Rump

So we have JUST enough time to read Rump before school gets out. A chapter a day and then Hello Summer! We loved Jack so much - and so many characters are recognizable now for my students - Rump is already a hit! Here's a little taste of how we sketched to demonstrate our understanding and then used that to help us write!

Mooseltoe Sequencing

Our focus the last couple days has been Mooseltoe. Such a fun holiday read. The students worked on comprehension yesterday and today the aim was sequence. They did fantastic!

Snakes and Toads!

Following up on yesterday's post about some great response to literature - poor Annabella!

 

Responding to Literature

We are having so much fun delving into Jack this year. My students have learned some fantastic vocabulary and phrases - Snakes and Toads! - and have really become adept at sketching and writing about literature.

Jack is definitely not a typical 2nd grade book but I am chunking it and scaffolding so that it is meaningful to each student.

10 minutes to read.
10 minutes to sketch.
10 minutes to write.

Take a peek at some of their latest sketches and responses...

Some of these students are still six years old! 

High expectations for all, y'all!

Squirrel!

This squirrel unit is just so much fun! My students are loving interacting with non-fiction and are learning so much about our little furry friends! 

Check out some of their squirrel drawings and labels!

Writing Journals...

We are continuing on with our Two Schools, One Book read, Jack. The students are really loving the Jack and the Beanstalk twist and I'm loving their illustrations and writing.  We are getting a ton of practice responding to literature in a super fun, meaningful way.

Their journals are AMAZING!

Jack!

So, our new whole school book is Jack! I am super excited about this because it ties is so well to our 2nd grade curriculum and it's just a fun story. PLUS - there's about a million and one companion stories - different points of view, diverse character versions - just so much can be done with this story! 

Today, we read about dirt sprinkling from the sky. My students sketched what that might look like and then wrote about what they think happened to Jaber's leg. No spoilers - you have to read it! 

Check out their illustrations...

Mean Jean, The Recess Queen

Today my kids listened intently to the great word choice in The Recess Queen.  I just love this book and for 2nd graders - it really hits home. Spurred lots of conversation! 

After hearing and talking about Mean Jean, my students brainstormed all the adjectives they could think of to describe Jean and made a Thinking Map. They already know - if we're describing we use a Bubble Map! 

Check out their drawings of and adjectives about Mean Jean!

Reader's and Writer's Workshop

I promise myself every year that I am never doing this again.
Never pulling out the mass amounts of construction paper.
Never cutting huge quantities of scrapbooking paper in half.
Never taking the time to cut and peel contact paper to cover SO.MANY.JOURNALS!
But the students LOOOOOVE it so much! 
Each year my students take the time to create amazing covers for their journals and they become really treasured by the kids (and me).  This year, despite by promise, my students are doing it again. We already created our math journals last week, but today we created our Phonics and Reading Journal and our Grammar and Writing Journal. With their limited time, the kids did great!
Now - on to that contact paper...

We love reading together...

My students love when it's time to Read to Someone. I love that they get so excited about sharing their reading and they really stay on task during this time. They've built some fantastic reading stamina this year!

Author's Study: Patricia Polacco

We have delved into an amazing author's study this week - and it'll continue through next week! I found some great TpT resources and made some of my own and the kids are just loving the stories! 

We've read Rechenka's Eggs, My Rotten Red-Headed Older Brother, Mr. Lincoln's Way and Thunder Cake so far. 

We've learned about character trails, compared characters, talked about main idea, even made some text to world connections and we tossed in several Thinking Maps. These are a few of the activities we have done so far...

Flat Stanley!

Oh I really, really love this book. For my class it's the first chapter book some of them have ever read. It's a short book, funny and full of great vocabulary and tie ins.

We just started the book but I wanted to get some writing practice in and knew my students would be creative in writing about what would happen if they woke up flat.

I LOVED reading these!

Want Some Pizza? Yeah? Then Don't be a Turkey - ACE Your A/R!

So we have a little monthly competition in our class. It's really just a competition with themselves. If students get 80-100% on AR - on a book at their level - they can add a feather to their turkey. By Thanksgiving if they have 4 feathers they get a certificate for a free pizza! 

Last month one little smarty got 2 certificates! Who will get one this month...?

Why Read? THIS IS WHY!