Week of: September 19th

 Upcoming Dates:

Sept. 20  - Picture Day 
Sept. 26 - District Closed - No School
Oct. 5 - District Closed - No School
Oct. 10 - Indigenous Peoples' Day - No School
Oct. 14 - Fun Run - Our time slot is 9:00-9:15.
Oct. 24-28 - Parent/Teacher Conference Week - Early Dismissal on Thursday and Friday (11:00)

*Italics are repeated from last week's blog.
Reading: This week we will continue the first unit in our reading curriculum, Lucy Calkins Reading Units of Study.  The first unit is called, "Second-Grade Reading Growth Spurt". This week we will learn to use multiple strategies at the same time when tackling tricky words. We will also work on identifying vowel teams in the middle of words. Finally, we will learn that new words can be very tricky and it helps to think about what the word means in the story. 

Writing: We will also 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". We will work on our endings this week and learn to bring our stories to a satisfying conclusion. We will also review punctuation strategies and editing skills. 

Math:  We will continue with our work in Module 2, "Addition and Subtraction of Length Units".  This is a measurement unit that focuses on centimeters and meters. This week we will learn to measure lengths using rulers and meter sticks. We will also learn to compare lengths using centimeters and meters. 

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! This week we will focus on another one of the 5 habits to help with having a growth mindset and those are: Empathy, Flexibility, Persistence, Resilience, and Optimism. 
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Week of: September 12th

 Upcoming Dates:

Sept. 20 or 21 - Picture Day (I don't know what day will be for 2nd grade yet.)
Sept. 26 - District Closed - No School
Oct. 5 - District Closed - No School
Oct. 10 - Indigenous Peoples' Day - No School
Oct. 24-28 - Parent/Teacher Conference Week - Early Dismissal on Thursday and Friday (11:00)

*Italics are repeated from last week's blog.
Reading: This week we will continue the first unit in our reading curriculum, Lucy Calkins Reading Units of Study.  The first unit is called, "Second-Grade Reading Growth Spurt". This week we will learn that you can look for words that you already know in order to scoop up more words at a time.  We will work on comprehension and retelling our stories.  The kids will start to take notes on post-its while reading and they will also work on using strategies to tackle challenging words.

Writing: We will also 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 talk about how you can learn craft moves from mentor authors. We will also learn to capture everyday moments in our "Tiny Topics" notebooks and save them as possible story ideas.

Math:  We will finish with our first math module called: "Sums and Differences to 100".  Much of the first unit (only 8 lessons) will be a review of first grade material. Our main focus will really be to work on routines. This week we will work on more subtraction strategies such as taking from 10 within 20 and 100.  We will also start our new math module that is all about measurement with the metric system.

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! This week we will focus on another one of the 5 habits to help with having a growth mindset and those are: Empathy, Flexibility, Persistence, Resilience, and Optimism. 
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Week of: September 6th

 Upcoming Dates:

Sept. 5 - Labor Day - No School
Sept. 7 - AIMS Reading Assessment (similar to MAP)
Sept. 8 - AIMS Math Assessment (similar to MAP)
Sept. 20 or 21 - Picture Day (I don't know what day will be for 2nd grade yet.)
Sept. 26 - District Closed - No School
Oct. 5 - District Closed - No School
Oct. 10 - Indigenous Peoples' Day - No School
Oct. 24-28 - Parent/Teacher Conference Week - Early Dismissal on Thursday and Friday (11:00)

Reading: This week we will officially begin the first unit in our reading curriculum, Lucy Calkins Reading Units of Study.  The first unit is called, "Second-Grade Reading Growth Spurt". This week we will learn that you can choose not only what you read, but HOW you are going to read.  We will also learn how to preview the book before reading to take a sneak peek. Finally, the kids will learn that second grade is a year where they can really take off as readers. And to do that, volume is key! We have to read lots and lots!


Writing: We will also be starting 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 talk about how you can learn craft moves from mentor authors. We will also learn to capture everyday moments in our "Tiny Topics" notebooks and save them as possible story ideas.

