We had a busy week of learning in second grade! Here are some highlights!
In Reading, we continued to work on strategies to use when we come to tricky words. Students learned to look at the middle of a word and think about vowel teams. Then they asked themselves, "Would a different sound help?" They also learned to not only read words, but figure out what they mean, too.
During Writer's Workshop this week, students became editors! They practiced reading through their work to check for punctuation and spelling. Students worked in partnerships to help each other as well.
During Math Workshop, we talked about "helper facts" that help us know math facts in a snap! This week we focused on combinations of 10, doubles facts and doubles plus 1 and plus 2 facts. Any math fact practice that can be reinforced at home is very helpful!
We are wrapping up our Goods and Services unit in Social Studies, by looking at services provided here in York. Stay tuned for information on a trip to Stonewall Kitchen as a culminating activity for this unit!
As part of the Global Read-aloud, the 2nd grade has been reading Roald Dahl's The BFG. Ask your child what BFG stands for! Students enjoyed creating their own giants. They drew pictures of them and wrote descriptive paragraphs about them. Students then played a guessing game, matching students' writing to their pictures.
Students were assessed on their personalized spelling lists today. These assessments stay in a spelling book we keep at school. Ask your child to share how they did! Thank you for supporting them with their spelling homework this week. This routine will continue each week.
Important reminders:
Continue to fill out your reading logs each night.
We will celebrate Halloween at CRES next Friday, October 28th. More information will be sent home on Monday.
Wake up and READ: Join CRES staff and students every Wednesdaymorning from 7:45-8:30 in the library to read!
Wake up and WALK: Join CRES staff and students every Friday morning from 7:45-8:30 on the track to get some exercise!
If you didn't see Mr. Murphy's note about Halloween in the weekly email last week, here it is:We will be celebrating Halloween next Friday at CRES (10/28). As part of the celebration, students will receive an apple and a Hoodsie cup to enjoy during class activities. Then, the school will hold its annual costume parade. If parents would like to see the ghouls and goblins, we invite you to the gymnasium at 2:15 p.m. Students should not wear costumes to or from school. Boys and girls are asked to save makeup for home celebrations. No blood, gore, or fake weapons may be brought in. Let's keep this fun. Complicated costumes may need to be pared down for the school event.
My favorite part of the week was:
Peter: Reading the BFG Coen: My Mom coming in to volunteer (Thanks, Mrs. Camire!) Liam: Making our own giants Bridget: Finding the magical scrap this week Rylin: Recess Grady: Playing a guessing game with our giants Jaeden: Making our own giants Caitlyn: Reading the BFG Molly H: Homework and Go Noodle breaks Jacob: My Mom coming in to volunteer (Thanks, Mrs. Lacoy!) Chris: Recess Olivia: Playing Skoolbo Tucker: Playing Skoolbo Sarah: Being Student of the Week Brody: Finding magical scrap Molly R: Jump roping at recess with my friend Petra: Everything! Charlie: (Absent today) Destiny: Playing on the playground
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Sincerely, Mrs. Koelker's Second Grade Class
October 14, 2016 Dear Families,
Our sixth week of school has been short but full of learning! Read on to find out more about our week.
In Reading, we worked on using different reading strategies to figure out tricky words in our independent reading books. Students worked on their own and with partners to figure out tricky words.
During Writer's Workshop this week, students continued working on their Small Moment stories. We learned how to stretch out ideas and add more details to make our stories come to life.
During Math Workshop, we focused on counting and making equal trades with money. Ask your child to tell you about the Money Exchange Game! We also practiced writing addition number stories and using different strategies to solve them.
This week for Social Studies we continued our focus on the York community. Students were introduced to the concepts of goods and services. They used their map skills to locate different places in York where various goods are bought.
Over the past few weeks, we have been becoming familiar with our new Word Study Program. Starting next week, you will begin to see individualized lists of words coming home with your child. We will also be sending home some ideas on how to practice these words at home to help them prepare for each week's assessment on Friday. Please note that although homework packets come home each Monday, spelling lists will be send home on Tuesdays.
Beginning over the next couple weeks, second grade classes will begin having a Student of the Week. If your child is the student of the week, they will come home with an information week that tells what they need to do each day, and a special poster to fill out and return. Thanks for your support in this great activity!
