Kids Websites for Researching Animals

Kids Websites for Researching Animals:

www.pebblego.com
user name = hooe
password = read

National Geographic for Kids: http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/

Endangered Species Fact Sheets: http://www.kidsplanet.org/factsheets/map.html

National Wildlife Federation, Ranger Rick: http://www.nwf.org/kids/ranger-rick/animals.aspx

Our High Frequency Spelling Word Lists

Your child should have "The First Hundred" already. If they lose their copy or leave it at school, you can access the word lists by clicking on the below links.

We began on The First Hundred, and will progress through The Third Hundred. Please have your child practice reading and writing these words on a regular basis, as they are the most common words in the English language.

Fry Words: The First Hundred (K and 1) 

Fry Words: The Second Hundred (Grades 2 and 3) 

Fry Words: The Third Hundred (Grades 2 and 3)

Week 5 of First Six Weeks Update

We have been learning about plays!

Interact with your student:

Ask your student what a synonym for a play is.
Answer: Drama

Ask your child what a play is.
Answer: A story that is acted out, usually on a stage.

Ask your child what dialogue is.
Answer: Talking (the conversation between characters in a play)

Your child will be working in a group to create their own play and perform it for the class.
Their plays will include the elements of a drama:
• A cast of characters
• A setting (or settings) (where the story takes place)
• Action (what the characters do)
• Dialogue (what the characters say)
• Plot (what happens at the beginning, middle, and end of the play)

As students act out their plays, the rest of the class (the audience) will be responsible for taking notes on the dialogue they heard and the action they saw. They will make inferences about the characters and their traits.

For example: ________ (character) said ________ and did ______________. I infer that ___________ (character) is _________ (character trait, such as sad, happy, surprised) because I know that ___________ (what I know from real life).

Example filled out: Bullfrog said "Yikes!" and jumped away. I infer that Bullfrog is scared because I know that when people jump away that means they are probably scared.

Our standards:

2.8 Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Drama.

Students understand, make inferences and draw conclusions about the structure and elements of drama and provide evidence from text to support their understanding.

Students are expected to:

(A) identify the elements of dialogue and use them in informal plays.

2.18 Writing/Literary Texts.

Students write literary texts to express their ideas and feelings about real or imagined people, events, and ideas.

Students are expected to:

(A) write brief stories that include a beginning, middle, and end.

Note: We have also been reading informational selections (non-fiction that informs, or teaches us about a topic). We have been learning how to analyze an informational selection to determine what the topic and main idea is (the most important thing the author wants us to know about the selection). We also used our knowledge of main idea and supporting details to write our own paragraphs. For example, we wrote a paragraph about our favorite type of animal:

My favorite animal is a dog. (Main Idea) I adore dogs because they are cute and cuddly. (supporting detail) Also, I like that they protect me. (supporting detail) In addition, I love that they learn lots of cool tricks! (supporting detail)

Students should be able to write a paragraph, with one main idea as the first sentence, and three to four supporting details following it. They should capitalize the beginning of each sentence, and use correct punctuation. We are also learning to indent our paragraphs.

Week Three of First Six Weeks Update

This week, one of our focuses has been learning to better understand what we read by analyzing characters in selections.

 

Standard 2.9  Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Fiction. Students understand, make inferences and draw conclusions about the structure and elements of fiction and provide evidence from text to support their understanding. Students are expected to: (B)  describe main characters in works of fiction, including their traits, motivations, and feelings.


Interact with Your Child:

You can help your student to be a better reader by encouraging them to think about what characters say, do, think, and how they treat others. You might ask, "Why did ______ (character) say that?", "How does ______ (character) feel right now? How do you know?" Ask your student to tell you what they think a good character trait is for a specific character, and have them prove it with evidence. For example, your student might say, "I think that good character traits for Superman are nice and helpful, and my evidence is that Superman helps other people when they are in need."

We analyzed the characters Hare and Tortoise from the folktale "The Tortoise and the Hare". 
Interact with Your Child: Ask your child to explain to you what a folktale is.

