Daily Briefings
ROOM
Daily Briefings
In class, we end most days with a Daily Briefing.
This is a time where we create a list of some of the things we did that day.
I hope you can use these to get a better sense of what we’re up to and as a way of starting discussions using specific questions.
•We had choice.
•We continued working on our first day of school placemats for next year's second graders.
Thursday, June 6
•We each wrote an opinion piece that followed the structure of a paragraph.
•We reviewed multiplication notation.
•We had PE.
•We made final changes to our Google slides.
Wednesday, June 5
•We spent time writing appreciations for each other that will come home on the last day of school (photo above).
•We planned an opinion piece that we will be writing tomorrow.
•We took a Second Grade Math Review (cumulative assessment).
Tuesday, June 4
•We had a great time in art (photo above).
•We had music.
•We thought about what we learned about ourselves during our study of the rainforest.
•We spent time looking at fractions, both as parts of a whole and as parts of a set.
Thursday, May 30
•Using The Best Part of Me as a model, we each wrote a poem about a favorite part of ourself (photo above).
•We continued working on our rainforest slides.
•We wrote a info card about our animal.
•We read from just right books.
•We went to the library.
Wednesday, May 22
•We added our watercolors to our Google Slides (photo above). We did this by teaching each other. You may want to have your child show you what they learned about google slides.
•We took a math fluency check.
•We worked on making arrays to match multiplication situations.
Tuesday, May 22
•We created watercolor illustrations of our rainforest animal (photo above).
•We practiced our song for Ms. Harvey's assembly.
•We had art.
•We had music.
•We had donuts in our pjs!
Friday, May 24
•We enjoyed the most highly attended Read and Relax of the year (photos above).
•We wrote an autobiography poem.
•We each started a watercolor painting of our rainforest animal.
•We had choice time.
•We had PE.
•We completed both a Math Review and a Math Fluency Check.
Thursday, May 23
•We met in Critique Groups to provide feedback to each other about our scientific illustrations (photos above).
•In the library, we measured the length of our rainforest animals and considered common objects that were similar in size (photos above).
•We reviewed our math test from yesterday.
•We had PE.
•We read from our just right books.
•We spent time working on our rainforest animal slides.
Wednesday, May 22
•Noah's mom came and told us about her trip to the rainforest. We saw photos of a of animals that live there (photo above).
•We spent most of the day at the Academy of Sciences (photos above).
Thursday, May 16
•We heard about Kaela's recent trip to the rainforest and saw great photos of plants and animals (photo above).
•We learned how to use Pic Collage app on the ipads to share information. In this case, small groups will be presenting information on one of the layers of the rainforest that they learned about together (photos above).
•We had a music performance (photo above).
•We had PE.
•We had library.
Wednesday, May 15
•As part of our Mystery Science lesson to answer the question Do Plants Eat Dirt?, we made root viewers. We will check these out each day this week and chart the changes we see (photos above).
•We had a music rehearsal in preparation for Thursday's performance (photo above).
•We had a math fact fluency check.
•We had art.
•We started our sketches of our rainforest animal.
•We had a class discussion about friendships and the changes and challenges many of us are noticing.
Monday, May 13
•We worked in pairs and small groups to synthesize information about one of the strata of the rainforest. We will present what we learned to the whole class (photos above).
•In buddy groups, we recorded all of the things that we did together in our mixed groups of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade buddies (photos above).
•We made three models of different types of seeds after learning about how plants spread their seeds.
•We wrote a new Weekend News.
•We learned how to make arrays to represent equal groups in math.
Friday, May 10
•We celebrated a double birthday in our class (photo above).
•We enjoyed Read and Relax.
•We chose our rainforest animal.
•We practiced connecting repeated addition to multiplication.
Thursday, May 9
•In the library, we explored the San Diego Zoo's website and books to learn more information about two rainforest animals (photo above).
•We had PE.
•We read from just right books.
Wednesday, May 8
•We practiced logging in to our Google Drive accounts since we will be using these quite a bit throughout our current study (photo above).
•We had garden.
•We started Preliminary Rainforest Research.
•We worked on a secret writing project.
•We did more multiplication math.
•We cleaned out our project folders to get ready for our rainforest study.
•We had independent reading.
Tuesday, May 7
•We made our final glue of our science study. We used this glue to make a picture frame. The results of our "test" of this glue will be revealed tomorrow when we see how sturdy our frames are once the glue has dried (photos above).
•We logged into our Google Drive accounts which we will be using throughout our Rainforest study.
•We watched a movie of may rainforest animals.
•We had read aloud.
•We had a math fact fluency test.
•We had art.
•We had music.
Monday, May 6
•We met with our buddies and thought more about the attributes highlighted in the Mill Learner Profile (photo above).
•We learned about multiplication.
•We watched a short video about a Costa Rica rainforest.
•We completed a new Weekend News.
•We reviewed our last Math Review.
Thursday, May 2
•We had a dress rehearsal for first graders this morning (photo above). We hit the stage for the first time on Monday, which is pretty remarkable. After today's rehearsal, we debriefed as a group and came up with quite a bit of useful tips. We can't wait to see you in the audience tomorrow morning--8:50 ish in the MPR.
•We tested the strength of our four different mixtures and recorded the results (photos above).
•Ms. Monge read a great book today that told the story of a boy in Africa making a toy for himself. We saw parallels to the work we are doing in the fairy garden and during science with the design cycle (photo above).
•We started a new math routine today that is focused on assessing ourselves on math fact fluency.
•We spent time "table reading" the scripts for the fables.
Wednesday, May 1
•We used our newest greeting (sign language) for the first time today (photo above).
•We observed four mixtures and created a strength test that we will test tomorrow (photos above).
•We rehearsed our fables on the stage and made quite a few changes.
•We worked on three challenging math problems.
•We read a book about hair gel.
•We had PE.
•We had garden.
Tuesday, April 30
•We got to watch another group present their fable on the stage (photo above).
•We worked with clay in art today (photo above).
Monday, April 29
•We met in our fable groups and decided what we still needed to work on. We also brainstormed props and costumes so you may have some requests regarding this (photo above).
•We got onto the stage for the first time today. It was fantastic (photo above). You are invited to see our show on FRIDAY, MAY 3 at 8:50 in the MPR. We should be done by 9:15 or 9:20.
•We met with our buddies today and worked on the attributes of a Mill Valley Learner (photos above).
•Even MORE people finished their All About books today.
•We used maps to locate the countries of ancestry and labeled these on maps (photos above).
•The highlight of the day was having Noah's parents share with us some of the history and the things that they enjoy about Hanukkah. Your child brought home a dreidel, directions and pennies for playing at home and a chocolate gelt. We each also enjoyed a delicious latke (photos above).
•We counted bills from $776 to $900 using one dollar bills and then again using ones, tens and hundreds. We then charted the different ways we counted on an "Open (empty) Number Line." This is a tool that we will use to help us solve many addition and subtraction problems throughout second grade and beyond (photo above).
Thursday, June 13
•We played a version of a cake walk game and students won a bag full of weird stuff, just like the stuff modeled by Eito in the photo above.
