Failure Is Impossible

Madison author Dean Robbins admitted to the second graders who'd gathered to hear him speak at Stormonth this week that as a boy he'd been a devoted fan of Superman. But he said that his ideas about heroes had changed over time. The non-fiction children's books he writes today are about real heroes of American history like Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony - people who saw problems and worked hard for change. Their spirit, determination, and creative thinking are their super powers and what makes them heroes, he told the boys and girls.

Robbins ended his talk with a quote from Susan B. Anthony: "Failure is impossible." He asked the children to repeat the words three times loudly, which of course, they were only too happy to do. Back in the classroom, I asked the boys and girls what they thought "failure is impossible" meant. Surely, we all fail sometimes, I argued rhetorically. "But it's not really failing if you keep trying," one child said. "If there's something you really want to do or need to do, you have to keep going. You don't just say, 'I failed' when one little thing goes wrong," said another.

Classrooms are always a mix of success and struggle, and ours was no exception this week. Some children drafted, revised and edited their final opinion pieces with ease; others made several false starts before hitting on the right ideas. Some breezed through new chapter books I'd given them to read and write about. For others, this work took more time. In math, some children were able to read word problems and recognize almost immediately the steps involved in finding the solutions, while others had to wrestle with the numbers.

Behavior goals are not so different. For some children, it was relatively easy to listen respectfully and earn the check marks they needed for our class reward. For others, containing their energy and ideas for even a few minutes is like trying to hold back a flood.

All students are challenged in various ways. For most children, some things in every school day are easy and some are hard. Not everything can or should be a challenge. But there's a growing awareness among the boys and girls that the challenges are where the real growth lies. School should be about embracing the challenges. Each child believing that he or she has what it takes to be successful at even the hardest things - maybe not today - but eventually, with time and effort and others to help point the way. This is the message at the heart of the popular notion of a "growth mindset." And many second graders will tell you that it's probably what Susan B. Anthony was thinking when she said "failure is impossible" almost 150 years ago.

As the second trimester comes to an end and I work on report cards and prepare for conferences, thoughts about how students learn and how they view their successes and struggles are much on my mind. I want each student to have the mindset to look past disappointments and mistakes, to keep pushing through the hard parts, and to keep reaching for goals. It's asking a lot of second graders, but I see signs of this kind of thinking every day. I see heroes in the making.

Mark Your Calendars:

Mon., Mar. 6 - Report cards are sent home.

Wed., Mar. 8 - First day for parent-teacher conferences (3:00-6:30 PM)

Thurs., Mar. 16 - Parent-teacher conferences (4:30-8:00 PM)

Wed., Mar. 22 - Early Release Day for students; parent-teacher conferences (3:00-6:30 PM)

Mon., Mar. 20 - The real first day of Spring (It just seemed like spring this week and we took advantage of the warm weather with an extra recess.)

Sat., Mar. 25 - First day of Spring Break

Hearts and Sundaes

My mom, a longtime teacher, confessed that she was a little jealous of me this week for getting to be part of the fun of an elementary school Valentine's Day celebration. "It was always one of my favorite days of the year," she told me. Mine too! It surprises me year after year to see how happy children are just to exchange their valentines. Sure, they love getting the treats, too, but it feels like more than that. By this point in the school year, children have formed close ties. They know each other very well. They appreciate each others' talents and accept the rest. Valentine's Day is their chance to celebrate the special community they've become.

Award-winning books took their place alongside the paper hearts that filled our classroom this week. As the boys and girls continued to write "award nominations" as a way of sharing opinions about their favorite books, we took a look at some books that already had been deemed exceptional. Dozens of winners of the Caldecott and Newberry medals, as well as other honors, quickly went from being on display on shelves into children's hands.
I read aloud the 2016 Newberry and Caldecott winners. Both are beautiful books with heartfelt messages. "Last Stop on Market Street" tells of a boy's

weekly trip with his nana to the poor side of town. Initially reluctant to make the trip again, the boy finds beauty and kindness in unexpected places and wisdom in his nana's words. "Finding Winnie" is the true story of the bear who inspired Winnie-the-Pooh. The story follows an orphaned cub and the soldier who rescued her across Canada, aboard a convoy to England, and finally to the London Zoo. Wonderful inspiration for young writers!

In Social Studies, we've been taking a virtual trip around the world. Thanks to Stomonth teacher Jennifer Ahles, second graders are visiting sights in all seven continents via Google Classroom. Mrs. Ahles has linked images and videos from interesting destinations around the globe to pins on Google maps. So far, our class has been to the Rockies, Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon, and Banff National Park in North America and the Great Barrier Reef and the Outback in Australia. The boys and girls collect information about the physical geography, climate, and resources of each continent as we go.

Most of our math time this week has been spent turning word problems into equations. Deciphering these stories, deciding whether addition or subtraction will yield the solution, and then carrying out the work requires a lot of careful thinking. Thanks for your help on the homework that supports what we do in the classroom.

Mark Your Calendars:

Mon., Feb. 20 - No school for students

Tues., Feb. 21 - Last day to turn in box tops for the PTO fund drive

Wed., Feb. 22 - Early Release Day for students

Fri., Feb. 24 - Jump Rope for Heart Assembly

Mon., Mar. 6 - Report cards are sent home.

