2nd Grade: A Great Start to a New Year

In second grade the kids started with a chalk talk.  They walked silently around the room responding to a series of questions that would lead to writing our mission statement.  They had to put their own thoughts and respond to their classmates.

After our chalk talk, the children were ready to present their homework.  I sent home a white square and the kids were to use their Green Thinking hat ( new ideas) to turn their square into something unexpected.  I loved seeing the creativity.

In these first couple of weeks, the second graders were give a challenge.  They had to work in teams to build the tallest, free standing, paper tower.  They were given 20 sheets of paper, tape and scissors.  It was interesting listening to the conversations.  I heard some groups talking about the need for a strong base.  They weren’t always sure what that meant, just that they needed one. 🙂

Second Grade Wildly Important Goal: 

95% or more of the 2nd Grade GT students will be able to correctly answer 20 multiplication problems in 45 seconds by December.

This WIG will follow us through our first semester. Knowing our multiplication tables will help with some higher level math we will be tackling in the spring.

The kids took a pre-test the first week.  Most of the kids got 0-1 correct, with one getting 5 out of 20 correct.  I decided to have the kids test again our 2nd week because so many indicated that they had started practicing.  Below you will see the kids with the most growth.  They moved from getting 1 correct to 6, 7, or 8 in 45 seconds.  WOW!  Way to go guys.

**You can click on the pictures below to see them in full size.

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