Mrs. Salomon's Class

This week the students (again) took the Star Reader test to assess their reading levels. Today a report is coming home in the Friday folder that gives you lots of information about their reading levels. We took the test again like we do at the start of every quarter, and will be choosing new/more challenging reading text accordingly. I wanted to send the reports home this time so you can see a quantitative analysis of where your student is at. Everyone has made significant progress and I’m so proud of them! If you want ideas of appropriately leveled text for your student to read, just let me know and I’ll be happy to help you with your choices. The students are very excited to see their new levels and especially how that compares to where they started out at the beginning of the year. We still have six weeks of school left and they’ll continue to grow even more!

The second grade got to hear all the details of their nutrition challenge. We have to eat 311 servings of fruits & veggies for snack/lunch by May 23 (in school snacks/lunches only). That’s only 1.5 servings per student per day – so we think we can do it! The challenge is part of our nutrition/healthy eating unit.

Next week we take our standardized tests. This week we will focus on some test taking strategies. Today, we took a 10 question, 10 minute math test for practice. Tomorrow we’ll do a language arts test.

Today we read a TFK Around the World about Afghanistan. It was really interesting! Kite flying is a very popular sport in Afghanistan. They design FIGHTER KITES that can cut the strings of other kites!

In science, the second grade talked about the dairy food group. Third grade science prepared for their Northeast Region social studies test tomorrow.

TESTS TOMORROW:

ALL: Spelling

2nd: Math

3rd: Math and Social Studies (NORTHEAST REGION)

Our first two days back from Spring Break have been great – and very busy! We’ve jumped right back into things and are working hard.

Second grade has begun working on division skills and multiplication skills. We are developing an understanding of what the computations are and how our work models them.

Third grade is working on advanced addition and subtraction review, in order to solidfy understanding of advanced place value.

In science, second grade is working on the protein and dairy groups. We are learning all about healthy eating and the nutritional benefits of each food group.

Third grade social studies is beginning a study of the regions in detail. We’re working on the geography and resources of the Northeast this week.

We are going to have a short, but busy, week!

Today we compared more of our nutrition labels. We are working hard to learn about the food groups and making healthy choices. We’ve had a lot of fun comparing labels and thinking about our choices. There is sugar in a lot of surprising places! We’ve also compared fiber and found the healthiest cereal (cold). It’s got ONLY 100% whole wheat. Mrs. Salomon AND Elisha’s sister eat it. Mrs. Salomon said she thinks it’s not very good without fruit but it’s very healthy and you learn to love it!

The 2nd grade practiced adding two and three digit numbers using both cross number puzzles and the traditional addition algorithm. Tomorrow we practice subtraction! We also talked more about nutrition and thought about what it is we want to learn as part of our unit. We read a book called about the Two Bite Club. Ask us about it!

Third grade began a math unit on measurement. Today we continued exploring temperature. We also learned about fossils in science and how they are created.

Today in science the third grade learned more properties of rocks and minerals. Color is a property that can be used to classify minerals, but it’s not enough because lots of minerals can be the same color. Streak, hardness and luster are other properties. There are three kinds of rocks – igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic.

The second graders completed a gallery of what they know about healthy eating. We’re getting ready to start our nutrition unit!

Happy Monday! Today we worked on our final reflections for Cultural Fair. This is our final piece of our project. Tomorrow, we start science units for both grades.

Third grade math has a TEST tomorrow; second grade has a math test next week on Tuesday.

Reading logs are back to 20 minutes a night now that Cultural Fair is over. Book reports are due March 26.

Yesterday we had a wonderful day with some great Purim activities. We made groggers, cards and hamantashen, decorated the cafeteria and beit midrash for Purim, delivered mishloach manot to some members of the community, played games, and learned a special Purim song & dance.

Today we’ll hear the Megillah, have a Purim carnival, and see the super special Purim song & dance performed!