Response Journals Start Feb. 1!

Dear Parents/Students:

Tomorrow, we will be starting a new phase of our language arts curriculum:  journal writing. These journals will be used to write about the many things you are reading outside of class time.  Additionally, you can use these journals as a tool to apply the skills and the knowledge you are learning in class to your own reading and writing.  Here is how it will work:

1.       Each night you are required to read 20 minutes.  Sometimes this is assigned reading (such as in Health, Science or Social Studies) and other times it is free choice reading.  Regardless of the book selection, you should by now be reading 20 minutes every night of the week including weekends!

2.     Twice a week, on any nights you want, you will be asked to make a journal entry based on what you have been reading at home.  These entries should be at least one page long, skipping lines.  They should contain thoughtful and complete sentences that answer at least one or more of the journal prompt questions already provided or those included in the chart on the back of this sheet.    

3.     Each Friday I will collect a portion of our class journals to read and review.  Your work will be graded based on neatness, completeness, and thoughtfulness.  Prompt questions will be updated at least once a month.  You may also choose to write to me about your own question or idea.   Try to select a new question each time you write. 

4.     These journal entries should be your own, best work.  You should try to apply rules of grammar and spelling that we are learning in the classroom.  You will not lose credit for sharing thoughtful comments that may be wrong as this is YOUR journal and it should contain YOUR true thoughts.  You will, however, lose points for work that is not your best work.  At this stage, you should all be able to complete this assignment with little stress.  My goal is that this will become something enjoyable for you to do each week as well as enjoyable for me to read each week. 

5.     I will post a schedule of what journals I will be collecting each week.  Be sure your journal is with you on that day to turn in for my review.  Good luck and have fun!!

Ms. Coffman ☺

Reader’s Response Journals

Writing Prompt Chart #1

January 31, 2012

Strategy One:  Visualizing What pictures did you have in your head as you were reading?  Describe one or more. Does your book have illustrations?  Do these add to your understanding?  Why or why not? What is your favorite illustration?  Why did you choose it? Could you picture what was happening when there was no illustration?  Explain.

Strategy Two:  Making Connections How did the story make you feel?  What emotions did you experience?  Explain. Did you share a common experience with a character in the book?  What was it?  Do any of the characters remind you of someone in your life?  Who?  Why? How is this story like another story that you know?  How are these stories alike?  How are they different?

Strategy Three:  Questioning What questions did you have as you looked at the book title or cover?  List them; were they answered as you started to read? What questions did you have as you were reading?  List them; were they answered? If you were a character in the book, what questions would you have for another character?  What surprised by any of the answers to your questions?  What question are you most eager to answer as you come close to the end of the story?

Other: Story Elements Who is the most interesting character?  Why? Where and when does the story take place?  Is the setting of the story important?  Why or why not? Who is telling or narrating the story?  Is it one of the characters in the book?  How did the story end?  Were you able to predict the ending?  What clues did you have or what clues were missing? Why do you think the author wanted to write this story?  What was his or her purpose?

Success in the Savanna, 1/27/12

Dear Parents,

            Ah, the smell chlorine in the morning!!!  The children have been so excited to be swimming in the new Yorktown Pool this week.  The reports from Mr. Green and Mr. Corkins have been very complimentary and the kids have been proud to report how they are doing.   I would also like to add a special thanks to all our parents who have assisted at Yorktown during this process.  Please remember that the children will be swimming on both Monday and Tuesday of next week as well, so they will need their suits and towels.

            Even with a shortened week, and a compressed schedule we were able to pack in a lot of good learning.  We began our study of Rome with some reading and class activities.  In science, we are building food chains and learning about the exchange of energy in both chains and webs.  In math we continued our study of multiplication and are learning games that reinforce these facts.  In Language Arts, we have started our response journals and letter writing.  This will start in earnest next week so look for more information coming home soon.  In lieu of word study this week, we are learning new words that will be part of our second word master challenge.  Overall, lots of good learning took place this week.

