Thursday, September 29, 2011
Scavenger Hunt
Yesterday in science your child got to go on a scavenger hunt. What were they searching for??? Anything that moves...but not people. I put the kiddos with partners and each group had a clipboard. We set off outside and most went immediately to the butterfly garden. They found a lot of bugs and other creatures: flies, bees, slugs, grasshoppers, worms!!!! When they found something they had to draw it and then label it. Boy...did they have fun! The next time we have science we will take a look at their findings and decide it their creature is an insect. Fun times!!
Friday, September 23, 2011
Work Work
We launched the 4th part of Daily 5 this week...yippee!!! That means that almost have our daily routines established and are really get down to business!
We have a new literacy program this year and all 2nd grade teachers are following their sequence of word work sounds. Last week I established the word work routine using basic CVC words. Each day of week the kids have a different job to do during Daily 5 with their words. This is the schedule; ask your child what each day means:
Monday: Mix and fix
Tuesday: Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check
Wednesday: 6 sentences
Thursday: Manipulatives
Friday: Buddy Test
This week the sound is short vowels. If you are wanting to practice with your child at home the words will come home each Tuesday on the Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check sheet. If your child gets all 10 words correct on Friday for the test I give them a little treat :)
Here are a few pictures of your kids practicing their words this week.
We have a new literacy program this year and all 2nd grade teachers are following their sequence of word work sounds. Last week I established the word work routine using basic CVC words. Each day of week the kids have a different job to do during Daily 5 with their words. This is the schedule; ask your child what each day means:
Monday: Mix and fix
Tuesday: Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check
Wednesday: 6 sentences
Thursday: Manipulatives
Friday: Buddy Test
This week the sound is short vowels. If you are wanting to practice with your child at home the words will come home each Tuesday on the Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check sheet. If your child gets all 10 words correct on Friday for the test I give them a little treat :)
Here are a few pictures of your kids practicing their words this week.
2A's thoughts about the week
Jason: 2A is really fun
Travis: My cousin came
Amy: We did a test
Jasmin: Read to Self is fun
Emily: 2A rocks
Alyssa: Cadet pride
Abby: Read to Someone is really fun
Hunter: I played on the playground
Paul: I brought my army equipment
Brady: Mrs. Brynsaas rocks
Landen: We did Read to Someone
Jacy: We did math
Noah: Daily 5 is fun
Zach: We played wizards at recess
Nathan: We had fun
Fletcher: We made a sand castle at recess
Gabe: We read from our book tubs
Cole: Read to Self is really really fun
Casandra: We did math
Jenna: I love recess
Travis: My cousin came
Amy: We did a test
Jasmin: Read to Self is fun
Emily: 2A rocks
Alyssa: Cadet pride
Abby: Read to Someone is really fun
Hunter: I played on the playground
Paul: I brought my army equipment
Brady: Mrs. Brynsaas rocks
Landen: We did Read to Someone
Jacy: We did math
Noah: Daily 5 is fun
Zach: We played wizards at recess
Nathan: We had fun
Fletcher: We made a sand castle at recess
Gabe: We read from our book tubs
Cole: Read to Self is really really fun
Casandra: We did math
Jenna: I love recess
Homecoming Week
Next week is homecoming...YIPPEE!!!!!
To show our Crestwood Pride we are having dress up days next week:
Monday: Favorite Team/Jersey Day
Tuesday: Pajama Party Day
Wednesday: Exercise/Workout day (wear sweats/track pants)
Thursday: Super Hero Day
Friday: Cadet/Blue and White Day
These days are optional so students do not have to participate. We will have a 2 hour early dismissal on Friday, September 30 for the homecoming parade.
Go Crestwood Cadets!!!
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Daily 5
Your child has been working REALLY hard to build up our stamina for Read to Self, Work on Writing, and Read to Someone. This takes a lot of time and practice because students need to read/write the whole time...no breaks allowed!! We have created I (independent) charts for each component and practiced the right/wrong way to do each. We started our stamina building at 3 minutes and have built our Work on Writing and Read to Self staminas up to about 20 minutes. We continue to increase the Read to Someone stamina as well. I am soooo proud of my 2A kiddos...keep up the good work!!
Here are some pictures of your kids building their stamina.
Here are some pictures of your kids building their stamina.
