Patricia Polacco Author Study

In our school we start each year with a vertical author study on Patricia Polacco.  We all begin with her auto-biography, Firetalking.  Each grade level has chosen to read five or six books containing the appropriate content for that age of children.  In second grade, we watch the Reading Rockets video visit and enjoy reading Thundercake, Rechenka's Eggs, Natasha's Doll, Thank You Mr. Falker, and There's Something About Hensley's.  This week we concluded our study with a webquest.  In groups of four, the students searched three wesites for information about our author.  When all of the questions were answered, the children created a poster to share what they've learned.  Our last activity was to write Patricia Polacco a letter telling her what our favorite book of hers is and why, giving her a compliment, asking her a question, and pointing out something we've noticed about her work. At this point we consider her a friend and feel as if we know her.

Patricia Polacco Author Study on PhotoPeach

Picture Day

Today we looked our very best and waited anxiously to be called downstairs to have our pictures taken.  These photos will be in our school yearbook and perhaps twenty years from now will resurface in some form of social media bringing back memories of our childhood and elementary school days.  Say Cheese!  

Socks and Slipper Club

Do you complete all of your homework and turn it in on time?  If you do then Friday is your day!  Students can wear their socks or slippers in the classroom and relax if they meet our homework requirements.

Choosing Independent Reading Books

Each Friday we return the books from our independent reading bags and choose ten new ones for the following week.  We have loads of books in our classroom!  Students are encouraged to pick out a variety of genres.  Some favorites include fictional picture books, poetry, nonfiction books - particularly about animals or earth/space, Magic School Bus, and series chapter books - especially Magic Tree House or Junie B. Jones.  After filling their bags, the children get comfortable and read all around the classroom as you can see from our pictures.

Bullying Lessons

After reading this new book over the summer, Bullying Hurts by Lester Laminack and Reba Wadsworth, we've been following the lessons to show the children how alike we all are.  Now that we've entered into "Layer 2" we are reading books that show some differences.  Our kids were silent, hanging on every word and picture, as we read Ian's Walk by Laurie Leers and Karen Ritz, a story about two sisters and their younger brother who has autism.  Even though our students are only in second grade, there is no doubt that they "got" the point of the lesson as you read their comments on our board. 

 

Here are our awesome second grade adventurers!  We've only been in school for two weeks but we've already got our rituals and routines down.  We enjoy reading the books in our new classroom library.  As writers we are learning about personal narratives.  We're discussing the processes of science and tools a scientist could use.  In math we are interacting with our calendar and love humpdaaaayyyy!  Life at the Creek has never been so good!

The Adventures of Chet the Bear

This is our class bear, Chet. He travels home with our student of the week for an adventure. The kids in our class write about his week at their home in his journal. Sometimes they even take pictures and put them in his journal. Chet enjoys his time getting to know our kids families.