Thursday, March 21, 2024

weekly update

Writing:

We have been working so hard on writing persuasive letters to different people about books we have read. This week we learned how to address an envelope, which is not as easy as it looks! We have written to friends, family, staff, and authors, and we still have more to say! This week we wrote to Miss T, our former student teacher. Did you know she is our building substitute teacher? We recommended books for her classroom library when she gets her own classroom. She wrote back thanking us for our great recommendations!

Math:

The second graders are really doing great counting money. This week we related money and base-10 blocks and worked on number sense and place value in the high hundreds. If you haven't yet, see if your second grader can count a pocket full of change at home.

Reading:

After working hard the first part of the week, on  Thursday the second graders presented posters from their book clubs to Mrs Kunzi's class. Each group shared their poster and explained about the series their book club read. Everyone also had to say one reason they recommend the series. Everyone was very persuasive and many second graders included examples from their series books to back up their opinion statements. It was fun to see how writing and reading skills came together for their presentations.

Thanks to everyone who came in to be a mystery reader - and those who will come next week too. We have been loving listening to our mystery readers!

One other reading thing we have been doing this month is something called March Book Madness. We have been reading different picture books and then voting for which one should advance. It has been lots of fun reading these books and then re-reading the winner as they move closer to the finals! This week we made it to the Great Eight. Next week will be the Final Four and then the March Book Madness Picture Book Championship! 

Phonics:

It really is more vocabulary work than phonics, but this week the second graders played a few games of connections. Mr Tom even joined us for a game. It was tough!! Then the second graders made their own. I have been using this site to find games for us to play as a class: Swellgarfo (Disclaimer: I have not looked at all of these, so I can not vouch for the content of all of the games. I do however always check the ones I intend to play with the second graders. To make sure it is appropriate for our class I play the whole game all the way to the end!) Towards the end of the week we made our own connections games. I'm hoping to use that same site to turn the second graders' plans into real games and add them to Google Classroom!

We have also been using some of our phonics time to work on handwriting and mechanics work, as well as writing complete sentences. If you haven't seen these "stretchy sentences" yet, check your child's mail this weekend. They have been doing amazing work!

Social Studies:

This week we explored the feeling word Embarrassed. We used the book Ira Sleeps Over to talk about how feeling embarrassed is a normal, although unpleasant, feeling. We talked about thought and action strategies we can take to help us move away from feeling embarrassed, and we talked about how important self talk is. Instead of saying "I'm so dumb" we came up with some alternative self-talk. There is optional homework that talks about this feeling word too. Next week we talk about the feeling word Hopeful.

Extra Information:

Dress Up Days next week!



Friday, March 15, 2024

weekly update

Writing:

We are working hard on writing persuasive letters about books. Everyone wrote a letter to Mrs Stefanich recommending a book and she wrote back to the class!! In her letter she mentioned everyone by name and talked about their book recommendation. It was really fun to see and hear (I read it out loud to the class) her respond to what the second graders wrote. We also wrote to authors about their books and gave opinions, asked questions, and made suggestions. We also wrote to our former student teacher Miss T about books she will need to have in her own classroom someday! The second graders even wrote persuasive letters to the leprechaun who might visit our classroom on St Patrick's Day!!

Reading:

We are still working in our series book clubs, and finding ways our authors used literary language, how the authors write with a similar style across series, and what the author's message is in our books. Next week the second graders will be working on posters advertising the series they read. They will use specific details and examples from the books to persuade others to read the series too.


Social Studies :

We listened to reader's theaters last week which dealt with common public issues. The second graders had to take a stand and explain their position. It was great practice in problem solving, having discussions, and respectfully disagreeing. Next week we are hoping to fit in a Second Grade City Council meeting and we will be studying another feeling word: embarrassed. 

Math:

Money, money, money!  We are doing so many fun things with money right now!  Your kids may have come home and told you about how they all received money, and can even buy things in our classroom!  This is not only rewarding kids for their great behavior, but also a great way to learn the values of the different coins by handling them directly, as well as add and subtract money! If your child doesn't know the names and values of coins sorting and counting pocket change is great at home practice.

Homework:

The math page is due by March 22.

Extra Information:

Thanks so much to all of the Mystery Readers we have had visit our classroom so far. It has been so fun having you in and hearing the books you choose for us!


Saturday, March 9, 2024

weekly update

Writing:

We took a break from persuasive writing this week to do some fun and creative informational writing. The second graders each wrote their own version of How to Catch a Leprechaun. We will be back to writing persuasive opinions next week as we write about our reading and books we love. We will be writing letters to lots of people, so check your mailbox often!