•We played a "life-sized" version of Clue where we worked together to solve a mystery (photo above).
•We color coded our maps of the garden that we made yesterday to indicate what was part of a natural system, a human system or an interaction of the two (photos above).
Wednesday, June 12
•Remember that amazing bake sale we held for charity? We got a confirmation and thank you for our donation. Actually, we were supposed to get a "kid-friendly" receipt, but it did not arrive, so here is the boring, yet heart felt appreciation from our generous donation. Good work, all (photo above).
•We met with our buddies for the final time this year. We enjoyed conversation, a walk through yearbooks and a popsicle. We really had a good time (photo above).
•Yearbooks arrived and were sent home. Kids can certainly bring them back for signatures from friends. If you did not receive one and think there may be a mistake or if you are interested in purchasing one, please contact the school office (photo above).
Friday, June 7
•We had a blast on our hike up horse hill (photos above).
•We invited the first grades into our room and talked a little about second grade (photos above).
•We had PE.
Wednesday, June 12
•I am taking a class during the first week of break and the students helped with my "homework" for the class (photos above). I think they got a kick out of that. What they did was map the garden, looking for aspects that represented natural systems, human systems or interactions of the two.
Tuesday, June 11
•We started to work on Second Grade Six Packs that will be waiting for next year's students in August (photo above).
Monday, June 10
•We worked on identifying, counting and adding coins (photo above).
Friday, June 7
•We had choice.
•We continued working on our first day of school placemats for next year's second graders.
Thursday, June 6
•We each wrote an opinion piece that followed the structure of a paragraph.
•We reviewed multiplication notation.
•We had PE.
•We made final changes to our Google slides.
Wednesday, June 5
•We spent time writing appreciations for each other that will come home on the last day of school (photo above).
•We planned an opinion piece that we will be writing tomorrow.
•We took a Second Grade Math Review (cumulative assessment).
Tuesday, June 4
•We had music.
•We thought about what we learned about ourselves during our study of the rainforest.
•We spent time looking at fractions, both as parts of a whole and as parts of a set.
Thursday, May 30
•We continued working on our rainforest slides.
•We wrote a info card about our animal.
•We read from just right books.
•We went to the library.
Wednesday, May 22
•We added our watercolors to our Google Slides (photo above). We did this by teaching each other. You may want to have your child show you what they learned about google slides.
•We took a math fluency check.
•We worked on making arrays to match multiplication situations.
Tuesday, May 22
•We created watercolor illustrations of our rainforest animal (photo above).
•We practiced our song for Ms. Harvey's assembly.
•We had art.
•We had music.
•We had donuts in our pjs!
Friday, May 24
•We enjoyed the most highly attended Read and Relax of the year (photos above).
•We wrote an autobiography poem.
•We each started a watercolor painting of our rainforest animal.
•We had choice time.
•We had PE.
•We completed both a Math Review and a Math Fluency Check.
Thursday, May 23
•We reviewed our math test from yesterday.
•We had PE.
•We read from our just right books.
•We spent time working on our rainforest animal slides.
Wednesday, May 22
•We finished our odes to a favorite food (photo above).
•We went to garden and made a salad.
•We worked on our slides.
•We finished draft 2 of our scientific illustrations.
•We took a mid-module math assessment.
Tuesday, May 21
•We met in with a partner to critique the first draft of our scientific illustration of our rainforest animal (photos above). Partners gave feedback about the first draft that was KIND, HELPFUL and SPECIFIC and students used that critique to begin a second draft.
•We had art today.
•We started to learn about the Google Slide presentation we will each create about our rainforest animal.
•We had music.
Monday, May 20
•We met with our buddies and took a whole group photo and photos of buddy groups (photo above).
•We completed two separate math lessons today.
•We met in our PicCollage groups and finished our projects.
•We read some Odes written by Pablo Neruda and we each started our own poem.
•We finished a new Weekend News.
Friday, May 17
•We spent most of the day at the Academy of Sciences (photos above).
Thursday, May 16
•We had PE.
•We had library.
Wednesday, May 15
•We created our first draft of a scientific (realistic) illustration of our rainforest animal. We are learning how to provide critique that is Helpful, Kind and Specific to help us in future drafts of these illustrations. We are following the model of well-known "Austin's Butterfly" lesson. (photos above)
•We checked on our root viewers and sketched what we saw.
Tuesday, May 14
•As part of our Mystery Science lesson to answer the question Do Plants Eat Dirt?, we made root viewers. We will check these out each day this week and chart the changes we see (photos above).
•We had a music rehearsal in preparation for Thursday's performance (photo above).
•We had a math fact fluency check.
•We had art.
•We started our sketches of our rainforest animal.
•We had a class discussion about friendships and the changes and challenges many of us are noticing.
Monday, May 13
•In buddy groups, we recorded all of the things that we did together in our mixed groups of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade buddies (photos above).
•We made three models of different types of seeds after learning about how plants spread their seeds.
•We wrote a new Weekend News.
•We learned how to make arrays to represent equal groups in math.
Friday, May 10
•We celebrated a double birthday in our class (photo above).
•We enjoyed Read and Relax.
•We chose our rainforest animal.
•We practiced connecting repeated addition to multiplication.
Thursday, May 9
•In the library, we explored the San Diego Zoo's website and books to learn more information about two rainforest animals (photo above).
•We had PE.
•We read from just right books.
Wednesday, May 8
•We practiced logging in to our Google Drive accounts since we will be using these quite a bit throughout our current study (photo above).
•We had garden.
•We started Preliminary Rainforest Research.
•We worked on a secret writing project.
•We did more multiplication math.
•We cleaned out our project folders to get ready for our rainforest study.
•We had independent reading.
Tuesday, May 7
•We logged into our Google Drive accounts which we will be using throughout our Rainforest study.
•We watched a movie of may rainforest animals.
•We had read aloud.
•We had a math fact fluency test.
•We had art.
•We had music.
Monday, May 6
•We met with our buddies and thought more about the attributes highlighted in the Mill Learner Profile (photo above).
•We learned about multiplication.
•We watched a short video about a Costa Rica rainforest.
•We completed a new Weekend News.
•We reviewed our last Math Review.
Thursday, May 2
•Ms. Monge read a great book today that told the story of a boy in Africa making a toy for himself. We saw parallels to the work we are doing in the fairy garden and during science with the design cycle (photo above).
•We started a new math routine today that is focused on assessing ourselves on math fact fluency.
•We spent time "table reading" the scripts for the fables.
Wednesday, May 1
•We observed four mixtures and created a strength test that we will test tomorrow (photos above).
•We rehearsed our fables on the stage and made quite a few changes.
•We worked on three challenging math problems.
•We read a book about hair gel.
•We had PE.
•We had garden.
Tuesday, April 30
•We had another cooking class (photos above).
Monday, April 29
•Even MORE people finished their All About books today.
Friday, April 26
•We enjoyed an inclusion lunch on Friday (photos above) and most of got to know knew people.
•We took a different kind of Math Review.
•We had choice.
•Other teachers watched us do a talking circle.
•Many of us finished our All About books.
