Second Grade Rock Stars
Tour News!
Our Highlights: What We've Been Rockin' At!
We've been getting into the full swing of things in the Rock Star Room! Students have been in the groove of Reading Workshop, swinging through math with Math Workshop, Number Talks, and Mathematician Magician, and we've begun our next Science unit of Environmental Advocacy for Endangered Animals. We've also been learning and perfecting how to stick up for ourselves using Peace Talk. Ask your kiddo how to use Peace Talk! Have them practice this skill of using their words in a respectful way to stick up for themselves, handle their anger, and express any anxiety (Have a child that melts down and won't talk about their feelings? Try the starfish method to calm them down quickly and then have them use peace talk!)
In Science, we have begun learning about endangered animals and what it means to be endangered. We have also begun learning more about how to how to advocate for ourselves in a kind and respectful way. In the next few weeks, we will learn more about empathy, strategies to help and advocate for other people, and how to stand up for animals (and other things that cannot stand up for themselves). We will also learn more about habitats, ecosystems, the threatened Giant Garter Snake as a class, and the critically endangered three-toed sloths. After, students will research an endangered animal they are interested in and then come up with a solution to help that animal. They will also come up with a plan to create awareness for that animal and develop a call to action for others to help. Check out the quick one-pager overview below for more information on the unit.
Next on tour: Upcoming Events
There is a lot coming up!
Coming on Tour Soon:
- 10/18: Field Trip to Fishermans Lake (click here for a map of the location)
- 10/18-10/22: Scholastic Book Fair (Hours: Tuesday & Thursday 3:45-4:45 pm, Wednesday: 1:30-2:30 pm, Friday: Closed, Saturday/Fall Festival: 2:00-5:00 pm)
- 10/18: High School Preview Night (6:00-8:00 pm in the Pebblewood Cafeteria- Click here for more information)
- 10/20: The Great California Shakeout (drop, cover, and hold on during an earthquake)
- 10/21: Picture Day (Students wear their uniforms this day! Click here for more information)
- 10/22: Fall Festival (2:00 pm-6:00 pm on the Del Paso Campus. Click here for more information. You can still volunteer by emailing fall_fest_volunteers@yahoo.com)
- 10/24-10/28: Red Ribbon Week (In second grade we focus on making our own choices and making healthy choices)
- 10/25: Love and Logic Parenting Classes Begin (This is a fantastic once-a-week class for 5 weeks. It teaches wonderful strategies to help you at home. Even if you feel like you don't need these strategies now, they are great to have in your parenting tool-kit! It's only $25 for the 5 classes! Click HERE for more information. I highly recommend this for any parent!)
- 11/02: Explorit Science Night (6:00-7:30 pm in the Cafeteria)
- 11/03: WAVE Board Meeting (6:30-7:30 pm on Pebblewood Campus)
- 11/10: WAVE Coffee Talk (7:30am on Pebblewood Campus)
- 11/10: Olympic Triathalon Event Day (school-wide activity where students have an opportunity to participate in events related to PE, art, and Spanish)
- 11/10: End of First Trimester
- 11/10: WCS Governance Meeting (5:00-6:00 pm on Pebblewood)
- 11/10: WCS Board Meeting (6:30 pm on Pebblewood)
- 11/11: No School (Veteran's Day)
- 11/14-11/18: Parent-Teacher Conferences...or as I call them Rock Star Parent-Teacher Collaborations (I cannot wait to meet this week! More information to come soon!)
- 11/18: Spirit Day - Hat Day
- 11/21-11/25 No School (Thanksgiving Week)
A Glimpse into Reading Workshop
Rockin' and Rollin' into the Future!
Reading: In Reading Workshop, teaching Differentiated Learning Skills based on reading level. Whole class: Close Reading and Reading for information about Endangered Animals. (main idea, main topic and supporting details, and asking and answering questions)
Writing: Narrative Writing (hooks, closing, and adding voice to writing). For Endangered Animal unit- they are writing a using both informative and persuasive: informative to write about the animal and bring awareness and persuasive to encourage a call to action)
Language: Capitals, Proper Nouns, Ending Punctuation, Verbs, and Apostrophes for Possessives and for Contractions. Ask students what they do during Caught Ya'!Science: Environmental Advocacy for Endangered Animals
Spelling: Click for the Spelling Word List and Challenge Word List
Our Biologist Experts
Questions to ask your child...
- What does a biologist do?
- What does the word endangered mean?
- Can you explain the difference between extinct, endangered, and threatened?
- What are some of the things that a Mathematician does?
- Can you share with me the strategy that you use to add 16+16? (have your child explain the steps and the strategy they use to do the addition in their mind. (For instance, "I saw there was a double. I broke apart the tens and ones and added up the 6's (the double) together first. That gave me 12. Then, I added up the two tens, which gave me 20. Next, I added 20 to 12. I got the sum of 32.")
Contact the Band Manager!
Second Grade Teacher
Westlake Charter School
Twitter: @MrsMartinsRoom
Remind 101:
All of Second Grade Reminders Text: @wcs2nd to the phone number: 81010
Messages that only pertain to our class: text @4rockstar to the number: 81010
Email: jmartin@westlakecharter.com
Website: http://MrsMartinsRockStars.weebly.com
Phone: 916-567-5760