It has been way too long!

Sorry that I haven't posted in a couple of weeks.


We have been extremely busy preparing for our up and coming farmer's market to be held at the school on November 2nd from 6-7pm.


Your child has made decisions about how to package their expert vegetables, made quality labels that shares important information with the consumer as well as wrote an expert paragraph about their vegetable. We are currently working on our presentations for our farmer's market.


Our first graders in reading workshop are working on making connections (text-self and text-text) as well as making inferences when we read. This week we are working on using our imaginations to create a story about a monster in a jar.

In writing workshop, we are working on being like real authors, by getting ideas in our minds, drawing the picture and then writing the words. The students are working also on following procedures of when they think they are done with a writing piece. Our writing motto is "when I think I am done, I have just begun."

1. We can add to the picture.
2. We can add to the words.
3. We can start a new piece.


In math, we wrapped Units 1, 2 and 3 about counting, counting backwards, adding two numbers together within ten, using number bonds and number sentences to help solve problems.


Our second graders in math, just finished their unit with multi-digit addition and subtraction with renaming. This was a challenging unit, but I here our kiddos did great. They are now starting a unit on measurement.


In reading workshop, we have been learning how to read with stamina! The second graders make decisions about where to sit in the room and how to select books that are "just right" for them and that are interesting enough for them to read for 15 minutes. They try to remember to use good reading habits like predicting, asking questions, monitoring for meaning, inferring, creating mental images, making connections, and so forth to keep them engaged in the text.

In writing workshop we have been learning about writing the way real authors do by thinking of a story from their own life, picturing it in their mind, and then writing and illustrating their idea. This week, we have focused on where to place the text and the illustrations on each page of our stories and which parts of the story to illustrate.

Have a great week!

Expedition Update!

I am sure all of you have been wondering what your child has been learning during expedition! Sorry I haven't been faster about reporting all that we have been learning.


This week we talked about the life cycle of the seed, parts of the plants and their importance and six different types of vegetables. 
     The life cycle of seed. The seed is planted, roots grow down into the ground, the stem shoots up, the leaves grow, then the flower blooms, the flower produces the seed and it drops once again to the ground. The process then starts over. 


    Parts of a Plant, Ask your child what each part does for the plant.
         Roots? Stem? Leaves? Flower?
           
The six expert groups will be...
    Seed vegetables (beans and peas) We eat their seeds!
    Root vegetables (carrots, onions, radishes, etc.) We eat their roots!
    Stem vegetables (celery, asparagus, rhubarb, etc.) We eat their stems!
    Leaf vegetables (spinach, lettuce, cabbage, etc.) We eat their leaves!
    Flower vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, etc.) We eat their flowers!
    Fruit vegetables (tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, egg plant, pumpkins, etc.) We eat their fruit!


We continue to review the concepts of producer, consumer, distributor, goods and services, wants and needs, seller, supply and demand, and the different uses of technology. 


Have a great weekend!
Remember we have our field work to the Black Island Farms on Tuesday!
  

Gibson Farms!

Last week, we went on our field work to the Gibson Green Acre Dairy Farm! We were able to learn about dairy cattle nutrition and care, how technology helps the dairy farmers and the animals, how dairy cows are milked and my favorite part feeding the baby calves!


Gibson Farms is a family owned farm with over 1500 dairy cows. They have been milking cows for 150 years. 


Three questions you can ask your kiddo are:
Why are baby calves separated from their mothers after birth?
How has the technology changed on a dairy farm?
What do dairy cows milk produce?


We had an amazing time! Thanks for all of your help!


Memorable moments...
- stepping in cow poop
- one of the mom's arm being sucked by a thirsty calf
- petting Miley, the Jersey cow
- seeing the yellow slime that helps the cows' utters
- feeling hot milk and cold milk 30 seconds later

Lemonade Stand

The challenge is for your kiddo to be able to run a successful lemonade stand by creating a quality product at just the right price! Your kiddo needs to think about the weather and how much supply they need to meet the demand of the people.


This is a fun game and can get addicting! They may need your help so stick around.


http://www.primarygames.com/socstudies/lemonade/start.htm


This link is also under the sites we visit on the left hand side of the blog!