Thursday, April 25
•We wanted to learn how to say Good Morning in ASL, and Ms. O'Connor came by to teach us (photo above)!
•We read through our fable scripts for each other (photo above).
•Lunch time at our table is sounding and looking more like a nice place to eat. In fact, I joined our class for lunch out there and enjoyed myself. Thanks for your continued support to reinforce that eating time--the first 20 minutes of the lunch period--is for eating, TALKING to friends and relaxing (photo above). The final 20 minutes is for playing, using outside voices, having more active fun and using up energy.
Wednesday, April 24
•Eito showed us all how to make origami paper stars. This was wonderfully challenging and he was a great teacher. Another student noted that we showed good collaboration skills (one of the MV Learner Profile traits) as we all helped each other (photo above).
•We were very busy working on finishing up our All About books (photo above).
•We worked on more challenging math problems.
•We had PE.
•We made progress in fable groups.
•We found out the results to our sticky test.
Tuesday, April 23
•We enjoyed our first cooking class today (photos below).
We listened:
We chopped:
...and chopped:
We shook our homemade dressing:
And we ate:
•We practiced in our fable groups (photos above).
•We added a new idea to our covers to our All About Books.
•We did math.
•We celebrated Ella's birthday.
Monday, April 22
•Our Mindfulness Ambassadors led us in two new poses (photos above).
•Mr. Kostelnik came into our class after lunch to review how our new composing program works (photo above).
•In honor of Earth Day, we cleaned up our campus of garbage--aka Trash Bash--with our buddies (photos above).
•We compared two mixtures of ingredients, one that had been heated and one that had not, and created a sticky test for each of them.
•We used four of the Mill Valley School District Learner Profiles to describe characters in our fables (photo above).
•We wrote new Weekend News.
•We worked on our All About books.
Friday, April 19
•We had Read and Relax (photos above).
•During Centers, we performed our fables and received valuable feedback from Nico's mom (thanks, Shawna!).
•We had choice.
•We completed a math test.
•We had read aloud.
•We worked on our All About books.
•We had fun outside in PE.
Thursday, April 18
•Three groups rehearsed their fables in the library (photos above).
•We celebrated Nico's birthday (photo above).
•We started a new read aloud (photo above).
•We had PE.
•We had our Spring Sing.
•We practiced our fables.
•We worked on All About books.
Wednesday, April 17
•During talking circle this morning we shared something specific that we loved about one of our grandparents (photo above). We made a book of these ideas to give to Hajra, who just became a grandma for the first time over spring break.
•We took full advantage of the beautiful weather during PE (photo above).
•Half of went to garden and the other half of us worked on fairy house renovations.
•We had an All About Work Party.
•We worked in fable groups.
•In pairs, we read a science book about how certain materials can return to original form (or not) after undergoing a change.
•We had math.
Tuesday, April 16
•We worked in our fable groups to revise the scripts (photo above).
•We created a fair test for our glue recipes and recorded our results (photo above).
•We heard from a couple of students who had tips for the rest of us about this week's Homework Plus (photo above).
•We had music.
•Some of us had art, the rest of us did some remodeling on our fairy houses.
•We continued to publish All About books.
Monday, April 15
•We worked on publishing our All About books (photo above).
•We chose new jobs.
•We shared some of the things we did during spring break--both near and faraway.
•We had PE.
•We reviewed math from before the break.
Friday, April 5
•We enjoyed a field trip to find out a little about what school was like way back when as we visited Old Dixie Schoolhouse in San Rafael (photos above).
•We each created our own recipe for the stickiest glue using what we have learned about the properties of different ingredients (photos above).
•During choice time, many of us were inspired by our field trip to write with a feather and inkwell and to "play school" using modern slates (photos above).
Wednesday, April 3
•Our Mindfulness Ambassadors took us outside to practice a few new poses (photos above).
•Half of us had garden class.
•Half of us worked on creating sinage for our fairy garden.
•We had PE.
Tuesday, April 2
•We were given the gift of time--and fantastic supplies--to complete "unfinished" artwork in art class today (photo above).
•We practiced our fables in our newly formed groups.
•We wrote introductions to our All About books.
Monday, April 1
•We conducted a "fair test" of the stickiness of the glue ingredients and recorded our results (photo above).
•In buddies, we completed a building STEM challenge of building the tallest structure made of playing cards. The winning design is pictured above on the right, another contender is on the left.
•We reviewed our math reviews and each recorded a goal for next time.
•We identified three different ways to begin an introduction to our All About books (start with a question, surprising fact or personal story).
•We played good-humored April Fool's tricks on each other (ask about these, if you haven't yet heard).
Friday, March 29
•We enjoyed Read and Relax (photo above).
•We observed properties of four dry ingredients and then mixed each with water. We then developed a test to gauge the "stickiness" of each of the mixtures (photos above)
•We had choice time.
•We completed a Math Review and Sentence Dictation.
•We had PE.
Thursday, March 28
•Andy from the SF Opera came to our room and helped lead us perform in a Cinderella-inspired opera. We learned that our class is FULL of amazing performers (photo above).
•The Young Author's Fair was today and Connor got to introduce the guest author Mac Barnett (photo above).
•Noah showed off some sweet moves he has been practicing for an upcoming dance performance (photo above).
•Groups of students read fables scripts and started to think about ways to improve on the scripts. We want to perform these fables for you after spring break (photo above).
•We got our first crack at writing scientific arguments about our glue trials.
•We had PE.
Wednesday, March 27
•We tested our glues to determine certain properties of two types of glue (photos above).
•We went to garden class.
•We got ready for a math test.
Tuesday, March 26
•We had science and set up a test to determine certain properties of two types of glue (photos above).
•Harper shared a dance with us.
•We read from just right books.
•We finished our I Am Joyful poems.
•Half of us had art.
•We worked on All About books.
Monday, March 25
•In small groups, we created a skit of a familiar fable and we rehearsed it. Finally, we performed these skits for each other (photos above).
•We chose new jobs.
•We wrote Weekend News.
•We completed a new lesson in math.
•We wrote all about books.
•We had PE.
•We wrote a new poem about what brings us joy.
Thursday, March 21
•In pairs, we read a book about properties of materials called What If Rain Boots Were Made of Paper? (photos above).
Wednesday, March 20
•Our Mindfulness Ambassadors visited us to lead us in mindfulness practice (photo above).
•We used Science Notebooks.
•We worked on our All About books.
•We read more fables.
•We had garden.
•We had math.
Tuesday, March 19
•We taught each other how to solve subtraction problems using the vertical method (photo above).
•We organized our poems.
•We worked on our All About books.
•We had music.
•We had art.
•We practiced a new mindfulness activity.
•We had math.
•We figured out what two substances made up a "mystery mixture."
Monday, March 18
•We got to celebrate Noah's birthday in a VERY delicious way (photo above).
•Many of us completed the first chapter of our All About book.
•We started a new SCIENCE unit today.
•We recorded the fables we read on a special reading log.
•We tried a new way of practicing mindfulness together.
Friday, March 15
•We met with buddies to participate in a STEM building challenge. Using natural materials, we tried to make the strongest, free standing nest that could hold three eggs (marbles). (photos above)
•We completed a new math review.
