2nd Grade Article #1
Waldman Newsletter #1
Second Grade
Welcome!
Dear Parents,
Welcome to the 2010 school year! I am excited to be teaching second grade this year, and also returning to a familiar grade level that I have previously taught at TES.
Please review the Parent Packets that I handed out at our Open House as the materials describe the second grade curriculum in detail. As there is substantial information in there, take your time in the exploration process! Feel free to ask questions, for further clarification.
The most important aspect of resuming a new school year, is our building of a secure community that supports our children as unique individuals, and learners. The first few weeks of school will be dedicated to curricular experiences that in addition to building skills and knowledge, unifies the children as classroom learners. Following the establishment of classroom rules, and routines, we will establish strategies for classroom “helping hands”(jobs); learning centers; literacy, math, science, and social studies, and expressive arts activities; and Wetland visits.
Searching.............
Monarch butterfly and Monarch caterpillar
We are earnestly in search of a Monarch caterpillar that we can observe in our classroom as it moves through its life cycle from the caterpillar stage, to the chrysalis, ultimately transforming into a newly-emerging butterfly. The caterpillar may be found exclusively on the milkweed plant. If you are lucky enough to find one, we would love to follow its evolution. Thank you!
Curriculum
Our second grade curriculum is strongly driven by the Vermont Framework of Standards and the Vermont Grade Level Expectations, in all curricular domains. In addition, our OESU Supervisory Union has curricular guidelines that we follow, coupled with TES principles and the learning interests that our children and families reflect on a daily basis.
As we begin the school year the Primary teachers will be assessing our students in an effort to determine their literacy needs as spellers, readers and writers. In addition, we will be observing their math skills, and other academic proficiencies so that we can design a classroom curriculum that is attentive to their individual learning needs.
Literacy
Last year our first grade classes promoted children's writing skills by immersing them in a wide variety of mentor literary texts so that they could be explosed to acclaimed children's writers and their respective crafts. By exploring nonfiction, poetry, and diverse book formats, they in turn published books that resembled those prototypes. The children in turn, "mentored" those writing characteristics in an effort to advance thweir own writing skills. Katie Wood Ray, full-time writer and researcher of children's writing, is currently in the forefront of the early childhood education field, addressing the study of writing craft. She inspired our writing work last year, and this year, having recently returned from a five-day summer institute with her, at Lesley University, I am excited to apply on her most current research during this school year.
Through her research question, “What if children were introduced to key qualities of good writing in the context of illustrations?” Katie compiled research in her most recent book, In Pictures and In Words; She discovered that when students read picture books, they are searching for connections between words and illustrations in order to make meaning of the text. Therefore, by encouraging children to illustrate their writing, she is trying to make the connection that both writing and drawing are tasks that are based on generating meaning, composed by two different but interrelated tools. Ray believes that both processes should be encouraged to positively impact children’s writing.
Author Study: Elisha Cooper
Our first author study will feature books written by Elisha Cooper
Elisha is the author and illustrator of Beach, Ballpark, Country Fair, California and Off the Road. He uses watercolor paintings to illustrate his books and the pictures are often inspired by his real life trips driving around the country and by the sights and sounds of the places he visits. As the children examine his books and try to decipher why and how he created the illustrations that he did, they too will have the opportunity to experiment with the use of text and pictures together.
As we begin our daily Writer’s Workshops, our focus for the first few weeks of school, is encouraging the children to develop two types of writing stamina; the stamina for being able to sit for increasing periods of time in order to write; and the stamina to work on an ongoing writing project over time. As illustration work helps to support the development of writing stamina, it makes good sense to cultivate young writers to make deliberate observations and decisions about their drawings as well as their writing craft.
Wetlands
The Zebedee Headwaters on Houghton Hill Road provide a wildlife habitat which is the basis of our school's Wetlands curriculum for second graders. In walking distance from the school, it provides a year-round opportunity to explore a local habitat the home for a wide variety of plants, trees, animals, insects, and pond-life. It serves as an excellent prototype for an interdisciplinary curriculum unit, with strong ties to our literacy and arts curriculum. The wetlands unit is largely based on place-based learning opportunities so that most aspects of the unit occur in the habitat, with follow-up activities in our classrooms. The children's regular observations, writing, and drawing opportunities, emerge from their engagement in hands-on experiences related to mammals in their natural habitats; the changing of the seasons; the life cycles of trees, plants, and animals; predator-prey relationships; weather changes; the water cycle, and the food chain.
I will be modifying this web page one or two times a month as new information evolves. Please feel free to contact me by stopping by the classroom, calling me during school hours, and/or dropping me a note. I am excited to be working with you and your children as the new school year starts, and look forward to working together with you, on their behalf.Please join me in welcoming Ashley Mousley, a former Kindergarten student of mine (!) who will be interning with us through the Upper Valley Educator's Institute, and Cheryl Paine, who has been my loyal colleague for many, many years!
Sincerely,
Joanna