Book Fair

The school library will be transformed into a Scholastic Book Fair from November 17 - 26.  A flyer has come home today that gives a little peek into the book fair.  The flyer is not the same thing as a monthly book order form (it is larger and says "Book Fair" on the front page).  Students will have an opportunity next week to browse the Book Fair and it will be open for families during Parent/Teacher conferences.

November News

I cannot believe that it is November already!  I am blown away by how much we have learned together so far!

In Writing Workshop, our Narrative unit has come to and end and we are about to learn all about writing Informational Texts.  I am really looking forward to this unit.  I have seen so much growth in our young writers as they apply narrative writing strategies in their own writing; using mentor texts as inspiration.  I am sure that we will see several experts writing about what they know the most about - including using features such as a Table of Contents, bold print, and captions under pictures.

In math we have just ended a unit in geometry and are now re-visiting the number system.  We will learn more efficient strategies for adding and subtracting two digit numbers, become familiar with mental math strategies when adding several addends together, explore even and odd numbers, and work with skip counting (an early introduction to "multiples").

*Report Card Notice*

Please note that Report Cards will not be available until November 12.  Although you will still receive a paper copy, we want to make sure that our on-line reporting system is up and running for you to use.

*Mark Your Calendars*

There will be no school Tuesday, November 11.
There will be noon dismissal on Tuesday, November 25.
Parent/Teacher Conferences are on Tuesday, November 25 and Wednesday, November 26. Please refer to your November School Newsletter for details on signing up!

Here are a few photos from October:

A visit from Orrington Fire & Rescue

Sharing our Book Responses

Working with 2-dimensional rectangles

 to create 3-dimensional rectangular prisms (boxes)

Headphones

Students will be using headphones in the computer lab throughout the year.  If your child had headphones last year, most likely Mrs. Stone kept them over the summer.  If you are new to the school, you might not have sent any in yet. 

Please have a conversation with your child to see if they have headphones at school.  If your child does not have headphones at school, and if you are able to supply a pair, please send them in as soon as you can.  We do have extra headphones in the computer lab, if needed.

Book Order

The order forms for October's Book Order are coming home today.  The Book Order is due Friday, October 10.  Remember to please send in a check or money order if you are ordering - do not send cash.  You may also order online.  Our classroom code is FZY46.

Publishing Party!!!

Our class has spent the last 20 school days learning all about the structure of Writing Workshop.  We have been focusing on writing narratives - telling a true story of one moment in our lives.  Skills we have learned include: generating ideas, writing good leads and endings, having a beginning, middle, and end, using end punctuation, and making our writing more interesting by adding details and dialogue.

We also went through the process of revising and editing.  Today our class had a Publishing Party!  Students had the opportunity to self-assess their work, and made note of what they can do well as a writer and what they were able to do to improve their writing by comparing "before" and "after" revision pieces of their work.

We then put our work on display for the whole class to enjoy.  We had an opportunity to report out what kinds of things we noticed in others' writing that we would like to try in our own writing.

What's a party without party favors?!?  You will see our students sporting stretchy band bracelets - because "writing stretches your learning"!

Now that we have been through the entire process, we are going to start one more unit on narrative writing on Monday.  It is so exciting to watch second graders grow as writers!

Cooperative Learning

What kinds of things is your child exploring in second grade so far?

We have been busy learning how to work with a partner or small group in ways that enhance our learning.  We all share the responsibilities of both teacher and learner as we work together to explore new ideas.  This class has such great ways of thinking!  It's exciting to see how they share their thoughts and support each other while learning new things!

Here are a few pictures to give you an idea of some of the activities we have been doing:

Using math cubes to help with adding and subtracting story problems.

Creating compound words and dividing words into syllables.

Playing math games like "Make 10"

Students are learning that being able to work with others, listening to different ideas, and explaining your thinking with evidence are important parts of the learning process.  

Don't forget that we have one more session of NWEA testing on Tuesday, September 23.

A Great First Week!

Wow!  What a busy and exciting first week we had!  Thank you so much for those who were able to visit us at Open House, for those who made donations to the classroom, and for all of the ways that you support your child's education!

This week we have been busy getting to know each other and becoming familiar with classroom and school rules and routines.  Next week we will continue to learn more about the structure of our classroom as we review concepts from last year.  It is important to have this time of review so that I can get to know each of your children's strengths and begin to plan learning goals.  One goal that all students in our room will work on next week is thinking of themselves as both a learner and a teacher.  They will explore various learning styles and learn to identify in what ways they learn best.  Students will also learn more about working effectively with a partner and within a small learning group.

I look forward to a year full of fun and growth!

Reminder:  There is no school on 

Monday, September 1