After celebrating the winter holidays in our beautiful winter concert, second grade students were very excited to share their persuasive reviews with their guests at our first writing celebration of the year.  As guests gathered in classrooms, teachers shared background information about the writing process, including brainstorming lists of books, places to visit, and toys/games, and restaurants they think others should try. Each writer planned their persuasive review to contain four important elements: a hook to catch the reader’s attention, the writer's opinion, reasons supporting that opinion, and a closing statement. Teachers also shared three types of goals throughout the unit: content goals, revision and editing goals, and publication goals. Students were proud to display their improved fluency when reading their writing. They rehearsed standing in front of the audience and using the power of their words to convince the audience to follow their ideas. Afterward, it was fun to share a morning snack and wish everyone a wonderful winter break. 

​Reminder! Our Persuasive Review Writing Celebration is scheduled for Friday, December 15th, immediately following our Primary School Winter Concert which begins at 8:30am. Our 2nd graders will be sharing their Persuasive Reviews and light refreshments will follow. We are looking forward to sharing this special day with you!

​​This week is Computer Science Education Week and second graders joined students across the nation in participating in an Hour of Code. This is "a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify code and show that anybody can learn the basics." (code.org) Building on last week’s learning, students were ready to jump into several hands-on experiences. Working collaboratively, second graders built block mazes with specific numbers of turns, then used words/commands that provide specific directions and instructions to guide a moving object in navigating the maze successfully. Trying to make our mazes navigable for Hexbugs required lots of critical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills. It also required students to test and revise their maze and programming language. Students then used Code.org and app resources to further explore the basics of computer programming. Second graders understand now that coding is a language, much like the languages they speak. Our Hour of Code experience was engaging and exciting for all!

Persuading is Fun! Our Persuasive Review writing unit is in full swing! Writers are working hard to craft reviews to persuade others to try (or not try!) something. What is a HORC you ask? They learned that using an engaging hook, stating their opinion, including several detailed reasons and a strong closing will help them to persuade others to take action. It is important to use a strong "hook" so that you reader becomes engaged and wants to keep reading on. Ask your child the difference between opinions and reasons, both are equally important but yet very different. We have written reviews on everything ranging from local restaurants, X box games, board games, vacation destinations, and of course books! The children are excited to share this writing work with you at our writing celebration on December 15th. Perhaps they will even persuade you to try something new.