August 31st- September 4th

Writing

This week we will begin our writer’s workshop! We will learn all about writers, what they write, and where they get their inspiration. We will practice some brainstorming and storytelling strategies, and work on writing a personal narrative! Our focus this week will be writing in complete sentences and using correct punctuation. We will work to make sure our stories have a clear beginning, middle, and end.

Reading

It's a great week to learn how to pick out a "Good Fit" book. We'll explain IPICK and how it helps students choose a good fit book for themselves.

I choose a book.

P urpose-Why do I want to read it?

I nterest- Does it interest me?

C omprehend- Am I understanding what I am reading?

K now- I know most of the words.

Students will be introduced to their classroom library and learn how to use their book boxes and chose books. Students will also learn 2 ways to read a book: 1-read the words and 2-look at the pictures. We'll practice reading independently and work on building our stamina for 3-5 minutes of silent reading, then challenge ourselves to read longer.  We’ll discuss goal setting and what independent reading time should look like and feel like. Students will share their favorite places to read and the books they love.  Our focus for students will be how to become the kind of reader they want to be in their life.

Math

It’s graphing galore this week as we learn about tally charts, bar graphs, and pictographs. We will graph our lucky charms marshmallows, graph the colors of our M&Ms, and graph the class’s favorite lunch item. We will learn the parts of a graph and the meaning of the word data as well as ask and answer questions about our graphs. There will be a short assessment at the end of the week to check our learning.

In order to make our lessons fun and engaging, we are in need of a few items. If you can bring any of the following, please let me know!

2 Boxes of Lucky Charms

24 individual bags of M&Ms- the small, Halloween sized bags

Here is a website of some fun graphing games to practice at home: http://interactivesites.weebly.com/graphing.html

Social Studies:

We will spend this week learning how to think like a historian.  We will spend time learning about the past, present and future.  We will look at our community in the past and in the present.  We will also spend some time researching a historical figure as a group and and making a timeline of their life.

Science:

This week we will be thinking like scientists.  We will learn all about science tools, science safety and the scientific method.  We will show what we have learned on our “Me as a Scientist” poster. We will also have a science contract that we bring home to sign with our parents before a final science experiment at the end of the week.

Reminders:

No School: September 7

Open House: September 14- 6:30pm

Early Release Day: September 23

Welcome to Second Grade

Welcome to Second Grade! It is going to be a great year!

First, a bit about me: If you've been at Caraway, you might know me as Ms. Hoveland.  I am getting married at the end of September and decided to start the year with my new name! Bear with me through a few months of name changes and new email addresses.

I grew up in Dallas and then moved to San Antonio to attend Trinity University. I graduated with a bachelor's degree in Spanish and decided to pursue my love of teaching with a master's degree. I stayed at Trinity for another year and attained a master's degree in teaching. Shortly after graduation, I moved to Austin. I substituted for a year and was lucky enough to find a home at Caraway! This will be my fourth year teaching second grade and I feel so blessed to be part of such a wonderful community. The students, families, and staff make Caraway a fabulous place to work!

I am so excited your child is in my class this year. I know it's going to be an amazing year of exploring, learning, and laughing. I look forward to working with each of you to better teach your child. I view teaching as a gift and I look forward to coming to work each day! In my classroom I value the idea of community and work really hard to build a strong, loving relationship with each student. It is my goal that each student leaves my classroom with an awakened sense of curiosity and a life-long love of learning.

For the first week of school, we will be doing lots of community building activities and implementing procedures. To start the year off in math, we will be creating graphs using information about us, such as a birthday bar graph and favorite candy pictograph.

I will regularly update this blog with information for the upcoming weeks. Be sure to check here frequently! I have also included our daily schedule and our classroom wish list for your information.

Looking forward to a wonderful school year! See everyone on Tuesday, August 25th!