Welcome!

 Second grade is such an exciting year! It is so rewarding to see how much second graders will grow, both academically and socially.  There are many things I love about teaching, but one of my favorites is the relationship that I get to build with my students AND their families!

    This will be my 22nd year teaching in Oak Park. I started my career here and could not imagine being anywhere else.  I have two kids of my own, so I know how important it is to teach with the whole child in mind. Social skills are just as important as academic skills and we will be working hard at both this year. My daughter, Emmy, is a junior at Lyons Township High School. My son, Charlie, is a freshman!    As we move through the year, please know that I am always available through email and am happy to answer any questions you might have. My email address is: lpelling@op97.org. 


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Week of: March 20

 Upcoming Dates:

March 27-31 - Spring Break - No School
April 3 - Field Trip to The Museum of Science and Industry-(pack a nut-free lunch in a disposable bag)
April 4 - Teacher Institute Day - No School for Students
April 7 - No School - Non-Attendance Day
May 29 - Memorial Day - No School
June 9 - Last Day of School

*Italics are repeated from last week's blog.
Reading: We will be continuing with our reading unit: "Bigger Books Mean Amping Up Reading Power". This unit will focus on building reading fluency, understanding literary language, tackling longer books, and goal-setting. This week we will start to learn about "literary language", including: comparisons, invented words, and figurative language. The kids will zoom in on comparisons and try to figure out what the author really means. We will also work on writing complete answers to questions about our reading using the R.A.C.E. Strategy. You can click here to learn more about the RACE Strategy. 

Writing: We will continue our writing unit: "Writing About Reading".  This is actually a unit on opinion writing and using evidence to support our opinions.  This week we will learn that writers write with a specific audience in mind and think of ways to reach that audience.  We will also use a checklist to set goals for ourselves as writers.

Math:  This week we will continue with our math module, Module 7: "Problem Solving with Length, Money, and Data".  This week we will focus on coins and recognizing the value of different coins and how to add up coins to find the total. We will also work on solving word problems involving coins and bills. Finally, we will learn to solve word problems involving different combinations of coins with the same total value.

Social Studies/Science:  We will continue our learning about having a growth mindset all year long. However, we are also working on a social studies unit about the History of Technology.  Last week we continued with our science unit: "Pebbles, Sand, and Silt".  This unit focus on earth science and studying earth materials.  This past week we learned about what happens to rocks when they get wet.  The learned that running water is another source of weathering.  We have also continued to learn the locations of the 50 states.  This past week we added PA and DE to our growing list of states!   
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Week of: March 13th

 Upcoming Dates:

March 27-31 - Spring Break - No School
April 3 - Field Trip to The Museum of Science and Industry (more info. to come)
April 4 - Teacher Institute Day - No School for Students
April 7 - No School - Non-Attendance Day
May 29 - Memorial Day - No School
June 9 - Last Day of School

*Italics are repeated from last week's blog.
Reading: We will be continuing with our reading unit: "Bigger Books Mean Amping Up Reading Power". This unit will focus on building reading fluency, understanding literary language, tackling longer books, and goal-setting. This week we will learn that "dialogue tags" can help us to read with more expression. We will learn that fluent readers match their voices to the meaning of the text. Finally, we will work on our reading pace, making sure we are not reading too fast or too slow. We will also work on writing complete answers to questions about our reading using the R.A.C.E. Strategy. You can click here to learn more about the RACE Strategy. 

Writing: We will be starting a new writing unit: "Writing About Reading".  This is actually a unit on opinion writing and using evidence to support our opinions.  We will learn that writers are often inspired by their reading and we will reach out to others with opinions and ideas about characters. We will learn to use conversations with others as ways to plan for our writing.  We will also learn to use the pictures in books to help us form the opinions that we want to share in our writing.

Math:  This week we will start a new math module, Module 7: "Problem Solving with Length, Money, and Data".  This week we will focus on data and graphing. The kids will draw and label picture and bar graphs as well as answer questions based on the given data.  Finally, the kids will be solving word problems using data presented in a bar graph. Towards the end of this week we will start to think about coins and working with coin combinations.