Math:

This week we counted over 1,000 popsicle sticks as a class. The second graders worked in teams to bundle groups of 10 and 100 and we made one big bundle of 1,000. We will be working on numbers up to 100 while continuing strategies for adding and subtracting multidigit numbers. We are also working on counting money, so see if your second grader can identify a penny, nickel, dime, and quarter, and count some money at home.


Reading:

We are moving ahead with our series book clubs. This week we studied what authors do to help readers create vivid pictures of the story! We talked about description and figurative language - which are really big ideas! Next week we will continue our series work and talk about other techniques that authors use to bring stories to life. 

We also have been having some fun listening to some Mystery Readers.  It has been awesome having you in  to class! There's still time to sign up if you haven't already!  Mystery Reader Sign Up If you are signed up and haven't yet, please fill out the background check! Background Check Link

Social Studies:

We have been learning about how governments and communities work together to solve problems. We learned about a law in the city of Hudsonville about the number of pets a household can legally have and we made a recommendation about a similar law in fictional town. Next week the class will hear some reader's theaters and we will debate solutions to other civic problems. 

Homework:

The 5 star sentence page is due by March 15 (Early Release Day). 

Extra Information:

March 15- Early Release

March 28-April 7- Spring Break

Thursday, February 29, 2024

Weekly Update

We are excited to announce our One School One Book is Fenway and Hattie! Here is the calendar to read along with everyone at school. It went home in your child's mail too. On the calendar posted here there is a QR code that will take you to the page where you can hear staff read chapters aloud or you can click here: Fenway and Hattie Read Aloud

Also, if you haven't signed up to be a Mystery Reader in our class here is the link! Mystery Reader
One more March thing. . . our Specials calendar. It also went home in your child's mail on Friday : )


Writing:

The kids each wrote a persuasive speech about someone who would make a good mayor or commissioner for second grade.  They had to write convincing reasons and support them with examples. They did an amazing job! I'm so proud of how well they not only wrote these, but also presented their cases as they read them in front of their peers.

Math:

We have been doing so much two-digit addition and subtraction! The second graders have learned that when adding you can add the tens and one separtely and then put them back together.  For example: 68 + 25 breaks down to 60+20= 80 and 8+5=13. So then you can add those back together to get 80+13=93. It works well for subtraction too: 93-68 breaks down to 93-60=33 and 33-8=25

We finished the Unit 4 test on Friday. I will check it and give it back to the second graders to see if they want one more try at ones they got wrong. Then I will score them and send them home!

Reading:
We have been working hard on being good book club members. During independent reading time the second graders have been working on becoming experts on the main character in their books by figuring out their likes and dislikes and how they react to problems. During book club time they have been working on sitting in a circle, staying on-task, and taking turns talking and listening. These are some big goals to work on at the same time so we will continue this work next week with new series and new book clubs.


Social Studies:
To wrap up our unit on civics and government the second graders elected a mayor and 5 city commissioners - two from each class and one at-large. For the next two weeks we will put these elected representatives to work as we discuss how citizens affect their community. We will spend next week talking about what makes a good citizen and how people in a community work together to solve problems. After that we will discuss important second grade issues like pets, bike helmets and candy. 

Phonics:
We finished up our Word Builders unit and our work as construction and demolition experts for the BLC. They asked us to make some ads for their company, so we wrote some on whiteboards! As a thank you they reached out to our Parents' Club and got us books! We have the best Parents Club for playing along with our Phonics fun!! Next week we will take some time to work on grammar before we start our last big phonics unit of the year!

Homework:
The page about books is due by March 8.  We are going to be writing about books in class, so have your child think of some books they have liked. Sometimes it helps to talk to friends and family about books to remember ones you really loved. Don't stress though, they don't need to fill all 12 slots!! We will add to it at school as well : )


Wednesday, February 21, 2024

weekly update

March Is Reading Month

Starting in March we are looking for some parents to be Mystery Readers in our classroom. March is Reading Month after all and it would be awesome to have some of our grown ups share their love of reading with our class. Just make sure you have a background check filled out before you sign up! 



Writing:

We finished our last persuasive review this week! We ended with a book review which is the perfect perfect to start our March is Reading Month. We will work on persuasive essays about candidates for "Second Grade City" City Council and Mayor. We will also be starting the March is Reading Month Book Bracket, reading and choosing books down to the Sweet Sixteen, Final Four, and finally a Picture Book Champion.  




Math:

The kids have been working hard on measuring and building concrete and conceptual understandings around inches, feet, and yards! See if they can measure things around your house correctly. To help with that we have been practicing skip counting and doubling, which helps the students understand the relationships between the units of measurement.

