Extra Activity Ideas and Websites:
Wonderopolis: A wonderful website where students can learn answers to questions other people have had, and input their own "wonders" to discover new learning!!
http://wonderopolis.org/
TED Talks: A neat website where students can watch short videos (you can chose the desired length) to learn about a variety of topics
https://www.ted.com/talks
Math:
http://www.coolmath4kids.com/addition/number-monster-addition-2n3digit.htm (multiple addends, 2-3 digit addition)
www.iXL.com
http://www.abcya.com/second_grade_computers.htm
http://www.fuelthebrain.com/instruction/2nd-grade-common-core-math-matrix/
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/mathgames/placevalue/FSCompareNumbers.htm (comparing numbers)
http://www.mathplayground.com/common_core_state_standards_for_mathematics_grade_2.html (games for specific CCCS math standards for each grade)
http://www.mathblaster.com/parents/math-games/2nd-grade-math-games
http://www.softschools.com/math/games/
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/mathgames/menus/place_value.htm (place value, expanded form, comparing numbers)
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/mathgames/matching/SubtractionX.htm (finding the missing number)
http://www.funbrain.com/math/index.html (Math by individual skills, and you put in level of difficulty)
Activities:
- Popcorn- this game can be played with a partner or in groups. One partner passes an object to the other partner and says a number aloud. The partner has to begin counting up from that number until the first partner shouts "popcorn!" which signifies they are to stop counting. This process repeats. This can be used to count forward, backwards, by patterns (2's, 5's, 10's, or make your own) and can be extended to much larger numbers
- Cards- A deck of cards can be used for so many things! Students can play "top-it" which is just like the common card game war. Each person flips over a card and whoever has the higher number has to say how much more and how much less their cards is compared to their opponents. This activity can be extended to flipping two or more cards over and needing to find the sum, and then deciding how much more or how much less the answers are. Cards can always be used to order numbers from least to greatest, greatest to smallest, adding multiple addends (numbers) together, making arrays with rows and columns, and eventually multiplication.
- Index Cards- Creating a set of flashcards is a great way to get in a quick minute of math. Students can review these cards in the car, before dinner, or while at a sibling's activity. Students can create their own set and continually add to it as the year goes on. They can start with adding and subtracting facts within 20 since that is our standard, but then they can add more flashcards with groups of ten (34+40) and then move to more mental math problems (45+32) as the year goes on. Flashcards can also be used very similar to Top It (described above) to find the sum (adding) or difference (subtraction) and then compare the numbers.
- Creating single step and multi step Word Problems for a partner to solve.
Reading:
https://www.kidsbookseries.com/list/sorted-by-fountas-pinnell-guided-reading-level (book series list)
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/bhistory/inventors/ (African American Inventors)
http://hoboken.bccls.org/ (Hoboken Public Library)
http://mrnussbaum.com/second-grade-learning-games/
http://www.scholastic.com/parents/books-and-reading/book-lists-and-recommendations/ages-6-7 (Books by age and genre)
http://www.sspl.org/children/booklists/grade2/ (Second Grade Reading Suggestions)
http://www.pbs.org/parents/ (a wide variety of games)
http://www.turtlediary.com/grade-2-games.html (Math, Science, and English)
http://www.bookadventure.com/kids_zone.aspx
http://www.poetry4kids.com/poems (Poetry)
Questions for Reading Conversations:
- The 5 W's of Reading and Writing- Who was in the story, what was the story about, when did the story take place, why did the character react/feel a certain way, where did the story take place (setting)
- Students can make predictions while they are reading about what could happened next. They should always support their thinking with evidence from the story.
- Retell the story: Students can develop a summary of the text by retelling the Beginning, Middle, and End of the text, retelling the story by using First, Next, Then, After, Last or retelling by using Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then
- Make connections to the text- Text to Self, Text to Text, and Text to World types of connections
- Students can look for their spelling word patterns in new words in their texts
Writing:
http://www.studenthandouts.com/01-Web-Pages/writing-prompts/writing-prompts-k-2.htm (writing prompts)
https://www.journalbuddies.com/prompts-by-grade/fun-daily-prompts-2nd-grade(story topic ideas)
http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/printable-lined-paper (different types of writing paper)
Science:
http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/ (Science experiments broken into categories)
http://weirdsciencekids.com/Sciencevideos.html (Various science experiment videos)
http://www.internet4classrooms.com/grade_level_help/embedded_inquiry_conduct_experiments_second_2nd_grade_science.htm
http://www.lisd.org/technology/itswebs/elem/curr/science/2sciwebsites.htm
http://www.switchzoo.com/ (animal's habitats, biomes, characteristics, and other interesting information)
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/science.htm (different Science topics, with corresponding games)
http://www.ducksters.com/science/phases_of_the_moon.php (Learning about the moon phases)
http://www.kidsastronomy.com/astroskymap/lunar.htm (Learning about the moon phases)
http://www.moongiant.com/ (daily moon phases)
Social Studies:
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/
http://www.teachers.cr.k12.de.us/~galgano/2ss.htm (variety of topics, lessons, and games)
http://www.timeforkids.com/
http://www.state.nj.us/state/historykids/NJHistoryKids.htm (NJ History for kids)
http://www.usconsulate.org.hk/pas/kids/50states.htm (50 states, select state and learn about that state)
Typing:
http://www.abcya.com/ (Several games per grade level with varying difficulty)
http://www.learninggamesforkids.com/keyboarding_games.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z3c6tfr
http://www.funtotype.com/
Word Study:
http://www.wiseoldsayings.com/ultimate-word-games-guide.php (TONS of word games & websites for kids to explore!)
http://bogglesworldesl.com/dolch/lists.htm ( a complete list of all grade level sight words)
http://www.sightwordsgame.com/2nd-grade-sight-words/ (Second Grade Sight Words)
http://fes.davidson.k12.nc.us/UserFiles/Servers/Server_83796/File/Second%20%20Grade/Second%20Grade%20High%20Frequency%20Words%20Common%20Core.pdf (Printable PDF list)
Word Study Activities: creating a song, creating a story (real or make believe) and underlining the spelling words, writing the words in rainbow letters/spooky letters/ bubble letters, connect the words (creating a crossword type connection with all the spelling words), find the words in a book, creating word ladders with words (ex. S, se, sec, seco, secon, second, second g, second gr, second gra, second grad, second grade!), or sketch your words
Phonics Building:
- Students can use spelling city to practice their word lists through varies activities, as well as print a full word list for the week. Students can use this list to write sentences, create a story, and sort words. Students can discover their own ways to sort (by vowel patterns, long and short vowels, beginning/ending letters, syllables, etc.)
- Students can also take index cards and cut them into small squares and write a letter on each piece (or print online or use the scrabble pieces) and practice building words. They can build words from their list, and also come up with words that fit their spelling pattern but are not from their list.
- Frequently for morning work, we have students create words from bigger words. We will write a word on the board (example: Watermelon) and each student has to come up with as many words as they can from this larger word (water, me, no, term, mate, etc.). This can be a great activity at home because you can make it more of a game with timing it (how many words can you make in a minute) or to beat their previous word score.