Getting ready to feast!

On Tuesday, 2B and 2W will get together for a small Thanksgiving feast.  In preparation, we talked at Morning Meeting about all the different things at school for which we are thankful.  You'll be impressed by the thoughtful list the children generated. Check this out:

Our list included:

• Read Aloud
• Math
• Library
• All the teachers
• Wonderful friends
• 100,00 books to read
• Art
• Writing Workshop
• P.E.
• Our whole school
• The right to learn
• Our friends in 2W
• The learning in our school
• Nurse Jeannie
• Kindness and cooperation
• All my friends

Later in the day, 2W joined us to watch a short video about an important local crop -- Cranberries! We learned that 27% of the cranberries harvested in the U.S are grown in Massachusetts.

Click here for the video we watched today.


We have also learned that this local crop was cultivated back in the Colonial days.  It joins our list of local foods that the Pilgrims and Wampnoags enjoyed that we are still eating today.  (Beans, corn, squash, cranberries. . . . Can you add to this list?) After watching the video, we made our own cranberry sauce in the CrockPot.  We decided that the Pilgrims would not have had the luxury of using electricity to prepare their foods, but we knew that building a big cookfire in our classroom would not be allowed! Check out these fun photos: 

Order Up!

In this week's homework packet, you'll find a great math game called Order Up.  Your child should play at least 3 rounds of this game with an adult or an older sibling as part of his or her homework.  The materials and rules are included in the homework packet, but I thought you might like to see some photos of second graders playing this game in the classroom.  This game offers a good opportunity for your children to work on the following I CAN statements:

• I can understand and use hundreds, tens and ones.
• I can compare 3 digit numbers. 

Can you talk like a Pilgrim? Can you cook like a Wampanoag?

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, we have been studying the daily lives of the Pilgrims and Wampanoags of the 1600s.  Second graders have learned some new Pilgrim vocabulary and have discovered some delicious Wampanoag and Pilgrim dishes. 

You can try out these new terms with your second grader:

How now?
Good morrow!
Fare thee well!

Huzzah!
Oh, marry!

Mouser
Arsy varsy

And perhaps you'd like to try some tasty dishes such as Nasaump or Curd Fritters for breakfast or Turkey Sobehag for dinner. 

Check out these links to the Plimoth Planatation website so that you can learn to talk like a Pilgrim or cook like a Wampanoag: 

http://www.plimoth.org/learn/just-kids/talk-pilgrim

http://www.plimoth.org/learn/just-kids/recipes

Get the Picture?

During Reading Workshop this week, we've been working on a new strategy to boost comprehension. The fancy way to describe this strategy is "Visualizing to Understand", but the kid-friendly version is "Get the Picture."  As the children delve into books that focus on settings, characters or problems that are unfamiliar to them, they can create a mental image of a particular scene in order to increase their understanding of the story. In creating this mental image, they will rely on the descriptive language in the book as well as on their own background knowledge.  As a whole class, we worked on "Getting the Picture" after reading a few chapters of Tonight on the Titanic.  Next, the children used their Independent Reading time to put the strategy to use as they read appropriately leveled books. As they read, they marked a particular scene with a Post-It Note and later sketched a picture on their strategy sheet to boost their understanding of that part of the book.  These photos show an enlarged version of the "Get the Picture" strategy sheets that the children have been using.  

Guess My Number

Today during Math Time, we learned a new math game that incorporates much of what we've learned about place value.  The game is called Guess My Number and it requires the use of key math vocabulary such as:

• ones, tens, hundreds
• greater than
• less than
• odd 
• even
• columns (on the 100 Chart)
• rows (one the 100 Chart)
• digits

In order to play this game, each player has a 100 Chart. Player #1 thinks of a secret number while Player #2 must ask "Yes or No" questions to determine the secret number. To keep track of the guesses and to organize their thinking, the players track the answers to the questions on the 100 Chart. For example, if my secret number is 22 and my partner asks, "Is your number greater than 15?", my answer would be, "Yes." I would then cross out all the numbers less than 15 on the 100 Chart to help my partner determine my secret number.  This is a great game to play at home!  I will send the directions and materials in next week's homework packet.  Check out our "Guess My Number" chart and some photos of second graders playing the game.

Scenes from Morning Meeting

We returned from the holiday weekend FULL of energy and we put that energy into action during Morning Meeting!  We learned an active and fun greeting called the Lumberjack Greeting. Ask your child to demonstrate . . . it's fun!  

Julia was Morning Message reader today and she led a great discussion about the questions in our message. These were connected to our Writing Workshop Share on Friday and the children's use of Powerful Leads, Craft Moves and Strong Endings.  

Aleks was the Poem Reader today and he led us in a poem titled, Thanksgiving.  You'll see this poem in this week's homework packet.  Ask your child to tell you about a fancy new word: stanza. 

Happy Birthday to Evan!

In addition to observing Veterans Day, we also celebrated Evan's birthday today.  Happy Birthday, Evan!

Veterans Day Service

We participated in a very special Veterans Day event today.  All of the first through sixth graders walked together from SES to the Sunderland Town Offices to observe Veterans Day. Under a beautiful blue sky, we sang several patriotic songs, listened to inspiring speakers, observed a flag-folding demonstration, reflected on the service of our nation's veterans and took some time to remember Mr. Merritt's deep respect for veterans.  After the ceremony, we returned to school and had the wonderful opportunity to meet with two servicemen in our classroom. We were thrilled to meet them and to learn about their service.  Check out these photos: 

Writing Workshop . . . Personal Narratives

Second graders have been very busy writing personal narratives during Writing Workshop each day.  To improve their writing, the children have been learning how to study the work of a Master Writer and how to apply that writer's "craft moves" to their work. We've been studying the work of Master Writer Jane Yolen in her beautiful picture book, Owl Moon, for the past several weeks.  We've read and reread this book several times -- as a read-aloud and as a word study text -- to search for craft moves we can use.  

Take a look at some of the charts we have created as we've studied Owl Moon: 

On this chart, we've recorded some of Jane's craft moves:  Using Sensory Details and Making Comparisons. 

We used this chart to record powerful words that we gathered from Owl Moon during Word Study this morning. Later in the day, we tried to add our own powerful words to our writing. 

On this chart, we made a list of ways that we can become Strong Writers. 

One piece of advice from Jane Yolen that we talk about frequently is the idea of exercising the "writing muscles" each day.  Check out this quote from Jane Yolen. And to learn more about Jane Yolen, click on the link below. Your second grader will enjoy checking out Jane Yolen's website with you! 

What advice do you have for young writers?
I have three pieces of advice for young writers. One: read, read, read! You must read every day, and try to read a wide range of books. Two: write, write, write! Keep a journal, write letters, anything to keep the “writing muscles” in shape. Three: don’t let anyone stop you from writing.Be persistent no matter what “naysayers” or critical editors have to say about your writing.
http://janeyolen.com/for-kids/

Henny Penny

As we finished up our unit on Fables and Fairy Tales, we all enjoyed several sessions of Readers' Theater.  There were four fabulous presentations:  Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Gingerbread Man, Henny Penny and The Giant Turnip. The children worked in small groups to practice their speaking parts, to coordinate their actions and to create colorful sets.  Our I CAN statements for this work included:

I CAN read fiction.

I CAN identify the moral of a fable. 

I CAN retell a story. 

I CAN read with expression. 

Here is a photo of some second grade friends performing Henny Penny.  I will post more Readers' Theater photos next week. 

Happy Birthday to Allisa!

We celebrated Allisa's birthday last week.

Check out this photo of a very happy Birthday Girl!