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Dissecting Owl Pellets
In Room 9's science exploration, our study of owls gave us the chance to use forceps, toothpicks and a keen sense of discovery to find out what owls eat. It's surprising how much fur and how many bones will fit into a tight lozenge no larger than the thumb of an adult human.
Room 9's Class Rules
Written for Constitution Day:
1. use tools properly
2. listen to the teacher
3. listen to who is talking
4. respect others and their things
5. speak softly unless talking to the whole class
6. play fair with others
7. include everyone who wants to join
8. use words to solve problems
9. use good words and help others
Home and Back Folder
Whenever important papers need to go home (especially at the start of the school year), they will travel in a special folder with your child's name on it. Please return the folder to school as soon as possible. Contents of this folder will vary, but anything sent home should be attended to by parents or guardians; some items will need to be filled out and returned to school.
Weekly e-mail Newsletters
To save paper and time I prefer to e-mail parents and guardians a weekly newsletter instead of printing one, but if you prefer a paper copy, please let me know and I will print one for you. The e-mail will include a short summary of what we did the previous week and what I plan to be doing in the coming week. I will also include any other pertinent information like upcoming events, volunteering opportunities, or things we could use in the classroom.
I can always be contacted here:
wason@umich.edu
-Jeff Wason
Primary Teacher
Check out the notes below for some useful information:
Five Finger Rule to check if it's a Just Right book
If your child is choosing a book to read, you might try using "The Five Finger Rule" to see if the book is suitable for your child's reading level. It works like this:
Open the book to any page, and have your child read through the text and raise ONE finger for each word they they DON'T know. If the page has five or more words that are too hard, the book will probably be too difficult.
If your child is interested in a exploring a difficult book, by all means let them, but encourage them to also choose one that is just right for them using the Five Finger Rule.
Reading Levels of Books
Part of serving our students is having a variety of books appropriate for all reading levels. We use the Guided Reading system, which rates books on a scale from A to Z, "A" being suitable for beginning readers, Z would be challenging chapter books. If you would like to check the level of a book you have, go to--
http://bookwizard.scholastic.com/tbw/homePage.do
You can enter author or title information, and it will give you a level for many, but not all books. (Make sure you check "Guided Reading" on the right side of the page to get the correct level.)
Another site, although not entirely comprehensive, can be a good starting point: Internet Database of Leveled Books. You can search by title or author, but I found the easiest way to find a list of books is by typing in the letter of your child's reading level (as found on their progress report) and then scrolling through the resulting list.
Book Donations
I was grateful for so many book donations last year, and have organized them by reading level. In Room 9 we currently need more books at level A through K, suitable for kindergarten through 2nd grade. I have many books at the levels L through S and don't need more right now, but if you have early readers that you are willing to donate, you could help me immensely by using the above site to find that book's level. When you write it (like "Level E") on the inside cover I can use that information to help organize the classroom library. I sincerely appreciate, and the students will truly use, leveled books that fit their reading needs.
Thank you for your continued support in serving all of our students.
Apple Apps
If you have an Apple iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, you might want to check out the apps published by ReadSmart:
Learning A to Z Apps
These apps are electronic versions of the same leveled readers that we use at school. Some are free, some are paid, but it might be fun to have as a familiar reading diversion on a long car trip...!
To see and download photos from Community Mosaic Night, visit my Flickr page at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wason2010/
Specials Schedule for Room Nine in 2010-2011
Monday: Art and Music
Tuesday: Music and Library
Wednesday: Art
Thursday: Gym
See the bottom of this page for more links to websites which can be useful for our class, including ordering milk, Scholastic books, and math resources.
Educational Freeware
Here's a site with many links to free educational software that can be used online or installed on your computer. Tux Paint, for example, is a free open-source version of Kid Pix. The site has links to many types of software including 3D, Art, K-12, Kindergarten, Languages, Mathematics, Music, Programming, Reading, Science, Social Studies, Toddlers, Typing, and Videos. Check it out at:
Educational Freeware
Dependable Spelling Patterns
As spelling words get more challenging, consider dependable spelling patterns (usually at the end of words) to help your student learn them. For future reference, here's a great resource using the 37 dependable patterns as identified by Wylie and Durrell:
Dependable Word Patterns
This website has all 37 patterns, examples of words that use each, and lots of useful links to help with learning spelling.
Suggested Homework Activities
Great Games as Homework Practice
Games your students play at home can help practice concepts learned in school. "Battleship" uses a coordinate system exactly like the mapping activity in Social Studies. "Monopoly" and "Bakugan Battle Brawlers" use mathematics to determine standings. Playing games like these with your student will reinforce concepts we are learning in class.
Practicing Spelling
When reviewing spelling words with your students, be sure to mix up the order of the words on the list; when they're assessed, the words will not be in the same order as published. If you want to be thorough to check their understanding, have them use the word in a sentence. You might even suggest that they make up a story using the spelling words to make it more interesting.
Reading with...
The students really enjoy hearing me read to them, and reading with your own children is one of the best things you can do to show them how you value the written word. One activity you might try when reading with them is to stop at a word they know and have them read the word as you point to it with your finger. Or have them try the first sentence (or an easy sentence or phrase) of a paragraph, help them with the words they don't know, and you read the rest of the selection. By reading with your children, they both practice what they know while learning from you in a shared activity.
Clocks: Go Analog!
The ability to tell time on an analog (dial) clock is one of the benchmarks of learning, so make sure you practice with them at home. One great activity is to count the numbers on a clock by fives, and then ask questions like, "what time will it be in 15 minutes, (or 48 minutes, or an hour and 45 minutes) from now?" Instead of just answering them when they ask," what time is it?" help them figure it out. A dial watch with numbers (and minute marks) would be an excellent gift for any child in second or third grade.
Helpful Web Pages
Order milk online! check it out at http://www.olmp.ca/index.php
You can use this site to order the milk including the day, type and quantity. You need to print out your order and send in payment to school by Wednesday morning to receive your order the following week. A sample milk order is at
http://www.olmp.ca/demo_orderform.php
Here's a link to our scholastic book site, which I've made for our class where you can order books that are delivered directly to our classroom:
Mr. Wason's Scholastic Page
Here's a link to helpful PDF's associated with our mathematics program:
Investigations For Families
This is a part of a long list of all PDFs from the publisher of our math book; this section has resources for families, but you might want to explore other resources available on this page to suit your particular need.
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Three friends enjoy indoor recess
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