This week in 2nd grade...

Reading

This week in our shared reading time we will work on making connections to the book. We will talk most specifically about text-to-self connections, where students use their own experiences to make meaning/sense of a book. All 5 reading groups are working on different skills at the current moment, which is the great thing about small group instruction! If you are curious for more information about what your child's group is working on, send me an email or message, and I'd be happy to talk specifics!

Math

We begin money this week. I outlined the topic and provided some resources in my previous post! Here is a link that will take you there... 2nd Grade Update

Writing

This is our last week of narrative writing! We will be working the first two days of the week on our final stories, and will begin our writing test on Wednesday. This leaves time Thursday to finish/publish our last piece, and time on Friday to celebrate Halloween and do some special writing/activities!

Health

We began our first health unit last week. We are looking at organs and the human body while taking a trip down the "Organ Trail". I had the students outline the organs they know in the human body, and we did an awesome job brainstorming a list of organs we knew! This week we will begin to look at specific organs and their functions in the body.

Empathy

This week our morning meeting/afternoon closing will be focused on showing empathy towards others. We are studying empathy through use of videos and class discussions. We did one empathy lesson last week, and the kids were so insightful and really understood the conversations we were having! It was so empowering to have a room full of kids who were so eager to share/discuss, and we tied quite a few lessons/talking topics back to empathy that day. 

Help NEEDED :)

We are planning a STEM activity this week that will be related to Halloween but also ties in with our previous math unit! As the Friday Folder letter stated, we are in need of toothpicks and candy corn to make this happen. If you would like to donate either one of these items, please send them to school with your child!

2nd Grade Update

Fall Party

Our Halloween party is this Friday. As a school, we decided not to dress up this year, so I do ask that students do not wear their costumes to school on Friday. We will have a busy and fun day planned for Friday! The party begins at 2:30 and will end at 3:00.

Tiger Reading Buddies

We have now completed 3 weeks of Tiger Reading Buddies! I hope that you are hearing about it at home. It is so fun to watch the Mizzou students work with the kids. This past week they dug into the kids phonemic awareness. This means they did activities to find out what they know about beginning/ending sounds, blends, and digraphs! They will then begin customizing what books they are picking for the students to read, based on what they know about their learning. It is such a fun process to watch. There is a new picture on our Twitter page, and I will also post it at the end of this post!

Money

We are beginning a new topic in math this week over money. We will talk about the different values of money as well as money equivalencies (ex. ___ quarters = $1.00). The 2nd grade team is asking that parents/guardians take advantage of each opportunity to make money equivalencies/calculating change a real-life situation for their child. For example, if you happen to be using cash at the store, just take a couple seconds to mention how you know how much money to pay with!

It will also be very helpful to practice money at home this week! We will be working on identifying coins and understanding their values this week, and will move into equivalencies the following week. 

Lastly, I am attaching a link to a practice test for this topic. This could be a helpful resource for at home practice! 

Topic 13 Practice Test

Reading Logs

I am so sorry for forgetting to send those home until Wednesday this week! I will make every effort to get them home on Monday. I have also designated a couple kids to remind me that afternoon! I do ask that you ensure you are sending them back on Friday morning! This is a great way to hold your students accountable, and will also ensure they get that extra check on their Friday Folder! Thank you!

I'm looking forward to another great week in 2nd grade! Please let me know if you have any questions! You can reach me on Remind, or at klister@cpsk12.org

Our first BBL and Electronics Day!

On Tuesday we celebrated our first Dojo reward with Electronics Day! We had a blast brining in our electronics from home and getting to use them at school! See below for some pictures!

Our other "first" on Tuesday was our FIRST Brown Bag Lunch! Parents were invited to come into the classroom and have lunch with their students. We had a great time enjoying lunch together and taking some time to chat! Students also showed off some of their work thus far. See below for some pictures!

Scholastic Book Orders: November

EXCITING NEWS!

Book Orders are going out from Scholastic for the month of November! I am asking that they be due back by November 14, which is a Monday!

You also have the option to order online! Our class code is Q4Z2H!

We LOVE Scholastic book orders because they give money back to our classroom for the money you spend! It is an awesome program, and the book prices are wonderful!

Thank you for your support, and if you have any questions let me know!

