Community Mural Painting

Last week we were invited downtown to help with a mural painting that will go up in the community.  The students helped to prep the canvas that the colorful mural will be painted on.  Once we arrived the students were introduced to the artist who is designing the mural.  They then were equipped with brushes and set to work! 

Red Ribbon Week

This week the Lanesboro Elementary students will be recognizing Red Ribbon Week.  The focus in grades K-2 will be on ways to keep our bodies healthy and safe.  I've listed the dress up days below as a reminder:

Monday: "Red Out Day"  Wear read to show support for Red Ribbon Week
Tuesday: "Be a Hero, Be Drug Free"  Patriotic Theme (camo, red/white/blue)
Wednesday: "Team Up Against Drugs, Alcohol, and Tobacco Use" Favorite team apparel theme
Thursday: "Surf the Drug Free Wave" Hawaiian theme
Friday: "Your Choices are the Key to Your Dreams" Pajamas theme

What Turns You into a Crankenstein?

This week we read the funny book "Crankenstein" by Samantha Berger.  This story takes you through many examples of  what makes the main character very cranky.  At the end, the reader is surprised to find out the main character is just a normal little boy!  We shared stories and examples of what makes us cranky.  The class shared examples of long car rides, taking out the garbage, or wanting a toy that is too expensive.  We used our ideas to put together a class book.  Each student came up with a main idea and three details to support that idea.  We're still finishing up our writing, but we finished making our Crankensteins yesterday.  They turned out great!

Odd and Even Math Monsters

On Friday we combined our art skills with our math skills to make odd and even math monsters.  In 2nd grade we've recently reviewed and learned about the difference between odd and even and what odd and even numbers end in.  Each student had to make a unique monster with at least 4 odd body parts and 4 even body parts.  They had so much fun with this while practicing their math skills!

Daily 5

We use the structure of Daily 5 for our reading block.  This structure teaches the children to make independent work choices that help them grow as readers and writers.  In 2nd grade we have 3 rounds of Daily 5 every day. I meet with a group of students or individuals during each round to work on reading skills and strategies, writing, phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension.  When not meeting with me, the students choose from read to self, read to someone, work on writing, word work, or listen to reading.

Each choice was introduced slowly at the beginning of the year with an emphasis on building habits to help make us as successful as possible.  We revisit these expectations often of staying focused, working quietly, and reading or writing the whole time.

Our Daily 5 block opens up each morning with a read aloud in which we focus on a skill or strategy for the students to be using and practicing in their own reading.  We are currently working on word attack strategies to help us work through tricky words in text.  A few examples are "Chunky Monkey" which means to look for chunks in the word you may know or "Pattern Parrot" which means to look at the unknown word carefully to see if there is a spelling pattern we've learned.

The students are doing a fantastic job in Daily 5.  They are excited about books and reading!  There is nothing that makes me happier than students rushing up to me with a book they just have to share, or to tell me about making it through a tricky word, or that they finished a story they've worked really hard on!

At the beginning of the year the class learned about shopping for books in our classroom library.

 The students love partner reading!

 Within a few weeks the rest of our choices were introduced.

We are Bananas for the Burros!

The students were so excited for Homecoming today!  Arriving in Burro colors and filled with school spirit, they couldn't wait to start the day!

We began the day with decorating cupcakes and a pep fest in the gym.

During gym they did face painting, and they were set for the parade!

They could hardly wait to get on that parade route!

Thanks for coming to support us as we were "Bananas for the Burros!"

Doubles Rap

We performed our Doubles Rap yesterday!  The class had so much fun with this, and it's a great way for us to practice our doubles facts.  Check out our video below.