Week 32

Dear Parents,

We had another amazing week of learning! In math we finished up our geometry unit and took an assessment on Friday. It went home in your child’s daily folder as we are having another assessment on Monday. In writing we focused on words that sparkle! We have many different projects that we are revising to add the just right words! In reading we read the story   Working in Space . We looked at the graphic features of the story and wrote about if we were an astronaut! In science we finished up our unit on insects as three of our five butterflies came out of their chrysalis. We began our unit on animal characteristics and your child chose an animal for their last home project of the year! They will write a report and create a shoebox habitat. This habitat should have all the things your child’s animal needs to survive in it. An information packet went home in your child’s coyote folder on Friday. In social studies our focus was on Earth Day and how we can take better care of the Earth by doing the three Rs: reduce, reuse, and recycle!

·     Our pillowcases are almost finished! A huge thank you to the mothers of Wafa, Sophia, Yuriana, and Dylan who wrote the poems on them and to Mrs. Clemmons for coming in for two straight days to help get all the handprints on each pillow! All that is left is for some children to sign their names.

Week 31

Dear Parents,

        Math this week has been visually challenging. The children were learning about plane shapes and solid or three dimensional shapes. They need to know vocabulary like: faces, edges, vertices, plane shapes, solid figures, plus all the names of these shapes. Sending the homework pages was a way for you to help support the learning of these vocabulary words. In language we talked about the writing trait called voice. We tried to write using different voices, then went back to a current project to see if we could hear our own voice.In reading we read the story How Grounhog"s Garden Grew  and learned more about sequencing of the story. In science we continued with the life cycle of insects and observed as well as watched several different insect life cycles. We even have live butterfly larva that are turning into a chrysalis in our room! We can’t wait to see what kind of butterfly comes out of the chrysalis! We focused on researching famous U.S. Landmarks and symbols and are writing a report on the one of our choice! We can’t wait until the presentations!

*Thank you to the four volunteer writers for my  pillow project! Is there anyone willing to come to school to help with painting hands and making handprints on the pillows? I will start scheduling parents next week as the pillow case poem writer volunteers are sending the pillow cases back to school on Monday! Please let me know as soon as possible if you are available to come help 1 or 2 days next week.

Field Day fun!

Mystery Hangout

We marked our maps to cross off states as we asked the other class yes/no questions about where their state was located. They did the same to try and find out where we lived. We narrowed it down to four states that bordered Lake Michigan. Two more questions and we knew they lived in Indiana!

Week 30

Dear Parents,

             We had a short week, but it was packed full of learning! In math we concluded our unit on fractions. Make sure you ask your child to say our fraction chant! Next up will be our unit on geometry. In writing we have been writing away with our six traits of writing. We are starting with our bold beginnings, following with our mighty middles and closing with our excellent endings! Some great stories are in the making! In reading we learned about story structure with problems and solutions! We took our test on Wednesday because Thursday is jammed pack full of fun learning with our Mystery Hangout being rescheduled for a geography lesson. We will be meeting a classroom from somewhere in the U.S. and racing with them to discover where they are through asking questions and using our map skills. The afternoon will be full of Field Day fun! In Science we are learning about what basic needs plants and animals have. We are finding out how the environment can effect those living organisms. In social studies we have been learning about national symbols and landmarks. The children were  buzzing with lots of interesting facts. Did you know the Liberty Bell weighs over 2,000 pounds? Next week we will conduct research on each child’s chosen landmark or symbol.

             Have a wonderful holiday weekend with your families!

* Thank you to the four volunteer writers for my  pillow project! Is there anyone willing to

Week 29

Dear parents,

         This week we began working on fractions. This is a hard concept for second graders. We had some misconceptions at first, but I believe they are beginning to grasp the concept and the vocabulary. In writing we have been working on one of our six traits, ideas. We have been writing a piece all week, going back to revise by making the content clear and using good, descriptive details. In reading we have been learning about how we can combine our new learning with our schema (background knowledge). I am pleased to say that they have been excited to learn new information and discuss it so that that information becomes a part of their schema. They have been challenged to do this in all subject areas. In science we finished up our unit on the water cycle and will begin a new unit on Monday. In social studies we have continued to work on map skills, and created our own landform continent. We are still going strong and learning quite a bit of new information to add to our schema. It gets more difficult for the children to focus as the weather gets warmer. Please help your child stay on track with their homework and work at school. I appreciate your support!

Help is needed. I am asking for four parents to volunteer their time at home to get ready for our pillow case project. We hope to collect all pillow cases by next Thursday. That way, with four parent volunteers, each parent would trace a poem onto 4-5 pillow cases with a sharpie marker. I send home a template taped to a piece of cardboard with the pillow cases. The parent slides it inside the pillow case. You will be able to see the letters through the fabric. You trace it centered on one side of the pillow case. Later at school every child will paint their hand 19 times and place a handprint on every pillow case. That will be my job, unless another volunteer would like to come to school to help. It will be done over two days as the first side must dry completely before the second side can be done. Please let me know if you can help.

Field Day is next Thursday Here are the teams and the color of shirt that needs to be worn that day. Pink Team (Dylan,Karter, Olivia, Jeremiah, and Yuriana)

Green Team (Wafa, Christian, Kenneth, Marley, and Sophia, Blue Team (Aleeza, Joshua, Ainsley, Ayaan, and Athulya) Orange Team ( Braxton, Jaiden, Ta’Leigha, and Layla