It’s February 1st, a month and a day from the start of my maternity leave. And things at school have kicked into high gear since New Year’s while I wind down my school year and try to fit everything in with the kids before I go. I’ll be back for 2 weeks in June, but really this is my end-of-year in a lot of ways.
Tag: 2nd grade
Three of my 2nd grade girls presented me with this drawing on Wednesday, and I wanted to hug them but thought I would burst into tears. I’m 33 weeks now and highly emotional. I will hug them next week, when it doesn’t take me by surprise.
I’m so excited, all the 2nd grade classes are now done with The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. We’re finishing up book reviews of it this week. I wrote 3 sentences on the board and asked the kids to fill in their opinions, good or bad, of the book. They had some great thoughts about it, I was so impressed! I used to take it personally when students didn’t like a book we read in class together, but then I remembered that I don’t like every book I’ve read, either. Especially those I read in school, so why should I expect them to be any different? The point for me is that they really think it through, I don’t want them to just tell me it was good or bad. And they totally get it.
WARNING: SPOILERS to follow for the book, if you haven’t read it already and want to stop now!
Here are Emily’s thoughts:
I can’t believe the end of March is finally coming this week. It’s always such a long month, but it’s also a great time with my students, knee-deep in library projects. Here’s what’s been happening in library class this month:
My special needs classes have been reading Dr. Seuss stories, and we made these Horton ears last week.
From top left: The King of Garbage; Edward under the sea; Edward as a girl; Drawing the campfire with Bull; Drawing the train; Edward with Lawrence and Nellie; Edward on the train; Edward in outfits.
Read more on The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane with 2nd Grade…
The kindergartners all took out books for the first time this week, we had a big checkout ceremony in each class. They were really excited.
The 1st grade classes are all up to chapter 5 of Clementine, and the 2nd graders have been learning the layout of the library. We’ve also been talking about how we pick the books we like. This week it was time for a scavenger hunt.
I love this book. It’s very sad, but it’s also thoughtful, delightful, and real (even if it is about a dog and a robot). The kids love it.
Last year I did a unit on wordless books with 1st grade. This year in 2nd grade I wanted something quick to take us from all the library orientation we did in November into our next project in January (starting The Tale of Despereaux). This book was perfect for December. It takes about 1.5 library classes to read, and the kids were fully absorbed. It sparked an interest in other wordless books with some students.
Read more on This Month with 2nd Grade: Robot Dreams by Sara Varon…