What do you do when it rains? You read Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs! Then, later, you unwind with some MindYeti activities. On this rain-soaked week, second graders enjoyed reading and discussing the cult classic story Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. We talked about story elements such as main characters, plot, setting, problem, solution, theme, and cause and effect. Students reviewed the characteristics of a tall tale and then cooked up some fabulous tall tales of their own!
On Thursday, the second grade watched the Youth Poet Laureate, Amanda Gorman, deliver an incredibly moving recitation of her poem, “The Hill We Climb.” Ms. Gorman’s uplifting poem inspired some beautiful illustrations and reflections in the students’ writing journals.
It was thrilling to watch highlights of the Presidental Inauguration together in class in a special broadcast made just for kids! Students heard the National Anthem, “God Bless America,” and watched Biden and Harris being sworn in. Some of the students saluted on their own when they saw the American flag! 
Second graders have been working with procedural texts (using words like first, then, next, and last) to reinforce the sequence of events. Last week, they wrote step-by-step instructions for making hot chocolate and then sipped their delicious treats.
The class served up some synonym rolls and then we all enjoyed sweet cinnamon rolls to celebrate our creative word work!
