Word Study

The first part of second grade is a time for us to review all of the learning we did in first grade about how words work.  In the past couple of weeks we have been reviewing short vowel sounds and silent e.  We talked about how even though the 'e' at the end of many words is silent, it has an important job to do.   The 'e' jumps over the consonant before it and says to the vowel, "Don't forget to say your long name." 

We even got to be word detectives as we hunted for silent 'e' words in our books.  Each child got three sticky notes to record their words on.  We then came back together to look at the words they found and we worked together to sort them into words that followed that rule and words that didn't. 

During reading and writing conferences with individual children I remind them of this rule and encourage them to apply it to their reading and writing. 

Become word detectives together and see if they can show you some examples in some reading material at home. 

Second Grade Scientists Study Soil

It is always such a treat for me to watch my students so engaged and motivated by learning.  Hands-on science always seems to fuel their natural curiosity.

Last Friday we began our study of soil in our classroom.  We began by thinking and writing about what we already know about soil and then jotted some questions we have about soil.  We were then ready to make some predictions and observations.  We first talked about what these two words mean.  I defined 'prediction' for them as thinking about what might happen based on what we already know.  The students then made some predictions about what they thought they might find in the soil.  After recording their predictions they got to observe some soil and record what they noticed.  We talked about how scientists make careful observations and record them so that they can share their findings with others.

We also did some reading about soil this week to add to our knowledge.  Have your child share with you what they know about soil.  Ask them about their observation of soil and what they discovered. 

Math Games

There are many math games that we play at school that can also be played at home.  Many of the games that we play are used to support and strengthen children's quick recall of math facts.  Today we played a game called Penny Plate.  All you need is 10-20 pennies and a small plastic/paper plate.  The skill that this teaches is sums to ten or twenty.

Directions:
1.  Player 1 turns the plate upside down.  Then hides some of the pennies under the plate and puts the remaining pennies on top of the plate.

2.  Player 2 counts the pennies on top of the plate and uses that number to determine  how many pennies are hidden under the plate.

Ask your child what strategy they are using to figure out the answer.  "How did you know?"  "What did you do to figure that out."  These questions encourage them to think about their mathematical thinking and to communicate it to another person.  (This is a skill that we work on a lot in second grade.)

Enjoy playing math games together!

We Love Books!

One of my biggest goals as an educator is to help instill a love of reading and create lifelong readers.  One of the ways that I work to do this is through daily read alouds.  I pick books which I am genuinely enthusiastic about and engage students in conversations about the characters, the theme or message in the book, connections we might have to the book, predictions and  the questions the book creates for us.  I have a basket where I keep my personal favorites and I encourage children to become a "collector" of their favorites.

I thought that I would share some of the titles with you so that you might talk about them at home in the evening.  Here are some of the books we have shared together so far:

The Sandwich Swap, Queen Rania and Kelly Dipuchio
A great story about two little girls (Lily and Salma) who are best friends.  They love to do everything together but they don't quite understand each other's taste in food.  They come to learn that it's okay to have differences and that they can still be friends.

I Need My Monster, Amanda Noll
This book is filled with humor.  One night, when Ethan goes to bed he looks under his bed for his monster Gabe.   Instead of finding Gabe, he finds a note from him that he's "gone fishing".  Because Ethan knows that he'll never get to sleep without a monster under his bed, he spends his evening interviewing substitute monsters.  This book always has me laughing right along with my students.  The illustrations are great too.

Counting Crocodiles, Judy Sierra
I used this book to introduce math one day.  This story shows how a brave little monkey uses her counting skills to cross the crocodile filled waters of Sillabobble Sea.  It is written in rhyme and is lots of fun.

Quotes

I am a collector of quotes, so I thought that it would be great to start posting some of my favorites that are related to children and education on here.  Feel free to add to it.

"Children are the world's most valuable resource and its best hope for the future."  -JFK

Welcome to Second Grade

I hope that you are all enjoying a nice long weekend and finding ways to stay cool.

We are off to a great start in second grade and I'm really looking forward to a great year.  I'm hopeful that this blog will serve as a place to keep families updated on what's happening in our classroom and in our school.  I will use it to post things that we are working on as well as reminders about upcoming events.  Please feel free to suggest things that you would like me to include.

Upcoming Events:
PTO meeting- Wednesday, September 7, 2011 7-8 pm
Open House- Thursday, September 15, 2011 6-7:30pm
Picture Day- Thursday, September 22