Mr. Young's Classroom: October 3, 2021

October 3, 2021

Good Evening,

I hope you all had a great weekend. Although a bit of a wet one, I found myself in the Northeast Kingdom a bit this weekend and the beauty all around is quite stunning. Nothing better than fall in Vermont!

This week in math (1st grade) the students continued their work with the concept of 10 and some more as we looked at equations that equaled 11-20. The students used a rekenrek to build two numbers and then see how a group of ten and some more were created. We continued to focus on eliminating numeral reversals and focusing on teens numbers vs -ty numbers (13 compared to 30). Ms Figdor had this to say about 2nd grade math. This week in second grade math we continued to develop efficient strategies for solving subtraction problems. The second graders are developing strategies with numbers that we are already comfortable with in order to use these strategies to solve problems with larger numbers. The goal is to teach students to be problem solvers and thinkers and not just give answers to questions. Next week we will wrap up our first unit on addition and subtraction. However, throughout the year we will continue to work on getting more efficient with our basic addition and subtraction facts.

In writing the students continued focusing on small moment narratives.

This week, I was able to have each kid edit a story and set goals based on their current writing. The students worked in partners to tell a story, have their partner ask them questions about their story and then retell the story adding details based on the questions asked. The students seem to be really enthused about writing personal narratives and are excited on the days we have writing.

This week in science, we continued to focus on writing like scientist. Each student had a chance to observe a flower and record their observations. As a class we talked about using specific vocabulary For example using terms like stem, leaf, and petal when describing the flower. On Friday, we introduced the value in adding color to their drawings to help with specifically describing what they saw.

On Wednesday. I read the story I Wanna New Room, by Karen Kauffman Orloff. "The book is about a little boy name Alex who has to now share a room with his younger brother, Ethan because his mom just had a new baby sister. Alex is very unhappy about having to share his room and his new sister so he begins to write letters to his parents trying to convince them to let him have his own room." After reading the story, the kids were each given a chance to use grid paper to create their own dream room. They will continue working on this projects this week as we tie in some math and writing with this project.