Classroom Newsletter: Week of August 31st

Help Support "Active Sitting" in the Classroom

Hi friends and family,

As I approach my third year of teaching, I am constantly looking for ways to improve my classroom environment and instruction. Thanks so a colleague I was introduced to Kore Wobble Stools. These unique stools are "the concept of an exercise ball applied to kids' stools." Although my lessons are infused with movement there are still several times throughout the day where my kids sit, particularly during small-group instruction.

As 2nd graders who are still growing, the design of a regular chair is not always the best fit for my students. It is no secret that sitting for long periods of time is unhealthy, which is why I’m so happy to find Kore Wobble Stools! The design and structure of the stools allow kids to sit up tall and straight while strengthening their core. They use their legs and core to support themselves and are able to wobble back and forth, similar to sitting on a yoga ball. As KoreStool.com explains, "Ordinary chairs and stools force our bodies into unnatural, static positions, resulting in long-lasting physical discomfort. Kore chairs rock and spin on a gently domed base, encouraging active sitting and exercising the back. Improve your sitting experience and enjoy the long-term effects of a healthier back and happier muscles."


This unique practice of "active sitting" can also help improve their attention and focus during lessons. While I would love to have a class set of stools, I’d like to start the year off with a set of seven stools for my small group table (where the majority of my instruction takes place).

If you are interested in donating, please visit my GoFundMe page. 

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this!

All the best,

Becca

Cinderella Stories from Around the World

Hi Room 203 families,

This week we will be studying fairy tales and will be focusing on different Cinderella stories from around the world. I wanted to share the map below which shows some of the stories we will be reading! (The map may not be visible on smart phones.) Each little golden shoe represents a location we will be learning about. Click the shoe to see the book from that country/culture. Look forward to hearing about Cinderella stories from your child this week.

Our weekly newsletter will be sent out later today as well.

Happy Sunday,

Skype Interview with World-Changer Emily Anne Rigal

Hi Room 203 families,

As you know, at Claxton we implement the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program. Through this program, students learn about bullying but more importantly how to prevent it. We begin our mornings with the Pledge of Allegience, our Class Pledge, and Claxton's four anti-bullying rules. 

Our students are excellent leaders and each day I see them setting an example for their peers. Today we had the chance to Skype with an incredible leader who saw a problem in her school and took action to make a positive difference! 

My dear friend Emily Anne Rigal is one of the most inspiring young people I know! When she was just 16 years old, she founded her non-profit organization We Stop Hate to raise self esteem and encourage young people to spread kindness. Emily Anne believes that when kids/teens feel great about themselves they won't put others down! One way she spreads anti-bullying awareness is through her WeStopHate bracelets. 

We have been participating in Bullying Prevention lessons with our amazing school counselor, Mr. Ackerman. Based on what they already knew, students came up with a list of questions for Emily Anne and today they were able to meet her and interview her via Skype! 

First, our kids shared Claxton's anti-bullying rules and then listened to EA's awesome advice for believing in yourself and setting a good example for peers! 

Emily Anne, who is now a college student in NYC, is a great example to our class, showing that you're truly never too young to make a difference! :) To learn more about how Emily Anne is changing the world, visit www.westophate.org or follow @westophate on Twitter! 

Stay warm,

Ms. W

Have you heard of Kid President?!

Hi Room 203 families, 

I'd like to share a little snow-day inspiration with you which comes in the form of an awesome young man named Kid President! He's become a popular YouTube sensation who spreads happiness to kids and adults around the world. His most famous video is "The World Needs a Pep Talk!" I have a Kid President pep talk poster in our classroom and the kids love him! See the video here:  

And now, Kid President is launching a new book called Kid President's Guide to Being Awesome! 
I'd love to have a copy for our classroom! It also comes with a wonderful Teacher's Manual with inspirational activities to do with the kids. If you're interested in donating a copy of this book to our class, please email me (rebecca.wertheim@asheville.k12.nc.us)

Stay warm!

Weekly News from Room 203: February 23rd

Weekly News from Room 203: Week of February 16th

Virtual Valentines

Hi Room 203 families! 

This year we are participating in a program called Virtual Valentines where classrooms around the world get paired up to learn about each other's towns/cities and send digital valentines to their partners. We are paired with a kindergarten class in the small town of Cushing, Maine. We had the chance to Skype with them today and learned many interesting facts about their town! It was a lot of fun! 

Have a great day,

Ms. Wertheim 

Weekly News from Room 203: Week of February 9th

Our GeoJourneys

Hi Room 203 families,

Check out our new GeoJourneys digital map with pins of all the places we've traveled via Skype and GoogleEarth. This map will continue to be updated throughout the year. If you hover over a pin you will see a picture and description of the location.



