Here We Go!

Wow! Our first week of school was absolutely wonderful! We spent a lot of time getting to know each other and learning about our classroom community and new school rules (ask your kiddos about them). During the first couple of days we talked about what makes a great learner and a great classroom. We read several books to help guide our discussions about behavior and excellent efforts. In addition to learning about classroom rules and procedures we also began our Daily 5 Reading To Self. We are learning about the importance of having stamina (the ability to do something for a long time) and endurance (the ability to do something for a long time even when it is hard) during Read To Self. In order to grow as readers we must work hard and read a lot. Students have found that choosing a "good fit book" and a comfortable spot helps with their stamina. Kiddos are trying out different spots throughout the room. Soon, grade two will begin switiching for reading. All students will be benchmarked to find their instructional reading level and grouped with other kiidos at their level. It seems like everyone enjoys reading and looks forward to this reading time. In writing, the children wrote about a time when they had a strong feeling about something. We brainstromed strong feelings such as thrilled, excited, frustrated, embarassed or worried. They then would "turn and talk" about a feeling with a buddy before they stat their writing. This was to be their first narrative piece for the year which seemed to go pretty well. Every Monday, the kiddos will also write their weekend. In their "Personal Pad" they can reflect on their weekend and share small moments familiar to them in a narrative form. Each week I will choose a few students to share their writing as the class learns from each other. We have a new math program this year called Math In Focus. It is aligned with the new Massachusetts Frameworks (common core). It looks great and came with lots of new materials so stay tuned for mor information about it. Well, I need to go greet my friends for the opening bell. I look forward to a great year! I hope it is fun, safe and productive for all.

Technical Difficulties But Time Moves On

Hi Families, I know it has been awhile since I have written a post but technical difficulties on this site have frustrated me and I have postponed returning to the blog. However, I have many cute pictures I want to share and hopefully I will have some success. Our work with the Native Americans is coming to a close. Your kiddos will be coming home with a portfolio of projects and information. They all did such a wonderful job on their projects. Each proudly presented their work and it has been on display in the 2/3 HI/D. Please make a plan with your child to pick-up or have them take their projects home over the next few days. Our Native American research and activities were highlighted by a visit of a real Native American, Dan Krips, and by the exciting field trip to The Peabody Musuem at Harvard University. The children shared their knowledge and impressed the guides with they knew of all the regions. We also had opportunity to explore other areas of the museum such as rocks, minerals, insects, glass flowers, fossils, crustesans and other areas of the world such as the Phillipines and South America. It was a great day for all!

So here we are, the first weekend in March. It came in like a lamb thankfully but time is moving on. Report cards will be released in the next few weeks. The children have been working very hard reading, writing, spelling, researching, exploring and problem solving. Many areas on the report card will show continued progression towards meeting the end of the year goals. We will be assessing over the next week and beginning new units of study for the final term. In Science, we will beging a unit on Weights and Balances. In Math we begin work with money reviewing the counting of dollars and coins being able to write the totals in two ways ($__.__ and __Cents). Learning to make change will also be explored. In grammar, our next unit is writing and the use of contractions. Please keep your children practicing their math facts, reading and don't forget SUPER SLIPPER SPELLING DAY on Tuesday. Happy Spring! Deb Dellovo

Happy New Year

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday break. I was very busy entertaining and visiting with family and friends. I look forward to going into Boston for First Night festivities on New Year's Eve and two more parties to host on the weekend. It truly is a "wonderful" time of the year.

Curriculum planning was on my mind as well and I did spend some time at school. It is hard to believe we are returning in 2013. Happy New Year to all! May you all find good health and happiness awaiting in the new year. Grade 2 will be very busy learning about Native Americans in January. This is an exciting journey for the kiddos. We will be exploring the area of Eastern Woodlands, Plains, Southwest, and the Pacific Northwest areas. The team has many exciting activities planned. Stay tuned for a take home project at the end of January. You can visit an older post for some project ideas.

