Building Our Classroom Community:)

Our first week together was just that...filled with a lot of 'firsts'!!

Everyone came in dressed their best in their "back to school" outfit with a big smile on their face! I know in their little hearts they probably had the 'first day jitters', but I couldn't tell at all. :) No sad faces or tears! After unpacking and trying to organize supplies we were able to get our day rolling...
Our first bit of time together was spent getting to know each other. They shared one thing that made them a "Super Second Grader"...it could be because of what they want to be when they grow up or their favorite subject or what they like to do for fun...anything...I left it open for them so they felt comfortable sharing something that we would remember about them.:)
The rest of our day together was spent going over rules and procedures...not the most fun thing to do, but a definite MUST. They all seemed to like having just two rules to follow...Be Respectful and Be Responsible.:) When our BIG first day was coming to an end I took pictures of their first day in Second Grade.:)

 

Here are some other fun activities we did to build our classroom community this week...

 

We spent some time thinking about what 'kind' of smart we are after reading a paragraph on each kind. We learned that some of us are Nature Smart...some are Number Smart...some are Art Smart....or....Body Smart...or...Word Smart...no matter which smart we are, we learned that we are all SMART! On a paper they finished a sentence that they got...some of them had to write something they are good at....some had to write something they like to do...then we stapled them together one by one to create a class chain. This was showing them that no matter our differences we all are connected together as a 'family of learners' this year.

 

 

Another first week activity that I LOVE is the 'camping trip' activity. First, they were given a list of items that they could take on a 2 night camping trip. They could only choose 5 items. Then, they had to get in a group and share their five items. Their group had to decide on only 5 items to bring. Last, we came together as a class to decide on the 5 items that we could bring. I love listening to their reasons why we need each item. Somehow cookies and soda made our first class list of 13 items before we were able to debate each other and agree on 5 essential items to bring. :) When our activity was over, Chloe wanted to know when we were going to go camping! I could tell they all really enjoyed the activity and I know if we could all go camping together, we would have a great time!

 

This is their list of items to choose from. They also got a bag of 'Smores' Goldfish as their take-away for the day.:)

 

Here they are in their groups doing some debating on which items are the MOST important...

 

 

When the groups presented I kept a list on the board of the items that they came up with. We ended up with 13, but we had to work together to narrow it down to ONLY 5 :)

Another fun activity that we did together this week was this one...

I put them into groups and gave them two dice and told them to play. I didn't give them any directions or rules for the game. It was so interesting seeing them just start rolling the dice and coming up with their own set of rules and directions. Some students did not want to do anything with the dice because I didn't tell them how to play. After a few minutes of them making up their own rules and directions I called them all together and we talked about why we have rules and why they are important. They thought it was a fun way to see that rules really are needed so we know what to do and to make sure we are at learning at school everyday.:)

 

Here are some pictures of them playing their 'dice game'. :)

 

 

 

On Friday's they get to read with a classmate. Around December we will start Buddy Reading with Mrs. Black's kindergarten class, but until then they can read with a classmate. I love seeing them reading and learning together! They each have so much to offer each other! :) They had to earn this privilege this week by reading independently and showing me they have the STAMINA that is needed during 100 Book Challenge. :)

 

Here are some pictures of them reading together...

 

Another fun activity we did was graphing skittles as we practiced being Mathematicians! We spent a few math lessons talking about how to be mathematicians. Before the first lesson started they told me what they thought a mathematician was. Many of the responses were..."someone who is really good at math"...."like a scientist is in science, but a mathematician is in math because they can do math good"....then we went over a check-list to see what makes a mathematician. They soon realized that they are all mathematicians because they use strategies, think things through, come up with different solutions to the same problems, etc. :)

 Here are some pictures of a fun mathematician activity where they got t enjoy some sweet Skittles after doing their research.:)

My absolute favorite activity from the week comes after reading "Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge" to them. PLEASE read this book if you haven't...it is wonderful!!! After sharing what a memory is we read the book to see what the characters in the story think a memory is to them. Then, in their journals they wrote special memories that they have that match what the characters said a memory is. For example, one character said that a memory is something that makes you cry, so they wrote down a few sad things that they remember...another character said that a memory is something that makes you laugh, so they wrote down some funny memories. The closing activity is a homework assignment where they are given a bag and they are to put three items in the bag that represent special memories that they have. They have to do a writing piece on each item...why it is special to them and what it reminds them of. Then, on Friday they presented their Memory Bags to the class. :)

 

Here is a picture of each child with one of their 'memory items'...

Another activity that we did this week was trying to decide what kind of teacher they wanted and what kind of students I wanted. They wrote their ideas on a sticky note and added them to our anchor chart. Then, I wrote down ideas that I had of what kind of students I want. Next, we read "Get Ready for Second Grade, Amber Brown" and as we read we paid close attention to the teacher and the students in the book. Then, we added some words or phrases that we thought about after reading the book. Last, we signed our name on the anchor charts as a promise to give each other what we expect this year.:)

 

Check back with us next week to see what kind of memories we made. :)