Weekly Update

We had so much fun bowling! A big THANK YOU to the Park Parent's Club for getting us a pizza lunch too! The kids all really had a good time!

Writing:

The second graders turned in their movie reviews this past week! We will score them and start working on a restaurant review next week. The second graders are getting good at writing their opinion and then following it up with details and examples. We have also been working on the main idea of each review - which isn't exactly the same as their topic. The topic might be Culver's, but a main idea would be: Culver's has the best fast food around.

Math:

We have been adding up to 1,000 this week! The second graders are also getting into earning coins and counting their money. They have been asking when they can shop so I think we will try to do that towards the end of this week.

It was hard work counting 1,000 cubes! First we counted ones into 10s, then 10s into 100s, and finally 100s into 1,000!

Social Studies:

We studied the idea of empathy this week. The second graders learned the definition and we learned about seeing things from someone else's perspective. We watched the book Enemy Pie, which is great for perspective taking.

Reading: 

We are still working on being great reading coaches for each other (an ourselves). This week we talked about identifying the characters and their problem right away to help retell the story and stay focused on comprehension.

Phonics:

The second graders got their assignment from BLC to build a vowel manual and they have started. We collected some examples of the ways the long a sound can be spelled and we added some tips to help remember when to use which spelling. Vowels are the trickiest parts of words and the second graders are doing great work breaking down the long vowel spellings.

Homework:

With all of the snow days this week we didn't get much time to work on Valentine cards in class. We were aiming for 10 to be done by last week, but most didn't make that goal simply because we didn't have time time. I usually don't let the kids bring cards home to work on, but you may have noticed your second grader brought a few home. It was completely optional, so if you didn't see any that's ok! We will be hard at work on them this coming week.

Extra Information:

Hot lunch for Monday: Apple Cinnamon Texas Toast or Cheese Pizza

Hot lunch for Tuesday: White choice: Cheese Pizza Bites or Corn Dog

Back to normal for the rest of the week.

Jan 30: Report Cards and STAR reports come home

Feb 4: 100th Day of School

Feb 9-10: Winter Break

Feb 13: Valentine Celebration

There are still a couple things we would love to have for our celebration. If you want to see what's left on the wish list click here: Sign-Up Genius If that is full the second graders always love to decorate their cards with stickers like these from Amazon.

Feb 27: VIP Bowling

February is also the start of the Kids Heart Challenge. The students get a wristband just for signing up and there are instant prizes again this year - which are always a big deal! There was info in the Park Newsletter, but I'm adding it here too : )

Weekly Update

Writing:

We have big two writing projects going right now. As part of our writing curriculum we are writing persuasive reviews. The second graders are writing about a movie they think is worth watching. We have talked about the elements of movies that may persuade people to watch them and the second graders are getting good at using persuasive language. 

The second project we are working on is writing valentine cards. Every day when they finish their morning work the second graders have been writing individualized messages. It can be tricky to come up with three sentences for every person, but the second graders are working hard and making a dent in the number of cards they have left to write. Thank you to everyone who has sent in stickers so far! Decorating won't happen until we are farther along with writing, so it's not too late to send decorations in!

As a class we counted over 2,000
craft sticks!

 

Math:

The second graders finished the Unit 5 Screener this week and while this unit is primarily focused on working with larger numbers there is also a focus on learning coin names and values and working with money. To help the second graders get some authentic practice Mrs Hills and I started a penny economy. Each second grader designed a "wallet" and everyone got one penny, nickel, dime, and quarter. Students have been earning pennies to add to their wallet in many ways including by walking quietly in the hallway, taking care of their boots, and cleaning up after themselves. They have also been losing pennies for interrupting, being off task, or not taking care of materials. Eventually the second graders will be able to "spend" their money on things like rulers, new pencils, stickers, and trinkets. They have already been "buying" a turn at leading our line and using flexible or special seating. If your second grader has a collection of trinkets they want to donate to our store feel free to send it to school! Mr Weber already donated a whole bunch of stuffies for us to "sell"! As a special incentive this week homework that gets turned in on Monday is worth 5¢!

Phonics:

Did your second grader tell you that we were hired? We are BLC's newest Phonics Construction Team. We don't have any assignments from them yet, so we are brushing up on our phonics skills and spelling strategies while we wait. Gus, our class pet, was a little nervous that he wasn't going to be good enough, so the second graders wrote him encouraging notes.

Reading:

As the second graders are giving more and more challenging books a try they may need a little more coaching so that has been our continued focus in reading. Students have been practicing with some sentence stems and reading out loud to each other to get targeted feedback. They are doing a fantastic job coaching each other!

