This Week in 2nd Grade

 These 2nd graders are gathering data to create circle graphs. 

The topic here was "Favorite Subject"

 Here is one circle graph a 2nd grader created after asking eight of her classmates their favorite subject in school.

These two students demonstrate how information from a picture graph can be displayed vertically or horizontally. 

Each student had the opportunity to share last week's writing project, "I Have a Dream..." 

 Our focus this week was writing friendly letters. After reading a story about an over-sized bullfrog's journey to the Great Lakes, we decided to write him a letter.

Ruby Bridges and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

After reading books about these two American heroes, students worked in small groups to create Venn diagrams that compared and contrasted their lives.

Having recess indoors means free play for our 2nd grade class. 

These girls, however, decided to play . . . . . SCHOOL! 

Jan. 28- Feb. 1, 2013

This Week's Objectives:

Language Arts

Reading: sequencing, antonyms, understanding nonfiction text
Story of the Week: Life Cycle of a Pumpkin by Ron Fridell and Patricia Walsh
Writing: expository nonfiction

Conventions: adjectives for number, size, and shape
Phonics: vowel patterns oo, u
Spelling Words: cook, stood, full, wood, July, shook, push, pull, brook, book, hood, put

Math

-reading information from a circle graph
-creating questions and making comparison statements based on circle graphs
-equation chains and number partners using tables
*We are scheduled to have our Unit 4 Math Test on Friday, Feb. 1st.

Science
-Weather
- The Water Cycle
- Changes in the Weather

This Week in 2nd Grade

Math

We had the opportunity to work with students from another 2nd grade class during math this week. We had fun coming up with questions to ask the class, collecting our data, and creating graphs just like this one to show our results.

Math Games

PENNY TOSS After three pennies are tossed into the air, the students observe and record the number of pennies that landed heads up. We used tally marks to keep track of which scenario happened most often (0, 1, 2, or 3 heads up). We concluded that it was most likely that 1 or 2 heads would land facing up. 

Cursive

We had our very first cursive handwriting lesson this week. We were so excited to graduate from print to cursive!

Compare and Contrast

Each student was assigned a partner and asked to study each others' boots/shoes. We recorded their similarities and differences on a Venn diagram.

Indoor Recess

Because of the cold, we spent a few recesses indoors this week. Playing with magnets like these, pattern blocks, and marbles were some of our favorite activities.

 Writing

 We wrote our resolutions for the New Year!

We have been reading books about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and even had the chance to listen to his most famous speech, "I Have a Dream." We wrote our own pieces about our own dreams for the future.

Week of January 21-25

Objectives

Language Arts

Reading: drawing conclusions, multiple meaning words, fables/moral lessons

Story of the Week: A Froggy Fable by John Lechner

Writing: friendly letters

Conventions: adjectives using our senses
Phonics: final syllable -le
Spelling Words: ankle, title, apple, cable, purple, able, bugle, bundle, bubble, giggle, sparkle, tickle

Math

-distinguish bar graphs and picture graphs
- read and analyze information in a bar graph
-selecting the best ways to categorize and display raw data
-introduce circle graphs

Science
-Changes on Earth (earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, and landslides)
- Earth's resources

Social Studies

-Famous Americans: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Ruby Bridges

Week of January 14-18, 2012

 This Week's Objectives

Language Arts (Review Week)

Reading Comprehension Skills: author's purpose, drawing conclusions, comparing and contrasting, sequencing, fact and opinion

Reading Strategies: questioning, visualizing, summarizing, predicting, inferring

Writing: friendly letters, January poetry

Conventions: verbs with singular and plural nouns, verbs for past, present, and future, linking verbs
Phonics: vowel patterns for long /o/, /e/, and /i/, compound words, words with comparative endings

Math

-constructing and interpreting picture graphs
- planning a data collection project
-using comparative terms same, more, and fewer
-creating and solving comparison story problems

Science
-describing Earth's land and water
-changes on Earth

Social Studies

- Famous American: Martin Luther King Jr.

This Week in 2nd Grade

Mrs. Krause's new "reading glasses." 

They help find mistakes in our writing, missing labels in math, etc.

One of the best parts of our day...the morning when students arrive. Some are hanging up their school bags while others are recording their lunch count, handing in homework, or working on our daily fix-it sentence on the board. All this happens with great music in the background to start our day!

Science and Social Studies

We gather at the front of the classroom to read about forests, deserts, and oceans as part of our science unit this week.

Here we are reading through our Scholastic News weekly reader. We subscribe to this great student newspaper, and use it to discuss current events and other science and social studies related topics. 

Specials

We are practicing our drawing skills.

 We also practice throwing with these fox tails in gym class.

We are all bundled up and ready for some fresh air with good friends.

Week of January 7-11, 2013

Language Arts

Reading: biographies, synonyms, fact and opinion

Story of the Week: A Weed is a Flower: The Life of George Washington Carver by Aliki

Writing: composing a review of a biography, 2013 resolutions

Conventions: helping verbs
Phonics: comparative endings  (-er ,-est)
Spelling Words: sooner, soonest, hotter, hottest, busier, busiest, happier,
happiest, smaller, smallest, fatter, fattest

Math

-time before and after the hour
- elapsed time
-reading and understanding calendars
*Math test is scheduled for Friday, January 11th. A practice test will be sent home on Thursday.

Science
-deserts, forests, and oceans

Social Studies

- Famous Americans: George Washington Carver, Amelia Earhart, 

Eleanor Roosevelt, the Wright brothers

This Week in 2nd Grade

Santa came to 2nd grade! 

Our presents for our parents turned out great!

 We introduced time this week. We made an analog clock on our classroom floor and practiced showing times with our bodies! It was a blast. Our time unit will continue into the week after holiday break.

 Mrs. Krause helps the minute hand! :)

 We also had fun games to practice our time telling skills.