Math:  We will continue with our first math module called: "Sums and Differences to 100".  Much of the first unit (only 8 lessons) will be a review of first grade material. Our main focus will really be to work on routines. This week we will add and subtract like units, make 10 to add numbers up to 20, and make 10 to add numbers up to 100.  We will also learn about subtracting single-digit numbers from multiples of 10 (up to 100).

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! This week we will focus on another one of the 5 habits to help with having a growth mindset and those are: Empathy, Flexibility, Persistence, Resilience, and Optimism. We will most likely focus on two words per week!
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Week of: August 29th

 Upcoming Dates:

Aug. 31 - Reading MAP Assessment
Aug. 31 - 6:25 p.m. - Curriculum Night (in-person) - Masks Required
Sept. 1 - Math MAP Assessment
Sept. 5 - Labor Day - No School
Sept. 26 - District Closed - No School
Oct. 5 - District Closed - No School
Oct. 10 - Indigenous Peoples' Day - No School
Oct. 24-28 - Parent/Teacher Conference Week - Early Dismissal on Thursday and Friday (11:00)

Reading: This week we will be working on building our independent reading stamina.  We will also learn about how to choose a "Just Right Book". Finally, we will take a spelling inventory so we can begin to differentiate our phonics lessons. Next week we will officially start our first reading unit: "Second Grade Reading Growth Spurt". 


Writing: We will be starting 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". We will start the unit with a writing sample that will help me know more about your child as a writer. 

Math:  We will start our first module in math this week.  We are using the Eureka math series.  The first module is called, "Sums and Differences to 100".  Much of the first unit (only 8 lessons) will be a review of first grade material.  This week we will work on adding and subtracting like units as well as making ten to add within 100. 

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!
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Welcome Back to School!

 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 21st 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, will be a sophomore at Lyons Township High School. My son, Charlie, will be in eighth grade at a middle school near our home in Western Springs. 

    As we start 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. I'm eager to get started and meet all of you very soon!  


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Week of: May 16th

 Upcoming Dates:

May 19: Field Trip to Chicago Children's Theater
May 30: Memorial Day - No School
May 31: Walking Field Trip - Oak Park Conservatory (permission slip coming soon!)
June 2: 2nd Grade Picnic - Rehm Park - 11:30-2:00 (Families welcome!)
June 7: Last Day of School

*Italics are repeated from last week's blog.
Reading: We will continue with our reading unit: "Series Book Clubs". In this unit, students will work together in small groups to read books in a series.  The students will be assigned books at their appropriate reading levels. They will work on comprehension strategies together with their groups. This week we will that readers notice when an author uses literary language and they try to figure out what the author REALLY means.  We will also work on noticing patterns in our series books and using those patterns to figure out how other books in the series might go.  

Writing: We will be continuing our writing unit: "Poetry: Big Thoughts in Small Packages". This unit is all about writing poetry and focusing on line breaks, rhythm, and meaningful phrases. Making sure our words rhyme is completely optional (poetry is so much more than that!).This week we will learn that poets consider the mood they want to convey in a poem, making sure that this mood matches the poem's meaning. We will also choose our favorite poems and fix them up for publication. 

Math:  We will finish our work with Module 8: "Time, Shapes, and Fractions".  We will work on telling time to the minute as well as relating time to A.M. and P.M.  The kids will learn to solve elapsed time problems involving whole hours and half hours. Finally, we will take the end-of-module assessment at the end of the week. 

