The Day We Met Our Reading Buddies...

What an exciting day it was on Friday! We met our reading buddies--Mr. Tullis' 4th/5th grade combination class. For a getting-to-know-you activity, the students interviewed each other. We'll take the interview and do a writing project out of it. This page will also be included in their 2nd grade memory books (which they will take home at the end of the school year).

A Visit from Students at Treasure Mountain

This past Wednesday, students from a Treasure Mountain speech class came to read children's books to us. It was fun to see how engaged the 2nd graders were with their reading.

Spelling City

Spelling City is an amazing site you can go to for spelling practice. (See link to the right.) All you have to do is type in 5, 10, 15, or all of your spelling words, press "play a game" and it will give you access to many games to practice those spelling words. You can also access the site from McPolin's homepage (internet links). We practiced using Spelling City in the computer lab this past week.

Beat the Calculator

We completed Unit 1 in math last week. Unit 2 focuses on addition and subtraction. Today we reviewed the +0 and +1 facts and then played Beat the Calculator. For this game, there are 3 people in a group: Brain, Calculator and Caller. The Caller calls out a simple addition fact (from a fact table in our workbook). The Calculator must use the calculator to solve the problem and the Brain can only use his/her brain to solve the problem. This game really puts an emphasis on "fact power." By the end of 2nd grade, students should be automatic in their recall of facts up to 10+10. This would be a great family game for home.

Buddy Sorts

We use a word study program called Words Their Way. To help us practice our word study words, we do a variety of activities.
Monday-sort and write into our word study notebook
Tuesday-draw and label
Wednesday-write words into sentences
Thursday-buddy sorts

During a buddy sort, one student reads the words and the other student sorts them into the correct pattern. Then the students switch roles. Included in the homework packet each week is your child's word study list. A buddy sort would be a great activity to do with your child.

Below are photos of students doing buddy sorts: