Mr. Robison did a wonderful job once again teaching the kids their dances for the Big event today! It was hot, sunny, and fun watching the kids smile & dance! Way to go, Mr. R. and boys & girls! You all looked so handsome & beautiful too! :)
1 Comment
We have had an amazing year together in Room 2! The students have all grown so much in every way and I'm sad to see the end of the year approaching. They are ready to be 3rd graders!
We just finished our Informational unit in Reader's Workshop. They did a great job stopping and jotting down important details to figure out the main topic of each section in an informational text. They continue to grow as young authors writing narratives, informational pieces, as well as opinion pieces. They enjoyed sharing their published books on Young Authors Day. In math we have been adding and subtracting 3 digit numbers with regrouping. They can solve the problems using multiple strategies, such as drawing a picture of base ten blocks, using expanded form, and carrying and borrowing groups of 10. We had a blast on our field trip to Bushy Hill on May 13th! We caught all sorts of things in the frog pond, including newts, tadpoles, egg sacs, and salamanders. They worked as a team to make it safely over "steaming hot cocoa into the mug". It was great to see them communicate and cooperate so well. We went on a hike and saw a "million dollar tree" as well as skunk cabbage and learned in the nature center with their wonderful staff. Here are some pictures from our fun day. Grade 2 December News
The second graders are beginning to study the features of Informational Text. They are picking out books of interest to use for instruction and independent reading during Reader’s Workshop. The children are identifying text features and having collaborative conversations with their peers to determine how text features will help them understand the story. The students are also working on identifying key details in a text. In our classes we’ve read the informational text The First Thanksgiving. Using this text the students began to learn how to highlight evidence in the text to support their answers to questions. We will be modeling and continuing this process using other Informational Texts during our unit. In Writing, students are beginning to write “how to” stories. They are beginning to plan the steps that are needed to be included in their writing. They are learning to write an introductory sentence, at least 3 steps to explain their task and a concluding statement. They are starting to use specific transition vocabulary to help them sequence events. Some informational “how to” stories that may be worked on this month are “How to ride a bike.” or “How to make a Sandwich.” They will also begin to write informational paragraphs with a topic sentence and supporting details. We will be practicing this at first by writing informational stories about ourselves. Eventually we will be researching and making informational books that include many text features as well. In Math, grade two is working on geometry. This includes identifying a variety of shapes and their attributes. Students are working with both 2D and 3D shapes and determining the number of lines, sides, vertices and faces in each shape. We’ve been going on “scavenger hunts” to find various shapes in the real world. Students have also been learning about dividing shapes into equal parts including halves, thirds, and fourths as well as how many parts make a whole. The kids have been getting to be pros with technology! They worked very hard during the "Hour of Code" and displayed excellent problem solving skills! I'm so proud of all of my students! They are awesome! We have been very busy in Room 2! We are participating in a Global Read Aloud with 2nd grade friends in Wisconsin!! We are reading The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes and posting ideas , responses, and conversing with our WI friends about the different characters and plots in this book. The kids are using the chrome books to log into sites such as Writeaboutit.com and Padlet to share their thoughts. I am so proud of them!! Science is keeping us busy as we have tracked hurricanes and observed trees as they change, noting our observations and coming up with great questions to research. OUr first field trip was fun as we hiked through a deciduous forest as well as a coniferous forest with Mrs. Martin and her colleague. We learned a lot and were able to compare and contrast the different forests upon our return to school that day. We are reading rich literature and practicing all of our reading strategies to dig deeper into texts. We are discussing character traits and how characters change throughout a story. We are keeping track of story's themes and lessons that we are learning through stories. The students are independently logging all of the books they are reading and writing written responses to each book during Reader's Workshop. We have read many mentor texts such as My Rotten Red Headed Older Brother, Thundercake, and many Halloween stories to guide our own narrative writing. Be sure to stop in to read our class book, The Haunted Adventure, and each story the students have written and illustrated. We have wonderful, creative young authors in here. In math, we are learning through hands on activities, Smartboard games, and practicing multiple strategies to quickly answer addition and subtraction problems as well as story problems. The students are solving and writing story problems in a math journal. Some strategies to ask your child about are: making 10, doubles, doubles plus 1, counting up, counting back, & fact families. I am so very proud of all of my students . We are all working hard, learning lots, and laughing OFTEN!! Room 2 is a fabulous place to be! We have had a wonderful first week of second grade in Room 2! We had so much fun getting to know each other through team building activities, games, and working together to create a safe & very fun learning environment. We have had, and will continue to have, LOTS of laughs , while also remembering the school and classroom rules to be sure we can get the most out of learning, laughing, and having a great 2nd grade year together. Our routine is in full swing and the students and I are ready to dive into learning. I look forward to seeing all of the parents on Wednesday, September 9th where I will go over this year's curriculum, field trips, homework, and more. Here are a few pictures from our 1st week together. So excited for a wonderful year ahead with these amazing children! :) Hello new 2nd grade friends! I am so excited to have each and every one of you in my class this year! I am very excited for a year filled with fun, learning, and laughter! Some things you should know:
