Hi Everyone & Happy Spring!
It's been such a fun couple of weeks in our classroom! We have so much to talk about and look at, at conferences- I can't wait! We have two early releases coming up due to conferences. On Wednesday April 4th and 11th, students will be dismissed at 12:50. The Second Grade Wax Museum is this coming Friday, April 6th! Please have your child arrive at school on Friday in their costume for their fairytale character. Families can arrive to visit our wax museum from 9-9:45. We can't wait to have you in our classroom for this exciting event! To prepare for Friday, please continue to read your child's fairytale and ask them questions related to comprehension and the lesson of the story.
Math
I have been blown away by the growth I've seen in our money unit. This unit was not only fun but filled with so much real world experience! Students used their addition and subtraction skills to collect money and give change back. Students also answered word problems related to money. They looked at different denominations to make a dollar and how coins work together. Our performance task at the end of the unit was broken into two parts- a hard copy showing various skills mastered with money and then a real world application. The students created their own 2D store, set the prices, brought in the items, and then shopped and made change. Each child had a chance to buy three items and then be the cashier twice! Who knew a test could be so fun!
Reading
As you know, we have been working on fairytales. We have analyzed the types of characters in fairytales and why they are important. We have also talked about how fairytales are full of lessons and how it's possible for different audiences to make different meanings of them. The students looked at similarities between fractured fairytales and the classics. We also did some work to see where fairytales came from and why they were originally created. The students thought it was so interesting that fairytales in their original state were often crafted to scare children so they would think before they act and not get themselves into trouble or danger. The students found this so interesting as they watched how fairytales changed from cautionary tales to the "happily ever after" stories we know today. We also began looking at fables & folktales and will continue to explore and analyze these as close readers next week! Of course, we have been practicing for our wax museum and can't wait to show you all of our hard work.
Writing
Persuasive writing took a turn this week as we aimed our persuasive skills toward our fairytale characters or villains. We spent this week to really be reflective as writers and make our already good writing even better! The students were amazed at how much they could add or change when they allow themselves to slow down and edit their own work! Wait until you see these persuasive letters- they are proudly hanging in our hallway looking like fourth grade work! 😉 We then tea stained some paper to make it look like we were back in fairytale times to really give these pieces of writing a fun finish!
Science
We've been doing so many fun STEM projects to help our fairytale characters. This week we created zip lines to help Little Red Riding Hood avoid the wolf! We hold the second grade record so far!
Dragonfly News
Thank you to everyone who came to Staff vs. 5th grade basketball game and for cheering me on! We did have a little visitor around St. Patrick's Day. Our classroom leprechaun is Riley O'Toole and we really had to help him solve a mystery using our math skills- luckily we passed the test after having a lot of persistence! We also got to facetime one of our dragonflies who was in Florida this week- this got us really excited! Have a great rest of your weekend and I will see many of you this week!
