Happy Thursday!! We had a wonderful week beginning our new class read-aloud and presenting our model of the town of Naomi to seven other classes!

Literature- Flora and Ulysses

Flora and Ulysses is about a girl named Flora who loves comic books. One day, she rescues a squirrel that gets sucked up by a vacuum cleaner. The squirrel, named Ulysses, survives and discovers he has superpowers– he can fly, type on a typewriter, and write poetry! Together, Flora and Ulyesses go on adventures, learn about hope and love, and show that even small creatures can do big things.

Picture books we read this week- Fairytales and Fractured Fairytales…

Each morning after morning meeting I read a picture book to the children. Reading picture books aloud in 2nd and 3rd grade is still very important–here’s why:

1. Builds a love of reading-when the teacher reads with expression, voices, and energy, it makes stories more exciting.
2. Expands vocabulary and language- Books read aloud often contain richer words and sentence structures than what children can read independently. Hearing those words in context helps kids grow their vocabulary and comprehension.
3. Models fluent reading- The teacher shows what good reading sounds like: pacing, tone, expression, pausing at punctuation.
4. Builds listening comprehension
5. Sparks discussion and critical thinking
6. Supports community and social-emotional learning

Journaling-

What happened because of Winn-Dixie?

What happened in chapters 1-3 of Flora and Ulysses?

Free Choice Time–

Watching videos on how to make different types of paper airplanes–

Mindset Mathematics…

This week’s Big Idea in our math curriculum was about making and using equal groups. This idea is about helping kids understand multiplication and division as making groups and sharing into groups. It builds the foundation for later multiplication facts by focusing on equal groups. The students colored groups that have the same number of items. We also took this opportunity to review even and odd numbers. The students learned to model, describe, and reason about equal groups with numbers, drawings, and real-life problems.

Math Games- Walk the Plank, Fill in the Stairs, Guess My Number

We took some time to decorate our portfolio that will contain our work that we will show at conferences in November…

Making birthday cards for Ms. Demetra…

We presented our model of Naomi, Florida from our novel, Because of Winn-Dixie to grades pre-K through 5th. The children loved explaining the different locations within the town, pointing out the models they built with clay. We also talked about why the setting is especially important for this novel.

Thinking Outside the Box- It’s not a hand, it’s a…

Tiger Paw!

Turkey!

A Salamander!

A tree!

A Watch!

Multiplicity Lab Image of the week… How many?

Lunch…

Have a great weekend!

Love,

Ms. Melissa

Hello, Families!

We’ve had another wonderful week of learning and having fun together! The students have been working hard, showing kindness, and making great progress. I’m excited to share some of the highlights from our week!

At Plato we love to collaborate with other classrooms when we get a chance! Together, with Ms. Lisa’s class we read the story, The Dot. It is beloved children’s picture book about creativity, confidence, and self-expression. Each student paired with a child from Ms. Lisa’s class to create an art project. They cut the dot in half, decorated it with stickers, markers, do-a-dots, and collage, and then put their dot back together. It was a fun way to experiment with different mediums making their dots big, bright, bold, and beautiful!

Library Trip!

This week we took our first visit to the Des Plaines Library! We each checked out a book that we will keep at school to read during DEAR time!

Books we read this week…

Centers…

Pick-up Sticks

Make 10

More Math Games…

Journaling-

Sight Word BINGO…

DEAR- Drop Everything and Read is important in a second and third grade classroom because it helps build both literacy skills and positive attitudes toward reading at a critical developmental stage.

Here are more reasons it is valuable…

1. Builds Reading Stamina
2. Encourages a Love of Reading
3. Improves Fluency and Comprehension
4. Models Reading as a Lifelong Habit
5. Supports Differentiation
6. Builds Classroom Community

In short- DEAR time gives the children daily, low-stress practice that strengthens both skills and motivation, laying the groundwork for future academic success.

Recess…

Literature- Because of Winn-Dixie

We finished our class novel this week and completed a final project as a class. The students were challenged to create the town of Naomi, Florida using clay and Model Magic. We first brainstormed all of the locations in the town that were central to the story. Our list included The Herman W. Block Memorial Library, Opal’s house, Sweetie Pie Thomas’s house, Winn-Dixie grocery store, the Open Arms Baptist Church, Gertrude’s Pets, Gloria Dump’s House, and the Dewberry’s House. We also discussed how a community is where we live, work, and play. I asked what else a community has and we added hospital, fire station, schools, parks, hotels, restaurants, and the police station to the list. Each student took one thing on the list and created it with clay. We then added our structures to a poster board and labeled them. Students also created roads, streets signs and lights, as well as parking lots. We had a lot of fun with this culminating project!

