October 28 Update

We are expanding our study of seasons and weather this week.  We've been charting the weather each day, including the sunrise and sunset times, high and low temperatures, and this week we will start graphing the data.  They are so amazed at how the days are shortening incrementally!  We've collected leaves and made creatures last week and we will use those creatures this week to work on adjectives (also known as "sparkle words!") to improve our writing.

Our Math adventures continue as we "cement" our number bonds and expand our work into place value.  Knowing numbers can be written in number form, word form and expanded form is an important basis for moving on to the next steps.

Please remind your children they should be showing their best effort on all school work.  Also, it might be a good idea to double check their homework before they turn it in...I'm finding packets are turned in incomplete and a quick check at home will hopefully help this.  Thanks in advance for your assistance.

We go outside with temperatures as low as 20 degrees, so please, please, please, check the weather with your children and be sure they are dressed appropriately.

This week's Spelling words are consonant clusters - next, spin, clip, grade, swim, plant, last, test, skin, left, drag, glide, from, slip, climb and bruise.  The word of the week (finally!) is does.  When we have a word of the week, I choose a frequently misspelled word.  We write it on every paper for the whole week, with the hopes they will be able to forever be able to spell it correctly.

Our first quarter ends on Friday, which means report cards and conferences are soon to follow!  Please call the school office to schedule your conferences.  If the schedule does not work for you, please email me directly and I'll arrange a time for us to speak about your child's progress so far in second grade.

Be sure and check out some of our other blog postings from the past few weeks - there are some great photos of your children here in school.  Thanks so much and please email me with any questions or concerns at mlbuster@torahacademy.org

The View from our Window, 10-25-13

Today's bloggers are Tomer and Natalie...

The weather is sunny.  The skies look cloudy.  The colors we see most of are green.  The trees look red and mostly green.  Today's view is different than the last entry because the colors look different.  We also see more bare trees.

What colors are in leaves? by Eli

Leaves can have up to five colors.  Sometimes you can see a leaf with two or three colors on the same leaf.  Chlorophyll is inside a leaf.  There are a lot of good leaves.  Some leaves have bright colors and some have dark colors.

Why don't trees have leaves in the winter? by A.M.

Why do leaves change color? by Ephraim, Tzvi and Tomer

Leaves change color in the fall.  The green from the chlorophyll gets less strong and this makes the other colors show more.  In the fall, the leaves can change to any color, like red, yellow, orange, dark red, bright orange.   Different trees make different colored leaves.  Only evergreens stay green in the fall.

Why Do Trees Need Energy? by Natalie

Trees need energy because the leaves are where the plant makes it's food.  Leaves use energy from the sun to make the tree's food.

Seeing Spots!

Today, we had dominoes spread out all around the classroom - we started out matching the numbers, like a standard game.  Then we progressed to finding matches to make 10 - that slowed them down!  However, the discussions were terrific.  A great lesson in making tens and negotiations, that's for sure.

The View from our Window, 10-22-13

Today's bloggers are Ariel and Roni...

There are trees.  There is red, yellow, orange and green trees.  There are benches outside.

Tic-Tac-TEN!

We are continuing our focus on making 10 every which way we can.  Today we played Tic-Tac-Ten, which allowed them to manipulate three numbers to make ten.  It was a hit!

Math Excitement!

Our class has been enjoying the exciting math e-books by Greg Tang together.  While reading Math for all Seasons, the children discovered a few hidden items that weren't counted.  They all agreed we should write to the author and ask why he didn't include them in the total count on that page.  He emailed us right back!  They were so excited!  Here is our email exchange...

Dear Mr. Tang,

We are really enjoying your website and books.  They are fun.

When we were reading "Math for All Seasons" we noticed something on the baby oak page.  There were two acorns you did not count.  One was in the squirrels pocket and the other was below the writing.  Why didn't you count those?  Please write us back.

Sincerely,

The Columbus Torah Academy 2nd grade

Greg Tang	8:31 AM (2 hours ago)
to me

Hello!

You are right, maybe I should have counted them. Or better yet, I should have asked the illustrator to remove those extra 2. My intent was for only the acorns in the scene on the left page to be included. That way, kids can group 2 acorns with 3 acorns to make groups of 5 acorns and then quickly count by 5.

All of your second graders are very observant! Hope you like the rest of my books and try Kakooma when you're ready. It's my favorite game!

Thanks for writing,

Greg

*************************************************************************

Wow!  What a great experience for them.  Check out the website gregtangmath.com and click on the book Math for All Seasons and you can see what we saw.

Here are a few photos of our students enjoying another of Mr. Tang's ebooks - they have loved this way of improving their number sense!

The View from our Window, 10/18/13

Today's bloggers are Lila and Menashe...

Today, the weather is sunny and the skies look clear.  The colors we see the most of are still green.  The trees look red, green and yellow.  Today the view looks different than the last entry because last time the sky was dark.

Classroom Update, 10-18-13

It has been so nice to settle into our routine after the wonderful September holidays.  The children have done a terrific job of learning how to be second graders.  Even the little procedures that make our day run smoothly have really taken hold - you should be proud, because I know I am.  They love when they earn "warm fuzzies" for compliments on their behavior and choices and they are quick to point out a compliment when they receive one from another teacher.  They've already earned three extra recess times for getting so many warm fuzzies - 30 fuzzies equals an extra recess!  And our classroom behavior chart, where they "clip up" for good choices has been a really effective tool.  Be sure to check their planner each evening, as they are recording where they "land" on the behavior chart.  It's a good opportunity to talk to them about what is working and what isn't working with their behavior in class.