SEL:

We revisited our classroom charter this week and make a few updates. We added to the things we can do to help everyone feel Safe, Happy, and Calm and Relaxed. Everyone agreed those words are still a great focus for our class. This is a great group of kids and they really do make our classroom a safe, happy, and calm learning environment!

Homework:

A double-sided math page went home in Friday's mail. It is due by this coming Friday 1/23.

Extra Information:

We go bowling this Thursday 1-22 from 12-2. We will be having a pizza lunch at the bowling alley so no need to pack a lunch that day!!

Remember you don't have to buy Valentine cards but if you want to send in some stickers of other decorations we would love it! Just make sure your second grader knows what is to share with the class and what is just for their cards.

Mrs Hills made us a Sign-Up Genius for the Valentine's Day celebration we will have on February 13. It's still a little way out, but if you want to sign up the link is right here: Valentine Party Supplies

Thanks in advance!

January Specials

 

Weekly Update

We had a great first week back! The weather looks a little crazy for next week so please, please help your second grader remember to wear boots and pack shoes and snowpants. Remember you can always have your second grader leave shoes for PE at school - that's especially helpful on days they forget to pack shoes : ) The January specials calendar is on the flip side of the December one that is already in your child's yellow folder. It is also linked here: January Specials

Writing:

We did some resolution writing for the new year. The second graders brainstormed things they would like to get better at or a healthy habit they want to work on this year. Then we wrote a how or a why statement and made a yeti to go with it. They are all so "yeti" for the new year : ) Next week we will start the second half of our persuasive unit which is review writing. The second graders wrote a "review" of winter that we will be scoring with the checklist. This will give them an idea of areas to work on. Then we will start writing a movie review. 

Phonics:

We have been working on our application to BLC to join their team of Word Builders. They have a list of qualifications that we are working on in class. We can write every sound we hear efficiently and we know that every syllable has a vowel, so we are off to a good start!

Math:

The second graders finished their assessments this week. These will go home early next week. As you look them over with your second grader remember that only the standards highlighted in blue on the scoring sheet are tested to mastery for this assessment. The other standards are still in progress. Additionally if your child does end up with a 1 or 2 on their report card there will be a chance for additional instruction and reassessment.

Reading:

This unit is all about supportive partnerships and the second graders are off to a great start. Reading partners are not reading together, but reading near each other so that if one of them runs into trouble in their book they can check in with their partner. So we have been working on reading strategies to conquer the most common problems second graders run into while reading: word-solving and comprehension.

Homework:

It involves measuring so the second graders' inchworm rulers came home in Friday's mail along with the homework. The ruler does not need to come back, but the two-sided math page is due Jan 16.

Extras:

January 13: Skating Party at Tarry Hall at 6:15

January 16: Early Release

January 22: Our class goes bowling with Mr Beimers! We will leave for Hudsonville Lanes at 12 and have a Park Parents' Club sponsored pizza lunch! We will be back to school by 2:00!

February 14: Valentines Day

I know it seems far away, but I want to let you know that you do not need to buy Valentine's cards this year. In second grade we write our own! It is a fantastic authentic writing exercise and we get to practice the friendly letter format. So each second grader will be writing a card with three sentences, a greeting, and a closing for every classmate. It's a great community-building project and hopefully alleviates some of the stress around Valentines at home. We will need supplies though and stickers a second graders' favorites. So if you see some at the store and want to grab them for us that would be great! Just make sure you and your second grader decide if they are for your child's cards or for everyone. Amazon has some great rolls of fun stickers too : )

February 27: VIP Bowling

Weekly Update

The second graders earned an extra recess last week with their good behavior! We had the whole playground to ourselves. It was so much fun!

Writing:

We wrapped up the letter writing part of our persuasive unit. The second graders wrote to Mrs. Stefanich,  first grade and kindergarten teachers, as well as a kindergartener. We got a letter back from Mr Webber which was really fun! We ended the week by looking over the letters the second graders wrote to Mrs. Stefanich as a pretest. They looked over their graders and wrote new letters that we will deliver next week. Next week we will do some holiday-themed writing that uses some of those persuasive skills!

Reading:

This week we continued to review strategies for when readers run into tricky words. The second graders are really turning into great readers! We also read more stories where the main character is trying to be persuasive. 

Math:

We have been doing so much measuring in math.  The second graders have measured with feet, yards, and inches.  Next week, there will be a check point on what we have been learning. We will wrap up this unit a few days after the Holiday Break by taking our test within that first week back.

Phonics:

The second grader have been playing games and learning about some tricky troublemaker words this week. The second graders brought their words and directions for each of the games home on Friday. Hopefully they can teach you how to play the games with them at home. We will practice spelling these tricky words next week as well as doing some fun holiday related word work.