Social Studies/Science:  We will continue our learning about having a growth mindset all year long. However, we are also working on a social studies unit about the History of Technology.  Last week we started a new science unit: "Pebbles, Sand, and Silt".  This unit focus on earth science and studying earth materials.  This past week the kids did a great job taking lab notes and also exploring volcanic rocks.  They learned about the properties of rocks and also the idea of "weathering".   We have also continued to learn the locations of the 50 states.  This past week we added RI and CT to our growing list!   
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Week of: March 6th

 Upcoming Dates:

March 27-31 - Spring Break - No School
April 3 - Field Trip to The Museum of Science and Industry (more info. to come)
April 4 - Teacher Institute Day - No School for Students
April 7 - No School - Non-Attendance Day
May 29 - Memorial Day - No School
June 9 - Last Day of School

*Italics are repeated from last week's blog.
Reading: We will be starting a new reading unit this week: "Bigger Books Mean Amping Up Reading Power". This unit will focus on building reading fluency, understanding literary language, tackling longer books, and goal-setting. This week we will learn that reading aloud can help the in-our-head reading voice as well.  We will also practice scooping up words in phrases and noticing punctuation marks.  Finally, we will learn that "dialogue tags" can help us to read with more expression.We will also work on writing complete answers to questions about our reading using the R.A.C.E. Strategy. You can click here to learn more about the RACE Strategy. 

Writing: We will be starting a new writing unit: "Writing About Reading".  This is actually a unit on opinion writing and using evidence to support our opinions.  Next week the kids will take a pre-writing assessment.  Then we will learn that writers are often inspired by their reading and we will reach out to others with opinions and ideas about characters.

Math:  This week we will wrap up our math module, Module 4: "Addition and Subtraction Within 200 with Word Problems to 100".  This is a huge module that covers several different strategies for adding and subtracting larger numbers. We are going to spend some time reviewing what we have learned in class.  Towards the end of the week we will start our new math module, Module 7: "Problem Solving with Length, Money, and Data".  This module starts with analyzing graphs and data.

Social Studies/Science:  We will continue our learning about having a growth mindset all year long. However, we are also working on a social studies unit about the History of Technology.  We have continued our social studies unit: "The History of Technology".  This week the kids will continue to share the interviews that they did over Winter Break.  They will learn how technology has changed over time!   We have also continued to learn the locations of the 50 states.  This past week we added MA to our growing list!  Ask your child about Chef MIMAL's "Massive" fishing hook!  
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Week of: February 21st

 Upcoming Dates:

Feb. 20 - President's Day - No School
Feb. 20-24 - Black History Week - Click here for more info.
March 27-31 - Spring Break - No School
April 4 - Teacher Institute Day - No School for Students
April 7 - No School - Non-Attendance Day

*Italics are repeated from last week's blog.
Reading: We will continue with our reading unit: "Studying Characters and Their Stories". This unit is all about characters and studying how they change and grow.  The students will be making lots of inferences and predictions in this unit! We will also work on writing complete answers to questions about our reading using the R.A.C.E. Strategy. You can click here to learn more about the RACE Strategy. This week we will work on how to summarize when we finish reading a whole story or book.  We will also begin working on discovering, and writing about, the "central message" in the books and stories that we read.  

Writing: We will be continuing our writing unit: "Writing Gripping Fictional Stories". This unit is all about character and plot development.  The kids always have so much fun making up their own characters and stories! This week we will start to wrap up our stories and think about how to make good endings.  We will also spend a lot of time sharing our work and doing independent writing.  "Publishing" day is coming soon! :) 

Math:  This week we will continue our math module, Module 4: "Addition and Subtraction Within 200 with Word Problems to 100".  This is a huge module that covers several different strategies for adding and subtracting larger numbers. Next week we will work on solving addition problems with up to 4 addends!  We will work on finding ways to make 10 and doubles to help with this task.  We will also switch back to subtraction and work on using number bonds to take from 100.

