Greetings,

Updates:  We have a new classmate.  Welcome, Jenna!  We are so glad to have you in our class!

Reading:  This week we worked on identifying the setting, characters, problem and solution of a story.  Good job, class!  I have sent an AR update in your child's folder.  The expectation is to earn a minimum of 5 points by the end of the 9 weeks (October 10th) for admission to the movie and a treat.  If a child earns 10 points (an additional 5 points) they will receive an additional movie treat. Each child has an assigned reading zone that I continually adjust based on their performance. Each book has a possible number of points that can be earned; the accuracy on the comprehension questions determines how many of those points are earned.

Math:  We have been working on problem solving through our exemplars.  This week we started working on charts, graphs, tables, venn diagrams, and tallies.  Thank you so much for supporting the addition timed tests.  You could really see that the class had practiced by how they tested today.  They were so proud of themselves. It was pretty evident that practice pays off.  THANK YOU!

Language Arst:  I am taking the class through a list of capitalization and punctuation rules.  It's one thing to be able to identify a rule and another to be able to apply it.  It's getting a little less painful.

Social Studies:  This week we worked on identifying the five regions of Georgia and noting specific attributes of each region. 

Science:  Next week we start Science with Mrs. Dess.

Snacks:  Please check with your child about his/her snack.  Some kids have been telling me that they only had a very small snack...

Homework:  It is really helpful when you check over the homework with your child   Sometimes it takes that one-on-one correction for them to process the mistakes.  It is really helpful if you can help them check over their stories for spelling.  If you help them with a spelling word, you can make a list for me at the bottom.  I add words that were misspelled in their daily writing to their individualized lists.  Thank you for supporting the spelling homework.

I can already see big improvements in your children, and I believe your support has been instrumental in that progress. 

Take care and thank you,

Mrs. Kantor

I've been enjoying watching the class get to know each other.  There are more conversations happening this week!

Thank you for coming to Open House.  Remember if you have any questions, just send me a note. 

We started our timed tests for addition this week.  The goal is to answer 90-100 facts in 5 minutes.  If a child does not meet this goal, then I will send the timed test home, along with an extra (front and back) practice sheet.  One way to practice the facts is to play addition war with 2 decks of cards.  Place an index card with +1 in the middle.  Each player will turn over a card and add that number to 1.  Call out your sum.  The larger sum wins the battle.  I take out the face cards when I play.  You can play this with all your addition facts or multiplication facts.  You can orally practice by making a deck of +1 facts on index cards.  Keep slipping the fact they stumble on toward the front of the deck, so that they have to practice it more often. Finally, you can have your child practice on the sheets I sent home.  If your child gets overwhelmed, give them a second piece of plain paper to cover all but the row that they are working on. Timed tests are given on Tuesdays and Fridays.  So please check their folders for practice tests.

The AR goal is 5 points for this quarter to get admission to the movie and a treat.  An extra 5 points will earn an additional treat.

Reading:  We worked on some word analysis:  short vowels, magic E words, vowel teams and suffixes.  We also started to work on summarizing.

Math:  We worked on number sense, tens and ones, counting change and telling time.

Language Arts:  The first unit of Sitton was introduced.  We learned to double the final f, l, or s in short vowel, single syllable words when the f, l or s comes immediately after the vowel.  We also concentrated on capitalizing the first word of a sentence as well as the word "I."

Social Studies:  The state of Georgia was introduced. 

Thank you Lee Blumentritt and Julie Raymond for being our room mothers.  I really appreciate all that you are doing.  Thanks to all of you for being so wonderful and volunteering for our assorted needs this year and for all that you do for the PTA.  I appreciate it all.

Take care,

Mrs. Kantor

Welcome to 2nd grade!

I have had a delightful first week with your children.

I can't say enough good things about their sweet dispositions and good manners.  I am looking forward to working with your children.

Thank you for sending in their supplies and daily snacks.

Open House is on Tuesday night, August 19th, at 6:30.

Please come so I can go over our schedule, new grading system, etc. and answer your questions.

Our room can be chilly, so you may want to send a sweater in for your child to stay at school or go back and forth.

If you want to protect your child's clothing on Art day, you can send in a large Tshirt that they can wear over their clothes.  It can stay at school in their cubby.

