Thank-you for your participation in our goal setting conferences. We feel our student’s first set of goals will help them be successful on their own personal learning journeys. We have been very busy this month, getting to know two new students from Israel. They are a wonderful addition to our classroom family. Below is just some of the learning taking place presently in Grade 2.

Goals:

The signed goal list is being added this week to our Go For The Goal! bulletin board. Next steps will be how to measure our success.

Language Arts:

Writing-This past month the focus of our journal entries have been reflecting on our Global Maker Day challenges, creating our goals and reaching out to the Israeli soldiers. The children were asked how we support Israel both in our Grade 2 classroom and as a school. We brainstormed ideas and then they were asked to choose from our list or come up with their own ideas and complete letters which will be brought directly to the soldiers. Below is the list and a sample of a few of the letters we are sending.

Reading-Amplify evaluations are completed and our students are now set to be on their own personal learning journey when they work on Amplify. Resource sessions are well under way with Ms. Honey and we work as a team to ensure academic growth. Reading homework is assigned by Ms. Honey each week, please remember to return your books in order to get the next one. For those students who meet or exceed the Grade 2 expectations for this point in the school year, they should be reading often just for the love of reading. Please note during our Language Arts blocks each child’s work has been personalized to ensure we have happy, engaged students. Small group time ensures time to practice our spelling, decoding skills as well as answering comprehension questions. Below is a photo of an activity we completed after reviewing and making observations of the FLoSZ rule. When /f/, /l/, /s/ and /z/ is heard after a short vowel at the end of a one-syllable word, it is doubled.

Library/Social Studies-During our library periods Ms. Brigitte has continued with our monthly novel study, this month we are listening to books written by William Steig. 

We also completed a workshop on how to be a good digital citizen. We really have a better understanding of what that means. Here is the video we watched and a great discussion followed.

Science:

This month our focus continues to be on Movement and Simple Machines. The students completed an experiment where they discovered where the fulcrum is located affects the amount of effort needed to move an object. This was a simple experiment involving a marker, ruler and a  ball of playdough. We also are working in pairs in the Makerspace to design a lever that is able to lift 100g safely and securely.

Math:

This month we are exploring graphs and becoming math ninja masters (becoming more fluent with the math facts to 20). We are diving deeper into the essential parts of a graph, comparing and making important observations and understanding its purpose. Lastly we are starting to work on double digit regrouping.  Resource sessions are well under way with Mrs. Cleveland and we work as a team to ensure academic growth. Math homework will be only assigned to those that need the practice, I will add IXL to the homework board next week with the understanding that this is not homework but an option for those that want one.

Our students spent all morning planning, designing, collecting materials and creating one or more of the challenge designs presented to them. They chose whether to work on their own or in pairs and the collaboration, perseverance and ingenuity that took place in our Grade 2 classroom was beyond impressive. Here are just a few photos to help you visualize what a group of happy engaged children look like. What a special morning! A big thank-you to Josh Ray for organizing all of it. 

It’s hard to believe how fast the month of September is flying by. We have been very busy this month, getting to know each other better, learning new routines, and brainstorming rules that will help make our classroom a safe and happy place to learn.

Learning Skills:

It is important that our Grade 2 students have a strong understanding of what work habits are and how these habits will help them grow as a learner. We are completing a booklet on Learning Skills, brainstorming ideas and then writing them down in our booklets.

Language Arts:

Writing-This past month the focus of our journal entries have been the Chagim. The children were asked what they were most excited about Rosh Hashanah and how they were going to make Yom Kippur meanful. We brainstormed ideas and then they were asked to complete an entry independently. If they did not know how to spell a word they underlined it and continued on. Once their journal was completed, I reviewed them with each child and I underlined the words that were in their dictionaries and then they were required to edit their work. Capitals and periods are the writing conventions we are focusing on whenever we complete a sentence. 

Reading-Evaluations have started to see where your child is on their own personal learning journey. Resource sessions are well under way with Ms. Honey and we work as a team to ensure academic growth. You will be contacted this week by email if your child benefits from daily practice. For those students who meet or exceed the Grade 2 expectations for this point in the school year, they should be reading often just for the love of reading. Please note during our Language Arts blocks each child’s work has been personalized to ensure we have happy, engaged students.

Library/Social Studies-During our library periods Ms. Brigitte has begun our first novel study, books written by Patricia Polacco. Her books are a wonderful addition to our first Social Studies unit on Changing Family and Community Traditions. We are presently investigating some of the past and present traditions and celebrations within their own family to which they belong. For this week please have a conversation about a holiday tradition or artifact (e.g., Shabbat candle sticks or special holiday table cloth) that was passed down from generation to generation. They will be asked to share and draw a picture of this tradition or artifact next week. 

We also used Venn Diagrams to compare various New Year celebrations within our multicultural community. The students then worked in groups on an assigned New Year’s celebration and presented their project to the class.

Science:

This month our focus is on Movement and Simple Machines. The students completed an experiment where they discovered and saw evidence that Newton’s 1st law tells us that an object won’t change its motion unless acted upon by a force and Newton’s 2nd law tells us that heavier objects need a larger force to move them. Sorry no photos we were too busy having fun. We are also completing a rhyming book on how animals move.

Math:

Evaluations have started to see where your child is on their own personal learning journey. Resource sessions are well under way with Mrs. Cleveland and we work as a team to ensure academic growth. You will be contacted by email if your child benefits from the practice of a particular concept. Math homework will be only assigned to those that need the practice, this will start after the Chagim.