Read our "Letters to the Next President"
All work below this point is from the 2015-2016 school year.
Second graders have studied local (city) government in their homerooms. Now we are writing to Mayor Kaler and the City Commissioners about the problems with City Hall.
Take a look at our process and be sure to scroll down and read our final draft AND the response we received from Mayor Gayle Kaler of Paducah!
Take a look at our process and be sure to scroll down and read our final draft AND the response we received from Mayor Gayle Kaler of Paducah!
Afterwards, we debated preserving and renovating City Hall versus demolishing and building a new one.
2nd graders have differing viewpoints.
Read some of our prewriting and early drafts.
2nd graders have differing viewpoints.
Read some of our prewriting and early drafts.
In order to get the format of a friendly letter down, we practiced writing letters to the Mayor. We also imagined what she might say as our audience and wrote pretend letters from her back to our class. That helped us develop our ideas.
We finally put our best ideas together in one letter to Mayor Kaler as a grade level. Each class worked together to develop an OPINION paragraph about why we want to preserve our City Hall. (We used the OREO method by explaining our opinion, a reason, explanation & examples & our opinion again...in each body paragraph. We even enjoyed an Oreo cookie while we were writing!)
Thank you for your reply, Mayor Kaler! We were so thrilled to receive it!
"Sally the Nicest Vampire Ever" by Ka'Reece Reed
(an independent narrative with illustrations)
Real writers ask REAL QUESTIONS, then research topics to write about! Here are some examples of what we wonder:
HABITAT STUDIES by 2nd Graders in Miss Free's class
Second Graders write NARRATIVES (stories) based on small moments. (Think, my favorite ride at the fair instead of my whole day at the fair.) They focus on including some details to help the reader imagine the experience or event.
By Qariah Davenport, 2nd Grader in Miss Sawyer’s class
I went to my friend’s house. Her little brother’s finger got smashed in the door.
We were playing Monopoly but then we saw his finger and rushed to her Dad so we could help him. Kam was in the living room.
We were still playing Monopoly then decided to play tag but my mom said it was time for bed. We still played for a minute and my favorite hiding spot was the closet.
When her brother was asleep I got tired. She was looking for her mom’s phone to play Minecraft but it was the middle of the night. I was really tired. I fell asleep then I woke up at like four in the morning. I was sad I had to leave that morning but I had fun playing with my friend.
I went to my friend’s house. Her little brother’s finger got smashed in the door.
We were playing Monopoly but then we saw his finger and rushed to her Dad so we could help him. Kam was in the living room.
We were still playing Monopoly then decided to play tag but my mom said it was time for bed. We still played for a minute and my favorite hiding spot was the closet.
When her brother was asleep I got tired. She was looking for her mom’s phone to play Minecraft but it was the middle of the night. I was really tired. I fell asleep then I woke up at like four in the morning. I was sad I had to leave that morning but I had fun playing with my friend.
by Maria Herrera – Pastor, 2nd Grade, Miss Sawyer’s class
The sun was up when we went to the pool. I climbed up and jumped.
I jumped off of the diving board. I hopped off and splash, I was diving. I got out of the water and put my clothes on to go home. We had dinner when we got home then went to sleep.
The sun was up when we went to the pool. I climbed up and jumped.
I jumped off of the diving board. I hopped off and splash, I was diving. I got out of the water and put my clothes on to go home. We had dinner when we got home then went to sleep.
By Quaniya Coleman, 2nd Grader in Miss Sawyer’s class
I was at a birthday. We were in the living room. My granny said time for cake but my brother bit into the cake.
My granny was so mad at my brother. He was so scared. He cried and he ran to his room.
My mom said Jvoncie it is ok. You were so happy. Now just go downstairs and apologize to granny.
So he ran downstairs and said sorry to granny. We all ate cake. We all went to the park and all popped fireworks and my baby sister woke up crying.
My mom said it is ok baby. I’m here. Do not be scared. I will be with you all the time.
So we all went home and ate popcorn and watched a movie and fell asleep on the day I was six.
I was at a birthday. We were in the living room. My granny said time for cake but my brother bit into the cake.
My granny was so mad at my brother. He was so scared. He cried and he ran to his room.
My mom said Jvoncie it is ok. You were so happy. Now just go downstairs and apologize to granny.
So he ran downstairs and said sorry to granny. We all ate cake. We all went to the park and all popped fireworks and my baby sister woke up crying.
My mom said it is ok baby. I’m here. Do not be scared. I will be with you all the time.
So we all went home and ate popcorn and watched a movie and fell asleep on the day I was six.
Second Graders have practiced their NARRATIVE skills with PASS-IT-ON Stories! Each team begins with a page that has a story starter at the top and a bag of "story clues." The clues are strips of paper that students draw out one at a time on their turn that tell them what kind of detail to include in the story. (For example: write a sentence that tells how your character is feeling; Write a sentence that describes how your character is walking; Write a sentence that explains what your character is hearing.) Each student writes with a different colored marker so individual contributions are easy to track!