Today's Native American Experience

What a wonderful day of experiencing sitting in a real tepee and listening to a native speak of the tribes, regions and artifacts of the first Americans in the United States. Take a look at the faces of your youngsters as they listened and learned from a real native, Dan Krips. He was very impressed by what the children knew. Enjoy these photos!

Snow, Snow and More Snow????

Well round three and more to come this week. I do enjoy my snow days but I worry about the inconsistent teaching and learning that is happening in classrooms all across the state. Please keep your children reading and practicing math facts, spelling words and playing online games. They have all made great strides and we want to make sure they stay at the top of their game.

We have begun Unit 6 in our math journals and we are learning to solve addition facts with three addends. Students will solve addition facts with triple digits the partial sums way. This unit will also introduce subtraction with two digit numbers. Stay tuned for more information. At this point, your children are solving subtraction problems using their number grids.

In Grammar, students have been introduced to the use of pronouns. When writing, your children are learning to substitute pronouns (they, them, it, she, he) for nouns in sentences after the noun has been introduced. Practice will continue this week and children will be held accountible for pronouns in their writing. At this time, students are writing paragraphs using graphic organizers to help plan ideas before writing. They are expected to: be NEAT, use CAPITALS and PERIODS, use ADJECTIVES and TRANSITIONAL WORDS. Ask your child to give you some examples of transitional words in their writing.

Double vowel teams are the focus in Fundations for the next couple of weeks. The double vowel or "D-syllable" type is combined with other syllables in words such as: replay, paycheck and sailboat. Homework assignments will give you words to practice each week. Words to study are: rain, pail, play, stay (all words that ryhme with these words).


We have finished the Plains region of our Native American studies. We move now to the Northwest region. On Tuesday, our second graders will be visited by a real Native American; Dan Krips. He is from the plains region and will bring a tepee and many authentic artifacts from the region. I will post pictures of his visit so be sure to ask your kiddos questions about this exciiting visit. (Please stay tuned for two more important Native American events coming up in the near future. One will be a field trip to the Peabody Museum to see their extensive Native America exhibits. This will be in February. Then in March, there will be a culminating home project that the children will share to show their learning of the Native American regions.)



Finally, encourage your children to keep reading daily and to read "good-fit" books. It is so important that they read an appropriate level text to build accuracy and fluency in reading. Also, make sure they are reading the same text many times to practice fluency. Killam School is building strong confident strategic readers in 2011!

Happy New Year!

Well where has the time gone. I awoke in the middle of the night last night and realized I haven't blogged in the new year. Time flies when you are having fun. I hope you all had a pleasant and funfilled holiday. Mine was busy with friends and family, shopping, returning and moving my son Tony back from UMass. He has decided to commute to Amherst for the second semester. Oh boy...and gas is $3.10 a gallon! It is cheaper then paying rent. Anyway, let's look forward to a bright and prosperous year for all.

This new year bring lots of interesting learning in math. As second graders the study of shapes goes to a new level. We are introducing more vocabulary such as: vertices, quadrangles, pyramids and prisms. Explore these words with your child as you help them find 3 dimensional shapes around your home. Also, finding symmetry in nature is always fun! A symmetrical shape or design is repeated when cut in half. Some students are still having trouble with partial sums. Remind them about marking hundreds, tens and ones at the top of their probel to help them. Also, have them picture "base ten blocks" when doing them as well.

In literacy, our TIM/DRI time continues with the possiblity of some flexible movement in the next couple of weeks. Our students are grouped with other readers with similar needs and levels. Discuss reading strategies with your child. Ask them about their goal on the CAFE menu. In Fundations, students will review the r-controlled vowels and syllables. Next week we begin Unit 10 which will teach the double vowel syllable type: ai, ay. Words to practice are; main, pail, stain, braid, stay, wait, waiting, and painted. All words similar to these can be added. Have your child tap words and write them for you as a practice. Use a white board if you have it and they can (write) it again while erasing it. Finally in grammar, students are finishing up with contractions and will be learning how to use pronouns next week.

Native Americans are of such interest to the kiddos. I am looking forward to their "Winter Count" project which is a craft fro the plains tribes. Thank you for being prompt in sending in the homework and brown bags for the project. I wil post pictures next week of their "Winter Count" projects. On Tuesday, January 25, all second classes will be visited by a real native american. He will bring authentic artifacts and a tipi. It is fun to compare and contrast the peoples from the differnet North American regions. Your students are working on a portfolio of their learning. Here is a sample of one of the videos that we shared.

Finally, in the new year, remind your child to always "put their best foot forward". Students should try their best and be neat in everything they do. They are all shining stars...and great Pillars of Character (there is a Pillars Assembly on Wednesday, January 12 so have your child wear YELLOW!).

Happy New Year To All!