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Monday, November 18, 2013

2nd Grade Movie Stars!




Here is a little movie the kids in 2nd grade and I did. This is students from both second grades and was completed easily using the imovie trailers that come free in the program. Enjoy!

Friday, October 4, 2013

The Bonus Store is OPEN!

You know you had a great teacher when years later you use one of their ideas. I had just one of those great teachers, Mrs Lee, middle school language arts, and I remember her vividly ! She did this great thing called a "bonus box" and would hand out "bonus bucks" for high grades. She sold office supplies and we LOVED it!!! I now have my own "bonus store" and hand out "bonus bucks." You may have seen them in your child's binder. I have expanded how you can receive them. To get the green you must:
1. Get a perfect score on a test, or just miss one
2. Go to mass on Sunday 
3. Do your classroom job all week
4. End the day on blue
5. Stay on green all week
6. Answer an especially challenging question in class
7. Do something kind or generous for a friend

Today was their first day shopping and they loved it! Many decided to save their money for the larger prizes! 

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Welcome Families!

Welcome families....the year is off to a fantastic start! I wanted to let all of you know what we will be working on for the next couple of weeks, and some things we will go over the whole year.
First I want to introduce to you to our year long reading unit: Genre Studies for 2nd Grade! Every month the students will learn about a new book genre and have accompanying writing assignments and reading experiences. The first month of August we simply discuss what the genre of fiction entails, and the "ingredients" that all fiction will have. This week we will start historical fiction, and read books from this genre.....watch for updates!
In centers we will be working on letter, word, and sentence skills.
In the boggle center students learn how to spell words....creatively!

In the "word builder" center students again are challenged with spelling words, this time using unifix cubes. In a couple weeks these will change into word tiles that link to create sentences. An added extra in this center is for students that may want to add math. Each letter from every word made/written gets 1 point, i.e. dart = 4 points. This really gets them motivated to seek out larger words...I see some real doozies!
The "ABC Sort" center challenges students to draw 5-8 word cards and alphabetize them. Soon the minimum will be 10 words! 
At the listening center we will be listening to stories that follow our genre unit. The story will be listened to and read several times as students fill out a story map that ID's fictional aspects in the story, i.e. characters, problem, solution, setting. 
And finally, we always have a library, or "read to self" center. Students always have 3 books in their book box and are encouraged to check books out for home. Students are allowed to have 1 book out at a time, there is no time limit on returning it, but they cannot take another one until it is returned.
I will keep you updated on our classroom happenings so make sure to subscribe:)









Friday, September 6, 2013

Mustache Party!!

Well we are well into the school year and having a great time!!! To have some fun on recess I passed around adhesive mustaches and let the goofiness ensue!
Even Miss Kruger put one on!!






Sunday, March 17, 2013

Genre Units

Our class has been studying a new book genre every month. We read books, write stories, look at reading strategies, and study vocabulary based on the genre of the month. This month is fables, folktales, fairytales, and myths/legends. While all these seem oddly similar they most certainly have their differences! This unit has been particularly interesting for the students because these are the stories we are all so familiar with. Fairytales has been a frontrunner for favorite and we will be creating a very cool final project.
To wind up this unit the students will be creating "fractured fairytales!" We have read several stories and compared them with the fractured version.


We read "The Three Little Pigs" and then read "The True Story of the Three Little Pigs."  We create a venn diagram and talked about how they were similar and how they were different. The kids couldn't believe the poor wolf was framed!!! Perspective has been an ongoing theme this month, and these stories are a great way to also teach why listening to both sides of a story is important!

Now the students will choose a character from a popular story and re-write the story from their perspective! I have already seen some fantastic ideas. Once we have traveled through the writing process the students will create books generated by an awesome website: ReadWriteThink.com
http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/stapleless/index.html
The above link will take you to a staple-less book generator. The kids type the words, choose where the picture will be drawn, and voila! Instant book publication!
I hope to take these stories and have my kids read them to some willing classes within the school....pictures and video to follow!


Thursday, February 21, 2013

We Are the Light of the World!

Recently we participated in a door display contest for Catholic Schools Week. Here is what we created:

While we didn't win, we had a great time creating this fun photo display. Each child took a picture to look as if they were floating away......very cute!

Angry Verbs!

In language arts, the students have been learning about sentence structure and syntax since day 1! We began with the simple constructs of a sentence (period, capitalization), learned what parts a sentence has, and what a noun is and what part it plays in a sentence. This brought us to verbs! Children can only sit and listen for so long so I try to find fun ways to use the skills being taught. For verbs I thought of an obvious favorite.....Angry Birds, or Angry Verbs if you attend 2nd grade at St Agnes. The purpose of this activity was to get the kids to create sentences using all types of verbs, and identify the verb in the sentence. Once this was completed they were given an Angry Bird coloring page, allowed to color it, and finally write their sentence on the bird. Once this flock of verbs was finished we created an Angry Bird game board to attach all our “Angry Verbs” to. Students love the display and don’t even notice that they are identifying verbs! Below are links for the Angry Bird coloring pages.



               





Tuesday, January 29, 2013

New happenings in 2nd grade!

Hello friends and families!
I wanted to thank all the families that came to the educational conference this past Sunday . I was so happy to see everyone and take a minute to discuss your children.
We are quickly making our way into the second half of the year, which means we are learning lots of new stuff! One of the main focuses in 2nd grade is reading and writing. We are always practicing the many skills involved with reading/writing. This week I will introduce 4 new centers that will concentrate on new language arts skills.
1. Verb/noun sort
In this center the children will draw owl cards that have either a verb or a noun. They will sort their whole pile onto work mats. Once all cards are divided they will copy the words onto a recording sheet.
2. Common/proper noun sort
In this center the children draw cards, this time monster themed, and sort them into common or proper. Once all the cards are divided the student copies the words onto a record sheet.

*both of these centers will be extended to add tense, plural, and possessives.

3. Story bags
These have been all the rage lately and I can see why! The kids love them! Each child chooses a bag full of props, toys, and other small items. They label their record sheet with the bag number, list the items, and write a story including all the items. The story must be 4-5 sentences long and make sense.

4. Roll-a-word
In this center children will choose one of their spelling words and roll a die to decide what activity to do. They will record all the activities on a record sheet.