For the last two weeks, our read-aloud selections have focused on important social and emotional learning topics. These books have opened up wonderful discussions about the hurdles kids face, the feelings they have, and the behaviors they display.
But the true power lies in the actions the students are choosing on their own.
Every classroom is filled with children dealing with their own challenges, and to watch the way our students are helping each other through these is truly inspiring. Just this week, I saw a student walk over, bend down, and quietly whisper in a classmate's ear, which instantly helped that child "reset." It simply made me smile.
I am so impressed with how well our class is taking care of each other and demonstrating such wonderful empathy and support.
This week's read-a-loud titles were as follows:
Stay Cool at School: The main learning goal of this book is to teach children self-management skills, specifically focusing on identifying, expressing, and coping with big emotions in a healthy way. The book uses a story format with characters Jumpy and Sunny to help students learn to:
- Recognize and name a variety of feelings they experience throughout the school day (e.g., worried, angry, excited).
- Practice self-soothing techniques and coping skills to manage their emotions.
- Become mindful of their emotional state to promote a calmer learning environment.
In essence, it aims to empower children with the tools they need for emotional regulation and self-control.
I Have Ants in My Pants (no link available): This is a story about a young boy named Louis who struggles constantly with an uncontrollable urge to wiggle, fidget, and move. He is a good kid, but he just can't sit still—he wiggles in his seat at the movie theater, can't stand still in line, and accidentally bumps or kicks others during quiet activities like story time. Because of his constant restlessness, people around him frequently tell him he "has ants in his pants. "With a little practice, Louis learns that he can successfully calm his body and sit still when needed, making both him and the people around him much happier. The book normalizes restlessness and provides children with actionable strategies for self-control and impulse management.
What Were You Thinking: The story focuses on Braden, a humorous third-grader who loves being the center of attention. Braden frequently runs into trouble because he acts on his first impulse: he cracks ill-timed jokes in class, shouts out answers, or reacts impulsively during games, often resulting in hurt feelings or consequences. When his teachers and parents repeatedly ask, "What were you thinking?", they realize the answer is often, "He wasn't thinking at all!"
The adults in Braden's life step in and teach him a practical, four-step strategy to control his impulses and make better choices:
- Stop: Take a breath and pause.
- Think: Consider the different choices you could make.
- Decide: Choose the best option.
- Choose the Right Behavior: Act on the plan.
Through practicing these steps, Braden learns that a brief moment of thought can prevent larger problems and help him achieve his goal of being funny and well-liked without causing disruption or hurting others. The book empowers children to take control of their reactions and focus on positive long-term outcomes.
My Tiny Temper: This story helps children understand their anger by externalizing it as a "Tiny Temper" monster that grows bigger every time they feel frustrated or hear the word "No." The key lesson is that while it's normal to feel angry, children need tools to keep their temper from becoming overwhelming. The book teaches a simple strategy: to stop, take a deep breath, and have a "tiny chat" with their feelings to keep their temper small and manageable. We encourage you to reinforce this stopping and breathing technique at home to help your child manage big emotions.
The Boy With Big, Big Feelings: This story introduces a boy whose emotions—from intense joy to deep sadness—are so powerful they feel visible. When he notices his feelings making him different, he tries to hide and stuff them down, fearing he'll be judged. The powerful message of the book is that he realizes, through connecting with a friend who feels just as deeply, that his big feelings are a strength and a gift, not a flaw. It teaches all children that it's okay to experience and express the full range of their emotions, and that sharing them is the key to genuine connection and friendship.
Student of the Week: This week's Student of the Week is pictured here. She is a 2nd grader in our classroom and has an older brother at our school too. Her favorite food is Watermelon. Her favorite color is yellow. She loves to do gymnastics and she wants to be a gymnast when she grows up. The thing she loves best about school is recess! Congratulations to this week's Student of the week.
Global Read A Loud: On Monday, I read the story I'm From. This is the third title for this year's Global Read A Loud. This book follows a young Black boy through the small, defining moments of an ordinary day, from waking up to bedtime. Using the phrase "I come from," the lyrical text explores his identity not just through a geographical place, but through the rich details of his daily life: family, food, community, school bus rides, games, and cultural pride. It also addresses the isolating experience of facing racial microaggressions, such as being asked, "Where are you from?" The book ultimately becomes a powerful and affirming celebration of self-awareness, belonging, and the sense of home found in family and heritage. After we discussed the book, the students made their own "I'm From" posters using construction paper and special construction paper crayons. It was great to see how each kid identified what was important to them and what defined who they are.
The Rest of the Week's Academics:
- In writing, the students continued writing personal narratives. I continued to focus on keeping the story about a specific moment and exploding that moment with their writing. I also led a mini-lesson on spelling and reminding kids how to stretch out the word and wrote the sounds they hear.
- Our financial literacy learning had the class finishing up their work with the book Spend It! The class completed an activity that had them think of two items they would like to buy but then realized they only had enough for one of the items. They then were forced to solve the problem with the idea that they would have to make a decision.
- Math class had first graders focusing on dominoes and having the ability to identify the fact family for each domino. A domino fact family is where students use the dots on a domino to create a set of related addition and subtraction equations (or multiplication and division equations). For example, a domino with 2 dots on one side and 4 on the other creates the fact family 2+4=6, 4+2=6, 6-2=4, & 6-4=2. The 2nd graders finished up their work with Unit 1 and spent the latter part of the week counting and organizing larger groups of items.
NOTES:*Please make sure your child has sneakers on gym days (Wednesdays & Thursdays). Kai really appreciates your help with this.
*Some of the kids have asked about another book order. I will send one out in November with the goal of having them delivered prior to the December break. More information will be shared when the order forms are sent home.
*We had a new student join our class on Tuesday. This child (seen here) is a wonderful young lady and has immediately jumped right in to our routines and has already connected with some of her classmates. She has a twin in Mr. Hubbard's classroom and an older sibling in 4th grade. I want to welcome her to our school and community.
*We will have a bus evacuation drill on
. This is required (by our bus company) and the kids will learn what to do if the bus ever broke down or a situation arrived where they had to get off the bus). I have seen many classes do this over the years and it is always handled with ease by the students.
*Picture retakes will be on Wednesday. We will also be carving pumpkins with Mrs. Smith's class at the end of the day (On Wednesday).
That is all for now. I hope you all have a great weekend. I am currently in Rochester, NY visiting my daughter. I have to laugh because she is already asleep and her "old man" is still up at 12:00 am getting this post done. It is good to know that I can still outlast a 24 year old!
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| We have a glasses club in our room! |
Peace,
Mr. Young
This week's 2nd grade math students focused on the concept of equality and deciding if equations were balanced or not. Balancing equations, is a critical step in building strong mathematical thinking. The students are moving beyond simply finding an answer to the equal sign (3=3) and gaining an understanding that it means "is the same as" or "is equivalent to." . This focus on maintaining balance and solving for a missing number (e.g., 3+ 2 = ___+1) is their first, important step into algebraic thinking and is essential for success in future math concepts.
This week's science focus continued to ask the students to think about habitats with a specific focus on our school area. Today Luke brought in the photos from our game cameras and the students were amazed by what they saw. Luke also shared some photos from around the valley. So yea, the camera did pick up a bear but it was not in the woods by our school. Please don't believe any bear wrestling stories that may come from this!
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