Poetry, Money and Caterpillars, OH MY!

Hello Second Grade Families!

We have had a very busy start to the fourth quarter, and are well on our way through the remaining curriculum!  

In writing, as well as reading, we have been focusing on poetry.  We are learning how poets "see" the world through their hearts and minds, and use literary language to describe what they see.  We've been using our senses to describe everyday objects, and will begin venturing outside to write in nature.  As readers, we are noticing the special ways that poets paint pictures with words... we are paying attention to the rhythm and the music of poems as well!

In science, our beetles are plentiful, and we are patiently awaiting the arrival of eggs and new mealworms in our habitats.  We have learned that complete metamorphosis has four stages... egg, larva, pupa and adult.  We've also gotten butterfly larvae, and are waiting for them to hatch from their cocoons!

As mathematicians, we are exploring the values of money... we're learning to count on when we're adding change, and to always start with the biggest values first.  This is something that would be wonderful to practice at home... coin ID and counting on are a bit tricky still.

Lastly, we are going back to the basics for our classroom behavior.  Spring fever has definitely taken over in second grade, so we are starting a new system called "Becket Bravos".  We can earn these tickets for displaying the four BWS core values, Be kind and respectful, Be Responsible, Be Safe, and Be an Active Learner.  It's already making a difference...sometimes we just need to go back and review what we've already learned.

Happy Spring!!!

today

Hi second grade families,
We have had a great week in second grade! We moved on to adding three digit numbers, and tomorrow we will learn about subtracting them. I'm super proud of how hard everyone has been working in math... please continue to have them practice facts at home!
In reading, we are finishing up our series book club unit this week,and will be moving on to nonfiction.
In writing, we have been using our new chromebooks to usegoogle read write to publish our book award nomination pieces.They will be hanging on display on our bulletin board by the endof next week!
Did you know that your child can access their google account athome? If you can, have them try it! Once they are logged in, theycan access google docs. They can show you their writing piece,and make corrections and revisions with you. Pieces should havea bold beginning, a quick story summary, three reasons withevidence and a conclusion. See if they can show you where theyhave included these parts.
They have shared all their pieces with me, so I will be able to seewhat they work on with you.
Our mealworm pupae are hatching into darkling beetles at analmost alarming rate! Soon, we will be able to see the life cyclebegin again as adult beetles mate and lay eggs. We talked aboutthis today... don't be surprised if your child comes home to say thattheir beetles will mate soon!
Looking forward to some more spring like weather so that we canstart going outside for snack again. We need the fresh air!
Sarah

I'm sorry that it's been a while since I've posted! We have beenvery busy with learning all about writing opinion pieces, readingseries books, and comparing three digit numbers! We also haveour mealworms in for science, and have been learning all abouthow they metamorphosize to become darkling beetles!
Probably the most exciting thing of late would be that today wegot our very own class set of Chrome Books! Each child has theirvery own to use for the remainder of the school year. This is awonderful opportunity, as it will really help to prepare them forthird grade!
I will be sure to send home their google accounts and passwordstomorrow, so that they can access them at home too.
Tomorrow we have BOC. Please remember to send your child inwith cold weather clothes, as well as boots and a lunch/snack.
Happy Spring!

Happy Monday! We had a fun celebration day in grade 2 todaywith PJs, read-a-thon, and Dr. Seuss!
After lunch, we watched The Lorax (the old, 25 minute version).We then had a talk about the character of the Lorax, and theproblem that he had to solve. I asked the students to see if theycould come up with their own character heros... what problemwould they need to solve? What would they do? What would theysay? There were some great ideas! I was able to catch many ofthem on video, which I will work on uploading to student accountstonight.
Thanks,
Sarah

Pajama Day Tomorrow!!

                                                    

Good Afternoon, Families!

The good news from second grade is that we have 

finally earned our 200th class marble (point) on dojo!  

This means that tomorrow will be a pajama day in our 

classroom!  Students may wear pjs and bring a  blanket and a small stuffed animal.  Tomorrow is also Read Across America Day, so they should bring a few 

favorite books from home to use during our read-a-thon. I'm really proud of how hard they've been working on their skills for learning!

Thank you!

Project

Hi Everyone, today we worked on our character projects. I asked kids to show me what they knew about the characters in their series book clubs. They could do this anyway they chose ... with a drawing, with a sculpture, a video presentation or with writing. For the first time doing something like this, it went pretty well. We did need reminders of how to work independently without getting silly. Some of the videos and projects didn’t get completed, and that’s ok... we will be doing more of this type of work. Today was kind of a “trial run”.

As a district, there is an initiative to implement more choice-based learning... work that emphasizes the process of learning as well as the product. This idea of meeting kids where they are and building on strengths falls under the umbrella of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). If you’re interested in learning more, reach out... I’ve got lots of great resources to share!

In the end, I saw kids working together where previously they struggled, I saw problem solving, I saw perseverance and creativity. Not bad for a first try! ❤️

Thursday

Hi families,

Just a note to let you know that kiddos are coming home today with two packets of math flashcards in their backpacks.  These are for home practice, as many kids told me that they lost theirs.  

I'm finding that many students are not where they need to be at this point in the year in terms of their math fact automaticity.   They should know all of our facts quickly and automatically, but I'm seeing lots of use of fingers and other tools to solve even basic facts.   This becomes a problem in terms of third grade readiness, as they will quickly move into more complex equations, as well as multiplication/division.

 

If the flashcards are not an option, give xtra math another shot if you can.  I upgraded all of the accounts to make it more challenging ( only for the kids that need a challenge) by adding multiplication and division to the mix.  

Lastly, I wanted to tell you that tomorrow we are going to be attempting a character trait project.  We've been working on learning all about the characters in our series book clubs, and tomorrow I've asked students to create a way to show me what they know about their character's traits and how he/she responds to different settings/situations.  

This is a very choice oriented project, open for interpretation.  Some students may choose to write about their character while others may choose to draw a picture or make a model out of playdoh.  I told students that they could bring in a few art supplies if they had something at home that they really wanted to use.  In retrospect, I'm going to grab a few basic things myself... construction paper, play doh, craft sticks, glue.  This will keep it simpler.  

Thanks again for all you do,

Sarah