Have a great weekend,

Garden Math

Hi Room 203 families,

This week our class received a special "letter" from the White House asking for us to help design new garden beds. The garden beds could be designed in many different ways but each bed had to be partitioned into four equal shares (the president just so happened to know that we are currently studying fractions.) Students finished their designs and I'm so impressed! 

Don't forget, tomorrow is an early release day and there is no school this Friday! An email will be sent out soon with a class list for Valentines. 

Thank you so much for all you do,

Ms. Wertheim 

100 Days Smarter

Hi Room 203 families,

Today was the 100th day of school! I can't believe how quickly this year is flying by. ALL costumes today were incredible. See the photo below of a few  of our 100-year-old second graders.

Have a great evening,

Ms. Wertheim 

Taylor Swift could be coming to Claxton!

Just kidding. But it's not completely out of the question. 

If Taylor Swift sees our new remix to Shake it Off, she'll want to come meet these superstars. For the past two weeks our class has been practicing a new reading song which is an upbeat remix to the catchy hit. 

Rather than "shake it off, shake it off," they sing "read every day, every day." Rather than "I keep cruising, can't stop, won't stop moving. It's like I've got this music in my mind saying it's gonna be alright" they sing "I keep choosing, can't stop, won't stop scooping. It's like I've got Mama Echo in my mind saying 'Hey! You're really bright!'" I am SO proud of all my students! They absolutely rocked it! 

Our class is going to invite Taylor herself to perform the song with them at the Claxton variety show this spring. I can see how it would seem absurd to invite a famous singer but Taylor Swift has a reputation of surprising people in amazing, unexpected ways. She would be impressed with the talent of our kiddos! So it's worth a shot to at least invite her. ;) 

Click here to watch the full video which includes lyrics:  http://youtu.be/rN0F0d1FSQY 

I promise it will be worth 2 minutes of your time! 

Happy Saturday,

Ms. Wertheim 

 

Weather Wonderings

Hi Room 203 families,

Our class had a lot of fun working on their informative science papers this week! They researched a weather topic of their choice and took notes. I am so proud of each and every one of them! Next week they will create digital posters on their topic using a program called Board Builder, which is part of Discovery Education! Don't forget, students can access Discovery Ed from home anytime they'd like to independently explore science and social studies topics. Our class username is Wertheim and the password is Claxton. 

Also, you may have heard your child talk about the music video we made for Reading! We filmed the video today and it will be posted on my blog and Claxton AM News next week! Stay tuned! 

Upcoming event: Next Tuesday, February 3 is the 100th day of school! To help celebrate this fun day students are invited to dress up like they are 100 years old! Wigs, glasses and props will be allowed in the classroom as long as learning is not interrupted ;) Need a tip for gray hair without a wig? Try baby powder! That's what I'll be doing. I can't wait to see everyone's outfits! 

Have a wonderful weekend,

Ms. Wertheim 

Sound All Around: Day 1 of Dr. Bob's Sound School

Hi Room 203 families,

Today we did our first Sound School lesson! Sound School was developed by the Bob Moog Foundation and teaches kids the science of sound through a series of hands-on explorations. 

Today we studied Bob Moog's science notebook and talked about why observation notes are so important. Then students experimented with different types of instruments and made observations about similarities and differences among the instruments. They had a blast! 

Stay turned to see many more awesome Sound School lessons! 

Have a great night,

Ms. Wertheim

Fun with Daily Five

Hi Room 203 families,

As you know, students have been working on building stamina in all areas of Daily Five during our literacy block. Now they are experts and continue to rock! I am incredibly proud of the independence and responsibility they've shown, but more importantly I love to see their motivation and excitement for learning! 

It's all about that CHOICE. Providing them with choice has made them more empowered, accountable, and enthusiastic about reading and writing. See some of our Daily 5 activities in action: 

Listen to Reading and Work on Writing

Science Center on Discovery Education 

Read to Self 

Word Work 

Way to go, 2nd graders! 

Have a great night,

Ms. Wertheim 

Growing as Learners Everyday

Hi Room 203 families,

We recently began implementing a new form of assessment called Proficiency Scales. These scales are used for students to self-assess their learning and performance in all subject areas. The scales are also used across our grade level to measure proficiency of different skills. 

I have seen the true value in having students self-assess to help them feel accountable and empowered about their learning. To help students understand the 1-4 scale, we are using a flower analogy (which goes along perfectly with our garden studies this year!) Today students "acted out" the different levels of our proficiency scale from "seed" to "bright blossom." We discussed how everyone grows at different speeds and that's okay! We also discussed how it's possible to be a "seed" in one subject area and a "bright blossom" in another and that we have the whole year to continue growing. 

Check out the video and pictures below! You will also see these scales in your child's 2nd grade learning portfolio. The kids are excited to check off the skills they've mastered so far.