Social Studies/Science:  We will continue our learning about having a growth mindset all year long. However, we are also working on a social studies unit about the History of Technology.  We have started our new social studies unit: "The History of Technology".  This week the kids will continue to share the interviews that they did over Winter Break.  They will learn how technology has changed over time!   We have also continued to learn the locations of the 50 states.  This past week we added NY and NJ to our growing list!  Ask your child about Chef MIMAL's "New Yorkie" and the cool new basketball "Jersey" that he's wearing! 
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Week of: February 13th

 Upcoming Dates:

Feb. 20 - President's Day - No School
Feb. 20-24 - Black History Week - Click here for more info.
March 27-31 - Spring Break - No School


*Italics are repeated from last week's blog.
Reading: We will continue with our reading unit: "Studying Characters and Their Stories". This unit is all about characters and studying how they change and grow.  The students will be making lots of inferences and predictions in this unit! First, we will learn about character traits and how to "stop and jot" to make predictions. We will also work on writing complete answers to questions about our reading using the R.A.C.E. Strategy. You can click here to learn more about the RACE Strategy. This week we will learn how to jot about characters that have more than one feeling at a time. We will also learn the difference between "outside" traits and "inside" character traits. Finally, we will work on finding evidence it our books to prove character traits.

Writing: We will be continuing our writing unit: "Writing Gripping Fictional Stories". This unit is all about character and plot development.  The kids always have so much fun making up their own characters and stories! This week we will will work on editing out stories. We will also work on using transition words to make out stories more smooth and organized.

Math:  This week we will continue our math module, Module 4: "Addition and Subtraction Within 200 with Word Problems to 100".  This is a huge module that covers several different strategies for adding and subtracting larger numbers. Next week we will use manipulatives to represent addition problems with regrouping in both the tens and hundreds places. We will also learn to use math drawings to represent these new groupings. We will be learning to relate the manipulatives and drawings to the written method ("carrying the one").

Social Studies/Science:  We will continue our learning about having a growth mindset all year long. However, we are also working on a social studies unit about the History of Technology.  We have started our new social studies unit: "The History of Technology".  This week the kids will begin sharing the interviews that hey did over Winter Break.  They will learn how technology has changed over time!   We have also continued to learn the locations of the 50 states.  
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Week of: January 30th

 Upcoming Dates:

Feb. 6-10 - Parent/Teacher Conference Week (11:00 dismissal on Thurs./Fri.)
Feb. 20 - President's Day - No School
March 27-31 - Spring Break - No School


*Italics are repeated from last week's blog.
Reading: We will continue with our reading unit: "Studying Characters and Their Stories". This unit is all about characters and studying how they change and grow.  The students will be making lots of inferences and predictions in this unit! First, we will learn about character traits and how to "stop and jot" to make predictions. We will also work on writing complete answers to questions about our reading using the R.A.C.E. Strategy. You can click here to learn more about the RACE Strategy. This week we will learn how to set goals for our reading as well as our "Stop and Jots".  A Stop and Jot is a note-taking strategy that we use in 2nd grade. The students use post-it notes to jot down their thoughts while reading. We will also work on making predictions about the characters in our books!

Writing: We will be continuing our writing unit: "Writing Gripping Fictional Stories". This unit is all about character and plot development.  The kids always have so much fun making up their own characters and stories! This week we will be a ver exciting week because the kids will get to start the first drafts of their stories! We have been spending the first part of this unit in the "planning phase".  Now that our characters are developed, we have a setting, and a problem and solution...we're ready to go! We will also work hard on how to write a good lead to hook are readers from the very start of our stories. 

Math:  This week we will continue our math module, Module 4: "Addition and Subtraction Within 200 with Word Problems to 100".  This is a huge module that covers several different strategies for adding and subtracting larger numbers. Next week we will be working hard on subtracting two-digit numbers.  We will be working on situations with and without regrouping.  Regrouping is when you need to borrow from the tens place before subtracting.  This can be a challenge for the kids at the beginning.  We will work with manipulative and place value drawings.  It is important for them to know why it works instead of just teaching them the"rule" about subtraction. 

