This was a super fun week, Cinderella Week. Cinderella "like" stories have been written from around the world and we had a great time reading, comparing and contrasting them. Students made so many connections. We read stories from China, Africa, Korea, Russia, Egypt and Native Americans. I was very surprised that many students weren't familiar with the Disney version of Cinderella so Friday we watched it. I just love this unit. The stories are so simular and different at the same time. Be sure to ask your child to tell you about them.
We have been measuring up a storm and will continue to do so next week. Students will be familiar with inches, feet, yards, centimeters and meters. Next week, look around and talk about what unit of measure would be best for various objects in your home. For example, I'd measure my phone in inches but my chair in feet.
December is here already! It's hard to believe. There are lots of exciting things on our calendar this month. Be sure to keep you eyes open for important dates on our homework packets.
********Notes from Mrs. Potamis' Class
Sunday, December 3, 2017
Monday, November 20, 2017
Where Does the Time Go?
It's been too long since my last post. My intentions are to blog every week but life keeps getting in the way..........busy, busy, busy.
I'm thrilled to report that the students did an EXCELLENT job presenting their heritage projects. I was very impressed with all the fun information the students shared.
We have been reading Turk and Runt in class. I love this story. It's about two very different turkey brothers and how they save each other's life. Ask your child to tell you all about it.
We have also been reading Scaredy Squirrel stories. He's the cutest little guy but he's afraid of EVERYTHING. We are in the process of finishing our own Scaredy stories. The fifth graders heard all about Scaredy from Ms. Elin and want to read our stories. Hopefully they will be ready to share by Wednesday.
Mrs. W. came Friday with a Pete the Cat Thanksgiving story and a fun pine-cone turkey activity. It was great. We love having mystery readers. Please consider volunteering.
Tomorrow is the big day, our Thanksgiving feast! We made either Pilgrim or Native American hats/headbands today to wear. I can't wait. It is also black and orange day. Try to wear something black and orange to show your Woburn pride.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with food, family and friends.
I'm thrilled to report that the students did an EXCELLENT job presenting their heritage projects. I was very impressed with all the fun information the students shared.
We have been reading Turk and Runt in class. I love this story. It's about two very different turkey brothers and how they save each other's life. Ask your child to tell you all about it.
We have also been reading Scaredy Squirrel stories. He's the cutest little guy but he's afraid of EVERYTHING. We are in the process of finishing our own Scaredy stories. The fifth graders heard all about Scaredy from Ms. Elin and want to read our stories. Hopefully they will be ready to share by Wednesday.
Mrs. W. came Friday with a Pete the Cat Thanksgiving story and a fun pine-cone turkey activity. It was great. We love having mystery readers. Please consider volunteering.
Tomorrow is the big day, our Thanksgiving feast! We made either Pilgrim or Native American hats/headbands today to wear. I can't wait. It is also black and orange day. Try to wear something black and orange to show your Woburn pride.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with food, family and friends.
Monday, November 6, 2017
Heritage Project
I hope everyone has been working on their heritage projects. I'm so excited to see them. Each child will present his/her project next week. It's great to be able to learn from each other. It might be a good idea for students to practice presenting their information at home before they have to in class.
It's been crazy these past few weeks in school. Halloween is a HUGE deal to a second grader and the excitement is off the charts. We got by with some super fun rabbit stories. First, we read Creepy Carrots which is ALWAYS a class favorite. The carrots in Crackenhopper's Field tricked Jasper into solving their problem. Our second story was Wanted Ralfy Rabbit, Book Burglar . Even though Ralfy stole Arthur's favorite book, Arthur helped Ralfy solve his problem....legally.
We also spent a week using Stellaluna as our mentor text. I LOVE this story. Even though the main characters are VERY different, they are still family. We also read a Native American legend that "explained" why birds migrate every year. Did you know it was because Bat helped the mammals win a lacrosse game?
We are working hard solving math word problems. They are so tricky. Student really have to think about what the question is asking. Then they have to decide whether or not their answer makes sense. Our class is also testing a new online math program, at least new to us, Splashmath. It seems to be a HUGE hit with our second graders. Information went home last week on how your child can log in at home. Be sure to check it out.
