As I prepare my home and celebrate the season with my family, I really enjoyed reading all the wonderful Holiday Tradition stories the children worked on at home with you!! It’s neat to hear how different families celebrate. During one of our writing blocks this week we had a chance to type the stories into a Word document. You should have received the original story back, and the typed version is on display in our classroom for all to read!
We are also spending some of our writing time reading various holiday stories and responding in writing. Some of the books we've shared together are The Night Tree, The Chanukah Guest, Arthur's Christmas Cookies, and The Wild Christmas Reindeer. After each book we do a follow-up writing activity such as sequencing the events of the story, answering comprehension questions, writing about what we would have done if we were in the story, and using a Venn diagram to compare characters. This has been a nice way to include some fun, beautiful stories into our reading and writing curriculum.
During our reading blocks, the kids enjoyed reading non-fiction texts. We continued to discuss the non-fiction text features (glossary, index, captions, labels, diagrams, heading, etc.). The kids also had the opportunity to begin thinking about main idea and supporting details. This is a concept that is ongoing for second graders and will be discussed several times throughout the year during reading groups with both fiction and non-fiction texts.
In math we worked with place value and expanded form to compare 3-digit numbers. The children also had the opportunity to do another practice Open Response where they had to make sense of a 3-digit number represented by base-10 blocks by making trades or counting. Then as a class we analyzed explanations and drawing, and children revised their work. We began discussing measurement as well. We discovered the importance of standard measures by reading a fun story titled "How Big is a Foot?". We also had lots of practice measuring in class using feet, inches, and centimeters.
Our Science unit "Materials and their Uses" is going very well! The kids are really starting to ask scientific questions and conduct investigations to "solve" their questions. One lesson explored liquids. Groups were given various containers and they were asked to predict and then test which container could hold the most water. They did a great job working together to determine how much each could hold. We had some really rich conversations of how to be sure we were measuring accurately and the importance of repeating tasks to ensure accuracy. Our next lesson focused on the Materials and their Purposes. The children are in the process of designing bridges that are both strong and waterproof using various materials. The children did a "strength" test and a "waterproof" test and then they will create their bridges based upon what they learned during the testing lessons. Some bridges are still in process, but all groups will have an opportunity to share their designs next week in front of the class.
I am looking forward to our winter party, which will be on Thursday afternoon at 2:15. The room parents have sent out an email with names of volunteers and who has offered to bring in food/paper product donations for the party. Thanks again for your willingness to help out with these special events- it means a lot to me and to the children.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Upcoming Dates:
December 15th- Report Cards Available for Viewing at 4:00pm
December 21st- Winter Holiday Party
December 25-January 2nd: Winter Break
December 15th- Report Cards Available for Viewing at 4:00pm
December 21st- Winter Holiday Party
December 25-January 2nd: Winter Break
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