Winter Olympic Read-A-Thon

One of my favorite times of year....the Read-A-Thon!  This year was bigger than ever.  All Eagle Cliffs students participated, kindergarten to 5th grade.  It was our very own Winter Reading Olympics!



As defending champions, we were NOT going to let that trophy slip away.  The Connected Combo worked so hard.  What an amazing team of incredible readers! The students were so motivated.  Here are some ways we encouraged each other and kept up our reading.

 

     First, we made our own Olympic torches.  These torches were a labor of love.  The students painted the wood blocks.  Miss Frey lettered our names.  Then, Mrs. Jensen created the flame.  The students read to earn stars.  Each half hour of reading was represented by a star.  Students were great at brining in their logs so we could add stars. Also, when students read the goal of 300 minutes they earned a small torch trophy. 
     We added fun to our torches with some Olympic Reading Events.  Students had a reading challenge.  If they completed certain "events" they could earn bronze, silver, and gold medals to their torches.  For instance, one event was the bobsled.  If students read for 20 minutes in the bathtub, they completed the bobsled event.  We also had the biathlon where students had to read aloud to an adult.  When you are reading hours every night, the Olympic events added some extra motivation.  I got great pictures from so many parents. I loved to see the students completing their reading events with big smiles on their faces.  Thanks for the amazing support.

At the end of the read-a-thon, these connected combo kids read 18,800 minutes in ten days! Six students read over a thousand minutes!  And.....EVERY.SINGLE.STUDENT...read the goal of 300 minutes or more.  Hard to beat 100% participation!  Best of all, I see true improvement in the students' reading.  The extra work has propelled them even further with meeting academic goals. 

We would find out if we won at a school wide assembly.  We marched into the assembly to the Olympic theme song.  I was so proud!  The school had great participation and our students were shining stars!  For reading the most total minutes in the entire second grade, our class had the silver and bronze medalists.  We had the gold and silver medalists for the entire third grade.  And.... drum roll, please.... the trophy returns!  We will have a pizza party soon to celebrate our read-a-thon victory!  Thanks again for your focus, commitment, and support of our reading!

Year of the Dog

Chinese New Year was February 16. We celebrated the Year of the Dog with a BreakOut! Students worked together in groups to solve a series of clues.  The clues had math problems, word puzzles, and even calculations that used the Chinese Zodiac calendar. When the students solved a clue, the answer was one of the combinations to our locked box.  The box had 5 different locks.

Of course, the Connected Combo was able to break in!  Inside the box were red envelopes with gold coins, a traditional Chinese New Year gift. We also celebrated with Year of the Dog by bringing dog stuffed animals, munching on puppy chow, and starting new novel studies.  Each group is reading a novel about....you guessed it....a dog!  We have 4 different books: Tornado, Five True Dog Stories, Because of Winn Dixie, and Everything for a Dog.  Ask your child which book they are reading.

Happy Heart Day

I couldn't think of a better group to spend this Valentines Day with!  We celebrated with yummy treats, the cutest decorated boxes, sweet cards, and beautiful friendships.

The students posted about their creative Valentine box designs on SeeSaw.  Please check out our learning journals with the SeeSaw family app.  Email me if you need the access code to see your child's digital portfolio.

Math It Up

Second grade is working on adding and subtracting with in 1000.  We have been discussing different strategies to solve problems.  More importantly, we have been explaining our mathematical thinking.  I love to hear how they are thinking and solving problems.
 
This is such an important standard because we use it everyday! We have spent a good amount of time on this concept because it is foundational.  In class, we worked on three important addition strategies specifically; bracketing, open number line, and the traditional regrouping (carrying) method.  Each of the students made a video to "teach" the strategies.  All the videos are delightful, it was hard to just choose one to share!  Here a student explains bracketing.  You can check out your own child's post on SeeSaw.




The students know the strategies, so now we just need to practice, practice, practice. For addition we have been playing different games that involve adding double digit and triple digit numbers.

Here is a great game that would be really easy to play at home.  The students love playing it at school.  All you need is a deck of cards and some scratch paper.

Double digit subtraction has been a little more difficult for the students to master.  We have worked with the strategies, we just need more practice to solidify the ideas.  We have been practicing with games, iPad apps, manipulatives, and paper pencil. 

Here is another game easy to play at home.  You will need scratch paper, dice, and subtraction strategies.  Give it a go!



We also made videos on SeeSaw to explain subtraction strategies.  Here is just a sample.

Fraction Action

Over the last month, we have been working with fractions.  Second graders learned how to identify fractions while third graders went deeper into ordering and comparing fractions.

Students worked with picture models, number lines, fraction bars, and even rulers to gain a deeper understanding of fractions.  As always, these curious minds are like sponges.  We are learning so much!