Phonics:

Gus was gone for a little while, but came back and DEMOLISHED our room! It was a misunderstanding. He felt awful. We realized it was because he was learning how to demolish words, and got a little carried away.  We are now working on demolishing harder words, by breaking them up into smaller chunks, but also remembering to keep digraphs and vowel teams together.

Reading:

The kids visited the Starbooks Cafe and did some Book Tasting!  We are going to start book clubs next week based on the books the kids were interested in reading from their book tasting!






Homework
:

The math paper is due by March 1.



Extra Information:

February 26 and 28- Parent Teacher Conferences (book fair will also be open)

February 26- Book Fair Preview

February 27- Book Fair Purchase


Reviews

Below you will be able to read reviews that the second graders wrote about restaurants and books!

Teds has great food
By: spenser
Do you like humongous prestels and more? Well if you do you will love teds. Teds has great foods
For example humongous prestels,drinks,special spaces,and deserts! It is far away from Hudsonville.
I love to go there if I'm starving. So if you're starving, search up teds and you should go there.
First I want to tell you about their prestels. They have humongous prestels. For example my sister
gets it and it is so big that she shares it and we actually don't finish. So if you like prestels you will
like teds. The second reason is the drinks. For example they have all different sizes. Large, medium,
and small. So if you like drinks that are different sizes and different drinks you will love Teds. The last
reason is the desserts. For example it has a chocolate sundae. It also has vanilla ice cream scoop
with every topping you want. So go to teds if you love desserts. Now you can see why teds have
really good food.If you love desserts you should really go to teds. I give teds a 5 star restaurant
and i think you will agree.

Los ranchos review
By: grace

Los ranchos review

By: grace

Do you like mexican food.then you will like los ranchos.a mexican restaurant.it has yummy really yummy food.for my opinion it,s has amazing food.they have couches tvs.my 1st reason is it has really yummy food like casdeas with fris.my second reason is casdeas has cheese with it. My third reason is that you can sit on a couch or a chair the waiters will give your seat. I hope you see why i like los ranchos. I give it five stars.

Title McDonalds
By:Liam          
Do you like McDonalds? McDonalds is realy good because theres all kinds of different food.I”v
been to McDoanlds before.Have you?One reason I like it is because it has cool menus.Come on
lets get started.The first reason is it has a lot of drinks.For example they have root beer, pepsi,
diet coke, coke, lemonade and more. I also think that McDoanlds is realy nice.Beacuse there
cushions are really soft.For example their is almost a window on every seat.My last reason is
there is a play ground.But you have to be careful because there is lots of germs and you could
get sick.I hope you know why i like McDonalds.And i hope you had a good time learning.I
hoped you liked my story.I hope you know why i think McDonalds has realy good food.I would
give it a 5 star rating.

Friday, February 16, 2024

Weekly Update

We had a great Valentine's Day! We did some Valentine themed math, read Valentine themed books, had treats and made a craft. The second graders also exchanged their Valentines and it was so much fun listening to them say "Thanks!" unprompted after reading a card from a classmate. Thanks to everyone who helped out reading cards, helping write or rewrite or fix cards, hot gluing, and sending in stickers, boxes, treats and more! Your support made for a wonderful day for the second graders!








Writing:

We started working on book reviews this short week.  They have really grown as writers, especially persuasive writers. We spent some time talking about the ways book reviews are different from other kinds of reviews and everyone has at least a plan complete so we can hit the ground running next week!

Math:

We are still measuring! We aren't only measuring though. We are comparing lengths, and subtracting double digit numbers while doing so.  We are also adding lengths, which means adding double digit numbers too.  Ask your child to subtract 48 inches from 72 inches and see if he or she has a good strategy. We have used number lines as well as base 10 sticks and dots, and some kids take apart the tens and ones. We have not started the traditional borrowing and carrying yet because we want to make sure the second graders concretely understand what combining and comparing numbers is before we move to the abstract.

Reading: 

We are keeping track of our longer books by checking in with the story elements.  As your child reads at home, ask them for a  retell. This is what we've been using in class, but no matter the graphic, narrative fiction all has the same story elements.

Social Studies:
We are starting our next unit on learning about citizenship and local government. This week we talked about why people form governments.   

Extra Information:

February 23- Early Release Day
February 26 & 28- Parent Teacher Conferences
Scholastic Book Fair- Our class will PREVIEW on February 26, and will be able to PURCHASE on February 27. (It will also be open during Parent Teacher Conferences).

Park Challenge Dress Up Days:

Monday: Wear strips, polka-dots, or flowers (or any combination!)

Wednesday: Words on my Shirt Wednesday (any words on a shirt count! Points are per person, not per word.)

Friday: Blue Out for Hudsonville!  Wear some blue today!