Week 25

 Dear Parents,

     This week in math we worked on both addition and subtraction of three digit numbers using math stories. We wrote stories to represent problems and read stories to solve them. The children are doing very well, knowing what to do! Lots of stickers were earned for excellent work.

      In writing we continued writing our rough draft of our research paper about Helen Keller. We are mostly finished and will be starting to write the final copy. They are proud of their hard work as they should be!

       In reading/ social studies we focused on timelines and how to order years of a person’s life. A Timeline project went home. Each child received 11 index cards. One is for the title card and the other 10 cards are one for each year of your child’s life. At the top of the index card goes the year- 2015. Under the year the student must write a complete sentence, starting with a capital and ending with a period.  Example : I was born. Example of not a complete sentence: Went on vacation. The sentences do not need to be elaborate, just complete. The index cards get glued to the two sentence strips which should be taped together in a long line. Pictures are to be added to the bottom of each index card. You may print out photographs or your child may draw a picture for each card. The directions are in the bag. Please locate the large ziplock bag with the project and put it in a safe place. It went home on Tuesday. This project is a grade and is due March 3^rd. We also began looking at nonfiction text features.

        In science we took our unit test on Wednesday and began our new unit called physical characteristics and needs of plants. We set up our unit, planted a biome in a bag and did a talk -read- talk- write activity.

Week 24

 Dear Parents,

       This week in math we continued working on subtraction word problem strategies. We then worked on subtraction problems with numbers in the hundreds. Please help reinforce this skill at home as it is one of the hardest math skills for second graders to master. The switch between subtraction and addition with regrouping can cause confusion. We are hitting this hard at school and have a chant to help us.

         In writing this week we have moved into research. We are learning how to read different sources that are biographies and decide what information is important and should be included in our paper. We are also focusing on research in reading as we are researching famous African Americans for Black history month. We have a library choice board linked in our canvas class as well as a Pebble Go choice board that the children can click on and read or listen to information about famous African Americans all month!

         In social studies we continued using a map key to read maps and answer questions. We are focusing on the cardinal directions and what objects on the map that are north, south, east, or west of other objects. We read a Scholastic News about Stevie Wonder and did a comprehension check. On Friday we learned about Chinese New Year and had a celebration. A big thank you to Panda Express for donating fortune cookies and chop sticks to our second grade at CRE! We made Ramen Noodles and tried eating them with chop sticks. We read a Scholastic News article called “Lion School” and watched a video called Happy Lunar New Year!

        In science we began our new unit on Effects of Wind and Water. We set up an investigation in which we used a puffer cup to create wind and observed the effects on soil, sand and rock. We drew our observations in our science notebooks as we observed them before and after the wind was applied.

Week 23

 Dear Parents,

          This week in math we have been hitting problem solving very hard. We have read many types of problems, analyzed them, created beginning-middle-end charts, and number sentences. We then put that information in a part-part-whole box or a strip diagram. We represented them on number lines and then solved for the answers.

            In writing we are working on finishing our poetry books, and writing an imaginative story about weather. We are very happy to be continuing our cursive writing practice and can write many words. We are still working on how to properly connect the letters. 

             In reading we read a story called Wild Weather.  It was a nonfiction narrative. We learned lots of information about the many kinds of weather. This was in support of our science unit on weather. We took a comprehension check. We also listened to Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and wrote an imaginative story based on this picture book. 

             In social studies we learned about reading maps by looking at the map key and map symbols. We practiced our skill for a grade. We had a great day celebrating Groundhog’s Day. We ate a treat, learned about groundhogs and answered questions to do a word search. Fourteen students think he will see his shadow, two say he will not.