Below are a couple of important dates to put on your calendars:

Wednesday January 25-Tuesday January 31- Swimming at Yorktown

Friday January 27- Sock Hop

Wednesday February 8- Report Cards Issued

           

            As always, I appreciate your help and support.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. 

 

                                                                                    Sincerely,

                                                                                    Ms. Coffman

Ancient Greece Test Comments

Dear Parents:

Ancient Greece tests were returned today and some scores were less than or just passing.   I considered test performance in a variety of ways and do recognize that it was a little long and detailed.  However, I am still surprised by the lower than expected scores.  Please know that I do plan to offer a working lunch in the near future on “Ancient Greece”.    I will also be reviewing Ancient Greece concepts as we move into Ancient Rome.  In addition, I have let all students know that they can earn up to 5 additional points by writing me a letter, on notebook paper, which addresses their incorrect test answers.  As example, if they missed the question on the geography of Greece, they could write:  Greece’s land was rocky and hilly.  It was not good for farming.  I will accept these letters through next Monday, January 30^th.

I appreciate the extra time spent reviewing the test and big ideas.  A better understanding of this civilization will certain lead to a stronger understanding of Ancient Rome, our current area of study.

Thank you again for your efforts.  Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Ms. Coffman

Tuckahoe ES

Swimming Starts Tomorrow!

Please remember that swimming starts tomorrow.  A reminder note went home today and all students should come with their suits and appropriate items (towel, spare socks, underwear, hat, coat, etc.).  If wearing the suit under clothing, be sure to pack extra under garments for the return trip home.  Again, a reminder note with further details can be found in the "Take Home Pocket" of your child's binder.

We still need one parent volunteer to assist on this Thursday at Yorktown pool.  Please let me know if you are available from 9:45 - 11:00 am to assist.  Females are needed as the male instructors can assist with the young gentlemen.

Multiplication Fact Practice!

January 17, 2012

Dear Students and Parents:

This week begins our unit on multiplication and division.  I will be starting weekly drills with the students in the hope of building fact fluency and accuracy.  To start, we will be doing these once a week; within time we will be doing these twice per week.  I strongly recommend nightly review/practice of the facts starting with lower level facts (0-5) and building to the higher (6-12).  For now, review of 10-15 minutes per night is suggested.  Depending on the pace at which you are learning your facts, you can increase or decrease this time in the coming weeks.

For your convenience, I have included a list of my favorite multiplication sites for your use.  Many are available as links on the Tuckahoe Kids Page and your child is already familiar with my three, favorite sites.   Please look into these as they allow your child to practice independently.  Also, I suggest picking up a pack of multiplication flash cards at the local Dollar Store and Target (be sure that they go through the 12x table).  If necessary, I have surplus flash cards in my classroom that I will gladly loan you during this process.  Please let me know, via email or note, if you would like to borrow a set. 

I am providing each child with a sheet to record the nightly practice – see attached.  Unless your child is specifically asked to do so, I will not be collecting these sheets to verify nightly practice.  I am counting on your child – and you – to do his or her best to complete this practice each night until these facts are mastered.

As always, thanks for all that you do to support our learning process!

Theresa Coffman

Tuckahoe ES

Ms. Coffman’s Top Three:

http://www.aplusmath.com/

Find virtual flashcards which give instant feedback.  Try the games also

This is a link on Tuckahoe Kids page called “A+ Math”

http://www.gamequarium.org/dir/Gamequarium/Math/Multiplication/

Find too many multiplication (and division) games to play alone or with partner. 

This is a link on Tuckahoe Kids page called “Gamequarium”

http://www.visualmathlearning.com/Exercises/mult_table.php

These are great practice – see how many can be done in 10 minutes. 

Runner-ups:

http://www.multiplication.com/index.htm

Try the games or lessons; many options available including worksheets

http://illuminations.nctm.org/Activities.aspx?grade=1&grade=2

Try the factor or product games

Interesting options:

http://math.rice.edu/%7Elanius/Lessons/

http://lpsl.coe.uga.edu/mile3/tim/numbersense.html

Success in the Savanna, 1/20/12

Dear Parents,

            Here we are at the end of the second quarter of school.  It is hard to believe that the year is about half over.  All the children have shown gains since the beginning of the year that is exciting to see.  It is always around this time of year that the children move from being second graders to truly being third graders.  Their confidence and skill begin to solidify and they start to take off as independent learners. 