See you Tuesday,

Mrs. Kantor

News and Notes

December 10, 2007

Debby Kramb Area 4 ALT

Standard:  Number and Operations

Students will further develop their understanding of computation of whole numbers and compute in problem-solving situations without calculators.

Element: Know facts with understanding and fluency

Bloom: Application (Apply an abstract idea in a concrete situation to solve a problem or relate it to prior experience.)

Fluency refers to having efficient, accurate, and generalizable methods (algorithms) for computing that are based on well-understood properties and number relations (NCTM, 2000).

Computation is a particular form of mathematical problem solving.  Computation engages a significant amount of problem solving skills. 

Computational Capers

The activities involve a standard deck of playing cards (without the face cards) or number cards.  As a bonus, these activities incorporate not only various content standards but Process Standards as well!

K-2

Hit the Target.  Have your partner close his or her eyes and choose one card from the deck of cards.  The number on the card is your target.  Place the remaining cards face up on the playing surface.  With your partner, take turns looking for two cards that you can add or subtract to get the number on your target card.  Keep playing until you cannot find any more combinations that equal the target number.  Repeat the game with a different target number. 

Five Alive.  Have your partner pick a card or call out a number between 5 and 10.  You respond by saying “5 and  ---“,” for example, if your partner says “9”, you respond “5 and 4.” Take turns calling out the number.

The DoubleMaker.  Turn your calculator into a ‘double maker’  by pressing 2 X or x 2, depending on the calculator.  Now press any digit followed by = and you will get double that number.  Work with a partner to find the double before using the calculator to check the answer. 

3-5

Hit the target II.  Select five cards from a shuffled deck and arrange them in a row.  Place a sixth card, known as the target card, below the row of cards.  Can you add or subtract any combination of the five cards to equal the number on the target card?  Challenge a friend to find the greatest number of combinations that equal the target card.

Face off.  Start with a deck of cards facedown.  You and a friend each draw one card from the deck and turn it face up so that both players can see it.  The first player to call out the correct product of the two cards wins both cards.  If both players call out incorrect answers, place the cards in a discard pile.  When no cards remain in the deck pile, the game ends.  The player with the most cards is the winner. 

What’s the difference?  Choose four cards and arrange them to make the least possible four digit number.  Have your partner choose three cards and make the greatest possible number.  If either of you draw a 10, discard the card and draw again.  The player with the four cards subtracts the three the three –digit number, or subtrahend, from the four-digit number, or the minuend.  If the answer is odd, the player with four cards wins the point.  If the answer is even, the partner with three cards wins.  Switch roles and repeat.  When you have drawn all the cards in the deck, the player with the most points wins. 

Fast Facts  You and a partner choose two cards from a deck placed facedown.  Place the two cards faceup next to each other, making a two digit number.  This number is your som.  Challenge each other to find two numbers, or factors, that you can add to get your sum.  Take turns calling out pairs of factors.  Pick two more cards and continue finding factors.

3 by 3 magic Use or draw a 3 x 3 grid.  Place the numbers 1 – 9 in the squares so that none of the rows, columns, or diagonals have the same sum.  Use each number only once.  Compare your solution to other classmates’ solutions.  Challenge yourself to try again, using a 4 x 4 square grid and the numbers 1 -16.

Those fabulous fives.  Can you make five 2’s equal 5?  On a piece of paper write a horizontal row of five 2s, leaving enough space between each number for one of the operational symbols (+, -, x, or ÷)

                                    2   2    2    2    2 = 5

Insert symbols to make the equation equal 5.  You do not have to use every symbol, and you may use a symbol mre than once. You may need to use parentheses to show the order of operations.  Try to use five 3s, five 4s, and five 5s to write equations that equal 5. 

High/Low.  Do this activity with a partner or a group of three or four students.  Using a deck of cards with the face cards and 10’s removed; the dealer deals six cards to each player.  The remaining cards become a stockpile.  Before the players look at their cards, the dealer announced where they are playing for either the high or the low sum.  Players then turn their cards faceup and form two three digit numbers that add up to either the high or the low sum.  Beginning with the dealer, the players draw once from the stockpile and may choose to exchange the card they draw for a card in their hand.  Each player then must discard one card.  The player who gets the highest or lowest sum is awarded one point.  Play continues until a player has ten points. Change the game to subtraction and play for the highest or lowest difference, or deal four cards and play a multiplication version of the game.