Writer's Workshop

Yippee!! We kicked off writer's workshop this week and it's going great!  We learned that authors can be any age, have ups and downs, need revisions, and should keep their writing and ideas in a special place.  We also started recording our memories in our writer's notebook and folder.  Many students chose to write about customs and traditions which tied nicely into social studies!  I figured I would take a picture of our learning goals for today so that you can continue those discussions at home.

Number Puzzles

Today we combined all the tools and concepts we have learned so far!  Students had to use what they knew about place value, comparison, and odd/even to help solve number puzzles using a hundreds chart.  Students were having great math discussions!  Here is an example...

I am between 50 and 60.
I am an odd number.
I am less than 55
The sum of my digits is is 8.

Answer below ;)

53

Sticky Note Strategies

Sticky Note Strategies have been introduced!  Our Reading Goal for the entire year is to understand that good readers stop and use thinking strategies to deepen their understanding of the text.  We will be learning new strategies to achieve that goal all year. Another goal we have been working on is to develop good reading habits, such as: choosing a good spot, choosing good fit books, reading a wide variety, and being able to explain why they liked or didn't like a book.  Thinking while reading and developing good habits will help our students become better readers.  Sticky notes are a great way to document thinking while reading, but they can be over used.  These are the strategies we decided to try first.

Citizenship

Our first lesson with Mrs. Hope was about expected and unexpected behaviors. This tied in great with our social studies lesson.  Students understand that they are a part of many communities: home, neighborhood, school, reading, classroom, basically anywhere they are a part of a group.  Communities have laws to help citizens stay safe.  We spent a lot of time discussing many ways to be a good citizen in our communities.  And we realized that they were all expected behaviors!  Being a part of a community always feels better when rules are followed and citizens do their part.

Monitoring Comprehension

Here is a pretty great summary of our learning today!

It's very important for students to be self aware when they are reading. They should stop every so often to make sure they can figure out new words, retell in their own words, picture the story in their mind and/or make meaningful connections. In 2nd grade we are transitioning from learning to read to reading to learn. Lots of great reading and thinking strategies to learn this year!

Two Digit Numbers

Students should now be experts at reading two digit numbers and number names! Next up we will be discussing relative position on a number track and number line. Students will be able to locate numbers on these two tools and discuss how the numbers compare to each other. When discussing numbers at home ask students questions like "What ten is 33 closers to?" Or "How far away is 47 from 50?" 

Culture

Our first social studies unit is Culture. Our first lesson focuses on rules we follow at home and school. We noticed a lot of similarities! We also decided that rules are meant to keep us safe. They also encourage us to be responsible and respectful. We will often use Myon for read alouds. Today we read Fair Play. Throughout the unit students will learn that they are a part of many communities and what it looks like and feels like to be a good citizen in those communities. 

Curriculum Night Presentation

In case you missed it!  

Math Stations

To help build independence with math stations we have been practicing a variety of activities. Our first two are Number of the Day  and The Addition Table Game.