Language Arts

Friday, April 6th

 This is an example of a Moon poem we wrote as a class following the observations the students did of the Super Blue Blood Moon back in January.  First, we made the super moon with white cray-pas.  Next, we had a lesson using watercolor paints and brushes and blending colors for a night or early morning sky.  Once the paint was dry, we used black ink and made the trees starting from the bottom and stroking up.  Some children chose to make limbs alternating and others chose to make them curving up or down.  Lastly, we talked about what the moon is "doing" in the picture to elicit descriptive action words.  Children had to describe how the different elements in the picture (sky, trees, moon, and snow) interact with each other.  The final products turned out quite well.  These are still hanging in the hallway on the way to the second grade pod.

Six Word Memoirs Based on the read aloud, "The One and Only Ivan" by Katherine Applegate.

"Dodging a ball is sometimes hard."

"I am stuck in the middle."

 "Live, Love, Life, and Hope, Forever."


"Riding a motorboat makes me smile."

 "Chess makes my brain grow bigger."


"Own a very crazy pup, Astrid."





"Awesome little brother - Big marine brother."


"Dogs are friends, and mine's gone."

"I can never do without sleep."


"Cleaning with mom is really enjoyable."





"I see a story in music."


"My backpack is my worst enemy."

"It's hard being the only one."


"I miss my Dad so much."

"Girl, daughter, nature, sister, cousin. Forever."


"It's scary, but maybe big success."

"It is hard being the youngest."


"Once four, then there were three."





Friday, February 16th

 We will be focusing our attention on three different types of writing when we return from break.  Our hat writing project was the kickoff for informational writing, where the writer informs the reader on a selected topic, tells facts about that topic, stretches those facts with details, uses examples and linking words to connect the facts to each other, and provides a conclusion that wraps it up.  We will start a research project related to the NGSS Science Standards about quick and slow changes to the Earth.  Students will choose a weather even to research and write informational paragraphs about.  We will use an app called Shadow Puppets to publish their work in the end.  We've been doing a lot of prep work during Daily Five writing times where students have brainstormed small moments and important people, places, and events that can be retold in

 the form of narratives.  They will choose a small moment to write about using sensory details, action, and fancy words.  Finally, as a wrap-up to our Goldilocks unit, students will be introduced to opinion/persuasive writing.  They will respond the question,
 "Which version of Goldilocks did

 you like best and why?  They will provide at least 3 reasons to support their opinion and provides details for each reason and conclude their writing in a succinct way.  With all of these types of writing, we encourage students to use interesting leads, a way to entice your reader to read on.  We will be looking at different picture book examples of the types of leads that second graders are capable of using successfully in their writing.  They are often very fond of the question and Est/Best/Most leads.

Conclusions are the hardest thing for second graders to write, no matter what type of writing they are doing.  With this reference poster in yellow, available for students, we hope they will choose one that makes the most sense.

During our Goldilocks unit we used venn diagrams to compare and contrast different versions of this popular fairytale.  We also talked about the meanings of the words, "cause" and "effect" in literature.  The children were able to understand that the cause is why something happens and the effect is what happened.  We identified lots of cause and effect relationships in both versions, as well as in our ongoing chapter book read aloud, "The One and Only Ivan."

After break we will finish our moon paintings and poems and we will display these on Seesaw and also in the hallway of the school on the right, as you are headed towards the classroom.

And finally, when we finish reading, "The One and Only Ivan" students will each write a six word memoir.  This book is an excellent example of varying chapter lengths and how just a few words can convey such a powerful mood and meaning.

In spelling we are moving into learning syllable division rules, reading and spelling multisyllabic words, more work with vowel teams, silent-e syllables, and more practice with adding suffixes to base words.

Be sure to check out SeeSaw for a glimpse at our class book on non-fiction text features and students' Scratch computer programming projects.

Friday, January 12th

We have been extremely busy in Language arts over the last two weeks.  Daily 5 is up and running with all activities.  Students use their name magnets to select an activity to do each day and keep track of what they have completed throughout the week on a Daily 5 cards using a marker.  The words written in black on each purple activity poster are the things for students to do during the week.  Sometimes, there will be reminders for expectations so that they become more independent, rather than being reminded or asking what to do.

Read to Self - this is a time where students read independently, their good fit books and practice reading strategies necessary for accurate and fluent reading, where they should understand who the story is about and what is happening. Up until this point, read to self has been just reading, but as we are learning how to retell stories, students will be asked to choose one book or chapter a week to do a reading response for.

Read with Someone - this is the most recently introduced activity where two students sit together (EEKK - elbow to elbow, knee to knee) and share the responsibility of holding the book.  During this activity, a lot of cooperation is necessary for success.  They have to decide where to sit, who's book to read first, how long each person is going to read, and remember to ask each other important questions to check for understanding.  And, they do all of this with a whisper voice!  As of now, reading material is student chosen, but as we begin looking at non-fiction books, students will be reading National Geographic Explorer and Time for Kids magazines, as well as Newsella articles.

Word Work - students practice skills learned in Fundations lessons, as well as other skills woven in throughout the school year.  This might look like sound, word, and sentence dictation, word sorting, games, and worksheet practice.  This is often done in small groups with guided practice, but sometimes completely independently.

