We had another eventful week in 2F! We have been working hard on building up our minutes of stamina for Read to Self during Daily 5. We are now up to 15 minutes. Our goal for the upcoming week is to attain 30 minutes of stamina. It is a joy to observe the students so engrossed in their reading during our literacy block. We continue to encourage all students to find just right books. This week we read a wonderful story entitled Goldie Socks and the Three Libearians. The book reviewed the importance of choosing good fit books, the five finger rule, choosing appropriate places to sit in the classroom and remembering to keep our classroom library organized. Students have also begun Read to Someone. We have built up 6 minutes of stamina and I am sure that the minutes will increase during the upcoming week. Students will continue to build up stamina for Read to Self and Read to Someone. During the latter part of the week, they will be introduced to our next Daily 5, Listen to Reading.
We also introduced our CAFE board. CAFE is an acronym which stands for comprehension, accuracy, fluency and expand vocabulary. Students will be working on their individual goals as readers this year and will focus on strategies that have been posted on our CAFE board throughout the year. The overall goal is that students will become increasingly aware of their needs and goals as readers. This board will be a visual representation of our work during our second grade year together. This week we introduced two strategies, Check for Understanding and Sequence Main Events.
Students had their very first spelling test this week. Overall, the students did very well. Please encourage your child to continue to complete their spelling activities for homework. This will aide the students in improving their spelling abilities and their performance on the posttest. Please remember that the homework is due on Tuesdays, which will also be the day of the test. I was very happy about the homework completion this week!
We have begun Guided Math! We took some much needed time to brainstorm what students should look like and sound like during Guided Math and stressed the importance of independenece. We also practiced the behaviors so each child would have a clear understanding of the expectations during this time. As a result, we slowed the pace of our lessons to ensure that students were engaged in the activities provided. We still need to review expectations and responsiblities; however, I am pleased with the progress that students have made since the first day. Please be aware that some lessons will continue to be taught whole class. I am very excited to be providing instruction based upon student's needs. The overall goal is to provide differentiated instruction which will match the levels of learning in our classroom.
The highlight of last week was our water cycle bracelets. Hopefully, your child came home and explained the stages of the water cycle using their bracelet. This week, we willl be wrapping up our Water Cycle Unit and will soon begin learning about our country's history. We will end our unit by creating a water cycle wheel which will serve as an assessment of our learning. Students will need to remember the important stages of the water cycle which should include the following: evaporation, condensation, precipitation and accumulation. We may even be learning a new song to prepare for this assessment. We will also be presenting a reader's theater play entitled "Around the Water Cycle".
We were extremely excited to check out our new Social Studies books from the LMC on Friday. The students and I discussed the importance of respecting property. In addition, students were informed that they were the very first second grade class to ever use these books and that it was important to take good care of them. We can't wait to discover what we will be learning about our country's past. It will be an exciting time for all!
Next week during Writer's Workshop, we will continue to review the parts of speech and work on creating Super Sentences. The students are itching to write their own pieces. This will occur soon; we are still launching Writer's Workshop and reviewing the important routines and procedures needed in order to ensure our workshop time is successful throughout the year.
As you know, students will be taking the OLSAT on Monday and Tuesday. Please be sure that your child gets a restful night of sleep and eats a healthy breakfast so that they will be alert and prepared for the upcoming test.
