This Week...

Reading Workshop
Students are learning about choosing "Just Right" books.  When a book is "Just Right" a student can read and comprehend the story missing no more than 1-3 words per page.  When readers choose "Just Right" books they become better readers and are able to read for longer and longer periods of time.  We'll begin using Workshop Plans this week to move through a series of center activities designed to help students become better readers and writers.

Writing Workshop
We have been using our Memory Collections and studying the work of writers like Vera Williams to help us begin to write Small Moment stories.  Students are learning that a Small Moment story is something that happened to them that gave them big strong feelings.  We are learning to write these stories in a way so that readers can imagine being there.

Math
We have been reviewing concepts of counting, time, and money.  Math homework began going home last week.  Your child can expect to bring home math homework Monday-Thursday.  Homework is a repetition of the work we completed in the classroom that day and should be returned to school the following morning.
 

Monarchs and Migration

As part of our study of life cycles we have been observing a Monarch caterpillar in our classroom.  We were surprised to find yesterday morning that the chrysalis looked different--it had turned from green to clear and we could see the butterfly inside.  Just before lunch our Monarch emerged from the chrysalis.  The first picture shows what our butterfly looked like just after hatching.  The second picture show what it looked like just a few hours later.  What differences do you notice?

Mitchell is a Responsive Classroom School

The Responsive Classroom is a general approach to teaching, rather than a program designed to address a specific school issue. It is based on the premise that children learn best when they have both academic and social-emotional skills. The Responsive Classroom approach consists of a set of practices that build academic and social-emotional competencies and that can be used along with many other programs. These classroom practices are the heart of the Responsive Classroom approach:

• Morning Meeting—gathering as a whole class each morning to greet one another, share news, and warm up for the day ahead
• Rule Creation—helping students create classroom rules to ensure an environment that allows all class members to meet their learning goals
• Interactive Modeling—teaching children to notice and internalize expected behaviors through a unique modeling technique
• Positive Teacher Language—using words and tone as a tool to promote children's active learning, sense of community, and self-discipline
• Logical Consequences—responding to misbehavior in a way that allows children to fix and learn from their mistakes while preserving their dignity
• Guided Discovery—introducing classroom materials using a format that encourages independence, creativity, and responsibility
• Academic Choice—increasing student learning by allowing students teacher-structured choices in their work
• Classroom Organization—setting up the physical room in ways that encourage students’ independence, cooperation, and productivity
• Working with Families—creating avenues for hearing parents’ insights and helping them understand the school’s teaching approaches
• Collaborative Problem Solving—using conferencing, role playing, and other strategies to resolve problems with students

As we work together to build our classroom community you may hear your child talking about activities or procedures in our classroom that are part of Responsive Classroom.  For example we start our day each day with a Morning Meeting where we greet each other, participate in an activity or song, and share news with each other.  We also worked together to create classroom rules and have used Interactive Modeling to practice our rules.  Students are learning that when we forget the rules that Rest and Return is a place to go in our classroom to regain self control and handle mistakes in a positive way.  One strategy students have used to regain self control is to take 3 deep breaths.  Each student then decides for him/herself when they are ready to rejoin the group.  You can find more information about Responsive Classroom at http://www.responsiveclassroom.org

After talking about our hopes and dreams for 2nd grade we worked together to create our classroom rules.  When we work together to follow our classroom rules, we'll all be able to do our best learning this year!

Notes from the Media Center

Want to Volunteer? Join the Media Center crew! We have a need for volunteers to help with classes during the day, to shelve books, and to cover books with contact paper at night. If you are interested in helping out, please contact Anne Reader at reader@aaps.k12.mi.us, or sign up online here: https://sites.google.com/a/aaps.k12.mi.us/media-center/parents/volunteer 

Memory Collections

Today we read Wilfrid Gordan McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox.  We learned that writers write about events in their life that give them strong feelings.  We'll be using our memory collections next week to help us begin writing our own small moment stories.

First Days

Our first days have been full of fun and excitement as we meet new friends and learn about new classroom routines.  We have started each day with a morning meeting where we have learned to greet each other in a friendly way and share a laugh as we learn new activities.  Ask your child to share the shark song with you they learned this morning!

Each day your child will bring home a take home folder with notes, homework, and work from our classroom.  Please check this folder each day and return to school in the morning.  I will also check this folder each morning for any notes from home.  Tomorrow your child will be bringing home a letter telling you more about Memory Collections.  We will use these collections to learn about each other as well as ideas for our first writing unit.  Check your child's folder to learn more about this project.

Welcome Back!

Welcome to a new school year!  Excitement is high at Mitchell and so are the expectations for learning.  I look forward to learning with you.  Together we can accomplish so much!

Mark your calendar!  Curriculum Night is Tuesday, September 11th  at 6:00 p.m.