Week 36

Dear Parents,

    This week was a culmination of all our learning in math from the beginning of the year to now. We reviewed our math skills, took a practice test for a grade, then corrected any errors. We then took our district CBA on Wednesday. Your child’s score will be reported on his/her report card. 

     In Writing we finished up our animal reports and presented them. These reports were done very independently as the children used a R.A.N. Chart and then took notes to place on their charts. They then wrote a rough draft which was self edited, then wrote their final copy. I will be sending home the report and their poetry books on Monday. These are keepsakes from second grade. I just want to make sure they do not get lost in the end of the year flurry of papers going home!

      In Reading we continued two days of our camping activities, then We read some good literature and wrote responses. On Friday we had watermelon Day where we completed a skills packet and ate some watermelon after reading Watermelon Day.

         In science we began talking about food chains and food webs. We each had a card with a name of an organism on it. We created a food web one by one as we read our cards. We saw how we needed to connect the animals to show where the energy was flowing. We learned that any food chain begins with the sun. We are learning that if something happens to one animal in a food chain, then the whole chain is disrupted. We will continue learning more about this next week.

       In social studies we continue to learn about economics. We’ve been practicing our vocabulary with a matching game and have been given $100 to spend on wants and needs. We are also supposed to set aside some to save. I can’t wait to see those budgets!

Our Leader of the Week!

Camping Fun

Week 35

Dear Parents,

      We have had a fun week of learning at our Camp to Third Grade! It will continue to be camp in our room through next Wednesday! Thank you to all the parents who sent in camping supplies. A big thank you To Kenji and his parents for supplying the tent.

      In math we finished up our economics unit and will be reviewing for our math CBA test which will be taken next week. This will show what math skills learning has been accomplished this year. 

       In Language we are finishing up our researching projects on animals and have been learning that contractions are two words put together with an apostrophe replacing some of the letters.

       In reading we have been reading a different book about camping each day and having fun learning experiences that review our reading skills such as comparing/contrasting, summarizing, predicting and visualizing! It has been so much fun completing our work in a camp like atmosphere! I sent them home with a baggie  of Smores as a treat on Wednesday, but I don’t think many of the bags made it home! :)

       In science we finished up our unit on how the environment can affect both plants and animals. We learned vocabulary like migration, hibernation, dormancy, thrive and perish. We researched affects on both plants and animals in small groups and predicted what affect certain conditions would have on a plant or animal.

        In social studies we reinforced our math economic unit with vocabulary activities, making a wallet and filling it with a new bill we created as well as a debit card, a credit card and a check. 

Week 34

Dear Parents,

     We are heading into the last three week period of school. I can’t believe this year is almost over. We are all feeling a bit of summer fever, but please talk to your children about being focused these last three weeks as this is when we do our district end of year testing. This is a chance for your child to show how much he/she has learned this year! 

      In math we finished up our unit on graphing by reading  and comparing the data on both a pictograph and bar graph. We learned how to ask questions to make either addition or subtraction problems to answer them. On Thursday we began our unit on saving and spending money. This will continue into next week.

      In reading and writing this week the children are showing their research skills that have been taught in mini lessons over the last two weeks. They have learned to fill out a R.A.N. chart that organizes what they think they know, what they confirmed they know, misconceptions as well as wonderings they will continue to research. They have learned to organize their collected information into topics, then began to write their rough draft. We will continue this next week as we use our skills to write an excellent research paper in our own words.

      In Science we finished up our unit on life cycles of insects and began our last science unit of the year about how the environment can affect both plants and animals. We had fun realizing that bears only need shelter to hibernate as we watched  bear cam footage and learned that for about seven months during their hibernation a bear's heart slows down to 9 beats per minute. We also learned that they do not eat, drink or go to the bathroom during hibernation. There needs decrease because there is limited food and water. This helps them survive. We also began matching up scenarios how environmental factors may affect an animal’s behavior.

      In Social Studies we continued on reviewing our map skills. We then spent the rest of the week researching famous Americans to create a brochure.

* Don’t forget to send a pillow, a flashlight and any camping gear that you think would help us create a campsite in our room to school on Monday. If anyone has a tent and is willing to let us borrow it/ set it up, please let me know. Mrs. Shahwan has offered to purchase one over the weekend if we still need one. If you could let me know by Saturday, it would be appreciated so that I can get back to her and let her know if one is still needed.

Thank you From the bottom of my heart!

Week 33

Dear Parents,

         This week in math we continued recording data in charts and made pictographs and bar graphs. We learned that we could compare two bars on a graph and write statements about what we noticed. We realized if the numbers were high, we could count by twos, fives or tens so that we would not have to draw so many pictures on our pictographs. We learned how to make predictions by reading the information on our graphs. 

          In writing we began a research paper on seals. We researched in small groups, learned how to rewrite information in our own words, learned to combine two sentences with conjunction as well as reread our paper for revising and editing.

          In reading we learned how to look for important information. We learned that interesting information and important information are different. Important information covers the facts that tell the main information about the topic. Interesting information is an idea that is fun to know, but is not important.

          In science we have continued to learn , watch videos , watch Brain Pop Jr.s, and read Scholastic News about insects and their life cycles. We have learned important information as well as interesting facts about them.

          In social studies we learned about Mexico as well as their holiday, Cinco De Mayo. We filled out a booklet and learned new vocabulary and a few map skills. The rest of the week we worked on writing and decorating our Mother’s Day cards. There will also be a handmade gift for you  made in the art room. I hope you all enjoy your special day!

          Next week is STAAR testing so the campus will be closed to visitors all week. Thank you again to the mothers who volunteered to copy the poem on our pillow cases. A big thank you also to all of you who donated an extra pillow case or two so that everyone could have one. If you could send the pillow cases back by Monday, I will begin having the children put their handprints on them.

         Thank you so much for all the kind words, gifts, sweets, and flowers given this week. The PTA also spoiled us each day! Past students even came and gave me hugs. I felt very appreciated and loved all week. I am so blessed to be able to spend my days teaching and guiding your children. Each day is a new adventure; there are some bumpy roads along the way, it may not be easy, but I work hard all year to get your children to their next destination! We are almost there! Thank you for supporting us each step of the way.

Setting them free ...

The Painted Lady Butterfly

Week 32

Dear Parents,

   In math we finished up our unit on solid and plane shapes and began our unit on graphing. We started on Friday learning about a bar graph. We answered questions about the data shown as well as came up with our own questions about each graph.

   In language we began to research a seal as a class by narrowing down the topic, filling out a R.A.N. C art  about what we thought we knew, misconceptions, proven facts, and listed questions that we still had. Next week we will be digging into our research to write a paper taking it through the writing process. We also learned about  abbreviations and why we use them.

    In reading we focused on reading to find the main idea of an article as well as finding a main idea for each paragraph. We had lots of partner work reading nonfiction texts and looking for the main ideas together!

    In science we started our new unit called Life Cycle of Insects. We have already watched as the Painted Lady Butterfly larva ate, grew larger, formed a chrysalis and came out as an adult butterfly.  We kept them about two days then set them free to fly around outside CRE.Look on our blog to see what they looked like.

     In social studies we continued with our study of Now and Then. We completed our flip book comparing communication, home, school, toys, games, and transportation from now to long ago. The students were amazed at how things used to be.