Math Game

In math we are currently working on becoming fluent with sums of 10.  Today students played a game called "Concentration X," which is similar to the game of Memory.  Instead of finding matches, students try to find pairs of numbers that equal 10!

 Isabella and Aaliyah                            Michael and Ashly

 

Zachary and Aidan J.                        Aidan D. and Nathan  

 

Star of the Week!

This week our Star Student is Bruno!  We learned that Bruno likes to play soccer, enjoys the "Geronimo Stilton" series, has visited Florida, and has a dog named Billy!  He hopes to someday have his own private plane to visit Brazil whenever he wants - certainly an ambitious goal!   Have a great week as STAR Bruno!   :)

First Buddy Test!

Today students had their first Spelling Test!  Because all the students study different words, the test is completed in partnerships.  Students read their buddy's words and use them sentences while the buddy writes them in their Word Work Notebook.  Students then leave their notebooks in a basket for the teacher to correct!  Below are a few of the partnerships working on their buddy tests!

Grace and Alexandra                       Isabella and Thomas

 David and Timothy                              Deborah and Alain

Buddy Check and Camping

Today students completed an activity called "Buddy Check" with their spelling words.  Students are paired with a partner of similar spelling ability (so they can both read each other's words and hopefully learn them too!) to give each other a practice test.  One student tests his/her partner, reading one word at a time, and then checks the paper for correct answers.  If there are any words that are incorrect, the partner is prompted to "try again."  If they miss the word again, the correct spelling is given to them and they are asked to highlight or underline whatever part of the word they are finding difficult to remember.  Students did a fantastic job with this activity this morning!

Examples of student work

As we have been reading and talking about camping this week, we have been organizing our AMAZING WORDS  and generating ideas about equipment you might need on a camping trip.  Check out our thinking  below!  Today students also wrote a journal entry about whether or not they would enjoy going on a camping trip.  Ask your student about their thinking and the reasons they gave in their writing!

 

Studying Spelling Words

Today students did a spelling activity called "Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check."  The purpose of this activity is to study each word carefully, noticing specific parts and trying to commit them to memory.  Students use a special study folder to practice writing their words.

Check back tomorrow to learn about our buddy-check system!

Spelling with Magnetic Letters

After choosing their words on Thursday, students did a spelling activity called "Build, Mix, Fix" on Friday morning.  Here is how the activity works: first students choose a word to start with and pull out all the letters needed to make that word.  Then they build the word letter-by-letter on their desk.  After reading the word, they mix all the letters and then fix the word again letter-by-letter.  They mix and fix one last time before moving on to their next word, continuing the build, mix, fix process.  The kids are really enjoying this activity and are finding it an effective way to learn and practice their new spelling words!

 

 

Build

Mix                                         Fix

Literacy Centers

During our literacy time in second grade, students will engage in "centers."  These consist of structured activities to support/enhance literacy learning, and typically include partner reading, independent reading, journal writing, reading response, word work and various others.  While students are working independently or in pairs, this allows me to meet with small groups of students in order to provide more structured, differentiated instruction in literacy skills.  "Center-time" requires a great deal of independence and knowledge of routines and expectations, and therefore calls for a great deal of practice.  Although students are slowly trying them all with my support/supervision (we tried two rotations each day this week), they will eventually complete four centers during a one-hour block with minimal teacher guidance.

Below is a picture of the work-board for centers, as well as a few pictures of students hard at work during "center-time"!  

Rena and Micaella try out a word-work activity called "Building Words."  

Ask your student to explain how it works!

Bernardo and Aidan D. partner read near Aaliyah and Davenche 

David, Bruno, and Nathan read from their independent book bags

 Alexandra and LeRon work hard on journal writing

Check back next week for more pictures of students hard at work!  

Have a lovey weekend!   :)

Consonant Clusters and Spelling

This week our phonics and spelling lesson was about "consonant clusters."  See below to talk with your student about consonant clusters and review the words we generated together!

After practicing our new spelling routines in class last week, we are officially starting today!  After generating a few lists of words with consonant clusters, students were split into groups and instructed to pick five "just-right" words from their group's list that they will be responsible for learning in the next week.  I then picked the last three words for students to learn, for a total of 8 words.  The kids will keep their spelling words in a pocket in the classroom (see picture), but I have also photocopied them so that they can have them at home to complete their new spelling homework.  Look for a post tomorrow about building our words with magnetic letters!

1st Star of the Week!

This week we had our first "Star of the Week" and it was Timothy!  We learned that Timothy enjoys soccer, has a dog named Max, and like to read "Spiderman" books!  Thanks for sharing Timothy, and we hope you've had a great week as the STAR!   :)

Morning Work

Most of our daily routines of the classroom are now in place and running smoothly!  When students come into the classroom each morning, they hand in their homework, move their magnets for lunch, and then complete their "morning work."  This usually has two parts: Headline Story and Daily Edit.  Headline Story is an open-ended math problem (connected to a recent or upcoming lesson) - students are encouraged to be creative and to find multiple answers.  Daily Edit is a short message that intentionally contains mistakes.  Students find the spelling, capitalization, or punctuation mistakes and record the message into their notebooks correctly.  Below are examples of each!

Exploring Space with Astronauts!

This week we've been busy learning all kinds of things about astronauts and the way they live in space!  Did you know that astronauts have to sleep in sleeping bags strapped to the wall so that they don't float while they sleep?!  Or that they have to take sponge baths instead of a shower so the water doesn't float away?!  Ask your student about other neat facts that we learned about astronauts and space travel!  Check out the pictures below to see our KWL chart and this week's amazing words! (see if your student remembers what they mean!)

Friday Fun Time!

Today was a very busy day as we began by figuring out how many beans there were in the estimation jar!  Yesterday students had a chance to make their estimates, and last night at Back-to-School night parents did their best to estimate too!  After deciding to count by making groups of 10, we learned that the jar held 675 beans!  Wow!  Two students took home the prizes for the closest estimates - Aidan J (for his dad's guess of 875) and Allice (for her guess of 601) - congratulations Aidan and Allice!

During Writing Workshop today we had our first author's chair.  I want to thank Michael for being so brave as to volunteer to share his story about his dog passing away.  It was hard to share such a close-to-the-heart story, but we all really admired his courage and hope he will remember all the happy memories too!  Great job to the rest of the class for listening and commenting respectfully - they are really showing they care for each other!   :)

Lastly, we (just barely) earned our 10th marble of the week and therefore got to participate in Friday Fun Time!  Today we played eraser tag in the classroom (tagger and taggee must balance rectangular erasers on their heads) - it was a hit with everyone!  We are hoping to earn another ten marbles next week so we can play another fun game!  Have a great weekend everyone! 

Writing Workshop begins!

We all became writers this week as Writing Workshop got underway!  The students are all learning to work independently, to use materials responsibly, and also about the things that real writers do!  Our first unit, called "Launching the Workshop," focuses on writing personal narratives while also learning the routines and expectations of the workshop.  To get started, we listened to two stories about what makes a good story (see pictures below)  Since then, students have created Topic Lists that they can refer to when they are stuck for ideas, learned how to write about important stories from their lives, how to use pencils and staplers appropriately, and that "when you're done, you've just begun!" (ask you student what that phrase means!)  Check out the pictures below to some of the writers of Room A312!

Long Vowels

This week we are learning about long vowel words (ones that end with silent e).  Check out the rules for these words and a word sort comparing short and long vowels in the pictures below.  Please review them with your student and be on the lookout for long vowel words in your daily reading!