February 26

Dear Families,

Here is what is happening in the Second Grade Team:

Important Upcoming Dates:

March 1^st:  Milk and Cookies Night 6:00-8:00 PM

March 14^th: Science Fair  6:00-8:00

March 22^nd: Second Grade Spring Concert  7:00-8:00

March 25^th: Good Friday, No School

April 4-8^th: Spring Break

April 15^th: tentative  Student Led conferences- more info to follow

                                   Recess in Michigan!
 

Language Arts: This week we started our non-fiction unit.  Students reviewed the characteristics of Fiction and Non-fiction books.  We also learned how to write a non-fiction paragraph.  Finally, we learned how to  look for "Key" details while reading a non-fiction text. Next week, we'll begin our Genius Hour/Passion Projects! More information to come!

Writing: We began learning about the parts of a good, solid paragraph.  Students practiced writing paragraphs with a topic sentence, key details and a solid closing.

Math: This week we learned partial sums addition and practiced subtracting with base-10 blocks.  Our tentative test for Unit 6 will be on Thursday, March 3rd. Please be sure to have your child complete the “at-home review” that was sent home at the beginning of the unit. You can also have your child complete the home links that were sent home via email.  Thanks for your help at home!

Social Studies: We are finishing up our Social Studies unit focusing on individual rights, the common good, and personal vs. civic responsibility.  We were very lucky to have a classmate's dad visit our classroom to teach us about government responsibilities and how a bill becomes a law. Thank you!

 

Learning at Home:

*Math Homelinks, Review Unit 6!

*IXL math, Everyday Math and Xtra Math Websites

*Read (15-30 minutes per night)

*Wordly Wise (vocabulary practice)

*Blog (great writing practice)!

Have a great weekend!!

February 19

Dear Families,

I hope everyone had a nice, relaxing break!  For our STEM activities next week we are asking for donations of small marshmallows and toothpicks.  Thank you in advance for any donations!

Here is what is happening in the Second Grade Team:

Lost two teeth on the same day!!! Ta Rah Rah Boom de yay!

Important Upcoming Dates:

Feb. 26-March 4: Book Fair (our shopping day is March 2)

March 1^st:  Milk and Cookies Night 6:00-8:00 PM

March 14^th: Science Fair  6:00-8:00

March 22^nd: Second Grade Spring Concert  7:00-8:00

March 25^th: Good Friday, No School

Language Arts: This week we started our non-fiction unit.  Students learned about text features and their purpose in helping us comprehend!

  Text Feature Hunt

Writing: Most have finished our Realistic Fiction stories! Students worked hard working through the writing process and have created some wonderful stories! Next, we will begin to work on writing paragraphs.

Amazing Realistic Fiction Stories! So proud of the perseverance and the effort! 

Math: This week we continued our study of Unit 6.  Next week we will find ballpark estimates and how to add numbers using base 10 blocks and adding place values, which will help them when we learn the addition strategy of Partial Sums!

Social Studies: In Social Studies we learned about the three branches of the local government and their responsibilities. Next week we'll learn about  individual rights and the common good, as well as personal vs. civic responsibility.

We have collected 32 toothbrushes toward our goal of 100! 

                           

Great assembly today! Thanks DCC!

Learning at Home:

*Math Homelinks

*IXL math, Everyday Math and Xtra Math Websites

*Read (15-30 minutes per night)

*Wordly Wise (vocabulary practice)

*Blog (great writing practice)!

Have a great weekend!

February 12, 2016

Dear Families,

We had a great Valentine’s Celebration! Thank you to the parent planners! The children really enjoyed the ice cream sundaes! There were such creative Valentine's Boxes! 

Here is what is happening in the Second Grade Team:

Important Upcoming Dates:

Monday, Feb. 15/ Tuesday, Feb. 16- No school (February Break)

March 1^st:  Milk and Cookies Night 6:00-8:00 PM

March 14^th: Science Fair  6:00-8:00

March 22^nd: Second Grade Spring Concert  7:00-8:00

March 25^th: Good Friday, No School

Language Arts: The Second graders continued to work on Book Clubs. Students are experts on reading and discussing their books!  They’ve learned how to predict, monitor and clarify, question and summarize. Next week we’ll finish up our book clubs and begin to find great informational books to read for our next unit of study.

