Terrific Thursday!

We had another successful day here in 2nd grade! This morning, we practiced exiting the cafeteria and walking to recess quietly in a single flie line. The kids did such a great job, we rewarded with an extra 10 minutes of recess while it was nice and cool! They also received an extra ticket for a job well done!

Also, we had our first fire drill. Everything went well!

During Language Arts, we continued working on our reading stamina. We made it all teh way to 14 minutes. Our minilesson for the day included Reading to Someone. We discussed why it was important for us to read to a friend.



After we successfully practiced for 4 minutes, we debriefed as a group!



In math we took a break from the Problem Solving Model and discussed the number 10. Here is the web that the class constructed:



Lastly, we ended our day with the story: Officer Buckle and Gloria followed by a Scholastic News on classroom rules and safety!

I can't wait to share what safety tips the kids came up with!

Thanks again and have a wonderful evening!

Weekly News!

Parents,

We are working very hard establishing routines in the classroom. You can sign up to become a “follower” of this and receive updates when new things have been posted!

Next week, I will begin conducting the DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment) on all the students. These do take time, so I ask that you please be patient with me! Also, I will students will be given the Spelling Inventory (from Words Their Way) and placed into 3 different word study groups.

I would like to reiterate how important it is for us to follow the “Peanut Free” zone here in school. An example of what could happen came up today when the children asked if they could eat snack while reading books from their browsing boxes. Since we do have a few “contact” allergies, I would greatly appreciate it if the children do not bring snacks with peanuts in them – as I do check books out from the library and that becomes a concern for those who are allergic. I plan on sending home a list of snacks home by Friday.

Next week, I am hoping to establish routines for “listening to books”. Please have your child bring a pair of headphones, or earbuds (I purchased mine at Target for about $7 and was just informed that Academy had them for $0.99) to class so that they can use the computers / iTouches for this activity. These will not be shared!

Lastly, I would like to ask that your child wear 1 Zany Band to class. Today, I had a few that were very distracting, especially during the instruction time.

PS. If you haven’t returned all the wonderful forms, please do so. I have to create a checklist of who has turned in what and will be sending emails starting Monday for missing forms. Thanks!

Making progress....

Today we discussed the ways that we select books to read and made anchor charts to refer to when "shopping for books".



Also, we had conversations about: Why readers abandon books...



After our wonderful discussion, we practiced building stamina in our reading. At first, we thought we could try to read for 11 minutes, but ended up stopping it 10.
We then debriefed about what went wrong:
-Children were sitting too close to their friends;
-Some kids were looking at pictures and while that is ok, it is not ok to do it for the entire time;
-A few children were making noises such as "laughing" and "humming". We discussed how that could be distracting to others.
So, after we debriefed, we tried to read again. They were successful for the entire time! I'm so proud of these kids!!! In math, we tried to solve a problem using the PSM. It had some extra information in it, that surprised a few!



Our special treat for today was being able to go to Art at 12:30.
We concluded with a short video on classroom community rules!



Here are some rules that they would like to follow this year:
-Take care of materials;
-Keep our hands & feet to ourselves;
-Show respect to everyone;
-Have good manners;
-Ask for permission before doing something;
Raise your hand if you have something to say;
Treat people the way you would like to be treated!

Second Day of School

We had another successful day! The children worked well with each other solving many different educational problems. This morning, we began the day "shopping" for books to add to our browsing boxes. Next, the class helped me with shared writing about a time when my brother blew out my birthday candals.
When we started asking some of the kids about what makes a great story, this is what they said: A good story is / has....
One that has a lot of details;
One that has facts stated in it;
One with illustrations;
Catchy title to make the reader want to find out more;
Great punctuation;&
Capital letters!

After the children read successfully for 7 minutes, we gathered our thoughts about ways to select books! Here is the chart that we made as a class:

Also, we had our visit to the library. Karen Harrell, our wonderful, ever talented librarian discussed what it what it meant to have "Digital Citizenship". This will be extrememly powerful when the children have their email accounts set up! Also, they had the opportunity to select "Just Right" books to check out!
Here is our problem solver that we constructed today! Have your child help explain what we discussed!

Finally, we ended our day with a T-Chart that named a scientist (such as a geologist) and what they studied (rocks & minerals). As a challenge, I am going to give each child who can list a variety of these tickets in the morning!
Thanks again for sharing your child with me! I'm really becoming attached - QUICKLY!

First Day of School

Today has been such a joy! The children had such wonderful manners and worked so hard! I am SO impressed!!!! I wanted to let everyone know that I feel so special to teach your child!
Here are a few reminders from today:
Children are allowed to eat a healthy snack at school.
Children are allowed & encouraged to bring a water bottle.

We also had 2 special visitors in our classroom:
Mrs. Schappell (Math / Science Specialist a.k.a. Prof. Wizard): She came and helped the kids with their discovery using their senses;
Ms. Roth (Literature / Social Studies Specialist): She came and helped the kids by discussing stamina (in regards to reading) and sharing a wonderful book!


Lastly, we jumped right into our math today by doing a Problem Solving Model. They all worked very hard and we discussed the different ways to solve the problem.

Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful children with me! I can already tell that this is going to be a great class!
On a side note, would you please let me know ASAP if I cannot use your child’s photograph for our class blog! I have some really cute ones from today but I cannot share them until I find out if I have your permission to use their pictures.

The ABC's of 2nd Grade

Daily Schedule

Language Arts: 8:10 - 10:25
Social Studies: 10:25 - 11:00
Lunch: 11:00 - 11:30
Recess: 11:30 - 12:00
Math: 12:00 - 1:15
Specials: 1:15 - 2:00
Science: 2:00 - 2:50

Health Fitness: Monday, Wednesday & Thursday

Music w/ Ms. Jones: Tuesday & Friday

Monday

Computer Lab: 2:10 - 3

Wednesday

Library
Art: 12:30 - 1:15

Thursday

Counselor (bi-monthly): 12:15 - 12:45

Friday

Mystery Reader 9:00 - 9:30
Learning Buddies: 2:10 - 3:00 (5th Grade w/ Dr. Coolidge)

Cyber Bullies

http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/protect-your-kid-from-cyber-bullies/6b3ak9f