Reading Deep and Wide

Judy Moody, Katie Kazoo, Fancy Nancy, Freddy, Stink, and Curious George. These characters and more have taken up residence in our classroom as the boys and girls delve ever deeper into reading series books. As you know, each of them has chosen a character to present as part of the Second Grade Character Fashion Show next month. But there is much more to their work than creating costumes. They are learning to accumulate bits of information about who their characters truly are. Some of this information is in plain view on the pages; some is hiding just below the surface and is revealed through careful thinking about the dialogue, action, and description an author chooses. The fact that the boys and girls are doing this kind of close reading across three books or more means that they're reading both deep and wide. There's an intensity to the work that's new to many of them. With that comes a sense of satisfaction - pride, even - in knowing something really well.

The boys and girls take their cues about how to infer a character's true nature from work we've been doing together around the book "Clementine" by Sarah Pennypacker. Clementine, we've discovered, has a good heart, but makes a lot of bad choices. She's excitable, impulsive, and full of crazy ideas. Some might call her naughty, but we know that all the mischief she makes comes from the best of intentions. By leading the class in conversations about the character and sharing ideas in my writing, I am modeling the reading behaviors I want the boys and girls to copy.

In Writing Workshop, we continued to share opinions about books (our character series or others) through letters to readers. This week, we worked especially on organization. We looked at how to make a plan to share an opinion part by part, building a case for our way of thinking.

Math has been a challenge this week. Most children solidly understood how to ungroup tens to make enough ones for subtracting (in an equation like 142 - 24 =, for example). But equations that involve ungrouping both hundreds and tens, (such 102 - 86 =), have proven more difficult. We've looked at how to do this step by step and we've used physical models like base ten blocks to help. Thank you for practicing with your child at home.

Was it worth giving up a couple of outdoor recesses to build cardboard houses or create clay figures for a stop-action movie? Yes! The first week of Makers' Club was a success. I can attest to the boys' and girls' enthusiasm. Mrs. Stark, who runs Makers' Club, praised their imagination and their willingness to work as teams. Three more weeks of fun to come!

Mark Your Calendars:

Wed., Feb. 1 - I will be out of the classroom for curriculum work with the other second-grade teachers. Mrs. Maier will be the substitute.

Wed., Feb. 8 - Early release day for students

Thurs. Feb. 9 - I will be out of the classroom to attend the Wisconsin State Reading Association Convention. Mrs. Maier will be the substitute.

Fri., Feb. 10 - Second-Grade Character Fashion Show, 9:15 AM in the cafeteria. Parents are invited to attend.

Tues., Feb. 14 - Valentine's Day celebration. I will be sending home a class list in the next week so that your child can prepare a valentine for each of his or her classmates.

Dear Readers...

So begin the letters that the boys and girls have been writing about beloved books. In these letters, the children are trying to persuade others to love their books as much as they do by stating clear opinions and providing reasons, details, and examples to support their claims. Some people say that email and other high-tech correspondence has led to the death of the letter, and it's true that finding a personal letter in our mailboxes these days is a bit of a rare

occurrence. But I'd argue that the spirit, purpose, and form of persuasive letter writing are still very much present in email exchanges, applications, editorials, and even online blogs like this one, and that letter writing still holds a rightful place in our curriculum.

Energy for this work has been high in our classroom. The boys and girls have been churning out pages about favorite characters and scenes. There's no shortage of topics when all writers have to do is look to their book boxes for another great idea to write about it. As we move on, we'll look at strategies for revising and organizing letters in ways that build a strong case for particular points of view.

In math this week, the boys and girls learned various strategies for two-digit subtraction with "ungrouping." First, they learned a drawing method meant to represent the subtraction process in clear, visual terms. Next, they were introduced to the "expanded method" and the "ungroup first method." Teaching multiple ways to solve problems is a hallmark of our Math Expressions program and allows each child the freedom to figure out which method works best for him or her.

Thank you for supporting your child's character study. Reading three books (or more) from the same series is the expectation as we prepare for the second-grade Character Fashion Show on Fri., Feb. 10. One reading lesson this week was about noticing how characters respond to problems and what this reveals about them. We also worked on fluency, recognizing that as we come to understand characters more fully, we can make the tone of our reading match their personalities and moods.

We were invited to Mrs. Stark's room this week for a preview of the kinds of activities available to students as part of Makers' Club. Mrs. Stark has just extended the popular Makers' Club program to our grade. Our class gets the first shot at it. In Makers' Club, students can design and construct projects using resources ranging from cardboard boxes and wooden blocks to claymation software. The emphasis is on exploration, creativity, and collaboration. Makers' Club is optional and meets during recess on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for the next four weeks.

Abby Woods from our class was honored at an all-school assembly as one of Stormonth's Sensational Six for this month. As we celebrated her success, I let the the boys and girls know that they are all sensational in my view. They do amazing work every day. They never fail to impress me with their bright ideas and their good hearts.

Mark Your Calendars:

Tues., Jan. 24 - First day for Makers' Club with Mrs. Stark, 11:30 AM to 12:00 PM for students who choose to participate in place of going outside for recess. Continues for the next four weeks.

Wed., Jan. 25 - Our next chance for ice skating. Let's hope that the weather cooperates. Wednesdays and Fridays will be our skating days through Feb. 8.

Wed., Feb. 1 - I will be out of the classroom for curriculum work with the other second-grade teachers. Mrs. Maier will be the substitute.

Wed., Feb. 8 - Early release day for students

Thurs. Feb. 9 - I will be out of the classroom to attend the Wisconsin State Reading Association Convention. Mrs. Maier will be the substitute.

