Dear Families,
Here is our week in review:
Welcome back to school and Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful and restful holiday break. I filled the week off with family fun as well as skiing and skating (before the thaw). I hope you had a great week too!
We have a new intern in our classroom this semester. His name is Mr. Matt and he is currently a student at St. Michael’s College. He joined our classroom weekly last semester as well, although now he’s with us full-time. We are so lucky to have him with us! Thank you, Mr. Matt!
Social-Emotional Learning:
Coming back to school after an extended vacation or break can sometimes be challenging for young learners, so this week, we revisited familiar routines and expectations. We practiced and discussed what it means to be a member of a classroom and a participant in our various classes and learning activities. We also practiced what whole body listening looks like and sounds like, with calm bodies, listening ears, eyes watching and quiet voices.
The students filled our classroom buzzy jar for being safe, kind and responsible this week too! This time, they celebrated with extra explore/choice time.
Reading:
This week, the students practiced being actively engaged readers, who show stamina and focus for longer periods of time every day. The students read books from their book bins, our classroom/school library and from Lexia.
We started reading our new chapter book “Fergus and Zeke” by Kate Messner. This series is about a classroom mouse who befriends another mouse and go on adventures together.
Writing:
This week, our second grade authors participated in a district-wide writing assessment pertaining to opinion writing. The students were encouraged to write about a topic they know a lot about and feel strongly about, while elaborating and adding 2-3 reasons to justify their position. For the next few weeks, the students will learn to add their own creative writer’s voice to their writing pieces, while creating logical and relevant supporting paragraphs with a conclusion. Stay tuned for more in the next few weeks!
Math:
Second grade mathematicians continued to practice number sense and mental math strategies in our daily “Number Talk” sessions in math class. This week, they shared different ways to solve complicated multi-digit equations while learning to understand the strategies of others. They are amazing mathematicians and we are so proud of them all.
In our daily calendar, the students are also practicing basic number sense, looking at the weeks and the days to figure out problems involving questions like, “In how many more days…? How many days/weeks ago….? And “How many more days until….?” We strongly encourage families to integrate this type of conversation at home. Perhaps you already do so using the school calendar that was sent home at the beginning of the school year for your child to use?
Second grade mathematicians also started a new unit on measurement. In second grade our common core standards address several new concepts, not covered in first grade. For example, second grade mathematicians will learn how to use standard measuring tools, such as rulers, yard sticks and measuring tapes. Second graders will also learn to understand inches, feet and yards. In the next few weeks, the students will learn to use these tools while measuring objects accurately with no overlaps and gaps between the measuring tools used.
WIN Times:
Next week our team will be starting our WIN block, which is part of a school wide initiative to meet the needs of more students. WIN stands for What I Need. Our team of teachers, along with some other teachers in the building, have taken the time to look at the needs of our Harmony students, and planned various groups around those needs. The groups will meet 3-4 days a week for about 40 minutes. We will be starting next week and go until February break.
Have a great weekend,
Maria
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