June 9 – What a Year!

Congratulations to our second graders on finishing the school year! It was a bittersweet last few weeks of school and we soaked up our joyful time together before summer break. The students reflected on their growth academically, socially and emotionally since the school year started. It’s hard to believe that that was ten months ago! As cliche as it sounds, time does fly when you are having fun.

The kids spent thoughtful time looking back at work and sharing how they have changed as readers, writers, scientists, mathematicians, artists – the list goes on and on! They revisited their hopes and dreams from the first week of school. Many of them were surprised to see how much progress they made since September, especially in writing as they reread their dated written pieces. Here are some of the comments they shared after comparing work from then until now:

I can’t believe that I used to write my name in all capitals.

My handwriting and spelling have gotten a lot better.

I got way better at drawing.

I learned how to use suffixes… I used to do -ing as a separate word!

At the beginning of the year, I couldn’t write as much as I do now.

I used to read out loud to myself, and only read picture books, and now I read chapter books without reading out loud!

The third graders came to visit and answer questions about third grade and next week we will visit the first graders to answer theirs too!

We are so proud of our second graders all the way around. Have a fabulous summer break wherever your travels take you. Don’t forget to stay in touch!

This spring, students in Veronica’s reading group wrote (with only a little bit of help!) and put on their own Reader’s Theater play based on Junie B. Jones has a Monster Under her Bed to not only practice their fluency and expression while reading, but also skills of summarizing, determining importance, and paraphrasing to boost their comprehension of the text. The children were so excited to perform in front of their classmates that they even created their own Playbills complete with a cast list, advertisements, and an autograph section. 

Hebrew and Judaic Studies

2nd graders were working hard on planning and building their Israeli map. They were excited to work in groups building Israel’s main cities and their landmarks. They start with writing their plan in their Hebrew notebook and then implementing their plan and creating their Israeli map project 

When they complete building and drawing their map, they start working as a team on their presentation where each one of the team presents part of the project in front of the 3rd graders. Next week, the last week of school, they will share with the 3rd graders their knowledge about Israel’s landmarks and the south, north and east Israel’s borders with Jordan, Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon.

Social Studies

In Social Studies we finished learning about Brooklyn; we looked at before and after photos of the city and discussed how it has changed over the last century with the inventions of new technology, construction of skyscrapers, and immigration of different ethnic groups. Along the way, students practiced taking notes. The children also made collages of what they think Brooklyn will look like in 50 years.

Science

For Science, we talked about how roots are important for plants and how roots can look different depending on the environment and what the plant needs. We finished our year by making “mud” cup treats, mimicking layers of soil in a delicious, fun-filled way!

Music

In Music, 2nd graders have been learning about orchestral musicians who play in other formations (duos, trios, quartets, etc) and in different styles. Students watched two performances by the trio The String Queens: one of Pachelbel’s Canon and another of a medley of Adele’s Rolling in the Deep and Gnarles Barkley’s Crazy. They also learned a bit about jazz, with the song “Sing Sing Sing” by Louis Prima. Have a wonderful, musical summer!