The First Week of School

I may be biased, but I'm pretty sure that I got the best of the bunch with my students this year!  Parents, it's obvious that you've done a wonderful job with your child.  Every one of them is polite and they are already working really hard!
In Reading we are working on how to choose "Good Fit" books, practicing our silent reading stamina (Did you know that 2nd graders are supposed to be able to read silently for 20 minutes by the second half of the year?), how to read with a partner, library rules and what kinds of questions good reader's ask themselves.  I'm excited that most of my students already have a love of reading!  I can't wait to foster that love and see it grow even more this year!
In Math we've already reviewed patterns and are working on modeling whole numbers and starting to talk about place value.  I'm also informally assessing the kiddos with flash cards to see where they're at with their math facts.  It seems that most of them know HOW to add and subtract, but we need to work on our recall speed (how fast we can remember the facts, without counting on our fingers).  This is probably one of the most difficult and time consuming things for them to master.  Parents, if you could help them practice their math facts at home it would really help out a lot!  I've always bought the cheap $1 flash cards from Dollar Tree and made a game of it.  If you could pick up an addition and subtraction set to practice at home, they'll be ready to move right along!
We've had some fun brainstorming topics to write on and have started keeping a "Writing Journal".  It is from here, that we'll pull completed work from to share, here, on our classroom site.  This will help students understand and practice the writing process (brainstorming, prewriting, editing, and publishing).  They are super excited that they will have  a chance to see their work online and share it with you!
This year lunch is a little different.  Teachers are now eating lunch in the cafeteria with their students.  I'm using this as an opportunity to share and model appropriate table manners.  In social studies, we've been talking a lot about making good choices and manners.  We haven't had the opportunity to do much in Science this week, but next week will start our interactive "Science Journals".
All in all, it's been an exciting and productive first week!