Welcome Back!

Wow, it is hard to believe that a new school year is beginning once again.  I am thrilled to be able to teach 18 new second graders this year! I have had the opportunity to meet each and every one of you at registration this past week. We will be implementing a brand new math series, different comprehension strategies, and how to build reading stamina. This is just a few of the many things we will be learning this school year. I am excited to begin teaching all of you on August 10, 2015!

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

Today is Dr. Seuss's birthday and we were fortunate enough to have two special guest readers come read to the class. We appreciate Mr. Teddy Baird and Mr. Shawn Lawry to take the time out of their busy schedule and come read to our class today. Here are a few of my favorite Dr. Seuss quotes and pictures from our guest readers today.

"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose."

"You're on your own. And you know what you know. And you are the one who'll decide where to go."

"Life's too short to wake up with regrets. So love the people who treat you right, forgive the ones who don't and believe that everything happens for a reason. If you get a chance, take it. If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said it'd be easy, they just promised it would be worth it."

Valentine's Celebration

We enjoyed our small valentine celebration on Friday. Thanks to William, Braeden, and Blayton, we enjoyed drinks and snacks. The students enjoyed reading each other's Valentine's that they received. It was nice to have a small celebration after all of the learning that has been going on in our class! Here are a few pictures from the celebration.

How can I save money?

Welcome back!!! We are beginning a new unit in reading and math and it deals with money! During reading this week the students have been learning new information on how to save money, what it's called when you want to make money, needs vs wants, budget, and so many more things. They have really been engaged in the new learning. 

We also began a new unit in math. We are learning how to identify coins and their value. This is the beginning of the unit, but I've been impressed of how quickly they have caught on.

Since we are discussing money and the purpose and value, we asked our local bank to come be guest speakers and tell our students a little more. Here are some pictures from the guest speakers!

Thank you, Mr. Drew Jennings and Dylan Lamberth for taking the time out of your work schedule to come and speak with our classes! 

Merry Christmas!

Wow! I cannot believe that we just completed the first half of second grade. It seems like it has flown by. We have learned a lot of things and still more to come. The students have grown so much in their learning that it amazes me to see them grow each and every day! I love my job and working with your kids daily! I hope that they show their learning to you when they see you! 

Today we had our Christmas party. We exchanged stockings, gift writing, and enjoyed a breakfast while watching a movie. Thank you for all of the donations of food and supplies for the party. Here are a few pictures from our Christmas celebration! I hope that each of you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I will be seeing the students on January 5, 2015! 

Safety First

What a busy week we have had. Not only was this red ribbon week at our school, we also had our local fire department come and put on a fire safety show for the students. It was an enjoyable show to watch and educational for safety. I think everyone enjoyed it. On Friday, we had a small Halloween party with snacks, a Halloween story, and a fun Halloween writing activity.  It was very nice of our assistant, Ms. Sammie to  come and read a Halloween story to the class. It was a nice way to end the month of October and begin a new month of learning. It's hard to believe that we are now in November. Thanksgiving is just around the corner. 

Compare and Contrast

This week we have been learning how to use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast characters, things, and texts told by different authors. Our story this week was The Boy Who Cried wolf. Today the the studnets worked with their groups to compare and contrast the two versions they heard. They enjoyed coming up with the comparisons and sharing with their classmates. Here are some pictures from today.

 William and Elijah working hard

Blayton, Lexi, Emma, and CJ

Amber, Braeden, and Wyatt

Tania, Halie, Chance, Tristin 

We are learning in 2nd Grade

We have been busy learning all kinds of standards so far in second grade. It can be challenging at times, but we have fun. We are working on characters, setting, and plot in reading, compound words in grammar, and making models drawing base tens in our math. The pictures below show the students doing walk the room in reading with comprehension questions. They work with their partners to answer questions together. The questions are posted all over the room and they walk around answering the comprehension questions in complete sentences. We did the same activity with math. I placed several questions around the room with place value questions. The students seem to really enjoy this activity. We also work in small group building tens from ones and changing them out for a larger number. Here are a few pictures of what learning looks like in our classroom!

Comparing and Contrasting Stories

Today we compared and contrasted the two stories we have been reading this week. Before the students read with their partners, we talked about the story Henry and Mudge and what it was about. Then I introduced the other story All in the Family to them. They took their, "parking lot post-it" boards with them to their place to read and jotted down how this story was alike and different from Henry and Mudge. After the reading, we came back as a whole group and posted our comparisons and differences on an anchor chart. Here are some pictures of the class reading with their partners.

Halie & Tonia

Blayton & Braeden

Lexi, Dani, & Tristin 

Tristin & Lexi

Working Together

I am so proud of the group of students I have. They are a great group of kids that work well with others. What a great quality to have in a class where we do a lot of group work. This week the we did a lot of group work within their seating area and partner work. The pictures below show them writing during writer's workshop. They enjoy sharing their writing to the class and I enjoy hearing them. The other pictures below show how they are working together to find evidence in the text to answer their questions for reading. They enjoy working with each other to compare answers and help one another to answer the questions. Here are a few pictures from this week.

Last are a few pictures of the class during recess where they can play hard and mingle with the other second graders. 

Exploring Text Features

This week we have been making anchor charts, exploring nonfiction texts, and making our own nonfiction book.  We have been talking about what features are and their purposes. Here are a few pictures of the students working and exploring!

"First Day Jitters"

Yay, we survived the first day of second grade!! We started off the day going through and sorting ALL of the school supplies. That took some time, but we managed with some brain breaks and a little reading time. Today I thought it was perfect to read the book, "First Day Jitters," since this was my first day in second grade too! After we read the story, we did a little writing activity and drawing on what jitters we might have. This was a good start for me to see what their writing looks like. We will be writing every day during our writers workshop. The students will learn to add details to their writing. I am excited to begin this workshop! Ask your child about, "jitter juice." That's right, almost everyone tried jitter juice today to get rid of all our jitters.
I think today was a successful day and I am thrilled to be able to teach my new group of second graders! Here is a group picture of our class today before recess. Also, here is a picture of a few students trying jitter juice.