have 4 tens.  Cross off the 2.  Instead of only 2 ones, I now have 12 ones.  (4 tens and 12 ones is the same as 5 tens and 2 ones)  Then I subtract:  12 - 8 = 4.  4 - 2 = 2.
Check!  4+8=12.  2+2=4.  
Done!

Check out papers coming home this week that better illustrate the process.  Don't get tricked! Not all subtraction problems require borrowing.  Also, coming soon are papers with mixed addition and subtraction (with and without regrouping, with and without borrowing).

Addition with Regrouping

We are now moving on to 2-digit addition with regrouping.  Students are directed to continue to add the ones place first.  When that total is 10 or more, they need to mark how many ones below the equation, and how many tens (which it will always be 1) in the tens place above the equation.  For example:

    
        1
        2 7
     + 1 4
            1

Then, students need to add the tens place.  ** Don't forget to add the extra "1" you wrote up above!

       1
       2 7
    + 1 4
        4 1

Look for school work coming home that illustrates the strategy of regrouping.  This may help you to help your child understand the concept of regrouping.

Welcome Back!

We are back from vacation and I am impressed by all the great thinking happening in the room today!  Everybody came back ready to learn!

Here are a few quick updates on what we are learning about:  

Math --  We will continue to visit time and money (telling time to the 5 minutes, identifying coins penny, nickel, dime, quarter, counting coins to a dollar).  We have just started a unit on adding two digit numbers.  We have started with "easy numbers" (no regrouping) to get the feel of how it works.  Students have been taught to stack the numbers (written in vertical formation, lining up the ones and tens places), and to add beginning with the ones place, then moving left on to the tens place.  This is a very important habit to get into, because once we move on to trickier numbers (adding with regrouping), if a student starts in the tens place and moves right, they will get stuck!  Homework has come home to give you a feel for how it's being taught.  Adding with regrouping will be coming soon! (Regrouping is the term used when you add the ones place and the answer is 10 or more, so you need to put a 10 into the tens place --  also known as "carrying".)

Science/Social Studies --  We have several mini-units coming up in science and social studies, including: Water Cycle, Martin Luther King Jr., Constitution and Elections, and President's Day (with a brief biography lesson on Abraham Lincoln and George Washington).

Dates to Remember

In December, there are all kinds of things going on!  Please mark these important dates on your calendar:

Friday, December 16 -- Pajama Day!  K- 2 Book Celebration  'Twas the Night Before Christmas
Monday, December 19 --  1:00 k-4 concert practice
Tuesday, December 20 --  1:00 k-4 Winter Concert for parents
Thursday, December 22  -- classroom party (more info. on this later)
                                        noon dismissal

Busy! Busy! Busy!

Wow!  We have been so busy these past couple of weeks, it's hard to keep up!  In math, we have finished a unit on subtracting within 20.  For those who are still having trouble with this skill, they are receiving extra support.  Although we have been working with time and money from the very start of the school year, we are now really focusing on those two concepts.  Students will know how to tell time to 5 minutes, how to identify and count coins and dollars, and how to solve problems using coins and dollars. 

We have completed an investigation of magnets, and have now moved on to a social studies topic: Wants and Needs/Goods and Services. Students are taking a look at the difference between a "want" and a "need", and are identifying goods and services.  For example, a baker provides a "good" - muffins.  A doctor provides a service - health care. 

In Writing Workshop we had been talking about using voice in writing.  We are now moving on to word choice.  We are thinking about how to pick the best, most interesting words in our writing.  In reading, we spent a small amount of time focusing on fables.  We have moved on now to a new theme called "Around Town: Neighborhoods and Communities".  In this theme we will explore stories that take place in many different types of communities. What a great way to learn about other cultures without leaving Orrington!