Choice Reading

The boys and girls have been reading books in the classroom since Day 1 of second grade. But for the first time this week, they went book shopping. Instead of reading from bins of books that I'd pulled off the Stormonth library shelves, they are choosing their own books from our classroom library, filling their personal books boxes with books that matter to them. Having a say about what they read keeps children reading longer. And as we say in our classroom, "The more you read, the better you get." 

Along with book shopping, I introduced reading logs, a tool for helping the boys and girls track their reading habits. We're still working to make book shopping and recording seamless operations in the classroom. I know we'll get there. To help you better understand, I've prepared a question and answer sheet that addresses book shopping, reading logs, text bands, and other intricacies of second-grade reading. You'll find it in your child's binder today. 

In Writing Workshop this week, we continued to work our way through the writing process. We focused on writing a draft, and especially using craft moves that can bring a story to life. Some of these moves, such as incorporating action and dialogue, telling a story in small steps, and including thoughts and feelings, were introduced in first grade. It is impressive to see how much more sophisticated most students are at using them now. We also practiced a new skill: using sensory details to enliven stories. A piece of candy got the boys' and girls' attention and had them quickly reeling off descriptions about how it looked, smelled, felt, tasted, and even how the wrapper crinkled. Now, they are transferring what they learned from this shared experience to their own topics. 

In Math this week, we explored odd and even numbers. We looked at various forms of equations and considered whether they were true or not. And we solved equations with three and four addends. Building equation chains with partners was a chance to think creatively about the many different ways to reach a single total.

We did more in the way of community-building this week, too. First, we finalized the thoughts we'd been collecting around the big ideas of respect, responsibility, and safety in our classroom, and we turned these ideas into a social contract. The boys and girls understand that a social contract is a promise about how we will treat others and how we expect to be treated by them. They understand that signing the contract is a serious undertaking. Our signed contract hangs in the classroom and a copy comes home today for you to see. Just as you ask your child about how reading and math are going, I encourage you to ask about behavior. Were you a good partner today? Did you try your best? Did you help a friend? These are important lessons, too.

Finally, we've put some of our goals for the year to music with help from Mrs. Stark, Stormonth's talent development teacher. When I shared with her that I was looking for a song that could rally our class and become a theme for us this year, she took it upon herself to create new lyrics for the familiar tune, "The More We Get Together." She came to our classroom this week with her guitar to teach it to us. My favorite verse is the final one:

The more we dream together, together, together,
The more we dream together,
The happier we'll be.
'Cause your dreams inspire me,
And my dreams inspire you.
The more we dream together,
The happier we'll be.

Mark Your Calendars:

Mon., Sept. 26 - MAP Language Test, 10:00 AM; Digital citizenship lesson with district technology specialist Amanda Orth, 2:30 PM

Wed., Sept. 28 - Early release day for students

Thurs., Sept. 29 - Sub in the classroom as I do one-on-one reading assessments with students

Fri., Sept. 30 - Thank a Police Officer assembly

Mon., Oct. 3 - No school

Wed, Oct. 5 - Early release day for students; Book Fair begins; Picture Day - Look for an order form in your child's binder today.

Thurs., Oct 6 - Book Fair continues

Tues., Oct. 11 - Second-grade field trip to Bookworm Gardens, 10:30 AM - 2:30 PM. Look for a permission slip in your child's binder today.

Wed., Oct. 12 - No school