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| Having a BLAST at PE with Mrs. Batchelder! |
Highlights from our week:
*Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: In order to prepare for this long, holiday weekend, our class spend the week discussing the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I was so impressed by the level of thoughtfulness your second graders displayed as they learned about Dr. King. As you can imagine, it was hard for them to believe that times in our country could be so different than they are now!
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| Watching Dr. King's famous speech was a MAJOR highlight from our study! |
After reading many beautiful picture book biographies, we focused on what Martin thought, how he felt, and what actions he took. Check out these amazing tributes they made!
Reading Buddies: Moved by Dr. King's kindness and compassion, we worked hard with our reading buddies to create Valentine cards to those in need. We decided it would be a nice gesture to send these beautiful cards to some active military members overseas. It feels so good to be kind!
*Science: We continued our work with the three states of matter this week. Working together, the Owls went on a magazine scavenger hunt to search for picture cues to remind them of the difference between solids, liquids, and gases.
We also enjoyed investigating the question: "What will happen when we pop a balloon filled with a solid, filled with a liquid, and filled with a gas?" Ask your child about our results!
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| Our solid balloon popped on its own! |
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| Everyone took a giant step backwards as our liquid balloon splattered everywhere! (We don't have a picture of the gas balloon popping, but we have all witnessed THAT before!) |
*Writing: As you may remember, way back in October, your child wrote a "Crazy Creature" mini saga for the Young Writers USA competition. On Friday, we head the exciting news that each student will have their story published in an upcoming book! You hopefully received more information about this, as well as a certificate, bookmark, permission to publish sheet, and a typeset copy of your child's work, in their folder on Friday. Bravo, Writers! Once the collection of stories is published, our class will receive a copy to be shared. While you do have the opportunity to purchase your own copy, please know that each child will have a chance to take home our class copy to share with you so you should not feel obligated to purchase (they're rather expensive!). I'm sure this will not be the last time these budding writers' work ends up in publication! :)
*Reading: Reader's Workshop this week had us, "Amping Up Our Reading Power!" Throughout this unit, we will be revisiting good reading habits, learning new ways to improve our fluency (how we sound when we read), interpreting literary language, and setting personal goals.
Beginning with fluency, we learned a song to help us remember the importance of rereading.
Sung to the tune of "The Wheels on the Bus"...
Read parts of our books again and again
Out loud and in our heads
Out loud and in our heads
Read parts of our books again and again
To make our reading smooooooooth!
In addition to rereading, students learned that they can improve their fluency by:
-scooping words into longer phrases
-talking like the characters
Students had a great time showing off their fluency skills with their new reading partner. We will add to this list and continue practicing these skills in our upcoming week.
*Scholastic Book Order: Scholastic Book Catalogs for January were sent home early last week and Scholastic's full catalog is available online. Orders are due by Tuesday, Jan. 16th.
Enjoy the long, holiday weekend!
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Questions to promote "School Talk":
-What sounds did you hear when we dropped our solid balloon? Liquid? Gas?
-How do you sing the "Rereading" song?
-Who is your new reading partner?
-What are some of the problems you've solved on your iReady check-in?
-What was exciting about PE this week?
-What did Martin Luther King, Jr. think? How did he feel? What did he do?
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Important Dates:
-Monday, Jan. 15th: No School (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day)
-Tuesday, Jan. 16th: Scholastic Book Orders Due
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