I am excited to announce that our first full week was extremely successful. Students are doing an impeccable job of remembering the procedures and routines. This is no small feat, especially since there are so many new things being introduced. Students delved deeper into the curriculum this week and seem to be enjoying their learning opportunities. This week we began Mountain Language. All of the questions were done collaboratively so that the students would obtain a clear understanding of what they would be expected to do. During the upcoming week, students will be asked to do this independently as part of their morning work.
Students also began Guided Reading on Monday. While most of the students will be remaining in the classroom during this time, some will be working with other staff members at Gombert. Students who are working with other teachers spent most of the week getting to know one another. The students also were assessed to determine their reading levels. The children who remained in the classroom were hard at work building stamina during the Daily 5. Students learned about where to sit in the classroom, and were provided with a review of the 3 Ways to Read a Book and also the I-PICK strategy. I took some additonal time to conference with students to ensure that they had chosen good fit books to put into their book bins. Everyone is doing a wonderful job of using this strategy. Please reinforce this important strategy with your children when you visit the Aurora Public Library or a bookstore to browse for books. Next week we will be shooting for 5 minutes of stamina, reviewing the I-PICK strategy and making our own choices on where to sit in the classroom. Be on the lookout for information on our next Daily 5, Read to Someone.
In Spelling, students have been practicing short vowel sounds with songs and poems. We also share a book that features the short vowel of the day. In addition, we have been practicing a different spelling homework sheet each day so that we will know how to do our homework when our real spelling tests begin. We have practicted Sailboat Spelling, Making Words and Rainbow Words. Next week we will practice long vowel sounds and more homework so we are ready for our first Spelling Pretest on September 15th.
In Science, students got the opportunity to use their knowledge of the scientific method, once again this week, as they seeked to find out which teacher would spin to the floor during our "Spinning Teacher" experiment. Students behaved like scientists as they were given the opportunity to stand on their chairs during this experiment. Don't worry, the students were very cautious as they performed this experiment. They were told that this would be the absolute only time they were allowed to stand on a chair in 2nd grade. We continued Science by finding out what students knew about the water cycle. I was shocked to find out how much the students already knew. Students also shared their thinking with their peers when they were placed into cooperative learning groups to determine whether or not statements about the water cycle were true or false. Students will continue to learn about the water cycle during the upcoming weeks.
The Second Graders found themselves learning about how to work with a partner and in small groups during Math this week. The ideas shared were very beneficial and will help students in the future. Our little mathematicians also learned to play two games, Additon Top-It and the Money Exchange Game. They did a phenomenal job and were able to practice appropriate behaviors during this time. Students reviewed time, money and patterns on a number grid. They were given the opportunity to create number scrolls which was something that was done in first grade. They had fond memories of creating these number scrolls and were excited to be completing this task once again.
Students have been hard at work completing their first writing assignment about how to fill each others' buckets. Most students have completed this task and they will be displayed on the bulletin board during this week. If you are in the building, please feel free to view your child's bucket writing. During the upcoming week, we will begin launching Writer's Workshop by completing a writing assessment to determine students' writing abilities. We will also discuss what Writer's Workshop looks like and sounds like. Students will determine who writes, what writers write and why writers write. During the latter part of the week, your children will be involved in searching for ideas to write about inside and outside of our classroom. Our goal is to create an abundance of ideas that will be used throughout the year during Writer's Workshop.
