Mystery Reader

Thank you to Woodson's mom for coming in to be our first Mystery Reader!  We loved the Soda Pop Head story.  The students thought about this book today in class when we read a poem called "The Soda Shop".   The book taught us some great ways to de-fizz when we get angry.

SUPER STARS!

Look at the SUPER "STAR" FISH from the last two weeks of school! :) Way to go on making your way to the top of the clip chart!  I appreciate your hard work and being a leader by showing how to Be Safe, Be Responsible, and Be Respectful at school!  

Observing Soils

This week the students shared their prior knowledge about sand, clay, and humus.  Then, they were able to closely observe these three types of soils using their senses to see what else they could learn about the soils.  I was impressed with what they already knew about the soil (see the picture above)!  Next week we will continue to do some observations of the soils and then we will start doing some experiments with the soil.  The students absolutely love getting dirty!!

C.A.F.E.

This week the students were introduced to the C.A.F.E. menu during reading.  C.A.F.E. is an acronym for comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and expanding vocabulary.   Whenever we go out to a restaurant, we look at a menu that contains many different types of drinks and food to order.  Usually we order a drink to quench our thirst and something yummy to eat to satisfy our hunger.  Well, when we read, we should be picking items from the C.A.F.E. menu that will help us become the best readers possible.  This week, we focused on the "C" for comprehension.  The students learned the importance of stopping every few pages to "Check for Understanding".  The students met "Mr. Check-In"  to help them remember what types of questions they can ask as they are reading to monitor their comprehension.  If they aren't able to retell or explain what they read, they should go back and re-read.  Your child should have "Mr. Check-In" in their Take Home folder.  Please encourage them to use him at home to help them monitor their comprehension.  Comprehension will be a major area of focus throughout the year due to the increasing importance of having a deeper understanding of what we are reading.  We also focused on the comprehension strategy of "Making Connections" while reading.  This is where the students connect something they read to another book, their life, or to the world.  Making connections helps students better understand the book and how the characters feel within the story.  Next week the students will learn about some of the choices under the "F" that will help them become more fluent readers.

Word Work Fun

This week the students played Tic-Tac-Toe to help them practice their spelling words.  They received a Word Work Tic-Tac-Toe board and had to pick one activity a day to help them practice their spelling words.  They had to make a Tic-Tac-Toe to complete the sheet by the end of the week.  This week some of the favorite student choices were to paint the words or use other materials to spell the words and then take a picture with the camera, write silly sentences using their words, and making a Word Search with their words and then choosing a partner to complete it.  Each week their Tic-Tac-Toe board will have a variety of choices to pick from so students have choice in what interests them the most.  Look at some of the "Word Work" from this week.      

Compost Bottles

This week in science the students made compost bottles using the plastic bottles they brought in from home.  They filled their bottles with clay, sand, humus, grass, leaves, soil, and worms.  Then, they made some worm homes to cover their compost bottle to simulate being underground.  We will let the compost bottles sit for five weeks and then look at the changes that occurred over the five week period.  The students are very excited about these compost bottles.  Many of them even decided to name their worms! :)

YAHOO!! WE DID IT!!

YAHOO!  WE DID IT!  I am SO proud of the class for reaching their stamina goal of 20 minutes for "Read to Self"!!  They have been working hard on making sure they follow the expected behaviors during "Read to Self".  Look at all of the intense reading faces from today.  Way to go second graders!!

 

Daily Five Expectations

WOW!! I am very impressed with how well the students are doing with remembering the expectations for Daily Five this year.  This week the students have been working on their "Read to Self" stamina.  So far, our class has a "Read to Self" stamina of 14 minutes.  The students are excited to reach our class goal of 20 minutes!  The students are also working on "Read to Someone" in class.  Their stamina for this is already close to 20 minutes.  Next week we will be focusing on "Listening to Reading" and "Word Work" along with continuing to build our reading stamina.  Look at some of the awesome "Read to Someone" pairs from class today!! :)

Getting Dirty!!

Today the students did their first observation for our Soils unit for science. The students had to share what they knew about soil, come up with questions that they had about soil, observe the soil like scientists, and then share what they found in their soil.  The kids had a great time exploring the soil!  They were all very eager to see if their soil had worms or other living organisms.  If you have time this weekend, ask your child to describe the soil they observed during class.

Teamwork Challenge

 This week we had a teamwork challenge on the sixth day of school.  Each child was put into small groups and received six puzzle pieces.  Their challenge was to work with their team to put together their puzzle without any talking. They had to learn how to overcome not being able to verbally communicate with one another.  I was very impressed with how well they worked together to complete this challenge.  After the challenge we shared strategies that they used to help them complete the puzzle and the obstacles they had to overcome to complete the challenge.  

Plates???

Why are second graders walking around with plates on their heads you ask?  Well, these hardworking students need some breaks throughout the day to rest their brains so they can get refocused and re-energized.  The kids tried out a new brain break this week called "Plates".  They have to walk around the room balancing a paper plate on their head.  If their plate falls off, they are frozen.  The only way they can get unfrozen is if another student puts their paper plate on top of their head again.  The trick is that the student doing this has to keep their plate on their head too.  This is one of our favorite brain breaks so far this year!

Super "STAR" FISH

Look at the group of kids who reached the top of the clip chart this week.  Congratulations on making excellent choices!  You are definitely SUPER "STARS"!

Whopper Work

Look at these examples of "Whopper" writing from class today!  Awesome work!!

The First Twelve Days of Second Grade

To add a little excitement to the beginning of the year, our class is doing our version of the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas", which is "The First Twelve Days of Second Grade".   Each day the students are given something based off the day of school we are on.  On the first day of school, they got a seashell from the sea since our class has an ocean theme.  On the second day of school, they got two Hershey's bars since we all like a little something sweet once in awhile.  Today was the third day of school and the students got three balloons.  We had a blast popping the balloons and playing a little Balloon Ping-Pong!

Whopper Work

This week the students learned about "Whopper" work.  When you have a chance, ask your child to tell you about my Whopper story from over the summer.  They got a good laugh out of it! :)  "Whopper" work is the highest-quality of work that you can possibly do.  "Whopper" work is when you give 110% and put forth your best effort.  It is very neat, there are no mistakes, and it looks like teacher work.  "Cheeseburger" work is a lot of effort given, easy to read, neat, and taking your time but there may be a minor mistake.  "Cheeseburger" work is still good though! :)  "Hamburger" work and "Bun" work are unacceptable because little effort is given, the work is messy and hard to read, and there are quite a few mistakes.  "Hamburger" and "Bun" work means you have to redo your work. :(

"Whopper" work examples coming soon!!