Good afternoon Weckie Families!
It has been another fantastic couple of weeks in Second Grade and it's hard to believe we are already two weeks in to November! We have really come together as a class family and it has been a pleasure to be here daily with your kids. I love seeing them work together in math stations, work in partnerships to read or solve a tricky math problem and brainstorm solutions in our Second Step SEL work for showing empathy and reading other people's feelings. As we move into this "thankful" time of year, we have SO much to be thankful for in 204.
Readers' Workshop
In Readers' Workshop we have moved onto a unit that focuses in on solving tricky words in our reading! There are so many different strategies that we teach to help all children learn to solve tricky words in the way that works best for them. We have been slowly working through the strategies of: breaking words apart, doing a slow check (stretching out each sound), and doing a triple check (does it look/sound/feel right) using the "Ice Cream" story from the book Frog and Toad All Year by Arnold Lobel. We have had time to practice these strategies in our own reading by marking places where we tried a strategy and then sharing our work with our partners to see if we tackled the tricky word correctly! We have also spent more time talking about the work of partnerships: the different ways you can read together, the different types of conversations you can have before reading a new book and the different kinds of conversations you can have during and after you read a book together.
Guided Reading groups have continued for students on who have qualified for an IRIP. Right now this encompasses about half of our class. Students who are not on these plans have been guided in the classroom for selecting just-right books and will begin receiving instruction on Monday as I work to finalize groupings. Individual reading assessments are important and time consuming. With all of the interruptions we have had this year with holidays and new school days, this has made taking time out for testing a bit trickier, but not impossible. Thank you for understanding! As books begin to come home, it is safe to simply keep them in your child's book bag and remove them each night to read. If something comes up on their designated date where I cannot pull them, it is likely I would pull them the next day as time allows.
Additionally, the kids brought home information this week about our Digital Literacy Library that they can now begin using at home. Literacy Footprints is a wealth of online books that have been set to the just-right reading level of your child. I have taken feedback from first grade as well as their most recent iReady reading data to make these book assignments. Please know that some may seem simple and this is to continually help build confidence and reading fluency. As I work with them in groups and see growth, these levels will continue to be adjusted. This is a great way to continue reading just-right books at home with your child and also to see what they are reading and how they are reading! Each child received their log-in information as well as a class username in their folders this week. Please hang onto this information for home!
Writers' Workshop/Science
Our Writers' Workshop and Science are intertwined these days! Our writing unit is all about learning to write non-fiction in the form of lab reports and our Science Kits work perfect for exploration through a lab report! So far we have generated two lab reports. One asks the question: What does a plant need to grow? The second lab report asks: Can a seed grow without soil? And the third lab report is upcoming, so I hate to ruin the surprise just yet! We have been growing Brassica in a mini-greenhouse, wheat seeds in straws (yes, you read that right) and now grass and alfalfa together in mini pots. Our scientists are absolutely LOVING this combined unit! We have been learning to generate questions, write hypotheses, and list off materials needing and write the procedures we have followed for our experiments. We have been taking detailed observations as well as all of our plants begin to sprout and grow!
Math Workshop
In Math we are ALLLLL about fact families! We have spent a great deal of time looking at fact families and using fact triangles as well as dominoes to practice these families. Fact Family triangle cards have come home in the 3.3 Homelink for you to keep at home and use to practice addition and subtraction. You simply add the two bottom numbers to equal the top number, or subtract one bottom number from the top to get the other bottom number. So a triangle with 3, 4 and 7 shows the fact family of: 3 + 4 = 7, 4 + 3 = 7, 7 - 3 = 4 and 7 - 4 = 3. Please keep these fact triangles at home.
Unit 2 Assessments came home this week with all students. There was SO much great learning and growth shown on these unit check ins! The Unit 2 Assessment specifically covered topics we learned about in the unit. The Unit 2 Cumulative Assessment covered topics we have been learning and building on since Kindergarten, many are foundational math skills.
Phonics
In Phonics we have been spending a TON of time working on SNAP words the last two weeks! Magnetic letters, letter tiles, Magna-Doodles, and whiteboards have been some of the tools we have used to practice SNAP words from first grade and SNAP words from second grade. We have played fun games like Bingo twice with the SNAP words from iReady as well as countless games of "Sparkle" where we work together as a team to learn to spell these words. It has been a challenge of mine to get the kids to use the tools we give them: word wall and SNAP word books when doing their writing so that they can practice spelling words correctly that are given to them!
