Whew! We've sure had a busy week considering we
were only here for four days! We’ve had a really good week in 204. Routines are
being established, friendships have been formed and the kids are becoming more
and more comfortable by the day. I love how excited they get first thing in the
morning to hear about the day, and I love how sad they get when the day has to
end! Yes, that’s right. I’m actually hearing that they WANT to stay!
Here's what we accomplished this week…
Here's what we accomplished this week…
Word Study
In word study this
week, we practiced some important high frequency words by completing another
"Make, Say, Check, Mix" activity.
A purple list came home with your child on Tuesday which had some high
frequency words for you to practice. Our
second graders should be able to read and write these words "in a
snap"! Look for additional lists to
come home in the future. We also
introduced compound words this week.
Students worked together in cooperative groups to create compound words
from different word tiles. We ended our
week with a fun activity that included balloons. Balloons were dropped from above and the
students had to catch one. A single word
was written on each balloon and our second graders had to find another student to
create a compound word together.
Partners then added their compound word to a class chart. They really had a great time with this
activity!
Reader's Workshop
We continued to
launch our Reader's Workshop this week by sharing our comfy reading spots with
each other. Room 204 learned that in
order to do our best reading work we needed:
good light, quiet, no distractions, a comfy place to read and plenty of
interesting books. 
Next week, we will take all of these needs into consideration when we select our own comfy reading spots in our classroom. We finished up sharing our favorite books and created a display of favorites to read.
We also took some time to discuss what Reader's Workshop needed to look like and sound like in order to be successful readers. On Wednesday, I started individualized reading assessments to see where to focus my reading instruction for your child. Once individual reading assessments are complete in a few weeks, students will actually “shop” for new books to read once a week that will be at their own independent level. Soon we will also introduce “Partner Reading” another component of Workshop before we end with a share! At “Share Time” we reflect on our work during Workshop.
Writer's Workshop
We
launched our Writer's Workshop this week!
Students worked on a heart that will go on the front of our writing
folders. This heart will showcase things that are important to us.
We will use this heart to find motivation for our writing pieces this year as the heart will be mounted to the front of our writing folders. Also this week we created a list of “What Writer’s Workshop Needs to Look Like” and set a high goal of achieving all that we listed. We ended the week by reading Chrysanthemum, by Kevin Henkes, and talked about some of the writer's craft he used in his book such as repeating lines. Please look for a homework assignment regarding this book in your child's Everyday Folder.
Social Studies
Did you know that Constitution Day is
September 17th? We did some shared reading about this very special day and
learned how our founding father's worked together to compose the rules and
guidelines that the United States still follows today! We ended our week on an important note, linking the Constitution to our Classroom Promise that we created - here are a few Weckies signing our Classroom Promise! 
This week we also started our first social studies unit this week on “Our Community”. We have brainstormed a list of what we can find in a community and we have talked about how within communities there are groups.
Students also completed a mini booklet about the community that they live in.
Our mathematicians continue to review concepts that were covered in first grade: counting paper money, number grids, skip counting, and comparing numbers with greater than, less than and equal to symbols. Plus we have had a refresher course on calculator skills.
We also learned a new game called Broken Calculator. It’s a fun game that you could play together at home! Ask your child how to play this game. Our first round of Home Links came come this week with your child. Please make sure that these are returned to school the next day if possible so that if your child is having difficulty with a concept, I can be aware! Many times a concept that a student understands at school, may be something that when they get home, they need more help with. Jotting a quick note to me on their Home Link will help me to better instruct your child at school! You should be completing these Home Links alongside your child. Please don't forget to sign the Home Link so I know that you have checked/reviewed their answers before returning the assignment to school. Remember that all of the Home Link answers are in the family letter that is sent home at the beginning of each unit.
***Students will NOT be bringing their Student Reference Books home with them, we will be keeping these at school. Please disregard any information on Home Links that encourage the use of the Reference Books.
Important Dates &
Reminders:
-Wednesday, September 26th: No School
for Religious Holiday
-Friday, September 28th: Letters
about your child’s name DUE
-Friday, September 28th: Picture Day at
Dublin
Have a
fantastic, fall weekend with your family!! Mrs. Weckstein
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