Nothing like compassion from a room full of 7-year-olds (or so)...

Morning Meeting has always been my secret favorite part of the day. Since the start of school, we have held a handful of Morning Meetings that I wish desperately I could have captured on film. Whether to share with you via this blog, or just to keep tucked away in my files so I could watch and reflect or watch and smile at later dates. Today was one of those.

Students were introduced to the art of commenting as first graders, I am sure, and I re-introduced them to the art of commenting on someone's share or someone's work this year as second graders. The criteria for Morning Meeting comments are to stay focused on the sharer and to show empathy with the purpose of fostering positive interactions amongst students and scaffolding student independence in offering thoughtful words to one another and acknowledging those words in hopes that students will do this in their own interactions.

Today's share that was beautiful and brilliant and just kind of jaw-dropping, heart-stopping was actually  a sad one. A student shared about an extended family member who is struggling with illness. The student offered a few sentences about the family member, and why it was of concern and weighing heavy on this student's mind. The student followed with a quiet "I'm ready for comments and questions."

This was the first beautiful part of this Morning Meeting--that this student felt safe enough in our classroom and with our group to take this kind of risk.

The second beautiful part of this Morning Meeting were the 3 comments that were offered by our classmates. Comments of true sincerity and tenderness, of true empathy and care. Comments that acknowledged they understood this student's worries, and offerings of hope and consolation.

I was fighting back the tears. Yay for you, second grade families. You have amazing children. Let's notice and celebrate their developing glimmers of deep understandings of humanity and empathy each time they present themselves. They're the best kind, you know, the 7-year-old kind.

Unconditional love is loving somebody no matter what

During our study of fiction and "how stories work," we enjoyed Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree. I prefaced this read aloud by spilling my own memory bank of childhood bedtimes with my parents and my brother, piled up in my parents' bed, reading and rereading and rereading this book. We all knew how it went, but we all got teared up during it just the same. My brother, Matt, and I knew there was something special about the tree and the boy even though we were just little. And besides, Mom and sometimes even Dad would get choked up while they were reading it to us.

When I pulled out The Giving Tree for our second graders, their faces lit up and lots of "I love that book" whispers resonated around our circle. We read it just for the pure enjoyment of its' metaphorical beauty, not stopping to chat about books and details like we usually do. Even our most eager participators had eyes quietly glued to the book, bodies calm and still, sitting thoughtfully. When I closed the book, many, many hands shot up. They knew we were studying author's message/theme. They knew I had picked this book for just this reason. So I didn't even get to utter the question: "so what do you think the author's message is for us to apply to our lives?" because each hand raised already had their idea ready. The book is just that good.

Here's what our deep-thinking bunch came up with. Seriously, from the mouths of babes couldn't be more true for the way this conversation went down:
-I think the message is to love somebody, no matter what.
-I think the message is that you can love someone for your whole life
-I think the message is to be generous
-I think the message is to be giving, to give and give and give yourself

Oh, how awesome is this group?

Here's some pics of our students representing the central message of The Giving Tree in sketches and in words.

Beautifying 2B!

Many thanks to the Okenquists for transforming the bulletin boards outside of 2B into a beautiful backdrop for our descriptive writing unit! Amber, Syd and Jake spent much time making the space outside of our room something to be proud of. Our fall landscape will complement the writing students are diligently and creatively producing in Writer's Workshop. They have been applying numerous taught strategies for lifting the quality of their writing in elaborative ways--using onomatopoeia, sensory imagery, and careful word choice to paint a picture in readers' minds. Stay tuned for their published pieces to debut in a few weeks, dotting the landscape the Okenquists dreamed up!

Good Morning!

Just a quick peek at the way we ease into our school days in the morning in 2B! Students get settled, find a quiet spot to read or write on topics of their choice, and slip back into the mindset of a student. 

Official Second Graders!

