Reading aloud is one of the most precious gifts anyone can give to a child. Although we traditionally associate it with 'snuggle time' for the very young (e.g. Dr. Seuss, Nursery Rhymes, Pat the Bunny, etc.), it can also be a tremendous source of critical thinking and high-level comprehension as well. Just because your child has started school (or has been in school for several years) doesn't mean that reading aloud to your child now is any less important than it was at two or three years old. :)
Showing posts with label Alison Varrell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alison Varrell. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 16, 2018
Day 150 - Improving Comprehension Skills: The Read Aloud - Ms Varrell - Pine Glen Grade 2
This post first appeared on Ms. Varrell's Blog
Reading aloud is one of the most precious gifts anyone can give to a child. Although we traditionally associate it with 'snuggle time' for the very young (e.g. Dr. Seuss, Nursery Rhymes, Pat the Bunny, etc.), it can also be a tremendous source of critical thinking and high-level comprehension as well. Just because your child has started school (or has been in school for several years) doesn't mean that reading aloud to your child now is any less important than it was at two or three years old. :)
Recently, this TedTalk by Rebecca Bellingham, caught my attention. It is a short and sweet explanation of how reading aloud to children can significantly enhance their understanding beyond the walls of the classroom.
Reading aloud is one of the most precious gifts anyone can give to a child. Although we traditionally associate it with 'snuggle time' for the very young (e.g. Dr. Seuss, Nursery Rhymes, Pat the Bunny, etc.), it can also be a tremendous source of critical thinking and high-level comprehension as well. Just because your child has started school (or has been in school for several years) doesn't mean that reading aloud to your child now is any less important than it was at two or three years old. :)
Thursday, May 3, 2018
Day 141 - Mill Pond Reservoir Trip - Miss Varrell - Pine Glen Grade 2
This post first appeared on Miss Varrell's Blog
We recently went on a field trip to the Mill Pond Reservoir to observe and experience three different habitats of our local area. Different classrooms attended the field trip at different times so this video highlights Miss Varrell's group with some children from Mrs. Beaulieu's class. Here's a slideshow of our experience. Thank you to our two chaperones, Mrs. Wisniewski and Ms. Romero, for helping us on our trip (unfortunately they didn't make it into the video)! Get ready to pause on the slides because it runs really quickly. Enjoy the show!
We recently went on a field trip to the Mill Pond Reservoir to observe and experience three different habitats of our local area. Different classrooms attended the field trip at different times so this video highlights Miss Varrell's group with some children from Mrs. Beaulieu's class. Here's a slideshow of our experience. Thank you to our two chaperones, Mrs. Wisniewski and Ms. Romero, for helping us on our trip (unfortunately they didn't make it into the video)! Get ready to pause on the slides because it runs really quickly. Enjoy the show!
Friday, December 2, 2016
Day 57 - Classroom Summary November 21 - December 2 - Miss Varrell Pine Glen Grade 2
This post first appeared on Miss Varrell's Blog
Here's what we've been up to...
In math we have been working very hard learning different strategies for adding two digit numbers. We have learned to break apart addends into tens and ones and then add those tens and ones separately before putting them back together again. We also learned how to keep one addend whole and break apart only one of the addends. We used cubes, place value blocks (a.k.a. base ten blocks) and open number lines too. We even learned a strategy called compensation (Miss Varrell calls it the Robin Hood strategy) where we subtract a small amount from one addend and immediately add it onto the other addend to make the two numbers easier to add.
This week we learned some new math vocabulary words: compatible numbers, partial sum and regrouping. We know that two addends that are easier to add are called compatible numbers. For instance, would you rather add these ----> 28 + 49 or these ----> 27 + 50? If you would rather add the second equation, that's probably because those numbers are more compatible. It's much easier to add two addends when one of them is just a group of tens! We also learned that the word partial means 'part of' so we were pretty excited to find out that we have been doing partial sums when we broke apart numbers into tens and ones to add them! We will learn about regrouping next week.
