2H Class Blog!: Second Grade is Underway!

What a super, jam packed week we had! It's hard to believe it was only a four day week---we did SO much!

The sunflowers in our school garden are HUGE! We took advantage of the nice weather on Friday to get outside and enjoy the fresh air!

With our goals established and published, we decided to brainstorm what we would need from each other in order to be successful this year. We then took all of our ideas, categorized them, and came up with a few rules we could all commit to. A copy of this important contract will be sent home for you to review with your child.

We have our reader and writer workshops up and running and students have been eager to both read and write! In reader's workshop, students were reminded of strategies of finding just right books (and why it's so important that their books are just right!), had a chance to "shop" for their book bins, wrote in their reader's notebooks, and began to build their independent reading stamina!

A big hit this week was reading with a partner!

We also got to see what happens when we finish a class read aloud: we make a poster! The poster is made to honor the important characters and events and to help us remember the great story all year long. Check out our poster for Mercy Watson!'

On Thursday, our scientists engaged in their very first inquiry science exploration: dissecting owl pellets (a HUGE hit among our owl class!) Each student received their very owl pellet to dissect and they quickly got to work digging out the bones!

After they finished their dissection, the real work began! They were challenged to identify the type of animal, or animals, the owl had eaten based on the bones they uncovered. It was hard work, but these scientists drew some excellent conclusions!

One thing's clear: we have a group of scientists on our hands! We're destined for a great year filled with inquiry, discovery, and experimenting!

In math, we've launched our very first unit which focuses on number sense and fact fluency. We spent the week working on number patterns and carefully looking at the special properties of a number grid.

To help reinforce these skills at home, have your child:

-count by 2s, 5s, and 10s

-tell you what number is 1 more than a given number; 1 less; 10 more; 10 less

-describe the patterns they found in a number grid; explain what happens when they move up one, down one, over one, or back one; explain how to use a number grid to add or subtract

-play Give the Dog a Bone!

Our class got a super surprise on Friday when we learned that a mystery reader would be visiting our classroom. After receiving five clues, we worked hard to try and figure out who our special guest would be. Only one had the correct guess with...Mrs. Belanger---our new assistant principal! She shared a hilarious story called The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors (written by the same author of the beloved The Day the Crayons Quit series!) After hearing this great story, we even got to play a few rounds of the classic game. Interested in being a mystery reader? A signup will be available after Curriculum Night.

On Friday afternoon, we had our first day of Buddies with Mrs. Loh's fifth grade class! Both she and I were SO impressed by how quickly each pair settled in together. Ask your child who their reading buddy is and what they read together. We will continue to meet regularly with our buddies, typically every Friday afternoon, for the remainder of the school year.