Class Quilt

Weekly Wellness Block Conversations
     Each Friday afternoon, we come together for class meetings. We discuss many topics, including getting along with others, kindness, communication, and bullying. During this time, the students practice their listening and speaking skills. They must follow our class discussion rules. They need to look at the person speaking, pay attention to the other students' comments and questions, and respond by linking their comment to the response of the other student.

     At the end of September, we discussed working as a team in our classroom and the importance of each of us doing our part to help the classroom run smoothly. As a follow up, each student created a class quilt square on their own. Once completed, we gathered all of the pieces and created a whole quilt by combining the individual pieces. By each of us doing our part, we managed to created something as a team.

Mrs. Begin made a hangman puzzle to give students a clue
about the theme for the quilt.

We followed this pattern to complete the quilt.

 To complete the quilt square, the students each received one 6-inch green square, two 3-inch yellow, and two 3-inch red squares. Students had to fold and cut the smaller squares from corner to corner, creating 8 triangles. Next, they built the quilt on the pattern page. Finally, they transferred the pieces onto the large green square.

                                         

  

                                       

Once each square was created and glued together, the students brought them all together to create the (almost) completed quilt.

Finally, each student cut out a red apple to add to the plain green squares.

Viola! Our finished September quilt!

These are the Speaking and Listening Standards we work on during Wellness and other class discussions.

SL2.1. Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.

1. Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion).
2. Build on others’ talk in conversations by linking their comments to the remarks of others.
3. Ask for clarification and further explanation as needed about the topics and texts under discussion.

Read to Self

What is the best way to become a better reader?

READ, READ, READ!

We start by learning "Read to Self". 

Below is the chart we created together which describes our roles in the classroom.

The students have their own Book Baggies full of "Just Right" books.

The students each find their own comfortable spot to read in. We work each day to lengthen our independent reading time. We call this building stamina. 

So far, we have built up our stamina to 11 minutes!

Some like reading in the tent.

Others really love the new ball chairs!

The students are responsible for choosing books that will keep them engaged and interested the whole time.
Over the next few weeks, students will begin to record information about the books they read on this recording sheet.

Common Core Standard RL2.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories and poetry, in the grades 2–3 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.