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Second Grade Excitement Photo by A. Patel |
Second graders are
simply amazing! The sparkle in their
eyes, their excitement about discovery, and the connections they constantly
make at this stage in their life is refreshing and energizing. Only a few more days until the classroom Mrs.
Buske and I have prepared will be filled with new students’ glistening eyes and
a hum of curiosity and excitement, and (my favorite part) interesting and
thoughtful questions! We can’t wait!
Our first week of
school will be full of activities and learning.
I hope you plan on visiting during “Meet the Teacher” on Monday
evening. You are welcome to bring school
supplies that night. You may bring the
first consumable book we will read, Sarah, Plain and Tall. The other consumable books should be stored
at home until they are needed. Students
will also receive a small “sharing sack” with directions attached for an
activity which helps us learn about each other this week.
Here is a brief look
at our week:Language Arts: We will begin our literature studies with the short story, “The Fisherman and his Wife.” Our emphasis will be on reading with expression, understanding the story better by reading it more than once, and looking for deeper meanings within a story. Finally, we will read a different version of the same story so we can make comparisons. We will complete several writing assignments as well as work on our Riggs phonograms as well.
History/Geography: Our unit in history/geography begins with the
exploration of maps. We will begin with
a review of the continents, oceans, hemispheres, and poles. After gathering more information about the
continents from books and a short reader’s theater activity, we will think
about what information is needed to help orient a map. Knowledge of the cardinal directions will help
students find hidden objects.
Science: This quarter in science we will explore the
beauty and wonder of cycles in nature.
Before we begin our studies, we will look at leaves to help us identify
the type of information a scientist records to help remember experiments and
observations. This year each student
will create his/her own “Science Field Notebook” using one of the composition
notebooks. Our next task in science will
be to define the term “life cycle.”
Finally we will ponder if all life cycles are the same and use some of
our library books to find pictures. Our
classroom will host an incubator for the next few weeks, so students can
(hopefully) witness the beginning of a chicken's life cycle! If all goes well, we will hear little “peeps”
in about 3 weeks. Stay tuned for
pictures!
Welcome to second
grade! Welcome to room 115! Welcome!
I am so grateful for the opportunity to learn with your child this
year!
With excitement,
Ms. Norris