Work on Writing - we have been working on developing writing ideas through heart maps, topic lists, and seed idea books.  Now, students are selecting small moments and writing about them in detail by including sensory details (the author shows what's happening instead of just telling).  I tell the class that it is the writer's goal to put his or her reader into the story so they are experiencing all the sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and textures that the characters are experiencing.  We are reading many picture books that demonstrate sensory details, identifying places within those texts where rich details are provided and placing those passages on our sensory details wall.  Along with small moment writing, students might also be working on weekend journal writing, written comparisons of stories, writing opinion or informational pieces, or continuing to brainstorm writing ideas.

Listen to Reading -  ipad use is typically a highlight for students.  They use the Epic app to select a, "read to me" story to listen to.  Some stories are shorter, while others are longer depending on the topic and type of book.  Hearing the voices of other readers is important in learning what fluent reading sounds like.  Also, it allows students who may have a harder time decoding the words enjoy the story, so that comprehension is mastered.

Wednesday, December 6th

In the picture below, you will see four of our five Daily Five activities listed on the board, and colored cards with student's names.  Everyday except Wednesdays, students participate in one or more of these activities.  The cards are rotated after 25-30 minute stations are complete.  This week we also started to compare and contrast different texts.  In the picture to the right, you will see two versions of

the story Stone Soup.  The class particularly enjoyed the one called, Cactus Soup, which takes place in a town in Mexico.  We compared and contrasted the characters, settings, sequence of events, and many of the small details. They also did a great job noting the moral of the story.  

In the remaining pictures below, students work in group and solo activities to practice adding suffixes to base words.  They have learned when to double the final consonant in a base word before adding the suffix, when to take away the silent-e before adding the suffix, and when to use an -s versus an -es to make words plural.  

In the suffix spin activity, students spin to get a suffix and then choose a base word.  They determine how to spell the word correctly using the rules they have learned.  They use a Vis-a-vis marker to complete ten words with suffixes.


Work on Writing - Second graders have made Heart Maps and Writing Topics lists to keep in their writing folders.  They thought about the people, places, experiences, items, and memories that are near and dear to their heart that could serve as topics for independent writing.  They choose a topic, write about it in detail, using descriptive words and sensory details.  We will be reading some mentor texts after vacation that model sensory details.  Students will learn to recognize words that show how characters think and feel, and what they see, hear, and smell.  As writers, it is important for students to "show" what's happening instead of "tell."

Word Work - As we continue with our Fundations units, we will also use the activities designed for home practice in small group work.  Word activities will involve paper and pencil work, activities like the ones shown in the pictures above, as well as games to reinforcement the syllable types.


Sunday, October 29th

We just completed Unit 2 in Fundations.  In this unit, we learned about r-controlled vowels pictured on the left, glued sounds (ex. ang, unk, ong, ing) and practiced spelling words with bonus letters (ex. spill, dress, stuff).  We will begin unit 3 this week, so look for a letter explaining the upcoming unit in the home practice folder tomorrow.  When extra practice activities are referenced in the letters, these will not be sent home, but instead completed in the classroom during word work stations.



Friday, October 20th

Here is a look at the expectations for Read to Self time in the classroom.  We made this anchor chart to refer to, in order to keep ourselves on task and in the act of reading the whole time.  The other anchor chart explains what Listen to Reading should look like.  This is another Daily 5 activity that students will be engaged in during the language arts block.  Students use an iPad and headphones, select the app called Epic, which is a library full of read to me, audio, and kindle style books.  During listen to reading time in class, students will use ONLY the read to me and audio books for the purpose of hearing fluent modeled reading and tracking to keep up with a reader's voice.  I sent home information about how you can sign up for Epic at home and have access to the same books.  Feel free to use the kindle style books in all genres.  I like this app because all students can access books that are of high interest, there are different levels, and often times students find a series or author that they fall in love with and their joy of reading is ignited.  Please let me know if you have any questions.


Monday, October 9th


For the past week or so, we've been learning how to effectively do "Read to Self," one of five language arts activities that the children will take part in once they are all up and running.  The goals of read to self are to be able to pick a good fit book, build reading stamina and be independent, focused readers.  We have worked our way up to 7 minutes of sustained read to self time where ALL students are focused the whole time.  As short as this may seem, it can often feel like a lifetime for young readers, especially if they haven't practiced something like this before, haven't quite found the right fit book or series to capture their attention, or learned to love to read for pleasure.  We will stop as soon as anyone is off task, as we want EVERYONE successful.  This experience is like exercising for the brain!  


Sunday, October 1st

This is our mantra for many situations.  From solving playground problems to sharing off topic comments, these are the reminders second graders will hear.











Thursday, September 14th

Towards the end of last week, we began our Fundations Program.  I was SO impressed with how much the students have retained regarding letter/keyword sounds and consonant digraphs.  We reviewed all consonant and short vowel sounds, identified consonant digraphs and where in words you will find each most often.  We now know to mark these with a single line underneath the two letters, as together they make one new sound.  The kids find it amusing that in the word "digraph" there is the digraph "ph."  We learned about 2 and 3 letter consonant blends, how to mark them using single lines under each consonant, as they still keep their same sounds, but blend together nicely when said together.  We are now in the routine of using magnetic letters and board to identify letters that represent sounds, as well as building words with digraphs and blends in them.  With the word of the day activity, students learn a word with multiple meanings, we discuss them, and brainstorm sentences using the word.  This is when we focus on handwriting, as we write the word and the sentence in their notebooks.  We skywrite the letters, pay attention to the sky line, plane line, grass line, and worm line, and try our best to show the neatest writing we can.