Matter is the science unit we are studying. So far we have discussed the properties of solids, liquids and gases and have done some fun experiments along the way.
It's been crazy these past few weeks in school. Halloween is a HUGE deal to a second grader and the excitement is off the charts. We got by with some super fun rabbit stories. First, we read Creepy Carrots which is ALWAYS a class favorite. The carrots in Crackenhopper's Field tricked Jasper into solving their problem. Our second story was Wanted Ralfy Rabbit, Book Burglar . Even though Ralfy stole Arthur's favorite book, Arthur helped Ralfy solve his problem....legally.
We also spent a week using Stellaluna as our mentor text. I LOVE this story. Even though the main characters are VERY different, they are still family. We also read a Native American legend that "explained" why birds migrate every year. Did you know it was because Bat helped the mammals win a lacrosse game?
We are working hard solving math word problems. They are so tricky. Student really have to think about what the question is asking. Then they have to decide whether or not their answer makes sense. Our class is also testing a new online math program, at least new to us, Splashmath. It seems to be a HUGE hit with our second graders. Information went home last week on how your child can log in at home. Be sure to check it out.
Matter is the science unit we are studying. So far we have discussed the properties of solids, liquids and gases and have done some fun experiments along the way.
Friday, October 20, 2017
Monsters
This week we have been all about monsters! We read two great books. One was titled I Need My Monster and Hey, That's MY Monster by Amanda Noll. The children loved these books. Ethan cannot sleep without his scary monster under his bed. When that monster leaves, Ethan is not happy with the substitutes.
We wrote and shared some really great stories about monsters under OUR beds. As students shared them with the class, we wrote some positive comments on their work.
Our class has finished reading The Haunted Library. Kaz and Claire solved the mystery. Be sure to ask who the ghost was.
A special thanks to Woburn Fire for taking the time to teach us about fire safety. Be sure to check your fire alarm batteries and find a safe meeting place outside in case of an emergency.
REMINDER: Progress reports are in your child's folder. Be sure to sign it and return to school on Monday. Next Wednesday is a half day and parent/teacher conferences are on Thursday night.
We wrote and shared some really great stories about monsters under OUR beds. As students shared them with the class, we wrote some positive comments on their work.
Our class has finished reading The Haunted Library. Kaz and Claire solved the mystery. Be sure to ask who the ghost was.
A special thanks to Woburn Fire for taking the time to teach us about fire safety. Be sure to check your fire alarm batteries and find a safe meeting place outside in case of an emergency.
REMINDER: Progress reports are in your child's folder. Be sure to sign it and return to school on Monday. Next Wednesday is a half day and parent/teacher conferences are on Thursday night.
Sunday, October 15, 2017
Spiders and Crankenstein
Things are getting SPOOKY in second grade. Spooky may not be the...best word. Neither our spider unit or Crankenstein were scary at all. Students are now experts on spiders after reading Gail Gibbons' book Spiders along with a few other non-fiction spider books. Spiders are pretty amazing creatures. Did you know the biggest could be the size of a dinner plate? I hope I never run into that one.
Crankenstein is a little boy who is CRANKY. Well at least he is until he meets another Crankenstein. We talked about character traits and did a super fun directed drawing to go with this story. Everyone gets cranky sometimes, so we read and talked about ways to calm ourselves down when it happens to us. Some students had some super, great strategies to share.
The Haunted Library is the chapter book were are reading in class. The title may sound spooky and there are ghosts, but ye...not spooky. Kaz is a ghost who was blown away from his family and is now living in a library. He has made friends with a "solid" named Claire. I can't wait to see what happens next.
Students are becoming experts at place value and adding/subtracting 10 and 100 to numbers. YIPPEE!!!
Ms. Elin is rocking writers workshop with us. Students practiced "show don't tell" writing. This is when authors use describing words to show how a character is feeling instead of just telling us how. The makes the story so much more enjoyable to read!
I cannot WAIT until Wednesday!! Our first "mystery reader" is on the calendar. Do you know anyone who'd like to be a mystery reader? Just holler......we'd love to have them!!!