Homework:

The math page is due by December 19.

Extra Information:

Spirit Week is next week!

My last day will be December 16, but I'll be back in January! Mrs King will be filling in for me Weds-Fri next week.

December 19- Last Day Before Holiday Break! If you signed up to bring anything for our classroom festivities, THANK YOU!  You can bring items to school any time this coming week.

Christmas Sign Up Genius

January 5-First Day back!

Weekly Update

Writing

The second graders are off to a great start writing persuasive letters. They have the structure pretty much figured out. They write great beginnings and use transition words pretty consistently. Where everyone needs to improve is in volume. They just need to say more to be more persuasive! We will work on adding details and examples next week!

Math

We did so much measuring this week! We measured objects in the room with teacher feet and then with giant feet. We also cut sting to the side of our heads, measured it using tiles and then used it to help estimate the length of things in the room. We will continue to work on both estimating and measuring accurately next week. The homework page is a two truths and a lie which does not have the second graders measuring, but using some reasoning skills about measurements. It should make for some good math talk at home : )

Reading

In reading this week we explored ways to figure out the tricky words the second graders will inevitably be coming across as they read harder and harder books. One fun thing we did this week was to coach each other through tricky words. It was awesome to see the second graders reminding each other of the strategies we know to figure out hard words! We also read a few books where the main character tries to be persuasive. 

Phonics

We have been studying high-frequency words that are longer, homophones, or just more complexly spelled. The second grader can play the game Mind Reader with their word cards and we also learned a game like Guess Who? which focuses on features of the words. Playing games with the "troublemaker" words helps the second grader get more exposure to reading and writing them. This then helps them independently read and write these words.

Social Studies

Last week we studied the word accepted, so this week we worked on rejected. We read Strictly No Elephants and The Day the Crayons quit. The neat thing about these books is that their characters do some problem solving and find ways to feel accepted - by finding a new group of friends and by talking to someone about how they feel. 

Holiday Things

Click to find the Sign Up Genius for our last of school before break. Mrs Hills made it for our class, so you will see her name on it, but it really is just for our class. It's pretty short and will help make our last day a little sweeter. I am having a small surgery on the 17th, so my last day before break will be Tuesday, December 16. I am sad that I won't be there for the last day, but we will be doing lots of festive things leading up to till then so I won't miss all the fun with the second graders! Our sub will be Mrs King who taught 2nd grade at Park for many years. She will do a great job sending the students off to break.

Upcoming Dates

December 10 Santa's Shop Day for our class

December 12 Early release day

December 16 This will be the last day our high school volunteer Miss Pell will be in our class! We will send her off with a little gift - If your student would like to write her a card or give her a little something they are welcome to do that, but it is not necessary : ) We have loved having her work with us this semester and we will miss seeing her every day!

December 19 Last day before Break

January 5 Back to school

Weekly Update

Thanks to everyone who helped out with our first service project of the year: pie making! It was a huge success and the second graders felt really great about gifting someone a pie and sparking some joy. We could not have done it without all of your help!

Did you hear that we won the food drive? We are beyond excited to have been the class to bring in the most items, but we know that the food drive is not about winning a contest. The second graders are proud to have been part of a great community project like PES CARES! 

Writing:

Last Tuesday each of the second graders brought home a folder of all of their informational writing. Stapled into that folder is a grade sheet. I met with each student and we reviewed what their grades would be if report cards came out last week. Writing won't be on the semester report card as it is only reported at the end of the year, so I like to make sure I give progress reports as we go. Next week we will be starting our unit on persuasive writing. This is a fun one where the second graders write letters about the books they are reading.

Math:

A math update went home on Tuesday as well. The Unit 3 test, checkpoint and a few work samples were all stapled together with a progress report on top. If you have questions let me know. Even if there is a skill that is highlighted in blue that your child has a 2 on right now, it's not time to panic. We have 5 units still to go!

Reading:

We will be reading books about characters who are trying to be persuasive to support our work in writing. Our next reading unit is about building word-solving muscles. As the second graders gain levels and read harder and harder books they will run into longer and more complex words. We will build on skills they already have and add some new word solving strategies.

Phonics: 

We are starting a unit on troublemaker words. These are high frequency words that are a little trickier to spell. We will be practicing how to spell them all week by learning their sounds and then playing all kinds of games with them. It will be a fun week in phonics!

Upcoming Dates:

December 2: Holiday Music Program

We will take a bus to the church to practice on stage in the morning. Our program starts at 7:30

December 8-10: Santa's Shop

December 12: Early Release

December 19: Last Day Before Break