Poetry Booklets

During the month of April we wrote and illustrated 4 different poems: acrostic, portrait, haiku, and    2 words on a line poem.  The students also completed an "About the Author Page."  These booklets turned out so beautiful with their artwork.  They were finally down on the rug on Friday for the students to enjoy!

"The Best Part of Me" Opinion Writing

Our recent writing unit focused on opinion writing, and the students completed these beautiful projects detailing what they most like about themselves.  This was a step by step process.  The students brainstormed their ideas in a web.  They began their writing with a topic sentence, put their brainstormed ideas into complete sentences, and added details to each idea.  The 2nd paragraph was to include a conclusion sentence.  We completed the project with a black and white photo.

Their photos and writing have brought in a variety of readers.  Parents, high school students, elementary students, staff members have all stopped in the hallway to read their writing and admire their photos.  It's so rewarding for the kids to see people reading their writing!

Letter Writing Unit

Throughout the month of December we wrote letters, sent them out in our mailbox, and received letters into our mailbox.  The students learned about the parts of the letter: date, greeting, body, closing, and signature.  Our letters needed to include all parts of a letter with at least 4 sentences in the body.  Each day 2 students would deliver mail around our school that we had written.  Letters were delivered around our classroom as well. This is one of my favorite writing units because the students are so excited to get their writing out, and they can't wait to get mail!  They are very motivated to work on their spelling and conventions because they want the recipients of their letters to understand their writing.

Piggie and Elephant Day

During the month of November the students practiced reading Piggie and Elephant books by Mo Willems.  This is a series that the students grow to love in their early reading years.  As 2nd graders we dive into getting to know them as characters.  How are their personalities similar and different?  We practice reading with expression, thinking about how these characters are thinking and feeling.  We also wrote our own Piggie and Elephant books trying to capture their personalities while also creating a story that connects with each individual 2nd grader.  We celebrated by inviting the 1st graders into our room to share our stories.

Writing Personal Narratives

In October and early November the students focused on writing stories about their own personal experiences.  Our focus was on picking a topic and adding details that can clearly show the reader what happened in the story.  Along the way, we learn about and practice writing in complete sentences.  Using capitalization at the beginning of sentences and for proper nouns and correct placement of end marks.  The students picked their favorite piece of writing to publish and share.  Once published, each book went into a basket on our gathering rug for the class to enjoy.  We also met up with the first grade class to share our stories.

What Turns You into a Crankenstein?

A few weeks ago we read "Crankenstein" by Samantha Berger.  In this story the main character details everything that turns him into a Crankenstein!  It is quite a funny list!  We brainstormed what makes us cranky.   We made a class book and also some fun Crankensteins to share with those walking by 2nd grade!

Writer's Workshop

In Writer's Workshop the students write about self-selected topics each day.  As writers we've been developing a list of what great writers do.

Great Writers:
-choose a topic that interests them
-spend writing time thinking, writing, and illustrating
-add details to their stories that stay on topic
-go back to reread their stories and add to them
-keep a list of possible writing topics for days they feel stuck
-write in complete sentences with capital letters and end marks
-use spelling tools to help them (word wall, dictionaries)
-share their writing with others

Many of these items are a work in progress for most students, and we will continue to add to this list all year long.  The most recent item on our list, "writers share their writing with others," was just introduced last week.  At the end of our writing block, the students now have the opportunity to meet up with a partner if they'd like.  This conference is meant to be used for sharing our stories that we're so excited about and also as a tool for improving our writing.  As a partner, the student is to be a good listener and also ask questions about anything that doesn't make sense or about details the listener is still curious about.

Students have been writing about all sorts of topics: pets, family, friends, school, and also a variety of fiction stories have been written.

Making our Writing Binders a Special Place for Writing

Last week we finished decorating our writing binders.  The students brought in special pictures, stickers, and paper to personalize their binders.  This binder will hold all of their creative ideas, fiction stories, and personal narratives of school events, family traditions, play date recounts, and so much more throughout the year!

You're Finally Here! Books

Last week we finished our books based on the book "You're Finally Here!" by Melanie Watt.  The students shared events about their summer that kept them from getting to 2nd grade sooner!  They did a fantastic job!  I loved reading through all of their ideas!  We will be temporarily keeping them in a basket on the rug to be enjoyed during Daily 5 time.  This group of students loves to write and illustrate!