We have a classroom full of 22 well-prepared and highly capable second graders upstairs at WPS! The first day of school brought students bounding into our new classroom's door, reportedly feeling excited and happy about the promises of a fresh year, reuniting with friends, and the newfound joy of being upstairs. 

On our first day together, I read aloud Julie Danneberg's First Day Jitters, the story of a nervous school-going newbie. In the end, much to 2B's surprise, this newbie is a TEACHER, not a new student. While it was relieving to hear from our students that they did not feel jittery the morning before school started, I disclosed that I, in fact, was feeling that nervous! It's important to me that students understand I eagerly await their arrival as soon as August 1 hits, basically! And, like all humans, that I want to feel acceptance, belonging, significance, and fun! 

Our work together during the first week was extremely important in laying a foundation and establishing purpose for our time together. I knew this was going to be a stellar group as soon as I posed the question: Why do we come to school, anyway? 

I wasn't sure what this group of students would generate. After all, this was the first intellectual discussion we had together. Well, I was floored. I was humbled and refreshed and revved up to see many hands waving in the air and my hand couldn't keep up with the flow of thoughtful responses to record on our chart paper. Here are some of the gems of ideas:

-If we don't come to school each day, then we won't grow a bit smarter each day.

-And if we don't grow smarter each day, we won't have success! We won't get good jobs! Or get into the colleges we want! 

-Because (added another student) you know, colleges can be picky with who they choose to let in.

-We come here each day to see our friends.

-We come to WPS to make new friends.

-We come here to learn. To read. To write. To do math. To get better at all of these things.

-We come here to exercise. To run. To play.

-We go to school so we can work together better, so we know how to work with people.

These are just a few of the student thoughts that I wrote and posted in our classroom. I was just so enthused by the level of reflection and substantial thinking that students volunteered literally from day one. 

It's certainly going to be a most fabulous year.

Here are a few photos I took of students in action during our first week. 

Strong students

Friends at school

Feeling the wind in their hair

Generating destinations for Flat Stanley travels and writing why they'd like their project to travel there

 Having a fun break

Researching China and New York City photos to inform illustrations for their Flat Stanley projects

We're Fluent

As end of year reading assessments roll around, I am amazed at the growth our second graders have accomplished over the course of the year in reading. One learning activity we use from time to time during our reading block is Reader's Theatre. This is a partner or small-group, student-led activity that develops fluency. We need students to leave second grade deeply understanding and consistently exhibiting fluent reading.

Fluent reading is multifaceted and supports comprehension:

• Rate: Maintain a fast (but not too fast) pace
• Phrasing: Read "like you talk." Read in ~four word chunks and use punctuation to guide phrasing (commas, elipsis, colons, semi-colons, etc.).
• Expression: Show expression in tone and voice level, applying appropriate stress and pausing, "reading with feeling"
• Accuracy: decode words in text with ease, integrating cuing systems

Thought you might enjoy these tidbits of paired reading performances! They come from a great series called You Read to Me, I'll Read to You! These books are a series of short partner reads. They would be awesome choices for summer reading with your student before bed or whenever!

Green Thumbs

We have a room full of green thumbs! Second graders have gained experience with multiple plantings this Spring season, which is just the kind of experiential learning I am so thrilled to have a hand in with our students. Second grade science units include Pebbles, Sand & Silt, Soil and New Plants. We have researched, read about, and explored various kinds of earth materials. Students have developed an in-depth understanding of earth materials involved in soil and have been able to apply this knowledge in plantings with the Washington Garden Club, at Flanders Nature Center, with the WPS PTO, and in our classroom! What a flowery way to welcome Spring!

Strike up a conversation with your student....here's some fuel for your chat:

-Can you teach me about how boulders can end up as a grain of sand?

-What are some earth materials that can be found in soil?

-Which is the best type of soil for plant growth? The worst? Why?

-What are some ways seeds can travel?

-What do all plants need to survive?

-Why should we turn plants we keep indoors?

Happy Growing :)