Hello Fall

Tactile Tubs are still a huge hit for second graders each morning. Now that we are deep into our learning, schedule and routines, we have implemented familiar reading tubs into our morning fun. Before a tactile tub can be chosen students have to read from their familiar reading tub for 5 minutes. They have learned to quickly tell time to with the minute hand and are reading 2/3 books before we start our day.

We have experienced the beautiful fall weather during recess this week. St. James Day School playgrounds offer many different play experiences.

Recently we have studied early Asian civilizations and read a folktale about a magic paintbrush. We used our artistic abilities to paint what we would want to come to life if we had a magic paintbrush.

Investigations in science included how heat and light energy can change the way things appear. We left butter in the sun for 20 minutes and recorded the changes we saw from heat energy. We also tried to guess the color of construction paper with the absence of light energy.

Do you know how many ten dollar bills are in $1,000? We do! Second graders used words, drawings, and numbers to solve this problem.

Second graders were invited to Middle School to view their Renaissance Era Presentations. We learned all about the caravel, a small ship from the 15th-17th centuries, the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling, and Da Vinci’s inventions. Did you know your arm span is almost the same number of inches as your body’s height?

Second graders put their sense of taste to the test when trying three different kinds of juice without using their sense of sight or smell. Let’s just say, grape juice sounds better than it tastes and we won’t be tasting juice any time soon.

Small group learning is a huge part of our classroom environment in second grade. You’ll hear second graders talk about math and reading groups on a daily basis. This time during the day is used to hone in on specific learning topics, application of what we know, and intervention of skills that are tough. Small groups are my favorite time of the day because we get to have all the fun with manipulatives and different learning styles tailored to each students needs. Saint James is the place to be!