Have a great night,

Fraction Fun at Paxton's Pizzeria

Hi Room 203 families,

Today we began studying fractions! To help introduce this topic we turned our classroom into Paxton's Pizzeria. Paxton's Pizzeria is known for producing quality pizza with all the best toppings, made by chefs who are attentive, responsible, thoughtful, and safe. 

First, Chef Ben answered the phone as customers called in to place their orders:

Next, it was time to fulfil the orders! Would the customer want their pizza partitioned into halves, thirds, or fourths? What toppings would they want? These chefs worked hard to make sure that all orders were correct! 

I hope Paxton Pizzeria chefs are ready to fulfil more orders tomorrow! ;)

Have a great evening,

Ms. Wertheim 

News from Room 203: Week of January 26th

Hi Room 203 families, I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

News from Room 203: Week of January 19, 2015

Hi Room 203 families, 

I hope everyone is having a wonderful, long weekend! Remember, there is no school Monday, January 19th as we honor Dr. King!

Learning Goals:

• FUNdations: We are beginning Unit 8 which introduces a new syllable type: the R-Controlled Syllable. R-controlled syllables have r-controlled sounds, including: ar, or, ir, ur, and er. This week we will only be focusing on the /ar/ and /or/ sounds. The keywords are car and horn. To mark this syllable type, we scoop the syllable from beginning to end, circle the r-controlled combination, and mark an "r" under to syllable to show that it is r-controlled. 
• Reading: We are working on answering questions such as who, what, where, when, and why when reading. We are continuing to build stamina during Daily 5 practice. We are also focusing on our written responses using the acronym RAPS! This acronym may be helpful when supporting your child with nightly written response homework: 
• R- Restate the question (put the question in the answer)
• A- Answer the question
• P- Prove your answer with text evidence and page number
• S- Sum up your response with a concluding sentence. 
• Comprehension Toolkit: We are working on main idea and determining the difference between important information and interesting details when reading non-fiction texts. 
• Writing: We are beginning informative science research reports. Our current focus is weather. We are working with Ms. Allbach and Ms. Eggett to conduct research using books and Discovery Education. We are continuing to practice the 6 writing traits: Ideas, Organization, Voice, Word Choice, Fluency, and Conventions. 
• Math: We are working on data collection, data representation, and data interpretation. Students will be surveying classmates on a topic of their choice, collecting data, and representing their findings in graphs. 
• Science: We are studying weather and weather patterns. 
• Social Studies: We are studying maps and globes and participating in Mystery Skype with other classrooms around the world to practice map skills. We will also be studying the contributions of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. this week. 

Homework

•Read 20 minutes and fill out reading log. Remember, students are allowed to use MyON.com for reading homework. Students should know their login but please email me if you would like for me to send it to you. 

•Reading response: please use complete sentences and include details from the text.

•Fundations packet: due next Tuesday January 27th. 

•Math packet: due this Friday, January 23rd.  

Important Dates

• There is NO SCHOOL this Monday, January 19th. 
• Report Cards go home this Thursday, January 22nd. Please feel free to call or email to schedule a conference if you have any questions about report card grades. 
• After School Arts Registration forms due next Friday, January 23rd!
• I am teaching an After School Arts class with Mrs. Peeples on Wednesdays. It is called Books in the Garden. Here is the description: Join us as "Books in the Garden" brings the arts outdoors through literature. Help transform Claxton gardens into a reading wonderland by: creating story walks featuring favorite book characters and book quotes; designing spaces in the garden and around the playground for peaceful reading; reading bundles of books about gardening and nature; writing poetry; and building fairy houses as well as bee and butterfly habitats. Each week we will conduct a taste test to sample locally grown food including food grown right here in Claxton gardens.

Wish List

•snacks

•coffee filters (we ran out again) 

•pre sharpened pencils 

Ms. Wertheim’s Contact Info

Classroom Phone: 828-350-6514

Email: rebecca.wertheim[at]asheville.k12.nc.us

Thanks so much for all you do,

Mystery Skype

Hi Room 203 families,

Today we had an exciting time participating in Mystery Skype with a third grade class. Mystery Skype is a geography game where two classrooms Skype and have to ask geography questions in order to determine the mystery location of the other class. Students used process of elimination and critical thinking skills to figure out where our partner class was: Harbor Springs, Michigan! 

We had three teams: camera crew, Atlas crew, and GoogleEarth crew. Each team has important tasks to complete in order to help narrow down our guesses. Our class ended up guessing the correct location first, thanks to teamwork and a student in our class who actually guessed the state on the first try after figuring out that it was a state bordering Canada! 

See some photos below from this fun lesson: 

Here is a photo our new friends in Michigan sent to us:

We are looking forward to many more Skype adventures this year! 

Thank you for reading,

Ms. Wertheim :)