•We started our All About books.
•We read more fables.
Thursday, March 14
•We heard several great Young Authors' Fair stories in the library (photo above).
Wednesday, March 13
•We completed family trees.
•We had read aloud.
•We created a glossary for our scrapbook.
•We added "feature circles" to our scrapbook.
•We had PE.
Tuesday, March 12
•We had whole-class art (photo above).
•We worked on our family trees (photo above).
•We generated a list of words to include in the glossary of our scrapbook.
•We practiced subtraction using place value charts and the stacking algorithm.
•We had music.
Monday, March 11
•The sun seemed to invite us into the fairy garden to check out how things fared during the wet weather.
•We brought Oreo to meeting.
•We started two new pages in our scrapbook.
•We had PE.
Thursday, March 7
•After reading a Islandborn (a book that follows a young girl as she tries to learn more about the place where her family came from), we shared our ideas about why it's important to learn about your family's history (photo above).
•We had library.
•We took home our progress reports.
•We completed a new math review.
•We completed an entry for February on our timelines.
•We had PE.
Wednesday, March 6
•We participated in a mindful challenge called "Quarter Pass" (photo above).
•We worked on name collages.
•We worked on world maps to include in our scrapbooks.
Tuesday, March 5
•We made "heritage dolls" (photo above).
•In pairs, we worked on addition problems with three digits (photo above).
•We used maps to locate the countries of ancestry and labeled these on maps (photos above).
•We had music.
•We read The Great Big Book of Families and started a "family portrait" inspired by the book.
•We worked on our scrapbooks.
•We designed our collages.
Monday, March 4
•We had Read Aloud.
•We read from Just Right books.
•We learned how to use place value charts to solve three digit addition problems.
Friday, March 1
•We worked on a STEM building challenge with our buddies (photos above).
•We had Read and Relax.
•We completed a new Math Review.
•We had choice.
Thursday, February 28
•We read a great book about the wonderful diversity of families. The Family Book is a long-time favorite (photo above).
•We watched a short video about how families are different and the same (screen shot above).
•We had PE.
•We had library and heard another great book about families.
•We had time for a spelling assessment.
•We did math.
Tuesday, February 26
•In pairs, we coached each other on how to revise our scrapbooks (photos above).
•We had art.
•We had music.
Monday, February 25
•We watched a super collection of videos and photos from the break (photos above). Thanks for sharing these with me.
•We had doughnuts and wore pajamas.
•We talked about how we have been using mindfulness "strategies" outside of our classroom.
•We worked on our scrapbooks.
•We read from Just Right books.
•We had inside recess.
•We worked on Weekend News and used it to show what we know about writing.
•We talked about how we have been using mindfulness "strategies" outside of our classroom.
•We worked on our scrapbooks.
•We read from Just Right books.
•We had inside recess.
•We worked on Weekend News and used it to show what we know about writing.
Friday, February 15
•We enjoyed choice time (photo above).
•We had an assembly.
•We completed a new math review.
•We worked on our scrapbooks.
•We had an assembly.
•We completed a new math review.
•We worked on our scrapbooks.
Thursday, February 14
•We had a blast sharing Valentine's Day cards and treats. It really was a great time sharing laughs, gratitude, appreciation and balloons (photo above)!
•In library, we started to research one of the countries that was included in the week's homework (photo above).
•We used the resource below to help us log in to a great resource. Feel free to use this at home (photo above).
•We worked on adding captions to some photos from Ellis Island Day in our Scrapbook.
•We started to work on double digit addition presented in vertical form.
•We talked about how we want to celebrate reaching our goal on our On Our Way chart (our version of a marble jar). Stay tuned for details.
Wednesday, February 13
•Jackson's parents shared information about Chinese/Lunar New Year and a yummy treat (photo above).
•We worked in pairs to compare and collaborate on math problems (photos above).
•We had garden.
•More of us started work on our scrapbooks.
•We decorated bags to hold our Valentine's from yesterday.
Tuesday, February 12
•We had our interactive art show (photo above).
•We had music.
•Some of us started to work on our scrapbooks to hold memories and learnings from our migration and family study work.
Monday, February 11
•Today was all about our field trip to Chinatown (photo above). I hope you heard you a lot of great things about it. It was full of sights, sounds, tastes, and smells that kept us all attentive and engaged. These kids did a wonderful job navigating the sometimes surprising and very unusual things (to most of us) we experienced on our trip.
Thursday, February 7
•While I was at the District Office for an all-day meeting, I did come to campus to facilitate an interview with Nandita Manghnani (current TK teacher) about her family's migration story (photo above).
Wednesday, February 6
•We held our Bake Sale and it was awesome (photo above).
•The first Grandparent Biography was completed and assembled.
•We worked on several challenging word problems. We focused on building and using visual representations to solve and prove solutions to math problems.
Tuesday, February 5
•This morning, we were visited for the first time by our fifth grade Mindfulness Ambassador. This is a fifth grader who is experienced in mindful practice and has volunteered to stop by in the mornings and lead us in a very short exercise.
•We used tape diagrams to solve two-digit addition and subtraction problems in math.
•We worked on a title page to our grandparent biographies.
•We read a funny and sweet book about grandmas.
•We updated our timelines for the month of January.
•We brainstormed ideas for a Map of My Heart 2.0. This is similar to one that students made in first grade, but includes nouns, verbs and adjectives.
Monday, February 4
•We started our day with a meeting of 1st and 2nd graders with Mr. Kostelnik. He talked about the need for the students to be more responsible during the eating time of lunch (photos above).
•We met with our buddies. We read a book that was focused on being kind and then chose one message from the book to write down (photo above).
•Today, William led us in a mindful breathing practice. He did a great job (photo above).
•We used Weekend News to practice writing a structured paragraph.
•We chose new class jobs.
•We had PE.
Friday, February 1
•We had Read and Relax today (photo above).
•We wrote a paragraph about Ellis Island Day.
•We completed a new Math Review.
•We worked on Grandparent Biographies.
•We had PE.
Tuesday, January 29
•Today was all about Ellis Island Day (photo above). Thank you so much for helping with this--both at home and at school!
•We had PE.
•We had library.
Wednesday, January 30
•We shared our ideas with each other in math.
•We worked on our final paragraph of our grandparent biographies.
•We read from Just Right books in our reading spots.
Tuesday, January 29
•We invited Oreo into our morning greeting today (photo above).
•We created fish out of wire today in art. It was fun and not easy (photos above)!
•In pairs, we practiced our Ellis Island Interviews using our Immigrant Profiles (photos above).
•We worked on Grandparent Biographies.
•We started our passports for Ellis Island Day.
•We completed a math sprint that was challenging.
•We had music.
•We read a great book called Where Will I Live?
•We learned how to massage our own hand as a strategy we could use (even stealthily) to calm down or focus when we need to.
Monday, January 28
•We worked with our buddies to create Kindness Rocks (photos above).
•We wrote our Weekend News as a complete paragraph with a topic sentence and details.
•We worked on Grandparent Biographies.