We are wrapping up our unit on government.  This week we held a mock election, including a discussion about what makes a good leader.  We voted on whether the beloved characters Arthur, Buster or D.W. would make good Student Council representatives - Buster won.  I promise I did not try to influence the vote just because of our common name!

In Language Arts, we have covered compare/contrast and inference strategies for comprehension.  We have also worked hard on alphabetical order, using a glossary and short and long vowel sounds.  We have written poems about our families and friendly letters - you might even find a letter addressed to you in the Friday folder this week!

Our Math lessons have been a combination of Singapore Math and the Everyday Math curriculum and the children are deepening their number sense.  The focus is base-10, so the more often they create a 10, the easier it gets when our addition and subtraction gets more complicated.  We've also used the Greg Tang website for additional exposure to number sense - they have loved it!  You can access it from home and they can continue the fun...just google Greg Tang Math.

I hope you have been keeping up to date with entries on this blog called "The View from our Window," which are created by the children to keep you up to date on the beautiful show we see evolving as the leaves change.  Every child will have a chance to work on this.

Next week's Spelling words are tap, tape, fin, fine, tub, tube, rob, robe, cap, cape, slid, slide, hop, hope, scrap, scrape.

Second Grade is off to a great start and we are having a terrific time.  Please email me with any questions at mlbuster@torahacademy.org and have a great weekend.  MLB

The View from our Window, Entry #5, 10-16-13

Today's bloggers are Areah and Ephraim...

Today, the weather is rainy.  The skies look dark and gray.  The color we see the most of is green.  Today's view is different from the last time because it is rainy.  We also saw some birds.

Spelling Words for October 18 test

Here are this week's Spelling words, for anyone who might want them.

these, nose, use, rose, pole, close, cute, those, mule, one, love, come, home, joke, wrote, ice cube

The View from our Window, Entry #4, 10-15-13

Today's bloggers are Roni and Rachel....

The sky looks gloomy.  There's trash on the playground.  The grass is green. There's a basketball court.  The trees look beautiful. There's a tennis court and benches.

The View from our Window, Entry #3, 10/10/13

Today's bloggers are Tzvi and Bassie...

It is sunny.  It is a little cloudy.  It is warm.  The leaves are green, red, yellow and orange.  The trees are tall.

Graphing our Families

Today, some of our students worked on graphing data about our families.  We surveyed our classmates with questions like how many in each family, how many boys or girls in each family and what order they were born...here are a few photos showing them at work!

The View from our Window Entry #2, 10/9/13

Today's bloggers are Li'elle and Danielle....

Some trees are red and green.  Trees can be a lot of colors.  Some trees are orange and yellow and brown.  Today there is a blue sky.

The View from our Window - Entry #1 10/7/13

For the next few weeks, we will be documenting the gorgeous view we have from our window as the leaves change.  Each child will have the opportunity to write and illustrate what we are seeing as Hashem creates a wonderful art exhibit in the woods along the perimeter of our property.  Enjoy!

Today's bloggers are Bina and CJ and here are their observations...

The trees have some red and orange and yellow but they are still mostly green  There are a few leaves on the ground but most of them are on the trees still.  The dark clouds in the sky are gray and white and one looks like a poodle.  And one also looked like a two-headed T-Rex.

Welcome Back!

Sorry for the delayed entry - I usually try to update the blog by Friday of each week, but getting back into our routine was exhausting for both the children and me, and then I hit the road right after school to go visit my daughter at university.  Awesome weekend, but now back to reality.

The children really did a terrific job last week, as we revisited routines and procedures after our in and out schedule in September.  We began our centers and reading group rotations and figured out how every day life would be in second grade.  They were more excited than I thought they would be for the tiny bit of homework and the Spelling test - I guess they were craving a regular schedule as much as I was!

To review the procedure for homework in General Studies (this was in the packet from Back to School Night too!) I will send home a packet in the Friday folder most weeks of school.  Your family can decide when it works best to get this packet done.  It is due on Thursday of the following week.  If your child finishes before that, feel free to turn it in anytime.  If you find your child needs a great deal of assistance on a particular piece, please write a note on that page.  Our Spelling tests will be on Fridays.  The Spelling words will be written in their planners, which should come back and forth each day, so you will have those written down for additional practice as needed for studying.

In addition to the homework, all corrected papers and other work comes home in the Friday folder.  It is "parent homework" for this folder to be cleaned out and returned empty on Mondays.  Thanks in advance for keeping on top of this.  If you happen to notice my initials "MLB" on a paper, please know that means your child needed a great deal of assistance on this topic and we worked together on that particular piece of classwork.

The Student Council has asked us to wear orange this coming Wednesday for "Unity Day," a day to raise awareness about bullying.  We spend a great deal of time talking about respect and caring for each other here in second grade, with many books, discussions and the Second Step program, so this is a great continuation of our efforts in our classroom to open the discussion school-wide.

I hope that if questions come up about any of our procedures or assignments that you feel free to email me.  I'm happy to clarify for you and adjust if necessary for anything that might be unclear.  Email is best with any questions mlbuster@torahacademy.org

Have a great week!
MLB