Mathematically speaking, grade 2 continues with addition and subtraction strategies. The goal is to fluently add and subtract double digit numbers to 100 using strategies such as place value or addition and subtraction relationships. I hope you are using the websites posted on this blog to assist your kiddos and to give them practice time.

Our next unit in Fundations, Unit 8, teaches the "R-controlled" syllable in words such as barn, horn and party. There is one vowel followed by "r". The vowel is neither long or short.

In writing the children will continue to explain, define, describe and inform their audience through expository writing. Their first writing piece of the new year will be their New Year's Resolution. They will explain to their audience what they will change or do better in 2013. These will be posted for the New Year.

Finally, as we step into the New Year, I want to spend more time sharing and being aware of "bucket-filling" behaviors. The Killam community is a "bucket-filling" community and Room 14 plays a big part in the community. Each day as part of our new morning routines, a "bucket-filling" quote will be posted and discussed. An example might be "be the first to say hello". Discussion could be that when you see someone you know be the first to say hello. When you enter the classroom in the morning, be the first to say "good-morning". These are good behaviors and bucket filling behaviors. Students will be reminded to be "bucket-fillers" not "bucket-dippers" in the new year.

Well, in closing, again may I wish you all Happy New Year with many blessings to follow. I look forward with excitement to the days ahead. PS: These pictures were taken on Compound Word Day.

Warmly, Deb

Holiday Reflection

It was wonderful seeing all of you during conferences and chatting about your wonderful children. These special children are your precious babies and enlight of what happened in Newtown, Ct let me reassure you, your children are safe and secure at the Killam School. It is with a heavy heart I write this post. It is very hard to see the faces of those children and know they are the ages of your children, my charges. Please know, I care deeply for each and everyone of your children and would do anything to keep them safe. I can tell you that there was no discussion in class today. Everything was normal (as normal can be around Christmas time). Everyone was happily skipping, chatting and singing as all second graders should be. It was a very normal day. This doesn't mean that the "talk" won't happen. If I do hear chatter, I will reassure the kiddos that they are very safe at Killam with lots of adults who care about them and love them very much. We have many procedures in place that I will remind them of. If you have any further questions or concerns please contact Jess Ostuni our school psychologist. She would be happy to chat with you. Let's all count our blessings and reflect on all the good things we have this holiday season. May you all enjoy this time with family and friends. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a fun-filled holiday break. I wish you all the best for the New Year. Fondly, Deb

Halloween Wrap-up and Report Card Check

Thank you to all the moms who helped out for our Halloween Centers. Thank you to Ms Serrao and Mrs. Aguja for organizing volunteers, food and supplies for the activities. The children had a great time and enjoyed their morning. Check out some of the activities throughout this post.

Over the next couple of weeks Killam students will be finishing up projects, being assessed on the unit standards and participating in grade level activities that will put closure to term one. Marks close soon and report cards will be distributed by email the first week in December. It is amazing to think we are at the end of the term even though we really have a longer term than in the past. Conference day is scheduled for Friday, December 7 with December 5 and 6 as alternative dates. I will send home reminders after Thanksgiving.

Please remember that when you look at your child's report card you are looking at grades that reflect where your child is in relation to the end of the year. Most standards are end of the year standards and your child is beginning or progressing towards that end of the year standard. You may see a few meeting of the standard at this point in the year but it is rare. All of these standards are in progress or cover the whole year.

The children should continue to read, read, read "good-fit" books EVERYnight . They should also practice their math facts to 20 and practice all of their trick words from first and second grade. Two more great websites for math and spelling practice are: aaa.math.com and enchantedlearning.com .

I am looking forward to seeing you all and discussing your child's progress but most of all chatting with you about their transition into to grade two. Each and everyone is a hardworking trooper putting their best foot forward each and everyday. At times, they may hit a bump in the road but they perservere and move on. I am so proud of them.

Finally, to all of my grade two families, may you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends. Count your many blessings and enjoy all that you have.

As always, in friendship, Happy Thanksgiving, Deb

Heading Uptown

What a great time the second graders had walking uptown and visiting the public buildings. The children chatted, strolled, and soaked up the sunshine. It was fabulous weather and great day was had by all. Thank you to the parents who joined us. It made for a very pleasant day.

