March 9, 2018

Dear Families,

Thank you for all of the donated socks! We'll continue to collect until we get 100! We'll count our collection next week to see how many more we need. 

Important dates:

March 9th: Jump Rope for Heart at Novi High School
March 22nd: 2nd Grade Spring Concert 7:00-8:00
March 26th: Spring conferences- on an as needed basis
March 30th: No School. Spring Break begins.
April 9th: School Resumes
A note from Mrs. Bedford about Spring Conferences:

Spring Conferences: On Monday, March 26th, in the late afternoon/evening, our staff will be holding Spring parent teacher conferences. These conferences are reserved for teachers and parents to meet on an as needed basis. If the teacher feels a conference is needed, the teacher will be reaching out to those involved to schedule a time. As always, if you, the parent, feel you need to meet with the teacher, please let him/her know.

Here are some updates from our week!

Reading and Writing:  This week we read and wrote nonfiction.  We worked on our personal expertise projects by making "Did You Know Bubbles." Students learned how to write an introductory paragraph, supporting details and a closing paragraph.  We also learned about text features and included them on our bubbles. We're finishing them up and are excited to share our information.

Thank you to our High School Football players for taking the time to read to our class!  I knew these guys when they were in first grade!  

Math:  We finished our Unit 6 math test and results will be going home next week. We'll learn about regrouping in addition and subtraction next week and then move on to Unit 7.

These are the concepts that should be learned by the end of Unit Seven. You can refer to the Unit Seven family letter and Home Links should you have any questions about a certain learning goal.  We have included the kindergarten and first grade IXL skills in case your child is really struggling with a concept.

Unit 7 Everyday Mathematics Learning Goals

Add three or more numbers.

Children can add numbers such as 15 + 30 + 9 +17 =

IXL Skills: 1st Grade: B17, 2nd Grade: E 17, E19, G13, G15

Measure objects to the nearest inch or centimeter.

Children can use a ruler or tape measure to measure small and large objects.

IXL Skills: 1st Grade: N4, N11, 2nd Grade: S2, S8

Complete a line plot.

Children can use data to draw a line plot.

IXL Skills: Second Grade: R6, R7

Use personal references to help estimate length.

Children can estimate the size of things using knowledge such as, my thumb is about an inch.

IXL Skills: This skill is not found on IXL.

Use measuring tools correctly.

Children can line up objects correctly on a ruler or tape measure to get correct measurements.

IXL Skills: 1st Grade: N4, N11, 2nd Grade: S2, S8

Also, look for the Unit 7 Homelink attachment.

Science: This week we worked on land form activities and made mountains in order to learn about why rivers run. Look on Seesaw to see photos of your child's mountain and a picture of their Thinking notebook. Next week we'll do one more science activity and then start our Social Studies!

Leadership Month: March is the Second Graders' month to promote leadership in our school. Our focus is responsibility. The second graders presented at our community circle on Friday and talked about the importance of responsibilities and passed out jobs to each grade level! The second graders will be helping out in the cafeteria!

Student Take Home Multicultural Backpacks!
Five lucky students were able to take home our Multicultural Bags for the week. Please send them back to school on Friday and be sure to check that all items are sent back in the backpack. Next week five more students will get the opportunity to take one home. Thank you to the NEF for supporting this project!

Have a great weekend!
The Second Grade Teachers

March 2, 2018

Dear Families,

Important dates:

March 9th: Jump Rope for Heart at Novi High School
March 22nd: 2nd Grade Spring Concert 7:00-8:00
March 26th: Spring conferences- on an as needed basis
March 30th: No School. Spring Break begins.
April 9th: School Resumes

This is the culprit. Whenever we hear the news that we might have a big snowfall, we let our snowman sing, "Let it Snow!" and he always does! He's responsible for the snow and the power outage. We're putting him away at the back of the closet and not letting him out again until next year!

A note from Mrs. Bedford about Spring Conferences:

Spring Conferences: On Monday, March 26th, in the late afternoon/evening, our staff will be holding Spring parent teacher conferences. These conferences are reserved for teachers and parents to meet on an as needed basis. If the teacher feels a conference is needed, the teacher will be reaching out to those involved to schedule a time. As always, if you, the parent, feel you need to meet with the teacher, please let him/her know.

Here are some updates from our week!

Reading and Writing:  This week we began our study on informational texts.  Students explored informational texts and learned about text features and how they help us to understand the text better.  Students will be learning how to read and write informational text over the next few weeks. When reading informational texts at home, encourage your child to point out the features that the author included in order for the reader to understand more about the topic, such as captions, bold words, cut a ways, titles and subtitles, maps, diagrams, glossaries, and table of contents.  Like in reading, students are starting their study on informational writing as well!  This week students thought about topics that they have studied or know a lot about. Then they found books on that topic. They will be taking what they learn about non fiction texts from reading and writing, to write their own informational pieces on their personal expertise!

We're reading a great book for our classroom read aloud called, " The Magical Animal Adoption Agency: The Enchanted Egg." We were lucky enough to get a mystery box sent to us by the M.A.A.A.!

 Yes, this is what hatched from our mysterious package! We'll measure and name it on Monday!

Math:  UNIT 6 MATH TEST IS Thursday!  Please use the review, practice pages sent home as well as online resources to help your child study for the test.  Students will be expected to solve one and two step number stories, add two and three digit numbers (can use partial sums and check with with ballpark estimates on these), and create and interpret pictographs and bar graphs.

As expectations rise in second grade math, automatically knowing addition and subtraction facts becomes more important. Please continue to practice math facts so that as we begin to learn about double digit addition and subtraction, it is not too difficult.  The sites below have worksheets that could be used for practice as well as the Xtra math website. Math Practice at home:

https://www.math-drills.com/addition/add01srg_001.php

https://www.mathfactcafe.com/grade/2/

Our amaryllis bulbs bloomed! They didn't get as tall as we expected but we love the blooms!