In Fundations this week we learned some new suffixes. Our list has now grown from six to thirteen! Here are the suffixes that we are now responsible for spelling in our writing and decoding in our reading: -s, -es, -ing, -ed, -er, -est, -less, -ness, -ment, -ful, -able, -en, and -ish. Here is a group playing a suffix game to help us differentiate the sounds of the suffix -ed:
In Miss Varrell's reading group students have been working on learning how to retell, or summarize, a fiction story. Students used a graphic organizer to collect story notes about an independent text and used them to create a short summary 'paragraph' [N.B. formal paragraph writing will not be taught until the new year]. We spent a lot of time discussing the elements of a story(characters, setting, problem, solution, ending, and sometimes a moral or author's message) and how details included in a summary are usually the important events that move the story forward to its conclusion. We will practice more written retells/summaries in the future. Next week teachers will be assessing children on their reading progress to date to provide data for administration and to inform teachers for instructional purposes.
In social studies we have begun working on our unit about continents, oceans and cultures. We will be studying about maps, globes, landforms and bodies of water while learning about various cultures around the world. Next week please be on the look out for a cultural survey that will be coming home as part of a homework assignment. We will use the information brought back to school to help us understand about our own family traditions and cultures and how to appreciate our unique differences and worldwide similarities.
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| Gwyneth's Go Noodle Turkey Character |
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| Morgan's Go Noodle Turkey Character |
In math we have been working very hard learning different strategies for adding two digit numbers. We have learned to break apart addends into tens and ones and then add those tens and ones separately before putting them back together again. We also learned how to keep one addend whole and break apart only one of the addends. We used cubes, place value blocks (a.k.a. base ten blocks) and open number lines too. We even learned a strategy called compensation (Miss Varrell calls it the Robin Hood strategy) where we subtract a small amount from one addend and immediately add it onto the other addend to make the two numbers easier to add.
This week we learned some new math vocabulary words: compatible numbers, partial sum and regrouping. We know that two addends that are easier to add are called compatible numbers. For instance, would you rather add these ----> 28 + 49 or these ----> 27 + 50? If you would rather add the second equation, that's probably because those numbers are more compatible. It's much easier to add two addends when one of them is just a group of tens! We also learned that the word partial means 'part of' so we were pretty excited to find out that we have been doing partial sums when we broke apart numbers into tens and ones to add them! We will learn about regrouping next week.
In Miss Varrell's reading group students have been working on learning how to retell, or summarize, a fiction story. Students used a graphic organizer to collect story notes about an independent text and used them to create a short summary 'paragraph' [N.B. formal paragraph writing will not be taught until the new year]. We spent a lot of time discussing the elements of a story(characters, setting, problem, solution, ending, and sometimes a moral or author's message) and how details included in a summary are usually the important events that move the story forward to its conclusion. We will practice more written retells/summaries in the future. Next week teachers will be assessing children on their reading progress to date to provide data for administration and to inform teachers for instructional purposes.
In social studies we have begun working on our unit about continents, oceans and cultures. We will be studying about maps, globes, landforms and bodies of water while learning about various cultures around the world. Next week please be on the look out for a cultural survey that will be coming home as part of a homework assignment. We will use the information brought back to school to help us understand about our own family traditions and cultures and how to appreciate our unique differences and worldwide similarities.
Monday, October 26, 2015
Day 38 - Classroom Summary - Ms. Varrell - Pine Glen Grade 2
This post first appeared on Ms. Varrell's blog
Here's what we did this week...
In math we learned about arrays and repeated addition number sentences. An array is an arrangement of items in equal groups (equal rows and and equal columns) to form a rectangle. Here is a picture of an array:
We learned that when you read an array, you read it by rows and then by columns (what is contained in each row). For example, in the array above you would look at the 4 rows first and say "Four groups of five" or you might call it a "4 by 5 array." We also wrote repeated addition number sentences to match our arrays. This one would be written as the repeated number sentence:
We also discovered that if you turn, or rotate, the array the number sentence changes but the sum stays the same. Look around and you may find all kinds of arrays!
In Fundations our focus was on reviewing the suffixes: -s, -es, -ed, -ing and introducing the new suffixes -er and -est. We also began learning about parts of speech. We reviewed nouns and verbs and noticed that certain suffixes are used with nouns and others are used with verbs. There are some suffixes that change verbs INTO nouns! We will continue our work with suffixes next week.