•We had PE.
•We read a beautiful book called The Old Man.
•We chose new class jobs.
Friday, January 25
•Students shared their plans about their Ellis Island Day costume and bundle that they completed as homework with each other (photo above).
•We had choice.
•We had PE.
•We had Read and Relax.
•We worked on a Valentine's Day sewing craft.
Thursday, January 24
•We used open number lines in the library to figure out how old a book character was (photo above).
•We chose great books in the library (photo above).
•We had PE.
•We worked on our covers for our Grandparent Biographies.
Wednesday, January 23
•We again had our work "speak for itself" as a classmate studied the written math work of another and then explained how they thought the problem was solved (photo above).
•We read in our new reading spots (photo above).
•After watching a few of the videos that we took of some of the teachers, we held a talking circle to share role models that we each have in our lives. It really was inspiring (photo above).
•We participated in a mindful challenge called "Pass the Cup." This game requires an awareness of what's around you, focus and trust. First we silently passed a cup of water around the circle with our eyes open and then we repeated it with our eyes closed (photo above).
Tuesday, January 22
•We read more from the book Streets of Gold (photo above).
•We worked on the Ellis Island Webquest in pairs.
•We worked on grandparent biographies.
•We studied our mistakes (and all the things we got correct) from Friday's math assessment.
•We spent time reading from just right books.
Friday, January 18
•We started an Ellis Island Webquest in pairs (photo above).
•We learned a new morning greeting (photo above).
•Instead of our weekly Math Review, we took an end-of-module math assessment.
•We started our final (and very official) copy of our Immigrant Profile.
Thursday, January 17
•We shared our mathematical thinking with each other (photo above).
•We had library and used a website that many kids were interested in using at home. Please use this link to check it out. Kids were also curious about this site.
•We all worked on our grandparent biographies.
•We took a practice math assessment which your child is bringing home. Tomorrow we will have an end-of-module math assessment in place of our weekly Math Review.
Wednesday, January 16
•We used links that were shared in our Google Drive accounts to help us with our Immigrant Profiles in preparation for Ellis Island Day (photo above).
•We made Valentine's Day cards that will be delivered to local elderly people through MVMS Interact Club (photo above).
•We worked on math pages.
•Some of us had garden and some of us worked on our Grandparent Biographies.
Tuesday, January 15
•We spent time going on a photo tour of the Ellis Island process--from dock, boarding, the ship ride, processing at Ellis Island to arrival at New York City (photo above).
•We worked on our grandparent biographies (photo above).
•We worked on math, as we focused on adding and subtraction one, ten and one hundred from a given number.
•We read My Beautiful Birds.
•We had art and music.
Monday, January 14
•We enjoyed our new reading spots today (photos above).
•A group of third graders came into our room and answered questions that room 15 students had about Ellis Island Day (photo above).
•We met with our buddies today and listened to a great book called Be Kind. We also designed our kindness rocks that we will start next meeting (photo above).
•We had PE.
•We wrote a new weekend news.
Friday, January 11
•We learned about Ellis Island (photo above).
•We completed a math review.
•We had Read and Relax.
•We had PE.
•We made a lot of stuff during Choice Time.
Thursday, January 10
•We read our first migration story of our current study (photos above).
•We started a new read aloud. The Story of Diva and Flea is a book about friendship that bridges differences and about living outside of your comfort zone (photo above).
•We had library and PE.
•We compared large numbers and translated between standard form, word form and unit form.
•We continued writing our grandparent biographies.
Wednesday, January 9
•Today, we stole a few minutes to get a lesson from a skilled and energetic performer. Turns out, I'm not a great dancer, but many in room 15 are! I think the talent show this year should NOT be missed (photo above)!
•We returned to our chart about the reasons people might migrate vs. when they might travel (photo above).
•Please be on the lookout for the information/call for volunteers above in your email inbox (photo above).
•We read the book above and had a discussion about the message of the book. This book deals with homelessness (students were quite interested about this yesterday) and we noticed that this book didn't feel like it had a real ending. I was blown away--AGAIN--by the attention, eloquence and compassion of this group of people. Trust that we are all in good hands in the future. One student ended our conversation by offering that while a door opened to let a bird "fly away home" in the book, he was satisfied with the ending because he felt a door would metaphorically open up for the boy and his dad. Anyway, that might not make sense out of context, but it was pretty remarkable to me. The kids are certainly all right...much better than that, I suspect.
•We had garden.
•We had PE.
•We started to translate our Grandparent Interviews into Grandparent Biographies.
Tuesday, January 8
•We had art today and had fun drawing chairs (photo above).
•We used this blog to choose one thing that we did together in December and added that to our timeline (photo above).
•We practiced letting "our work speak for itself" as volunteers explained their classmates' mathematical thinking (photo above).
•We charted our ideas about the reasons people migrate versus why people travel.
•We read Her Right Foot about the Statue of Liberty.
•We solved a pretty complicated math word problem.
Monday, January 7
•We started off the new year in style as Noah showed off a routine he was practicing. He talked about how HE uses mistakes in his dancing (photo above).
•We met with our buddies and shared things about our break during Milling to Music (photo above).
•We practiced a talking circle to open the new year together (photo above).
•We had PE.
•We practiced a sprint.
•We finished a Weekend News.
Friday, December 21
•We shared our published small moment stories (photos above).
•We read The Polar Express and left with a silver bell.
•We had fun with a sprint.
•We had PE.
•We cleaned out our book boxes.
•We enjoyed our Winter Wonderland Cafe (photo above).
Thursday, December 20
•We shared our own solutions to the same word problem (photos above). Students tried to use the written work of one student to understand his/her process and then articulate that.
•We had a Bio Project work period.
•We enjoyed about six speeches.
•We had PE.
•We went to the library.
Wednesday, December 19
•We started our Book Creator projects today (photos above).
•We cleaned out our book boxes.
•We had PE.
•We celebrated Oliver's birthday.
•We read a book about a children's orchestra in Paraguay.
•We worked on math.
Tuesday, December 18
•Today, we got to hear how mistakes have helped Sherene (Jackson's mom) in her life. One takeaway that we heard was the value of seeking out and listening to the advice of trusted people (photo above).
•We solved another two-step word problem and shared our solutions. Letting "our work speak for itself" is helping us both represent our thinking on paper AND our focusing in and analyzing the work of others (photo above)!
•We wrapped up a homemade gift that your child made to give away. It will be heading home tomorrow or Thursday. It's inside a handmade bag and is fragile (it's not glass, though), so your child will have a choice to take it home tomorrow or Thursday depending on his/her after school plans.
•We practiced representing numbers using only dots on a place value chart as we continue move from more concrete to more abstract visuals in math.
•We had music.
•With our reading partner, we took notes from the biography we chose. You could ask your child who s/he is reading about.
•We wrapped up a homemade gift that your child made to give away. It will be heading home tomorrow or Thursday. It's inside a handmade bag and is fragile (it's not glass, though), so your child will have a choice to take it home tomorrow or Thursday depending on his/her after school plans.
•We practiced representing numbers using only dots on a place value chart as we continue move from more concrete to more abstract visuals in math.
