Building Community: Morning Meetings and Essential Agreements

The first month of school has flown by!

In Grade 2 we have already done so much to start the school year out strong.  We are getting better acquainted with one another every day during Morning Meeting, we created our Essential Agreements, and learned our new school schedule.  We have started Literacy Centers during ELA so that students can practice word patterns, writing, and growing their reading stamina every day.  We have even had Ms. Kim’s mom and Akira’s Grandma visit our classroom as a guest readers!  Students were very excited about their new 5^th grade Reading Buddies too!

Investigating Who We Are: Inquiry into Balanced Lifestyles

Our first Unit of Inquiry is called Who We Are. Our central idea is, “A balanced lifestyle requires people to make choices about their health and well-being”. So far we have done gallery walks, played vocabulary games, developed posters with small groups, created questions for our Wonder Wall, and found TONS of books from the school library about different ways to have a balanced lifestyle.  We are finishing up the unit with student presentations about healthy snacks and power point presentations about the four goals that students set for themselves to help them have a healthy lifestyle.

Dr. Febriadi, the school doctor, visited our classroom to discuss how we can prevent the flu and how we should stay home if we feel sick so that we do not spread our germs to other people.  We have planned a field trip for Friday the 27^th to a gym so that students can learn different ways to make their bodies strong.  Ms. Alexis, the school guidance counselor, will also be meeting with our class to discuss ways that we can use our mind to help stay positive and have a balanced lifestyle.

Next, we will be learning about how fresh water is essential to life. We already know that it is important to drink 8 glasses of water every day to stay healthy, and now we are going to learn just how difficult that can be in some parts of the world.

I’m looking forward to the year to come!

Explore resources for teaching children about health and well-being at KidsHealth.
Learn more about the importance of water conservation and access to clean water at UNICEF.