September 21, 2018

The past two weeks we have really settled into many of our routines, and we are working nicely as a classroom community.  Below are some highlights I’d like to share…

Daily 5 is off and running great!  The children now have 4 choices to make during our language arts blocks.  Those choices include:  Listen to Reading, Work on Words, Work on Writing, and Read to Self.  We are doing 3 “rounds” each day, each lasting 15-20 minutes.  It’s neat to see kids working on a variety of tasks independently for such a lengthy amount of time.  Now that we have our Daily 5 routines down we are excited to begin reading groups next week!

At this time they have 2 choices for Listen to Reading:  Raz- Kids and Epic.  Hopefully you all received your login information for Raz-Kids.  This is a great program to use at home because it is tailored to your child’s reading level.  Also, the kids can use their Raz-Kids time towards their 15 minutes of reading. Epic is another wonderful program that offers a variety of books for the kids to listen to, but is not geared towards their individual levels.

In Social Studies we completed our Apples Economics Unit this week.  The children had several opportunities throughout this unit to work in groups and do some fun, interactive activities that helped them learn the concepts.  I hope your child enjoyed learning all about apples- what a fun way to start off the fall!! Your child will be bringing home a vocabulary checker to help with the economics vocabulary that they will be assessed on Thursday, September 27th.

We have been talking about Personal Narratives during our writing time.  We learned that these are true stories about things that have happened in our lives.  We have begun writing a personal narrative of their choice as we learn about the structure of personal narrative.

In Math we are wrapping up Unit 1 and will begin Unit 2 next week. We are eager to begin our math rotations. The kids are excited to have 3 different activities during the math block. The various activities are: Teachers Choice, Technology, At Your Seat, Hands-On, and Math Facts. "Teachers Choice" is when small groups of kids working on a similar skill level meet with me. For "Technology" the kids have the choice of Dreambox, Games on the Everyday Math website, or various math apps. "At Your Seat" is typically math journal pages that reinforce the day's lesson. Finally, "Hands-On" is usually a math game that is part of the Everyday Math program.

Over the next few weeks we will be starting our first science unit, Plant and Animal Survival.  We are also lucky to have a chance to visit the Living Lab at the Day School on Monday, September 24th to explore more about Plant and Animal Survival.  We will be taking a bus to get there. The permission slips were sent home at the end of the year.  I have already received a signed permission slip from everyone so we should be all set!  We may spend some time outside by the Reed Brook, so please keep an eye on the weather so that your child will be comfortable during the outside portion of our visit.

Upcoming Dates:
9/24- Living Lab (we will have regular snack and lunch at Robinson)
9/27- Economics Assessment
9/28- All school ALICE Drill
10/3- Picture Day

September 7, 2018

It was such a pleasure meeting all of the children last week! I can already tell that it's going to be a great year! I hope you had a wonderful long weekend. Despite the heat, we are keeping busy. Here is a glance into what has been happening in your child's second grade classroom these past two weeks. Along with continuing to get to know one another, we also began establishing routines in many of our academic areas.


We spent most of our reading blocks reviewing the Daily Five structure. For those new to Robinson or those unfamiliar with Daily Five it is a literacy structure that allows for differentiation in the classroom and provides consistency. It is an integrated literacy instruction and classroom management system that is used during our literacy block. While I am working with small groups for Guided Reading, the other children have literacy “tasks” that include: Work on Words, Work on Writing, Read to Self, Read to Someone, and Listen to Reading. It takes a few weeks for me to assess all of the children and to determine their reading levels and while I am doing that, the children will build their stamina in each of the "task" areas.


We kicked off Daily 5 this week by introducing and practicing the "Read to Self" component. The kids did a great job, increasing their "stamina" to stay on task and read quietly for up to 12 minutes by the end of the week!

In math we continued with with Unit 1, which we began last week. This unit does a lot of review of concepts learned in first grade and allows time for us to establish math routines in the classroom. We focused on number scrolls and number grids this week as tools to help us solve addition problems.

I also assessed the children on the 100-second grade high frequency words. This is done periodically throughout the year to see what words your child needs to practice. These words will become part of their weekly spelling words that they will practice at school and home.


"Star of the Week" was introduced to the children on Friday.  Each week one child will be chosen to be our "Star" for the week.  That child gets to bring in photos and other special items that tell about themselves.  We will display those items for the entire week, and the child will get to present their items to the class on Fridays.  This week I got to be the 'Star"!!  It was a fun way to demonstrate what "Star of the Week" might look and sound like.

Finally, we also began our first social studies unit on "Apple Economics." In the first lesson, the students learned about the apple tree and the "goods" that come from the tree.  In our next lesson we looked at some important vocabulary words (goods, services, consumer, producer, and community).  These are words that we will use a lot in the next few weeks through various in-class activities.


**Second Grade Homework starts next week! Please check your child's folder daily for homework assignments, beginning Monday, September 10th. We will start with only the Spelling Tic-Tac-Toe. Your child will be expected to practice their spelling words at least two nights per week. The Spelling Tic-Tac-Toe sheet will have a variety of choices for your child to pick from in order to practice their words. Also, second graders are expected to read for at least 15 minutes per night. Your child will not need to record what book they read, however we strongly encourage this routine for your child's enjoyment and/or extra practice.  The Spelling Tic-Tac-Toe sheets should remain in your child's Take Home Folder all week and will be passed in on Fridays. Thank you for your help and support on homework.

**Just a reminder that Curriculum Night for 2nd Grade Parents will be on September 17th from 7:00-7:45pm.