Our First Two Weeks of 2nd Grade

Friday, September 14^th:

It has been a WECKTACULAR start to our 2012-2013 school year in Room 204! To celebrate our first week of school, last Friday afternoon we re-read the book First Day Jitters and then made Jitter Juice! Cheers to the first week of school!

 

 I have thoroughly enjoyed my first two weeks with your children and feel like we have been a class and school family for months! Each child has brought such a unique personality to the mix – watching new friendships form, old friendship rekindle, hearing constant laughter, seeing kids work together to help out each other… it’s been incredible from my viewpoint! At the end of one day in particular, we shared our “Highs” and “Lows” for the day. The only two “Lows” we had came from two students who both said, “My low is that I don’t want to go home!”

Photo slideshow generated with Smilebox

Reader’s Workshop

This past week we launched our Reader’s Workshop. To get our readers’ back into the reading routine at school we have talked a lot about our “Reading Favorites”. We have shared our favorite reading memories, our favorite reading spots and just begun sharing our favorite books to read! Soon we will have a display set up in our room like a library or store with all of our “Top Book Picks”. Students have had the chance to read independently across several genres of books at their tables as well. Please make sure to have your child bring in their favorite book if they have not already done this (it was due today, Friday, September 14^th).

Writer’s Workshop

We have been doing A LOT of writing these first two weeks of Second Grade. We have written to different topics such as, “I think Second Grade will be super because…” or “One sweet thing about me is…” Additionally our writers’ have been working on a “Summer Sandwich” story which will give details of fun things they did this summer: how it began, something they did fun with their family, something they did fun with friends and how their summer ended. Lastly our writers’ worked on a written assessment piece. They were given a topic “Write an animal story… it can be true or make believe”. These pieces will be assessed by the second grade teachers to help guide our writing instruction for the upcoming school year!

Math Workshop

Our first unit in Math is a review of first grade concepts. It has been wonderful to see how much our students learned last year in math as well as to get a good idea of concepts we need to continue to work on this year (time and money)! We have spent time these past two weeks learning routines for Math workshop (mini-lesson, student work time, partner time –usually a game). In that time we have reviewed concepts of: number lines, calendar routines, coin values, dollar values and basic addition. Students were introduced to new games including: Addition Top-It and the Penny Plate Game.

Word Study

This week in Word Study our kids learned all about the routine for Word Study (mini-lesson, partner activity, share time). We took a look at words with consonant clusters (such as tr- or dr) and did a “Make-say-check” where we used letter tiles and magnetic letters to make words with consonant clusters. Next we worked with words with the short ‘a’ or ‘e’ sound and did a sort where we had to match up onsets and rimes to make words (such as tr àap = trap).

Technology:

I’m a tech-saavy nerd, what can I say? This week many of our kids got a chance to learn how to use an Apple iPad to play a math game! Here are a few fun photos from Math Workshop!

 

Special Notes/Reminders/Dates

Thank you to EVERYONE who came out to Dublin for Curriculum Night. It was great to see so many familiar faces and to meet many new faces. If you did not have a chance to sign up for a Parent-Teacher Conference time, the sign-up sheets can be found on the bulletin board outside of the bathrooms near the main entrance (office). Additionally if you would like to be added on as a Mystery Reader or for a Party sign-up, please do not hesitate to contact me via email JenniferPhillips@wlcsd.org or by phone (248) 956-3864 in the classroom.

·         Monday, September 17^th- NO SCHOOL

·         Wednesday, September 19^th- Face Project DUE

·         Monday, September 24^th -  Picture Day

·         Wednesday, September 26^th – NO SCHOOL

Thanks for all of your support with the start of the 2012-2013 school year!! If the first two weeks are indication of the fun and learning still to come this year, it’s going to be an OUTSTANDING year at Dublin!                      

Have an outstanding weekend!!           J Mrs. Weckstein