I-PICK | Selecting "Good Fit" Books

Part of our Daily 5 (reading workshop) program is learning how to select "good fit" books. I-PICK is the acronym we use to help us remember how to choose a book that is just right for us.

I choose a book
Purpose - Why am I reading the book?
Interest - Does it interest me?
Comprehend - Do I understand what I'm reading?
Know - Do I know most of the words?

This is a video that we recorded of a song to help us remember how to choose "good fit" books (inspired by Mrs. Saccoccio's blog). Sorry for the focusing problems. At any rate, the video is great entertainment!



And finally, a fun video still of the class!

Creation Week Review

We are wrapping up our unit on Creation Week. Today each student orally recited in front of their peers what God created on each day. Here is some video footage of the kids. Enjoy!







On a side note, we've been practicing our public speaking skills as well as our listening skills. These are things that we will be working hard on all year long.

Photos from our First Field Trip!

We had a fabulous time at the local public library last week. Miss Tiffany and Miss Alice were wonderful hosts. They not only showed us all the wonderful children's books available for us to borrow, they even took us behind the scenes through the "secret" doors and passages of the library. We were even allowed to go into the circulation office and watch books being returned through the book drops! Before we headed back to school, Miss Alice read us a hilarious story about a book-eating boy as well a book about a girl imagining herself as a librarian. We can't wait until our next field trip!

Here are some pictures we took with some books we saw at the library that are on our "To Read" booklist! 

Fun with Fly Swatters!

Last week we reviewed nouns, and the 2nd graders participated in a fun "Read the Room" activity using fly swatters. Number one rule was, no swatting allowed! The students used their fly swatters to touch various nouns inside the classroom and hallway before writing them down on their graphic organizers. It was great fun, and I'm happy to report that everyone refrained from swatting during the entire activity!

Week of Prayer

Did I already mention that last week was a very busy one? We had our annual Fall Week of Prayer. Our speaker was Jennifer Courtney who is originally from Australia, and her theme of the week was to remind children that the best book of all to read is the Bible. She even taught the kids some native Australian words! Here are some photos for you to enjoy.

Miss Fawn, our Kinder teacher also has a blog. She shared an audio of K-2 singing during worship two weeks ago. I wanted to share it here with you. Click HERE and click play on the video with the HAA logo.

Remembering 9-11

Last week was quite busy! On Monday we had a very special assembly with Kindergarten and 1st grade to pay tribute to the victims and hero of 9-11. It's hard to believe that ten years has passed since then. I remember that day so clearly. It was my third year of teaching. The kids in that class are now Seniors in high school. We spent a lot of that day in prayer.

Here is Miss Fawn leading out in our special worship of rememberance. She read Fireboat:The Heroic Adventures of John J. Harvey.

After our worship, we went out to the front of the school where Principal Jackson offered a special prayer. Following that prayer, we said the "Pledge of Allegiance" to the American flag.

 

Later in the day, we made books to thank our local fire and police departements for the work that they do to help keep our commmunity safe. Here are some of the kids' drawings:

Math Fact Royalty & PeeWee Sports

Part of our Friday math time is set aside for playing games like "Around the World" to help students practice memorizing math facts. Meet the first of our Math Fact Royalty.

Both of these students competed against the rest of the the class and conquered subtraction math facts! Memorization of plus and minus math facts is an extremely important skill and an expectation in second grade. Parents, please work with me in helping your child memorize these facts. Here is a very helpful site that helps students with this skill: Math Magician. Time spent practicing math facts in one of your child's weekly homework activities. Please refer to your child's S.T.A.R. binder for details.

For those with children interested in PeeWee Soccer, please remember that tomorrow (Tuesday, September 6) is the deadline for turning in permission forms and the $25.00 fee. This fee includes a uniform shirt. You must provide cleats and shin guards for you child. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Principal Jackson or Miss Rita (Little Lambs Preschool). PeeWee Soccer is scheduled for 2:45-3:30 P.M. on Monday afternoons. If you'd like to be a PeeWee volunteer, please let Principal Jackson know, or if you'd rather cheer on the sidelines you are welcome to do that as well!

Here are some pictures of a few other cuties in our classroom.

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend!