Dear Families,
Here is our week in review:
Social-Emotional Learning:
This week, we learned more about emotional management. The students learned that when we experience strong feelings, it is difficult to think clearly and rationally. When people experience strong feelings, the “thinking part of the brain”, the prefrontal cortex, does not function well and your “emotional part of the brain” takes over. It can be difficult to get back on track to think calmly and rationally too. The students acted out what happens in the brain by using our hand as a visual representation of the different parts of the brain. Your child has a Second Step HomeLink assignment to do, which explains this in more detail. As always these assignments are voluntary, but we strongly encourage parents to engage in these conversations at home too. Learning inhibitory control, self-regulation and self awareness are life skills that develop with continued practice and support. Thank you for considering.
This week in our restorative circles, we discussed the importance of sharing the auditory space with other learners, peers and adults. The students played some games practicing “sharing just enough” and “staying on topic”. It was tricky but they did a great job. Again, with continued practice and support, young children can learn to develop skills in these areas as well. You might want to try this at home too. At dinner time, for example, pick a topic of conversation. Everybody at the table gets to share just one thing about the topic, then, switch to another topic. Make it more challenging and see how many rounds around the table you can go with different topics before someone shares too much or changes the topic!
Reading:
This week, we continued reading in various settings and groups. We had partner reading in our classroom and we met with our reading buddies from Ms. Emily’s class.
The students explored non-fiction magazines and shared new information on post-it notes.
We started some end-of-the-year reading assessments in class. For the next few weeks, I will administer a variety of literacy assessments to all second graders. Some assessments will also be online per our district guidelines.
Writing:
Second grade authors did an outstanding job following our classroom “To Do List” to make sure that all animal research components were completed on time. I am so proud of their ability and willingness to sustain attention and stick to our writing plan. They did it! Their animal research writing is done. Next week, the students will start creating their own animal project to reflect their understanding This year, the students will choose between making a poster, a google slideshow, a SeeSaw presentation or a diorama. We will share their projects at our End-of-the-Year Celebration of Learning.
Math:
Second grade mathematicians continued working on geometry this week.
Second grade mathematicians also learned about arrays and repeated addition representations and equations. The students learned that repeated addition sentences can look different visually, depending upon the number of objects in each row and column, but that the total sum still remains the same. The students learned a new partner game called “How close to 100” to practice these skills. I think this game is a new favorite in our classroom! Ask your child to explain how it works.
Science:
The students on Harmony started science workshops this week and rotated through several workshops between the different classrooms while learning about the moon, the stars and the earth’s rotation.
Field-trip to Shelburne Museum:
Our field-trip to Shelburne Museum is scheduled for Thursday May 25. Buses will leave ABS around 8-8:30 and return to ABS in time for regular dismissal. Your child will need weather-appropriate clothes as we will be outside all day, visiting the different workshops. Your child will need to bring a snack, a water bottle and a packed lunch. Your child will also carry his/her backpack all day so please empty it of other contents to make it less heavy. Please let me know if your child will order a packed lunch from school. If that is the case, I will need to let the cafeteria staff know as soon as possible. Thank you. We have many parent chaperones (thank you parents!). As a result, we can create small groups of students. Each group will follow their own path in terms of learning as we all get a Shelburne Museum Passport/Map to follow. We are very excited to go on this trip together. Traditionally, parent chaperones do not ride the bus since we have very limited space. If you are a parent chaperone, please meet us by the Museum Store around 9-9:30am.
News and Reminders:
All library books due Friday, May 26th
Harmony’s Celebration of Learning is scheduled for 6/8 between 7:30-8:30. Family members are welcome to visit our classrooms to see various classroom projects, writing samples and math from the school year.
ABS students will visit WCS on Thursday 5/18 for the Sterling Play. Buses will leave ABS around 8-8:20 and return to ABS around 9:30.
Have a great weekend,
Maria
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