This week in the Wonders program we will take our final assessment. The students have been hard at work learning about the theme of a story, pulling out main ideas, and identifying story elements. This assessment will check in on all of these skills. As well, they will complete an unassisted informational writing piece. Since it is a testing week, there will not be any spelling homework! In Math we will wrap up our learning about arrays and continue to explore equal shares. While this is an introduction to the skill, and I am impressed with the student’s work thus far. We will continue to revisit this learning throughout the year! In addition to our unassisted informational writing, students will wrap up their research work. This work will be on display at the Artist in Residence celebration this Thursday, beginning at 5:30. The evening will consist of moving throughout different locations within the building, and I will be moving with the group. If you arrive after 5:45, please find us at our second location! I have included some pictures from our campout afternoon- the kiddos had a blast!
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This week in the Wonders program we will explore the question, “Why are rules important?” The students will have the chance to learn a bit more about the formation of our constitution, which is always of high interest for the students. We will move away from identifying the plot of the story (we are experts in this) and look again at cause and effect. As well, we will study short vowel digraphs that do not sound the way they are spelled. One example is the ea spelling for the short e sound in bread. As we finish out the year, we will encounter the most difficult spelling patterns. You may find that your child has fewer or less difficult words based on their pre-assessment. Please let me know if your child is feeling overwhelmed with the list that is sent home!
In Math this week, we will begin by wrapping up our focus on polygons before moving onto arrays. Students will learn that larger numbers can be organized into even sets of rows. For instance, 8 can be organized into 2 rows of 4, or 4 rows of 2. This lays the foundation for later understanding that 4 X 2 = 8. This is a critical concept of mathematical understanding, and we will continue to revisit and practice this skill throughout the remainder of the year. We are wrapping up our informational writing as the students continue to practice their research. I have taught them a structure for organizing the information they gather, taught them how to write a lead and wrap up sentence, and we are working on rewriting the facts in our own words. They are quite excited to have the freedom to choose a topic, and are getting great keyboarding experience as they type up their work. We continue with the artist in residence both today and Wednesday. So far we have explored our space, build insect homes and created a flag that will mark our larger builds. By the end of the day Wednesday, the space will be transformed into a story trail, with story boards that showcase student writing. Upcoming Dates: Class Campout Afternoon- Friday, May 12th Jump Rope for Heart- Thursday, May 11th Artist In Residence Celebration – Thursday, May 18th 5:30 (first 15 minutes are in the classroom) Monday, June 12th- Squam Lake Field Trip - I nformation will come home the last week of May This week in the Wonders program we will investigate the question, “How can we protect our Earth?” Students will read stories that teach us how a small action can make a big difference in our environment. We will practice making predictions as we read, and identifying the problem and solution in the story. As well, we will study the spelling patterns that make the /all/ sound.
In Math this week, we are beginning a new unit on geometry. In this unit, students will be challenged to sort shapes beyond just color, shape, or number of sides. They will be introduced to angles (including the right angle) and the term polygon. We will spend a great amount of time building and manipulating 2D shapes before we look more closely at 3D shapes. We are beginning informational writing this week. This is a great tie to our Wonders question, and our work with eco-artist Cynthia Robinson that begins this week. Students will have the chance to become Earth experts, realizing solutions to sustain and protect our playground environment. Just a reminder that our new school times begin tomorrow, May 1st. School will begin at 7:30, and end at 2:30 in order to make up time for the multiple snow days. As well, you should have received an email sign up for parent teacher conferences that take place this week. Please let me know if you have any questions regarding this! This week in the Wonders program we will investigate the question, “What do heroes do?” Students will continue to practice summarizing stories as they read about people who changed the world. As well, we will study the spelling patterns that make the oo sound as in the word moo. I will also introduce the students to idioms this week.
In Math this week, we continue to focus on measurement and data. In second grade, students are expected to be able to measure to the nearest half inch and identify that a centimeter is smaller than an inch. As well, students are expected to organize data in order, represent data as a graph or line plot, and answer questions using data. We continue to practice these skills as we collect, graph, and analyze data this week. We are wrapping up our realistic fiction stories this week, and celebrating all the hard work we did! As well, students are working on writing postcards from Cuddles (Did you hear he was on vacation?) and postcards from the islands they have created for their landform projects. This work will be presented at our Artist in Residence celebration night, coming up in May. Just a reminder that April vacation is around the corner, and our new school times begin May 1st. School will begin at 7:30, and end at 2:30 in order to make up time for the multiple snow days. As well, you should have received an email sign up for parent teacher conferences. Please let me know if you have any questions regarding this! This week in the Wonders program students will study the question, How do people get along? We will read stories that highlight the way people can solve problems when they don’t agree. We will also continue to practice summarizing stores as we read, and will practice the oi/oy spellings.
