Important dates: Thursday, March 16 - Play at Rainier Arts Center - Boy Who Cried Wolf Wednesday, March 22 - Early Release (12:05) Tuesday, April 4 - Museum of Flight (finally!) Thursday, April 6 - Poetry Reading - 8:00am April 10-14 - Spring Break - No School Hi families, Poetry Students have been reading and writing poetry this week, building our poet muscles. Included in our routine is discussing and figuring out authors' use of literary language (similes, metaphors and imagery so far), and rhythm created by line breaks. By looking at mentor authors and their use of literary language, students are exposed to the various ways they can write in playful and inventive ways. Students are already noticing and using repetition and rhyming to create rhythm, making comparison in order to see old things in new ways, and playing around with line breaks. Here are a couple students examples: Lima Bean Plant Lima bean plant On window sill Sitting still, Very tall, Never small Sitting there, Very still Sitting on The window sill. Stuff in School Soil feels soft and looks brown. Pencils are hard and long. Clock The clock ticking Tocking like the wind on the window when it hits real hard But now it is sunny and not so windy But sun shines through The window like a clock. Math We started the early stages of multiplication this week with arrays. Arrays in this context are items or pictures organized into equal groups. We find the sum on the arrays using repeated addition. I have asked students to see if they can find arrays in real life and bring them into to show the class. Email me any pictures if students find cool arrays. Good places to look are sky scrapers, boxes of things (pens, crayons, etc.) and at the grocery store. Then see if your student can either make the repeated addition or multiplication equation. Both are acceptable. Seattle Public Schools math curriculum says that multiplication facts truly are underway in the third grade, but no reason not to start early! Reading As we move past the halfway point through the year, readers are working on growing and sustaining stamina, reading longer chapter books. Along with reading longer chapters books comes more characters, complex vocabulary and stories. As a result, we are focusing on reading comprehension skills. Some of these skills include monitoring, clarifying, and questioning. Some common questions are, "I wonder why ...?" "What does _____ mean?" or "How come the character ...?" As you read with your student, check in with them and ask what questions they might have as they read.
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Ms. ThibautOne of the second grade teachers at QAE. Read this blog and stay up-to-date on classroom activities. Archives
March 2017
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Ms. Thibault's 2nd Grade | Class Blog |