Student Writing Project- Poetry Books

 We recently finished writing four poems for our poetry books.  Each student wrote an acrostic poem, portrait poem, haiku, and 2 words on a line poem.  The students created a piece of artwork to go with each poem.  The books were completed with an About the Author page.  Their books turned out so nice, and the class couldn't wait to see them all put together on Friday.  The books will be on the rug for a few weeks for the class to enjoy!

Opinion Writing

 

We just finished up our writing unit on opinion writing.  When we begin talking about what it means to have an opinion, we use the idea of school uniforms as an example.  We talk about the pros and cons of wearing school uniforms.  This class mostly said they were against school uniforms, but some of them had the opinion that uniforms could be useful.

 We started with writing about what we thought would be the best pet or not the best pet.  The students brainstormed their ideas on a graphic organizer and then used these ideas to write 2 paragraphs with a topic sentence and a concluding sentence.  This writing went into a class book.

We began the unit with reading these two books.  In these books, the characters think they have an idea of a great pet.  We discussed our opinions and compared them to the characters' opinions.

We followed this up by writing about the best thing about ourselves.  I told the students that really the best thing about each of them is what is inside of them- that they are kind, and helpful, and smart.  For this project though, they had to pick something on the outside that we could take a picture of.  I love how each of these writing projects turn out so unique.

You've Got Mail!

 When December comes each year I cannot wait to get out our mailbox and start writing letters!  It is so fun for the students to send out mail and receive mail.  This also gives the students a very authentic purpose for their writing, and they begin writing up a storm!  After the students finish a letter, they sign up for a conference.  I read over every letter that goes into our mailbox.  The students have learned to include a date, greeting, at least 4 sentences in the body of the letter, and end with a closing and signature.  This conference time allows me to help students fix up small mistakes and discuss the spelling of new words.  We'll all be sad when it's time to put our mailbox away!

We are Thankful!

 In the last few days the students have worked on writing to share why they are thankful for their families.  They brainstormed the sweetest ideas.  "I am thankful for you because you are kind.  Thank you for taking care of me.  Thank you for helping me.  Thank you for making me my favorite meals.  Thank you for playing with me."  Then they made the cutest turkeys to go with their writing.  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving 2nd grade families!

Crankenstein Writing

 Our Crankenstein book has been assembled for the students to enjoy on the rug.  This writing went along with our Crankenstein art project.  The students picked a topic about what makes them cranky.  We then used a bubble map to expand our ideas.  The next step was to put the ideas into complete sentences.  The students highlighted the capital letters at the beginning of each sentence and the end marks to double check their work before signing up to conference with me.  Once we looked it over together, the students wrote a final copy for our class book.  It's so fun to see the students gather together on the rug to enjoy each other's writing.

Awesome Adjectives

 We have been learning about adjectives and using them to describe different characters in our reading.  Last week we used adjectives to describe ourselves.  The students came up with descriptive adjectives such as smart, kind, hard working, responsible, and helpful.  These adjectives perfectly describe the students in this class of wonderful kids!

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!

You're Finally Here! Books

 The students recently finished writing their first book of 2nd grade.  On the first day of school we read the book "You're Finally Here!"  by Melanie Watt.  After we finished reading, the students recorded on a sticky note about 1 event they did over the summer that kept them away from 2nd grade for so long!

                                                                  

                                               

The next step in the process was to use a bubble map to record 2 more ideas about where they had been all summer.  They also wrote down an idea about what they are looking forward to in this school year.  We then took our ideas and wrote them into complete sentences focusing on beginning with a capital letter, ending with an end mark, and making sure that the sentence makes sense.  After conferencing their sentences with me, the students wrote their sentences in their booklets and illustrated each page.  They turned out so cute, and the students love reading each other's books down on the rug.