Crankenstein is a little boy who is CRANKY. Well at least he is until he meets another Crankenstein. We talked about character traits and did a super fun directed drawing to go with this story. Everyone gets cranky sometimes, so we read and talked about ways to calm ourselves down when it happens to us. Some students had some super, great strategies to share.
The Haunted Library is the chapter book were are reading in class. The title may sound spooky and there are ghosts, but ye...not spooky. Kaz is a ghost who was blown away from his family and is now living in a library. He has made friends with a "solid" named Claire. I can't wait to see what happens next.
Students are becoming experts at place value and adding/subtracting 10 and 100 to numbers. YIPPEE!!!
Ms. Elin is rocking writers workshop with us. Students practiced "show don't tell" writing. This is when authors use describing words to show how a character is feeling instead of just telling us how. The makes the story so much more enjoyable to read!
I cannot WAIT until Wednesday!! Our first "mystery reader" is on the calendar. Do you know anyone who'd like to be a mystery reader? Just holler......we'd love to have them!!!
Friday, September 29, 2017
The Invisible Boy
This week flew by. We started the week by reading The Invisible Boy. This story starts off very sad, I cried, but it ends happily. The illustrations in this book are interesting. Some pictures of Brian are in black and white and some have color. Ask your student what happens to cause Brian to become more colorful. We made lots of connections to this story and ourselves.
We practiced identifying and fixing sentences that were incomplete. We know that just because there is a capital at the beginning and punctuation at the end, it does not mean you've made a complete sentence.
Mrs. Maguire brought in some fun math games for us. Students have been practicing place value and are very good at it.
Our class is SUPER lucky to have Mrs. Comiero, a neighborhood grandmother, come every Thursday to read to the children. She started this week and read a story about a girl who likes something "different" to eat. This story reminded us of the Invisible Boy. Ask your child why? Remember, I'd love to have some dates for "super, secret mystery readers" booked. Let me know if you're interested.
In writing, we took our stories and made the beginnings more exciting and changed some ordinary words into WOW words. I'm looking forward to the finished product.
Some students "saw" some great "pictures" of students being kind today. We had lots of fun doing that.
We practiced identifying and fixing sentences that were incomplete. We know that just because there is a capital at the beginning and punctuation at the end, it does not mean you've made a complete sentence.
Mrs. Maguire brought in some fun math games for us. Students have been practicing place value and are very good at it.
Our class is SUPER lucky to have Mrs. Comiero, a neighborhood grandmother, come every Thursday to read to the children. She started this week and read a story about a girl who likes something "different" to eat. This story reminded us of the Invisible Boy. Ask your child why? Remember, I'd love to have some dates for "super, secret mystery readers" booked. Let me know if you're interested.
In writing, we took our stories and made the beginnings more exciting and changed some ordinary words into WOW words. I'm looking forward to the finished product.
Some students "saw" some great "pictures" of students being kind today. We had lots of fun doing that.
Saturday, September 23, 2017
We Love Emus
This week's mentor text was Edward the Emu. Our class loved Emu week. Edward kept trying to be something he wasn't because he thought other animals were better. Guess what? He was wrong. This is a super fun rhyming story that also introduces us to Edwina. Edwina has her own book as well. She learns what she really wants to be after trying to find the perfect job.
We watched some videos and read a non-fiction text about emus as well. Your child has lots of fun emu facts to share.
To help us master our addition and subtraction facts, each child was sent home with log-in information for xtramath. It is simply drill and practice, the faster and better your child gets, the more advanced the problems become. Ideally, students will have completed both levels by the end of the year. This will definitely happen if he/she plays at home.
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| even and odd |
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| subtraction practice |
Sunday, September 17, 2017
Camilla Cream
This week's mentor text was Bad Case of Stripes. We completed lots of activities that related back to this fun story. Camilla gets stripes, polka-dots, and even a tail. Ask your student to tell you about this story and what lesson Camilla learned.
We brainstormed Camilla's character traits, summarized the story, discussed why we should always be ourselves and even wrote what we would do if we came down with the stripes. Students also used the vocabulary in the story to practice ABC order.
In math we have been been working on number sense, skip counting and even /odd numbers. Here are some of our hands on activities.
