Several weeks ago we had our first open store day and it was a great success. The second graders loved seeing the different business ventures and purchasing the various goods and services from their fellow entrepreneurs. We had everything from origami to charms to clay monsters to crystal eggs to a yoga and meditation class to many more! Several businesses were so popular the products sold out. Tuesday will be our next open store day. We will be opening our doors to Mrs. Marinho's class. We have one more class day to work on businesses and encourage the young business owners to work at home over the weekend if needed.
We had a fantastic time ice-skating on Wednesday! It was a beautiful, bright February day on the Midway. The second graders of 228 enjoyed skating with each other and their friends in Mr. Wilson's class. Thank you to our parent helpers; it turned out we had many of them! On Friday morning the second graders wrote about the trip in their reflection journals.
In math our focus has been on double-digit addition using the partial sums method. Last week we began subtraction. We will soon teach the second graders how to subtract by stacking and borrowing. We will explore this idea using number stories and problem solving. It is important that children automatize addition and subtraction facts under 20 (i.e. 12+5=17) so that more complex calculation is easier. This is something you can work on with your second grader at home. On Friday we will send home a family letter and home links for our upcoming math unit (unit 6). We strongly encourage children to work on this packet at home. Be on the lookout in your child's Friday folder.
Thank you to Sharon Hillenbrand for making these great valentine boxes with our class! The second graders had fun decorating their cereal boxes to collect their valentines from classmates.
Thank you also to Audrey Tian and her family for taking good care of Cookie over February break. If you would like to take Cookie home for spring break, please let me know!
Thank you also to Audrey Tian and her family for taking good care of Cookie over February break. If you would like to take Cookie home for spring break, please let me know!
Next week we will cook with potatoes! We'll use regular potatoes and sweet potatoes. More information and recipes to come.
On Friday your child will take home his/her Friday folder with some completed work. This is just a small snapshot of the learning that is happening in our classroom. This work does not include projects, journal writing, class discussions, math journal work, reading, and more.
Last week we worked on the "Bossy R" sounds /ar/ and /or/, like park and corn. Next week we will work on /ur/ and /ir/, like turn and bird. These sounds are tricky because there is no way of knowing which vowel to use; you just have to memorize it. Sometimes it's helpful to ask, which way looks right?
We will wrap up our Clyde Robert Bulla book clubs next week. The second graders have had a lot of practice note taking wile they read and sharing their ideas in small group discussions. The attached photo is a poster from our classroom that we use to generate ideas for writing. This stop and jot poster can also be helpful to your child as he/she completes the writing in the book log at home. I have a word document of this poster; if you're interested in this, please let me know. As soon as our book clubs are finished, we will begin our biography study.