What a great week, we had!  The children worked hard to learn routines, and to get back in the swing of school.  We completed our first math journal page, learned how we are going to practice spelling, and continued to work on learning routines and expectations.  Next week we will start to see what a “typical” day in our classroom looks like.  In the next couple of weeks, we will start to establish routines that will create a certain level of predictability for the children.  After a few weeks, they will know what to expect on a typical Monday, or Thursday.  Obviously, our tasks and activities will change, however, our schedule should remain the same.

Each week, I will try to post the home-school letter, which details what we will be doing in the Reading Wonders program.  Note, we are starting to practice spelling routines, and homework routines, in class.  The children will soon be bringing home a list of words, and suggested practice activities.  Their spelling words will be highlighted at the bottom of that page.  Each students’ list will be individualized to their needs.

This week, we will be practicing a variety of activities, and homework routines, in school.  You will see the first spelling homework come home, next week. (the kids are very excited and anxious for homework) 🙂  We will also be practicing a variety of routines for Wonders.  With our first full week next week, we should really start to see what a “typical” week will look like.

As always, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Last week, we began to learn about our brains!  We learned about how different parts of our brains have different functions (and silly names).  We also learned that our brain is a muscle, and we need to exercise it, in order for it to grow!  On Friday, we began to learn about multiple intelligences.  The children learned that they have various intelligences, and some are stronger than others.  The children reflected on which intelligences were strongest for them.

Next, we had our first STEAM challenge!

We talked about what STEAM means, and then we talked about the process:

I was very impressed with how the children did with this challenge.  Not only did they have a very short period of time to build, but they were very determined, and flexible, for their first challenge.  It was fun to see!

We had so much fun reading our first Scholastic News, with a buddy!

Wow!  What a great, but super toasty, first day of school! Thank you for all of the wonderful donations to our classroom!  We will  be doing a lot of table washing with the wonderful disinfecting wipes, and the childrens’ noses thank you for the soft tissues!  Also, a big thank you for all the wonderful classroom supplies, as well.  The children were excited to add some of their own supplies to their boxes!  Another BIG thank you for returning almost all of the forms that I sent home over the summer!  I apologize for the hassle of filling them out.  However, it is so important, to me, to keep your children safe.  I take dismissals very seriously, so thank you for keeping me updated on how your second graders are being dismissed.  Although I try to check email throughout the day, if you ever need to change dismissal procedures, please contact the office, and they will update me.  As always, if you have any questions or concerns regarding your second graders, or our classroom, please feel free to contact me at ANY time.

 

We had a fun first day.  Although I jokingly told the kids that it is the most they will hear me talk, all year.  There are so many nuts and bolts to cover, so I end up talking, a lot…  We covered a lot today, and still had some time for some fun activities, as well!  It was fun to watch the nervous kiddos start to relax, and for some smiles to grow on their faces throughout the day.  We started the day with a fire drill, followed by the welcome back assembly.  From there the children went out for recess, and had a snack.  We had a small amount of time to take a classroom tour, before we headed to the cafeteria for lunch.  In the afternoon,, we read a story about the Best School Year Yet!  This is a silly book about “wishes” for the school year.  These range from serious wishes that could happen, to chocolate water fountains and field trips to the moon.  The children then created their own illustrations and sentences for their ideas of what would make the best school year yet.  It was fun to see their ideas!  Next, we used Skittles to get to know each other.  Children drew skittles out of a bag, and depending on the color they chose, they had a specific topic to tell their table about.  It was a pretty fun and tasty activity for the children!  Finally, we ended the day in the library.  Our library day is Tuesday!  It was a “cool” way to end a toasty day.  Some of the children brought their books home with them.  If they did, please make sure that they return them by next Tuesday, so they are able to check out others.

 

Its a great idea for the children to bring a water bottle to school, that they can keep at their seat.  It was quite warm today, and the children were thirsty!  You probably noticed the green Home/School folder that came home.  This folder should travel back and forth from home to school.  You can place any notes, lunch money, homework, etc. into this folder, daily.  We will check it daily.  Hopefully the children enjoyed their “homework” tonight!

 

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