In Miss Varrell's reading group we focused our learning on making text-to-self connections. We used our read-pause-reflect and TTYP (turn to your partner) strategies to help us practice making those connections. On Thursday we spent some time working with vocabulary to help us with our comprehension. We learned about a special group of words known ashomophones. Homophones are words that sound exactly the same but when we read or write them, they are spelled differently and they have very different meanings. We did some brainstorming and produced some 'leafy homophones' to decorate the second grade hallway. Pictures of our work will be in next week's blog.
In Writing Workshop we learned a new strategy to help us think of topics to write about: sketching. We learned a few weeks ago that authors often use different ways to come up with ideas to write. Some draw a picture first and some use their memories to come up with topics. But this week we learned that sometimes authors just sketch what they see right in front of them. A pencil sketch can lead to a fiction story or it can lead to a nonfiction story. It all depends how much imagination we put into our thinking. We did some sketching in three locations around Pine Glen to come up with some ideas for new stories. We used clipboards, pencils and plain white drawing paper. We will share our stories next week!
In Science we are just finishing up our Explain Everything projects on trees. We have been working hard to apply what we have read and researched to our work. Here we are using our webs and trees books as we draft what we want to say into our slideshows:
Weekend Challenge Activity: Draw an array of 30 jack-o-lanterns and include a repeated number sentence with it. Bring it to school on Monday to share with the class during math time!
Parent F.Y.I.
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| Matthew K. |
Here's what we did this week...
In math we learned about arrays and repeated addition number sentences. An array is an arrangement of items in equal groups (equal rows and and equal columns) to form a rectangle. Here is a picture of an array:
We learned that when you read an array, you read it by rows and then by columns (what is contained in each row). For example, in the array above you would look at the 4 rows first and say "Four groups of five" or you might call it a "4 by 5 array." We also wrote repeated addition number sentences to match our arrays. This one would be written as the repeated number sentence:
5 + 5 + 5 + 5 = 20
The blanks signify the number of rows and the numbers signify how many are in each row. We practiced working with story problems using these types of examples:- books on shelves
- garden vegetables in rows
- toys on shelves
We also discovered that if you turn, or rotate, the array the number sentence changes but the sum stays the same. Look around and you may find all kinds of arrays!
In Fundations our focus was on reviewing the suffixes: -s, -es, -ed, -ing and introducing the new suffixes -er and -est. We also began learning about parts of speech. We reviewed nouns and verbs and noticed that certain suffixes are used with nouns and others are used with verbs. There are some suffixes that change verbs INTO nouns! We will continue our work with suffixes next week.
In Miss Varrell's reading group we focused our learning on making text-to-self connections. We used our read-pause-reflect and TTYP (turn to your partner) strategies to help us practice making those connections. On Thursday we spent some time working with vocabulary to help us with our comprehension. We learned about a special group of words known ashomophones. Homophones are words that sound exactly the same but when we read or write them, they are spelled differently and they have very different meanings. We did some brainstorming and produced some 'leafy homophones' to decorate the second grade hallway. Pictures of our work will be in next week's blog.
In Writing Workshop we learned a new strategy to help us think of topics to write about: sketching. We learned a few weeks ago that authors often use different ways to come up with ideas to write. Some draw a picture first and some use their memories to come up with topics. But this week we learned that sometimes authors just sketch what they see right in front of them. A pencil sketch can lead to a fiction story or it can lead to a nonfiction story. It all depends how much imagination we put into our thinking. We did some sketching in three locations around Pine Glen to come up with some ideas for new stories. We used clipboards, pencils and plain white drawing paper. We will share our stories next week!
In Science we are just finishing up our Explain Everything projects on trees. We have been working hard to apply what we have read and researched to our work. Here we are using our webs and trees books as we draft what we want to say into our slideshows:
Weekend Challenge Activity: Draw an array of 30 jack-o-lanterns and include a repeated number sentence with it. Bring it to school on Monday to share with the class during math time!
Parent F.Y.I.
- Our field trip to the Discovery Museum is this Friday, October 30. Information will be sent home this week regarding lunches, etc. All permission slips have been sent in--thank you!