•We had music.
•With our reading partner, we took notes from the biography we chose. You could ask your child who s/he is reading about.
Monday, December 17
•We met with our TWO buddy classes for a fun directed drawing lesson (photos above).
•We had PE.
•With our reading partner, we chose the biography book we will be reading and studying together.
•We completed another sprint in math.
•We wrote a new Weekend News.
•We had PE.
•With our reading partner, we chose the biography book we will be reading and studying together.
•We completed another sprint in math.
•We wrote a new Weekend News.
Friday, December 14
•We added tanbark to the fairy garden and love the results (photo above)!
•During choice time, a group of us added on to Oreo's playground. It turns out that he really likes it (photo above).
•We had our first PROUD assembly of the year.
•We completed a new math review.
•We learned about quotation marks and created something wonderful for our elves to say.
•We had choice time.
•We used the calm.com app for the second day. We are finding that a little mindfulness practice after lunch feels terrific!
Thursday, December 13
•We used base ten blocks and place value disks to create larger numbers. We said these numbers both in unit form and in standard form (photos above).
•We went for a walk around campus and wrote down our observations about what we noticed in the natural world. We then went back into the classroom and used our observations as our subject of haiku (photos above).
•We used the Calm app for the first time. After the first "lesson," we had a talking circle and shared our feelings and ideas about practicing mindfulness in the classroom (photo above)
•We read a biography Sojourner Truth in the library.
•We had a very full math day.
•We had PE.
Wednesday, December 12
•We read a biography about the haiku poet Issa. We then wrote winter poems inspired by the haiku we read in the book (photo above).
•We took our mid module math assessment.
•We drew winter elves and created scenes for them of our designs.
•We had garden.
•We placed the rest of our fairy habitats into our fairy garden.
•We had PE.
Tuesday, December 11
•Mia helped us greet each other this morning in German. She said that many of us sound really good, actually (photo above).
•We were so excited to see some of our fairy habitats find forever homes in our fairy garden (photos above). If you haven't stopped by, I think you should. Adam Messner delivered another mound of drain rocks and the kids have already started putting them to good use finishing the path.
•We studied for an upcoming Mid Module Math Assessment (aka a MATH TEST!!!).
•We enjoyed a chorus concert put on by the Edna Maguire Chorus.
Monday, December 10
•Thanks to Max's dad Adam, our path has a professional look that exceeds all of our expectations. Kids jumped right in to move the drain rock from the pile to fill in the path that Adam laid down this weekend. It looks amazing (photo above).
•In pairs, we read a new biography and we each completed a mini-report about the person (photos above).
•We chose new jobs.
•We completed a new weekend news.
•We finished another section in our math module and are ready for our mid-module math assessment.
•We shared the name of the grandparent that we will interview (check in with your child about this, if you haven't already).
•We used one completed interview as a sample of how students now have an additional job (besides asking, listening to and thinking about the responses) after the interview is completed. Students need to make sure that they understand and can read what their parent wrote down for them.
•We met with our buddies today to begin an acrostic poem about our name.
Friday, December 7
•Max's dad Adam came and helped us lay the beginnings of our student-designed path in our fairy garden (photos above).
•We made our final touches to our fairy habitats (photo above).
•We completed a math review.
•We had centers (thanks Shawna) where we got to practice using an open number line).
•We enjoyed choice.
•We practiced our "grandparent" interview by FaceTiming my mom and having students ask the questions and me recording her answers (photos above).
Thursday, December 6
•After reading and talking about so many biographies, we took time to think about the ways learning about a person's life might benefit the learner. The chart above is our collected thoughts.
•We had library and talked about Juan Felipe Herrera's book Imagine.
•We celebrated Tommy's birthday.
Wednesday, December 5
Hope you can join us tomorrow morning before school starts! Thank you again for supporting Kiddo!
•We nearly completed our fairy habitats.
•We all finished our November timeline entry during centers (thanks Sherene!).
•Half of us had garden.
•We finished the book about Ruth Bader Ginsberg (No Truth Without Ruth).
Tuesday, December 4
• Using $1, $10, and $100 students made different amounts of money and named what they made following the frame of this example: "The value of three one dollar bills and 7 ten dollar bills is seventy three dollars." We are working to distinguish between bills and dollars as we become increasingly familiar with specific denominations and the power of our base ten number system (photo above).
•We started a biography about Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
•We continued to publish our small moment stories.
Monday, December 3
•We worked in pairs to discuss how we would solve a complicated word problem before we solved it (photos above).
•With our buddies, we visited the book fair to create a wish list. Be on the lookout for your child's wish list that should have come home today (photo above).
•We created a new Weekend News.
•We started to create a list of interview questions that we will use to write a biography of a grandparent.
•We created appreciation notes to the firefighters of the Chico area.
•We had PE.
Friday, November 30
•We finally got to designing and building our fairy habitats. Check out our beginnings in the photos above.
•We had choice time.
•We completed a new Math Review.
•We read biographies and shared what we remember about the biographies we read yesterday with our reading partners.
•We had PE.
Thursday, November 29
•We enjoyed a lot of wild weather and HAD to go outside when we saw this rainbow. Of course, it looked MUCH more awesome in person (photo above).
•We have six published books!•At Nico's suggestion, we moved our meeting area and we liked it.
•We had PE in the MPR.
•We heard another biography read in class and another in the library.
Wednesday, November 28
•While half of our class was at garden, the other half made more progress on building structures for our fairy habitat. Honestly, I am being blown away by what these kids are doing. From articulating ideas to each other, to engineering a viable structure using available materials, to adjusting their creations to meet expectations of weatherproofing and sizing, these kids are doing SO MUCH WORK...just by making our school more beautiful and fun with a fairy garden. Two of the creations (one skeleton home in the process of being "reinforced" and a beautiful and meticulously crafted front door) are shown above.
•We had PE.
•Four students completed their first published piece of the year.
•We read another biography. This one was about Michael Jordan.
Tuesday, November 27
•We LOVED building structures for our fairy habitats in art. It appears that we have many budding engineers, architects and artists among us.
•Today we heard students share their math solutions. It is pretty wonderful seeing how much they have grown in their ability to explain their own thinking in both writing and speaking (photo of one solution above).
•We had music.
•We continuing publishing our small moment stories during Writers' Workshop.
•We enjoyed a delicious treat from Max and his family.
Monday, November 26
•With our buddies, we decorated nameplates that we will use during our next meeting. Today, your child brought home a purple homework sheet to help gather information about his/her name. Please help your child with this and turn this in with Friday's homework.
•We completed a new Math Review.
•We put our Thanksgiving Poems together (I typed these over break because we missed Friday so we couldn't revise them as planned). I shared the typed versions with you via your child's Google Drive account.
•We read another biography. This one was about Albert Einstein.
Thursday, November 15
•We met with our buddies and shared our identity webs. We also got to see all of the identity webs during a gallery walk (photos above).
•We finished the first draft of our Thanksgiving poem.
•We completed a directed drawing of a very cute turkey with personality!
•We read another biography. This one was Nadia: The Girl Who Couldn't Sit Still.
