Week 14

Dear Parents,

     This week in math, many skills were taught. We finished up time, then began area and perimeter and ended the week wth measuring in standard units. They know which is the best unit to use to measure an object; inches, feet, or yards. Partners went on scavenger hunts to find an object in the room that was about 6 inches. We learned that if we are measuring and the object measures to the half way mark (between two numbers)or greater you put down the larger number. If its measurement falls before the half way mark you put down the lesser of the two numbers.

     In reading the focus of the week was text organization and story structure. We made a story map with characters, setting, problem and solution. We saw that one of the texts we read was organized in steps and wrote the beginning, middle and end of the story using one complete sentence for each.

     Shhhhh …. In writing we worked on a Thanksgiving project that will come home as a gift for you next week. We also kept working on our imaginative  stories and next week will be writing an expository text. Our grammar focus was how to use the to be verbs by having subject/verb agreement. We ended the week by talking about the present vs. past tense.

     In Science we had many fun investigations that helped inform us about motion. We learned that objects either slide, roll or spin. Their paths can be zig-zag, a straight line, or in a curve. We painted with marbles, dipped a top in some paint so we could see its path as it moved around a large sheet of butcher paper, and watched as items rolled, sun or slid down a ramp.

Mariah was last Week's Leader of the Week!

Veteran's Day Assembly

We sang our Hearts out!

Happy Veteran's Day! We Honor You!

Week 13

Dear Parents,

     This week we finished up two digit subtraction and began time. PLEASE help your child with this hard concept. Lots of practice is needed. I will be sending home nightly homework. Telling time to the minute is a difficult concept. Your child needs to be able to count by fives and then ones to tell time to the minute. They also need to know how to put the hands on a clock to show a given time.

      In writing we wrote a Veteran acrostic this week to honor our Veterans. We made copies and gave them to the Veterans. We had a great time performing at the assembly. We finished the week by revising and editing our imaginative stories.

      In social studies we learned about our three branches of government and made a government tree.  We also learned about story structure as we read two stories this week. We know that stories can be written in chronological order, have a problem, events and a resolution!

       In science we took our science check point on Monday, then began a unit on magnets. We explored with magnets and felt as they repelled and attracted each other. We saw a magnetic field by sprinkling iron filings around a magnet. We dug for buried treasure and found some objects were magnetic and some objects were nonmagnetic. We saw a magnet work like it does in a small motor. We learned that all materials that have iron in them are magnetic.

• Progress reports went home ( requested paper copies) today along with your Child’s November istation Report. 
• Please read the November Leader in me Newsletter and have your child fill out the activity at the bottom. The parent signature needs to be filled out as well. We are looking for 100% participation. Doing 1 Newsletter a month will have your family spotlighted as a Lighthouse Family. Each activity returns helps second grade win rewards in our school.

Field Day Fun!

Week 12

Dear Parents,

        It was good to get back to the daily routine! Swim week was fun, but the children are happily back to taking charge of their learning. In math we learned to subtract two digit numbers with and without regrouping. We used base ten blocks, number lines and numbers written up and down in our place value boxes. We also learned how to add to check our answer to the subtraction problem.

       In Social Studies we continued to learn about our state and local governments. During reading we read a Spooky Skeleton Scholastic News , answered comprehension questions and had the choice of making a skeleton using Q-Tips. We finished on Halloween by listening to the story I Need a Monster. We did a directed drawing of a monster and were able to write an imaginative story about our monster. 

       In language we have been learning lessons on how to make our imaginative stories fun and interesting by adding show don’t tell emotions, adding gestures to show character traits, and adding interesting details. We can’t wait to publish and share them next week.

         In Science we began our unit on Energy: Light, Heat, and Sound. We did three investigations, one for each type of energy.

We added heat to butter, then took the heat away. We learned we could change the state of matter from a solid to a liquid, then back to a solid. We went in a closet without windows. We learned that when we make lights dimmer, it is difficult to see color. The color of our paper square became brighter when the light became brighter. Last we saw the vibration made by sound! How did we see the vibrations? Ask your child what we did with a mirror, a pen light a can, and a yardstick.