Dear Families,
Here is our week in review:
Social-Emotional Learning:
Ms. Nicole joined our classroom for another restorative circle. Last week, the students learned about what they can control and what they cannot control in their lives. They learned that they have many positive choices in their daily routines and lives. This week, we built on that idea by focusing on the reactions we have to other people’s statements or actions. Choosing a safe and productive reaction is part of growing up and learning self-control. The students also learned that if they know what is upsetting to their peers they can make stronger, more empathetic choices to help their friends remain calm. In other words, we can help each other by not purposefully upsetting our friends or classmates.
This week,, the students also learned about a restorative circle practice called “the Fishbowl”. In this type of circle, the participants form two circles, an inner circle and an outer circle. The students in the inner circle discuss a topic, or an issue, while the students in the outer circle listen actively. The roles then switch. After all students have had a chance to share their thoughts and ideas, the whole class comes together to form a consensus. In this type of circle, the students learn to build a strong community necessary for productive learning, a sense of belonging and trust. The overall structure provides a framework of expectations. The students know they will all have a chance to speak and share their own thoughts and ideas, but since the talking switches, the learners are also encouraged to add to their thinking/change their thinking because of what was shared already by somebody else. The students did an outstanding job showing respectful listening and perspective taking. This week, for example, we discussed how we can share math materials and tools more fairly and how we can show good sportsmanship when playing games together. We also discussed strategies and solutions for solving recess problems. They came up with many terrific ideas!
Reading:
This week, second grade readers continued to explore various nonfiction books. We added new books to our classroom library for independent reading times. We added books from the National Geographic series, the Magic School Bus series as well as books from the series called “My First Sports”.
We continued to learn about important people in science during our read alouds. This week, we learned more about Katherine Johnson and her amazing mathematical achievements which helped bring people to the Moon.
Writing:
The students finished their opinion writing pieces in google slides this week. They met with me one on one to edit their writing. We will share these google slides next week on SeeSaw (see information about SeeSaw below)
Math:
This week, second grade mathematicians learned a new structure for rotating through work place stations. These work place stations will not only address mathematical concepts and provide additional practice, but they will also help the students develop self-awareness and responsibility as they navigate multiple choices. This week, the students had the opportunity to play games addressing addition and subtraction skills using coins/money and games addressing number sense and finding the number just before in a sequence to 120.
The students also created a “Partner’s Pledge” with each other. As a class, they decided on a set of norms for successful completion of these games. They agreed to the following rules:
Technology:
This week, second graders used SeeSaw, an online platform which allows students to share their thinking and work digitally with each other, their teachers and families. Home access will be shared with you all sometime next week. We have new SeeSaw accounts this year (so last year’s account is no longer valid). This week, the students started working on a learning activity around Kindness. Stay tuned for more information.
News and Reminders:
We will celebrate Valentine’s Day on the 14th. I emailed you a list of all the students in our class. If your child wishes to share Valentine’s Day cards/pictures, please make sure all students are included. Also, please do not send in food/treats or candy to be shared among the students. Thank you.
It is cold outside and our playground/fields are covered in snow. Please remember to send your child to school daily with weather-appropriate clothing.
Please take a moment to go through your child’s backpack periodically. Many times, soggy/wet clothes are left in the various pouches, or at the bottom, making papers and books wet as well. Checking your child’s backpack daily is strongly recommended. In fact,Harmony House encourages all families to encourage their own child/children to start taking some responsibility at home with packing and unpacking backpacks. For example, encourage your child to pack the library books on Mondays, and unpack the backpack daily. Not only will this empower your child and improve their confidence and independence, we also hope families will notice if any items of clothing are missing. Our Lost & Found racks/bins at ABS are overflowing with left-behind winter gear and sweatshirts. We encourage families to inventory items of clothing that might be missing and encourage their children to look for them at school. Please also label your child’s clothing clearly.
Winter gear gets wet and soggy quickly. We encourage families to send in a grocery bag for these clothing items as backpacks often are too small to fit boots, mittens and snow pants. Having an extra bag for packing winter gear will also reduce frustrations and stressors for our young learners’ end-of-the-day dismissal procedures. Thank you.
Have a great weekend,
Maria
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