Newsletter for September 1, 2017

It was so good to see so many families at Parent Information Night. I hope you found our time beneficial. Please let me know if you have any questions.

What We Learned This Week

Word Study
I reviewed vowels: a, e, i, o, u and sometimes y and w. We practiced marking short vowel sounds with a breve and long vowel sounds with a macron. We also discussed the importance of vowels. Every word in the English language has at least one vowel and we use vowels (and vowel teams) to segment words into syllable types. We reviewed closed syllables (a vowel followed or closed by a consonant: e.g., cat) and VCE (vowel-consonant-silent e words: e.g., cake). The study of phonemes and syllable types will aid us in both reading (decoding) and writing (encoding).

We continued our study of nouns: proper and common.

Reading 
We worked on identifying the difference between main ideas and supporting details. This will support our writing as well. Titles and topic sentences are often great starting points for identifying the main idea. This is a skill that can be used for all reading, from figurative poetry to non-fiction texts.

I talked a lot about "just right" texts for independent reading and homework. Here is a helpful Scholastic site that you can use to search for books by text level (upper right hand corner). I recommend looking for books by DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment) level. Students are expected to be reading at a DRA level of 28 at the start of the year. I would recommend looking at level 20 and 28 books as a starting point and adjusting from there. You can share a DRA level with a librarian (and the occasional Barnes & Noble employee) and they will be able to help you. I will send home a copy of a correlation chart for all of the different ways book levels are categorized, which is also helpful. Please let me know if you need help finding books. Some good independent reading series for many students are:

A-Z Mysteries      Cam Jansen      Eerie Elementary      Branches Series
Judy Moody             Stink             My Weird School      Magic Treehouse

Math
We reviewed multi-digit addition with an emphasis on vocabulary (addend and sum). We summed without regrouping, with regrouping, named the regrouping (We NEVER carry "the one," but carry the ten, hundred, etc.), and I challenged the class by providing the sum and students solved for missing addends (e.g., 2?5 + ?4? = 689 Solve for ?s). While a few students need support with these skills, I was really pleased with the class' understanding.

We added two new strategies:
Doubles (e.g., 3 + 3)
Near Doubles (e.g., 9 +8)

We are practicing these daily, but students must master these as soon as possible. There are many approaches to learning facts. Please know there is a great difference between testing and learning. Online fact programs and games typically test, but do not teach in any systematic way and are not a good use of time. Rote memorization is typically not effective either. My preferred methods are:
- Flash cards: Make a pile of "Know" and "Don't Know" cards. Practice two to three cards from the "Don't Know" pile each night. One month of concentrated practice should get your student to where they need to be. Tie each new card to one or more strategies. (e.g., 2 + 8 = 10 is both a 2 more and a sums to ten).
- Strategies: Focus on the more challenging strategies. Sort flash cards or dominos by strategies. Students can then practice for recall a few each night as above.

Many students will improve recall significantly if they finger write the numbers in the air, on their hands, or with a crayon (more friction is better) with their eyes closed as they say it. This multi-sensory approach will provide another way for them to recall the fact and is more effective than just saying it.

If you have any questions regarding how to support your student with fact mastery, please contact me. Again, this is a second grade standard. I hate to harp on this, but the sooner students master these facts the greater they will be able to apply them to third grade content.

This chart shows all of the fact fluency strategies that we will associate with facts. Many of the facts have more than one strategy.

Click image to enlarge.

Science 
I introduced plant life science this week and we practiced identifying different leaf and branch types by touring trees on our campus in anticipation of our upcoming field trips. Please let me know if you can volunteer. We are in need of chaperones.

Homework

Homework starts today. I will send homework Mondays through Thursdays. Students may earn homework passes by making good choices. Homework consists of:

- 20 minutes of engaged independent reading

- One double sided math review and practice sheet

- One optional math challenge sheet 

Important Dates and Reminders

I will highlight changes and new dates in red.

Please follow this link to sign up for fall conferences.

If your student still has an iPad carrying case from last year, please send it with them on Monday. Thank you!

September 2017

3 Golden Bear Bash

4 No School Staff/Students:  Labor Day

13  PTO General Mtg at 7:00 pm in the lounge

13 Walking Wednesday

14 Field Trip 9am-11am Thompson Park Tree Trek. Please email if you can chaperone.

20 Walking Wednesday

21 Fall School Pictures
24 & 25 3rd Grade State of Ohio Reading Assessment

25 Book Fair Week

27 Early Release 1:00

27 Walking Wednesday

29 Fall Family Fun Night  5:30-7:30 p.m.

October 2017

TBD Third Grade Reading AIR Testing

4  Walking Wednesday

11 Walking Wednesday

9-13 Collection Days for “Box Tops for Education”

16 No School for Students:  Work Day/PT Conference Day

16  Parent Teacher Conferences 12:20 - 7pm

18 Walking Wednesday

19 Parent Teacher Conferences 3:20 - 7pm

20 Fall Picture Retake

20 Field Trip 9am-11am Thompson Park Tree Trek. Please email if you can chaperone.

25 Walking Wednesday

26 Early Dismissal at 11:05

27 Halloween Parties & School wide Parade starting at 1:30 pm

31 Beggar’s Night 5:30-8 p.m. in UA

November 2017

1 Walking Wednesday

6 End of First Trimester

7 No School for Students:  Faculty In-service Day

8 Walking Wednesday

15 Walking Wednesday

21  Progress Reports go Home

21 Scarlet and Gray School Spirit Day

22-24 Thanksgiving Holiday

December 2017

21 Holiday Parties 2:00 pm

December 22-January 4 Winter Break

January 2018

5 No School for Students:  Teacher Workday/PD Day

8 School Resumes

15 No School for Staff or Students:  Martin Luther King’s Birthday

18 PT Conferences grade 1-5 (students are dismissed at 11:05)

February 2018

5  State of the Schools at UAHS 5-8 p.m.

5-9 Collection Days for “Box Tops for Education”
8 Third Grade Musical
11-14 Ohio Wildlife Center donation drive
14 Ohio Wildlife Center

19 No School Staff or Students:  Presidents’ Day

28 Early Release 1:00 (NO LIFT)

March 2018

5 Spring Pictures

9 End of Second Trimester
9 Invention Convention 10-10:30am in the Multipurpose Room/Cafeteria

12-16  Spring Break

19 No School for Students:  Teacher Grading Day

27 Progress Reports go Home

30  Good Friday:  No School for Students or Staff

April 2018

4  Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon at Windermere 11-12 in lounge

May 2018

April 30-May 4  Scholastic Book Fair

4 KidFest, 5-8 p.m.

8  NO School for students or certified staff - Ohio Primary Elections

21  Field Day

28 No School Staff:  Memorial Day

30  Last Day for Students

30 End of third trimester