Friday, September 16, 2011
TOYS
Ahhhhh...2nd graders this year are bringing A LOT of toys to school!!!! Unfortunately, when toys are brought to school problems always arise: toys get broken, traded, or lost. So, the second grade team decided to ask students not to bring toys to school this year. Here are a few examples of toys that are being brought: trading cards, dolls, barbies, trucks/cars, blay blades, etc. When your child is out at recess we encourage them to run around or play on the equipment. Please make sure your child is NOT bringing toys to school.
Our Week in Review
Wow! It has been a long time since I have done a blog post...sorry about that!! We have been so busy in 2A lately. Here is a run down or our lately activities.
My second graders continue to work VERY hard in here. I continue to introduce new things to them and add to know they're already doing. The beginning of the year is really about establishing routines. Some routines are review from last year but it's a matter of retraining them and reminding them!!
This week we continued to work really hard on our Work on Writing and Read to Self stamina. We are up to 20 minutes for Read to Self and 16 minutes for Work on Writing...AMAZING!!!! This week I continued to introduce more ways to Read to Someone. Kids LOVE reading with their friends!! So far they know 3 ways to Read to Someone: Check for Understanding, I Read, You Read, and Choral Reading. When you are reading with your child at night chat with them about the ways to Read to Someone. Maybe they can even teach you how to do it :) So far I have been choosing their partners for them; next week they will learn how to do this.
On Monday we took a little break from Daily 5 and we discussed September 11th. I showed them a short video clip explaining what happened and then read a book written by students. It was called September 12: We Knew Everyone Would Be All Right. My kiddos has super questions about this day and were very eager to learn about it. I was amazed how much they already knew about this day.
In social studies, we have been learning all about communities. We are coming to the end of this unit so next week I will be testing students. Next we will begin a science unit. More to come about science later...
The first math unit was mostly a review from last year: addition facts, number grids, clocks, and counting money. These were skills that your child should have learned. If they seem to be strugging with money or telling time please practice at home. I started assessing these skills on Thursday and will continue a couple of days next week. Along with the written test I need to listen to each student count. Thank you to your kids for returning their homelinks this week!! Your child will have one most nights; your child should be able to do them independently but please help out if needed. Try and get it done and return it the next day. I will understand if there wasn't any time and it needs to be done the following night. Have your child return it when it's done. I do keep track of these.
As you can tell we've been really busy in here lately. I continue to be impressed with 2A's Cadet Pride!!! Thanks for our support and for working with your child at home. Please continue have your child read each night. Have a super weekend!
My second graders continue to work VERY hard in here. I continue to introduce new things to them and add to know they're already doing. The beginning of the year is really about establishing routines. Some routines are review from last year but it's a matter of retraining them and reminding them!!
This week we continued to work really hard on our Work on Writing and Read to Self stamina. We are up to 20 minutes for Read to Self and 16 minutes for Work on Writing...AMAZING!!!! This week I continued to introduce more ways to Read to Someone. Kids LOVE reading with their friends!! So far they know 3 ways to Read to Someone: Check for Understanding, I Read, You Read, and Choral Reading. When you are reading with your child at night chat with them about the ways to Read to Someone. Maybe they can even teach you how to do it :) So far I have been choosing their partners for them; next week they will learn how to do this.
On Monday we took a little break from Daily 5 and we discussed September 11th. I showed them a short video clip explaining what happened and then read a book written by students. It was called September 12: We Knew Everyone Would Be All Right. My kiddos has super questions about this day and were very eager to learn about it. I was amazed how much they already knew about this day.
In social studies, we have been learning all about communities. We are coming to the end of this unit so next week I will be testing students. Next we will begin a science unit. More to come about science later...
The first math unit was mostly a review from last year: addition facts, number grids, clocks, and counting money. These were skills that your child should have learned. If they seem to be strugging with money or telling time please practice at home. I started assessing these skills on Thursday and will continue a couple of days next week. Along with the written test I need to listen to each student count. Thank you to your kids for returning their homelinks this week!! Your child will have one most nights; your child should be able to do them independently but please help out if needed. Try and get it done and return it the next day. I will understand if there wasn't any time and it needs to be done the following night. Have your child return it when it's done. I do keep track of these.
As you can tell we've been really busy in here lately. I continue to be impressed with 2A's Cadet Pride!!! Thanks for our support and for working with your child at home. Please continue have your child read each night. Have a super weekend!
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Penny Cup
The kids learned a new game in math today: Penny Cup. This is a game that you could play at home with your child! All you need is 20 pennies and a cup.
To play:
*Player 1 hides some pennies under the cup while player 2 is NOT looking
*After the pennies are hid, player 2 needs to count the pennies outside the cup and then figure out how many are under the cup.
