Week of 10/7

Upcoming Events

Field Trip to Linder Farms
We will leave the school at 10:15 on Thursday, October 17th.  We will arrive at Linder Farms around 10:45.  Students will go on a hayride, pet the animals, eat lunch and choose a pumpkin to bring home.  Make sure students wear closed toed shoes good for walking in fields, long pants and jackets appropriate for the weather.  It is a good idea to bring gloves to carry the pumpkins.

Fall Break
Fall break begins Friday, October 18th and ends October 25th.  There will be no school.

Conferences
Mark your calendar, conferences are November 8th.  I will send out a form for you to select times as the time gets closer.

Book Celebration - Peter Pan
On Thursday, October 31st we will have out book celebration.  This year, students may dress up as a character from Peter Pan for the entire day.  We will watch the movie and do Peter Pan activities throughout the day.

Week of 9/30

If you come into my classroom, you will see a few things you may have never seen before.

    I have learned that movement is essential to keeping or brains healthy and working well.  When we get tired, movement can actually renew our energy.  My classroom is outfitted with places that encourage students to move.  The colorful box in the second photo is a landing location for standing movements as are the colorful shapes in the third photo.  Students especially enjoy jumping on the hopscotch squares and the red lines.

If you come to visit and you see a 2nd grader hopping, doing jumping jacks, lunges or some other movement they are either doing it because it is one of the steps on their list of tasks: complete the facts, do 5 jumping jacks. . .  or, they know that movement will help them focus so they are getting their brain ready to work again.

I have posted a video below to demonstrate.  Some students are sitting at their desks completing the assignment.  Some are on the floor correcting their own work, the jumping students are moving between those steps while they are on their way to the next.

We all need to move and stretch our muscles in addition to our brain.  I've decided to build it into each 2nd grader's day.

Week of 9/23

 










Reading and Writing
These past couple of weeks we have been learning about tall tales and fairy tales.  This week we are writing our own fairy tale.  Students have to include a setting, characters, a problem and solution in addition to royalty, magic and a happy ending. 

Today, they drew a picture of their setting.  Tomorrow they will write about it.

Science
We are also learning about the diversity of life.  Students have been trying to figure out how to know if something is alive.  They are learning how scientists categorize different living things.

Groups
I am starting to create learning groups.  Learning groups are based primarily on the topics students need to learn and the amount of time a student needs to learn something.  Some students need more time than others.  I don't want to rush anyone through a concept and I don't want to hold anyone back who already understands.  Students are learning to work independently when it is time for me to work with a different group.  I am pleased with how responsible they are.

Week of 9/16

Yesterday, the first reading practice homework went home.  It should have been stapled to the reading log.  It is due on Monday along with the reading log.  The practice homework will periodically look different.  Sometimes it will be a fluency practice (practice reading like we talk), sometimes it will be reading and comprehension and sometimes it will be both. Almost every second grader turned in their homework the first week.  Great job!

Each Thursday students have a math test on skills.  We practice the skills together and I send home the practice paper on Tuesday each week.  You and your second grader can go over the practice page and make sure he or she understands everything before the test on Thursday.  The first completed test came home yesterday.  Students graphed their scores and looked at why they missed and what they did so they don't make the same mistake next time.

Because everyone learns at different rates and it is very important to me that students learn spelling patterns and not simply memorize words for a test, students are often on different lists.  Because of this fact, I don't send lists home.  Right now I have 3 lists in the class.  The class is practicing spelling words that have the "a" phonogram.  This phonogram has 3 sounds, but is always spelled with an "a."  Some words you will find on their lists are: pass, carry, capture, walk, almost, lake and black.  Students are encouraged to find more words that fit into the spelling patterns.  By finding patterns and noticing rhyming words, students are more likely to remember how to spell these words for a test, and more importantly, spell them in their writing.

Marble Party

Students have been working really hard to earn their first marble party.  Today was an exceptionally good day and they got all their marbles! 

They voted to have a stuffed animal/blanket party.  That means on Friday, September 13, they may bring EITHER a stuffed animal or a blanket to school.  It needs to fit inside of their backpack. 

As long as it isn't a distraction, they get to keep that item with them throughout the school day.  We'll have a special time when they can cuddle up with it and their book.

We are working especially hard on being trustworthy and respectful. 

Homework

The first of this year's homework is coming home today.  It is a reading log.  Students are expected to read 100 minutes each week.  This can be divided up however you like throughout the week.  

I will send the reading logs home each Monday and they are due the following Monday.  Students get a homework grade for completing the homework each week.  

Next week I will be sending home a reading practice page in addition to the reading log.

Welcome Back to a New Year!

We have completed our first week of school. Things are going great!

Students are learning what it looks like to be 2nd graders.

BEHAVIOR IN CLASS

In my classroom students earn classroom money.  If you hear them talking about the money they earned, it is not real money.  They get to spend that money special privileges and items.  A few purchases they can make are: sitting in a bean bag chair, sitting with a stuffed animal, using a clipboard, taking the class for a walk, choosing their job, choosing from the treasure box or using a special pen for the day.  Students earn money by showing responsibility like returning their blue home folder each day and by meeting classroom expectations like being respectful, following the rules and working hard.  Students lose money when they make poor choices.

I have a chart in my room with magnets on it. Each day all 2nd graders start on the blue owl.  When I catch them being a role model and going above and beyond the expectations, I ask them to move their magnet up, that is a good thing.  They earn more money if they end the day on the purple owl which is the role model.

If students make poor choices, I ask them to move their magnet down.  The first time is a warning, it is a reminder to stop and think about what you are doing.  The second time they need to fill out a refocus form and write down what they did and what they will do differently next time.  When students end the day on the orange (warning) or red (refocus) owl they owe me money.  If a student isn't able to refocus and make good decisions, the next stop is a referral to the office. 

The good news is students can move their magnets up and down all day.  Even if they make a poor choice, if I catch them making good choices their magnet can go back up.

Today students are going to bring home a practice refocus form for you to see.  It isn't real so you don't need to worry.

I am so thrilled to have each of these 2nd graders in my class this year!