Week 30

  Dear Parents,

                 Donuts with Dads was a huge success. I wish I could have been in the Café to welcome you, but I was watching all of second grade who came to our rooms at 7:15. I know you enjoyed your time together!

                 We had another great week in second grade! In math we finished up our unit on fractions and took our assessment. We are now learning Geometry- solid shapes. We are looking for those shapes in our world, counting the faces, flat surfaces, edges, and vertices.

                  In writing we finished up researching famous Americans as we learned about Theodore Roosevelt. We then began learning about how to write a procedural paper. We practiced following a paper about how to draw a dolphin. Then we started researching the body parts of a crab as we will compose a class paper about how to draw a crab.

                  In reading/social studies we learned about our earth as we looked at a globe and read about the continents , oceans, equator, and hemispheres. On Tuesday we read about the origin of April Fools Day , read jokes, and chose one to make a class joke book. We practiced our reading skills as we read two passages and answered questions on a district reading check point.  On Friday we read a Scholastic News article called Slam Dunk! We then took a comprehension check.

                 In science we finished up our unit on seed dispersal and pollination. We took our assessment on Friday. We also got a wonderful surprise in the mail. Our caterpillars arrived. We will be observing them until they become Painted Ladt Butterflies! This is so exciting. They are already growing very Quickly!

Week 29

 

 Dear Parents,

             This Week in math we focused on fractions. We looked at fractions that were halves, fourths, and eighths. Then we looked at 1 whole. Next we saw more than two wholes. We wrote about them as fractions and mixed numbers. We reviewed on Friday. The test will be Monday.

               In writing this week we researched famous Americans, decided the central idea of our sources and wrote what they were most famous for in their lifetime. The people were Amelia Earhart, Alexander Hamilton, Irma Ragel and Thurgood Marshall. We cited our sources and discussed important vs. unimportant facts.

                In reading /Social Studies we read an all about maps article and created a map of our bedroom or dream bedroom. We read the passage Experiments with What a Plant Needs to Grow and took a comprehension check. We read the story Jack and the Beanstalk and learned how to retell using the most important parts from the beginning, middle and end. On Friday we read the Scholastic News “ Girl who loves to Grow”. 

                 In science we began our new unit on pollination and seed dispersal. We observed many kinds of seeds. We looked at them and decided how they get dispersed. We had three investigations that modeled how seeds get dispersed by wind, water, and animals. We wrote in our science notebooks about what we learned.

 

Next week is our second week of our spring student led conferences. All conferences are in person and your child must attend as he/she will be leading the conference. Your child will practice the day before your time so he/she will be prepared. See my sign up genius below and choose a date and time. I will send a reminder home in your child’s blue folder the afternoon before. I am looking forward to meeting with you to allow you to see how your child thinks about his/ her learning in second grade. These are only before and after school because your child needs to attend. During my conference period your child is at specials. Please sign up today so that I can prepare for next week.

    

                 Conference sign up: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0B4CAFA82AA02-55831204-spring

Week 28

 Dear Parents,

                     This was a tough week for me because I missed my kids. I severely injured my right knee and ended up in the ER last Saturday. I was told to stay completely off of it or I could cause more damage. I was cleared by my doctor on Thursday to go back on Friday. I am back today and loving to see my class. I know they had great learning even though I could not be there a lot of the week. I hand-picked the best subs I know.

                     In Math on Monday there was a fun Lucky charms math activity for St. Patrick’s Day! We were to start our economics unit, in which we switch from earning Sparkly Stars to earning Dollars. At the End of this nine weeks we will have a Movie day. The students will buy their ticket, drink and snacks with their own money. This is always a fun day as they learn to budget and spend their hard earned cash on what they want. There was a fun Scoot around the room for them to complete the Leprechaun Base ten scoot. The rest of the week we focused on learning fractions.

                    In Writing we focused on researching changes in communication, recreation, and transportation. We also learned how homes, schools and toys changed over time. We created a flip book that summed up this information for a grade.

                    In reading we read a Scholastic News Article called “A Visit to Ireland”. We also colored a map of Ireland. We also read a story called The Growth of a Sunflower and created a flow chart that showed each stage of growth. We read another Scholastic News Article called” She Planted Millions of Trees”. They took a comprehension check. We read the book Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring. We created Plants and labeled the parts with different craft items. This continued into science.

                  In Science this week they participated in a talk, Read, Talk, Write activity with a focus on the vocabulary words: plant, roots, stem, leaves, flower, fruit, seed, structure, function, and basic needs. They were able to dissect a plant and see all the parts as they documented them in their science notebooks. They finished the unit, reviewed and took their unit check point assessment.

                   Next week begins our spring student led conferences. All conferences are in person and your child must attend as he/she will be leading the conference. We will practice on Friday so that he/she will be prepared. See my sign up genius below and choose a date and time. I will send a reminder home in your child’s blue folder the afternoon before. I am looking forward to meeting with you to allow you to see how your child thinks about his/ her learning in second grade. These are only before and after school because your child needs to attend. During my conference period your child is at specials. 

    

                 Conference sign up: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0B4CAFA82AA02-55831204-spring

 

Week 27

 Dear Parents,

   This week in math we focused on 3 digit addition and subtraction stories. We wrote them, solved them and represented them with base ten blocks. We worked hard solving them. We also did two step  problems where we had three numbers in the word problems. We found out that we had to solve 2 problems. The answer to the first problem begins the second problem with the third number.

   In writing we finished up our Helen Keller reports. They were so proud of all their hard work!

