November 11, 2016

Dear Families,

Important dates:

Nov. 14-18: Book Fair

Nov. 15: ½ day Parent/Teacher conferences in the afternoon and evening.

Nov. 16: Picture Retake Day

Nov. 21: Multi-cultural Feast at lunchtime (Please look over the note sent home earlier)

Nov. 23: ½ day, dismissal at 12:30

Nov. 24-25: Thanksgiving Break

We had a fun week working on special projects for our entry way into the first and second grade wing! Thanks to the parent volunteers who put up our new paper. We’re looking forward to you seeing them at conferences!

Language Arts:

This week, we worked on retelling. Retelling is an important comprehension strategy. We focused on character, setting, problem, events, and solution in order to make sure we get the gist of the story. We're reading a book in group and discussing and retelling as we read. We are also writing responses to comprehension questions that we are thinking about as we read. Practice  retelling at home! After reading, talk about these story elements. We’re also working on building our stamina! Students are expected to read each day for at least twenty minutes. This is the best way to improve reading.

Word Work: 

We are focusing on long vowel patterns. We’re trying to use them in our writing and noticing them in our reading. We’re sorting words in order to find the patterns. Students are practicing while searching for words with the ai, ay, ea, ee and oa patterns. Practice at home: Search for words with these word patterns in newspapers or magazines. Copy them down on a piece of paper and highlight the pattern.

Writing: 

This week,  we’re working on writing a Thanksgiving essay. We are using the writing process to brainstorm, organize and create rough drafts about what we are thankful for.  Next week, we’ll revise and edit these and hopefully publish them!  We also want to mention that we work on writing throughout all subject areas. We are writing in reading workshop, writing in Social Studies, and even writing in math. We encourage you to start a journal at home and even have one in the car  to use for writing about anything!

Math: 

We started Unit three. We’re working on subtraction strategies. We’ve worked on Lessons 3.1- 3.4. Remember to practice math skills using the Home Links, Everyday Math online and IXL. Practice at home:  Give your child a math problem or story problem and have him/her explain how they solved it! Remind them to show other examples and even use a diagram to explain. Remember that basic math skills are always beneficial to practice at home. Simple addition and subtraction fact practice, counting change and telling time are things we encourage your children to practice at home!

Social Studies: This week we worked on distinguishing open and closed questions. Ask your child about these. We sorted questions that the children wrote in response to a statement, "Leaders create change."  At first, we sorted these questions according to whether or not they had anything to do with that statement. Some did not. Then we took those same questions and sorted them according to whether or not they were open or closed. This activity helped us when we began to create our own need to know questions on Thursday,  in response to our Driving Question, " How can we, a caring community of learners, welcome new families into our community?  Students will use those questions to create interview questions for new students. 

Character Trait of the Month: RESPECT. We take great pride in adding these character traits to your child's curriculum.  We feel it greatly helps your child to grow into a well-rounded, kind and caring human being.  Please continue to talk about these traits at home and we will do the same here at school! 

Coats:  We are still having issues with students not wanting to wear their coats! As a reminder, students need to remember to bring appropriate recess gear DAILY.  The school rule is that "If it is 60 or below, STUDENTS MUST WEAR THE COAT THEIR PARENTS SENT WITH THEM TO SCHOOL".  Often times, we will have the students say, "My Mom/Dad said I didn't have to wear a coat today".  Believe it or not, we have even had a few students who have been hiding their coats in backpacks, when they are asked to put their coats on.  Please talk to your child about this important school rule.  We appreciate your support and truly want the children to stay warm/healthy during this Fall/Winter season. Also, please be sure to mark everything with your child's name.  This makes it easier to get a lost item back to its owner. 

Have a great weekend!

The Second Grade Teachers