- Our chaperones for the upcoming field trip will be Mrs. Davidson and Mrs. Saia. Thank you to all who volunteered. We will draw two new names in the spring for our next trip.
- Room Parents will be contacting you this week regarding Halloween snack plans.
- There will be no costumes worn at any time this week however we will have Crazy Hat Day at the end of the week (see below). I also greatly appreciate you limiting your child's candy consumption at school to no more than 2 sweets a day with his/her lunch, if possible. As I'm sure you are aware, Halloween is a candy-licious treat for children everywhere, with not the most 'focused' results for parents and teachers!
- Friday, October 30 has been declared Crazy Hat day at Pine Glen by our school council! However, as we will be on our field trip for most of Friday, you may want your child to wear his/her crazy hat to school but leave it in class until we return from our trip around 1:30PM. It is completely up to you. :)
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Day 156 - The Importance of Reading Aloud to Children - Ms. Varrell - Pine Glen Grade 2
This post originally appeared on Ms. Varrell's Blog
Some thoughts from Dr. Anne Cunningham of the University of California, Berkeley...
Some thoughts from Dr. Anne Cunningham of the University of California, Berkeley...
Monday, January 19, 2015
Thank You, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - Ms. Varrell - Pine Glen Second Grade
This post first appeared on Ms. Varrell's Blog
While enjoying this long weekend, learn about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in this Reading Rainbow video hosted by LeVar Burton. We honor his memory by living the 'golden rule.'
While enjoying this long weekend, learn about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in this Reading Rainbow video hosted by LeVar Burton. We honor his memory by living the 'golden rule.'
Monday, November 24, 2014
Day 56 - Classroom Summary of the Week - Miss Varrell - Pine Glen Second Grade
This post first appeared on Miss Varrell's Blog
Here's what we did this week...
In Math we began our next topic, Topic 6, which focuses on Mental Addition strategies. We learned that when we add double digit numbers that aremultiples of ten, we can use a 'math fact' strategy to help us solve the problem in our heads. For example, if your problem is
20 + 70 =
and you know that 2 + 7 = 9, then you can use the pattern to solve the larger problem:
20 + 70 = 90
Another strategy we used was adding on using a visualized hundred chart. We know that when you add a ten to a number, you move down one row and when you add a one you move to the right one box. If you have a double digit problem like:
40 + 51 =
you can add mentally by starting with the larger number and adding on the tens (and then the ones, if there are any) like this:
51... 61... 71... 81... 91
add on 40 or 4 tens (+10 +10 +10 +10)
so... 40 + 51 = 91
We also learned how to use two other Mental Addition strategies for when we add double digit addends that are not multiples of 10:
In Fundations we began working with multisyllabic words, we added more suffixes and vowel sounds to our reading skills 'toolbox,' and we learned a new spelling rule! When working with a multisyllabic word, if the word ends with a syllable that includes a short vowel sound followed by the sound of /k/, it is usually spelled with a c (and not a ck, like monosyllabic words). Some of the new suffixes we worked with this week were: -less, -ness, -ment, -en, -able, -ish, and -ful.
In Miss Varrell's reading class we continued our work with visualizing as acomprehension skill. We used Post-It notes to draw sketches and take brief notes as we read our independent texts.
In Computers this week Mrs. Ardizzoni came in and taught a lesson on digital citizenship. She talked about different ways we can be safe online and also introduced us to QR codes. She had us practice scanning with our iPads so that we could visit two different websites: our class blog and the Houston Zoo! We had a lot of fun discovering what was on these two sites while still being safe.
Here's what we did this week...
In Math we began our next topic, Topic 6, which focuses on Mental Addition strategies. We learned that when we add double digit numbers that aremultiples of ten, we can use a 'math fact' strategy to help us solve the problem in our heads. For example, if your problem is
20 + 70 =
and you know that 2 + 7 = 9, then you can use the pattern to solve the larger problem:
20 + 70 = 90
Another strategy we used was adding on using a visualized hundred chart. We know that when you add a ten to a number, you move down one row and when you add a one you move to the right one box. If you have a double digit problem like:
40 + 51 =
you can add mentally by starting with the larger number and adding on the tens (and then the ones, if there are any) like this:
51... 61... 71... 81... 91
add on 40 or 4 tens (+10 +10 +10 +10)
so... 40 + 51 = 91
We also learned how to use two other Mental Addition strategies for when we add double digit addends that are not multiples of 10:
- Break apart both addends to add the tens and then ones (a.k.a. Keep Both);
34 + 11 = ?
