Happy Halloween!

 The 2nd graders could not wait to get their costumes on and celebrate Halloween!  They all looked fantastic!  I hope everyone is having a fun and safe Halloween evening!

  

Electronic Day

 On Thursday the students were so excited to celebrate our first banana bingo with Electronic Day.  Throughout a school day, the class earns points by transitioning quickly and quietly back to our seats.  When we've earned 5 points, we get to add a banana to our banana bingo board.  Once we get a bingo, we brainstorm special ways to celebrate.  The class votes, and once an idea is used, it can't be repeated.  This is a fun way for us to move efficiently in our classroom!

The students enjoyed playing games with friends, listening to music, and taking pictures around the classroom on Electronic Day!

What Turns You into a Crankenstein?

This week we read the funny book "Crankenstein" by Samantha Berger.  This story takes you through many examples of  what makes the main character very cranky.  At the end, the reader is surprised to find out the main character is just a normal little boy!  We shared stories and examples of what makes us cranky.  The class shared examples of snow that comes too early, doing chores, and waking up in the morning.  We used our ideas to put together a class book.  Each student came up with a main idea and three details to support that idea.  We're still finishing up our writing, but we finished making our Crankensteins on Friday.  They turned out great!

Writing Workshop

 Right before we went to 2 weeks of distance learning, we worked on creating our writing binders.  The students brought in pictures to make their writing binders into a special place to hold all of their 2nd grade writing.  I love this process so much.  They enjoy seeing each other's pictures and talking about their family, friends, and pets.  The pictures also help them think of new topics if they get stuck in their writing ideas.

Since we've been back in the classroom, we've been learning about spelling tools to help us if we get stuck on how to spell words.  The students have been putting to practice using the word wall, their individual dictionaries, and stretching out words and underlining if they are still unsure so we can conference about it.  We've also been learning about adding details to our writing.  I've been enjoying reading all of their stories during our writing block each day.  This class really enjoys writing, and many of them choose it as a Daily 5 choice as well!