Students are learning to annotate their selections (take notes). We underline our evidence that supports our answers and inferences. All students are expected to note their evidence, use Thinkmarks, and take notes when reading.

 

Interact with Your Child: To practice sequencing, have your child create a flow chart and explain what main events happened at the beginning, middle, and end of a selection. Ask your student how the main character changed from the beginning to the end. Have them find the evidence in the selection that helps show how the character changed and what caused the change.

 

Please note that your student will receive a Reading Log this week that needs to be signed each day. Each student is expected to select a book to read of their choice for a minimum of ten minutes daily. Thursday's are our days to visit our school's library, so they can use those books if they want to; Please be sure they bring them to school to trade in for new books.

 

Interact with Your Child: Your student will also receive "Word Lists" with many of the sounds they are expected to learn in second grade. Keep this safely in their folder, or somewhere at home where they can practice reading, writing, and speaking with these sounds. You can play rhyming games- take turns saying words that rhyme with the words on their list.

 

2.5  Reading/Vocabulary Development. Students understand new vocabulary and use it when reading and writing. Students are expected to:
(B)  use context to determine the relevant meaning of unfamiliar words or multiple-meaning words.

Figure 19.110.13 Reading/Comprehension Skills. Students use a flexible range
of metacognitive reading skills in both assigned and independent reading
 to understand an author’s message. Students will continue to apply
earlier standards with greater depth in increasingly more complex texts
as they become self-directed, critical readers. Students are expected to: 
(D) make inferences about text using textual evidence to support understanding.
(E) retell important events in stories in logical order.

 These are the types of questions we are equipping our students to respond to successfully:

 

Interact with Your Child: Next week your student will be responsible for writing a paragraph about something that happened to them at school. Help them select their main idea, or, what the main thing is that they want their reader to know. You might ask your student, "What is the main thing you remember about school today? This is your main idea." Ask them to describe to you what happened using sensory details (from our 5 senses- sight, touch, smell, taste, and sound). Ask them how they felt at school, and why they felt that way. You can even encourage them to use sequencing words, and to make sure that they are telling their events from the day in the correct order.

Their writing should be neat and on lined paper, with correct end marks (periods, exclamation points, and question marks). If your child doesn't know how to spell a word, help them to learn how to use a paper or online dictionary.

Week 1 of First Six Weeks- What We're Learning

Main Standard Focus: Figure 19.110.13 Reading/Comprehensi on Skills. Students use a flexible range of metacognitive reading skills in both assigned and independent reading to understand an author’s message. Students will continue to apply earlier standards with greater depth in increasingly more complex texts as they become self- directed, critical readers. 

Students are expected to:

(E) retell important events in stories in logical order.

Student's Learning Objective: I can understand the order of important events in a story.

Student's  Demonstration Of Learning: I can create a flow chart that lists the main events in a story in the correct order.


Interact with Your Child:

Ask your child to tell you what the order of events was on their first day of school. Encourage them to use sequencing words like First, next, then, meanwhile, finally. Then, tell them the order of events in your day.

Ask your child what sequencing means and why it is important.

Ask your child what the story "Henry and Mudge" was about. "What was the problem? What was the solution to the problem?" Ask them what happened first in the story, in the middle, and in the end. Ask them what genre "Henry and Mudge" was and how they know. The genre is Realistic Fiction.

Play a game where you take turns saying a sequencing word, until you say all you can think of.

Read a short story with pictures together. Before reading, "pre-read" with your child. Ask him or her what the title is, what the pictures show, and what they think the story will be about based on this evidence. Ask them if they think the story is fiction (make believe) or non-fiction (tells you real information) and have them support their response with evidence.

At the end of the story ask your child to tell what happened first, in the middle, and at the end of the story. Encourage them to use sequencing words.

Practice the short vowel a with your child. Take turns writing down and reading as many short a vowel words you can come up with:

 Then, do the same with short i vowels:

Take turns coming up with sentences and saying them out loud. Clap your hands at the end of the sentence and say "period". Write sentences on a dry erase board that have a subject, a predicate, and a period at the end.