Word Work: Students are working hard in their Wordly Wise Workbooks, studying vocabulary and gaining stamina in reading and completing the vocabulary assignments. Continue to practice vocabulary at:

www.WordlyWise3000.com

Writing: We are finishing up our Realistic Fiction stories! Many have taken their pieces through the writing process and have shown great patience while revising and editing over and over again. Many are working on publishing and are eager to share their writing. Next, we will begin to work on writing paragraphs.

Math: This week we began our study of Unit 6. We have worked on solving different number stories using a diagram called “quantity, quantity, difference. We then tried to solve many different types of problems choosing the best diagram to help us organize the problem (start, change, end and part, part, total) depending on whether or not the problem is an addition problem or a subtraction problem. Please log on to the Everyday Math Website to practice skills. Try out the tutorials, they are really helpful!

Social Studies: In Social Studies we learned about the responsibilities of the Mayor as we continue to learn more about government. We also had a “Cabin Day” where we focused on Habit 3, First Things First. Your child should be able to discuss the importance of this habit!

Genius Hour: We prepared our folder for Genius Hour! We'll start our informational writing and reading unit soon and Genius Hour will be perfect for this unit. More information to come!

Learning at Home:

*Math Homelinks

*IXL math, Everyday Math and Xtra Math Websites

*Read (15-30 minutes per night)

*Wordly Wise (vocabulary practice)

*Blog (great writing practice)!

Have a great weekend! Enjoy the winter break!

February 5, 2016

Dear Families,

Here is what is happening in the Second Grade Team:

Important Upcoming Dates:

Friday, February 5 - Jump Rope For Heart! 6:15 - 8 @ Deerfield

Tuesday, February 9 - Bingo Night

Thursday, February 11- Cabin Day—don’t forget to wear your shirt!

Friday, February 12 - Valentine's Day celebration

Monday, Feb. 15/Tuesday, Feb. 16 - No School (Feb. Break)

Language Arts

Reading Workshop: The second graders continued to work on Book Clubs.  Students are practicing how to discuss books and follow the reciprocal teaching protocol.  They are discussing their questions, predictions, summaries and they are monitoring and clarifying confusing parts or words as they read (comprehension).  We finished the week with an informational reading about a groundhog named Ms. G., in our Scholastic News.  Have your child read the article to you!

Word Work: Don't forget to practice vocabulary at:

www.WordlyWise3000.com

Be sure to go to the free activities at the bottom of the page and go to “student page.”

Writing: We are continuing to work on our Realistic Fiction stories and are almost ready to publish! We've taken our stories through the writing process, spending lots of time on revising and editing. Next week we'll begin creating our books!

Math: This week took our Unit 6 pretest and began Unit 6.  We began by learning about creating graphs using data.  Next week, we will continue to work on solving different number stories (lessons 6.2-6.6). Remember to try to log on to the Everyday Math Website to practice skills from those lessons. Try out the tutorials, they are great!

 Solving a story problem together

Social Studies: We worked on our STEM activity of the week which was creating a ground hog burrow. Student teams had to create a burrow with an entrance and a separate exit, and a sleeping chamber. Teams had to plan first and then make a shopping list for materials. They had twenty dollars to spend on materials and had to add up their totals and shop for materials needed to create their burrow. They had fun working together and using accountable talk! Next week in  Social Studies we will learn about the branches of government, the services provided by the local government and our individual rights as citizens.

                  Creating a shelter for Olaf (to keep him out of the sun)

**STEM:

Thank you for all of your donations!  We are enjoying learning through challenging explorations, collaboration, and imagination. We don't need anymore materials at this time!

Homework:

*Math Homelinks and finish up any unfinished pages in the old math workbooks!

*IXL math, Everyday Math  and Xtra Math Websites

*Read (second graders should be able to read 10-20 minutes)

*Wordly Wise- Explore the website!

                                We participated in Global Play Day!

Have a great weekend!