Dear Parents,

Happy, healthy 2010!    I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday season and long vacation break.  I look forward to seeing everyone in 2010!

In Unit 4 in Math, addition and subtraction number stories were used as a vehicle for developing mental arithmetic skills.  The unit ends with work on pencil-and-paper addition strategies, which we will complete in January.  Mental arithmetic, as defined in Everyday Math, does not require all computations to be done in one’s head; however, no calculators can be used.  What is most important is that children devise their own addition strategies, which usually are of three major types:  counting on, combining groups (ones, tens, etc.) separately, and adjusting and compensating.  Children should be encouraged to experiment with various approaches to solving computational problems.  I am pleased to see that some of the children are using the monthly math facts to aid them with these computational problems.  Fact families for 10, doubles, and the tens trick (+10, -10) are most useful.  We share strategies in class.  By putting their thoughts into words, children can evaluate their own work.  By trying to understand other’s strategies, children strengthen their understanding of the processes involved and obtain valuable input for refining their own strategies.  We also reviewed the Fahrenheit scale on the thermometer from first grade and introduced the Celsius scale.   

Math Games continued this month with the help of Mrs. Horan.  If you are interested in volunteering in our classroom for Math Games or Math Art, please contact me.  These activities take place approximately twice a month on Mondays from 1:30-2:40 pm.  There are still many spots available.  One of our classmates, Hannah Kim, taught us a fun game called “Around the World” to help us practice our monthly math facts.  Please make sure to practice the monthly math facts every night and review the math facts from previous months too.

            Our holiday writing project this month was a lot of fun.  Thank you for sending in the holiday lined stationary, lined envelopes and stamps.  Each child was encouraged to write at least two letters to a family member or friend, consisting of at least two paragraphs.  They wrote drafts for the first letter, and then uses all or most of it for additional letters.  We will continue to work on proper letter and paragraph formats throughout the year.  Each child selected their best letter that both they and I will rate after the break according to a rubric I devised. 

      Another popular activity this month was the Henry and Mudge Book Clubs.  First, I presented a book talk about each of the five books, and then each child selected in the order of their preference which books they would like to read.  Based on this information, I formed five groups.  The groups were heterogeneous, allowing the children the opportunity to read with children outside their guided reading groups.  As each group read their selection, they learned how to make predictions about the next chapter based on what they had read, the illustrations, and the title of the next chapter.  They also learned how to identify the main characters and setting and how to summarize a chapter.  This information was created into a Story Map.  Seven sessions were spent reading, rereading and practicing retelling the story.  We worked on strategies for retelling a story.

We thought about beginning, middle and end, and we used the illustrations to try to see the story in our heads.  We think of the story as a series of scenes and then put the story in order in our own words with some story vocabulary.  Mrs. Rowe and/or I met with each group several times to help them retell the story fluently and with expression.  Each Book Club presented their Henry and Mudge story to the class, accompanied by an art project from a predetermined list.  Two groups drew and colored life-sized portraits of two main characters, two groups constructed dioramas, and one group crafted stick puppets.  Special thanks to Mrs. Weiner and Mr. Smith for assisting us with these projects.  I believe the Book Club assignment was a challenging task, but the children did a wonderful job and learned much in the process. 

            In spelling, we continued to review the rules for past tense verbs:  add /ed/, add /d/ when the verb ends with an /e/, and double the consonant and add /ed/ to verbs that end with a short vowel and a single consonant.  We also learned that some words change their spelling when they become past tense.  They are called irregular verbs.  In Term Two, I will dictate the words of the week in list form as in Term One, and two to three sentences which will include previously taught spelling pattern words and high frequency words.  Your child will be graded on just the spelling words of the week.  However, mistakes in capitalization and punctuation will be noted and corrected as well as errors on previously taught words.  It is important to review all spelling words periodically.  

            In Social Studies we are continuing to study landforms and bodies of water.   This will lead to identifying with teacher assistance the five major rivers and the major mountains or mountain ranges in the world.  The children are also learning how to use reference materials to gather information.  We finished our Unit on Balancing and Weighing and the children were given the end-of-unit assessment. 

            Progress reports went home on the last day of school before the break – December 23^rd.  I explained the key on the report card to the children and how I determined the grades.  I further explained that you, the parents, and I are partners in their education, and our goal is to work together to help them succeed.   If the children were disappointed in their grades, I encouraged them to talk to you and/or me to work on ways to improve in their academic, organizational, or behavioral skills.  If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me.  I will be happy to meet with you.

                                                                        Fondly,

                                                                        Joan Friedman