            Even with a shortened week, we were able to pack in a lot of good learning.  We have been working on the reading strategy of inferring.  We had great fun reading a couple of books by Eve Bunting and Chris Van Allsburg.  We are now moving into journal writing and students are composing letters with me in the classroom.  In about two weeks, this process will become a homework assignment.  I will be sending a letter about the journal writing process in the coming weeks.  Please know that this is a hands-off assignment for all parents.  As always, you can encourage your children to do their best work, but their actual letters should be 100% their work.  Again, look for this notice coming home soon. 

            In math, we have started our multiplication unit and we worked with arrays to understand how these models represent the various facts.  We will be moving onto the actual facts and continue taking drills to promote fluency and accuracy.  Please be sure that your child is practicing his or her facts for at least 10 minutes per night.  I sent home a letter regarding this process in last week’s Friday Folder.  Information is also posted on our classroom blog. 

            In other content areas, we concluded our unit on Ancient Greece and will travel to Ancient Rome starting next week.  We have finished our ecosystem unit in science and are now looking at food chains and food webs.  We will likely have an in class project related to this science unit next week or soon after.  Look for that notice also coming home soon. 

            As you know, the children will be swimming at the new Yorktown pool beginning on Wednesday the 25^th.  Each child will need a suit and towel in a separate bag to take to the pool with them.  Some children do prefer to wear their suits under their clothes as they come to school as we have swimming first thing.  If your child chooses to do this please make sure there is underwear in their bag for them to change into before coming back to school.  As the children will be coming back to school with wet heads, please be sure they have a hat or hood on their coat to cover up for the ride back to Tuckahoe.  We are also in need of a couple more volunteers to help the girls in the locker room.  As I mentioned last week this would entail meeting the bus at the pool at 9:45 to assist the girls in changing and getting onto the pool deck with their towels, and then again from about 10:45 to help them change back into their street clothes and make sure nothing is left behind in the locker room.  If you can help with any part of our swimming week with this please let me know. 

Below are a couple of important dates to put on your calendars:

Friday January 20^th- Last day of 2^nd Quarter

Monday January 23rd- Teacher Work Day- No School for Children

Wednesday January 25-Tuesday January 31- Swimming at Yorktown

Friday January 27- Sock Hop

           

            As always, I appreciate your help and support.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. 

 

                                                                                    Sincerely,

                                                                                            Ms. Coffman

Health Project Due 1/20

Dear Student/Parents:

Our chapter 5 Health unit is underway (Preventing Disease) and we will close the unit next Friday (Jan. 20) with a two part test.  Part of the test will be a short, written assessment that will include matching and true/false questions.  Additionally, there will be few, short-answer, comprehension questions.  To best prepare for this part of the test, each student should read the chapter, when assigned, (pages 121 – 141) and be an active and engaged classroom participant.  A review and practice test can be found on pages 142 – 145.  We will be reviewing these pages in class next week. 

The second part of their test will be to create a “Germ Fighting Bulletin Board” as described on page 121 of the text book.  Student will be given approximately 30 minutes to create a picture or collage (on a piece of standard construction paper) to add to a hallway bulletin board that will be dedicated to the chapter’s main idea:  preventing disease.  To prepare for this part of the test, students may bring in magazine, newspaper or internet pictures or any other relative information to use.  Alternatively, they may create drawings in class using information found in their text or other classroom resources.  All materials should be brought to school on Friday the 20th to be used for our bulletin project. 

A vocabulary list is provided below to assist students in their review and in their collection of materials.  As always, thank you all your hard work and support!