Social Studies/Science:  We will continue our learning about having a growth mindset all year long. However, we are also working on a science unit about the States of Matter: Solids, Liquids, and Gases.  We have switched from focusing on solids to now focusing on liquids. This week we explored how liquids change in different containers.  We have also continued to learn the locations of the 50 states.  This past week we added one more state to our growing knowledge of the 50 states: WY.  Ask your child about "ManTan's" body and what he is saying because he really doesn't like doing the dishes! 
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Week of: January 23

 Upcoming Dates:

Jan. 23 - Technology Interview Due
Jan. 26 - Opera for the Young - assembly at school
Feb. 6-10 - Parent/Teacher Conference Week (11:00 dismissal on Thurs./Fri.)
Feb. 20 - President's Day - No School
March 27-31 - Spring Break - No School


*Italics are repeated from last week's blog.
Reading: We are starting a new reading unit this week: "Studying Characters and Their Stories". This unit is all about characters and studying how they change and grow.  The students will be making lots of inferences and predictions in this unit! First, we will learn about character traits and how to "stop and jot" to make predictions. We will also work on writing complete answers to questions about our reading using the R.A.C.E. Strategy. You can click here to learn more about the RACE Strategy. 

Writing: We will be continuing our writing unit: "Writing Gripping Fictional Stories". This unit is all about character and plot development.  The kids always have so much fun making up their own characters and stories! This week we will be developing our characters and giving them their very own character traits. The kids will also work on developing the setting for their stories. Finally, we will think of problems and solutions for our stories!

Math:  This week we will continue our math module, Module 4: "Addition and Subtraction Within 200 with Word Problems to 100".  This is a huge module that covers several different strategies for adding and subtracting larger numbers. Next week we will continue to work on representing addition problems with place value drawings and making new tens.  We will also be starting to do the same thing with subtraction and breaking apart a ten to make 10 ones.  We all remember this as "borrowing".  Will start to think about this topic using manipulatives.  It is important for the kids to understand why it works before memorizing the subtraction rules. 

Social Studies/Science:  We will continue our learning about having a growth mindset all year long. However, we are also working on a science unit about the States of Matter: Solids, Liquids, and Gases.  We have switched from focusing on solids to now focusing on liquids. This week we will explored all the different properties of liquids. These properties included: transparent, translucent, has color, bubbly, foamy, and viscous.  We have also continued to learn the locations of the 50 states.  This past week we were able to squeeze in an extra lesson on the states and we learned a total five new states: OK, KS, NE, ND, and SD. Ask your child where Chef MIMAL hangs up his coats in the kitchen!
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Week of: January 17

 Upcoming Dates:

Jan. 16 - Martin Luther King Day - No School
Jan. 23 - Technology Interview Due
Jan. 26 - Opera for the Young - assembly at school
Feb. 6-10 - Parent/Teacher Conference Week (11:00 dismissal on Thurs./Fri.)
Feb. 20 - President's Day - No School
March 27-31 - Spring Break - No School


*Italics are repeated from last week's blog.
Reading: This week we will wrap up our reading unit: "Becoming Experts-Reading Nonfiction. In this unit the kids will be working on how to learn from, and enjoy, a nonfiction text.  This week we will be wrapping up our nonfiction reading unit with an assessment that I plan to give the kids over 2 days.  We will also work on writing complete answers to questions about our reading using the R.A.C.E. Strategy. You can click here to learn more about the RACE Strategy. 

Writing: We will be starting a new writing unit: "Writing Gripping Fictional Stories". This unit is all about character and plot development.  The kids always have so much fun making up their own characters and stories! This week we will learn the difference between realistic and unrealistic fiction.  We will also learn to create interesting characters for our stories. 

Math:  This week we will continue our math module, Module 4: "Addition and Subtraction Within 200 with Word Problems to 100".  This is a huge module that covers several different strategies for adding and subtracting larger numbers. Next week we will we working on adding two 2-digit numbers together using place value drawings and by making new units ("carrying the 1"). 

