Week 7

 Dear Parents,

            In math this week we continued adding two digit numbers with and without regrouping. We also added number strings which is adding four two digit numbers. In problem solving we focused on the two step problems. They were working very hard and earned many sparkly stars for their charts. We are also getting charts filled up and are making trips to the treasure box. 

             In writing we began a class narrative about our first day of second grade. We are taking this paper through the process of brainstorming, writing our opening statement, organizing facts in chronological order, drafting our paper using the graphic organizer and writing a terrific closing sentence. We will be continuing this paper next week.

              In reading/ social studies we watched as the teacher took an assessment, thought through each question, and went back to the text to fin d the answers. Wev listened to the important Book and wrote our own page for a class book. We read the story Spoon and focused on the author’s purpose for writing the story. On Thursday, we celebrated Johnny Appleseed’s birthday as we read about his life and mapped his travels. We also tasted apples, dried apples, freeze dried apples, Apple Jacks cereal and, had apple Juice. Thank you to those of you who sent in he apples! 😊

             In science we have been reading about combining Matter. We had the task of choosing materials to build a boat, writing a plan to build, then building our boat. We tested them to see if they could float.

              *  A Big thank you to the Luu family for sending in Goldfish for our class members who do not have a snack! 

              * There is an electronic newsletter attached. A paper copy will be sent home Monday!

               We had a GREAT Field Day! Thank you to all the parents that came and cheered us on! We were really good sports and cheered for all our teammates!

Week 6

 Dear Parents,

         We began learning about adding with regrouping numbers. This is a very difficult skill mat first, but I promise I will teach and support your children until they understand. This is why we started math homework this week, for extra support. By Thursday they were ready for a challenge. They were to try 5 problems by themselves. Most gat all 5 correct, some 4, and some three. They are getting it. Sometimes it can take a couple weeks until they feel confident with this skill.

            In writing we wrote our BOY writing sample. We will see great growth in the MOY sample to the EOY sample. We use a rubric to rate the level as a draft, but then will take this piece to final copy.

             In reading/ social studies we focused mainly on social studies as we learned about our rights as citizens. We celebrated Constitution Day, and learned all about its purpose, who , where and when it was written. I was born on Constitution Day! It was a big birthday for me, so lots of fun things happened that day. I appreciated all the kind notes and gifts. We tied in research by researching some of the famous Americans who signed the Constitution. We also researched 4 American Symbols.

           In science we had several fun learning activities as we changed the physical properties of matter as we cut, bent, broke, sanded and melted matter. We recorded those changes in our science notebooks. Part of these activities was creating a paper airplane. Congratulations to Parker who came in first place and Nicholas who came in second place for their planes flying the greatest distances.

Week 5

 Dear Parents,

         In math this week we worked on base 10 relationships to 120. We had an assessment on recognizing our coins both front and back. We learned the addition strategy for doubles and near doubles. We also practiced adding our addends to get the sum. We played make ten, go fish. We learned how to use two or more numbers to make 10. The first person get rid of his/her cards won! This is a higher level game for some with lots of mental math and encourages automaticity of our math facts. We continue to work on our problem solving strategies with a BME, or beginning, middle, and end chart of the problem. This helps fill in the number sentence so we can solve the problem. On Friday we celebrated Dot Day by creating fun Dot activities. We also created an orchard of trees which showcased our base ten relationship skills. 

     In reading and social studies, we read The Great Fuzz Frenzy  and made connections. We read The Dogs of Bedlam Farm and created a class book. We read WE Are Good Citizens and answered some comprehension questions. We watched a Brainpop Jr. about Community Helpers. On Friday We read more Dot books and created Dot drawings. We also made a dot writing about kindness.

       In writing we learned about using a word wall and a sound wall to help us write. We continued working on our books and some started their second one! We took two days to learn about Patriot’s Day and write an acrostic poem about PEACE. On Friday we focused on using our dictionary to look up words to spell or to know the definitions.

Week 4

 Dear Parents,

 

      In math this week we continued practicing building and decomposing numbers to the hundreds place. We practiced our word form, standard form, model and expanded form. A practice page we did together went home on Thursday in the blue folder. We added 10 more to a number or took away ten from a number.These skills will be tested on Monday.

       In language we continued wring our books, practiced our handwriting, and learned how to be brave spellers, by stretching our words and writing the sounds we hear. We are using our spelling dictionaries, alphabet chart and consonant cluster chart to help us use our sounds correctly.

        In reading we read Picture Day Perfection, talked about the character’s external and internal traits, and took a comprehension check. We also read a Scholastic News and answered questions about the article. The main idea of the article was how to strengthen your brain!

         In science we began our new unit on The Properties of Matter. We are learning to classify objects by their physical properties. We set up the unit in our notebook and did our first hands on activity. We learned that spaghetti noodles and markers are not flexible, but rubber bands and pipe cleaners are!

          It was a short week, but we accomplished a lot of learning! Have a wonderful weekend with your families!