Important notices: - Scholastic Book Club orders went home this week. If you wish to order, please have your orders submitted by October 19th. Thanks! - Students enjoyed a new online learning game called Skoolbo. Login instructions have been sent home with all students. Please encourage your child to try it out at home. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks! - Continue to fill out your reading logs each night. - Wake up and READ: Join CRES staff and students every Wednesday morning from 7:45-8:30 in the library to read! - Wake up and WALK: Join CRES staff and students every Friday morning from 7:45-8:30 on the track to get some exercise!
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Sincerely, Mrs. Koelker's Second Grade Class October 6, 2016
Dear Families, We had a short, but busy fifth week of school here in second grade. Read on to hear a few highlights about our week!
In Reading, students have continued to focus on selecting "good-fit" books to read during independent reading time. Additionally, they were introduced to a variety of decoding strategies that should be used when encountering unknown words. We are enjoying listening to Roald Dahl's classic, The BFG, read aloud in class as well.
We formally launched Writer's Workshop this week! Students revisited narrative writing, where they were asked to craft meaningful, small moment stories from their own lives.
During Math Workshop, we wrapped up our first unit of study. Students applied all they had learned throughout these past few weeks to complete their first unit assessment. We ended the week with some fun, fall, partner-based math activities.
This week for Social Studies we have had fun continuing to build our pirate maps and extending our knowledge of how map keys and symbols work.
Important reminders: - If your child chooses to participate, Fire Safety Contest Posters are due back by October 14th. - No school for students tomorrow (Friday) or on Monday due to Columbus Day. - Continue to log your books on reading logs! - Volunteer schedules will be completed after the Columbus Day holiday. - Wake up and READ: Join CRES staff and students every Wednesday morning from 7:45-8:30 in the library to read! - Wake up and WALK: Join CRES staff and students every Friday morning from 7:45-8:30 on the track to get some exercise!
Have a great long weekend, everyone!
Sincerely, Mrs. Koelker's Second Grade Class
September 30, 2016
Dear Families, During this fourth week of school our second-graders are really beginning to settle into the routines of second-grade life here at CRES. This is really helping us get down to work throughout the day. Here are some highlights of our week:
In Reading, we worked on keeping track of what is happening in our books by retelling with partners and using post-its to jot down some keywords to use when we retell. Kids practiced giving their partner the Stop and Think signal to remind them to check their comprehension as they read.
In Writing, kids created "Maps of their Hearts" that they filled with ideas they can use in their writing. Many kids included names of family and friends, places they love and special events that will help them generate amazing stories!
During Math Workshop, we talked about how we know what numbers are even and odd, how we use <,>, and = to compare numbers, and practiced skip-counting patterns. Ask your child to count by 5's, 10's, or 2's for you and describe the pattern they know.
This week for Social Studies we had fun looking at our world using Google Maps and starting to work on our own pirate treasure maps!
Important reminders: - Students will be bringing home Fire Safety Posters to complete if they chose to participate in the contest. They are due back by October 14th. - No school next Friday or the following Monday. - Monthly Reading logs will come home with your child next Monday - Volunteer schedules will be completed after the Columbus Day holiday
Thank You! Thanks to all those who donated tissues and ziplock baggies to our class! It is greatly appreciated!
And lastly...
Here are our favorite parts of the week in Room 134:
Peter - "P.E" Coen - "Making treasure maps" Liam - "Making treasure maps" Bridget - "Making treasure maps" Rylin - "Lunch" Grady - "Using Google Earth and pirate maps" Jaeden - "Literally everything - I just love school!" :-) Caitlyn - "Reading" Molly H.- "Doing homework" Jacob - "Using Google Earth to see our town" Chris - "Making treasure maps" Olivia - "Having fun all week long" Tucker - "Seeing the Bearded Dragon in third grade" Sarah - "Making treasure maps" Brody - "P.E." Molly R. - "Making treasure maps" Petra - "EVERYTHING!" Charlie - "Go Noodle brain breaks" Destiny - "Recess"
Have a great weekend! Sincerely, Mrs. Koelker's Second Grade Class September 23, 2016
Another busy week has passed in 2nd grade! Here are some of the highlights:
In reading, we focused on picking "good fit" books. Students learned the "five finger rule" and how a good fit book should have 2-3 words on a page that they do not know. This helps to challenge them as a reader. We also continued to work on our reading stamina.
In math, students worked on their combinations of 10 (pairs of numbers that add up to 10) and also learned about equivalent names for numbers.
During writing, students interviewed a new friend, took notes, and then wrote what they learned about their new friend.
Today in social studies, we talked about places we know in our community and located them using a map of our town.