Social Studies/Science:  We will continue our learning about having a growth mindset all year long. However, we are also working on a science unit about the States of Matter: Solids, Liquids, and Gases.  We have switched from focusing on solids to now focusing on liquids. This week we will explore all the different properties of liquids.  We have also continued to learn the locations of the 50 states.  This past week we spent time reviewing the states we already know.
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Week of: December 12th

 Upcoming Dates:

Dec. 12 - MAP Test - Reading
Dec. 14 - MAP Test - Math
Dec. 22-Jan. 6 - Winter Break - School reopens on Jan. 9
Jan. 16 - Martin Luther King Day - No School


*Italics are repeated from last week's blog.
Reading: This week we will continue with our reading unit: "Becoming Experts-Reading Nonfiction. In this unit the kids will be working on how learn from, and enjoy, a nonfiction text.  This week we will work on learning all about our chosen topics.  We will take note and compare books using a venn diagram. We will also start to prepare for our "Expert Expo".  This is a chance for the kids to present what they have learned about their topics to some first grade classes. The "Expert Expo" will be held the week before Winter Break! 

Writing: We will continue with our new writing unit this week: "The How-To Guide for Nonfiction Writing". The kids will learn to write informational books to teach their readers about something they know well. This week we will be starting to wind down this unit on nonfiction writing.  The kids will be editing their best work and preparing for publication. Then we will share and celebrate our hard work the week before Winter Break. 

Math:  This week we will continue our work with Module 3: "Place Value, Counting, and Comparison of Numbers to 1,000". In this unit the kids will learn all about place value as well and composing and decomposing numbers.  It will set the foundation for adding and subtracting larger numbers later on in the school year. This week we will finish up this math unit with an end-of-the-unit test on TUESDAY.  We will then start our next math module, Module 4, on Thursday.  Module 4 will be all about addition and subtraction strategies with larger numbers. Think: "carry the one" and "borrowing". 

Social Studies/Science:  We will continue our learning about having a growth mindset all year long. However, we are working on a science unit about the States of Matter: Solids, Liquids, and Gases.  We focused on tower building and what solids have good properties to make a tall and strong tower. You can click here to see photos of our towers!  We have also continued to learn the locations of the 50 states.  This past week we added two more state: Idaho (ID) and Montana (MT). Ask your child who does the dishes in Chef MIMAL's kitchen!
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Week of: December 5th

 Upcoming Dates:

Dec. 12 - MAP Test - Reading
Dec. 14 - MAP Test - Math
Dec. 22-Jan. 6 - Winter Break - School reopens on Jan. 9
Jan. 16 - Martin Luther King Day - No School


*Italics are repeated from last week's blog.
Reading: This week we will continue with our reading unit: "Becoming Experts-Reading Nonfiction. In this unit the kids will be working on how learn from, and enjoy, a nonfiction text.  This week we will learn how to read several books on the same topic!  We will try to add information together to learn about a subtopic and a whole topic. Finally, the kids will learn how to connect information from more than one book into categories. 

Writing: We will continue with our new writing unit this week: "The How-To Guide for Nonfiction Writing". The kids will learn to write informational books to teach their readers about something they know well. This week we will learn to reread our writing and make changes to clarify information for our readers.  We will also work on our writing goals and make sure our writing is easy to read.  Finally, we will look at published books to get ideas about moves that we can use in our own writing. 

Math:  This week we will continue our work with Module 3: "Place Value, Counting, and Comparison of Numbers to 1,000". In this unit the kids will learn all about place value as well and composing and decomposing numbers.  It will set the foundation for adding and subtracting larger numbers later on in the school year. This week we will order numbers in different forms. We will also work on identifying 1 more and 1 less as well as 10 more and 10 less and 100 more and 100 less.  Finally, we will work on noticing number patterns that count up and down and skip count. 

