Holiday Party!

Students enjoyed making cards, having snacks and playing games with each other this afternoon!

Polar Express Day Success.

Students enjoyed sharing movie time with the entire second grade. They were warm and cozy! They did so well.  It was a great way to end 2014.

Happy Holidays!

Holiday Break Challenge.

Students are receiving a Holiday Break Challenge.  It has suggested activities and practice for time off school.  It's important to maintain skills with some quick practice (spelling and math facts) and continuing to read daily.  Students should record the days they practice by having a parent initial in the box for each day. It is not required but I am encouraging all students to try as best they can. Please let me know if you have questions, comments or concerns.

Thanks for your support!

POLAR EXPRESS DAY!

Tomorrow we will be wrapping up our year by watching The Polar Express.  We have read the story, listened to it read aloud, discussed the author's craft and done some sequencing with the story.  Students are excited to watch the movie! We will be discussing the different versions by comparing and contrasting the book and the movie.  Please allow your child to wear cozy pajamas and slippers to school tomorrow!

Similes.

We are exploring the Polar Express and focusing on new words, determining meaning, looking at author's craft and discussing the parts of the story.  One thing we noticed about this author is that he uses similes.  Similes are comparisons using like or as.  I modeled an example today and then students had the opportunity to work together to find two more.  We discussed what was being compared and why the author would include this in his story.  Be on the lookout for others in books your child is reading! Encourage students to use them in their writing.

LAST WEEK BEFORE WINTER BREAK.

It's hard to believe the holidays are right around the corner.  Where has the year gone? We will have quite a busy 6 1/2 days.  Our holiday party is Monday, December 22 and there is an exciting event planned for Tuesday morning, December 23 to wrap up this year and what we've been learning.

*If your child will be absent as we get closer to the break, please let me know so I can prepare some practice activities.  I always send students home with some ways to continue working on skills and concepts.

We are working on making words using suffixes (word endings) and tuning into different rules that apply. Students will read a variety of poems noticing new words, inferring word meaning and checking for understanding.  Visualizing is another strategy we will work on to increase comprehension and to work on verbal skills. Students are responding to their reading more thoughtfully proving evidence and reasoning for their thinking. We will also work on the hard and soft C sound this week (k and s) and notice patterns within words.

Maxlex, our Elf, will continue to make our classroom interesting!

My mother, Mrs. Bobholz, will be making an appearance in our classroom this week as well!

 Thank you for your continued support!

Main Idea.

As we continue to explore nonfiction, students will become familiar with the Main Idea.  I used a comparison with the students today.  We talked about the most important part of a blow-pop or the best part.  They agreed it was the middle or the gum.  You have to lick and eat the outside to get to it. I then spoke with them about how we do the same thing with reading.  After we read, we identify the most important part or the main idea. Students liked the analogy and some understood right away.  We will work with this difficult skill for the next week and throughout the year!

Talk about the Main Idea of a section in a nonfiction book with your child.  Help them see that the details around it relate and support the Main Idea.

Welcome, Maxlex.

Students were excited to find an elf in our classroom yesterday! We named him Maxlex.

We talked about traditions and the students shared some of theirs. We talked about respecting others' traditions.  Not everyone celebrates or has the same traditions.  It's important that we respect them and let each student believe what they want to believe.  I enjoyed seeing the students express their excitement in some of the special things your families do.   Students are constantly learning about each other!

I understand some of you may not participate in Elf on a Shelf.  I wanted to share just one holiday tradition that some partake in as well as help students learn about other ones. Students understand that some may believe and some may not but it's important to respect the traditions of others. The theory behind Elf on a Shelf is that each night he reports to Santa and shares the good and bad. Every morning he returns to a new place.  The students are so anxious to see where he's chosen to "hide."

 

Nonfiction.

We will be focusing on nonfiction texts throughout the month of December.  Students will be working on selecting meaningful texts based on interest and purpose.  Students will be thinking about the importance of this type of text and why readers read them.  We will be digging into the books on a deeper level activating schema, sharing wonderings and new learnings. Students will also meet with other students to discuss texts and share their ideas.  It is very important for students to be building confidence to share their ideas.

Students have been doing a great job noticing how informational texts are written.  We are discussing the importance of the many features present in these texts including: table of contents, headings, bold words, captions, pictures, labels and many others.  Students will be examining these features more closely and locating them in various books and identifying the purpose.

In Writer's Workshop, students are working on expert pieces (informational writing).  They are including many features in their books that they have learned from mentor authors and each other.  Ask your child what their expert topic is.  (They were to chose something that involved force and motion; we are connecting our science learning.)

Continue to engage with your child and nonfiction texts.
Thank you for your continued support!