by Aubrey Vacura
Brooke Gegenbach’s second-grade students are currently working on several key skills across different subjects.
In math, they are focusing on adding three-digit numbers, both with and without regrouping. In reading, students are learning to compare and contrast two texts and are working on improving their reading accuracy and fluency. In phonics, students are identifying and reading words with unpredictable vowel teams. In grammar, they are practicing the correct use of linking verbs. In cursive writing, students are learning to write lowercase letters.
The class has several planned activities for the year. Students will participate in readers' theater to practice reading fluency. They will also take part in the Madagascar Hissing Cockroach Tractor Pull, an event organized by the 4-H Extension team that involves STEM concepts and the scientific method.
Gegenbach’s classroom goals include helping students become better readers and providing a welcoming environment where each student can learn in the way that suits them best.
According to Genenbach, the students' strengths include improvements in reading fluency and addition and subtraction facts. Some of the things that are challenges for the second graders include three-digit addition and subtraction with regrouping and learning cursive writing.