Wed., Mar. 8 - First day for parent-teacher conferences (3:00-6:30 PM)

Thurs., Mar. 16 - Parent-teacher conferences (4:30-8:00 PM)

Wed., Mar. 22 - Early Release Day for students; parent-teacher conferences (3:00-6:30 PM)

Sat., Mar. 25 - First day of Spring Break

Reading and Riddles

I am tall and skinny and I always wear yellow.
I have an unusual pet who gets in trouble a lot, like one time he got carried away by a bunch of balloons.
I am patient and kind and I always help him out.
Who am I?

I have yellow, spiky hair.
I draw my own cartoons.
I have a big sister named Judy and she's very, very moody.
Who am I?

If you were at the Second Grade Character Show today, you know the answers to these riddles and lots more. The event was a dramatic way to showcase the good work that the boys and girls have done around series books. They were excited to take the stage. But let's go behind the scenes, too. Besides dressing up as their characters, the children engaged in a lot of character analysis this week. One activity involved thinking as their characters to answer a series of interview questions. It took close reading and deep thinking to respond to questions like these as their characters would: What would the perfect day be like for you? What's been your biggest disappointment? Your greatest achievement? Do you think you would make a good Stormonth student? If a new series was written about you, what would it be about?

In Writing Workshop this week, opinion writing about books took a new turn. After discussing book awards that exist in the real world like the Newberry Medal, the boys and girls tried writing the kind of nominations that bring outstanding works of literature to the attention of judges. In nominating their own books for awards, they tried to support their opinions with solid reasons and powerful words. Meanwhile, we published some of our earlier work. The bulletin board outside the classroom is filling up with letters of advice from our class about what other students at Stormonth should read. Publishing, or publicly sharing work, is an important step in the writing process and it lends an authentic purpose to the hard work the children do day after day.

Perseverance has been key in math. The tricky work of multi-digit subtraction has been getting easier for some with practice, practice, and more practice. "Oh, now I get it!" has been heard any number of times this week as we worked through numeric and word problems together.

It almost didn't happen, but today the boys and girls finally got their chance at ice skating. Getting to do this in second grade is right of passage at Stormonth. I was pleased that the year didn't go by without at least one turn at the rink.

Thanks to those who have already volunteered to send in items for our Valentine's Day party on Tuesday. We still need bowls, spoons, and Valentine napkins. Let me know if you can help.

Mark Your Calendars:

Mon., Feb. 13 - Literacy Information Night for Parents, 6:30 PM. Laura Witkov, Kate Schroeder, and I will present information about how reading is taught at Stormonth and how you can help at home. You can RSVP by sending me an email or returning the flyer you received earlier this week.

Tues., Feb. 14 - Valentine's Day celebration. Don't forget to bring your valentines! We will be making Valentine holders at school. No need to send special boxes or bags.

Mon., Feb. 20 - No school for students

Wed., Feb. 22 - Early Release Day for students

Fri., Feb. 24 - Jump Rope for Heart Assembly

Mon., Mar. 6 - Report cards are sent home.

Seeing the Math

At Stormonth, we're fortunate to have lots of experts. One of our math experts, interventionist and coach Abby Piatti, joined our class this week at my invitation to help us with multi-digit subtraction. With Mrs. Piatti, we took a few steps backwards and worked on conceptualizing place value. She knew that place value concepts provide the foundation for the challenging subtraction work we've been trying to do.

She helped us "see ten" as both a unit (one ten) and a composite (ten ones). It's easy to take this understanding for granted, but true  "tens thinking" requires a fair amount of mathematical sophistication. It means that children can quickly and flexibly increase or decrease by tens and coordinate tens and ones mentally. It means that they can structure numbers around the dynamic relationships between hundreds, tens, and ones instead of just relying on rote exercises.

We started our work with craft sticks bundled as tens and envisioned adding on to a collection or taking away, sometimes unbundling sticks to do these tasks. We tried thinking of subtraction as "jumping back" and addition as "jumping up" and practiced making a series of quick mental maneuvers. (Start at 220, what is ten more...  twenty more... two less... 100 more... ten less.....) As we eventually returned to standard algorithms, it was hopefully with a more solid foundation and what Abby calls a new way of "seeing the math."

In Reading Workshop this week, many children moved on to new series after having met or exceeded their goal of at least three books with the same characters. Look for a letter in your child's binder today that lets you know your child's status on this character work.  If your child still has reading left to do, please encourage him or her to make an effort this weekend. Our Character Fashion Show is just a week away. Remember to send costumes to school on Tuesday. And please plan to join us for the big event next Friday!

In Writing Workshop, opinion writing about books continued with the children broadening their range of topics beyond characters and plot. For example, some are writing about how the illustrations enhance a book and others are writing about the lesson a book holds for readers. We'll be looking especially at the craft moves authors use as we wrap up our opinion letter writing next week.

A list of the names of all of the children in the class should be in your child's folder today. Use this to address valentines. We'll share our valentines on Valentine's Day, Tues., Feb. 14. And we'll celebrate our friendships with ice cream sundaes. If you would be willing to provide any of the following items for our party, please let me know: vanilla ice cream, sundae toppings, bowls, spoons, napkins, or water bottles. Thanks!

Finally, we've declared February "Respectful Listening Month" in our classroom. We're keeping tabs on individual behavior with our Heart Chart. Any child who fills his or her heart with stickers for good listening will be eligible for fun, in-class reward times.

Mark Your Calendars:

Tues., Feb. 7 - Rehearsal for the Second-Grade Character Fashion Show. Send your costumes to school. Also Makers' Club continues during recess.

Wed., Feb. 8 - Early release day for students. Makers' Club continues during recess. Also last chance for ice-skating during PE.

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. 

Fri., Feb. 24 - Jump Rope for Heart Assembly

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.