A Blizzard of Compound Words!

    Our room has been taken over by compound word snowmen!  In Fundations, we have learned what a compound word is and that there are A LOT of them!  We each chose one compound word we knew and created a snowman.  We now have a blizzard of 24 compound snowmen around the room!

We predict....

Our class is officially expert predictors!  In a recent post, we mentioned how we have been learning to make predictions based off pictures and words in the books we read.  There are different ways we can start a prediction.  Some examples are, "I predict...", "I'm thinking....", "I think this will happen because...".  We read three great books and paused and predicted along the way: The Inside Tree, Just A Dream, and Buster.  

Here we are using our predicting clipboards during the book, Just A Dream.  

More pausing and predicting...

Read Aloud: The Mouse & the Motorcycle

This is A.S. and L.O. as your bloggers! The charactors are Ralph, Keith, Uncle Lester, Matt, mrs.

Gridley, Mr. gridley. They are at the mountain view  inn.  Ralph meets a boy named Keith who has a motorcycle and Ralph loses the motorcycle when he was chewing the pillow cases because he thoght it would be better to save himself.  

November/December Busyness!

Well, time is officially flying by!  We have been extremely busy working on so many things.  Take a look at what we have been up to...
Reading - We have been spending a lot of time learning what it means to predict.  Both the pictures and words can help us decide what may happen next in a story.  Predicting is a skill we will continue to practice all year long, so make sure to do some at home too!

Fundations - Two-syllable words are our focus for unit 5.  We are learning how to break down these types of words syllable-by-syllable in order to help us spell them correctly.  Compound words are the other concept we're working on.  Just like two-syllable words, we break compound words down by each small word before spelling the entire word.

Social Studies - Maps have been a lot of fun to learn about with Mrs. Kosky.  We are even finding ourselves on the map!  We are learning what different maps look like and how to read them.

Writing - We just finished how-to writing but definitely had a good time with it.  Some of us are still writing different how-to's in our author's notebooks.
Now, we are learning what the difference is between facts and opinions.  We've been sharing/posting different opinions and have done several fun group activities.  We are practicing this a lot, because after break we will write our first opinion writing.  Stay tuned for more on that.

Math - Word problems, word problems, and MORE word problems!  Each math class is working on addition and subtraction word problems.  We have learned the different key words for both and the steps to reach an answer.

Exploring Recipes

To continue practicing "how to" writing, we have been exploring recipes.  Everyone received an iPad and made a list of at least six recipes explored.  We had to read through the recipes and pay close attention to the details given. Looking at all of the delicious recipes made us very hungry but really showed us what our soon-to-be recipes should look like!

A Turkey Dinner

The last couple weeks, we have been learning how to write "how to's".  We learned that in order to write a "how to", there has to be a lot of details in the writing and the details need to go in order.  We read "How to Microwave Popcorn" for some practice before starting our own "how to".

While none of us have ever cooked a turkey (just taste tested), we shared what we did know about cooking and how turkeys look and taste on Thanksgiving.  With that information and a sprinkle of  our imaginations, we turned into 24 chefs!  The final pieces of "How to Cook a Turkey" turned out great, and it looks like there will be some help in the kitchen this year on Thanksgiving!

HALLOWEEN FUN!

While it may have been a week or so ago, we are still talking about Halloween!  Our classroom was full of costumes of all kinds!  Everyone did a great job disguising themselves as someone new for the day.  The parade was cancelled, but our party was not!  It was a blast!  We had delicious snacks, spooky music, and great games to play!  Thank you parents for your hard work in making the party a success!

What we have been up to....

Well time is definitely flying by! We have been so busy wrapping up first quarter and trying to get as much done in this three-day week as possible, that I have forgotten to update about things.  Here are some tidbits about each subject over the last week or so.....

Reading-  We have continued to work on sequencing stories during listen to reading, guided reading, and our own personal reading time.  It has become easier for us to decide what the beginning, middle, and end is with all of the practice!

Fundations- Our class is now working through unit 4 which focuses on adding suffixes to base words.  While this was a little confusing at first, we seem to get better each day.  The suffixes we know so far are:     -ing, -s, -es, -ies, -ed.  Be sure to work on the take home packets over a two-week span.

Science- We are wrapping up solar systems with Mrs. Schulz this week and moving onto a new science/social studies teacher soon.  We have learned many fascinating facts about the solar system and seem to want to learn more and more!  *Check out our Kid Blog to see all of the great information we know!*

Writing- Our second personal narratives are complete and have been placed in our writing binders!  For this personal narrative, we had to think of a small moment that gave us a big feeling.  Some stories were about being excited about a new sibling while others were about being nervous for a recital.  They all turned out fabulous!

Math- We are working very hard to become more independent with counting money and writing it correctly.  Telling time to the nearest five-minute is our other main focus over these next few weeks.  Both of these skills can be practiced at home easily.

