Wow, families! We had THE most gorgeous week last week! The days were sunny and warm, and our hearts matched. Even though the weather is cooler, I expect the heart warmth will stay with us.
During our Word Work last week, we began a new spelling unit. Our class has shown a wonderfully full knowledge of the parts of speech that we have been studying and recognizing complete sentences. It has become very clear to me, however, that some basic spelling patterns need some practice, and so that is what we shall do! Meet the kids where they are and bring them forward! Last week we had a 14 word spelling list with short a and short I words. This week we are studying words with short o, u, and e.
For our Math lessons, we began with the times table for the number two. The strategies that we used were counting by twos and remembering our single digit doubles facts. The class is well on the way of having all of the two's memorized. We even timed ourselves with flashcards, and the class average for completion was 22 seconds.
This week, we have begun learning the three times table. We have begun by counting by three's and watching "School House Rock-Three is a Magic Number" to help our memories with the three times table. We also identified three strategies for remembering the three's facts. Number 1) counting by three's on your fingers. Number 2) repeat addition. 3x8=8+8+8. Number 3)use a x2 fact that you already know, and add on. Three is a magic number!
For our Readers Workshop last week, we kept building on to our lessons about authors' intention. This week we examined the lessons that authors are teaching in their stories. We also used the word 'moral' to expand vocabulary on this topic. We used our lessons to do sneak peeks of books to try and determine what the lesson could be before we even read a book. We showed how many times books have common lessons, or themes.
Last week we completed our unit of narrative and fiction reading and skill building for second grade readers. This week we are beginning a new unit on non-fiction in our Reader Workshop. I have many new and fresh non-fiction books on many topics for the kids to explore. We are also including other various non-fiction reading materials in these lessons, including instructions for games, maps, diagrams, and charts.
In our Writers Workshop last week, we have been focusing a lot on revising. We are using all of the past lessons to really get good stories, with strong words and lots of detail in a way that makes the whole story click together. We have had so many good strategies taught, that our biggest focus is just on remembering all of them, and applying it all! Our class of authors is asking "What is my intention in this story?"