Wednesday, November 14
•We chose Fairy Garden groups and each group chose a flower pot. During centers, Sherene helped kids trace the top of their fairy garden that we will use tomorrow as a blueprint for our plan (photos above show two examples of "finished" fairy gardens).
•We had garden.
•We had school photos take 2.
•We read independently.
•We started Thanksgiving poems inspired by Langston Hughes' Thanksgiving Time.
Tuesday, November 13
•Max's dad Adam came and talked to us about something he learned about mistakes. After he got hit by a car while on his bicycle, he realized that sometimes you can do everything correctly and a mistake can still occur. He also talked to us about how he can help us put our garden path plan into action. Keep your eyes on our soon-to-be construction zone (after break).
•We completed a math sprint.
Friday, November 9
•We had PE.
•We had centers.
•We completed another Math Review.
•We used final copy pages to work on our published small moment stories.
Thursday, November 8
•We had PE.
Wednesday, November 7
•We had centers.
•We had garden.
•We revisited our garden path and made a couple of revisions.
•We practiced counting efficiently from one number to another faraway number using ones, tens, and hundreds.
Tuesday, November 6
•We answered the question What's strong enough to make a canyon? in a Mystery Science activity (photos above).
•Some of us went to art and some of us had time to Work on Writing.
•We read from Just Right books.
•We studied our mistakes on Friday's Math Review and fixed them (photo above).
•We shared our family traditions for Thanksgiving after a reading The Relatives Came.
Monday, November 6
•We worked on new weekend news pieces.
•We chose new class jobs.
•We had PE.
•Ms. Jen came in to tell us about Key #7.
Friday, November 2
•A former student and a fellow rat owner came by to teach us about the proper handling of a pet rat (photo above).
•We completed a math review.
•We read independently.
•We completed a new month on our Second Grade Timelines.
•We had PE.
•We had choice time and watched Oreo use his new toy from Noah and family.
Wednesday, October 31
•It was Halloween and we looked awesome (photos above).
•Also, Jared Huffman stopped by and answered questions about being a member of Congress and about our government (photo above)!
Tuesday, October 30
•Ms. Duvall visited our class and talked about how mistakes show up in her life as a mom (photo above).
•We had Readers' Workshop.
•We had Writers' Workshop and we focused on adding end punctuation to the small moment story we are publishing.
•We had music.
•Half of us had art and half of us looked at fairy house designs on Google Drive.
•We talked about the legislative branch of government in advance of our assembly tomorrow.
Monday, October 30
•Ms. Jen taught us Key #6 that helped us accept apologies from others (photos above).
•We chose new class jobs.
•We included exciting beginnings into our Weekend News.
•We had PE.
•We shared our new reading goal with our reading partner.
•In groups of three, we bundled craft sticks in groups of ten and then bundled those in groups of hundreds as we start to investigate properties of place value (photo above).
Friday, October 26
•We had a talking circle today where students offered incredible insight about to refocus and help each one of us do our very best.
Thursday, October 25
•Hajra helped us make a spider web orb (photo above).
•We took our math test again (and did wonderfully).
•We worked on our small moment stories.
Tuesday, October 23
•We modeled how sand gets to the beach (photos above). You should ask your child about this.
Monday, October 22
Friday, October 19
•We had sentence dictation.
•We had Math Review.
•We had centers.
•We read from Just Right books.
•We started to design the pathways that we decided were the first step to improving on our "fairy" garden (photos above). We started to share our designs and answered questions from our classmates.
Thursday, October 18
•Using Mystery Science, we made models of mountains and discovered what happened when it rained on our mountain. One thing we learned was that river begin at high spots on the land (photos above).
•We rediscovered how picture books can help us grow as readers.
•We worked with new math partners.
•We learned more about landforms in library.
•We had PE.
•We heard from a few writers who finished first drafts of small moment stories. We LOVED what we heard (photos above)!
•We had an all-school disaster drill and our kids did a great job.
•We had independent reading.
•Some of us had garden.
•Some of us logged into our GAFE accounts and edited a shared document. Students can use their login information inside their homework folders to access their Google Drive accounts at home.
•We had PE.
Friday, October 12
•Several students shared their small moment stories with us at meeting (photos above).
•We all signed into SeeSaw using our Google Apps For Education (GAFE) accounts. Once we add things into SeeSaw, I will let you know how access that wonderful stuff.
•We had choice.
Wednesday, October 10
•We heard from Andrea Beatty, the author of Ada Twist, Scientist and many other books, talk about her work, her process and even how she uses mistakes in her life (photo above).
•We had PE.
•We enjoyed popsicles in honor of Will's birthday.
•We made a list of small moment memories we have that we will turn into to stories.
•We held our first Math Congress (a grand conversation of sorts) and reminded students that they need to come to math class ready to be both learner and teacher.
Tuesday, October 9
•We read The Day the Crayons Quit. Somehow, this book had slipped right past me. This was the first time I've read this favorite (photo above).
•We had music.
•We each logged into our new Google Apps For Education (GAFE) account. This was a pretty big deal. Please look inside next week's homework folder for your child's username and password so that s/he can log in at home when interested.
•We had our Fire Safety assembly. Look inside tomorrow's Wednesday folder for some information from Mill Valley Fire Department.
Friday, October 5
•We made a sign for our newly named pet, Oreo (photo above).
•We heard three more Top Ten Posters (photos above).
•We heard from Noah's mom about how paying attention to mistakes help her in her work life. Thanks, Maya (photo above).
•We had centers.
•Choice time was fun.
Thursday, October 4
•We learned a little more about two more people from their Top Ten Posters (photos above).
•We finished and assembled our first poem of the year. They are on display in our room (photos above).
•We read Rosie Revere, Engineer a book by the wonderful author (Andrea Beaty) who will be visiting our school next week.
•We had Readers' Workshop.
•We learned how to discuss our math thinking during math.
Wednesday, October 3
•We had our first day of centers. Thanks Liz!
•We had PE.
•We had Work on Writing.
•We read from Just Right books.
Tuesday, October 2
•We learned a new morning greeting called "Silent Greeting" (photo above).
•We heard two more Top Ten Posters and learned some very interesting and surprising things about each other (photos above).
•We had music.
•We worked on art portfolios in art class.
•We had Writing Workshop.
•We measured lines with centimeter rulers.
Monday, October 1
•We wrote a new Weekend News.
•We completed our Me On the Map project.
•We had readers' workshop.
•Harper and Ella shared an impressive dance routine with us.
Friday, September 28
•We got to hear two more Top Ten Posters. We are realized we share a lot of similarities with each other. I mean, who doesn't love mac 'n cheese (photos above).
•We worked on Me On the Map.
•We wrote our first poem of the year.
•We enjoyed Kaela's birthday celebration.
Thursday, September 27
•We used an atlas to find amazing places around our planet. We also learned a bit about Table of Contents and Index pages in nonfiction books (photo above).
•We started writing our first poem of the year.
•We created a very important list titled "What A Rat Needs." Turns out, we have become quite the group of experts.
Wednesday, September 26
•We got to hear from two more students as they shared their Top Ten Poster. We even got to hear a little German (photos above).
