Friday, November 2nd

Interactive Read Aloud

We practiced an important comprehension strategy called visualization.  As your child grows as a reader, the books that they will be reading won’t have as many pictures to help them support the meaning of the text. The second graders practiced listening to the words of a chapter in the book, Poppleton and Friends called “Dry Skin” in order to create mental images in their mind.  Students talked to their partners about their visualizations.  This helped them comprehend the story.

Reader's Workshop

In Workshop this week we fine-tuned our partner roles this week. We talked about what to discuss with our partners, what is expected of us to be a good partner as well as how to solve problems that come up in partnerships. To end the week we recited and signed a Reader's Workshop Contract. Read below to see what we have agreed to do as "Wow" readers.

Writer’s Workshop

Keeping to the theme of Halloween, students created their own haunted houses!  Our second graders included creepy creatures in the windows and chose their own color scheme to create a one-of-a-kind haunted house.  Next, they took a look at real estate advertisements on the internet and found the “juicy words” that would entice would-be buyers.  Next, students were given the challenge of writing a piece that would persuade others to buy their haunted houses.  Look for these “spooktacular” persuasive pieces in the hallway!  

 

We ended the week by reading Hailstones and Halibut Bones by Mary O’Neill.  It’s a book that is filled with color poems!  Each poem demonstrated different ways to think about colors using your senses… How would a color look? How would a color taste? How would a color feel? How would a color smell? Using the author’s craft from these poems, we have been working to create our own color poems.

 

Math Workshop

At the beginning of this week, students took the first Benchmark Assessment.  I was impressed with how well our class scored!  Mid-week, we worked on making change this week by counting up.  YES, making change is a hard concept however it is something your child will need to be able to do. Please continue to practice this with them at home. 

Word Study
We began the week looking at words that have “oo”. Students learned that “oo” can sound like /oo/ as in moon or /uh/ as in look. We also tried adding on the silent ‘e’ to words to see how new words could be created. Students used these words to compose their own sentences.

Social Studies
Our second graders reviewed the cardinal directions and the use of a compass rose. We learned the acronym: “Never Eat Soggy Waffles” to help us remember the cardinal directions. Next, we practiced the cardinal directions by looking at map of the United States and answering statements like: Name a state that is south of Michigan. We also learned about the natural (trees, grass, mountains, hills, etc) and human features (bridges, roads, buildings, etc) that are found on map keys.  We read a poem “Making Maps” and students highlighted the natural and human features in the poem.  Students were given a homework assignment today that asked for them to draw a map of their bedroom.  These maps are due on Wednesday.

Computers!
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Special News & Reminders

·        We all had a super fun time at our Halloween Party!  Special thanks to all of the parents who planned or donated items for our celebration. J

·        Sunday, November 4^th– Daylight Savings Time Ends… remember to set your clocks back one hour

·        Tuesday, November 6^th– NO SCHOOL – Professional Development Day – No students!  Don’t forget to vote!

·        Wednesday, November 7^th- Map of bedroom due

·        Thursday, November 15^th  – NO SCHOOL – Parent/Teacher Conferences All Day