Social Studies/Science:  We will continue our learning about having a growth mindset all year long. However, we are working on a science unit about the States of Matter: Solids, Liquids, and Gases.  We focused on how to group solid objects by their properties.  We have also continued to learn the locations of the 50 states.  This past week we added one more state: Washington (WA). Ask your child where Chef MIMAL does his dishes!
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Week of: November 7th

 Upcoming Dates:

Nov. 8 - No School - Election Day
Nov. 23-25 - Thanksgiving Break - No School
Dec. 22-Jan. 6 - Winter Break - School reopens on Jan. 9

*Italics are repeated from last week's blog.
Reading: This week we will continue with our reading unit: "Becoming Experts-Reading Nonfiction. In this unit the kids will be working on how learn from, and enjoy, a nonfiction text.  This week we will learn to preview all the parts of a book and ask ourselves: "How does this book go?". We will also learn to pay special attention to new information.  Finally, we will learn that using new vocabulary is an important part of growing knowledge from non-fiction texts. 

Writing: We will continue with our new writing unit this week: "The How-To Guide for Nonfiction Writing". The kids will learn to write informational books to teach their readers about something they know well. This week we will learn to write even more on each page by asking ourselves: "What else could I say?".  We will also get stronger by looking at our writing, setting goals, and making plans.

Math:  This week we will continue our work with Module 3: "Place Value, Counting, and Comparison of Numbers to 1,000". In this unit the kids will learn all about place value as well and composing and decomposing numbers.  It will set the foundation for adding and subtracting larger numbers later on in the school year. This week we will count from $10 to $1,000 on a place value chart and an empty number line. We will also explore the idea of $1,000.  How many $10 bills are in $1,000? Finally, we will do a review of all the different ways to write and say numbers that we have learned so far.  Next week we will take a mid-module assessment as a way to check-in on our learning.

Social Studies/Science:  We will continue our learning about having a growth mindset all year long. However, We have started a new science unit last week on the States of Matter: Solids, Liquids, and Gases.  We focused on how to describe solid objects by their properties.  We have also continued to learn the locations of the 50 states.  This past week we added two more states: Wisconsin (WI) and Michigan (MI). Ask about Chef MIMAL's wire whisk and kitchen "mitt". 
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Week of: October 24th

 Upcoming Dates:

Oct. 24-28 - Parent/Teacher Conference Week - Early Dismissal on Thursday and Friday (11:00)
Oct. 25 - Field Trip - All Seasons Orchard - Pack a nut-free lunch!
Oct. 31 - Halloween Celebration - The parade will begin at 1:30 followed by our class party.
Nov. 8 - No School - Election Day
Nov. 23-25 - Thanksgiving Break - No School
Dec. 22-Jan. 6 - Winter Break - School reopens on Jan. 9

*Italics are repeated from last week's blog.
Reading: This week we will start a new reading unit: "Becoming Experts-Reading Nonfiction. In this unit the kids will be working on how learn from, and enjoy, a nonfiction text.  This week we will learn that nonfiction readers pay attention to details and put those details together to really understand a topic. We will also learn that sometimes readers have to ask questions to learn more, two of those questions being: "What is this book teaching me?" and "How does this book go?". 

Writing: We will be continuing our first unit in our writing curriculum, Lucy Calkins Writing Units of Study.  The first unit is called, "Lessons from the Masters: Improving Narrative Writing". This week we will work on editing and fixing-up our best work for publication.  At the end of the week we will be sharing our "published" writing pieces with each other as a way to celebrate all of our hard work from this first writing unit.  We will start a new writing unit next week: Nonfiction Writing!

Math:  This week we will continue with our a new math module, Module 3: "Place Value, Counting, and Comparison of Numbers to 1,000". In this unit the kids will learn all about place value as well and composing and decomposing numbers.  It will set the foundation for adding and subtracting larger numbers later on in the school year. This week we will write three-digit numbers in unit form; showing the value of each digit. We will also spend some time making our very own "math offices" with a folder and some special charts. 

Social Studies:  Our first unit in social studies will focus on building classroom community and building a growth mindset.  Both of which will help us to have a successful year in second grade! We will continue to practice and learn the first 8 states on our map: MN, IA, MO, AR, LA, Il, IN, and OH. As your child fills out their states homework page, have them tell you "Chef MIMAL's" story and how that can help them memorize the location of the states that we have learned so far!
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