First Week of Second Grade

September 5-8, 2023

We had a wonderful first week in second grade! Students are so excited to be back in the classroom. Everyone has been making such great choices and are helpful classmates. This class has amazing listeners and is so good at following directions- I'm impressed!! Despite the heat and half days, we were able to get to some fun back to school activities, but not all. The activities we didn't get to this week that we had planned, we will find time throughout next week!

The first day of school, we discussed classroom procedures and learned new routines. Students even learned some big new words like "expectations." They unpacked and organized their supplies, too!

We read the book "First Day Jitters" and talked about how the students were feeling on their first day of school. Students got to interact with the SmartBoard and drag how they felt. Most students were"happy"! :) Later in the day, we did some fun sun tare art, since "Second Graders Are Bright"! This helped us practice following directions, glueing and fine motor skills.

The second day of school was all about their names, getting to know each other, and friendship! We started by making an All About Me Poster. Students shared some information about themselves and some of their favorite things! These will be displayed on the classroom "Wow Work" board.

Later, we read "The Name Jar". This is a book about a student who leaves Korea and is new to the United States. Unhei's grandmother gave her a red satin pouch with her name engraved on a stamp written in Korean. When Unhei comes to the United States she is very anxious about starting school and can't decide if she wants to have an American name. After reading the book, students decorated their names in bubble letters with some things the students like about themselves. For example, turning their letter A into a pizza slice if their favorite food is pizza. (Their names will be hung up and displayed under the picture they were asked to bring in.)

Students ended the day with some fun by playing "This or That". I put up questions such as asking students if they thought my favorite sport was soccer or softball, and then were asked to go to the left or right side of the room, depending on the answer they thought. I shared my answer, along with some pictures and then students go to take turns sharing the same answer about themselves. (Click here if you would like to view the game!)

Wednesday started off with fun, too! (Notice a trend here? Second grade is fun!) Students practice following directions, cutting and gluing and reading their classmates names by playing Name Bingo!

After that, students designed a pencil and wrote a sentence describing what their favorite subject was, what they hope for second grade or what they are looking forward to. Some responses included: "I like recess because I get exercise." "I like school because it is a place you can learn and have fun." These will be displayed on the bulletin boards in the hallway, along with the tare art sun, so be sure to check them out on back to school night on September 20th!

To end the day, students wrote a "Hello, Goodbye" poem. We brainstormed something we will say goodbye to from the summer and hello to in the fall. Students wrote their poems and next week, they will illustrated a picture to match. We will be saying "goodbye" to melty ice pops, BBQs, swimming, and saying "hello" to crunchy leaves, yummy apple cider donuts, and pumpkin picking. We have such a creative class! Be sure to check these out on Back to School Night, too!

Friday morning started out with Code of Conduct assembly in the Jaguar Jungle from Mrs. Bletcher and Ms. Garcia. This year, students will use their "PAWS to Think" when thinking about behaviors.
P-ractice Kindness
A-ct Safe & Responsible
W-ork Hard
S-how Respect

2G is going to have a bright year! Together as a class, we came up with some goals for their second grade year. We talked about how to make goals and then what they can to reach them! Students chose their own goals- ranging from 5 to 9 goals. They wrote them on suns and they will be displayed in the classroom as reminders! Some goals include: "I will tap out words when spelling." "I will follow directions the first time." "I will do my best work." "I will practice my math facts." "I will read lots of books." "I will write stories with lots of details."

Maybe you heard about the students earning the special "privilege" (another big word) of using extra-fine tipped Sharpie markers to outline their work throughout the week. We learned it's always important to do our best work and to be proud of it! :)

Later, we talked about the important of numbers and designed posters displaying "Numbers Are Important to Me." Students have different house numbers, different days of their birthday and even number of siblings. Numbers have "value" - they all mean something!

To end the day, we had a class discussion about our classroom being a safe place to learn. It's okay to make mistakes and to be comfortable to take risks! We talked about how we spend so much time together as a class, that it's important to care about, learn about and respect each other. Some students will find they have things in common and some have differences, and that's okay! Most importantly, school is a safe place to learn! Finally, we talked about what "lifts us up" and what makes students feel good and safe to learn. Next week, students will record their ideas on some paper balloons that will be displayed outside the classroom.

A big thank you to parents who donated extra classroom supplies and items from the classroom Amazon Wish List! THANK YOU for all that you do as parents in helping support your child's learning. I promise you your child is in good, loving hands during the school day with me! 🙂💚💙

Coming up in September...

There has been a change in which monthly previews reflecting which topics students will be learning will be communicated with parents, rather than weekly previews.

Fundations-
Unit 1: Reviewing tapping, digraphs, blends, syllables, marking
Unit 2: bonus letters, glued sounds, r-controlled vowels

Reading-
Launching Reader's Workshop: learning reading habits, skills and strategies, how to respond to reading, how to retell

Writing-
Launching Writer's Workshop: learning writing habits, skills and strategies, developing ideas (brainstorming) and introduction to the writing process

Math-
Numbers to 1,000: word form, standard form (number) and expanded form, place value, comparing and ordering numbers, number patterns

Reminders

If you have not done so already, please send in your child's arrival/dismissal form. I need to provide it to the main office for their records.
Send in a head shot/ close up photo of your child to be displayed in the classroom.
Snacks in the classroom are allergen-free.
Please read through the TJS and Classroom Information page

Important Dates

September 20- Back to School Night 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

September 25- Schools Closed-Yom Kippur

September 28- Picture Day

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