Weekly Update 2/11

I hope you had a fun Snow Day on Thursday! Looks like the potential for some more snow is on the way.  We've had a great couple of weeks in Second Grade.  The kids had a great time celebrating our 100th Day of School on February 8th!!  One of the activities we did was to see how many times we could do a certain thing (such as clapping our hands, writing our names, and jumping up and down) in 100 seconds.  It was so much fun! Here is a clip:

We have been enjoying our time in Asia and learning about the geography of the biggest continent of the World. We also spent time reading about Japan and learning about their culture. The kids loved learning about Children's Day and how the people in Japan fly carp kites to celebrate. We are even going to make our own carp kites! We also spent some time writing Haiku poems which is a type of poem that originated in Japan.

The students ability to write opinion pieces is continuing to strengthen. After putting the final touches on our restaurant reviews, the children are now writing other reviews.  This time they get to pick the topic they would like to write an opinion piece about. Some children have chosen to review a game, toy, place, famous person, pet, or sport. The children are getting really good at starting their writing by stating their opinion, giving their supporting details with examples, and ending with a conclusion.

In math, the children have been introduced to various diagrams to help them organize their mathematical thinking in order to solve addition and subtraction problems. The diagrams we discussed were: Total and Part Diagrams, Change Diagrams, and Comparison Diagrams. The children used their knowledge to decide what diagram worked best for various word problems. We also spent some time collecting data and graphing it with both picture and bar graphs.

During Guided Reading, we have read a variety of fictional texts. After reading the stories, we focused on 2 essential questions. The first being "What do you think was the most important event in the story? And Why? The second being "What do you think the author was trying to tell you in this story? These questions require the children to interpret and reflect on their reading. Next week I plan to begin checking in with each child and doing a DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment) in order to get ready for the end of Term 2 and to adjust reading groups as necessary. I can't wait to share your child's reading growth with you at our next conference in March.

Mrs. Oliver is hosting a parent volunteer meeting for the upcoming 2nd Grade musical program "Colors" on Wednesday, February 15th from 10:45-11:30 in the music room. She is looking for parents to help with simple props and costumes. No experience necessary! :) More information about the performance will be coming home soon!

Upcoming Events:

Tuesday, February 14th- School Store for Grade Two 

Tuesday, February 14th- Class Valentine Party 

Friday, February 17th- Crazy Hat Spirit Day

February Vacation- February 20th-25th 

I hope you have a fun and relaxing February Vacation! 

Here is what some of the kids had to say about the past few weeks:

"My favorite part of the past 2 weeks was playing Battleship in gym because I was with my friends and it was fun."
                                   - Griffen

"My favorite part of the past 2 weeks was when I got to pick my part for music because I like music class."
                                  - Elise

"My favorite part of the past 2 weeks was Patriot's Spirit Day because everybody had Patriot's stuff on."
                                  - Madison

"My favorite part of the past 2 weeks was the 100th Day of School because I like doing exercise."
                                  - Sarah

"My favorite part of the past 2 weeks was when we made masks in art because it was fun."
                                  - Ian