30 + 10 = 40 and 4 + 1 = 5 so...
40 + 5 = 45 and so...
34 + 11 = 45
- Keep one addend whole and break apart the other number (a.k.a. Keep 1, Break 1)
34 + 11 = ?
34 + 10 = 44 and 44 + 1 = 45 so...
34 + 11 = 45
In Fundations we began working with multisyllabic words, we added more suffixes and vowel sounds to our reading skills 'toolbox,' and we learned a new spelling rule! When working with a multisyllabic word, if the word ends with a syllable that includes a short vowel sound followed by the sound of /k/, it is usually spelled with a c (and not a ck, like monosyllabic words). Some of the new suffixes we worked with this week were: -less, -ness, -ment, -en, -able, -ish, and -ful.
In Miss Varrell's reading class we continued our work with visualizing as acomprehension skill. We used Post-It notes to draw sketches and take brief notes as we read our independent texts.
We also completed writing our first comments in our Kidblogs. Our blogging assignment was to write a comment in response to Miss Varrell's post. Next time we work in our blogs we'll write our own posts and Miss Varrell will comment on ours! When students conferred about reading goals andstrategies this week, here are some of the topics that were discussed:
- Adding reasons to comprehension comments written in reading logs (adding a 'because' clause);
- Choosing books that are more challenging instead of always choosing books that are 'comfortable'--take a reading risk!;
- Varying book choices with different genres;
- Remembering to write book titles read in the reading log;
- Writing comments/responses in reading logs as a chapter or shorter picture book is completed and not waiting until the end;
- Applying the skills learned class to create comments/responses for the books we read.
In Writing Workshop this week we continued to work on personal narratives. Since we completed our first narratives where we were directed to write about a specific topic (gerbils), this week we began writing personal narratives about topics of our choice. Some of us have been so enthusiastic about writing that we have asked if we can write every day after recess! We also had an extra special celebration this week. One of our classmates became an author OUTSIDE of school for the very first time! Check out this newspaper article published in the Burlington Union Education section on Thursday:
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| Althea's personal narrative makes it into the Burlington Union! |
In Computers this week Mrs. Ardizzoni came in and taught a lesson on digital citizenship. She talked about different ways we can be safe online and also introduced us to QR codes. She had us practice scanning with our iPads so that we could visit two different websites: our class blog and the Houston Zoo! We had a lot of fun discovering what was on these two sites while still being safe.
In science we began a new unit on the moon. On Monday we added to our RAN chart to show what we 'think' we already know about the moon. As we read and research facts about the moon, we will move our Post-It thoughts into one of the following categories: confirmed information, misconceptions or wonderings. After we filled out our Post-Its, we began reading about what the moon is made out of and why it seems to change shape. We learned that the moon:
- is made of rock and dust
- is colorless
- is airless
- is lifeless
- has cliffs, ledges, volcanoes and craters
- does not produce its own light
- reflects the sun
- is not a planet or a star; it is a moon!
- orbits the earth
- is a type of satellite
- has no gravity
- takes a month to orbit the earth
- has eight phases (steps or stages)
We made mock moons (illustrated representations) that we will turn into a class nonfiction book at the end of our unit. When you have a chance this weekend, try to observe the moon and notice what phase it is in: new moon, waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full moon, waning gibbous, last quarter, or waning crescent.
Weekend Challenge Activity: Look outside at the moon. Draw a picture of what it looks like in the sky. Write a poem about it! Bring your illustration and poem into school on Monday to share.
F.Y.I.
- A big thank you goes out to Christine Warren at the Burlington Union. We hope to send her more pieces of writing from our classroom each month.
- Wednesday, November 26 is a half day of school. Lunch will not be served and dismissal will be 11:15am.
- Please make sure your child has his/her name labeled inside all winter accessories.
- Stay warm this weekend!
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