Our Read Aloud: The Boxcar Children

This is L.G. and J.M.  The charters are Henry,Jessie,Violet,and Benny.  There parents are no longer alive and they live in a boxcar. They make it there home in very creative way. They go to a dump  to get plates, cups, spoons, and forks. Henry works for a docter named Dr. More. Then Henry went to a race and won. Henry's Grand father was there and Henry did'nt  know. Then Dr.more tolled there Grandpa then the kids lived with him.

Writing Process

In writer's workshop, we are learning the steps of the writing process: prewrite, draft, revise, edit, and publish.  While we will not always go through this process for our work, we will definitely do it several times in second grade.  After drafting our personal narratives and revising them, we finally worked with our writing buddies Friday for the editing step.  Each buddy was in charge of looking for correct spelling, capitals, and punctuation in their partner's story.  The best part?  Using a red pen!  Monday, authors will take their corrected stories and publish them onto new paper with an illustration.  Start looking for writing binders to come home in the upcoming weeks!

Pajama Day 10/25

Last Friday, learning and working took place in our pajamas and slippers!  This is because we had our link chain touch the floor!  Whenever we work together, get a 5 in specials, or receive a compliment from another teacher, we add a link.  We were very proud of ourselves when we saw the chain finally go from the top of the door to the floor.  "Hoorays" and cheers filled the room!  To decide what special reward we wanted, we took a vote and pajama day was the winner.  Here are some great pictures of our day...

Number Hunt

In math, we have been working very hard on place value and the different ways to write a number. On Thursday, Miss Lolling's math class went on a Number Hunt!  There were 30 cards hidden around the room with numbers in either standard, word, or expanded form.  Every detective had to find 15 cards or more and fill in the place value chart.

Adjective Cartoons

Last week, we learned how to use adjectives in our writing to add more detail and excitement.  It helps readers visualize what is happening in the story.  To practice using adjectives, we made a list of words that describe us.  Then, we drew a cartoon of ourself and surrounded it with ADJECTIVES!  Take a look at our awesome adjective cartoons....

Our Read Aloud: Gooney Bird Greene

This is ZK and FR!  The main character is Gooney Bird Greene. This takes place at Water Tower

Elementary school.  Gooney Bird told absolutely true storys to her class and Mrs.Pigeon.  Gooney Bird tells
the class and Mrs.Pigeon how she got her name.  Our class 119 told each other how we got our names too.
Gooney Bird moved to WaterTower Elementary school in the first place, then LOTS of interesting things
happed when Gooney Bird was around people. The book Gooney Bird  Greene is a good example
for lots of small moment writing.
Your bloggers ZK and FR.

Happy Walk to School Day

All of McDole took part in the national Walk to School Day this morning!  It was a beautiful morning and getting some exercise before school even started seemed to wake us up.  It was wonderful to see everyone together and having some fun!

Career Days

The last several weeks, we have been learning about the importance of having a job and what it provides for ourselves and the community.  Monday and Tuesday, we were lucky enough to have parents come in and tell us about their real jobs!  We had such a great time!  Take a look...

Pharmacists need to know A LOT about science!

Physical therapists work in clinics, nursing homes, and even come to your home. 

L.G. checking out some tools of a PT.

School nurses stay really, really busy!

Physical therapists also need to know ALL about our different body parts like our muscles, joints, and bones.

Whoa!  Check out that vertebrae!

Firefighters have to wear a lot of special gear.

Some of us got to try it on!

THANK YOU parents for helping to make Career Days a success!

Fun Run

Last Friday, we had a blast at Fun Run!  We all tried our very best to run for the WHOLE hour!  While it looked like rain all day, it never came down.  It was the perfect temperature- not too hot and not too cold. We were also very thankful to have our new water bottles from PTO, because we definitely needed some water when we were done!  

As a school, McDole students ran a total of 1, 239 miles!  Can you believe that?!  That is about 2.5 miles per student.  Way to go second graders!

Our Read Aloud: Henry Huggins

This is A.J. and B.C! today we are going to talk about Henry Huggins. 
this is a book about Henry and his dog Ribsy. The auther is Beverly Cleary. There are a lot of other Henry Huggins books and most of then include Beezus and Ramona. The main charter in this book is Henry Hugins.  Henry Huggins is a boy in the 3rd grade and  he does not have the best of luck. this story also takes place at klickitat street and also sometimes at school. The charcters are Henry, Ribsy, Scooter, Ramona, Beezus and Henrys parents.
your kid bloggers,
A.J. and B.C.

Good Readers Make Connections

This week, we brushed up on our connecting skills.  Good readers try to find ways books remind them of things in their own lives to help better understand the story.  To practice this, we read A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever by Marla Frazee.  It was about two boys who stay at their grandparents house while going to camp all week. We had many good laughs while reading it and were all able to think of one connection!

We all made one connection to the story and stuck it on the chart!

Here are our connections a little closer...

Author Share Preview

We had our first Author Share Day this week!  On Author Share Day, volunteers have the chance to stand in front of their classmates and read a story they have been working hard on.  It can be one that is finished or one still in progress.  We were very impressed by all of the talented authors in room 119!