Monday, December 16, 2013
Class Party
This Friday we will have our class holiday party! The fun begins at 1:15. We will have snacks and watch a movie. If you would like to sign up to bring an item to our party, please click the link below. Thanks for your support!
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Synthesizing
Last week in reading, we were learning about synthesizing. I think everyone really got into it and understood what it was all about by the end of the week!
Synthesizing is...stopping to think about what we are reading and paying attention to how our thinking changes along the way as we learn more about the characters and the plot of the story.
This is what we learned:
We were so good at synthesizing...we were even Synthesis Superheroes!
On Friday, we took some time out to make some ornaments to help decorate the big tree in the library!
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Thanksgiving Research
We finally completed our research for Thanksgiving! The class was very excited because our final project was to create a presentation on the ipad.
We used this app called 30 hands! It's FREE!
Click the videos below to view their final projects!
Anastasia and Reese
Austin and Ashley
Julian and Jenna
Emma and Stephanie
Arnulfo and Kylee
Georgia and Kameron
Gavin and Giacomo
David, Cody, Sarah, and Aedan
Dezirae and Aaron
I'm Not A Turkey!
We had a great time before Thanksgiving break with the I'm Not a Turkey video conference activity! Ask your kids about it!
We first watched this short video about a turkey that doesn't want to be Thanksgiving dinner.
The class was split into groups and their job was to make a turkey and disguise the turkey as another animal. They also had to write clues about their turkey's disguise. They did a great job with this!
At the video conference, we met with another class from Thomas Elementary. We took turns reading our clues and guessing what the turkey's disguise was. This was so much fun! The kids loved it!
We first watched this short video about a turkey that doesn't want to be Thanksgiving dinner.
The class was split into groups and their job was to make a turkey and disguise the turkey as another animal. They also had to write clues about their turkey's disguise. They did a great job with this!
At the video conference, we met with another class from Thomas Elementary. We took turns reading our clues and guessing what the turkey's disguise was. This was so much fun! The kids loved it!
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Hard At Work!
The class is working hard to read as much as they can and take AR tests this nine weeks. Everyone is trying to reach their AR goal!
Library day is Wednesday, so I encourage the kids to read over the weekend and take their AR tests before we turn in our library books on Wednesday.
Popping Out Adjectives!
Last week we were hard at work learning about adjectives and how to use them to make our writing better. We even practiced using adjectives to describe popcorn...so of course we had to sample some popcorn!
This week we are learning all about prefixes and suffixes! The kids are learning how each prefix or suffix changes the meaning of words. If we know the meaning of each prefix or suffix, it will help us determine the meaning of unknown words when we read! Quiz your kids on this at home!!
Here's what we learned:
Have a great weekend and a great Thanksgiving Break!
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Library day is Wednesday, so I encourage the kids to read over the weekend and take their AR tests before we turn in our library books on Wednesday.
Popping Out Adjectives!
Last week we were hard at work learning about adjectives and how to use them to make our writing better. We even practiced using adjectives to describe popcorn...so of course we had to sample some popcorn!
This week we are learning all about prefixes and suffixes! The kids are learning how each prefix or suffix changes the meaning of words. If we know the meaning of each prefix or suffix, it will help us determine the meaning of unknown words when we read! Quiz your kids on this at home!!
Here's what we learned:
Have a great weekend and a great Thanksgiving Break!
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Friday, November 1, 2013
Monster Exchange and Making Predictions
This week was full of fun activities!
Monster Exchange
We started the week by creating a class monster and describing it. We sent our written description to another class at Thomas Elementary. Their job was to read our description and then try to create our monster. We met the other class during a video conference on Wednesday. We compared our monsters to see if they looked the same! I think we did a great job on our writing because the monsters were almost identical! This was fun! Ask your child about our Monster Exchange!
On Thursday, we dressed up in our Halloween costumes and did fall rotations. The kids were able to rotate to the other 2nd grade classrooms to do a fun activity! We also played some sight word bingo. This was a big hit!
Don't worry, we did a lot of learning this week! In reading, we practiced making predictions. We read the book Hey Little Ant and made predictions about how the story should end.
It was a busy and fun week!
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Monster Exchange
We started the week by creating a class monster and describing it. We sent our written description to another class at Thomas Elementary. Their job was to read our description and then try to create our monster. We met the other class during a video conference on Wednesday. We compared our monsters to see if they looked the same! I think we did a great job on our writing because the monsters were almost identical! This was fun! Ask your child about our Monster Exchange!
On Thursday, we dressed up in our Halloween costumes and did fall rotations. The kids were able to rotate to the other 2nd grade classrooms to do a fun activity! We also played some sight word bingo. This was a big hit!
Don't worry, we did a lot of learning this week! In reading, we practiced making predictions. We read the book Hey Little Ant and made predictions about how the story should end.
It was a busy and fun week!
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Red Ribbon Week Fun!
This was a very busy week, but VERY fun!
This week was Red Ribbon Week. We dressed up for every day!
We also decorated our door with a message about being drug free.
We are "toadally" drug fee!! We made some cute toads for our theme.
Of course we had to take a silly picture too!
We also had our author celebration. This is the day our authors share a little of their published stories. They were VERY excited about this! We have some awesome writers!
We also had our first nine weeks Den party for the LIONS!
I can't wait to see everyone at the fall festival this evening!
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
This week was Red Ribbon Week. We dressed up for every day!
We also decorated our door with a message about being drug free.
We are "toadally" drug fee!! We made some cute toads for our theme.