Thank you to all those families who were able to attend Open House this week. If you were unable to make it, please let me know if you have any questions I can address.
Lastly, our classroom directory has been revised. Copies have been emailed to all families.
Have a great weekend!
Sincerely, Mrs. Lindsay Koelker
September 16, 2016
Dear Families, We have had a fun first full week of second grade. Here are some of the highlights:
In Reading, we learned how second grade readers "grow like beanstalks." Readers learned how a book wants to be read, how to give a book a "sneak peek" before reading, and how to find "snap words" to help read in bigger scoops and sound more fluent. We also read a variety of books that focused on friendship and building community.
During math, students explored number lines, coins, and number grids. We also played some familiar games from 1st grade.
For writing, students wrote about their "Hopes and Dreams" for 2nd grade. We also worked together to create class rules.
For social studies, we introduced our community unit by discussing what is a community. We also watched a fun video about our school community.
Today, was our second Fun Friday. The whole 2nd grade met in the cafe for a read-aloud and some joint energizers. It's great to all be together here at CRES!
Important Dates and Information
Thursday, September 22nd - Open House for Second Grade begins at 5pm. At 5:45, you will get a chance to meet your child's specials teachers (e.g., art, music, P.E.). Open House is a chance for parents to learn about curriculum and our class' daily schedule. This is an event for parents/guardians.
Volunteering - Information will be provided at Open House.
Snacks - We are moving toward one afternoon snack each day. Please make sure your child has something easy to eat. Sometimes it's a working snack.
"My favorite part of the week was...
Peter: Gym Coen: Fun Friday Liam: Gym Bridget: Reading Catching the Moon Rylin: Gym Grady: Reading Catching the Moon Jaeden: Reading Catching the Moon Caitlyn: Reader's Workshop this great Molly H: Gym and reading Geronimo Stilton Jacob: Extra recess with second graders Chris: Recess Olivia: Reading Tucker: Math Sarah: Making a new friend! Brody: Running 3 miles outside Molly R: Gym Petra: Everything! Charlie: Extra recess with second grade Destiny: The playground"
We had a great week!
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Sincerely, Lindsay Koelker
September 9, 2016
Greetings Families! Once again, welcome to the 2016-2017 school year! We are off to a great start! Frequently, I will be sending you home a newsletter to keep you updated on what we are doing at school. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me through email or phone at: [email protected]or the school’s number (363-1800). Read on to hear all about our week at school!
This Week... Our first weeks has been spent reading several fantastic back-to-school books, getting to know our classmates, and learning all about our classroom routines and expectations. Our daily Morning Meetings and Energizers have helped us learn who our classmates are and make new friends. We have practiced our lunch routines, recess expectations, and classroom signals. We have explored several materials we will be using throughout the year including pattern blocks, glue sticks, pencils, markers, colored pencils, and crayons. We had our first music, library, and art classes too!
To help build classroom community, students traced and decorated paper hands to describe themselves to one another. These are beautifully decorating our door. They also created “Math about Me!” pages to describe the important numbers in their lives. After reading The Important Book, students created self-portraits and pieces of writing to describe the important features of themselves. Their work is beautifying our classroom already!
For our academic choice time, we completed a fun “teamwork” challenge in which students worked in small groups to build towers out of popsicle sticks and dominos. I was impressed at the way many groups worked together. Communication was key!
As you can see, we have been very busy and are all looking forward to a year full of fun and learning! During this first month of school, we will be doing a lot of whole group activities focused on creating a classroom community of learners. Once we are into our classroom routines, our activities will be differentiated according to children’s needs and ability levels, as we work towards mastery of learning goals.
Paperwork I am sending home a few important papers for you to fill out this weekend.I appreciate your help in getting these in promptly.
Water Bottles Feel free to send in a water bottle with a lid that closes securely for your child to keep out at his or her desk during the day. Folders Please remember to send your child to school with his/her daily folder each day. Please check the folder each night, as paperwork or notes from me may come home on any given day throughout the week.
The blue (CRES) communication folders will typically be sent home each Wednesday and need to be returned by the next Friday. These will contain any important information from the office or parent group. If they do not come home on a Wednesday, that just means there were no paper copies necessary to go home. I understand this is a change from the way they were used at VES last year, so please let me know if you need further clarification. Parent Group Meeting Please note that the first Parent Group meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 13th at 9:15 in the VES cafeteria. All are welcome! Have a WONDERFUL weekend!