   In reading we shared our timelines! They turned out so  adorable! We read about a graphic novelist named Joseph Bruchac. We began our own graphic novel. On Thursday we organized all our work in our pockets and chose one special project to hold on to until conference time. A Conference sign up genius will go home after spring break. Your child will be leading the conference and be presenting his/her leadership notebook to you.

    In Science we started our new unit, called Physical Characteristics and Needs of Plants. We discussed what plants and animals need to survive. We set up an investigation and will continue it after spring break.

     I was so pleased that many of you were able to come to our open house. It is a time to celebrate the growth and learning we’ve accomplished this year! I hope you all have a restful spring break and enjoy some family time!

     When we return our sparkly stars will be on hold as we earn dollars for our economics unit!

Week 26

 Dear Parents,

                   This week in math we focused on solving word problems by representing them several ways. These problems were both three- digit addition and subtraction. Some had a beginning, middle end. Some needed to be understood by putting  numbers  on a number line or in a strip diagram. We worked through our thinking and our problems together. These pages will come home today in your child’s Coyote Folder.

                     In writing we finished up our note taking by looking at three sources about Helen Keller. We then began as a class to put those notes into complete sentences in a time line order. Then table groups worked together to write the second half of their biography together. You will see their final copy at Open House next Thursday. They have been very interested in learning about this amazing famous American! On Friday we learned about adverbs.

                     In social studies/ reading, we continued learning about how to read maps and map keys. Our reading story was about Helen Keller. We read the story and took a comprehension check all by ourselves. They all worked hard and did their best!

                     In science we continued learning about using tools to observe the sun and the moon. We were able to use binoculars to see what the differences we could see between the naked eye and the binoculars. We recorded our observations in our science notebooks. On Friday we created a ChatterPix on our ipads to explain what we learned.

Week 25

 Dear Parents,

          This week in math we finished up 3 digit subtraction with and without regrouping. I believe they all have this skill an d did very well o0n the test this Thursday. On Friday we practiced out facts and reviewed the unit. 

           In writing we began our class research project. I had modeled reading about Ben Franklin, deciding which were important facts and taking notes in a timeline order. We then began researching Helen Keller. We will read several sources and cite them. We will make the same decisions about what is important and write the information on sticky notes. Next week, we will turn those notes into sentences. We will make sure not to copy exact wording and make sentences of our own. They are already amazed at the hurdles she overcame. They also enjoyed decoding words I wrote in Braille.

            In reading/ social studies we learned about timelines and filled in the timelines of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln for a grade. They did very well on this skill. Please be working on your timelines as they are due March 3^rd for a grade. They will also be up for open house. We each chose an African American Athlete to research for Black History Month. We did a rough draft and a final copy. The final copy will be on display at open house. On Friday they wrote their middle of year writing on a raindrop. They were comparing a tornado and a hurricane. They were allowed to use their spelling dictionaries, but could not ask fer new words. This had to be completed in one period of writing. This is a true gauge of what your child can do independently without editing and revising with me. I was impressed!

           In science we are studying the Earth, the Sun, and the Moon. We are learning how the light of the sun reflects both off the Earth’s and Moon’s surfaces. That the moon appears to glow, but it is reflecting the light it gets from the sun. We learned w2e can observe the moon with our naked eye, a set of binoculars or a telescope. We experienced through videos what we would see using each tool. They were very interested in learning what the light and dark spots on the moon actually are as we magnified what we saw with our eyes with first binoculars and then a telescope.

Week 24

 Dear Parents,

             In math this week we forged ahead with our three digit subtraction problems with and without regrouping! We did a wonderful job of earning sparkly stars for our charts. Many children went to treasure box this week and are already filling up their charts again! If you would like to donate treasure box items, it would be appreciated. His group have shown their leadership and have each gone 5 times so far this year. On Thursday we had some fun Valentines Day math that include3d Smarties!

              In writing we finished up our unit on Poetry. We visualized and drew pictures of the movie in our minds as we listened to poetry. We each wrote 2-5 poems for our poetry book! We began our next unit on research. We are researching Ben Franklin and learning about Biographies. We are learning to discern what information is important in the lives of the people we are researching. We are learning to put the information in our own words in note form. Later we will learn how to put that information into interesting sentences.

               In reading we also learned about biographies and important traits of famous individuals. We learned we all have hurdles to overcome and all have a story. We read a Scholastic News story about Presidents Day so we understand why we have Monday off as a holiday. We answered comprehension questions for a grade. For Social Studies we focused on landforms and took two days to make a landform book.

               In science we set up our new unit-Using Tools to Observe the Sun and Moon. We had a demonstration about how we see the moon from Earth using a Flashlight, a globe and a ping pong ball. We realized that the sun gives off light and heat, but the moon just reflects the light of the sun. We wrote a reflection about what we learned and drew a diagram.

 

A very important second grade project t is going home today in your child’s Coyote Folder. It is the Timeline Project. These projects will be up during open house for all to see! They turn out just darling. There is an instruction page, Two sentence strips that you tape together to make a long timeline. There are 10 index cards. One for the Title and one for each year of your child’s life. You start with the year they were born and make a card for every year until 2025.The index cards go on the long strip with one complete sentence on each card. This will be a grade so please have them check their spelling and start with a capital, ending with a period. Went to Sea World. (is not a sentence)  I went to see world is! They are usually good if they start with I. They can tape a a picture they draw, a photograph or a printed photo to represent each year. If you have any questions please e-mail me and I can help.