Hello families!
Before I begin, I want you to feel free to send this information to any loved ones that are interesting in the happenings in our classroom. Additionally, should they want to receive my emails and have not been, send me an email with their contact info so I can add them.
I'll be writing up a short blog entry every two weeks detailing the learning that has taken place the two weeks prior. You can expect these over the weekend at some point.
I must say that I am very pleased with how our school year has begun. While we are learning how to live and learn in our 2nd grade class, the growth I have seen over a short period of time is tremendous. Our students have been steadily building their 'school stamina' and rising to the occasion. Just the other day, Mrs. Watkins (art) pulled me aside and remarked how focused, patient, and helpful they had been in her class on Thursday. I brought that up with the kids and said, "That's not me...thats YOU." There is definitely some growing up happening in here and it's cool that others are noticing it too.
We work hard in 2nd grade. I'm sure that your child has probably come home exhausted at some point over the last two weeks. Trust me, having a second grader of my own this year I know the feeling. But, there's value in getting started fairly quickly in the school year. It sets the tone and helps build that stamina sooner.
I'd like to discuss what we have been working on in the classroom for the first two weeks:
Reading
When you are beginning a new year, it is important to take some time to set up what the classroom should look like and sound like during Reading Workshop. In the first week, the students created a chart that outlined their responsibilities during Silent Reading, as well as mine! This is something that we have continually referred back to. We have been reading picture books like Juna's Jar and My Name is Yoon, learning how to create responses to these texts. We began tracking our thinking in our reading journals so that we have information that we can reflect on. Our chapter book we are beginning this year is Frindle by Andrew Clements. I love this book! We have used it as a launching point for discussing Protagonist and Antagonist relationships.
Writing
In my conferences with the students, it became apparent that idea formation was where we needed to begin. We used our strengths in setting up our Readers Workshop to help us see books as the source of excellent ideas that we can make our own. The real world is also a great place to find ideas for writing. We created a chart of possible ideas that the students found in their books; it included pirates (which I'm really hoping someone takes up!) and good guy vs. bad guy stories. We also have had several mini lessons on approaching writing intentionally, such as imagining your piece being done before you begin writing or going into writer's workshop with a plan to accomplish. Additionally, we have set up our structure for students sharing out their writing and providing feedback to one another that helps and is specific.
Math
You have probably seen a few examples of our work in math workshop this week. I do send home work that we do in class for practice so you can get a heads up for how you can help your child. Your child turns in an exit ticket to me most days and this is my assessment for that day. Sometimes they work on problem sets until it is time to move to their exit ticket. Your child also has a 'learning buddy' that they work on the math with before working independently on that exit ticket. This allows your child to communicate about their strategies before demonstrating it independently. The concepts we have worked on are using an understanding of tens to add and subtract more efficiently.
Unit of Study: Maps
I alternate between Science and Social Studies so we can devote more time to each subject without having to plan for transitions between the two. Right now we are learning about maps, how to tell directions, and how to use the features of maps to make meaning. We have discussed political and physical maps and are planning on learning about the relationships between population and area in different states.
I hope this gives you a glimpse into what we are working on. As always, if you have any questions, please let me know. I have greatly enjoyed working with all of your children and I'm hoping to see many of you at the Opening Picnic this Thursday.
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