Teaching Grade 2!

The year is almost complete with one more month to go. I have been fortunate enough to have been involved in the learning process of many topics with a grade two class. I designed, developed, delivered and assessed while collaborating with the Grade 2 Teacher, lessons and mini units in Language (Verbs, Antonyms, Synonyms, Writing Friendly Letters,  How to Write a Fairy Tale, and 2 Stars and a Wish about fellow classmates’ Fairy Tales), Math (Estimating and Counting Money,  Solving Money Problems using Addition and Subraction), Health (Making Healthy Food choices, making a healthy meal using the 4 food groups, Food at Celebrations, and Safety at Home and at School) and Science (Creating a toy using simple machines). I used techniques which involved multimedia, skits, think-pair-share, brainstorming, group discussions and encouraged inquiry based learning. I also supervised and organized students on a field trip to Heartlake for a 'Water and its Recyclability’ learning experience.

Reading Bees!!

 The Reading Bees Program has been a success. I’ve been working with 4 to 5 students in grade 2 on a regular basis with their reading comprehension and fluency. I have found the most helpful strategies to be chunking, recognizing blends and endings. Also, blocking really helps too! 2 out of the 5 students have increased their level of reading ability by 3 or more levels since November. Even though some of the other students haven’t increased in levelled reading they have more confidence in their reading ability. All in all I can say that it has been and continues to be a success!

A good example of the ambition of some of the students is when Raj (changed the name for privacy) makes immediate connections with the cover of a book and tells me an entire story about he and his family's  adventure when they encountered a similar situation as what he saw in the picture of the cover. I would get lots of details and good inferences about things that could happen if certain things were true. I mean it, Raj has a vast imagination. 

It's been quite a challenge and a pleasure to teach these particular students how to improve their reading.