Week Four
We had a wonderful week and learned so many new things! The students love preparing for Rosh Hashanah!
Reading
This week, the students reviewed how to identify the subject and predicate in a sentence and put words in alphabetical order. The students read a nonfiction story called My Family and worked on comparing and contrasting using a Venn Diagram. Our vocabulary words were: remembered, porch, crown, spend, stuck, visit, cousin, and piano. Next week, the students will study how to identify and write complete sentences and how to use a glossary to find the meanings of words in a text. We will also write friendly letters to friends and relatives.
I love watching the students find ways to help each other during our reading centers! We are becoming quite a team!
The students took their first test in our Journeys curriculum this week! They are working on looking back in the story to find their answers (a new skill!) I am finishing up one-on-one reading assessments to determine each student’s reading level and next week we will assess their sight word reading skills.
Spelling
This week the students studied words containing the long or short “e” sound. They learned that the long “e” sound can be spelled “ea” or “ee.” Next week, the students will learn how to spell words that contain the long or short “i” sounds, for example, bit and pride. These new words will be assessed on Thursday, 9/28.
Writing
Our first writing unit covers choosing strong ideas and filling our stories with details. The lessons focus on stating a clear message, staying on topic, and making sure there are interesting details in almost all of our sentences. The students are already discovering that if they write with a lot of detail, then their readers can picture their story in their minds!
Math
The students worked on making equivalent number sentences this week. They learned that both sides of the equal side must result in the same number for the number sentence to be true. For example: 4 + 5 = 3 + 6. Both sides add up to 9, so this is equivalent. One of the areas where second graders often get confused is when the equation looks backwards with the equal sign coming first like this _______ = 25 – 10. This skill will require additional practice in the coming weeks. This week, we also practiced using calculators and number grids, adding money, and using the greater than and less than symbols. Soon, the students will begin unit 2, which covers addition and subtraction number stories, like: 7 ducks are in the water and 5 ducks are in the grass. How many ducks in all? We will also work on adding doubles, like 9 + 9, and using scales to compare the weights of objects.
The students created number grids up to 1,000. Below they are putting their grids in order.
We built structures using our base ten blocks. These blocks help the students learned to count by ones, tens, hundreds, and thousands. After the students were done building, they had to count how many tiny cubes were in each structure. Our smallest structure had 220 cubes and the largest had 2, 411! In second grade we learn how to count and add up into the thousands!
Project Base Learning- Social Studies
As part of our unit on citizens and communities, the students studied how to solve problems impacting their city by working together and compromising. They learned about public issues, like dealing with garbage, recycling, and keeping their community clean. Next week, the students will learn about taking a position on a public issue. I expect to have some great debates about helping out our fellow citizens!
This class knows how to work hard and play hard! I hope everyone has a great weekend!
