Second grade students were excited to
attend the Art Fair two weeks ago. They had
worked hard on a mural displaying their self-portraits and advice to next
year’s second graders on a background depicting a classroom scene which was created
by the students. In addition, they had
used computer technology to create drawings illustrating their limericks which
had been written in honor of St. Patrick’s Day in March. Our second-grade journals, which we have been
working on for the entire year, were on display as well.
Though
we are nearing the end of the year, students are working extra hard in
accelerated math, vying for coveted trophies to be awarded to those students
who master the most objectives. Besides reinforcing
the math skills they have learned in Saxon Math, it provides students with
valuable test taking skills, since the format is much like that of most
standardized tests. The class average is 77 objectives mastered. Practice, test, and review averages for the
class are 87%, 90%, and 93%, respectively.
We
have also been working hard in accelerated reading. Eight students have already earned over 100
AR points and the right to attend the 100 point AR party later this week. An additional three students are within reach
of our class goal of 75 AR points to earn a shirt at the honor assembly in a
couple of weeks.
With
MAP testing finally completed after several student absences due to illness,
second-grade students are excited to compare their April MAP scores with those
from the December tests. From
preliminary results, we seem to have had the most gains on the math portion of
the test, with an average gain of 9.38 points per student since December, with
total average gains since September of 20.13.
We can probably attribute our success in math this year to our dedicated
use of accelerated math throughout the year. Students are waiting with anticipation to see
who will be invited to attend the MAP pizza party for the highest scores and most
improvement in each area (reading, math, language).
Second-graders
have also been learning to square dance and are looking forward to exhibiting
their newly-acquired skills in a performance to be held on May 19 at the same
time the third-graders present their dramatic productions. The teacher has been surprised how quickly
the students mastered such commands as “do-sa-do”, “alamande left your corner”,
and “promenade”.
All in all, the 2008-2009 school year has been a good one.
Students are sad that they will be leaving second grade soon, but at the
same time, they are eager to move on to more adventures in third grade at