The children did a really nice job writing thank you notes to the Chief of Police, Fire Chief, Town Administrator and RCTV. These letters will all be sent this week.

The children have been researching a community worker over the past couple of weeks. In the library, this week, they will create a word document and type a report on their research. They did read and discuss their community helper with a peer. The discussions were great and engaging. Reports will be printed and compiled into a classbook to share.

Finally, at the end of the week I will be assessing the kiddos on what they have learned about communities. They need to know the different kinds of communities, what is different about them, what is needed in a community, the difference between rules and laws, important helpers and buildings in a community. Soon after, your kiddos will be bringing home a portfolio of their community work. All of the second graders seemed to enjoy the unit thoroughly.

Stay tuned for our next unit which is mapping. Students will review the continents, learn important oceans, rivers and mountain ranges. If you have a good children's atlas, please send it in. There will be more research to follow.

I hope everyone is staying and safe and dry during Hurricane Sandy. I enjoyed the day catching up on paperwork. My next post will be later this week after our Halloween celebration. Thank you to Mrs. Aguja and Ms Serrao for helping to organize our centers. Thank you to the moms who are coming into assist. Please remember to send in those small pumpkins. Happy Halloween everyone!

Moving Along In Our Community

The Room 14 community is moving along and continues to be very busy learning new things. Beginning Monday, second graders will move to their new reading classes for guided groups and Daily CAFE strategies at their level. It has been exciting watching and listening to all the reading discussions and recommendations that transpire amongst the kiddos each day. All are enjoying their reading successes. Please continue to encourage your kiddos to read at home. I will be sending home a reading log this week. It should have the book read, minutes read and parent initials logged in. Please keep the log sheet in their homework folder and I will check it on Fridays. Your child should be reading "good fit" books or listening to higher level text. Ask your child questions while they are reading and not just at the end. They too, should be asking themselves good questions while they are reading. This helps them check for understanding and comprehension. Your child should continue to practice spelling words whenever possible. Put them on index cards and on a ring so that they can review them often. Also, Fundations words should be practiced and reviewed. New glued sounds of: ost, old, ild, ind and olt have already been introduced. Next week we will review two syllables words and continue to explore vowel teams. Vowel teams (ai, ay, ea, ee)at this junture are only for reading. New vowel teams are oi and oy in words like spoil, boil, boy and toy. Unit 4 also focused on suffixes; s, es and er and est when comparing things. The children worked on a great class book about comparisons after listening to a couple of read alouds on the subject. Unit 5 will introduce suffixes like: _ness, _less, _ment, _ful, _able, _ish and _en. Some words for building and learning are: kindness, limitless, thankful, shipment, childish, expandable, and freshen. These will include multisyllabic (expandable, commitment)words which can be very challenging.

Thank you for sending in the permission slips for the community field trip in a timely manner. All parents who signed the chaperone sheet can come. It will be great to have so many parents along the route.

On Tuesday, October 23, we are walking up Charles Street to the fire station, then to the police station, town hall and finally the cable station. Some of you may know that the town manager is retiring after this year so it will be the last time he will e speaking to our Killam second graders. Please remember to send your kidos with a disposable nut/tree nut free lunch that day.

This week the children will be researching a community helper along with a partner. The children will read and discuss the community helper with partners and record three learned facts from their reading. Next, they will type their work in a project in the computer lab. We will print them out (publish) and compile them into a book.

Finally, in math, fact strategies through 20 remains the focus. Math Fever has taken over the class and there is no cure! Remember any math practice counts. You can retrieve more slips on EDLINE. Also, math homework will be given by math teachers on Thursday nights and will be given to math teachers on Friday. All teachers are covering the material and common core standards. Friday we will assess this unit and move on to place value.

Halloween will be fast approaching. Room parents should be contacting you for supplies very soon. We will be celebrating with special activities on Wednesday, October 31 from 8:30-10. In order to help activities run smoothly, I would like to have 5 volunteers. Thank you in advance for your support. Have fun celebrating at home as well. Happy Haunting!