BBL FAQ

Hey parents! Here's a few questions I've gotten about Brown Bag Lunch! I just figured it would be easier to answer them here, just to clear the air!

Can parents come?

Yes please! Join us tomorrow for lunch in the classroom from 11:45-12:15!

Can I bring food?

That's the fun part! You can absolutely bring food for you and your student if you would like! This is not a requirement by any means, but is an option!

What will we be doing?

We will be having lunch as a class, and students can show you some of their work when we are done eating!

What time is it?

We are asking parents come around 11:45 (students come in from recess at 11:50) and leave promptly by 12:15! This allows us to stay on our regular schedule.

Do I need to do anything ahead of time?

Just be sure to sign in at the office when you get to school! Then, join us in the classroom!

I'm looking SO forward to seeing everyone! We are going to have a blast eating lunch and chatting! 

Audubon Field Trip

What an amazing day! We had such an awesome time on our first field trip and did such a great job representing Beulah Ralph to all the other schools/teachers/instructors! I am so proud of how well we did while interacting with each other and with the presentations! To give an overview of some of the things we saw while we were there, I'll do my best to summarize our day!

Disclaimer: this post is a little long, but is full of awesome pictures!

Our first station was Owl Pellets. We dissected owl pellets and looked at the bones we found inside. We were then able to compare the bones we found to bones of various animals, to figure out what the owl had eaten!

Our second station was Adaptations. We analyzed many different birds beaks and feet, and thought about how that adaptation helped that animal survive! It was fun to hear their answers and they also opened up some very meaningful conversations that dug even deeper!

Our third station was Banding. They talked to us about how they catch and band birds to help identify where they have been, continue to track their movements, and ensure the bird is in good health! At this station, they showed us some live, wild birds! We saw a Chickadee, Sparrow, and Cardinal! 

Our final station was Raptors! We talked about what made raptors different from other birds, and also got the chance to see a hawk and an owl. They were both beautiful birds!

Thank you so much to all the parents who volunteered to help and ultimately made this trip the success it was! I was so lucky to have so many wonderful people there being great models for the kids! 

It was a fun, rewarding, and very exhausting day!

IMPORTANT: Field Trip Information

AUDUBON NATURE SANCTUARY
October 13, 2016
11:00-2:30

Food

If you marked your child is bringing their lunch from home, ALL containers must be DISPOSABLE! That makes it much easier for travel purposes. 

Clothing

We will be doing a lot of walking, so please have your child wear comfortable clothing and tennis shoes! He/She may also want to tie a jacket around their waist because it is going to be cold!

Volunteers

First, thank you so much for taking the time to come with us! We had several volunteers sign up. Unfortunately, we do not have room for siblings. If this changes your availability and you can no longer come, please let me know! Just a reminder that parents/guardians cannot ride the bus! Parents may meet in the parking lot of school and carpool together, or drive separately. YOUR CHILD MUST RIDE THE BUS!

We're all very excited! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me on remind, or by email klister@cpsk12.org

IMPORTANT

Hello!

Just a few important reminders:

• PICTURE DAY is tomorrow! Please send money or your online order if you choose to order pictures :)
• FIELD TRIP Permission Slips were due today. I will take them tomorrow as well, but please get them to me ASAP!
• We begin TIGER READING BUDDIES on Friday. Make sure to ask your child about their experience!

Thanks!

Another way to stay updated!

Parents/Guardians,

I just wanted to write a quick post to encourage everyone to stay connected with our class on Twitter! You can find our twitter page by searching for @msklister. It is a protected twitter so you will have to request to follow it. By using Twitter, I am able to post real-time updates when they occur and you can see what we are doing each day. My plan is to use Twitter to keep you updated with the day-to-day and use the blog to communicate weekly!

CLICK HERE FOR TWITTER LINK

With that being said, here are a few pictures from this week!

Congratulations to Finley for being our Citizen of the Month for September! Finley was selected by his classmates for consistently showing us what it means to be a respectful, responsible, kind, positive, and problem-solving learner!

Students sharing what they read or wrote during Daily 5!

Claire and Shep perfecting their quick write. We wrote strong leads using the prompt, "Write about your best holiday ever!"

Group 3 reading group works on the iPad using an app to help put together sentences.

A big thank you to each one of you for all your help and support in your child's education. We are having an amazing year and I feel so blessed to have each one of your children in my class!