Synthesis Superheros

We did some GREAT synthesizing during reading today! We were synthesis Superheros!




We learned that when we synthesize, we change our thinking as we read more of the story. We should always be stopping to think when we read.
We had a great time practicing this strategy today!




















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I'm Not a Turkey!!

Today we had a great time participating in another video conference.  The students watched the short video below about a turkey who doesn't want to be eaten on Thanksgiving.  Check out the video!

Then, the students met with their groups to make a turkey and create a costume for their turkey. (the costume was another animal.) They also wrote clues about what animal their turkey was dressed like.  During the video conference, we read our clues and the other class had to guess what the turkey's costume was.  This was so fun! I think everyone had a great time!  The kids did a great job with their turkey costumes and clues!

 

 

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Raz Kids

Your child is now signed up to the use the Raz Kids reading site. I sent home their username and password this week. Look for it in their folder!
We will also be using Raz Kids during our station time in class.

www.raz-kids.com

 

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Another Great Week!

This week we were using the Activexpressions to "tweet" in a morning message. We also texted in some synonyms and antonyms.





We are also using the iPads in class to write character traits about ourselves. We used the Skitch app.




Great job Brianna!

Another fun activity was using the Waterford program to learn about synonyms and antonyms.





It was a very BUSY but great week!



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What's New?

Last week we had fun at our picnic lunch on our early release days. (Thank you parents for coming to meet with me! I enjoyed talking to all of you.)

















We also started using the Successmaker program during stations to work on reading skills.

We are also using Raz Kids in class. You can use this at home too. More information to come this week!




We are still "tweeting" about our favorite things from the week, but now I am choosing one to tweet out and share FOR REAL. The class is very excited about this! I also tweet other activities that we do throughout the week. You can see some of our tweets on the TV in the school office!




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Monster Exchange

Before Halloween, we had the opportunity to participate in the Monster Exchange Video Conference. We made a monster and wrote our directions to describe how to make it. We then emailed our directions to another second grade class at Thomas Elementary so they could try to make our monster! We had the chance to meet the other class through video conferencing. We shared our monsters and compared them. We had a great time with this!










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Wonderful Writers!

Everyone has been working so hard in writing! We have been writing small moment stories and fixing them up. Last week we chose our best small moment story and published it...like a real author!

Everyone had the opportunity to meet with their writing partner to get ideas about how to add to their story or fix it up.







We had a publishing party to celebrate the awesome writing. Everyone read aloud parts of their published story. The stories were added to our class library so everyone can enjoy!


















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THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Thank you parents!  I really appreciate you taking the time to check our class blog and sign up for a conference time.  I look forward to meeting with each of you. 

I also want to thank you for your generous donations for our grade level basket for the Fall Festival.  We really appreciate your support!  I hope to see you all at the  Fall Festival on Friday!

Thank you!

Parent Conferences

It is almost time for our first report cards to go home!  Hard to believe!  I would like to set up a time to conference with every parent to go over the report card and any other testing information we have completed so far this year.  Parent conferences are scheduled for Thursday, November 1st and Friday, November 2nd.  (These are also early release days.  Dismissal time is 11:30.) Please click the link below to go to a google doc and sign up for a conference time that works for you. You will need to type your child's name in the day/time slot that works best for you.  Please do not sign up for a time in the gray areas. (I am taking a break during those times to eat!) 

I look forward to meeting with each of you!

 

 

Parent Conference Sign Up

"Tweeting"

This class loves to tweet! We have been tweeting every week on our bulletin board by the classroom. This week we took it a step further and used our Activexpressions to "tweet" in our morning message. This was a big hit! I loved reading their tweets!








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Writing Workshop

The class has been working so hard in writing workshop! We paired up with our writing partners to share ideas and help each other STRETCH out our small moment stories.







We have some GREAT writing going on!

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ActivExpressions!

This week we had a great time using the ActivExpressions. We can use them to vote on answers or even text in our own answers! They are pros at texting...look out!

We used them to study our word sorts for the week and our new world wall words for the week. First, we wrote the answer on our desk and then we texted in our answers! So much fun!












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Mental Images

This week we are talking about really reading carefully and listening to what the author is saying to get a mental image of the story in our head. We started off by using our "visualizing tubes" to really zoom in and notice the details of things we see every day. We then talked about how to do that when we read! We are having a great time with this! The kids are doing so well with it!














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Remind 101

Don't forget to sign up for Remind 101 to receive reminder text messages from me. If you need more information about this, please email me and let me know!

Classroom Connection

Parents,
If you haven't signed up for Classroom Connection, please click the link below to sign up.  Classroom Connection allows you to view your child's grades and attendance.  You will need your child's student ID number.  If you need help with that, please let me know!

Classroom Connection

Word Work

We have started working with words in class!  We practiced reading them, sorting them into word families, spelling them, and using them in our writing.  You can do these activities at home too!  Click on the link below to view a page with word work ideas.

Word Study Ideas

 

 

Off To A Great Start!

We are having a great time getting to know each other and learning together!

This week we were learning about metacognition. (thinking about our thinking when we read.) We used our big thought bubble to practice! It was a lot of fun!




We also used our Twitter bulletin board to "tweet" our thoughts about the first few days of school.




Another fun activity was when we were able to share our thinking by writing ON our desks with MARKERS! This was exciting and so much fun! (Thanks Ms. Patterson for that awesome idea!)
















What a great start to the school year! We have some great thinkers in our class!,
I hope to see everyone at open house on Tuesday, September 11th at 6:00!

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Welcome To Second Grade!

Welcome!

I am new to Velasquez Elementary, so I thought I would introduce myself to you!

Here's Me~ Mrs. Wagner :)

Here's some information about me:

I  grew up in South Dakota.  I am married and have 2 kids. My daughter Alayna is almost 9 and my son Brayden is 6. 

Here they are:

Here are a few of my favorite things:

I love to read...all the time!  I love to take pictures. I love chocolate.  I also like naps! ;)

I'm excited to be teaching at Velasquez!  I have been teaching for 13 years.  I taught first grade for 10 years, and second grade for 3 years.  I LOVE second grade!  I also love to teach reading and writing. I'm excited to start a great school year.  I know we are going to learn a lot and have a great time.  I will use this blog A LOT throughout the school year to share information and fun stuff we are doing in class, so check back often!