Kindness Ripple

Today we watched this video and made a plan for our own kindness ripples this month.

TypeTastic

We have been practicing logging in and out of our Chromebooks, and are starting to get really good!  Today we practiced some keyboarding skills using TypeTastic.  The more comfortable students are with knowing where to find letters, numbers, and symbols on the keyboard, the more efficient they can be using this device. 
You can find TypeTastic in our class links tab, near the bottom.  Good news: you can use it as much as you'd like at home!

Mystery Reader

We are so lucky that our first Mystery Reader of the year is someone we get to see every day!  What amazing audience members!

Our first Scholastic Book Order

Whew, we've been super busy in room 111 getting to know each other and learning how second grade feels.  Today, your first opportunity to order from our Scholastic Book Clubs has arrived!  This is optional, but is a great way to get your hands on fantastic books at an affordable cost.  You can find all the information you need on the Scholastic Book Clubs tab, or on the flyers that came home today.
Happy reading!

Second Grade Supply List

Happy Summer! In an attempt to save my wallet this summer, I've been avoiding Target. But sometimes, you just have to run in for one thing (is that even possible?!). I noticed all their school gear ready to go for us all. So, in case you misplaced the list that came home on Transition Day - here is our classroom supply list. If you chose to order through 1stdayschoolsupplies.com, everything on our list will come directly to our classroom. This is all you need in our classroom (some other second grade rooms have a few add on items, don't be alarmed by neighborhood chatter). Can't wait to see you all in a few weeks, but until then, play your hearts out!

Character Day Parade

What a blast Wheelock Reads week has been for us.  We read "at the beach", had lots of mystery readers, helped keep our office bench filled with readers all week long, and enjoyed character dress up day.

Here is a video of our character parade - enjoy!
Character Dress Up Day

Second grade teachers: The Day the Crayons Quit

Salt Dough Landforms

Thank you to all the families that donated their time for our salt dough projects.  It was so wonderful to solidify our learning in a hands-on way!

Enjoy this little movie of our work!
Landforms

A Sample Science Lab Report

This sample lab report gives all parts of the scientific method needed for the science fair.  Happy Science-ing!

Check it out!

Why you should still read together...

Although second graders are able to read on their own for a sustained amount of time, reading together is still so important in their reading journey.  Check out the interesting read below!

What is going on in your child's brain when you read a story?

Welcome Back

We are back in full swing!  It was SO exciting to unlock the rest of our classroom library!  Our reading stamina picked right back up - we were over 10 minutes of stamina to start (woohoo!).

World Kindness Day

Yesterday was World Kindness Day.  Although we aim to be kind each and every day, yesterday we paid particular attention to it.  We read the book Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson.   This book does not have the feel-good ending we are grown to expect, and it can make for great conversation.  After reading, we thought about our own ripples of kindness we are sending out to the world and watched this short video to continue our thinking and reflection.  Each little thing we do goes out, like a ripple, into the world.

Thinking about kindness

We have been doing a lot of work thinking and talking about kindness.  Today, we watched this short video to help us think about differences.  Some differences are easy to see, others are not.  Kindness is important to everyone, no matter how different we are from each other.

Puppy and Boy video

Friday Update

We are 20 days into second grade and boy, have we been busy in the classroom!  We are getting used to indoor recess after a few rainy days.  We are much better at cleaning up the Legos quickly and parting with the creations that have been made.  Boys and girls have been writing up a storm in Writing Workshop.  Our goal is to put 2 small moments a week into our folders.  Small moments are stories about us - things we like to do or things that have happened to us.
Last week, we met Franklin, Wheelock's therapy dog.  He sure got us giggling when his cape was removed and he wiggled around on his back!
This week, we have starting learning about how to login and logout of the Chromebooks.  We are already getting speedier!
We have had two school assemblies this week.  Teachers acted in skits to show us expected (and a few unexpected) choices on the bus, lunchroom, bathroom, hallway, and playground.  It can be pretty funny to watch our teachers doing unexpected things!

Bucket Filling

Today we had a school wide assembly about bucket filling.  Mrs. Johnson, our school psychologist, shared a book and a Kid President video (click here to check it out).  We are working hard to sprinkle kindness everywhere!  Have you filled a bucket today?

We are off to a great start!

Even after a 3 day weekend, we were ready to go this morning.  We talked about rules that would help our classroom.  To start, we read the book What If Everybody Did That? and brainstormed rules for our classroom. 



We also enjoyed this silly video about class rules.  It has lots of good ideas - and so many laughs!  Enjoy!

Supply List 2018-2019

Welcome to Second Grade in Room 111!  I can't wait for our year together!

Wheelock Reads!

We are celebrating Wheelock Reads week!  Today, author and illustrator Marty Kelley visited with us.  We love his books and pictures...they sure make us laugh (and so did he!).  We also snuck in some reading minutes at the beach today.

Happy Friday!

We are having a blast with our combo reward: pajamas and Flashlight Friday!  What a fun way to celebrate all the excellent choices we make in here on a daily basis!

Leprechauns, Leprechauns, Leprechauns

We have thought about Leprechauns all day.  We designed and wrote about traps to try, and took some design ideas to the blocks. We read a book about a character named Fiona who was able to outsmart the Leprechaun King.  Watch out tonight, I hear those little folks are tricky!

Science Fair Project

The second grade Science Fair is coming up on Friday, April 13 from 8:50-9:30.  A bright direction sheet went home earlier this week.  As with any long term project, it is best to break the project into smaller chunks.  That way, you can complete little parts to make a great big project, rather than stress about it all in just one week.  Here is a guide that may be helpful in your planning and completing the science project.  Have fun!