Literature Circles for Second Grade

Over the last two weeks, I tried my first literature circles as a second grade teacher.  This can be a daunting task with younger kids, but with some research and pre-planning, I thought that it went pretty well.  One of the keys to its success was that I had kids practice all of the "jobs" beforehand with shorter stories in our reading series before tackling a chapter book in small groups.   With my small class of nine, I allowed the students to choose between two pre-selected Magic Tree House books. These worked great because they are short and were high interest reads.  I divided the tasks of the literature circles into five jobs which rotated on a daily basis.  My adorable models are showing off the necklaces I made to identify who had each job for the day. The jobs I assigned are as follows:

Word Wizard: I chose two words from each daily reading assignment and the Word Wizard had to use the dictionary to define the words.

Summarizer:  It was the job of this student to write a brief summary of the daily reading assignment.

Discussion Director: It was the job of this student to write down at least three interesting questions about the chapter to discuss within the reading group.  I found that at this age level, it was difficult for them to come up with more probing questions beyond, "what was the setting, characters, etc."  Next time, I will provide a list of sample questions to engage the students in deeper thinking.

Story Connector: This student had to think of how that chapter relates to something else they have read or done.  The purpose of this job is to connect what we are reading to other literature or real life experiences.  This was the only worksheet that I made myself and you are free to print it for your own personal use.  All other resources that I use come from copyrighted teaching resources.

Lastly, it was the job of the illustrator to draw a picture of what they think the selection might have looked like.

After the first night, I assigned two chapters per day.  I gave students plenty of time in class to finish their job.  The next day each student shared their work in the order listed above and was assigned a new task.  Before completing a job, the student had to read the daily assignment at least twice.  I had a copy of one of the books on CD and placed my struggling readers in this group. Over time, there is probably a lot of tweaking I will do to improve my literature circles, but the class had a great time with it and I feel it was a successful first attempt.

Classroom Newsletter: March 26, 2012

This Week

We have had a lot of fun and exciting events over the last few weeks!  Thank you SEA for the funds for our Winterim trip.  We had a great time at the movies and a very enjoyable lunch.  Enjoy spring break with your loved ones as we do not have school next week through Easter Monday.  We will return to school on April 10^th.  Report cards will go home with your child this Friday.

As the weather has warmed up, I have noticed a drop in student grades and behavior.  I know that many students are busy with spring activities, but it is still important to incorporate reading into the nightly routine.  As I help prepare your child for third grade, I will be stricter this quarter with classroom discipline.  Your children are a great group of kids and are generally very well behaved but listening, following directions and keeping hands to self are, at times, an issue.     

Reading/Creative Writing

Overall, I felt that literature circles went well last week.  It was a great lesson in personal responsibility and helped students to apply their reading skills to a more lengthy selection.  I was, however, disappointed in the Unit 4 Benchmark test results.  I will be working with the class this week to identify why mistakes are incorrect and allow them to fix their answers for additional half-credit.  New skills we are working on this week are distinguishing between fact and opinion.  During creative writing time, we will write a friendly letter to Jack and Annie from the Magic Tree House books.

Phonics/Language

Our sound of the week is the “ue” sound as in “blue”.  We will learn about synonyms and use an electronic Thesaurus to identify words with the same meaning.   

Math

Subtraction timed tests start this week.  We will finish our measurement chapter and test on Thursday.  A chapter review will go home Tuesday.

This Week’s Assignments

 Math homework Monday-Wednesday

Practice subtraction facts

Reading worksheet went home today: Due Friday

Have a great week and a super spring break!

Mrs. O’Brien

mrsobrienclassconnect.blogspot.com

Classroom Newsletter: March 19, 2012

This Week

We have another fun and exciting week ahead as we look forward to our Winterim trip.  Thursday we will go to a movie theatre to see “The Lorax” and out to lunch.  We will be gone for most of the school day for this trip and it should be a very enjoyable day for all.  

Reading/Creative Writing

This week we will finish our literature circles with the Magic Treehouse books.  Overall, the students have done a good job of completing assignments, however we are still working on personal responsibility.  We will also take a couple of reading assessments  as we prepare for the end of the third quarter.

During creative writing time, our focus will be using quotation marks to indicate dialogue.  We will also work on editing as it is important for students to learn how to catch their writing mistakes.

Math

This is our last week of addition timed tests.  Next week, we will start subtraction.   Our measurement chapter has gotten off to a slower start than I expected.  Any additional practice with a ruler at home will be greatly appreciated.  