It seems like everyone has settled into their new routines beautifully. This Thursday is a half day. Dismissal will be at 12:30 and lunch will be served.
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| Directed drawing |
We brainstormed Camilla's character traits, summarized the story, discussed why we should always be ourselves and even wrote what we would do if we came down with the stripes. Students also used the vocabulary in the story to practice ABC order.
In math we have been been working on number sense, skip counting and even /odd numbers. Here are some of our hands on activities.
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| sorry it's upside down |
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| sorting |
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| skip counting |
Saturday, September 9, 2017
WEEK ONE
We did it. We made it through our first week of school. Whoo hoo! This week was great. We have a AWESOME bunch. I'm super excited to share that Mrs. Duggan will be with us this year. She was an aide in Mrs. Farrell's class last year and did such a great job she was promoted to second grade. HOW LUCKY ARE WE???
We started off reading First Day Jitters by Julie Dannenberg. It's a fun story about a girl who does NOT want to go to the first day of her new school BUT there is a twist at the end. Ask your student to tell you about the surprise ending.
We played some games to help us become better friends. We searched the room to "find someone who....", we interviewed each other for our notebooks, and even played "I have...who has" to get to know the school staff better. We timed ourselves on "I have...who has" and MAY have broken a speed record. It was lots of fun.
Did you know there were hungry sharks in class? They were reviewing math strategies. Hungry sharks like to eat the biggest number of an equation then count on to find the sum. The students played a few shark games. I think shark attack might have been a favorite.
We were lucky enough to have music and gym this week. I'll be sure to put gym days on the homework packets (starting Monday) so you can be sure to have your student wearing sneakers that day.
Hope to see you this Thursday, Sept. 14th, for Back to School night @ 6:00. Come see what second grade is all about. You can also follow me on twitter -kpotamis- to get some peeks into your child's day.
On to week 2!!!!
We started off reading First Day Jitters by Julie Dannenberg. It's a fun story about a girl who does NOT want to go to the first day of her new school BUT there is a twist at the end. Ask your student to tell you about the surprise ending.
We played some games to help us become better friends. We searched the room to "find someone who....", we interviewed each other for our notebooks, and even played "I have...who has" to get to know the school staff better. We timed ourselves on "I have...who has" and MAY have broken a speed record. It was lots of fun.
Did you know there were hungry sharks in class? They were reviewing math strategies. Hungry sharks like to eat the biggest number of an equation then count on to find the sum. The students played a few shark games. I think shark attack might have been a favorite.
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| Candy Corn Shark |
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| Partner Game |
We were lucky enough to have music and gym this week. I'll be sure to put gym days on the homework packets (starting Monday) so you can be sure to have your student wearing sneakers that day.
Hope to see you this Thursday, Sept. 14th, for Back to School night @ 6:00. Come see what second grade is all about. You can also follow me on twitter -kpotamis- to get some peeks into your child's day.
On to week 2!!!!
Monday, August 21, 2017
Getting Ready
It's that time! Time to get ready for the new school year. Where does the summer go? I'm busy trying to squeeze in last minute summer fun AND trying to get our class ready for a new year.
As much as I don't want the leisurely life of summer to end, heading back to school is exciting. You get to see your old friends as well as meet new ones. Who doesn't love making new friends?
I've been busy this summer. Here are some highlights in pictures!
I even started setting up our classroom!
See you in September!
As much as I don't want the leisurely life of summer to end, heading back to school is exciting. You get to see your old friends as well as meet new ones. Who doesn't love making new friends?
I've been busy this summer. Here are some highlights in pictures!
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| Canada with friends |
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| 10K with teachers |
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| Mountains with family |
See you in September!
Friday, June 2, 2017
Shark Week
Get ready for it! Next week is SHARK WEEK. I'm super excited about it. I think the class is going to LOVE it. I have lots of fun activities ready to go. Students are going to go nuts over the fun STEAM activity. We will have the save a seal from the shark. We may even carry some lessons over into the following week. FUN FUN FUN.
Students have been writing a persuasive essay all week. We will continue that next week as well. I demonstrated by creating my own essay. I wrote a letter trying to convince Mr. Potamis that we need a house cleaner. I think I made some terrific arguments on why. I'm sure he's going to be swayed so if anyone has any good connections let me know.
