We are Writers

Our Writing Workshop is up and running in 2nd grade!  At the beginning of the year the students decorated their writing binders to make them into a very special place to hold the students' writing.  As writers, we've learned to pick a writing topic, add details to our topic in both words and pictures, and use spelling tools to help us with unknown words in our writing.  Every student has a story to tell, and reading their stories amazes me each day!

Homecoming Fun

On Friday we had a fun day being "Buggy for the Burros" as we celebrated Homecoming!  Here are some pictures from cupcake decorating, the classroom, and the parade.

Our 5 Bee Promise

In the last 2 weeks of school we have been slowly adding to our 5 Bee Promise.  Our 5 Bee Promise sets the expectation for how we plan to work together and support each other throughout our school day.  Here are the 5 Bees:

1. "Bee" a good listener
2. "Bee" a hard worker
4. "Bee" responsible
5. "Bee"lieve in your yourself
6. "Bee" kind

During our read alouds and discussions about our 5 Bees, the students had so many great examples for each one.  They were able to relate their experiences from not only in school, but also at home and in our community.

Once our fifth bee promise was added, the students received their bee punch ticket.  At the end of each day, I recognize 1 student with a specific example of following our 5 Bees.  The class does a silent cheer for that student and he or she gets a punch in the bee ticket. Every student who returns completed homework on Friday also receives a bee punch for "Bee"ing responsible.  There are a total of 8 punches on the card.  Once a students receives all 8 punches, he or she has the opportunity to choose something special from our Best "Bee"havior Catalog.  Some of the special choices include eating lunch in the classroom with a friend, sitting in a special chair for the day, bumper seats, and many more!

Our promise promotes a classroom community of students that work hard, try their best, and care for others!

Good Morning Second Graders!

Here is a peek at how we start our day in 2nd grade.  The students come into the classroom and do a few morning jobs of choosing their snack and drink for snack time and also reading the morning message.  Then the students get right to work on their wake up work.  After this is finished the students make a quiet choice of reading, writing, shopping for books, or drawing in their notebook. A favorite choice has been reading books from our read alouds on the rug. This class is doing a fantastic job at coming in each morning with a focused attitude, and they waste no time getting their jobs done and making a great choice!  What hard workers we have in 2nd grade!

First Week!

We had such a great first week in 2nd grade!  We started our first few moments together with a book that couldn't be more fitting... "You're Finally Here!" by Melanie Watt!
                                                       
Through this read aloud we laughed a lot and answered this question: "Where  have you been?"

Through all of this fun my ultimate message was... You're finally here, and I'm so glad.  I'm so excited for your child to be apart of our 2nd grade community!

During the first few weeks of school we begin building habits based on our "5 Bee Promise."  The 5 Bees that we strive to follow are:
1. "Bee" a good listener
2. "Bee" a hard worker
3. "Bee" responsible
4. "Bee"lieve in your yourself
4. "Bee" kind

We have been practicing our stamina for read to self in our Daily 5 block, and in our math block we focused on 2 of our 3 stations: math game with a partner, and assignment station.

Throughout this week the students learned to shop for books in our library, choose a good reading spot, and build independence for read to self.

It is so fantastic to be apart of their first experience to get into the classroom library.  You can feel the excitement in the air when they get their hands on the books they've been eyeing up all week!

We practiced and reflected on the expectations of our math stations: to be a hard worker, stay focused, cooperate with your partner, play fair, and try your best.

What a week!  What a super bunch of students.  I couldn't be more happy and excited to teach, laugh, and learn with these children!

Open House

It was great to see many of our 2nd graders and their families at Open House.  I'm looking forward to our first day together!  We will have a fantastic year!