Social Studies/Science:  We will continue our learning about having a growth mindset all year long.  This week we will continue our science unit: "Plants and Insects".  We will study the life cycle of mealworms as well as plants.  Each student will have their own worm and seed to study and plant in class! This week we will be continue studying the life cycles of a plant and mealworm. We will make observations and record what we notice in our journals.  We have also reviewed our US maps.  We now know all 50 states!  Yay! We will have a quiz on all 50 states on Friday, May 20th.
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Week of: May 9

 Upcoming Dates:

May 10: MAP Reading Assessment
May 11: MAP Math Assessment 
May 19: Field Trip to Chicago Children's Theater
May 30: Memorial Day - No School
June 2: 2nd Grade Picnic - Rehm Park - 11:30-2:00 (Families welcome!)
June 7: Last Day of School

*Italics are repeated from last week's blog.
Reading: We will continue with our reading unit: "Series Book Clubs". In this unit, students will work together in small groups to read books in a series.  The students will be assigned books at their appropriate reading levels. They will work on comprehension strategies together with their groups. This week we will that readers notice when an author uses literary language and they try to figure out what the author REALLY means.  We will also work on noticing patterns in our series books and using those patterns to figure out how other books in the series might go.  Finally, the kids will take their Reading MAP Assessment on Tuesday, 5/10.

Writing: We will be continuing our writing unit: "Poetry: Big Thoughts in Small Packages". This unit is all about writing poetry and focusing on line breaks, rhythm, and meaningful phrases. Making sure our words rhyme is completely optional (poetry is so much more than that!).This week we will begin by working on editing some of the poems we have already written.  Then we will learn to think carefully about our word choice and try to pick the most precise words for our poems.  Finally, we will learn that writers of poems often use repeated lines to help give their poems a rhythm and to emphasize meaning. 

Math:  We will continue our work with Module 8: "Time, Shapes, and Fractions".  We will continue to work on halves, fourths, and thirds.  We will also learn to partition circles and rectangles into halves, thirds, and fourths to make equal parts. In addition to halves, thirds, and fourths; we will learn about the "whole" and how many equal parts it takes to make a whole. The students will understand that equal parts of an identical rectangle can have different shapes. 

Social Studies/Science:  We will continue our learning about having a growth mindset all year long.  This week we will continue our science unit: "Plants and Insects".  We will study the life cycle of mealworms as well as plants.  Each student will have their own worm and seed to study and plant in class! This week we will be continue studying the life cycles of a plant and mealworm. We will make observations and record what we notice in our journals.  We have also learned the last two states on our US maps: Alaska and Hawaii!  Yay! We will have a quiz on all 50 states on Friday, May 20th.
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Week of: May 2

 Upcoming Dates:

May 10: MAP Reading Assessment
May 11: MAP Math Assessment 
May 19: Field Trip to Chicago Children's Theater
May 30: Memorial Day - No School
June 7: Last Day of School

*Italics are repeated from last week's blog.
Reading: We will continue with our reading unit: "Series Book Clubs". In this unit, students will work together in small groups to read books in a series.  The students will be assigned books at their appropriate reading levels. They will work on comprehension strategies together with their groups. This week we will learn that readers get to know the different people in a character's life and compare them to their own relationships.  We will also be switching from character study to studying the author's craft.  This includes how the author is able to paint a picture with their words as well as the precise words they use to make descriptions. 

Writing: We will be continuing our writing unit: "Poetry: Big Thoughts in Small Packages". This unit is all about writing poetry and focusing on line breaks, rhythm, and meaningful phrases. Making sure our words rhyme is completely optional (poetry is so much more than that!).This week we will learn that writers of poems take big thoughts and feelings and then try to zoom in on one small moment that holds that thought or feeling.  We will also work on finding topics that contain strong feelings and small moments. 

Math:  We will continue our work with Module 8: "Time, Shapes, and Fractions".  We will continue to work on halves, fourths, and thirds.  We will also learn to partition circles and rectangles into halves, thirds, and fourths to make equal parts. 

