Happy Hump Day!

It was a great day in second grade! Students gave some great examples of how to follow our classroom rules, and acted out some funny poor examples (how not to behave). I introduced a couple of centers to the class. They are not big fans of my random groupings. It seems that they would prefer to play with the same friends at all times. They made the most of it after the initial shock and had some fun.

One of my favorite things to do is to read aloud, using different voices for the characters, so it was gratifying to have a student tell me today, "I love how you read with the voices!" (I think it was Kamryn.) They LOVED the book Interrupting Chicken! Ben even created a skit about it.

Before lunch, pairs played a dice game in which each student rolled 1 die, they added the total of both dice, and the first person to correctly call out the answer received a tally point. I noticed most students giving tallies to their partner even when they won and the partner lost. Very kind, indeed.

There was a cicada that crash landed near a group of students during recess. A huge group of kids tried to help him back onto his feet and get him feeling better. He ended up with a huge hole in his chest, so we laid him to rest underneath a tree and said prayers for him. Tammy took lots of pictures of the scene.

In the afternoon, we played "Cooperative Musical Chairs." In this version of the game, no one is "out." Instead, when the music stops, everyone must make room for everyone else on the remaining chairs.

What a great first day!

We had a very busy day in second grade! We started by discussing rules we would need in order to have a safe classroom. Thankfully, many of the rules the students came up fit neatly under the categories of a 5-rule system that I love, so we will use them. They are: Rule #1-Follow directions quickly. Rule #2-Raise your hand for permission to speak. Rule#3, Raise your hand for permission to leave your seat. Rule #4, Make smart choices. Rule #5-Keep your dear teacher happy.

Students learned the Pledge of Allegiance in sign language. I also taught some useful signs for how to ask to use the bathroom and how to ask to get a drink. See if your child can remember any of them.

We practiced appropriate use of math materials and students circulated around the room using some of our classroom resources. Students did a STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) challenge in which I gave each group rolls of masking tape, sheets of paper, and a marble. I asked them to create a marble maze. I had allotted 40 minutes for this activity, but the kids really got into it and needed more time for enhancements and repairs before a trial run. Everyone worked hard and learned a lot!

I sent home a Scholastic Book Order catalog. If you wish to order anything, there is a link on the right side of this blog page to Scholastic. You may place your online order between now and Sept. 19. I will not accept paper orders because of the logistics involved.

I also sent home a brown lunch bag with instructions attached for creating a "Me Bag" that will be due next Tuesday. Your child my decorate the outside of the bag with a photo and fill it with 5 significant items. My bag contains a purple pen (purple is my favorite color), a small bottle of paint (because I love to paint), an iPod nano (because I love music), Chapstick (because I constantly apply it), and a mini book (because I love to read).

There is a link on the right side of this blog called Class Web Page. I updated it last night to reflect this year's schedule and to give you more information about our class expectations and procedures. Our class will have specials as follows:
Monday-Technology
Tuesday-Spanish
Wednesday-PE
Thursday-Art
Friday-Music

Welcome to a new school year at MID

I want to thank all the families of my students for coming to orientation tonight. It was nice to meet you and to meet your adorable children. Next week, you will receive your student handbook and I will also send home information about our classroom procedures and expectations. Thanks, again. See you Monday!