8/29/2017 0 Comments Weekly Update...8/29/17Greetings families! I hope that everyone is off to great week. I'm so proud of our crew! Have they talked to you about our softie box? If not ask them about it! It's almost full and we are approaching a class celebration!
On another note, this week in reading we've discussed the importance of reading the words in a text correctly. However, sometimes there are words that readers bump into that they are unable to read. Students are learning strategies to help them tackle these tricky words. So far we've learned how to use picture cues, read the first and last few letters of a word then try a word to see if it makes sense in the sentence, breaking words up into chunks, and looking for a word part that you already know. In science we will conduct two matter based experiments (hopefully pics can be posted next week). During math we are planning and constructing a 3D bar graph based upon surveys created and administered by the students of our crew. In writing we are learning to properly provide feedback to our partners about their writing. If you haven't done so already please sign up for a parent teacher conference by clicking here. Also, make sure to read the policy and procedures page of our website in its entirety. I will be emailing a copy of my classroom management plan. As always please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. Have a wonderful week!
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8/23/2017 0 Comments Weekly Update...8/23/17Hello wonderful families! Needless to say we have had an eventful week with the solar eclipse. I really enjoyed and appreciated experiencing it with the kiddos and many of you! Hopefully, they are able to explain what is happening in space when a solar eclipse occurs.
This week in reading we are learning how to prepare for conversations about what we have read during independent reading. Students have learned how to write predictions, connections, questions, and new learning on sticky notes in preparation for sharing what they've read with a partner. They've also learned how to retell a story to a partner (ONLY the meatballs, not the noodles). Ask your child what it means to retell only the meatballs of a story and not the noodles. In science we are learning that matter is anything that takes up space and how to identify an object as a solid, liquid, or gas. In math we are learning that graphs are tools that help us to communicate information. Students are learning how to create and implement a survey in order to create a bar graph. In writing, we are still establishing what writing workshop will look and sound like by preparing our writing materials. Students now have two topic lists within their writing journal to help them when they can not think of what to write about. This Friday, students will complete their pre-assessment for narrative writing. I have spent lots of time this week getting to know your child as a reader by individually having them read to me. This should continue throughout next week :) I look forward to discussing my observations during our fall conferences beginning the week before fall break. I will be sending out a Sign-Up Genius via email next week. Hope everyone is having a great week! 8/14/2017 0 Comments Weekly Update...8/14/17Happy Monday! I hope that everyone's weekend was relaxing.
Last week we continued to practice routines and procedures throughout the school day. In reading we learned how to choose a Just Right Book using the 5 finger strategy. Ask your child to explain how they determine whether a book is Just Right using this strategy. We also created and shared our individual hopes and dreams for the school year. Many of our crew members want to become better readers, mathematicians, artist, and/or meet new friends. After sharing our hopes and dreams we created crew agreements that will ensure that everyone is able to meet their goals for 2nd grade (please see the Crew Agreements tab). During math we explored math manipulatives that we will use in 2nd grade and practiced cleaning up and transitioning to different math workstations quickly and silently. This week in reading we will have crew discussions about 3 ways to read a book and real vs. fake reading. In science students will define science and scientist. We will also begin observing how trees change throughout the school year. In math students will learn how to play partner games (Addition Top It, Beat the Calculator, etc.) that will be played in the hands-on math workstation throughout the school year. Maybe towards the end of the week you can have your student to play one of the card games with you. Pssst...you'll need a deck of cards and a calculator for the two games mentioned above. If I didn't get a chance to speak with you last week, I hope that you received my voicemail welcoming you to second grade and reminding you of curriculum night this Thursday at 6p. Hope to see you there! On Monday, August 21st, dismissal will be delayed by 30 minutes due to the solar eclipse. The district has ordered viewing glasses from the Fernbank Science Center for us. I am really looking forward to experiencing this with the kiddos because it will provide a personal connection when we explore the sun and moon during our fall expedition. 8/7/2017 0 Comments Weekly Update...8/7/17I hope that everyone enjoyed their weekend. I had the pleasure of hearing about lots of visits to the pool during our crew's y'all know what about the weekend? :)
We're off to a great start in second grade. Last week our crew spent lots of time learning and practicing procedures and routines for this school year. Some of the procedures and routines we learned and practiced were how to unpack first thing in the morning, transitioning silently from one activity to the next throughout the school day, and how to sit properly on the carpet during a read-aloud. We also set our personal reading goals and learned about what it takes to be a mathematician. This week we will continue to practice procedures and routines. One of our goals for this week is lining up silently and quickly for specials and lunch. We will also create our hopes and dreams for second grade and create crew agreements that will help us to meet our goals for this year. In reading students will learn how to choose just right books. During writing we will discuss what writing workshop will look like this year and students will learn what their role is during writing workshop. In math we will begin learning about bar graphs and create a birthday bar graph as a crew. As always, if you have any questions please feel free to send me an email. Have a great week! |