Social Studies/Science:  We will continue our learning about having a growth mindset all year long.  This week we will continue our science unit: "Plants and Insects".  We will study the life cycle of mealworms as well as plants.  Each student will have their own worm and seed to study and plant in class! This week we will be making plant observations from the seeds we planted last week.  We will also start learning about the life cycle of a mealworm! We have also learned some new states on our US maps: Kentucky and Tennessee. 
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Week of: April 25

 Upcoming Dates:

April 25-28: In-person Book Fair! 3-6pm Mon/Tues, 3-8pm Wed, and 3-4pm Thurs 
May 19: Field Trip to Chicago Children's Theater
May 30: Memorial Day - No School
June 7: Last Day of School

*Italics are repeated from last week's blog.
Reading: We will continue with our reading unit: "Series Book Clubs". In this unit, students will work together in small groups to read books in a series.  The students will be assigned books at their appropriate reading levels. They will work on comprehension strategies together with their groups. This week we will learn that readers think about how their characters respond to problems. They will also learn to look closely at their characters to determine how they "usually" feel and what they "always" do. Finally, we will use what we know about our series characters to make predictions about their next steps. 

Writing: We will start an exciting new writing unit: "Poetry: Big Thoughts in Small Packages". This unit is all about writing poetry and focusing on line breaks, rhythm, and meaningful phrases. Making sure our words rhyme is completely optional (poetry is so much more than that!).This week the kids will learn that poets see the world through special lenses.  They will see with both their hearts and minds, writing about the world in fresh, unusual ways. We will also work on listening for line breaks.

Math:  We will continue our work with Module 8: "Time, Shapes, and Fractions".  We will relate the square to a cube and describe a cube based on its attributes. This week we will begin to learn about fractions!  The kids will combine different shapes to create a composite shape.  We will use these composite shapes to learn about equal shares and halves, thirds, and fourths. 

Social Studies/Science:  We will continue our learning about having a growth mindset all year long.  This week we will begin our last science unit: "Plants and Insects".  We will study the life cycle of mealworms as well as plants.  Each student will have their own worm and seed to study and plant in class! We will start with planting seeds this week and will move on to the mealworms the following week. It will be very exciting! We have also learned some new states on our US maps: Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. 
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Week of: April 18th

  Upcoming Dates:

April 25-28: In-person Book Fair! 3-6pm Mon/Tues, 3-8pm Wed, and 3-4pm Thurs 
May 19: Field Trip to Chicago Children's Theater
May 30: Memorial Day - No School
June 7: Last Day of School

*Italics are repeated from last week's blog.
Reading: We will continue with our reading unit: "Series Book Clubs". In this unit, students will work together in small groups to read books in a series.  The students will be assigned books at their appropriate reading levels. They will work on comprehension strategies together with their groups. We will learn to preview the first book in a series by paying close attention to the main characters. Then the kids will learn that readers think about how their characters respond to problems. They will also learn to look closely at their characters to determine how they "usually" feel and what they "always" do. 

Writing: We will be continuing our writing unit: "Writing About Reading".  This is actually a unit on opinion writing and using evidence to support our opinions.  Next week we will learn that writers make comparisons to support their opinions.  We will also learn to use mid-sentence punctuation to help highlight ideas for our readers.  Finally, we will be working on our introductions and conclusions. 

Math:  We will continue our work with Module 8: "Time, Shapes, and Fractions".  We will build, identify, and analyze two-dimensional shapes with specified attributes.  We will be using attributes to draw different polygons including triangles, quadrilaterals, pentagons, and hexagons. The kids will learn about all the different quadrilaterals, including: rectangles, rhombuses, parallelograms, and trapezoids.  Finally, we will relate the square to a cube and describe a cube based on its attributes. 

Social Studies/Science:  We will continue our learning about having a growth mindset all year long.  We will be continuing our earth science unit: "Pebbles, Sand, and Silt". This week we will be exploring what happens when unwashed sand mixes with water and we will discover that there is a rock-type that is smaller than sand: silt!  We have also learned some new states on our maps: North Carolina and South Carolina! 
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Week of: April 11

 Upcoming Dates:

April 15: No School Today!
May 19: Field Trip to Chicago Children's Theater
May 30 - Memorial Day - No School
June 7 - Last Day of School

*Italics are repeated from last week's blog.
Reading: We will be wrapping up our current reading unit with an assessment and then starting our next reading unit. Our next unit is called: "Series Book Clubs". In this unit, students will work together in small groups to read books in a series.  The students will be assigned books at their appropriate reading levels. They will work on comprehension strategies together with their groups. We will start by learning to preview the first book in a series by paying close attention to the main characters. Then the kids will learn that readers think about how their characters respond to problems. They will also learn to look closely at their characters to determine how they "usually" feel and what they "always" do. 

