Weekly Update 2/1

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and enjoyed the warmer temperatures.  February has snuck right up on us!  Here is a look at some of the things 2^nd graders will be working on over the next few days…

In reading groups we will discuss the strategy of visualization.  Using various types of text (fiction, narrative non-fiction, poetry), the children will have an opportunity to record and talk about what they are visualizing in their heads as they read.

Our Social Studies lesson this week will focus on the country of Mexico as we continue our study of North America.  We will read about life in Mexico, focusing on various customs, landmarks, and foods.  We hope to incorporate a craft as well.  I hope you received the Continents and Oceans study guide that came home with your child on Friday.  The assessment will be on Thursday.

The spelling words for the week will be a review of the “R-Controlled” vowels.  We will also be assessing the children on the 100 High Frequency Words in preparation for the upcoming progress reports.

We will begin Unit 6 of our math program on Monday.  This unit will look at graphing as a way of collecting and interpreting data.  In addition, we’ll look at Comparison Number Stories and review various diagrams that can help us solve number stories.

Friday will mark our first official rehearsal for the upcoming Dr. Seuss show!  You should have received a notice about the date of the performance and the t-shirt each child will be wearing.  If you did not receive these notices, please let me know.

Enjoy your week!

Weekly Update 1/25

I hope everyone is staying warm and had fun in the snow! We have many things to look forward to in the classroom this week.

During reading this week we will be getting back to fictional texts and practicing retelling a story. We will practice by orally telling the Beginning-Middle-End as a group and then follow up with having the students write a written summary of the story. 

This will be our last week in Unit 5 for math. The students will continue solving number stories using various diagrams (Change Diagram and Parts-and-Total Diagram). We will also be doing a practice open response where the children will solve an addition problem using two different strategies. On Friday, the students will be taking the Math Mid-Year assessment.

We had a blast on our make-believe flight last week! This week we will be learning about North America! Next week, we will learn about Mexico and we will begin our Around the World scrapbook pages! We are almost ready for our Mapping and Continent Assessment, so please look for a study guide to be coming home soon with your child in preparation for the assessment next week. I have provided a link to a game we played in class to help the children learn the location and names of the 7 continents and 5 oceans. Hopefully your child will play at home to reinforce what we have been doing in school and to be ready for the assessment.

Continents and Oceans Game

The children are doing a great job on their restaurant reviews! They are making me hungry!! This week will be working on revising and editing their reviews. After revising, the kids will get to choose their own type of review. They can choose a book, game, sport, movie, place, etc. 

I hope you have a wonderful week! 

Weekly Update 1/18

We will have a short week due to Monday’s holiday and our professional development day on Tuesday.  I hope you’re enjoying the long weekend!

Please note that there will be no spelling tic-tac-toe or reading log questions this week for homework.  Also, Friday is an all-school Pajama Spirit Day

Second grader’s are in for a treat this week as we“fly out” on our journey around the world.  Thursday afternoon we will kick off our “trip” by going on an imaginary flight with all the second grade classes.  Starting next week, we will spend about 2 weeks learning about each of the seven continents.  We are just beginning to learn the names and locations of each continent.  Here is a link to a song we are using to help to us:

Continents Song

The math lessons this week will touch upon Change-To Number Stories (starting with a number, then changing that number by adding on to get a new number).  We’ll discuss this concept by looking at fish that increase their weight by eating other fish.

On Friday we look forward to having parents come in to the classroom to play math games. 

Reading groups will continue their work with non-fiction and exploring new vocabulary.  The kids have been doing great being word detectives and using dictionaries in the classroom.

Our restaurant reviews are coming out awesome!  I’ve been so impressed by how convincing second graders can be!  We will try to finish them up this week and begin the editing process.

Coming Up:

- Look for class Valentine lists coming soon.  We will celebrate with our last class party on Friday, February 12^th.

Weekly Update 1/11

It was great to get back into the swing of things last week. The kids worked very hard!

Here's a look at this week:

During our language arts block, the students will be learning about contractions and will learn how to form contractions for am, is, and will words. We will also be working on the CAFE strategy of "Expanding Vocabulary." We will do this through the reading of various non-fiction texts. The students will have the opportunity to be a word detective and to use text clues to try to determine the meaning of new vocabulary. They will then use a dictionary or glossary to find the true meaning.

The students were excited to learn about opinion writing last week! This week, the students will choose a place they have eaten (cafeteria, restaurant, a friend of family members house) to write a review. The students will compete a graphic organizer and then begin writing their review.

Our math time will be spent developing strategies for mentally adding and subtracting 10 and 100 from a given number. The children will also use open number lines and Change Diagrams as strategies for solving word problems.

In Social Studies, we will continue working with maps and discussing the symbols found on a map (key, compass rose, scale). We will begin to learn the names and locations of the continents and oceans of the World.

A Couple Friendly Reminders:

Second Grade School Store is Tuesday the 12th.

Please label all winter gear as things tend to get mixed up in the coatrooms this time of the year. Thank you for your help!

Weekly Update 1/4

Happy 2016!!  I am feeling rested and revived after our long winter break.  I look forward to seeing all the children on Monday morning and hearing about their exciting week off. 

We are kicking off a new year, a new math unit, a new writing unit, and a new social studies unit this week!!

The children have completed the first half of the Everyday Math program, so this week they will begin working in a new math journal.  We will start Unit 5, which reviews addition fact power (automaticity of math facts), as well as money and making change.  Please note that the concept of making change can be a difficult one, and we don’t expect mastery at this time.

Our term 2 writing time will be spent working on reviews/opinion writing.  This week we’ll discuss what people might review and what a good review should include.  We’ll start off by reviewing the Robinson School Cafeteria- a place we’re all familiar with!!

In Social Studies we’ll begin a mapping unit. The students will get a chance to review different kinds of maps and cardinal directions. We’ll also look at map keys.  These mapping skills will be a stepping stone into our very large unit of study- “Around the World”

I am excited to change up our reading groups this week by reading a variety of non-fiction texts.  Now that the students are very familiar with the features of non-fiction, we will use that knowledge to read and learn about some very interesting topics.

Have a great week!  I hope you’re finding my BLOG updates useful.  As always, please contact me with any questions or concerns.

One final note…

  Thanks to all who donated and/or volunteered at our Winter party before vacation.  These parties wouldn’t be successful without your support.  Erin Boylen did a great job heading up the snow globe craft and the kids seem to have a great time!