We have been getting ready for third grade with some fraction practice and multiplication with arrays. How cool are we?
Next Thursday is a half day. Where does the time go?
Students have been writing a persuasive essay all week. We will continue that next week as well. I demonstrated by creating my own essay. I wrote a letter trying to convince Mr. Potamis that we need a house cleaner. I think I made some terrific arguments on why. I'm sure he's going to be swayed so if anyone has any good connections let me know.
We have been getting ready for third grade with some fraction practice and multiplication with arrays. How cool are we?
Next Thursday is a half day. Where does the time go?
Friday, May 26, 2017
Fireflies
This week we read both fiction and non-fiction books about Fireflies. I was shocked to learn that some children have never even seen a firefly. I remember seeing them all over my yard when I was a kid but not so much anymore. Keep your eyes open for them this summer.
We had some PIE in class. Not apple, or lemon meringue, but authors purpose PIE. The class searched and sorted titles for each piece; persuade, inform and entertain.
Students got a little rusty solving subtraction with regrouping problems so we had to do some practicing this week. We also have been learning about fractions.
I hope you got to enjoy our Memorial Day performance today. I know I may be biased but I think the second graders were the stars of the show.
I hope everyone enjoys a nice long weekend. C'mon SUMMER!
We had some PIE in class. Not apple, or lemon meringue, but authors purpose PIE. The class searched and sorted titles for each piece; persuade, inform and entertain.
Students got a little rusty solving subtraction with regrouping problems so we had to do some practicing this week. We also have been learning about fractions.
I hope you got to enjoy our Memorial Day performance today. I know I may be biased but I think the second graders were the stars of the show.
I hope everyone enjoys a nice long weekend. C'mon SUMMER!
Saturday, May 13, 2017
Poetry and Pigs
We've had a really fun couple of weeks. Students have been reading and writing poetry. It's has been lots of fun. Fourth grade has been working on poetry as well, so we invited them to join us in writing haikus. They read some of their work to us and we showed them some of our poems. Awesome!
The Three Little Pigs has been our reading theme this week. Our class read and charted numerous variations of this classic tale. We still have more versions we haven't had a chance to get to yet. Who knew there were so many?
Students ROCKED their mountain test. Can you find the Atlas Mountains on a map? I could either but my whole class can now.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Mother's Day. I'm actually not disappointed the weather will be soggy. It just might get me off a sporting field for a change.
The Three Little Pigs has been our reading theme this week. Our class read and charted numerous variations of this classic tale. We still have more versions we haven't had a chance to get to yet. Who knew there were so many?
Students ROCKED their mountain test. Can you find the Atlas Mountains on a map? I could either but my whole class can now.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Mother's Day. I'm actually not disappointed the weather will be soggy. It just might get me off a sporting field for a change.
Sunday, April 30, 2017
Math Fun
Monday we were lucky to have Ms. Jannergren visit our class. In honor of Autism Awareness Month, Ms. J had us made a puzzle peace full of things that make us unique and special. She is going to combine them with pieces made by other classes and display them. I cannot wait to see the finished product.
We have been reading Miss Rumphius. It's a wonderful story. In it, Alice has three goals and she accomplishes them all. Be sure to ask what those goals were. Students made their own lupine multiplication word problems. AWESOME!!
We also read Salt in His Shoes. It is a biography about Michael Jordan, written by his mother and sister. After reading this story, we could clearly tell Michael has a very supportive family. Are you wondering where that title came from? Ask your child.
Ms. O'Donohue, the district math specialist, brought a fun morning of Computation Celebration to second grade on Thursday. SUPER FUN! Be sure to check Twitter to see some pictures of the day. The cafeteria was FULL of math stations. We rotated around, playing. Some were easier than others. Be sure to ask which ones were your students favorite.
We have been reading Miss Rumphius. It's a wonderful story. In it, Alice has three goals and she accomplishes them all. Be sure to ask what those goals were. Students made their own lupine multiplication word problems. AWESOME!!