The town of Naomi

Future City Planners!

Watching the movie Because of Winn-Dixie!

Have a great weekend!!

Love,

Ms. Melissa

Dear Families,

We’ve had such an exciting week in room 120! Our class has been busy learning, creating, and growing together. One of the highlights is our participation in Art to Remember fundraiser. The students have been working hard on their artwork, and we can’t wait for you to see it. More information to come!

Books we read this week…

Literature-

In our story Because of Winn-Dixie, the candy called Littmus Lozenges made people taste sweet and sad at the same time. That gave us an idea to invent our own candy and write a description of it. We also decorated our own candy wrappers!

The children reported to the class the name of their candy, what it looks like, tastes like, and told about the special thing it makes you feel when you eat it.

Characters from Because of Winn-Dixie

Centers this week included, Lego Build- build a tiny house, Math Games with Ms. Melissa, Mystery Science- Dolphins, Journaling, coloring a giant map of the United States, drawing and painting a sunset for Art to Remember, fort building, Sorry, Uno, and checkers!

Math Games with Ms. Melissa

Math Journal-

The “Number of the Day” activity strengthens number sense. Students learn that numbers aren’t just symbols–they can be represented with objects, words, expanded form, place value, and equations. It encourages flexibility in thinking about numbers (e.g., “25 is two tens and five ones,” “20+5,” “30-5,” “the number after 24”). It also supports mental math. By thinking about how numbers relate to each other (e.g., doubles, near doubles, 10 more/10 less, 1 more/1 less), students strengthen mental math strategies they’ll use in everyday problem solving.

Free Choice

Multiplicity Lab Image of the Week-

Our leading questions were How many? How do you know? How do you see it?

Art to Remember Fundraiser–

In the beginning of October, parents will be given the opportunity to purchase custom keepsakes featuring their child’s artwork. This week we spent some time making a practice piece of art using oil pastel crayons, and then the next day we made to final copy and used paint.

Recess-

Cornflake-

We watched Ms. Anna feed a mouse to Cornflake our Corn Snake! She told us lots of interesting facts about Corn Snakes! Ask your child about this unique experience.

Lastly, we had a special guest named Ms. Georgia come into our room to play math games with our students. She also brought us two fun games that we will try out as a class next week!

Have a great weekend!

Love,

Ms. Melissa

Hello, friends and families!

We had a wonderful four days together! Please enjoy highlights from our busy and fun-filled week!

Literature-

The students are loving our class novel, Because of Winn-Dixie! We read two chapters a day and then I ask the students some questions to access their comprehension. We then keep track of the characters we “meet” by drawing them as they are introduced to us in the story.

DEAR- Drop Everything And Read!

Books we read this week…

Class Name Graph inspired by the story, Chrysanthemum.

Mindset Mathematics Curriculum– Our 2nd and 3rd grade curriculum presents students with creative, visually rich tasks rooted in growth mindset principles. It shifts focus from speed and rote answers to deep conceptual understanding, resilience through mistakes, and visual connection of math ideas–making it a powerful tool for nurturing strong mathematical thinkers.

Journaling-

Journaling in 2nd and 3rd grade has benefits academically, socially, and emotionally. At this age, children are developing their writing fluency, self expression, and ability to reflect. Students are strengthening writing skills by building stamina for writing longer sentences and paragraphs. They are also learning grammar, punctuation, and spelling in an authentic way. It also encourages creativity and voice beyond structured assignments.

“My tiger followed me to school!”

“A bird flew into my window and said…”

Centers-

We read the picture book, “One Word” that asks students to choose just one word to guide your year. This motivational book challenges the reader to slow down, reflect on what truly matters, and be intentional with how you live. Students chose words like “inspire”, “create”, “build”, “craft”, ‘strength”, as a theme for their personal growth this year.

Building Bridges– STEAM skills in action!

Students were able to understand how engineers and architects approach building projects applying concepts like math, (measurement and geometry), science (forces, balance, tension), and engineering, (design, testing, improving), in a fun tangible way.

Free Choice Time-

Daily Phonics Lessons- letters f, g, h, i

Math Games…

Field Trip-

We went on a field trip to Prairie Lakes Theater to see a Showcase of artists perform. We saw jugglers, yo yo tricks, unicyclists, storytellers, and musicians. Two of our students were chosen out of the audience to help on stage!

Have a great weekend!

Love,

Ms. Melissa