NWEA Testing

The students did a wonderful job with the NWEA testing this week.  Each student took a test in mathematics and in reading.  I use the results to determine differentiated lessons for reading and math groups.  We will discuss  these results at Parent Teacher Conferences in November.
Homework will begin next week.  Literacy homework will come home next week and mathematics homework will be added the following week.
Don't forget Picture Day is next Friday the 26th!

We will be starting Literacy Block soon...

During these first few weeks we have spent a lot of time getting used to the expectations and routines of second grade.  Now that the students are feeling more confident we will begin to set up our 90 minute literacy block.   Below is a brief summary of the work that your child will be doing in literacy.  It is a lot of reading but I think it is good for you to have an understanding of the work you see come home.

A Preview of some of the literacy work you will see in Second Grade

It is important to understand that a lot of this work is done during the 90 minute Literacy Block.  The work is intended to be engaging and at an independent level.  The work is practice to follow up on instruction that has occurred.  We are fortunate to have other adults in the room to provide assistance while I am working with reading groups, however the children are expected to work independently or with peers as much as they can. 

I collect the work at the end of each week and look through it to be sure it continues to be appropriate.  I don’t send it home every week but I will send it home every few weeks so that you can take a look at it too.  You will see that sometimes the work is not complete.  This is ok because I hope to provide them with enough work to keep them busy and even with good work habits they might not finish.  If there is a concern about their work habits I will address that with them and I might send the work home to be completed.

Word Ladders- This activity is a fun way to manipulate words and sounds.  Quite often students will be introduced to new vocabulary with the word ladders.  They will also practice alphabetizing, rhyming, word definitions, dictionary work and using the vocabulary in sentences.

Spelling- The words we work with and the activity sheet is from the Rebecca Sitton Spelling Program.  There are 35 no excuse words in second grade that many of our students are comfortable with already!  Each week that we have spelling I will introduce five new words.  Many of these words are chosen for their frequency of use in second grade writing, their use in building larger words and for their demonstration of vowel patterns that are a part of second grade.  Remember when you see these words they are for spelling.  Most of the words are easy for second graders to read, not always so easy to spell.  The spelling work during Literacy is a variety of word works.  They use the words in sentences, sort the words by sounds and correct sentences that have errors.

Mad Libs- Later in the year I will add Mad Libs to our program.  This is not a weekly activity but I have seen the value in the work over the years.  Of course children love Mad Libs and this makes them work at them over and over again.  I love them because students learn nouns, verbs, adjectives and more parts of speech in a way that other instruction just doesn’t achieve. 

Fluency- Part of improving a students reading is to listen to good quality reading.  Through this they hear how to pace their reading, how to add emotion or characteristics through their voice.  To provide this opportunity we will use books on CDs, Tumble books (a website) and e-books through Follett Books.  There is follow up work after a book so that I can check for comprehension.

Reading Groups- I meet with reading groups each day during the Literacy block.  Many of our second graders at BES are very good at decoding.  I continue to work with all students on decoding more and more challenging text.  I also spend a lot of instruction time on comprehension strategies.  Being able to read the words is just part of reading.  Understanding what they have read and being able to discuss it will create life long readers.  The work you see come home will be work the students have done in group with me and as a follow-up extension activity when they leave reading group.

Important Literacy work that won’t come home;

Read to Self- practice, practice, practice.

Read to Someone- develops skills different than read to self.  Children are encouraged to discuss the books they are reading to each other.

Writing- We have a specific Writing Instruction program that is separate from our Literacy block.  The writing during Literacy is more child-directed.  They can write and draw about any topic.  They need to be writing the whole time and I do check in on what they have written but it is a time for them to freely write what they want.

Happy September!
We had a busy few days in second grade last week.  The first few days and really the first few weeks are spent on setting up our structures and routines for the school year.  The students come from seventeen different home environments and at least four different first grade settings so it takes patience and hard work to learn how to work as a team and to learn just what is expected in second grade.  
We have a 90 literacy block each morning when the students meet with me for reading group for about 20 minutes.  This means they have to clearly understand the expectations for their work in the other centers during the other 70+ minutes.  Fortunately we have other adults in the room for part of the block but the real responsibility is on the student.  I want to be sure they have the best chance for success by clearly explaining how each piece of the literacy should look and what the work expectation is.  We will revisit this throughout the year.  Once the students have been introduced to the work of the literacy block I will send home a brief summary of the centers so that you know what the expectations are.  There is a lot done during this block and I will send home samples of their work every few weeks for you to see.
In the afternoon we have a 60 minute mathematics block which will often extend past the 60 minutes.  This block is divided into smaller parts.  We always start with quick warm up of a variety of mathematics problems.  This gives me a quick assessment of where they are on a wide range of skills not just the focus skills of a unit.  Most days we have a problem solving warm up as well.  These take some think time and require a written response explaining how the student to explain how he/she knows his/her answer is correct.  I will often pair students up to explain to a peer how they know their answer is correct. Students should be talking about mathematics as much as they are talking about books etc..  Then we work on the focus skill for the day's lesson.  If there is adult support in the room I will often break the work into centers and the students rotate, working in small groups.  If additional adults are not available I will teach the focus skill and then the students will work on that skill.  We will vary from whole group to pairs, we might work with manipulatives or play a game.  Most days end with an Exit Slip.  This is a problem or two for them to solve using the focus skill.  This provides me with another quick assessment this time for the specific skill we are working on.
This year we are implementing Lucy Calkins Writer's Workshop.  Lucy Calkins is a leader in the field of student writing and I am very excited to put her methods to work.  I have used many of the pieces of her programs in the past but this will be the first time I use it start to finish.  As with anything new I am learning as I go but I know of a couple of changes you will see in Writing.  Your child may bring home an idea notebook.  The first lesson we will be doing is how to come up with ideas to write narrative stories.  One strategy in this process is to keep a notebook to go back to anytime you are stuck.  If your child brings home his/her idea notebook encourage him/her to put it immediately back in the red folder so that it comes back to school.  Another piece that is new for all of us is that Ms. Calkins encourages us to have the students write in one color ink and edit in another color.  This is to encourage students to let the ideas flow and not spend their time erasing and trying to make a first draft perfect.  I have been a teacher long enough to expect that some children will love this and others will feel uncomfortable when they are told they can't erase.  We will work through this and I will support them and I ask you to encourage them to give it a good try.
This blog is long as it is my first.  Most won't be this long.  I will try to do a weekly blog in September as we settle in.  After that I will try every few weeks and I encourage you to e-mail ANYTIME you have a question/concern or you want to share something wonderful.

Ready to Start a New School Year

Welcome to all my new students and families!
The first day of school is Wednesday August 27th.  Our class will have P.E. that day so be sure to wear sneakers.
On Tuesday August 26th you can come to the Open House and visit our classroom.  We are room 103, very easy to find on the first floor.  You can come and find out where your coat hook is, your classroom mailbox and where you will be sitting.  It is also a good time to see old and new friends that will be in your classroom this year.  It is also a time to sign up for Star of the Week and Parent Teacher conferences.
We will spend a lot of time those first few days getting to know each other, the classroom and second grade routines.  We will take plenty of time to learn how we do things in second grade.  Some of it might be just like first grade and some of it will probably be different.  We will go through the routines and have lots of time to practice.
Have a wonderful last few weeks of summer and I look forward to seeing you on the 26th or 27th!

Ms. Swenson

P.S. I cannot figure out how to get rid of the Happy Spring! :)