WOW!!

We had an AMAZING first full week!  The kiddos are doing an awesome job in second grade.  I am so proud of how hard they've all been working.  Everyone was so giddy today because it was the big FUZZY TRADE-IN!!  Some children traded their fuzzies for pencils and funky erasers and others decided to hang onto their fuzzies until next week.  They were all so cute trying to decide what they were going to "buy"; they had a great time shopping! 

We had a few lucky ducks earn "Smart Beads" this week.  Smart Beads are fancy, sparkly necklaces that are given out a few times a day to kids that share answers that go above and beyond.  This week the kids earned them for remembering some of our tricky new vocabulary such as stamina, independent, polite, rural communities, etc.  If a child earns Smart Beads, they get to wear them for the whole day.  At the end of the day, they trade the beads in for a certificate.  You wouldn't believe how excited the class gets when someone earns the beads! 

Also, I have to share a story that will hopefully give you a small peek into our classroom and the awesome group of kids we have.  This morning the kiddos were reviewing and playing a buddy math game called "Top It".  When I brought the class back together again at the carpet, I asked if there were any problems that we needed to talk about and correct before next time, or celebrations to share.  I began by celebrating the fact that I heard so many people using polite (new vocabulary word this week) words, taking turns, and playing fairly.  Almost every hand shot up in the air; everyone had compliment after compliment to give to either their partner or the class as a whole.  One little boy raised his hand and said, "I feel so happy.  Can we hug everyone?"  I explained that hugging each other wasn't appropriate, but we could give ourselves a big hug.  After hugging, patting ourselves on the back, and saying how great we were, even MORE hands shot up!  The smiles on the kids faces were PRICELESS!!!  They were all BEAMING and sharing how happy they felt!  They could not hold it together!  Someone then raised her hand and asked if we could hug ourselves again because she just felt so good inside!  It was such an incredible sight to see; I just can't get over the happiness and strong sense of community that they all felt.  What a great bunch of second graders!     

Next week we're going to keep practicing our strategies that will allow us to be independent during centers.  We will continue learning about addition and subtraction in math, communities in social studies, and the importance of taking care of our books during reading (as well as many other habits of great readers). 

Thank you to everyone that donated supplies to our second grade pantry!  Your generosity is GREATLY appreciated!!

Enjoy your weekend with your little ones.  I can't wait to see them again on Monday!!