My Classroom Beliefs
- Discussion is Essential to Success
- Each Child is an Individual
- Parent Involvement is Encouraged
- Examples that Relate to the Real World and Student Interests will Engage more Students
Morning work
Morning work would be completed when students arrive to school. As students do not arrive at the same time, the work would be on their desk when they arrive. Over Summer 2016, I worked to create a spiral review type math warmup. Half of the morning work covers current math topics while the other half covers topics previously taught in the school year. Rather than just collecting the morning work, we would have a discussion later in the day where we correct the morning work as a whole class. This provides us with an opportunity to discuss different methods for math problems. It also provides the students with the chance to see whether they know the content well or if they need to practice more before a test.
Reading and writing
I believe that the Daily 5 encourages students to enjoy reading. Throughout my first two years in the classroom, I have been working to perfect my Daily 5 routine. This school year, I implemented a Must Do May Do routine. Each day, the students Must complete a writing assignment, various word study activities and reading on the carpet. They also come to my table each day for a guided reading lesson where I incorporate the partner reading portion of the Daily 5. During small group reading rotations, the students will read to self, complete their word work, and read to a partner. For the listen to reading, I make sure to incorporate at least one read aloud each day, sometimes two or three!
During whole group reading, we will work as a whole glass on specific skills. These skills will be related to the grade level specific SOLs. Some skills may include main idea, summarizing, predicting, and text structures.
During whole group reading, we will work as a whole glass on specific skills. These skills will be related to the grade level specific SOLs. Some skills may include main idea, summarizing, predicting, and text structures.
Math
Allowing students to explore a topic on their own before being taught a standard algorithm is important. If they can figure out their own technique first, then they will have an easier time understanding the concept. During whole group math, the students will either explore a new concept in small groups or have a whole class discussion. Discussion is essential to math as individuals can present many different ideas on one topic . Students will gain a better understanding of a topic through a discussion; then when they have individual practice, they will have the necessary skills to practice. Some of the individual math practice includes task cards, challenge problems, and group work.
Science and social Studies
Social Studies and Science seem to be the subject area that gets less time in a day. For these two content areas, I enjoy doing a variety of activities rather than just simply completing a note page or viewing a slide show. Some of these activities include whole class discussions, Venn Diagrams, foldables, vocabulary activities, small group discussion, and review games at the end of a unit. I enjoy implementing read alouds across the curriculum. My favorite social studies unit in 2nd grade is Famous Americans as I am able to use not only read alouds for each figure, but also able to implement BrainPop Jr. videos!