Happy 100th Day and Kansas Day!

It has been a busy and cold week here in second grade. Can you believe Wednesday marked the 100th day of school?! Our class studied the value of 100 in many different ways this week. Friday marks the celebration of Kansas Day. Our class will rotate between 6 different classrooms through the morning, participating in activities related to our state of Kansas.
Students continue to learn various types of poetry in Writer's Workshop; the final poem they have learned is the free verse poem. We will wrap up this unit next week with a final project highlighting each student's favorite acrostic, free verse, cinquain, couplet, and shape poems. After we wrap up poems, we will spend some time writing personal narratives and descriptive writing. We will focus on the 6 traits of writing.
In math we continue to work on subtracting two digit numbers. Next week, we will continue to practice and review the strategies we have been working on in class.
We will finish our study of weather next week... wrapping up with thunder and lightening! We will take out weather assessment on Monday February 8th. The next focus in social studies will cover famous African Americans. We will spend some time reading the book The Drinking Gourd and studying the significance of the underground railroad.
-Book Fair February 8-10
-Be checking your child's folder for information about conference times and student of the day information
-The estimation jar will continue to travel home daily. Please let me know if you have any questions!
-Spelling homework (just a note is fine) is due Tuesday.
Have a wonderful long weekend... and stay warm!

Busy In Second Grade...

We have had a busy week here in second grade. We are officially off to a busy start! I hope your second graders have been telling you about the Daly 5 language structure in our classroom. It has been quite an experience to look around and see all 21 of my students actively engaged and truly enjoying reading and writing. They are loving being able to make choices in thier learning. We will resume reading groups Monday January 25th; this start has been pushed back a few days due to our snow days. We were more than eager this week to finally make it outside for recess.
In math we have finished studying about volume and our current unit covers subtracting larger number. This is a really important unit, and we will spend much time in class practicing. We have been learning how to subtract with base 10 pieces, tallies, pictures, and will begin paper pencil soon!
Our current study in writing is poetry. We have been making shape poems, acrostic poems, and cinquain poems this week.
In science we continue to explore various types of weather. We have been using the Beaufort scale to measure wind strength and have been studing the components of the water cycle this week. We continue to log weather observations every day!
Reminders:
-Book order due January 26th
-Weather homework due January 28th (Will send home on the 21st)
-Kansas Day is January 29th

We are finally back in the swing of things...

It looks like we are finally back in the swing of things... and it looks like the weather is warming up! Since we have been back, there have been a lot of new things going on in our classroom.
Our Daily 5 structure is under way! We are quickly building our reading stamina! The first three components have been introduced: read to self, read to someone, and listen to reading.
In writing we have launched our poetry unit. So far we have studied couplets and shape poems.
The weather has been our inspiration for science this week, as we take a closer look at what makes weather. This week we are taking a look at various cloud types and the formation of clouds. Later this week we will be studying the wind and types of precipitation. I would encourage you to tune in with your child to the evening news to observe the weather forecast!
In math we have been practicing filling and reading measurements of graduated cylinders. We have been using this measurement tool to find the volume of liquids and various solid objects.
A few announcements:
- Our "student of the day" will begin at the end of the month. Look for information to come home in your child's folder.
- For information about the Langston Hughes science fair please log on to our school's website!
- As we begin our Daily 5, if you have any old CD/tape players with headphones you would like to donate to our classroom, please let me know.
- Next Wednesday we will be having a marble party! The class decided on a "Gum and Games" party. On Wednesday January 20, your child is welcome to bring gum to share and a game to play. (Please no hand held electronic games.)
- January 27th we will celebrate January birthdays with a birthday breakfast.

Exciting Beginning to 2010!

I hope this newsletter find you all well, rested, and ready for 2010!

There are going to be some very exciting changes going on in our classroom starting January 4! As a building, Langston Hughes staff members have been studying the book "The Daily Five", by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser. In the weeks to come, you will be hearing your 2nd graders talk about our use of the Daily Five framework in our classroom! The Daily Five is a way of structuring our reading block so that every student is independently engaged and challenged in meaningful literacy tasks. These research based tasks are ones that will have the biggest impact on student reading achievement, as well as help foster children who love to read. Students receive explicit instruction and then are given independent practice time to read independently while receiving focused instruction in regular guided reading groups. When the Daily Five is up and running smoothly, students will be engaged in the following five components:

1. Read to Self
2. Read to Someone
3. Listen to Someone Read
4. Writing Practice
5. Word Work

There are very specific behavior expectations that go with each Daily Five component. We will spend the next two weeks taking a break from regular guided reading groups in order to work intensely on building reading and writing stamina, learning behaviors for the Daily Five, and building our classroom community.

One thing that you will notice that will be a change for you is a decrease in the number of worksheets your child brings home. They will spend most of their time actually reading and writing, which research supports as the most effective way to to improve reading and writing success! Your child will be taught to select "Good Fit" books (books they are able to read and understand, as well as are interested in).

The first and second grade team is excited to give your child the opportunity to be involved in a structure that will have such a positive effect on his or her education. Please let me know if you have any questions as we begin this new adventure at Langston Hughes!