Reminders
No school Monday, September 6, 2021 in observance of Labor Day.
No school Thursday, September 16, 2021 in observance of Yom Kippur.
Please make sure your child’s water bottle comes to school daily.
Most of the time, we will send Home School Folders home on Fridays. Occasionally, these folders will come home midweek. Please support your child to bring their Home School Folders back the next school day.
Math: We’ve been having fun in math! As a kick off to the year, we are working on our mindset. In all we do, a growth mindset is key! Since day one, students have learned about the power of “yet”. The use of this concept allows students to be adventurous in their math and life! Students even explored the idea of neuroplasticity! In math, and in everything else we do, our brain grows strong by making new connections. So when students face a challenge, they know that they have the power to work hard and persevere! Students practiced using their growth mindset by playing new math games and exploring patterns in numbers and shapes. Throughout this week and next, second grade students were/will be visited by two CCS math teachers; Ms. Hansen and Ms. Cook! Together they learned (or will learn) that making mistakes in math can help your brain grow!
Writing: Wow, second graders have so many stories to share! This week, we began our first unit of study in writing, ‘Lessons from the Masters.’ During this unit, students will be working toward the year long learning targets of:
Learning Targets
I can write focused, small moment narratives that depict several linked scenes and are elaborated with some dialogue, thoughts, and feelings.
I can introduce my story with an initiation action, establish a setting, and end my piece with a sense of closure
I can use a checklist to determine my writing goals.
One way to help your child at home is to point out when small moment stories happen! Did a plate fall? Tell the story! It’s important to orally rehearse our small moment stories as this is where we play with language, add details/feelings/thoughts/etc, and get ready to write! As these small moments happen, you may also remind your child they could jot down the idea in their Tiny Topics Notepad at school to remember it as an option for future writing times.
Learning Targets:
I can monitor my reading and take action when I encounter a problem.
I can develop efficient strategies for word solving.
I can maintain comprehension in longer texts.
I can put it all together and read with fluency.
The first bend, or section, of this unit will focus on helping our readers understand that to grow, they need to take charge of their growth by choosing not only what to read but also how to read. In our first few days we practiced reading stories using different voices. We practiced using sad, serious, silly, and singing voices to read There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly by Simms Taback. On another day, we learned that authors write books with an idea of how the book wants to be read. Second graders learned that they can preview the book’s cover, back blurb, and table of contents to get clues about the author’s intent.
A fun way to try this at home is to pick a favorite book off your shelf and think of new and different ways to read the story!
SEL/Theme: One of the ways our second graders get ready for the hard work ahead is by practicing mindfulness. Before they could get started practicing they needed to learn what mindfulness is and how it can be used as a learning tool in our classroom. As a class we brainstormed ideas and definitions we already had about mindfulness. Then we explored the idea further by reading books such as Peaceful Piggy by Kerry Lee MacLean and I am Peace by Susan Verde. We learned about how mindfulness can support not only our brain, but our hearts and bodies as well!
One important teacher we met this week was the Mind Yeti! The Mind Yeti has a series of videos that not only explain how to do mindfulness but how it works and why it works! Our second grade squad uses the Mind Yeti definition of mindfulness which is, “Mindfulness is paying attention to things as they are right now with kindness and curiosity. It is noticing thoughts, feelings, and sensations as they happen. It is being kind to others and yourself.” (Mind Yeti)
We will continue to learn more about mindfulness, and practice it, throughout the school year.
Community Building: Second graders have been working hard to build our Second Grade Squad! We have focused on our school wide expectations, ‘We take care of ourselves. We take care of others. We take care of this place.” Children earn pennies for “being the change” at CCS. There are many ways second graders can earn pennies; some examples are by lending a helping hand, pushing in a chair, or offering a kind word to a classmate.
What makes second grade so special is that we have our very own mantra; a phrase that we live by and carry in our hearts every day. “We are all the same, we are all different, and we are all unique”. All three classes came together on the first day of school to learn this mantra and put it into practice. Through an exciting game of noodle tag we learned what we had in common and what made us shine out! Our class also read many read aloud books that echo our second grade mantra. Some titles included Whoever You Are by Mem Fox, The Crayon Box That Talked by Shane DeRolf, Your Name is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins Bigelow, and many many more.
Our second graders earned their first penny celebration this Friday. Together we came up with ideas for this and future celebrations and voted to have a movie day! We then picked between 3 movies to watch. Students ended up voting to watch Shaun the Sheep: Farmageddon! We did an excellent job taking care of ourselves, others, and this place!
It has been such a pleasure getting to know your children in these first few days. I can already tell we are going to have a special year together!
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