Second Grade

Ms. Salmon

Ms. Anderson

Ms. Ross

January 2025

Pillars of the Month & Approaches to Learning - January: Truth

The pillar of the month “truth” is all about being honest, transparent, and authentic in everything you do. As a student, this means being truthful with yourself and others about your work, intentions, and actions. It means owning up to mistakes and giving credit where it’s due.

Being truthful as a student also means being honest with your teachers, classmates, and even family. It’s about having open, respectful conversations when there are misunderstandings or challenges. When you’re truthful, you also create an environment of trust, where others feel comfortable being honest and sharing their ideas too.

Students’ pictures are displayed in the classroom, showing them working together and conducting research. They collaborate to explore different concepts and then present their findings to their classmates. This activity encourages teamwork, critical thinking, and communication skills as students share what they’ve learned and demonstrate how to apply these concepts in the classroom.

Learning 10 more, 10 less, 100 more, and 100 less

Learning 10 more, 10 less, 100 more, and 100 less is a crucial skill in building a strong foundation in place value and understanding number patterns.

Students building this foundation allowed them to add and subtract based on place value. Students used their knowledge to answer questions independently and work in small groups. As students worked in small groups they were required to challenge their partners and ask them "why", "how do you know", "can you explain your thinking". These prompts allowed students to think deeper about what they were doing and build their social skills. Students building social skills allows them to complete tasks with friends in a productive and principled manner. They are productive because they are learning new skills to work together. They are principled because they are responsible for asking their partner thoughtful questions that will keep conversation rooted in learning and growing their thinking.

Learner Profiles

In our classroom, we use Student Learner Profiles to help students identify and focus on key traits they would like to develop. Each profile is accompanied by a definition, which helps students understand the profiles. At the beginning of each month, students have the opportunity to choose a profile they want to work on and place their picture under that profile. This encourages self-reflection and personal growth, allowing students to take ownership of their learning and progress.

Students Communicating and Working Together

Students are working in pairs to practice identifying nouns and using them in sentences. This collaborative activity encourages teamwork as they discuss and write sentences that include the nouns they've chosen. It helps reinforce their understanding of nouns in a fun and interactive way, while also giving them an opportunity to practice sentence structure and grammar skills.

Students Practicing Place Value

Practicing place value is a key concept in second grade math, as it helps students understand how numbers are structured and how they can break them down to make operations like addition and subtraction easier.

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