Second Week of Second Grade

Community Building

In class we reflected on what we would like to learn more about, improve on, or try this year. We called these our “hopes and dreams” and when we shared our hopes and dreams we realized that there were many different goals such as, “Speaking more Hebrew”, “Learning division”, “Reading longer books”, and “Making more friends”. We then brainstormed classroom rules to help us accomplish our goals. We organized the rules into three categories: rules that have to do with the classroom, yourself, and others. We learned that as a community we need to work together to support and learn from each other, so that we can help each other accomplish our goals. All students had the opportunity to share rules that they felt would help our community be safe, respected, and positive. We even split up into groups and made skits to show the class how some of the rules should look. We discussed how having a rule that helps the classroom, each other, and ourselves would be the best way to support the second graders in having a successful and joyful year.

Writing

In writing we started our week by learning about our new writing workshop materials. Second graders get to use special editing pens and even their own staplers this year! We labeled the bins together so that we know where every item is located, and discussed using these materials respectfully.

Then, we got to writing! We began our writing unit by writing small moments from our summer vacation. Second graders wrote about traveling, camp, playdates, and trips to the beach. To work on our spelling and writing independence, we explored our classroom dictionaries so that we could correct our own spelling words. We became dictionary detectives and learned how to look up words in alphabetical order, and were challenged to take a piece of work we already completed and correct all spelling mistakes using the dictionary.

Ask your child which small moment they wrote about.

Reading

We are focusing on reading literature that gives us examples of ways that we can be positive classmates. We read a book by Julia Cooke called My Mouth is a Volcano, which teaches children how to manage their thoughts and words without interrupting. We talked about how our choices can affect the classroom community, and how we need to think about how our actions can affect other people. We also read the book What if Everybody Did That? By Ellen Javernick to describe how even one person’s actions could affect the whole community.

Math

This week in math second graders were introduced to their new textbooks and workbooks. We began math class by reviewing strategies we learned in first grade, and talked about the concept of using number bonds to break apart numbers by hundreds, tens and ones. The number bond is based on the concept of part-part-whole. For instance if the whole is the number 15, the parts could be 10 and 5. We played a fun game using 1s, 10s, and 100s, blocks to create larger numbers, and even combined blocks with our neighbors to make numbers in the 100s! We studied number patterns and learned how to identify pattern rules, and changed numbers written in words into numbers and vice versa.

Over the weekend, have your child create number patterns and find the rule!

Science

This past week, we worked on our observation skills as second grade scientists using our senses of sight, smell, touch and hearing. We had the chance to use our first science material, a magnifying glass, to write down observations of a classroom material of our choice. We also prepared for our field trip on Monday by watching a video of Uncle Louie G’s factory in Staten Island.

Buddy Time!

We met our Sixth Grade Buddies for the first time this year. The sixth graders wrote sentences about their summer for us in the style of “Two Truths and a Lie”, and second graders completed a writing homework assignment to share with them telling about their summers and composing questions for our buddies. After exchanging our work, we played games. The second graders seemed so happy to be able to reunite with their sixth grade buddies! Some of them even got to visit the middle school floor and visit a sixth grade classroom!

Yahadut

To prepare for the upcoming holiday of Rosh Hashannah we took a closer look at the foods and ritual objects of the holiday. Students did a “Shofar Exploration” using  four out of the five senses and recorded their observations. Ask your child which four of the senses they used.

We also had a special visit from Rabbi Fried who showed us how to make a Shofar. We watched as he cut a goat horn with a saw, and then we each took turns sanding the shofar. We learned about which animals a shofar can come from. He brought in all different types of horns for us to see, like the large horn of an Asian Water Bufallo solid deer antlers. Ask your chid which animals a shofar can come from and why. 

Israel: Meeting the Shinshinim

We had a chance to meet Yaheli and Ayala, our school’s new Shinshinim from Israel. They played an introduction game with us where we said our name and our favorite animal or ice cream flavor in Hebrew while we passed around a ball of yarn creating an intricate, connected web. Yaheli and Ayala will be visiting our class every other Thursday to teach us about different places in Israel.

Hebrew: Mi Ani? Who Am I?

Students have been practicing answering the following questions verbally in Hebrew: Who are you? How old are you? What grade are you in? What group are you in?  What do you like to eat? What do you like to play?

At the start of most Hebrew classes, we stand in a circle with a ball. The teacher asks a question to a student and throws the ball to them. The student needs to catch the ball, answer the question, and throw the ball back nicely. Some students are also starting to ask these questions to each other. We wrote the answers to these questions and illustrated them. Their written work is hanging in the hallways and will be on display at Back to School Night.

Rohan- Mi Ani? from Hannah Senesh on Vimeo.

Matan- Mi Ani? from Hannah Senesh on Vimeo.