Having Fun During Math Time

How many level J books do we have?

 Wow!  We have so many rubber bands.

 Counting by 5's is really helpful!

Counting Collections in our Room

October 23, 2012

The News in Second Grade

A visitor from The Central Vermont Solid Waste Management District came last week and led the students in a discussion about recycling.  We talked about the importance of recycling as well as what may and may not be recycled, specific to central Vermont. The lesson included the reading of a children's book, a coloring activity, and time for the students to ask specific questions. 

We also were lucky enough to have the East Montpelier and Woodbury Fire Department visit our classroom.  During their visit we talked about fire safety, what to do in an emergency, how to keep our families safe, and when to call 911.  The fire department even brought a fire truck and ambulance for us to look at! 

Students have become Mathematicians in the last few weeks!  They are such hard workers.  We have been focusing on story problems and how to show our work and write equations to go with the problems.  Students will take their first unit assessment soon!

This week we planted spring bulbs in the raised flower bed near the Calais School sign.  We are excited to see what they look like when they begin to grow in the spring!

*Keep an eye out for books to start coming home.  These books should be read at night and returned to school the next day.  These books will be books we have read during small group instruction, so don’t be surprised if they seem a little easy (that’s the point!)                  Have a Great Week  ~Mrs. Raynor

Learning Fire Safety from the pros. 
Our Homework:
-Learn your address, write it down near the phone
-Check the batteries in all smoke detectors
-Develop an exit plan in case of an emergency with our family

Stop Drop and Roll

Fire Safety

Fire Safety Fun!

Teamwork

Working as teams to solve subtraction story problems!

Book Orders

Our Class Activation Code for Scholastic Book Clubs:

GJZM6

I am sending out another group of book orders.  If you would like to order online use the code above! 

Newsletter

October 11, 2012:  Week 7

Check out our blog at: mrsraynors.blogspot.com

Students have begun Word Study!  Last week we dedicated our word study time to learning ways to practice our words.  Some of the ways we have discussed are Sailors Spelling,  where students write their word adding one letter at a time (see example below), Build, Mix, Fix, where students write the word, cut the word and mix it up, and then fix the order and glue it, Dough and Foam Writing, where students write their words in rolled out play dough or a smoothed out pile of shaving cream (IT’S SO MUCH FUN), Rainbow Writing, where students practice writing their words using a different color for each time they write it, and Sorting, where students look closely at the spelling patterns in their words and divide them in to groups accordingly. Wow, that sounds like a lot, but really there are even more ways that we will practice our word study words.  In second grade word study is all about choosing the way you want to study your words and attending mini-lessons with other students studying the same word sorts. 

New in the last two weeks is that the second graders have begun to discuss the human body.  Specifically, we have talked about the physical characteristics human have.  We have even been able to play the game Guess Who? as well as I Spy using physical characteristics.  More recently we have been talking about our 5 senses and how our lives would be different without those very important senses. 
g
ga
gat
gate

SAILORS SPELLING

Things to Note:

·         Parent Teacher Conferences will be held on Friday, November 9, 2012.  Mark your calendars in advance!

·         Please make sure to return your reservation form and money for Bring a Neighbor to Lunch Day by Friday, October 12^th so Chef Carolyn can be sure to order enough food for everyone.

·         Bring a Neighbor to Lunch Friday, October 26, 2012.

·         Picture Retake Day Wednesday, November 7, 2012.

Reading Tip

One more time with feeling

When your child has sounded out an unfamiliar word, have him or her re-read that sentence. Often kids are so busy figuring out a word they lose the meaning of what they've just read.