Dear Families,
Here is our week in review:
Social-Emotional Learning:
This week, the students continued to learn and practice positive self-talk as a calming strategy. They learned how to use short, targeted statements along with different yoga moves. For example, the statement “I am kind” was matched up with a yoga pose of a tree, stretching the arms up high to “spread” kindness around our classroom and the world. The statement “I am strong” was matched up with a yoga pose called the warrior pose. We practiced whispering positive self-talk and breathing techniques as a class and with partners. You can find some flower breathing techniques in your child’s backpack today if you want to learn more or try this at home too.
We had another restorative circle with Ms. Nicole. This week we explored the different strong emotions we all experience. The students shared what makes them feel happy and what makes them feel angry. Thank you Ms. Nicole for joining our class again.
The students at ABS filled the Hive again for being safe, kind and responsible. This time, we celebrated with a stuffed animal day. The students had so much fun learning with their stuffed animals. Some students even chose their stuffed animals as their partners in math and reading!
Reading:
This week, we continued to read independently, with partners and in small groups. The students are gaining more independence navigating our different stations every day. I am so proud of them all. They work hard! This week, we added two new stations to our trick word practice. The first station includes Fundations magnetic letter tiles and the other station is a writing station with special markers used on large easel paper.
We are in the midst of reading the series “Mouse Scouts” by Sarah Dillard. This series is about some adorable mice who have different adventures together while also giving the reader lots of follow-up activities and ideas for how we can all help keep our communities and the environment clean. The students made a strong connection to the extension activities in these books and asked if we could build our own representation of the setting, or our own little woodland habitats for fanciful characters. As a result, we need your help! If you choose to, please gather a small amount of the following items that we would need by Tuesday the latest next week: pinecones, acorns, pine needles/branches, small sticks, small rocks, bark and any other woodland materials that are small enough to fit inside a small grocery bag (for carrying purposes). Please have your child bring these materials into our classroom by Monday or Tuesday next week. Thank you.
Writing:
The students on Harmony continued Fundations classes this week, learning about decoding/sounding out and how tapping can be used to help them spell words. They are encouraged to transfer this knowledge to their writing classes in order to represent blends, vowels and digraphs in their own best spelling.
We started our small moment writing unit as well. Small moment writing is a personal narrative and it is a sequential story; a story with a clear beginning, middle and end. It is a story about something that has already happened. Since this type of story is about the writer, the writer will use the following words a lot: me, I, mine, my, etc (throughout this unit, the students will be encouraged to learn how to spell these high frequency words as well). This week, the students planned their stories using a graphic organizer, which will provide an overarching structure and guide their writing in the weeks to come. Stay tuned for more as this writing unit progresses in the weeks to come.
Math:
November’s calendar in math reflects clocks and telling time. Throughout this month, the students will review telling time to the hour and half-hour. They will also learn how to tell time to the nearest five minutes with an understanding of the different hands and the difference between am and pm time.
The month of November will also introduce the students to number lines and how number lines can be used to add and subtract. This is a new skill and expectation, specific to second grade. This week, we learned from Ms. Schaw. She joined our class to teach us about number paths, a tool that helps young mathematicians visualize the number sequence before using a number line. The students did an outstanding job decomposing their numbers as the equations got more challenging.
Technology:
The students continued to learn more about our google classroom and how to be a digital citizen online while creating a digital project on Book Creator.
News and Reminders:
There is no school 11/21-11/25 (Thanksgiving Break)
A note from our school counselor, Ms. Heather:
Lake Champlain Waldorf School presents Mindful Parenting at the Holidays. Friday, November 4, 6:30-8:00. This is a free event and registration is required. Here is a small blurb about it:
Re-imagine the holidays as an experiment in mindful parenting with this Friday evening presentation followed by a Workshop on Saturday. Take away simple tools to make small, doable changes to your family life and practical ideas to make the upcoming holidays more peaceful and joyful.
Pre-Register at: Mindful Parenting
Have a great weekend,
Maria
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