Writing: We will be continuing our writing unit: "Writing About Reading".  This is actually a unit on opinion writing and using evidence to support our opinions.  Next week we will that writers make comparisons to support their opinions. When writing about books, they compare characters, series, or kinds of books to explain why they think one is better or best. 

Math:  This week we will wrap up our work with module 7 by having a review day and an assessment. We will also start Module 8: "Time, Shapes, and Fractions".  This week we will learn to describe two-dimensional shapes based on attributes.  We will also build, identify, and analyze two-dimensional shapes with specified attributes.

Social Studies/Science:  We will continue our learning about having a growth mindset all year long.  We will be continuing our earth science unit: "Pebbles, Sand, and Silt". This week we will be exploring what happens when unwashed sand mixes with water and we will discover that there is a rock-type that is smaller than sand: silt!  We have also learned some new states on our maps: Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland. 
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Week of: March 21

 Upcoming Dates:

March 23: Author Visit at School-Mac Barnett (Book order forms went home last friday 3/18.)
March 28-April 1: Spring Break!
April 15: No School Today!

*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 to self-assess our reading in order to set goals.  Then everyone will work with a "reading club" to help each other reach those goals. We will learn that reading clubs need to create clear plans to accomplish those goals!

Writing: We will be continuing our writing unit: "Writing About Reading".  This is actually a unit on opinion writing and using evidence to support our opinions.  Next week we will learn that we can use mentor texts to learn about how and why an author might use a capital letter. We will also learn to add fun little extras to fancy up our writing and draw in our readers. 

Math:  This week we will continue our work with module 7: "Problem Solving with Length, Money, and Data".  This week we will learn to use different length units to compare measurements.  We will also practice solving two-digit addition and subtraction word problems involving length by using tape diagrams and writing equations. 

Social Studies/Science:  We will continue our learning about having a growth mindset all year long.  We will be continuing our earth science unit: "Pebbles, Sand, and Silt". This week we will be exploring exploring the rocks that can be found right here in Irving's very own schoolyard! We will create a class "rock collection".  We have also learned a new state on our maps: Pennsylvania. 
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Week of: March 14th

 Upcoming Dates:

March 15: Teacher Institute Day - No School for Students
March 18: Report cards go out today.
March 28-April 1: Spring Break!
April 15: No School Today!

*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 be working on holding onto stories even when our books are long by jotting down notes on post-its. We will also learn some strategies to use when our books get tricky: slow down, reread, and ask questions!  Finally, the kids will learn that readers can invent ways to use writing to help them tackle confusing parts in their reading. 

Writing: We will be continuing our writing unit: "Writing About Reading".  This is actually a unit on opinion writing and using evidence to support our opinions.  Next week we will work on using text evidence to support our opinions. We will also learn that we can use a mentor text when we need help with our writing.  For example, mentor texts can help remind us when to use capital letters!

Math:  This week we will continue our work with module 7: "Problem Solving with Length, Money, and Data".  This week we will shift our focus to measurement with inches, feet, and yards. We will first measure using inches. Then we will learn the difference between inches and yards. Learn to compare measurements to unit size by measuring the same object twice with different length units. 

Social Studies/Science:  We will continue our learning about having a growth mindset all year long.  We will be continuing our earth science unit: "Pebbles, Sand, and Silt". This week we will be exploring the properties of rocks while using an sorting river rocks.  We have also learned two new states on our maps: Rhode Island and Connecticut. 
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