Our class earns marbles when we are doing our best and helping others. What a wonderful group we have in second grade... our marble jar was filled in no time! So, we brainstormed ideas and voted on a fun way to celebrate. This first marble jar celebration was a big hit! We made spooky haunted gingerbread houses. The kids loved it! Thank you to families for all the yummy donations.
Genius Hour: At the end of each week, the entire second grade gets together for Genius hour. Activities for Genius hour will vary throughout the year. The first week, we opened our connecting classroom doors and let the children explore and play in both classrooms. For the second Genius hour, Rockin' Ron the Friendly Pirate visited. This week, we worked on expanding our thinking with a challenging engineering task. The children had to design a stand for an award winning apple using only straws and tape. So far our Genius hour is off to a great start. It is an exciting way to end our week of learning.
Reading: In Reading, we have begun learning about narratives. We have read many narrative texts and looked for the major components of this type of story. We are now exploring further: characters, setting, beginning, middle, end, problem and solution. We are also using the reading block to practice sight words. (Sight words are words that you know automatically by "sight" and do not need to sound out.) Second graders are responsible for learning to read and spell 200 sight words throughout the year. So this week, we worked on the first ten words. We practiced in many fun ways.
Spelling: We are using a program called Fundations this year to help us with our spelling or word work each day. So far, we have reviewed the digraphs: ch, sh,wh, th, and ck. We have also worked on consonant blends (spl, scr, fr are examples of blends- two or more consonants whose sounds are blended together.)
Here is a funny little video the children enjoyed about digraphs:
Writing: We have begun exploring the writing process. So far we explicitly taught how to plan and create a rough draft of a narrative. We have discussed the elements of the beginning, middle, and end. The stories we have written so far are great. It is fun to see the students begin to expand on their writing and use author's craft. I now see children add bold words, dialogue, and their favorite is the ellipses.... we never know what might happen next.
Mathematics: We are just about to finish unit one of Bridges. In this unit, we practiced our facts to twenty using number racks, bead strings, and number lines. We ended this week with a look at story problems and learned how to show our work or mathematical thinking. In unit one, we also worked on time to the hour and the concept of even and odd. We are using reflex math in our classroom to practice the automaticity of math facts. Please encourage your child to practice reflex at home as well.
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| Candy Corn Math facts |
Habits of Mind: We have been working on two habits of mind so far this year: managing our impulsivity and perseverance. We have read many books and watched several short video clips to help with class discussion about these habits. The children's favorite video is The Persistent Pig! He NEVER gives up...
Typing: We have began learning keyboarding skills. Soon we will use the program typing.com to practice each week.
Adding the Arts: After we said "Good-bye" to our butterflies, we decided to paint butterflies for our hallway. They are beautiful.
Dates to Remember:
Wednesday, Oct. 3- Picture Day, Nutrition Lesson with Nurse Reed
Thursday, Oct. 4- Guest Teacher all day
Wednesday, Oct. 10- Nutrition Lesson with Nurse Reed
Friday, Oct. 12- Fire Prevention Assembly, Friendly Pirate Visit
Monday, Oct. 15- Evacuation Drill 10:00
Tuesday, Oct. 16- Open House, 6-7pm
Wednesday, Oct. 17- Nutrition Lesson with Nurse Reed
Oct. 18 & 19- No School, Professional Development
Thursday, Oct. 25- Early Release 11:30, No lunch served
Friday, Oct. 26- COL, 8:10
Wednesday, Oct. 3- Picture Day, Nutrition Lesson with Nurse Reed
Thursday, Oct. 4- Guest Teacher all day
Wednesday, Oct. 10- Nutrition Lesson with Nurse Reed
Friday, Oct. 12- Fire Prevention Assembly, Friendly Pirate Visit
Monday, Oct. 15- Evacuation Drill 10:00
Tuesday, Oct. 16- Open House, 6-7pm
Wednesday, Oct. 17- Nutrition Lesson with Nurse Reed
Oct. 18 & 19- No School, Professional Development
Thursday, Oct. 25- Early Release 11:30, No lunch served
Friday, Oct. 26- COL, 8:10
