Week 28 (March 16-20)

March 16 – 20 (week 28)

“Acceptance of others, their looks, their behaviors, their beliefs, brings you an inner peace and tranquility instead of anger and resentment. “

I thought that this was the perfect quote to share with our families, especially with Acceptance Week approaching. Within our classroom we always discuss and practice the fair treatment of those alike and different from ourselves. I hope that you all had a chance to watch the video from Fox News with your child.  If you weren’t able to, I’m attaching the link to the video. It is such a powerful video and sparks many needed conversation that the students need and want to have. This week will we will be focusing more on what acceptance means to us and also to the world.

 http://www.myfoxla.com/story/28265583/video

After watching the video these are the thought that the students had...

During the morning while students are waiting for the day to start, they are given free time to explore on their chromebooks, play games, or choose any other activity that interest their inquiry. The kids typically want to go on their chromebooks or do some other independent activity, but on Wednesday I noticed that the majority of the kids were all crowded on the carpet socializing and enjoying each other’s company. It was such a beautiful sight!!

 Isabel's creation...

Math

We’re still working on subtraction of 2 and 3 digit numbers. We’ve also been working on solving word problems. The students are amazing at creating their own word problems and they are getting pretty good at solving them as well. We’ve created a game called math race. We love this game because it helps with out fluency in addition and subtraction, but also because it gives us a chance got outside and be active.  The game is simple, there are two teams, a math equation is called and the students race to solve it. They love, probably because they are extremely competitive.

 Zaria, Anthony, and Summer presenting their word problem to the class.

 Math Race

Reading and Writing

Our favorite time of the day is reading and writing. The students love to write stories, illustrate, and share those stories. As I mentioned in the previous blog, each day a student is responsible for sharing a read aloud with the class and another student will be responsible for sharing a piece of writing from his or her writer’s notebook. The students love it and so do I! With the nice weather, we’ve taken advantage and found some cozy spots outside to read and write!  We would love to share some of our writing and read alouds with you all. So please feel free to drop in and have a listen.  

 Jordan's read aloud...

Week 27 (March 9-13)

March 9 – 13 (week 27)

“Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”

~Christopher Robin

I believe that it is so important for us to help our kids see how intelligent, kind, brave, and strong they are. These are the things that they doubt about themselves and it’s up to us to encourage them and instill in them the seed to grow self worth!  It’s so easy to point out the negative in order to improve it, because we want our kids to be the best that they can be. However, it’s so much more important to focus on the good! In our classroom we do exactly that. Each time a student presents a project, a read aloud, a piece from their writer’s notebook, or anything else, they are always given the opportunity to take a plus, a wish, and a question. These are the things that build their confidence, but that also allows them insight into the things that need improvement.

With this past week being as warm and sunny as it has been, we’ve been taking advantage of some outside time. On Tuesday we finished up an activity that Ms. Deaver had planned for our class but they were unable to finish. We went out to blow bubbles and to discuss wind speed and direction, and also how those variables affect the bubbles. We’ve also used this time to go outside for some physical math games. The kids have absolutely loved it!!!

We are currently still working on subtraction, supply and demand, and enhancing our reading and writing. We just finished The One and Only Ivan on Friday. It was such and amazing read! The kids and I were sad to say goodbye to the characters, but we loved the happy ending! This Monday we will be starting our new read aloud Stella by Starlight! I’m very excited about this read aloud because it covers some social issues that the kids are interested in. I’m excited to see where our conversations will take us.

Week 26 (March 2-6)

March 2 – 6 (Week 26)

Read Across America Week was a blast! Although we always set aside a chunk of our day to reading, the kids enjoyed the extra silly activities and dress ups that the second graders had planned.  We had Tacky Tuesday, bring your favorite book day for Wednesday, silly sock day for Thursday, and character day for Friday.

Decorating our silly socks!!!

Character day!!!

On Tuesday Mrs. Elliot’s mom, who is a former WE teacher, came to read to our second grade classes. She is such an animated reader and the kids enjoyed her so much.

Math

We are still working on mastering subtraction. The base 10 blocks are helping tremendously. The kids are finally able to visualize the blocks when subtracting on paper. I’m ecstatic that the connections are being made!

ELA

We’ve been engaging in lots of mentor reading and writing within our classroom. Each day a few kids will share out a piece of writing from their writer’s notebooks. This week we will continue to read from our writer’s notebook but I will also ask a few students to read aloud one of their favorite books to the class. I believe that this will help the kids see what is possible in their reading and writing, and also that there are so many different techniques for the two. By the way the kids absolutely love the books that I purchased for them at the book fair!

Social Studies

We finished presenting our Black History research projects this week. Again I cannot express how proud I am of the hard work and thought that the kids put into these booklets. They are amazing!! We’ve also started working on supply and demand as a class. We will continue to work on this the next two weeks.

I hope that you are all as proud of your child(ren) as I am!! They have grown so much over the past few months and are still growing physically, mentally, and emotionally!!

Week 25 (February 23-27)

February 23 – 27 (Week 25)

This week has been one of the most amazing weeks of the school year. Sure, we’ve had a lot going on this week, but it’s been amazing because of the growth and independence I’ve seen in the kids. I’ve never been more proud of them.

Math

Our kids have really been working so hard on subtraction. I’m so proud of their commitment and determination. Subtraction seems to be a little harder to grasp than addition, however we are making steady progress. The kids enjoy using the base 10 blocks to help them solve the subtraction problems.

Writing

With the help of one another, the students have really grown their writing and are trying some new writing techniques. We’ve been viewing the writing techniques of some of our favorite authors and trying some of those in our writing as well. The students loved sharing their writing with the class and this is a great way for the kids to see what their classmates are trying in their writing as well.

Black History

The students and I had many conversations around Black History Month and what it meant to eat of us. We were all surprised that there were not that many influential African Americans that the students could name and as a result we wanted to get to know more of them. The students each picked someone who interested them and they researched that person. Research can be a tedious and frustrating process, but the students found it fun and interesting. They did a wonderful job with the research and creating their booklets to present to the class. If you are able to do so please come check them out, they are now posted on our bulletin board.

My MLK Booklet

The students creating their booklets

 Our bulletin board in the making...

 The Oprah Winfrey booklet by Summer 

The students were beyond fantastic during the Black History Presentation. They did an amazing job! I’ve posted our video to our YouTube channel Please take a look with your child when you get a chance!

Black History Month...Behind the Scenes 

Here is a link to our performance!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQY9aZC0jMA

We’re looking forward to another great week in 604! Remember visitors are ALWAYS welcome!!