2Mu Busy Bee News
Week of September 24, 2018
Highlights of 2Mu's Fun-Filled Week of Learning!
Readers' Workshop~
- In order to help build our reading skills, we learned about "Reading with a Purpose" by readingwith a different voice depending on the mood or type of book we are reading. We focused on determining the focus of the story chapter/page/section and then decided how we should read the text. For example, if the page/chapter is humorous fiction, we would read with a light-hearted voice. If the chapter was sad, we would read with a more somber voice, etc. We practiced reading with different intonation based on a story we were reading.
- To help reinforce our skills on how to read with a purpose, we read Katie Woo has the Flu by Fran Manushkin. As we read the story, I modeled reading by changing my voice tone depending on the purpose of each chapter.
- During Reader's Workshop, we learned about picking a "Just Right" book. Aside from doing the 5 finger rule to determine if the book is just right for our reading ability, we learned that the books we read should be books of interest. Taking a "sneak peek" at the book's cover and chapter table of contents can help us decide if the book is of interest.
- Once we determined a "Just Right" book, we set off to build our reading stamina. Our class goal is to independently read for 20 straight minutes without distraction or disruption. I am proud to say that we completed 9 minutes of strong 'independent' reading. We will continue working on this skill and keeping a positive growth mindset, we say..."We haven't reached 20 minutes, YET!!"
- We also read and discussed Cupcakes for Sale and then determined the story's structure. We use a story map to depict the characters, setting, and story plot.
Writers' Workshop~
- As writers' we learned the value of writing a Good Hook at the beginning of our stories to entice our readers to want to read more! We learned that aside from beginning a story with a scene setting, we can also use a question, onomatopoeia, a fun-fact, action, or dialogue.
- We started to write a personal narrative story using a good "Hook."
- Also, to help us keep track of all our story ideas, we started to use a "Tiny Topics Notebook." Every time we think of a good story idea, we jot a few words into our Tiny Topic Notebooks to remind us when we need ideas for story writing.
Grammar~
- During Grammar, we learned about nouns. We learned a song to help us remember that a noun is a person, place, thing, or animal.Be sure to ask your child to sing the song to you.
- We learned about common nouns and began to learn about Proper Nouns.
FUNdations~
- To build our spelling and phonics skills, we learned about diagraphs and diagraph blends as well as short vowels.
Mathematicians~
- As mathematicians, we learned about number patterns and skip counting.
- We closely studied the Number Grid and discovered many patterns within the grid. Then, we practiced completing Number Grid Puzzles.
- As a class, we completed our first Open Response solving Number Grid Problems. The children learned how to explain their mathematical thinking with detailed math sentences. We will continue to work on and build this skill.
- During Fun Friday Math, we played math games to reinforce the math skills we learned thus far. The children played The Number Grid Game, Squeeze the Number Line, and Leaf Sums ~ finding and coloring linked numbers that add up to ten.
Social Studies~
- We continued to work on learning more about communities. The children are putting the finishing touches on their self-designed community projects.
- To reinforce the Word of the Month, we read and discussed a book entitled, Helpful Citizens by Cassie Mayer. We talked about ways we can be helpful in our home, school, and neighborhood community. We began our class project ~ We Are Getting Involved This Fall.The children are writing their good deeds on a leaf. We will add their leaves to our classroom fall display. Be sure to check out the photo below. Stay tuned as our display grows with lots of leaves demonstrating how helpful our children are in their communities.
Other Activities~
- Luke Barrett was our Star Student of the Week. We enjoyed learning more about Luke!
- We visited the computer lab and learned how to sign in to our Google Classroom. We also worked on Typing Agent. In Second Grade, the children are expected to work on Typing Agent at home for at least 20 minutes a week.