We also read Salt in His Shoes. It is a biography about Michael Jordan, written by his mother and sister. After reading this story, we could clearly tell Michael has a very supportive family. Are you wondering where that title came from? Ask your child.
Ms. O'Donohue, the district math specialist, brought a fun morning of Computation Celebration to second grade on Thursday. SUPER FUN! Be sure to check Twitter to see some pictures of the day. The cafeteria was FULL of math stations. We rotated around, playing. Some were easier than others. Be sure to ask which ones were your students favorite.
Friday, April 21, 2017
Happy Vacation
I hope everyone is enjoying their April vacation. I haven't done anything super exciting but am still enjoying every bit of it.
I have been doing a little planning this week and have lots of fun things in store. We already did a baseball reading unit which included some Jackie Robinson. So, I think we will try out a little basketball, featuring Michael Jordan. I'm also thinking POETRY. We will read it, write it, share it and have lots of fun doing so.
I can't wait to hear what everyone has been doing this week. See you Monday!
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
St. Patrick's Day
Last week was filled with all sorts of St. Patrick's Day stories and activities. We read That's What Leprechauns Do by Eve Bunting. The three main characters of that story were very mischievous. We also read Clever Tom and the Leprechaun by Linda Shute. Tom ALMOST found the leprechaun's gold.
We had quite a few learning centers going last week. We sorted common and proper nouns, sequenced numbers, found missing addends and told time to name a few.
This week we finished reading our chapter biograghy on Louis Braille. Be sure to ask your child to tell you all about him. We are also reading Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty. Rosie is a little engineer who came close to giving up on her dreams. Good thing great-great aunt Rose (AKA Rosie the Riveter) encouraged her to never give up. It's a fun rhyming story that teaches a great lesson.
Monday we did Yoga with Sharon Marrama. She is also a published children's author and she gave us an autographed copy of her book The Boy With the Pink Socks. Her yoga students are also published authors of a titled called What's in Your Pot? Each pot is filled with things that make them happy. We created our own version of this book that we will share soon. Yoga was super fun and kid friendly. I'd encourage you to check her out at www.herecomesthesunyoga.com.
We have some important dates coming up. Next Tuesday, March 28 is parent teacher conferences. Wednesday, March 29 is a half day of school. Friday, April 7th is our Spring Showcase at Woburn High. We will be walking to and from the high school so please keep that in mind when dressing your child that day. We will be singing 2 songs with the Hurld School.
We had quite a few learning centers going last week. We sorted common and proper nouns, sequenced numbers, found missing addends and told time to name a few.
This week we finished reading our chapter biograghy on Louis Braille. Be sure to ask your child to tell you all about him. We are also reading Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty. Rosie is a little engineer who came close to giving up on her dreams. Good thing great-great aunt Rose (AKA Rosie the Riveter) encouraged her to never give up. It's a fun rhyming story that teaches a great lesson.
Monday we did Yoga with Sharon Marrama. She is also a published children's author and she gave us an autographed copy of her book The Boy With the Pink Socks. Her yoga students are also published authors of a titled called What's in Your Pot? Each pot is filled with things that make them happy. We created our own version of this book that we will share soon. Yoga was super fun and kid friendly. I'd encourage you to check her out at www.herecomesthesunyoga.com.
We have some important dates coming up. Next Tuesday, March 28 is parent teacher conferences. Wednesday, March 29 is a half day of school. Friday, April 7th is our Spring Showcase at Woburn High. We will be walking to and from the high school so please keep that in mind when dressing your child that day. We will be singing 2 songs with the Hurld School.
Sunday, March 12, 2017
Biographies
We have continued to read and write biographies this week. Our mentor text was Me...Jane, a biography about Jane Goodall as a child. It's wonderful to see a young girl grow up to live her childhood dreams. Students also learned a little about chimpanzees in the process. The class did a tricky directed drawing of Jane. I wanted to do the easier drawing of a chimpanzee but the students were all about JANE. They came out great.
Keeping with the biography theme, our class is also reading a chapter book about Louis Braille. He has just gotten settled in at a school for blind boys in Paris. He left his family to attend this school when he was 10.