Fri., Feb. 10 - Second-Grade Character Fashion Show, 9:15 AM in the cafeteria. Parents are invited to attend.

Tues., Feb. 14 - Valentine's Day celebration

Writing Thoughtfully

There's a natural relationship between thinking and language. Usually, thinking drives the language we choose. We find the words we need to express our ideas. Second graders are mostly successful doing this orally. We hope that given enough time and practice they will be able to clearly express their ideas in writing, as well. But what if we turned the thinking-language relationship around? What if we used language to spark thinking? We tried this in the classroom this week.

I chose stories from our series collections to read aloud to the boys and girls and then introduced short, simple phrases to get them thinking about the books. These phrases, or sentence stems, are intended to promote certain kinds of thinking. For example, the stem "I wonder..." triggers students' questions. And the single word "Maybe..." following an "I wonder" question naturally encourages them to think inferentially and to theorize.

The boys and girls are doing their writing in Thoughtful Logs. These composition notebooks have been part of our reading lessons since the beginning of the year. There is one section in which we collect vocabulary and another in which we post reminders of comprehension strategies we've tried. The final section is labeled My Thoughts. Most children have used this section on a limited basis up until now. This week, I saw many of them write broadly and deeply about their thoughts on books. Explicitly teaching them how to use everyday language to rev up their thinking made a difference.

Look for a letter in your child's binder today with information about the Second Grade Character Fashion Show on Fri., Feb. 10. All second graders will dress up as a characters they have studied in depth. They will share a bit about the character while in costume for an audience of parents and first graders. The letter tells more and lets you know which character your child has chosen (with a little guidance from me) to read about and represent at this fun red-carpet event. Also, check your child's binder for a letter about spelling.

In math this week, we wrapped up our work with shapes and measurement and began a new unit. While this unit will be mostly about subtraction with regrouping, it begins with another look at money. Quarters and dollars are the main focus. The boys and girls used various combinations of paper coins to make a dollar. Encourage them to keep practicing this skill at home with the real thing.

Blast-off! A simulation of a space shuttle flight "launched" our first social studies lesson. From high in space, the boys and girls looked down on Earth to see it continents and oceans. This was their introduction to geography. Now they are learning about countries, states, cities, and towns, as well as directions and distances. Watching the children pore over maps, atlases and globes is a reminder of how intensely curious they are about our world.

Mark Your Calendars:

Mon., Jan. 16 - No school for student and staff

Wed., Jan. 18 - Ice skating starts for second grade and continues for four weeks. Wednesdays and Fridays will be our skating days.

Fri., Jan. 20 - MAP reading test, 9:50-10:50 AM

Wed., Feb. 1 - I will be out of the classroom for curriculum work with the other second-grade teachers. Mrs. Maier will be the substitute.

Thurs. Feb. 9 - I will be out of the classroom to attend the Wisconsin State Reading Association Convention. Mrs. Maier will be the substitute.

Fri., Feb. 10 - Second-Grade Character Fashion Show, 9:00 AM in the cafeteria. Parents are invited to attend.

Happy New Year!

We welcomed 2017 to the classroom by focusing on two words: reflection and resolution. In various ways over the last few days, the boys and girls and I looked back at the work we did in 2016 and we thought about how we could do even better in the new year. As a class, we agreed that we would try to take our thinking deeper, work harder, and be kinder to each other. The boys and girls made personal resolutions, too, as part of a project that will come home next week. Some hoped to become more capable readers, writers, and mathematicians. Others made promises to be more helpful, more patient, and more focused. It looks like the start of a wonderful year!

January brings new fiction units in both Reading and Writing Workshops. More than ever, the two go "hand in hand." The boys and girls will be reading series book and they will be writing about them. Their writing will take the forms of journal entries, letters, and opinion essays. For now, I am giving the class time to just explore our impressive series collection. Reading some series like Mr. Putter and Tabby, Pinky and Rex, Ready Freddy, and Frog and Toad is like visiting old friends. But many of our books feature characters who are new to the boys and girls like Katie Kazoo, Gus and Grandpa, Bink and Gollie, Houndsley and Catina, and the Cobble Street Cousins. Getting to know them has been lots of fun. As we move on, each student will be expected to focus on one book series, reading multiple titles within that series and doing lots of work around the characters. More about that later.

In math, we are finishing our unit on geometry and measurement. This week, our measurement work switched from centimeters and meters to inches, feet, and yards. On Monday, we will review for the unit test. As has become our routine, I will send home a practice test for you to look over with your child. The test will be on Tuesday.

The class had no new spelling words this week. Instead, I am checking the children's recall of the words that have been introduced so far. Before moving on to new words, we'll practice to try to correct common misunderstandings and each of the boys and girls will set up a personal word wall to use as an ongoing reference. We'll also be starting some word study lessons about parts of speech, plurals, possessives, contractions, abbreviations, prefixes, and suffixes - the mechanics of good writing.

To close, I send a belated thanks for your help with last month's Secret Snowflake activity and school board presentation. Both were high points for our class. And cheers to you in the New Year!

Mark Your Calendars:

Wed., Jan. 11 - Early release day for students

Fri., Jan. 13 - MAP math test, 2- 3 PM

Tues., Jan. 17 - Ice skating starts for second grade and continues for four weeks. Mr. Tobin is still looking for parent helpers. Please let me know if you are interested.

Fri., Jan. 20 - MAP reading test, 9:50-10:50 AM

Wed., Feb. 1 - I will be out of the classroom for curriculum work with the other second grade teachers. Mrs. Maier will be the substitute.

Thurs. Feb. 9 - I will be out of the classroom to attend the Wisconsin State Reading Association Convention. Mrs. Maier will be the substitute.