Highlights of the Week

We had our first inside recess this week and found all kinds of fun things to do with our friends.

Inside recess fun

These second graders played with animals and dolls.

During one math lesson we explored our Reference Books, which we can use as a tool during math work.

Students read and used a big book called Insects to find information to answer a question in their scientist's notebooks.

The young mathematicians are impressing Mrs. Pols with their ability to visually name numbers on these "Quick Look" cards.  They can also explain their strategies very well!

In another math lesson students practiced counting by 2s starting at 80.  We often use slates to record our work and thinking.  

We enjoyed an insect safari in the beautiful sunshine on Thursday.  Students used a recording sheet and clipboards to look for a variety of insects and insect-related items (insect homes, leaves eaten by insects).  The kids found a lot and we had a great time! 

We used insect cards to help us practice drawing and labeling insects and their body parts.

During writing workshop these writers spread out in comfy spots to work on their current pieces.

This writer is working on going back to her story to edit for punctuation; a big focus of our lessons this week!

One young lady brought in this cool rock and secretly got all the kids to sign it for me.  It's GREAT!  What a nice surprise!

Each week I post our learning targets in each area and we refer to them as we begin and end lessons.

We continue to use master author, Jane Yolen's beautiful book, Owl Moon, to help mentor us in our own writing.  We focused a lot on her beginning pages this week.