Some highlights of our week!

We had another terrific week in 2nd grade! 

Events from this week: 

• Our whole school had a practice fire drill on Wednesday morning, during which the children reviewed how to exit the building both quietly and safely. We located our position on the field where we will wait for further instructions.

• We practiced sorting and counting paper money, beginning with the largest increments first. The children then played the "Money Exchange Game" during which they rolled dice and collected the dollars to match the amount they rolled. They exchanged their 10 singles for a $10 bill, and then they exchanged 10 $10 bills for a $100 bill! 

• We began specific practice of our basic math facts this week.  Our first strategy of the year to focus on was "doubles!" We took 2 "mad minute" timed tests during the week so the children can begin to see that with practice, they are able to recall more and more facts each time. The children looked forward to logging into their Xtramath.org accounts as a way to independently practice their facts. Feel free to use this account at home, too!

• We launched the first lessons of our reader's workshop! The children have begun really thinking about themselves as readers. This includes thinking about the types of books they enjoy reading, their favorite spot to read, and the people they like to read with at home (and what that looks like.)  We read two stories that inspired and stimulated these discussions: A Story for Bear, and Interrupting Chicken. The children spent some time personalizing their 3 subject notebooks to make them both useful and fun to use! This included adding a fun cover page on the inside, as well as tabs for organization. The children are beginning to enjoy the process of both reading books, and then responding to them!

• The children finished learning about various landforms this week. They will begin applying this understanding next week in landform murals they will create! We will also review the cardinal directions, continents, oceans, and the names of our city, state, country & continent.

•  Weekend homework! We are going to begin writing an autobiography for our 1st writing unit of the year. Today the children are bringing home a piece of paper on which they can gather a few facts about their lives from their early days that they may not be able to recall on their own. If you could help them jot down a few facts about their life in each box, it will really help their autobiography come to life!

• MAP testing will take place next week! There is a short note in backpack mail today explaining the test a little bit further. We are scheduled to take the Math test on Wednesday afternoon 9/16, and the Reading test on Friday morning 9/18. Please help your child by offering them a good night sleep and a healthy breakfast prior to their tests!

• I shared parent email addresses with our amazing room moms, Kathleen Schmidt and Elisa Arellano. You may be hearing from them periodically throughout the year via email to schedule classroom volunteers and to gather supplies for classroom parties. 

• There was a small problem with our school supply order through the PTA this year. Somehow, the 2nd grade supply list the company worked to prepare the orders from stated that the children need ONE dry erase marker, when our 2nd grade school supply list actually called for FOUR dry erase markers. All of the children who purchased supplies from the PTA are in need of 3 more markers. I apologize for that inconvenience. Please send those in when you can, there is no hurry.  Thank you!

• THANK YOU for the amazing response with our first book order of the year! The children will be extra motivated to read once their new reading material arrives. Thank you for encouraging and inspiring wonderful reading experiences at home! 

Have a terrific weekend!

Kelly O'Sullivan

The children practice sorting money into $1.00, $5.00, $10.00, $20.00, and $100.00 increments.

We practiced counting the money starting with the largest bills first.

The children were excited to play the "Money Exchange Game!" They rolled dice and collected money that matched the number they rolled. Their goal was to roll to $100!

Here we are practicing our doubles facts!

The children learned how to log into Xtramath.org from our classroom iPads.

We took some time to organize our writing notebooks! The children labeled each of the 3 sections: Class Books, My Books, and My Reading Goals.

They decorated a colorful title page!

They started a list of books we have shared during Reader's Workshop.

They practiced writing the title of the book, the date that we read it, and their thoughts about the book in their notebooks.

Sometimes, their thoughts won't be about the books directly. In this entry, the children were asked to write about a favorite place that they like to read.

It feels great to set up a structure in our class that we can follow for future lessons, and then watch the children confidently go back to this routine as they become familiar with it. Its fun to see them begin to show independence, comfort, and excitement for the activities they recognize and anticipate!