Second Grade Autumn Spotlight
Happy Autumn Senesh Community! Please read on to learn about what our second grade scholars have been creating this month in English Language Arts, Social Studies, Hebrew & Judaic Studies, Math, Science and Social Emotional Learning. General Studies – Jacob The second-grade writers have been hard at work crafting their personal narratives, stretching out each moment, and writing with rich descriptive detail. This week we completed our first draft or “sloppy copy,” and each pod feels proud of their accomplishments. Next week, we will begin revising our writing and working to make our good writing great! In coordination with... Read More
Falling Leaves Growing Learners
Hello Families, it has been a busy two weeks in second-grade. The pods have been working hard, learning new skills and having fun! Please read on for highlights from each of the three subject teachers. General Studies- Jacob These second-grade writers sure have stories to tell! This week, the pods have begun our first big writing unit crafting a personal narrative story. The unit will be our first venture into the multi-step writing process, and already the pods have shown their commitment to work hard and stretch their writing skills! Each student began by brainstorming as many possible... Read More
Rocking and Rolling in Second Grade
With the 11th day of school coming to a close, the second-grade pods are hitting their stride. While school may look different, the experience of community and joy the children share while learning together continues to shine through. Each pod is having fun, working together, and eager to learn. Please read below for highlights from each subject area. General Studies – Jacob It’s hard to believe it has only been 11 days. The second grade readers and writers have done so much! We dived into our first writing mini-unit, sharing a special object and then writing how... Read More
Welcome to Second Grade!!
Wow, It feels great to be back in the classroom with the new second graders! Not too long ago, rejoining together as a learning community under one roof felt impossible. Thankfully, with the incredible commitment and tireless work from school leadership this summer, the new second graders launched into the school year with laughter and an eagerness to learn while taking care to keep each other healthy and safe. It indeed has been a great first week in second grade practicing new routines, nurturing strong community pods, and playing games to learn more about each. While every school year... Read More
Math Game, Reading Challenge, and Megillat Esther
Yahadut: Megillat Esther We looked closely at a real megilla scroll that Shira has from her bat mitzvah. We compared the megilla to the Torah scroll that we had examined back in the beginning of the year. What is the same? What is different? Students were surprised to see colored illustrations inside the megillah. We also read the story of Megillat Esther in Hebrew. Each student chose one scene to design on their own. They wrote a title, illustrated a picture, composed speech or thought bubbles for characters, and copied the appropriate verse source from the megillah. Next week we... Read More
100th Day, Pajama Day, and Purim Prep!
What a week back from school! So many fun activities. 100th day, pajama day, and Zsuzsi’s birthday celebration! A fun way to return to school. At Kabbalat Shabbat we shared reasons we were happy to return to school this week, and students had much to share! 100th Day Math and Pajama Day For the math station of the 100th day the second graders had a puzzle of a 100 chart they had to fill out. However this puzzle was super tricky! Only random numbers were given in mixed up boxes. We talked about the patterns on a 100 chart: every... Read More
Tu B’shvat and Finishing Perek Aleph!
Tu B’shvat We celebrated Tu B’shvat on Monday with activities inside and outside the classroom. In the classroom we have been playing games, doing puzzles, and learning vocabulary all connected to the holiday. We had a guest reader, Jed in fifth grade, who visited our class to read us a Tu B’shvat book that his grandma wrote. The second graders loved participating in the discussion that he led! Outside of the classroom we visited a Tu B’shvat fair in the gym with our buddies, and went to four stations of different Hebrew and Tu B’shvat related activities on the middle... Read More
Chumash and Nonfiction Writing
Writing We have kicked off our next writing unit and delved into information writing. Second graders brainstormed lists of things they are experts at, and it was great to see all of the things that we can do so well! We shared different hobbies like rainbow loom, baking, swimming, and sports as well as experiences we have that make us experts- like taking care of a pet. We have made a table of contents to organize our writing and have started our introductions where we write about what we want to teach our reader. We have enjoyed seeing what we... Read More
Kindness Week
Community Building This week we have been focusing on kindness- how we can spread kindness at home, in school, and the greater community. Second graders heard the story Each Kindness, by Jacqueline Woodson, a story about a girl named Maya who moves to a new school and the main character Chloe chooses to be unkind to her. Maya attempts many times throughout the story to befriend Chloe, but Chloe continues to choose to be unkind. As we discussed how we thought the story would end most students predicted “They will make up and become friends”. However, the story closes with... Read More
Week of Action: Tzedakkah, Card Writing, and Trip!
Yahadut: Tzedakkah (Charity) As part of the school’s Week of Action, we are introducing Tzedakkah into our classroom. On Tuesday we read the book “Joey and the Giant Box” about a child who organizes a food bank in his class. This reminded us of the collections our school is doing this week. We visited the boxes in the lobby to see what our school was collecting, and created designs for a class tzedakkah box that show different forms of tzedakkah. Today we decorated personal tzedakkah baggies for storing money. We brainstormed ways that we might earn money at home in... Read More