Students wrote their biographies for the district. They either wrote about George Washington or Abraham Lincoln because we had been learning so much about them recently. I haven't read any of them yet but I'm sure they are AWESOME! I'm saving the correcting for a SNOW DAY. Looks like I'll get to it this week.
Our autobiographies came out great too. We are in the process of editing them. Mrs. Maloney has been leading both second grade classes in this Writers Workshop lesson and clearly it has paid off. I'm very impressed with what I've seen so far.
Directions will be coming home for our biography research projects on Monday. Keep your eyes open for that.
We used the IPADS in class this week. Students are psyched for them. Our lexia challenge for March is to level up. So far we've already had some students do so. Please encourage your child to practice at home.
Next week is St. Patrick's Day. I've got all sorts of "games" planned. What's better than learning and having fun at the same time????
Keeping with the biography theme, our class is also reading a chapter book about Louis Braille. He has just gotten settled in at a school for blind boys in Paris. He left his family to attend this school when he was 10.
Students wrote their biographies for the district. They either wrote about George Washington or Abraham Lincoln because we had been learning so much about them recently. I haven't read any of them yet but I'm sure they are AWESOME! I'm saving the correcting for a SNOW DAY. Looks like I'll get to it this week.
Our autobiographies came out great too. We are in the process of editing them. Mrs. Maloney has been leading both second grade classes in this Writers Workshop lesson and clearly it has paid off. I'm very impressed with what I've seen so far.
Directions will be coming home for our biography research projects on Monday. Keep your eyes open for that.
We used the IPADS in class this week. Students are psyched for them. Our lexia challenge for March is to level up. So far we've already had some students do so. Please encourage your child to practice at home.
Next week is St. Patrick's Day. I've got all sorts of "games" planned. What's better than learning and having fun at the same time????
Friday, March 3, 2017
Back at it
We have jumped back into the swing of things, after a nice summer-feeling vacation, with both feet. We have been reading about both Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. We know lots of facts about both. This is great because next week we need to write a biography for the district.
To help us prepare for this district writing assessment, we have combined both second grades and have been working on writing autobiographies with our special guest teacher..............Mrs. Maloney!!!! They are coming along beautifully. Her experience with Writers Workshop has helped us write fantastic leads. I can't wait to read their finished products.
Some students got REALLY rusty with subtraction. We have practiced all week and will continue to do so until we work out all the kinks.
The PTO has a trivia night planned. I hope lots of grown-ups plan to attend. It's a fun night that you won't want to miss.
To help us prepare for this district writing assessment, we have combined both second grades and have been working on writing autobiographies with our special guest teacher..............Mrs. Maloney!!!! They are coming along beautifully. Her experience with Writers Workshop has helped us write fantastic leads. I can't wait to read their finished products.
Some students got REALLY rusty with subtraction. We have practiced all week and will continue to do so until we work out all the kinks.
The PTO has a trivia night planned. I hope lots of grown-ups plan to attend. It's a fun night that you won't want to miss.
Friday, February 17, 2017
Valentine/Hundred Day
Tuesday was a very exciting day in second grade. Not only was it Valentine's Day but it was also the 100th day of school. The day was a whirlwind. We flipped flopped back and forth from one "holiday" to the other all day. One activity was to write about being 100 years old, they could have written about their life at that time or what they've done in their hundred years. We read them aloud and I LOVED hearing about their future selves. To add even more excitement to the day, it was the first day back after an extended snowy weekend.... crazy fun!
We watched a read aloud of our mentor text, Each Kindness. I told the kids I both hated and loved this story. I hated how the students were mean to the new girl but loved how one student realized how terrible she had been. I'm glad she learned her lesson. The author writes that kindness is like tossing a stone in a puddle, the ripples reach far and wide (those weren't her exact words but close enough). I thought it was an excellent lesson to learn. Unfortunately, the main character learned it a little to late.
As a follow-up activity, we played a game that the student were super excited about. We secretively pick a name and watched that student throughout the day. We were like detectives and spies. At the end of the day, we shared the kind things we observed our student do. Students loved it so much they begged to play again. The second day, the students wrote about the kind things they observed. It was certainly a feel good activity and made each student strive to be even MORE kind than their usual awesome selves.
Have a fun vacation everyone!