Of course we had to take a silly picture too!
We also had our author celebration. This is the day our authors share a little of their published stories. They were VERY excited about this! We have some awesome writers!
We also had our first nine weeks Den party for the LIONS!
I can't wait to see everyone at the fall festival this evening!
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Friday, October 18, 2013
Red Ribbon Week
This week we were busy COGAT testing in class. I'm sure the kids are tired of testing! They did a great job listening and worked very hard.
Next week is Red Ribbon Week at Velasquez. You will see some information about this in your child's folder. I wanted to post it for you here as well.
Next week is Red Ribbon Week at Velasquez. You will see some information about this in your child's folder. I wanted to post it for you here as well.
Monday: Red Ribbon Kickoff Day
WEAR RED
Tuesday: "Follow Your Dreams, Don't Do Drugs"
WEAR PAJAMAS AND SLIPPERS
Wednesday: "Put a Cap on and Sock it to Drugs"
WEAR A CAP AND SILLY SOCKS
Thursday: "Black Out Drugs"
WEAR BLACK
Friday: "Team Up Against Drugs"
WEAR FAVORITE TEAM JERSEY OR SHIRT
Friday, October 11, 2013
Visualizing
This week we were working on visualizing when when we read....getting a mental image or picture in our head. We did some fun activities to learn about this strategy!
We used our "visualizing tubes" to zoom in and look closely at all the details....just like we should be doing when we read!
We also did a fun activity with mystery object bags. The class could only feel what was in the bag. Then, they had to draw their mental image and write the details that helped them figure out what the object was.
Our final visualizing activity today was with poetry. We read some poems by Jack Prelutsky and underlined all the text evidence that helped us with our mental image. We then drew our mental images.
We used our "visualizing tubes" to zoom in and look closely at all the details....just like we should be doing when we read!
We also did a fun activity with mystery object bags. The class could only feel what was in the bag. Then, they had to draw their mental image and write the details that helped them figure out what the object was.
Our next acitivity was to listen to a story with a lot of details...without looking at any of the pictures from the book! Then, we drew our mental images and compared them to the pictures in the book! They did great!
Our final visualizing activity today was with poetry. We read some poems by Jack Prelutsky and underlined all the text evidence that helped us with our mental image. We then drew our mental images.
Ask your child about the activities we did this week!
It was a great week!
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Working Hard!
This week we have been working hard! We are learning how to infer when we read.
We also practiced inferring by pretending we were detectives. We had to figure out who was missing their slipper!
We are also having a lot of fun using the Would You Rather game to journal in the morning. So fun!
Another fun tool that we use every week is the ActivExpressions! The ActivExpressions allow the students to text in answers or vote on answers. The answers show up on our Promethean board. We love these!
I am looking forward to another great week next week! Have a great weekend!
We have a fun inferring song that we practice every day!
We also practiced inferring by pretending we were detectives. We had to figure out who was missing their slipper!
The class had to answer these two essential questions this week:
1. Why do reader's infer?
2. How do reader's infer?
Ask them these questions at home!
If they get stuck, look at this!
We are also having a lot of fun using the Would You Rather game to journal in the morning. So fun!
Another fun tool that we use every week is the ActivExpressions! The ActivExpressions allow the students to text in answers or vote on answers. The answers show up on our Promethean board. We love these!
I am looking forward to another great week next week! Have a great weekend!
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Parent Conferences
Parent Conferences will be the week of November 4th. I will be available for conferences on Monday, November 4th and Tuesday, November 5th. Please click the link below to sign up for a conference time.
I look forward to meeting with you!
Thanks!
Another Great Week!
We had a very busy week with a lot of learning!
Check it out!
Read to Someone Station
Singing our song about Schema!
Sharing during writing workshop.
*We also went to library this week. Our library day is Wednesday, so don't forget to bring library books back every Wednesday to return and check out a new one!
*We will also be doing AR in second grade. Please encourage your child to read their library books and then they can come to school and take a comprehension test on their story. We are keeping track of how many AR points they earn as well as how many 100% they receive on a test.
Friday, September 6, 2013
Good Fit Books
Last week we learned how to choose good fit books. Here's the rules we are using to help us choose good fit books!
We are also using the 5 finger test to help us choose books. This test lets us know if the book is too hard, too easy, or just right for us! (a good fit)
Use these strategies at home to help choose good fit books to read! Don't forget to read EVERY NIGHT!!
Here's the 5 finger test:
Use these strategies at home to help choose good fit books to read! Don't forget to read EVERY NIGHT!!
Friday, August 30, 2013
Classroom Expectations
I think we had a GREAT first week of school! Now that we have all settled into our back to school routine, I wanted give you some information about our classroom expectations.
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If you would like to download and print these handouts, please click on the link below.
***If you would like to see our lunch time, please click on the tab at the top of the page that says class schedule.
***The calendar tab at the top will show you our class calendar. It lists what specials we will go to for the day, our library day, as well as any other important events.
***Please consider signing up for Remind 101. I will use this tool to send out important reminders about school events. You can choose to get a text message or an email. The directions are below.
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Please feel free to email me with any questions you have. My email is: jwagner@lcisd.org
***If you would like to see our lunch time, please click on the tab at the top of the page that says class schedule.
***The calendar tab at the top will show you our class calendar. It lists what specials we will go to for the day, our library day, as well as any other important events.
***Please consider signing up for Remind 101. I will use this tool to send out important reminders about school events. You can choose to get a text message or an email. The directions are below.
Have a GREAT weekend!
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