October 5, 2018

Hello Families,

We had a wonderful week. Our routines are set and we are digging deeper into curriculum. Ms. Carol taught us how to train our brains by teaching us two new breathing techniques this week. Ask your child to show you how to do the 5 finger breathing strategy and 7-11 breathing. On Wednesday she taught us about the parts of our brain and how they work. It was a perfect lesson that touched on our focus character trait of the month, self-control. Be sure to mark your calendars for her parent presentation on October 11, at 6:30 pm.

Important Dates:

*October 10- Walk to School Day (Rain Date, Oct. 11)

*October 11- Mindfulness Parent Information Night @6:30 in the Media Center

*October 12- Last day to add to the Deerfield Directory

*October 18- Color Fun Run Donations Due (donations are tax deductible)

*October 19- Color Run! (Schedule to come)

*October 26-Trunk or Treat (more info to come, orange sheet coming home)

Academics:

Writing This week we continued to write our Personal Narratives. We finished our first story and began to work on the second. This week we learned how to write an exciting lead to hook the reader in and grab their attention. While continuing to plan for our second draft we also discussed the importance of a strong middle and adding a lot of details. Next week we will continue to draft and add more writing craft.

Reading  This week we continued to review expectations for all of our reading activities. Students are now able to read to self, read with someone, listen to reading, and practice writing. We've read in small groups and learned how to write in our reading journals. Remember to encourage reading at home and be sure to read aloud to your child. There are some great chapter books that are perfect for before bedtime.

https://luckylittlelearners.com/top-20-read-alouds-2nd-grade-classroom/

Math We completed unit 1 by learning about even/odd numbers, skip counting and comparing numbers. We took our test and we'll send home results next week. Continue to practice counting coins as this is a skill that we've noticed needs more practice. Next week we will begin unit 2 where we will learn about fact strategies.

Science This week we finally discovered what silt is, yay! Silt is an earth material that has particles smaller than sand. Through a separate investigation, second grade scientists discovered that clay was made up of particles even smaller than silt! See if your child can name the layers of earth materials by size (large/small pebbles, gravel, sand, silt, clay) Ask your child how the investigations help them learn about silt and clay this week. We are still looking for any leads on a professional geologist, please let us know if you know someone! You can always get more information on our science learning by going to www.FOSSweb.com.

Also, we sent home another password sheet because some students said they lost the original. There is a username and password for your child under the large name that they need to practice entering into the computer. This year, in order for them to use the chromebooks, they have to sign in using this username and password. It is really difficult for some of them so if they could practice at home it would be very helpful! Thanks so much!

Have a great weekend!

-The Second Grade Teachers