Another successful week in 2-2!

The children are growing more comfortable and confident in their classroom and everyone appears to be settling in nicely! This week our reading, math, and social studies lessons were all fully functional. I began fall assessments in reading fluency and will focus on Fountas & Pinnell benchmarking as soon as the fluency measures are complete.

It was so great to see our classroom full of parents on Thursday night! The children were so excited for you to see the images they created of themselves sitting at their desks. They LOVED recording voice messages for you to listen to using the QR codes attached to all their shirts. The likeness between so many of the children's artwork and themselves is remarkable! We have some amazing budding artists among us!

 Our Schoolwide reading lesson this week had us focus in on Nonfiction reading strategies. We noticed nonfiction conventions such as labels, captions, maps, and a glossary as we flipped through the pages of "Hungry Hungry Sharks!" that we shared as a class.

 The children and I practiced using a K-W-L chart to deepen our understanding of nonfiction. We first thought about what we already understand about sharks. Then we wondered what questions we still have about sharks. As we read the text, we kept our eye on our K-W-L chart to see if we were able to find those answers. We recorded new learning in the "L" column.

 The children were then challenged to choose a nonfiction text of their own to read. Some children asked if they could read with a buddy, and others preferred to read alone-which is just fine! Buddies were reminded to sit "elbow-elbow, knee-knee" and to be sure that both buddies had an opportunity to read the text. Children were reminded to choose books that were of interest to them and that matched their reading ability and understanding.

The children then repeated the same process that we completed as a class. They each received K-W-L charts and thought about their background knowledge. Then they came up with questions they had about the topic. As they read, they jotted down new learning. I was so pleased to see just how engaged and involved so many of the students were during our first practice of this concept! Way to go, class!

Curriculum Night arrived and the "children" took their seats!

 The class was so excited to find and read the warm messages that their parents had left for them the night before!

 Another exciting experience of the week was participating in Breakout Edu with the guidance and support of Mrs. Wasik. The children were given a series of codes and corresponding lock boxes, and they were determined to solve the puzzles through critical thinking, teamwork, and problem-solving in a variety of ways. This was a time-consuming task that required perseverance and determination in order to see through to completion.

 It was interesting to see which children came through as leaders of each group. It was also wonderful to see that the "leader" shifted from person to person as new ideas evolved.

 The children would literally cheer when the code they configured actually opened the locks on the boxes.

 All three groups completed the mission and earned a congratulatory certificate. They were so proud of their accomplishment!

 During math this week, the children worked on partner routines. We thought about things we should remember while working with a buddy. The children came up with these ideas: listen to each other, take turns, share the materials, use quiet voices, sit close to each other, give each other praise, help each other when stuck, make sure both buddies understand, and take turns! These are EXCELLENT ways to make our buddy work strong and successful! So many of these will apply perfectly when reading with a buddy, too!

 The children practiced buddy work and routines by first examining our Everyday Math card decks. Children noticed shapes, colors, fractions, pictures and numbers on the cards.

They went on to play a game of "Addition Top-It." This basically the game we all know of "War," except each player draws two cards instead of one, adds them together, and the player with the higher sum wins all 4 cards. If there is a tie, both players choose another card. What a sneaky way to practice those math facts! :) Feel free to play this game at home with a regular deck of cards, too!

The children and I accomplished so much this week at school!  Thank you for stopping by our blog to read a little bit more about our adventures!  Have a terrific weekend!