•We used the ruler we made yesterday to measure a few two-dimensional objects (photo above).
•We hear a funny story about a pet rat.
•We had PE.
Tuesday, September 25
•We finished our mapping rotations as we explored globes, wall maps, road maps and atlases (photos above).
•We made a ruler using a centimeter cube (photo above).
•We started a new read aloud.
•We read Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn.
•We had art.
•We read from just right books and talked about setting REALISTIC reading goals. This means that we each should have the goal of striving towards more complex reading levels. Our reading goal should reflect the work we are doing TODAY to get us closer to that goal. Maybe reading for a longer period of time without stopping, or reading every single day, or practicing thinking about my reading to see if I understand it, or getting better at choosing good books for myself.
•We had music.
•We started Me on the Map.
•We wrote a new Weekend News.
Friday, September 21
Thursday, September 20
•We were visited today by our music teacher who shared her message that mistakes give you permission to keep trying (photo above).
•We used Google Earth in the library.
•We read from just right books.
•We shared solutions to two tricky word problems.
Wednesday, September 19
•We enjoyed two more guests to share how they use mistakes in their life. In the photo above, we can see third grade teacher Ms. Morgan (on the left) tell us that she's learned that sometimes you need to ask for and accept help. MVSD Interim Superintendent ("the boss of ALL the schools" is how I described her to your kids) Raquel Rose came in and explained a favorite idea that is important to her: "It's good to FAIL FORWARD."
•We measured items with a single centimeter cube.
•We read from Poppy.
•We had garden today.
Tuesday, September 18
•Ms. Isler came in to talk how mistakes have helped her in her life (photo above).
•We started to learn about measuring in math.
•We took another spelling inventory and completed our first word sort.
•We had music and we were awesome there!
Monday, September 17
•We took a math test!
•We wrote weekend news.
•We chose new class jobs.
•We met with reading partners and practiced talking about our reading. We realized that part of what makes a book a just right book is being able to talk about it after you're done (photo above).
•We completed our first Math Review.
•Writers' Workshop.
•Choice Time.
•We learned a new greeting today. It was called Silly Voice and it was silly (photo above).
•Alice taught us how to make something cool with origami (photo above).
•We practiced the strategy of "take ten away" to make subtraction problems easier.
•We met in pairs and added to our list of things we each could do to make our classroom work its very best (photo above).
•We talked about ways to solve problems that can make a reader stop reading.
•We learned a bit about maps and geography in the library.
•We learned about Helping Hands. These are short slips to fill out when someone needs help or has a problem.
•We worked in pairs to start drafting our classroom norms (photo above).
•We practice the "take ten out" strategy for subtracting.
•We had read aloud.
•We cleaned out our book boxes during Readers' Workshop.
We had an earthquake drill.
•We had garden.
Tuesday, September 11
•It was Anastasia's birthday today.
•We welcomed Alice into our room today.
•We generated a list of questions we need to answer about rats before we can bring one into our room.
•We had art and music.
•We had readers' workshop.
Monday, September 10
•Ms. Jen came into our class to teach us the first lesson of the Keys to Communication (photo above).
•We watched a short video about how to care for pet rats.
•We chose new class jobs.
•We found out and used our permanent reading spots.
•We met with our buddy classes for the first time. We are trying something new this year as we team up with Ms. Ordonez' first grade class AND Ms. Diamond's third grade class for weekly buddies. We have a lot of fun things planned for our time together. Today, we played three games as a big group of 60+ kids (photos above).
Friday, September 7
•We learned how to use the strategy of "making the next ten" when solving addition problems with multi-digit addends (photo above).
•Lauren Snell-the wonderful children's librarian and former Edna parent-came in to tell us about the great things happening at the Mill Valley Public Library (photo above).
•We voted on our first choice for our class pet and......<insert drumroll here>....we are hoping to get a RAT! More details to follow after we study to find out what a rat needs as a classroom pet.
•We increased our reading stamina to 25 minutes.
•We had PE.
•We did really amazing things during choice (photos above).
Thursday, September 6
•I attended a district meeting all day so we had a guest teacher. Unfortunately, they did not have time to end the day with a Daily Briefing.
Wednesday, September 5
•We practiced explaining our math thinking and process to each other using the document camera and careful speaking (photo above).
•We read about rats and bearded dragons and charted what we learned to help us make a decision about a class pet.
•We used personal whiteboards in math to practice mathematical routines such as "take one out" and "make the next ten."
•We reviewed a few rules about gardening in the green area right outside our room. The kids have plans to clean this out again and rebuild the fairy garden that the second graders built last year.
•We recorded our observations and predictions about "jelly marbles." Tomorrow, ask your child about what really happened when we left these in water overnight.
Tuesday, September 4
•We wrote our first Weekend News of second grade (photo above).
•Half of us went to art and the other half of us worked on adding to our classroom maps.
•We used our math binders for the first time and shared our math thinking with the class (photo above).
•We enjoyed another chapter of Poppy during read aloud.
•We had music.
•We chose new class jobs.
Friday, August 31
•We had fun during our first Choice Time as we created, built, cooperated, gardened and collaborated with each other (photos above).
Thursday, August 30
•I enjoyed getting the chance to sit down with so many of you today during our check-ins. I heard from the guest teacher (AKA substitute) that the students were great. Wonderful to hear, of course, but not really surprising.
•Today was photo day! Above is a behind-the-scenes shot of the big day.
Wednesday, August 29
•We increased our independent reading stamina by two minutes (photo above).
•We took photos for our birthday board (photo above, photo credit to Alena).
•We worked on a little something that you will see at Back to School Night. Mark your calendars for THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13 5:30 - 6:45.
•We started a spelling assessment.
•We started a math assessment.
•We refined our list of possible class pets.
Tuesday, August 28
•We recorded our independent reading on a reading log for the first time.
•We completed our Second Day of Second Grade books.
•We finished our first sprints in math today.
•We continued our talk about getting a class pet. Today, a few of us made our case regarding why a certain type of animal would make the ideal class pet.
Monday, August 27
•We had our first session of Readers' Workshop and read books in pairs (photo above).
•We had PE.
•We talked about the possibility of having a class pet this year! EXCITING!
•Nico lost his first tooth today! EXTREMELY EXCITING!!!! (photo above)
•We learned (or reviewed) a few important math tools and strategies that we will be using this year. Tens Frames, Number Bonds, saying numbers "The Ten Way," and quick tens was what we focused on today.
•We created full body self portraits (photo above).
Friday, August 24
•We played the cooperative game Broken Circles (photo above).
•We learned how to do a morning greeting (photo above).
•We read Owl Moon and Poppy.
•We played tug of war in PE.
•We used our attendance magnets for the first time.
Thursday, August 23
•We played "Milling to Music" as a way to share information about the summer with each other (photo above).
•We hosted a special guest who told us about how she uses revision, or using one's own mistakes to get better in the future, as a cook (photo above).
•We worked on creating our nameplates.
•We started Poppy which is our first read aloud.
•We talked about our first day feelings.
•We got to go on a walking tour of Edna Maguire.
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