October is coming to an end and what better way to end this month than with a day to celebrate our favorite book character? Students chose their favorite book and dressed as a character in the story. They practiced public speaking and introduced themselves and explained their characters and books to an audience of parents. Everyone did an amazing job!

Students have also been hard at work learning different spelling patterns. Lately, they have practiced words that have long vowel spelling patterns. One fun way students remember these words and patterns is to practice writing them using shaving cream.

YAY! We finally made it to the St. James school library! We read “Ruby the Copycat” together and then everyone got to choose a book they wanted to take back to class. We keep the books for one week and share them with each other in the classroom, then we return them to the library to exchange for new books. Each week students get their hands on 17 different pieces of literature!

Pets rats! OH MY! Khloe brought a few of her pets to school for the class to observe for the day. We had lots of fun watching them run on their wheel and even climb on Khloe’s shirt! Each student got to pet the rats if they chose to do so and most of the class loved it!

Students have begun to research an animal of their choosing. They are responsible for finding information on their animal’s diet, habitat, and predators. They will write an informational piece to share what they have learned.

Exciting things have happened in the last couple of weeks in class. We had some special animal visitors: Frank and Honey Bunny came to visit second grade at recess! The class loved getting to pet the bunnies and ask questions to Mrs. Jennifer.

Second grade is working hard to learn new spelling rules. We practice using dry erase boards during our dictation lessons. During workshop we have used place value file folder games to strengthen our knowledge of base ten numbers.

Last week we counted to 1,000! This is always an excellent hands-on experience that provides concrete, visual evidence of our base ten mathematical system. Students must problem solve the most effective and efficient way to count an enormous pile of straws. They decided to count by groups of ten which lead them to the understanding of units of 10. Then, they learned to group 10 tens together to make 100 and so on. We also learned a new game called “Roll for 50”. Students take turns rolling dice to be the first to reach 50. Each time they roll they must put place value blocks on a 100-flat and exchange ones for tens.

In PE each day this week students worked with a partner to learn the dynamics of Birdie. In this game students work on gross motor coordination and hand eye coordination to hit a small birdie back and forth.

Students are currently learning how to use different tools to measure and estimate. This week we used centimeter cubes and a strategy called “mark and move forward” to estimate and accurately measure various classroom objects.

We’re also learning about matter and changes from heat. Students observed the physical properties of frozen and melted popsicles and gummy worms and balloons with and without air. We observed color, texture, shape, temperature and flexibility. After all that hard work we all needed a sweet treat!

At SJDS every class gets to participate in PE every day of the week! We are so lucky to have this activity in our daily schedule. Coach Nicole has been teaching our class how to master tying their shoes as a warm up before the real exercise starts.

Second grade has music class twice a week with Mrs. Wright. She taught the class each different class of instrument like percussion, brass, string, then students tried their hand at classifying them with an interactive game.

Welcome to second grade at St. James Day School! We are starting our learning adventures every morning with tactile tubs. Students enter the classroom, unpack their things and are given 15 minutes of time to play with various manipulatives. This quickly becomes a highlight of the morning and is an excellent opportunity to move our bodies before sitting down to listen and learn.

Second grade has also attended Chapel twice this year. During our chapel service we sing and learn a lesson from the Bible and Mrs. Susannah shares campus news.

Workshop began in second grade as well. During workshop students move about the room to various stations and practicing skills taught throughout the week. Stations currently include:

Listening & Media: Students get to listen to our weekly story and watch interesting videos that cover topics discussed in class.

Writer’s Workshop: Students respond to literature, illustrate vocabulary words, and use graphic organizers to develop writing skills.

Library: Students read books covering various topics and reading levels to practice and reinforce reading strategies.

Teacher Table: Students meet with me in small groups and we practice spelling sounds, math strategies and comprehension, and build relationships with each other.

STEM Fridays are also a class favorite. Every Friday we take what we have read and learned throughout the week and complete various experiments. We are currently learning about the physical properties of matter and how to classify objects into groups using color, shape, flexibility, texture and temperature. We investigated different cookie types and groups them based on their different or similar physical properties.