Spider Week 2016

**The reading counts lunch is next Friday the 28th ... Students need to have reached their goal by next Thursday to attend!**


Last week we learned so many fun facts about spiders! We started by charting our schema and any questions. We continued adding to it throughout the week and this is what we ended up with:

We discussed some really strong vocabulary that came from our focus book, Spiders by Gail Gibbons. This is one of my favorite parts of our reading curriculum! I love hearing students use the new vocab words in their conversations.

We also studied diagrams in nonfiction books. Then it was time for them to create their own diagram with labels. They drew a large picture of a spider, labeled the body parts, then matched up the correct definition next to the label.

In small groups we read about the difference between arachnids and insects, created venn diagrams and wrote paragraphs to compare and contrast the two creatures.

Spider week is always a favorite in second grade!

A peek at this week:

No spelling words! Since it's a short week, we will not have a reading passage or spelling words/homework. We will pick back up next week. We do have Language Arts IXL due Friday. Check the Portal if you need the assignment.
 
Our focus read is "Crankenstein." They are absolutely loving it!

Feast of the guardian angel

We were a little late celebrating the feast of the guardian angels, but better late than never, right?? The kids loved talking and learning about guardian angels. We made our own angels to wear on our shoulder to remind us that they're there. I snapped these photos super fast on Friday afternoon...

Bat fun!

Happy (almost) Friday! Last week we learned a ton about bats (until hurricane Matthew interrupted!).  Our focus story was Stellaluna. After our first read we discussed how Stellaluna felt throughout the book. The students had to provide evidence from the text to help us know why she felt the way she did. 

In small groups the students worked on "strong verbs" they found all throughout the book. They had to go on a verb hunt in the book. Also in small groups we worked on writing the sequence of events from Stellaluna. 

We also read several nonfiction bat books. We did a directed drawing on Monday and then they had to write a paragraph about their favorite bat facts. Again, I reinforced using an intro sentence, correct capitalization and punctuation, and writing strong sentences with at least 7 words. 

We managed to squeeze in the -er, -ir, -ur spelling test on Monday and then begin long -a this week! Can't wait to share with you about our spider week!

Reading Counts Wall

Last week we started our Reading Counts wall. There are different goals on the wall that go up to 100. Each week I will read off the points and if a student has reached the next goal they can come and write their name on the door! This made everyone very excited!

Peek at the Week and Upcoming

We had another great week Rooted in Reading! We worked on adjectives, -r controlled words and visualizing the text. 

On Monday we started off with an intro to adjectives. We learned that adjectives are words that describe nouns. They created a bubble map with adjectives that describe themselves. To learn about visualization, we read a poem and then drew what our mental images are. I explained that good readers can visualize in their minds what is happening in the text to better understand the story. Our focus story for the week was "The Salamander Room." For our first read I did not show them the pictures. Then in their spirals they had to draw what they visualized after we read. 

On Tuesday we continued our work with adjectives, discussing that adjectives can describe the size, shape, color, texture of a noun. In their spirals they sorted adjectives into the correct categories. We also continued practicing visualization with another poem, but this time we learned that our mental images change throughout a story. They read a poem that had 5 stanzas, and after each stanza they drew their mental pictures. They were able to see how their mental images changed throughout the story. We read "The Salamander Room" for the second time and I showed them the pictures. 

On Wednesday it was time to learn about salamanders. We read a nonfiction story and they watched a video on YouTube. After the story and video they had to write one fact about salamanders on a sticky note and add it to the class anchor chart. Then we went over the facts and they recorded four in their spirals. 

On Thursday we took our facts and turned it into a paragraph. Each week I am teaching them one new writing skill. Last week we discussed starting a paragraph with an introduction sentence. In their paragraph last week they had to include the intro sentence. This week I taught them that their sentences had to have at least 7 words. We practiced taking a short sentence and making it "longer and stronger" by adding more detail to it. They are starting to learn how to combine sentences to make them more meaningful rather than just writing a lot of short sentences. This will take a lot of practice! When they finished they got to make a cute little salamander to go with their writing. 

We started with a basic sentence, then brainstormed how we could make it longer and stronger. 

We ended our week with our second parent reader! Thanks Mrs. Buchanan! If you haven't signed up yet, please do! 

Here's a look at what's coming up this week:

Contractions, verbs, and inferencing 

Spelling words: haven't, it's, he's, I'm, didn't, who's, she's, can't, isn't, aren't, hadn't, I'll

Wish List items!

Parents, thank you SO much for the items we've received so far from our Amazon wish list!! These are classroom items that we need in our classroom (for language arts). There are still plenty of items left if you'd like to donate!

https://amzn.com/w/1JGPGJKKELQAS

Here are the items we've received so far:

Peek at the Week

I want to begin by giving you an overview of my language arts program. Never in my entire teaching career have I solely taught from one textbook. I have always used author studies, thematic units, novel studies, or something else to guide my week. I always cover every standard throughout the year, but I do not rely solely on a textbook to do it! This year I have adopted a new reading program called Rooted in Reading. It was created by a group of teachers, not a textbook company, so we know they "get it!" I launched the program this week, and oh my goodness, I have seen SUCH a huge difference in my ELA classes. It's only been four days and we've learned a ton! They students have been engaged, focused, and excited about reading! YES! The program focuses on reading comprehension, grammar, and my favorite part, vocabulary. I can already see the students using their new vocab words in context and it is so exciting. I even had one student today call out that he made another connection to our story! I was so happy I didn't even care that he called out!

Anyway, each week during the language arts block we will have a focus story that centers around our comprehension skill. I don't have many of these books yet, so they are listed on the Amazon wish list. I would be so grateful to collect as many as possible! In addition to the comprehension skill we will focus on grammar, vocab and phonics. I will continue to use our Scott Foresman textbook for phonics, leveled readers, and fluency. 

This week in reading comprehension our focus has been on the setting of a story (when and where it takes place) and making connections to the story. Our focus story was "When I Was Young in the Mountains" by Cynthia Rylant. I love this story because it's not a typical book that the students would pick out to read for themselves, but they've really enjoyed it. In grammar we introduced nouns and our spelling pattern is inflected endings.


We started on Monday with an introduction to the first three vocab words: pasture, mound, and and heat. We discussed the words, wrote a definition and then the students drew a picture that will help them remember the word's meaning. The vocab words come from our focus story.

We continued with an intro to nouns and did a noun hunt in the spirals (our readers notebook). We then read "When I Was Young in the Mountains" and discussed the setting of a story. They made their own little books about the setting in their favorite stories. 


On Tuesday we continued our vocab study with the next three words: shiver, dusk and threaten. We also reviewed the different types of nouns and read our focus story for the second time. We focused on how the setting impacts the plot and characters.

On Wednesday we learned how to make connections with a story and why it's important. They made a flapbook with their own connections to the story.

Today we shifted gears and I read them a nonfiction story about the Appalachian Mountains. We watched a YouTube video and they had to take notes as they watched. They recorded three interesting facts from the video. We did a directed drawing and they used their notes to write an informational paragraph about the Appalachian Mountains. I love ending the week with a fun craft or project. It only takes ten minutes and it's such a treat for them. 

In small groups we focused on inflected endings, which are very, very hard for them! Do not worry if your child struggled this week, it's normal and we will continue to practice all year. 


Fridays I give the assessments and then the students have an opportunity to finish up any work that needs to be finished, read, shop for books, or take Reading Counts quizzes.

Thanks to our first parent reader, Mrs Sullivan (and company!)! If you haven't signed up yet, don't forget to do so!