We watched a read aloud of our mentor text, Each Kindness. I told the kids I both hated and loved this story. I hated how the students were mean to the new girl but loved how one student realized how terrible she had been. I'm glad she learned her lesson. The author writes that kindness is like tossing a stone in a puddle, the ripples reach far and wide (those weren't her exact words but close enough). I thought it was an excellent lesson to learn. Unfortunately, the main character learned it a little to late.
As a follow-up activity, we played a game that the student were super excited about. We secretively pick a name and watched that student throughout the day. We were like detectives and spies. At the end of the day, we shared the kind things we observed our student do. Students loved it so much they begged to play again. The second day, the students wrote about the kind things they observed. It was certainly a feel good activity and made each student strive to be even MORE kind than their usual awesome selves.
Have a fun vacation everyone!
Friday, January 27, 2017
Alexander
This week has been lots of fun reading about Alexander. There are lots of stories staring him and things just never seem to go his way.
In math, we started subtracting across zero. This means tricky math problems like 200-164. The kids are totally rocking it. Let's hope they keep up the hard work because this can be TRICKY.
I happy to report we have a new student. He started Thursday with us from the Altavesta. Luckily, he already knew a few students so is fitting in right away.
Our animal reports are moving right along. Next Wednesday, the dioramas are due. Hopefully we will have finished our final copy of our report and be ready to present. Students really seem to be enjoying this project.
We have finished reading Amber Brown is Not a Crayon. I just love this story. Amber and Justin get in a fight but they work it out at the end.
In math, we started subtracting across zero. This means tricky math problems like 200-164. The kids are totally rocking it. Let's hope they keep up the hard work because this can be TRICKY.
I happy to report we have a new student. He started Thursday with us from the Altavesta. Luckily, he already knew a few students so is fitting in right away.
Our animal reports are moving right along. Next Wednesday, the dioramas are due. Hopefully we will have finished our final copy of our report and be ready to present. Students really seem to be enjoying this project.
We have finished reading Amber Brown is Not a Crayon. I just love this story. Amber and Justin get in a fight but they work it out at the end.
Saturday, January 21, 2017
MLK and Iditarod
The past two weeks have been lots of fun. We studied Martin Luther King Jr. last week. We read lots of stories about him and even wrote our own "dream" for the future.
This week Akiak was our mentor text. Akiak is a fictional Iditarod sled dog that ran the race by himself, well most of it anyway. Did you know that the Iditarod race is 1,151 miles and lasts up to 10 days? Your student has more facts they can share with you.
We were thrilled to have the fifth graders come and write a paragraph about habitats with us. Coincidentally, they are working on biome projects and dioramas at the same time as us. The fifth graders were awesome. They had lots of interesting facts to share and helped us write bold beginnings and conclusion sentences. I think both grades benefited from the experience.
Everyone passed in their animal notes and we started writing our reports. The first two paragraphs went smoothly and students were heard saying, "this is fun". Some students have already finished their dioramas. They look great. I can't wait until we are ready to present.
Amber Brown's best friend, Justin, is moving. Ask your child to tell you more about their story. We have been reading about them all week.
Next Tuesday is a half day and dismissal is at 12:30. Teachers will be working on progress reports that will be going home next Friday.
This week Akiak was our mentor text. Akiak is a fictional Iditarod sled dog that ran the race by himself, well most of it anyway. Did you know that the Iditarod race is 1,151 miles and lasts up to 10 days? Your student has more facts they can share with you.
We were thrilled to have the fifth graders come and write a paragraph about habitats with us. Coincidentally, they are working on biome projects and dioramas at the same time as us. The fifth graders were awesome. They had lots of interesting facts to share and helped us write bold beginnings and conclusion sentences. I think both grades benefited from the experience.
Everyone passed in their animal notes and we started writing our reports. The first two paragraphs went smoothly and students were heard saying, "this is fun". Some students have already finished their dioramas. They look great. I can't wait until we are ready to present.
Amber Brown's best friend, Justin, is moving. Ask your child to tell you more about their story. We have been reading about them all week.
Next Tuesday is a half day and dismissal is at 12:30. Teachers will be working on progress reports that will be going home next Friday.
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