We had a really wonderful start to the school year. The children were so excited to be back at school, and now they are settling in and growing more and more comfortable in their new classroom. We spent a few minutes each day getting to know each other and learning about the new routines and expectations that encompass 2nd grade. We also started unpacking the curriculum that we will be working to explore deeply this year!
One way we got to know each other was by creating "selfies!" The children had fun drawing pictures and then writing about themselves. These selfies are so cute hanging outside our classroom!
We participated in our first two Schoolwide reading lessons. These lessons had us thinking about ourselves as readers. We considered the types of books we enjoy reading, which books we do not prefer, and our favorite places that we enjoy settling in to read a good book. The children were very excited to take a look through our classroom library and choose a few good titles for their book boxes!
We read a book called
The Way I Feel which had us thinking carefully about different feelings that we've encountered. We learned about the Zones of Regulation which helps us to place our feelings in different categories.
Being able to classify our feelings will help us to manage both our feelings and subsequently our actions, and then determine ways to make us feel content and ready to learn again when we aren't in the "green" zone. Our use of the Zones of Regulation will take place in all of the classrooms at student spaces at Dryden so we have a universal language and a unified way to support and communicate with our students.
We popped into the LMC to see it has been transformed into a book cafe! There were table cloths, table settings, and even (pretend) candles! It was fun to learn about the library so we can find our old and new favorites each week.
The children were excited about their FIRST book checkout! 2 books for 2nd graders for 2 weeks! :)
We attended an all school assembly on Thursday afternoon. It was great to see all of our students in the same room at the same time, showing school spirit by singing the school song and learning about the important expectations for the new school year!
Our social studies lessons begin with our unit on landforms. The children read a story about a dog named Tulip who traveled across the country with her owner. Together they noticed as the land changed from plains, to rolling hills, to mountains, to deserts, and finally to ocean as they moved across the good old USA. The children learned how to use a glossary and were drawing and labeling these landforms in their landform journals.
We logged into our Xtramath.org accounts using the iPads and the computers! The children will be working to build a strong mathematical foundation with their addition facts that will carry them through 2nd grade and beyond. One way to practice these important facts is using Xtramath. I will share more information about this on Curriculum Night which is coming up next Thursday.
The children also took their first spelling pre-test of the year. They brought their lists home today in case they wanted to get a head start practicing due to the short upcoming week. I thought it might be fun to include a state/capital bonus word each week as an added challenge! There is no penalty for misspelling the bonus word on their spelling test. Their first state capital is our state: Springfield, Illinois!
Thank you for helping us transition so smoothly from summertime back to school! The children came in well rested with their school supplies, all ready to dive into their learning. I'm looking forward to a terrific year with them!
Enjoy the nice long Labor Day weekend!
:) Kelly O'Sullivan
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