Science: The past several  weeks we continued learning about measurement with our Measuring Matters Unit.  Students learned about area and perimeter. They had to create a "Zoo" and measured the area and perimeter of the cages at the zoo.  Students also learned about capacity and created a "Gallon Man" to learn about measuring equivalents for measuring capacity.  This week we also did a little Matter observation where we learned about solids, liquids and gases. 

Thank you to the DCC for supporting our kids with some new building toys!

Reminder:  Please encourage your child to come to school ready to learn and ready to lead!  

Have a great weekend!

February 9, 2018

Dear Families,

Here are some updates from our week!

Important dates:
February 14: Valentine's Day, Don't forget your boxes and Valentines! Ice Cream Party in the afternoon!
February 15: 100th day of school! Yahoo! 100 Days smarter! 100 Pancake Celebration!

February 19-20: Midwinter recess/ no school

February 27: Science Fair 6:00-8:00

Science Fair Ideas:
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/list

Reading:  This week we continued with our book clubs.  We practiced accountable talk during our discussions as well as how to organize  thoughts while reading using a thinking routine.  We will continue our book clubs next week with new books. 

                                                     Our Book Tasting!

A book from one of our book clubs: 

Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch  

Math:  We took our Unit 5 math test.  Please look for the cover sheet for the test so you know how your child did on the test.  Attached are the homelinks and IXL skills for unit 6.   Please use them as you see fit.  We are also sending the at home review for you now. PLEASE KEEP THIS IN A SAFE PLACE. The review will help your child practice the skills that we'll focus on this unit.  You should have your child review with this packet during the unit and before the test.  We tell the kids a great way to practice for the test is to:

1) Take the pretest by yourself at home

2) Have mom/dad look over your pretest and see what you still need to practice

3) Use a slate/marker to have mom/dad make up similar problems on the slate until you are secure with the skill.Please do not return the completed at home review. This is for you to keep at home to practice throughout the unit.

IXL SKills for Unit 6

E.12, E. 18, E.20, G.9, G.14-- Addition Word Problems 

F.10, H.9, J.5-- Subtraction Word Problems 

Section M--Place Value

Section R--picture and bar graphs only 

Writing: We continued with our Realistic fiction writing unit!  We worked on internal and external character traits of our main character, story elements, and leads. We practiced writing many different kinds of leads so that we can pull our readers in!  Be sure to ask your child what they are planning on writing about!

Science: We began our Measuring Matters unit.  We started with our entry event with our essential question which was, "How, can we as scientists, build a ramp that will make our sled travel the farthest?".  This STEM/STEAM activity allowed students to practice their teamwork, problem solving and measuring skills while having fun building a ramp. We still haven't finished our ramps because we're trying to figure out what will make our sleds travel far. Is it the slant of the ramp? Is it the weight of the sled? Is it the friction of the sled causing a slow down? We'll continue to test as we watch luge and skiing videos from the Olympics! We also had frog jumping contests and measured how far our frogs jumped using inches and centimeters. We will continue our measuring unit next week, introducing area and perimeter!

                                                        Our Amaryllis Plants
                                   How tall will they grow? Which one will grow the tallest?

Olympic Day tomorrow! Be prepared to Go for the Gold! 

Have a great weekend!

The Second Grade Teachers

February 2, 2018

Dear Families,
Thank you to all that participated in our Multicultural Night. The kids worked really hard on their pamphlets and I'm really proud of their effort. I think they had fun greeting the visitors and they all looked amazing!

Important dates:

February 2: Report cards ready to view
February 14: Valentine's Day
February 19-20: Midwinter recess/ no school

February 27: Science Fair 6:00-8:00

Reading:  Last week we started learning about book clubs and how to talk about books with our groups. Students chose books at our "Book Tasting" and met with groups on Thursday.  Students learned about accountable talk, as well as how to organize their thoughts while they read.  Next week we will continue reading and discussing in our book clubs.

                                                       Tasting books for our book clubs!

                                         After studying land forms, we made them out of Playdoh!

Word Work: We're really excited about our Wordly Wise Vocabulary Books! Most students completed Lesson 2 last week and will continue to work at their own pace. For some, this vocabulary book is very challenging. Check out this website for games and extra practice:

WordlyWise3000.com

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

Math:  UNIT 5 MATH TEST IS TUESDAY!  Please continue to practice recognizing coins, counting change and counting back change from a dollar.  We want to emphasize again that this is a difficult skill and it would be very beneficial to practice at home. Also, you can go over the unit 5 review that was sent home at the beginning of the unit and IXL skills.

As expectations rise in second grade math, automatically knowing addition and subtraction facts becomes more important. Please continue to practice math facts so that as we begin to learn about double digit addition and subtraction, it is not too difficult.  This site has worksheets that could be used for practice. Math Practice at home:

https://www.math-drills.com/addition/add01srg_001.php

https://www.mathfactcafe.com/grade/2/

Writing: This week we finished up our personal narratives and had a little time to blog! Please remember to encourage blogging at home.  Next week we'll begin our realistic fiction writing!

Science: We had a fun week in Science this week!  We finished up our Landform unit by building land forms out of playdoh and playing a land form trivia game. We also did a fun experiment to learn about weathering and erosion using cookies!  Ask your child all about it!  Next week we'll start our Measuring Matters Science unit.

Behavior and Expectations: As the first semester comes to a close, we are raising our expectations for behavior and academics. Please encourage your child to come to school ready to learn and ready to lead!  

Have a great weekend!

The Second Grade Teachers