Ms. Coffman

Chapter 5 Vocabulary List

Abstinence

Allergy

Asthma

Bacteria

Diabetes

Disability

Disease

Exercise

Fever

Flu

Healthy Foods

Immune

Infectious disease

Managing Stress

Medicine

Noninfectious disease

Pathogens

Stress

Symptom

Vaccine

Virus

Warning Label

Success in the Savanna, 1/13/12

Dear Parents,

            We spent this week wrapping up units in science and social studies.  We also did a short unit on the metric system and began a new unit in health (see binder for in-class project next Friday) .  The children had an opportunity to show off their math skills in the first of three Continental Math League competitions.  They also had the exciting opportunities to share some time with Ms. Cackley and Ms. Dolinsky who hosted them for both writing and reading lessons as I worked on a short measurement unit with their classes.  I think they would consider it a busy but productive week.  I know that I’m ready for the long weekend and suspect that they feel the same!

            Next week we will begin our Math unit on multiplication.  Your children will be learning their facts from 1-12. To help with this unit, I would like to ask that each child have a set of multiplication flash cards at home to help with the daily review of these facts.  At a minimum, please visit one of the many math sites that I’ve offered in the past (such as www.aplusmath.com) to access virtual math cards that can be practiced independently and free of charge.  The math department has high expectations for our third graders and fully expects command of these facts by the end of the year.  As much as we do in the classroom to support this skill, extra home practice will be necessary also.  Coming soon in other content areas:  food cycles and food webs AND Ancient Rome!

I would like to thank everyone for returning the swimming field trip slips in such a timely manner.  The children are excited for the opportunity to swim in the newly constructed Yorktown pool.  We do need some help with this activity.  We need a couple of parents to meet the bus at Yorktown at 9:45, and then again at 10:45 to assist the girls in changing in the locker room.  This task can be shared between individuals throughout the week.  If you can help with this, please let me know.  Our swim dates are listed on the calendar below. 

Below are a couple of important dates to put on your calendars:

Monday January 17th- Martin Luther King Holiday- No School

Friday January 20^th- Last day of 2^nd Quarter

Monday January 23rd- Teacher Work Day- No School for Children

Wednesday January 25-Tuesday January 31- Swimming at Yorktown

Friday January 27- Sock Hop

           

            Thanks to all who recently submitted game calendars for winter sports.  I promise to visit games soon.  We are starting a kitchen renovation project and I’m finding that it’s a little more time consuming than anticipated!

           

            Have a wonderful weekend and I look forward to seeing everyone on Tuesday.

 

                                                                                    Sincerely,

                                                                                    Ms. Coffman

Ancient Greece Test THURSDAY Jan. 12th!

Greece portfolios were sent home on Monday to allow sufficient review for test on Thursday.  Primary vocabulary study guide was glued inside along with map showing important city states and water.  Please also refer to the text book which has a few pages dedicated to Ancient Rome civilization.  I suggest re-reading these pages, if you have already done so, as a good review for the test.

As always, "DO YOUR BEST"!

Science Test MONDAY, January 9, 2012

The Science test originally scheduled for Friday, Jan. 6th, has been moved to MONDAY, Jan. 9th.  Topics to be covered are listed on the study guide that is glued inside your child's green, science portfolio that was sent home earlier this week.    A copy of the study guide information is pasted below.  

Additionally, a fabulous site that offers fun learning about forests, grasslands, deserts and water environments can be found at www.mbgnet.net.  Visit it and let me know what you discover!

Vocabulary:

coastal forest                          
community                    
ecosystem

deciduous forest                   
desert                            
fresh water

environment                           
forest                              
salt water

habitat                                    
population                     
grassland

tropical rain forest                 
coniferous forest           
adaptations

You will need to know the meaning of (or define) each of the words listed above.  Additionally, you will need to be able to explain or describe these items in your own words.

Learning Objectives/Questions:

1.  What is an ecosystem?  What will you find in an ecosystem?

2.  What are some of the different ecosystems?  How are they similar?  How are they different?

3.  How do living things in each ecosystem adapt or change in order to survive?  Explain by giving an example.

4.  Read and interpret data from a chart or graph to answer questions and form conclusions.