Morning Message

As you can imagine, the start of each day in second grade is a flurry of activity!  Upon entering, students greet each other and prepare for the day by signing up for lunch, handing in notes, sharpening pencils, running to the bathroom and more!  To make our morning run a little more smoothly, I post an overhead like the following each morning. 

At the top, students find the date and the day of school.  In the top left corner is a motivational, inspiring, or thought provoking digital poster.  Next to this is a list of their morning assignments. For the start of the year, the morning routine takes up a BIG part of the message.  This will shrink as the year progresses to make room for the Daily Edit.  

In the bottom left is a message from me.  Usually I say hello and post reminders or upcoming special events.

Last, is a Wordle.  I mentioned these in a previous post.  The kids LOVE solving the Wordle and having the class job of Wordler, the person who guide the class through reading the Wordle (and gets to use our interactive pens to do so-SCORE!)   Hope you enjoyed another sneak peek into second grade!  

S.T.A.R. Binders!

S.T.A.R. Binders

What is S.T.A.R.?

       

        A STAR  is a special binder that your child will carry to and from school every day this year.

        STAR is an acronym for Students Taking Action & Responsibility.

        STAR will help your child stay organized and keep you in touch with our classroom.

S.T.A.R. Rules:

      Take care of your STAR; it will be used all year!

       Clean out the "Classwork" pocket every evening.

       Take your STAR home every day and bring it back each morning.

        Keep your STAR clean - do not eat or drink in front of your STAR!

        Show your STAR to your parents everyday - they will be so proud of your new   

        responsibility!

    

      If you use a tool from the STAR toolbox, be sure to put it back when done.

What's in a S.T.A.R.?

Here is an overview of what is inside our STAR:

S.T.A.R. Binder Overview Students Taking Academic Responsibility
Front Cover: Pencil Case:	Your Ship to Shore cover identifies the Navigator of this second grade journey and owner of the STAR! This is the Navigator’s Toolbox. In here are learning tools that will be helpful on the journey.
First Clear Sleeve: Specials Schedule	In the first clear sleeve you will find a copy of our specials schedule.  Please remember to have students wear sneakers on gym days and return library books on library days.
Red Folder: To and From, Notices	This red folder contains notices from school and finished work.  Please be sure to clean this out each day!  Upon return, students will check this folder each morning for any returned notices or notes from home for the teacher.
Yellow Folder: Homework	Homework is sent home of Mondays (with the exception of Monday holidays, then Tuesday) and is returned on Friday (with the exception of Friday holidays, then Thursday). Homework, even if complete, is kept in this folder throughout the week.  Please clean out this folder on Friday so it is clear for the following week.
Clear Sleeves Resources	Throughout the year, we will be adding useful resources and tools to the binder, such as “no excuse” spelling words, math strategies, etc.  Please refer to this section to help your child review content that we are working on in class throughout the year.
Back Cover: Homework Guide	In the back cover, you will find a homework outline to help guide you and your child through the weekly homework.  The guide is meant to be a helpful planner and is not a rigid schedule.  In order to maximize your child’s learning, however, each item should be completed sometime during the week.

Day 1!

First day back to school!  I hope everyone enjoyed their day!  It is always so fun to meet  a new class and begin to get to know them.  This seems like a great group!  Each day as a part of our morning overhead, students will try to solve a Wordle like this one:

 

A wordle is a word cloud.  You can make wordles about anything, but our class uses them to practice inferencing, using what you know to figure out what you don't know.  The above wordle is super easy, but really fun!  Hope you enjoy learning about one more little piece of second grade! 

 

 

Happy First Day of School!

 

Welcome back to school, Second Graders and families!  It is hard to believe it is already September, but I hope everyone had some fun and got to relax this summer.  We have a busy year of learning ahead of us. 
Second grade was MY favorite grade when I was in elementary school at Holy Name School in West Roxbury.  My teacher was Mr. Bernazanni.  I really only have a couple of really clear memories of him: praising a poem/prayer that I wrote in the style of James Herriot, an author my mom and aunt were very into at the time, and the time he had fifth graders make special Easter basket treats for us.  Although those might not seem like the most exciting events to many, the warmth and happiness that they created has resonated with me for quite a long time.  It is one of my goals to make sure that while your children are working hard and learning, striving for goals and persevering, that they are also making fond memories that will last.  I might not be able to make every student love school, but I do hope to at least make them love it a little more than they thought they did.  
Many of you have probably heard that I like technology.  I do!  (I'm crazy for books, too!) Let me assure you, though, that there is more to me and my teaching beliefs than "the teacher who uses computers".  Technology use is only one tool that students need in order to succeed.  They need to learn how to relate and work with others, even if it is sometimes frustrating.  They need to learn to be responsible for their belongings and their actions, even if it sometimes results in consequences.  (Consequences, I believe, are meant to teach a lesson, not be punitive.  For example, a consequence might be to come up with a solution for a problem that they have created or encountered.) They need to learn to not give up, not take the easy way out, and to presevere through a task or problem.  They need to learn to be creative and compassionate.  Creative does not necessarilly mean artistic.  It can mean they have a penchant for the arts, but it can also mean that they are problem solvers, thinkers, contributors. Here's a great resource that anyone involved in education (parents, teachers, administration) should read Rigor Redefined.  Enjoy!  (Don't worry-all my posts don't include reading assignments!) 

This is Where the Voting will Take Place!

We will be voting right here on this blog, here at school after we read and explore the books!

Children's Choice Book Awards

One exciting tradition we have in second grade is voting in the Children's Choice Book Awards! This is the fourth year my class has participated.  It's a great chance to vote for some favorite books, as well as discover some new ones!  I have checked the books out of the Walpole Public Library and we will be reading them here at school so that we are ready to vote before Children's Book Week, May 13-19th.  Check out the link here to see the new nominees for 2013: http://www.bookweekonline.com/.

Here are the winners from 2012:

K-2 Book of the Year

3-4 Book of the Year

Author of the Year

Illustrator of the Year

Biblionasium

Today I introduced the class to a website called Biblionasium. It is like a goodreads for kids!  Students chose avatars and backgrounds today.  They also learned to navigate the page, but this will probably take some more practice.  On Biblionasium, students can explore books, add books to shelves as read or want to read.  They can log reading minutes, write reviews, and suggest books to friends.  In order for students to get "friends" they need a parents assistance as they need your email address.  Their "friend" choices are limited to me and the students in the class.  
I am trying to decide on book to assign as a class challenge, along the lines of a "One Class, One Book" sort of thing.  It will be like we are all reading a book together!  More info to come soon!