School Days: Second Grade First Nine Weeks {Riley}

I know I will love being able to look back on these types of posts years from now, but man are they a pain. Here goes!

Despite telling us that he still doesn’t like school and doesn’t want to go, Riley is doing very well in second grade. He LOVES his two teachers, Ms. Paulin and Ms. Cobb, and they love him.

In ELA, they are learning grammar, vocabulary, spelling, and reading. And I got two pictures from Ms. Cobb during one of their tests: she just had to show me what Riley apparently always does with his highlighters!

 

This is also the first year they have to do AR (Accelerated Reader) for a grade, which Riley complained heavily about at the beginning of the year. They have to read books and take computer tests on them and accumulate points. I thought this was going to be a huge struggle, so I told him to try and beat Claire’s AR score in an attempt to light a fire under him. Well, my boy took that challenge to heart and knocked it out of the park: he read 26 books and ended the quarter with 16.4 AR points. He was only required to get 5 points. I was SO proud of him.

In math, they are learning about counting on and counting back, doubles and near doubles, making a 10 to add, addition of three numbers, relating addition and subtraction, two-step word problems, skip counting, and regrouping. They are also taking timed math facts tests every week. Riley has been up and down on these, especially when they went from 3 minutes to 2 minutes. But we’ll keep chugging along!

In religion, they are learning about the rosary, God our Heavenly Father and Creator, the Blessed Trinity, Adam and Eve, and baptism.

The whole school celebrated the solar eclipse (albeit safely indoors and forbidden to go outside during eclipse time) on August 21. They did lots of eclipse activities and even had some eclipse themed treats.

They celebrated all of second grade’s August birthdays on Riley’s actual birthday, which he loved. Assorted Dunkin Donuts Munchkins and juice pouches were their school birthday treats.

  

He brought in his “All About Me” bag on September 15. He chose to fill it with Giraffey (of course), three Lego guys, and two crystals.

School pictures were on September 20. They came out great!

 

They also had their first mystery reader on September 20: Mrs. Kristen, who read a Clark the Shark book.

I helped with two art projects during their first nine weeks: a fall scarecrow and their Grandparents’ Day gift, paper plate gold ribbons.

 

 

I also helped teach the second grade fair dance a few times in October. They danced to Kriss Kross’ “Jump” and did awesome.

Riley’s behavior the first nine weeks has been mostly good, with a few exceptions. His biggest challenge is being able to focus and sit still and pay attention. Luckily, though, he’s never been on red, and he’s only been on orange a couple of times. He mostly stays on green and blue, with a purple or two thrown in for good measure. And every time either Ms. Paulin or Ms. Cobb thinks he’s not paying attention during class, he always answers their question correctly anyway!

The boys love walking into school together; Rory almost always helps Riley pull his school bag. So sweet.

 

A month into the second quarter, Riley is continuing to do very well in school, but his focus is still an issue. Upon the recommendation of Ms. Paulin and Ms. Cobb, Kenny and I decided to get a bouncy band for his desk, which could help him focus better but still be able to move a little bit. We shall see how it works!

Recap of Rory’s first nine weeks with Mrs. Sue and Ms. Megan in PK4 coming up next!