This Week’s Assignments

Any unfinished literature circle jobs become homework.  They should be completed in Mrs. Schultze’s room during silent reading

Math homework Monday-Thursday

Have a great week,

Mrs. O’Brien

mrsobrienclassconnect.blogspot.com

How to Trap a Leprechaun

 It should come as no surprise that I am a fan of Saint Patrick's Day.  My classroom is notorious for having strange things happen around this time in March. This year my students used their creativity to write expository pieces on how to catch a leprechaun.  They had to use the words first, next, then and last to start each new step.  We then illustrated our projects with the cute leprechaun design I found on another blogger's site.


 I have one "enrichment" period a week and we used this time to set up our own "trap".  Much to my class's amazement the next morning they found the trap was destroyed and the leprechaun had left a messy path around the classroom (he even shaving creamed a desk).  Our tricky leprechaun even left a scavenger hunt of clues leading to a golden snack of donuts and juice.  The clues that the leprechaun leaves are always difficult enough that they require some critical thinking and group problem solving.  While the activity is mostly fun, it is a great way to work on reading comprehension and teamwork.  I have a lot of fun with this activity every year but by far my favorite quote from a student as I was passing out cups for juice was, "this cup smells like leprechaun."  It is truly a joy to work with children at the peak of their imagination.      

Classroom Newsletter: March 12, 2012

This Week

A great big “thank you” to those who attended and supported the book fair and grandfriends day.  We truly appreciate all that you do for our school.  We have another action packed week ahead with many fun and exciting events and activities. Tuesday we will be visited by local author Diane Terry.  She will talk to the kids about writing and how she made her book The Bubble Gum Fairy.  Saturday is the 150^th dinner dance at Ole Zimms.  Please return any unsold tickets ASAP.  Join us on Sunday for worship and our “a walk through time” open house.  I truly appreciate all of the help you have given me with our 1980’s theme!  The posters and interviews are great and I can’t wait to see it all put together.  I couldn’t have done it without your help!

Reading/Creative Writing

This week we are starting literature circles with Magic Treehouse books.  We will read a chapter or two a day and each child will have a daily “job” to contribute to the discussion of the book.  The jobs they will perform reinforce skills already learned including, summarizing, making connections, responding to literature and defining unfamiliar words.  There will also be an end of unit Benchmark test on Friday.

During creative writing we will finish our “How to Catch a Leprechaun” stories that we started last week.

Phonics/Language

Since the focus of the week is literature circles, phonics and language skills will be review.  

Math

We are continuing to take addition timed tests this week.  We will start a new chapter on measurement.  Topics of the week are yards, meters, feet and decimeters. Inches and centimeters should be review.

This Week’s Assignments

 It has been awhile since I have received reading logs from some students.  Keep turning those in for stickers!

Math homework Monday-Thursday

Reading homework should be completed during silent reading in Mrs. Schultze’s room

Have a great week,

Mrs. O’Brien

mrsobrienclassconnect.blogspot.com

Classroom Newsletter: March 05, 2012

This Week

It was great meeting with those of you who were able to attend parent teacher conferences.  It is truly a joy to get to share with you all of the progress that your children have made this year.  Everyone has grown and improved over the course of the school-year, and it has been a pleasure to be a part of the learning process.

Please be sure to invite your grandfriends to join us for grandfriends day this Wednesday at 8:30.  A grandfriend can be any adult that is special to your child.  We will have chapel with refreshments to follow.  During this time, grandfriends may also take their loved one to the book fair.  Mrs. O’Brien will also have her own special grandfriends on hand : )

Please turn in your 1980s project by Friday.  We are still in need of interviews and photos of staff and students who attended Solomon in the 1980s.  Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated!  

Reading/Creative Writing

This week we are reading stories that happened long ago including Going to Town by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  We will compare life in the late 1800s to life today.  Next week we are starting literature circles.  In small groups, students will either read Dolphins at Daybreak or Knight at Dawn.  These are Magic Treehouse books by Mary Pope Osborne.  I am still in need of a few copies of each book so if your child has one of these two titles, please send them in.

Phonics/Language

Our topic of the week is singular and plural pronouns.  The sound of the week is the schwa sound.  We will identify the schwa sound in text and rhyming words.  

Math

We are continuing to take addition timed tests this week.  We will also finish our chapter on fractions.  Our end of chapter test is planned for Friday.

This Week’s Assignments

 It has been awhile since I have received reading logs from some students.  Keep turning those in for stickers!

Math homework Monday-Thursday

NO reading homework until after Mrs. Schultze’s projects are due

Have a great week,

Mrs. O’Brien

mrsobrienclassconnect.blogspot.com

Flower "chart" for telling time

I recently found the idea for this "flower" on Pinterest and it has been very useful in helping my second graders to learn how to tell time. The longer leaf has the word "minute" on it to remind students that the long hand is the minute hand and the short leaf reminds students that the hour hand is the short one. I have really enjoyed adding pieces like this to my classroom to make every part of the classroom environment a learning experience.