*Switch roles
*Have fun!!!
To play:
*Player 1 hides some pennies under the cup while player 2 is NOT looking
*After the pennies are hid, player 2 needs to count the pennies outside the cup and then figure out how many are under the cup.
*Switch roles
*Have fun!!!
Writing with clay...
Today students had the opportunity to work with clay in our
classroom. They each had 3 different colors to work with. I gave them
very vague instructions; they had to create something using the clay.
They sure had a lot of comments and questions!! I gave them about 10
minutes to create their piece. I must say this was my most creative group!!! We had amazing creations in here!! :) After that they had to add something,
take something away, and make a change to their piece. Next they had
give their creation a title. Finally we discussed compliments and how
to give a GOOD and meaningful compliment. Students had the opportunity
to go around the room and compliment each other's creations. Everyone did a super job with this!
Some of you might be asking why we did this. Well...I tied it to writing in 2nd grade. Yesterday we read a book explaining the steps that authors have to go through when they create a book. We will go through similar steps here in 2A. We discussed that good authors are not happy with their first copy. They need to change, add, and take away things from their writing pieces. So, hopefully as my second graders are grumbling at me and saying they don't want to make changes to their writing pieces they will think about their clay project. Hopefully they will remember that all good authors make changes before they publish their final writing piece.
Here are some pictures of the students creating their pieces and of the final product.
Happy writing 2nd graders!!
Some of you might be asking why we did this. Well...I tied it to writing in 2nd grade. Yesterday we read a book explaining the steps that authors have to go through when they create a book. We will go through similar steps here in 2A. We discussed that good authors are not happy with their first copy. They need to change, add, and take away things from their writing pieces. So, hopefully as my second graders are grumbling at me and saying they don't want to make changes to their writing pieces they will think about their clay project. Hopefully they will remember that all good authors make changes before they publish their final writing piece.
Here are some pictures of the students creating their pieces and of the final product.
Happy writing 2nd graders!!
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Morning Meeting
The last couple of years I have started the day with a morning meeting and so far it has been a HUGE success. This year the students and I are loving it!! Morning meeting is
great way for us to build a community in our classroom and to set a
positive tone for the day. There are 3 parts to the Morning Meeting
that we do: greeting, group activity, and sharing. The morning meeting
will last about 15-20 minutes.
These past few weeks we have been working on the greeting and group activity. Greeting allows each child to hear his/her name and to be formally welcomed into the classroom. We’ve done a lot of fun greetings so far! Since we have several new students in our room it's been a great way to learn everyone's names :) We've been working really hard on good eye contact and a good handshake. Thankfully everyone understands these things now!!!
Group activity allows the students to interact with each other and to even laugh a little. They REALLY like this part of the meeting. It's our one opportunity during the day to play a quick game with everyone present. I think it builds excellent classroom relationships!
But now…it’s time to start sharing!! Let me tell you, the students are very excited about this! I have assigned each student a sharing day. On their assigned day, your child will need to bring something in or tell us something. When the sharer is finished the audience will have a chance to ask good questions or to comment on what they heard. I would like everyone to participate on their sharing day. Some students have already asked to bring in a pet. If your child would like to do this, and it’s OK with you, please send a note to school so we can set up a time that will work.
I have attached the sharing schedule. Please keep this in a safe spot until your child remembers his/her sharing day. We will start sharing on Thursday.
These past few weeks we have been working on the greeting and group activity. Greeting allows each child to hear his/her name and to be formally welcomed into the classroom. We’ve done a lot of fun greetings so far! Since we have several new students in our room it's been a great way to learn everyone's names :) We've been working really hard on good eye contact and a good handshake. Thankfully everyone understands these things now!!!
Group activity allows the students to interact with each other and to even laugh a little. They REALLY like this part of the meeting. It's our one opportunity during the day to play a quick game with everyone present. I think it builds excellent classroom relationships!
But now…it’s time to start sharing!! Let me tell you, the students are very excited about this! I have assigned each student a sharing day. On their assigned day, your child will need to bring something in or tell us something. When the sharer is finished the audience will have a chance to ask good questions or to comment on what they heard. I would like everyone to participate on their sharing day. Some students have already asked to bring in a pet. If your child would like to do this, and it’s OK with you, please send a note to school so we can set up a time that will work.
I have attached the sharing schedule. Please keep this in a safe spot until your child remembers his/her sharing day. We will start sharing on Thursday.
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