1-16-15

Greetings Owl Families!

I hope this blog post finds you well and that you are finally getting back into the swing of things!  There are just a couple of updates I'd like you to know about that are happening in the Owl Room.

First, your child may be coming home with some new vocabulary.  They are doing some hard thinking at school and learning more and more that "reading is thinking".  During Reader's Workshop, I am releasing more and more responsibility of the strategy use to the children and each child becomes more independent at using the strategy.  The first strategy that we are touching on is called "Making Connections".  Readers make connections all the time when they read, so we will continue to apply this strategy throughout the year.  Making connections means that a reader connects their background knowledge (also known as "Schema") to the text they are reading.  The purpose of this strategy is that readers comprehend better when they actively think about and apply their knowledge of the book's topic, their own experiences and the world around them.

How to help your child make connections while they are reading, ask these questions:
*What does this book remind you of?
*What do you know about the book's topic?
*Does this book remind you of another book?

Secondly, the next math unit is quickly approaching.  In the current unit (finishing up on Tuesday), the students learned the Make a Ten strategy to find teen totals.  Now, your student builds on previous knowledge to use make a ten to find an unknown partner.  The Make a Ten strategy is explained below.

In a teen addition problem, such as 9 + 5, children break apart the lesser number to make a ten with the greater number.  Because 9 + 1 = 10, they break apart the 5 into 4 + 1.  Then they add the extra 4 onto 10 to find the total (14).  A similar method is used to find unknown partners with teen totals.  Children look for ways to make a ten because it is easier to add onto 10.

Soon after those few lessons, it will build upon what the students learned about tens and ones.  The Hundred Grid is a tool that allows them to see 10-based patterns in sequence.  Seeing numbers in the ordered rows and columns of the Hundred Grid helps children better understand number relationships as they continue to practice with 10-groups, adding tens to any 2-digit number, explore 2-digit subtraction, and connect what they know about 1-partners to now find 100-partners.

If you have any questions or problems, please let me know!  I am here to help you!

Enjoy your weekend!  Mrs. Vos