Reading
This week our
focus was on the environment. Together we read a nonfiction text called, “A Way to Help
Planet Earth.” The children imagined what the Earth would be like if people didn’t
recycle. We learned what happens to the items that we do recycle! The children
now understand the concept of a landfill and how it holds the garbage we throw
away for years to come. We focused on the comprehension strategy of creating a
web to organize the key points of the text we have read. The children put the
main idea in the middle, and then summarized the text by attaching key ideas
they read in the circles that stem from it. We learned several new vocabulary
words that tied in with our texts this week, including: conservation, extinct, hardest, remains, and trouble. The children
identified nonfiction text features such as graphs, charts, and actual
photographs. We also noticed that there are changes in print in nonfiction
texts that catch our attention and give us more information. These features
include the size, thickness, slant, and color of the letters. We realized that
the author makes these changes to stress important details!
I spent two mornings this week reading individually with children, conducting Fountas & Pinnell Guided Reading level inventories. It is a lengthy assessment that lets me see how much growth they have made so far this year! We made it through half of the students so far, so our assessments will continue next week.
Grammar
The children
worked on irregular verbs including see/saw, do/does, and say/said.
Charlotte's Web...
We finished Charlotte's Web this week! You could have heard a pin drop in our classroom as we read the last two chapters of this wonderful story. Although we were sad to see Charlotte say goodbye to Wilbur for the last time, we were so proud of Wilbur for taking such good care of her egg sac as he carried it back home to the farm, and excited to read about all of her 514 children emerging in the spring! What a great story about friendship and loyalty! I told the children we would find some time next week to watch the movie to celebrate all of their great attention, interest, and thinking during our reading together.
Writing
The children completed their cereal projects! After researching ingredients, watching sample commercials, and reviewing actual cereal boxes carefully, the children designed their very own cereal. Then, they wrote a persuasive letter to General Mills, explaining in detail why they should create this cereal! They finished off designing the cover of their cereal and then shared their work with the class. They had some really clever (and delicious!) ideas!
Math
In math this week, we moved right into Unit 8, which is our unit on
Fractions! We started off reviewing basic fraction concepts. We went on to
compare a fraction amount to the size of ONE, or a whole. The children practiced using fractions to name parts of a collection. They learned about “equivalent fractions,”
and identifying different fractions that mean the same fractional part of the
whole.
Below, the children are folding pieces of paper into fractional amounts, labeling as they go!
Art Appreciation
Mrs. Mullan spent some time with the children on Wednesday afternoon discussing the art work of Johannes Vermeer. The painting she brought in was entitled, "The Love Letter." The children enjoyed looking carefully at this interesting piece of art, thinking about the symbols embedded in it, and brainstorming the meaning behind it!
The children enjoyed spending a few minutes drawing their own artwork, including the symbolism that they had just learned about!
Tyler was our super star of the week!
Mrs. Schickerling came in to assist Tyler with his experiment! He showed the class how heat rises, using a light bulb and baby powder.
The kids were eager to come up for a closer look!
Tyler brought in a hilarious book of poems to share with his classmates- "Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstein. The children called out page numbers and favorite poems for Tyler to read. What a great book choice!
What a great visit we had with Tyler's mom! Thank you for popping in to see us, demonstrate an experiment, and share a few poems with us!
Tyler is just a terrific person. The kids all commented on what a wonderful friend he is, and they also shared that he is a hard worker, a helpful teammate, and a caring classmate! He is an amazing listener during class who sets such a perfect example for the kids each day.
We are so happy to have him in our class!
Last but not least...here are just a few shots of our responsible 2nd graders tidying up their classroom at the end of the week. I love to see how the students take ownership of their learning space! What a helpful group of kids!
Maeve, Kelly, and Jennifer helped sort the books in our classroom library back into their proper bins.
The desk inspector was coming! Faiz and Andrew took a few minutes to tidy
up the inside of their desks.
Evalin sharpened up the pencils!
I hope you enjoy your weekend!
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