In our classroom....."We do second chances, we apologize, we forgive, we respect each other, we keep promises, we never give up, we encourage one another, we laugh OFTEN, we believe in ourselves and in each other, we learn, we have fun, we belong, we are a family" Some of my favorite words of wisdom from Christopher Robin to his pall Winnie the Pooh....a promise I want you all to make to me this year: "Promise me you will always remember you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." As you begin this new school year, remember to, "SHOOT FOR THE MOON! Even if you miss, you will land among the stars!!"... -- Les Brown. **A special poem to all of the parents** UNITY I dreamed I stood in a studio, And watched two sculptors there. The clay they used was a young child's mind, And they fashioned it with care. One was a teacher--the tools she used, Were books, music, and art. The other, a parent -- working with a guiding hand, And a gentle, loving heart. And when at last their work was done, They were proud of what they had wrought. For the things they had molded into the child, Could neither be sold nor bought. And each agreed she would have failed If she had worked alone, For behind the parent stood the school, And behind the teacher, the home. -Author Unknown I am looking forward to meeting you all and your families during the "Meet and Greet" on Wednesday morning, August 26th. MY PROMISE TO MY STUDENTS I promise to care about you. I promise to be patient with you. I promise to help you when you are struggling. I promise to be fair and consistent. I promise to believe in you. I promise to make learning interesting, fun, and meaningful. I promise to be trustworthy. I promise that I will challenge you to be your very best. I promise to do everything I can to help you succeed. I promise that no matter what, I will never give up on you! Let's not waste any time getting to know each other! Write a comment on this blog letting our new "family" know something special about yourself. It could be about something you did over the summer, letting us know your favorite sport, food, and/or color, telling us about your family....anything goes!! Can't wait for the 1st day of school on Thursday, August 27th. Get ready for an exciting school year ahead! :) We have continued our thematic units by taking our cultural study of Mexico and using what we learned through research during Language Arts. After reading the book Soccer Cousins, we compared some of Mexico's culture to ours. From there the students chose different things about Mexico to research and become an "expert" on their choice, such as food, holidays/fiestas, land, and people. Each child wrote an informational writing piece and typed an opinion piece on Google Docs. They shared their document with me and we edited and revised it together. The kids took their opinion writing and created a brochure on Printing Press persuading people to visit Mexico. Each one of them impressed me with their thorough and creative work. They have all become experts on the Chrome Books making research and using google docs a breeze!
We then used a website on the chrome books to "Explore the world" and created passports where we collected fun facts. The kids voted on google docs and the majority decided to explore Great Britain next. We continued research and even created poetry from facts. These kids have amazed me!! We have been continuing to read rich literature and compare and contrast informational books on the same topic and/or books that are similar. We are summarizing literature and finding the main topic and focus of paragraphs within informational texts and articles. The students performed in our 2nd grade performance, Miss Frizzle's storms, in April. They did an amazing job performing while also teaching about the dangers of floods. We have been on a couple more fun field trips. We spent an amazing day at Bushy Hill trying out team building on a ropes course, catching frogs, creating art with nature, and going on a hike through a swamp. We also visited SCSU to see the play Junie B. Jones. We then compared the theatrical production to the chapter books. We had 2 science programs visit us to enhance our science curriculum studies, "Weather or not" and "Smarty Plants" . The kids enjoyed the hands on fun while learning all about weather and plants. They are adding and subtracting 3 digit numbers with regrouping using multiple strategies , measuring using inches and centimeters, writing and answering multi step word problems and continuing to work with money and time. Sorry for the minimal updates due to tech problems. Check out some great photos of my fabulous, smart, busy 2nd graders!! I am sad to see this year end and am so proud of all my students!! What an amazing year! We are collaborating with a 1st grade class in Iowa (via Skype) and learning about life in China and Japan! In connection with our Informational Reading Unit, we are researching, learning, writing and sharing about China. We have done many wonderful this with this unit! Right now we are working on taking all of the information we have learned and writing a screen play about a journey to Mt. Everest, The Great Wall of China and the Yangtze River! Can't wait to share it! Visit our collaborative website! We are working on building this with Mrs. Peterson's class in Iowa! **Don't forget to sign up on Twitter and follow me @melundt! I try to tweet throughout the week to inform you of some of the things we are working on and to show you the students hard at work! :) **
|
Archives
May 2018
Categories |