April 14, 2018

Dear Families,

We had another great week in school! It was so nice to get back to school and start learning again! Here are a few highlights from our week together:

Important dates:

Tuesday, April 17th     Muffins with Mom 8:00-8:45 am

Friday, April 27th       Family Fun Night 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Friday, May 18th      Celebration of Learning (schedule below)

                                  1:15-2:00 3rd and 4th Grade Classrooms

   2:10-2:35 Community Circle

   2:45-3:30 K, 1st and 2nd Grade Classrooms   

   

Reading and Writing:  This week we continued to read and and write nonfiction.  This week we used the informational articles that were brought from home (thank you), books and website articles that we found at school to paraphrase what we had read using our Keyword strategy. We began writing our rough drafts. We will start to publish our nonfiction pieces next week.

Math:   We continued exploring unit 7 by practicing measuring. Students learned what the differences were between the metric system and the US customary units of measurement and practiced measuring in centimeters, meters and inches. Our Unit 7 test will be next week on Wednesday, April 18th.

The concepts below 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

Line Plot Video

Another Line Plot video

Social Studies: This week we continued learning about Democracy and Government. Students learned about the importance of following the laws, the three branches of government and learned some new vocabulary words. Next week, we will finish this unit and start our next Social Studies unit on Economics.

Family Fun Night: Come join fellow Deerfield Families for our annual Family Fun Night Friday,  April 27th from 6-9pm at Paradise Park! Order forms came home before break, so make sure you turn in your forms soon. Advanced purchase is required (parent packages are optional.) Deadline to order April 16th.

• This year, the event will be held at Paradise Park in Novi. There are many Paradise Park activities for the WHOLE FAMILY plus Deerfield’s traditional cupcake walk, face painting and Mehndi art. Additionally, there will be a raffle held in the Pavilion, which includes baskets from popular local vendors as well as each classroom.
• Raffle - we will be having our favorite classroom baskets! A note was sent home earlier in the week with suggested items for our baskets! Our classroom basket is all about gardening!
• Parents please note: this is NOT a drop-off event. Every child must be accompanied by an adult over the age of 18.
• Volunteers needed to assist to make this event possible please follow this link to sign up.
• http://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B094BA5A928A64-volunteers

Have a great weekend!

The Second Grade Teachers

March 29, 2018

Dear Families,

Thanks so much for sending in the plastic eggs and jellybeans! It was a beautiful day for our egg hunt in the courtyard! 

Important dates:

March 30th: No School.  Spring Break begins

April 9th: School Resumes

April 13th: End of third marking period

April 17th: Muffins for Moms  cafeteria open - 7:00am- 9:00am

April 20th: Report cards

April 27th: Family Fun Night

Reading and Writing:  This week we focused on paraphrasing in writing.  Students learned a strategy called "key words." They practiced finding key words in books and wrote paragraphs using their own words. We're getting ready for our research projects after break, so be sure your child prints out articles that he/she can use in class to find out more information about their topic.

We also worked on building our reading stamina, reading for thirty minutes without stopping! Remember to enjoy some good books over the break! Build your stamina for reading! If your child doesn't have a library card yet, be sure to visit the library next week if you're staying in the area. Also, second graders still love to be read to, and listening to a great book improves comprehension! 

                                   Favorite Children's Books

Math:   This week, students continued to practice adding three or more numbers. They played a great game called Basketball Addition. Paper copies of this game were sent home to play with family members. Grab some dice and have fun! This is a great game to practice adding simple numbers on the dice and then later adding up the scores, which can be a little more challenging for some. We also completed measurement lessons 7.4 and 7.5. If you have a spare measuring tape laying around the house, let your second grader measure!

The concepts below 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.

Please see previous posts for IXL correlation. 

Social Studies: In Social Studies students are learning about Democracy and Government. We read the book, "What if Everybody Did That," and talked about a citizen's responsibilities and Laws and wrote about them in our Thinking Logs.

We hope you have a wonderful and safe spring break!

The Second Grade Teachers

March 23, 2018

Dear Families,

We had a great week in school! We loved getting to see how great the Seussical performance turned out after all of their practicing this week. Here are a few highlights from our week together:

Important dates:

March 26th: Spring conferences- on an as needed basis/parents have already been notified i​f there is a need

March 30th: No School.  Spring Break begins

April 9th: School Resumes

Reading and Writing:  This week we continued to read and and write nonfiction.  We continued to learn more about text structures and started to learn how to paraphrase what you’ve read and transfer that into their own writing. We will continue to work on both of these skills next week, as well.

Math:   This week, students took the unit 5 and unit 6 cumulative test and the unit 7 pretest. They also learned a fun game called ‘Hit the Target’ and how to successfully add 4 or more 2-digit numbers. Ask your child what they learned about the easiest way to add multiple numbers together!

The concepts below 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: 1^st 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: 1^st 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: 1^st Grade: N4, N11, 2nd Grade: S2, S8

Social Studies: This week we worked on our social studies unit, which focuses on Democracy and Government. This week, students learned about what a citizen is and different U.S. symbols.We discussed what each of the symbols mean to our country and why they are important. Please see this week's Scholastic News for some information about a new American symbol. Have your child read this to you! Next week, we will continue on with this unit.

Leadership Month: March is the Second Graders' month to promote leadership in our school. Our focus is responsibility. For buddies today, the second graders read with our buddies to celebrate March is Reading Month and made fun reading bookmarks.

Have a great weekend!

The Second Grade Teachers

March 16, 2018

Dear Families,

We had a great week in school! Here are a few highlights from our week together:

Important dates:

March 22nd: 2nd Grade Spring Concert 7:00-8:00

March 26th: Spring conferences- on an as needed basis/parents have already been notified is there is a need
March 30th: No School. Spring Break begins
April 9th: School Resumes

Reading and Writing:  This week we read and wrote nonfiction.  We completed 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. A few children need to finish up next week! 

Math:   We have been working on addition and subtraction regrouping with the students.  The 2nd grade teachers added this extra practice into the curriculum as we feel this skill should be introduced in 2nd grade.  Please check with your child and have them show you an addition and subtraction regrouping problem with/and without base ten blocks.  We will begin Unit 7 next week.  

The concepts below 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

Science: This past week, we used our science time to work on another land form activity about erosion. We wrote about our thinking in our thinking journals. 

Leadership Month: March is the Second Graders' month to promote leadership in our school. Our focus is responsibility. For cabins today, the second graders led an activity that allowed us to express our gratitude to the people who are responsible for us here at school on a daily basis.  Next week in buddies, we will read with our buddies and celebrate March is reading month!

Have a great weekend!
The Second Grade Teachers