In Math this week, students are learning about collecting and analyzing data. We will measure standing jumps and arm spans before plotting the data as a bar graph and a line plot. Students will answer questions about the data, and create a question that could be answered using the data. Interpreting data is an important skill in grade two, and can be tricky for kiddos at times. We are wrapping up our realistic fiction stories next week, as we write our final draft. The students have loved the opportunity to create a character, imagine a problem, and find a resolution in their story. The ideas are quite creative, and I can’t wait to put them up on display! We will begin our unit on informational writing next week and I will model how students can collect and organize facts when writing. As well, we will continue to learn more cursive letters. Have you heard about the islands we are creating? As a cumulative project around our landform learning, students are creating an island that showcases at least three additional landforms. They have planned out the name of the island, special features, and even if it is inhabited by people. The students will build their islands out of salt dough that we make in the classroom. We will tie in additional writing to the project before presenting them to our fifth grade buddies! Please be aware that there is a change in the school schedule beginning May 1st. School will be extended by 30 minutes (15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the afternoon). Look for an update from Mrs. Underwood in the near future. As well, you should have received an email to schedule a parent/teacher conference. I am happy to meet with all who would like to set up a time. If you don’t see a time that matches your schedule, please let me know and we can try to make a different plan. This will be an assessment week in our classroom for both Math and Reading. Students will take the end of the unit Wonders assessment. I have broken the assessment up into five smaller chunks for the students to complete. The unit assessment will check in on their ability to find important details in a story, compare two stories, find the theme while reading, identify key vocabulary, and understand phonics elements. Since we have a week of assessment, there will not be a spelling test or spelling homework this week. As well, math homework will be limited. All of these skills are ones we have been working on for the past few months, and I am sure the students will do quite well!
In Math, we will end our week with the end of the unit assessment as well. This assessment will only take two math blocks, with the remainder of the week focused on math explorations. Students will have the opportunity to further explore geometric shapes and measurement. We continue our realistic fiction writing this week. We will learn more about using dialogue in our writing, and try to add similes as we write. The student have spent a great amount of time developing their characters and planning their story; they are eager to write! This week in the Wonders program we will investigate the question, “What excites us about nature?” Students will have the chance to read multiple poems about nature, and even try their hand at creating one! As well, we will continue to study the bossy r spelling pattern; with ar spellings as our focus this week. We will continue to focus on the plot and sequence of the story. In Math this week, we are focusing our efforts on a mathematical method called partial sums. This builds the foundational understanding for solving mathematical problems in a traditional way. It is sometimes referred to as column addition. Students will first add the tens, and then the ones before combining the two. In this way, we can have many conversations about the concept we know as carrying. Forgetting to carry is common when children this age are learning the traditional algorithm, so building the concept up using partial sums often eliminates these mistakes once students begin using the traditional algorithm for addition. Because partial sums is new to most parents, I have provided two links. One is an online pdf style introduction, and the other is a short informational video. PDF: http://bonnyeaglemathematics.weebly.com/uploads/6/8/3/6/6836608/student_reference_book_pp_57-58.pdf Video: http://everydaymath.uchicago.edu/teaching-topics/computation/add-partial-sums/ In writing this week, we will continue our realistic fiction writing. Students have developed their characters, thinking about both their internal (how they act, feel, and think) and external traits (what they look like, their age, etc.). We will brainstorm lessons we want to teach our readers, and then come up with problems and solutions that support these lessons. I am impressed by their planning so far, and we are well on our way to fantastic stories! This week in the Wonders program we will study the question; How can we understand nature? We will learn how for centuries people told folk tales to explain the changes in nature that occurred around them. We will compare that to how we use scientific tools to better understand nature today. The spelling pattern this week will continue to be the bossy r spellings, focusing on words with the ir sound. We will continue to practice visualizing as we read, and move onto the skill of identifying the theme or moral of a story.
In math this week we will move beyond traditional number stories, and look more at two step number stories. In these cases, students will first have to add, then complete a second math function (add again, or subtract). I plan to spread this lesson over a few days, as working through the language can be a challenge for many second graders. We will end our week in math making ballpark estimates. In this instance, we will round to the nearest 10. You may have learned a trick for this in elementary school, and I will introduce the children to some shortcuts, but only once I am sure they understand why those shortcuts work. I will use a number line to introduce this skill. Check out this link if you want a preview of how it will be introduced (https://www.khanacademy.org/math/cc-third-grade-math/cc-3rd-place-value-rounding/cc-3rd-grade-rounding/v/rounding-to-the-nearest-10). I encourage you to give your children as many opportunities to round to the nearest ten as you can. This is a skill that only gets better with practice! This week the students are moving on with their realistic fiction writing. We had great fun creating our characters, and this week we will select a setting and a problem for our characters to solve. The students are really enjoying this part of the story writing process, and I can’t wait to see what they come up with! This week in the Wonders reading program, we will study the question, “How are kids around the world different?” As we read, we will continue to work on creating a movie in our mind. As well, we will identify the plot and sequence of important events. We will continue the spelling focus of bossy r this week with a new list.
In Math, the week will be all about using data to solve problems. Students will use charts, graphs, and number stories to apply our addition and subtraction number stories. Sometimes we will know the two parts we are adding and subtracting, while other times we will only know one part and the answer. In these cases, we are working to find the “change” (how much we are adding or subtracting) in the problem. I was impressed by the student’s final opinion pieces. They had so much voice in their writing! The growth in their ability to use capitals and periods has greatly improved. As well, they are becoming more confident expressing their voice in writing, which is a big transition in second grade. We will move on this week to writing fictional narratives, in which students create a character to write about. This week in the Wonders program we will investigate the question, “How does the Earth change?” Students will have the chance to learn more about our planet, including ways we can take care of it! As well, we will begin to study the bossy r spelling pattern; with ur spellings as our focus this week. We will begin to learn about the plot and sequence of a story this week.
In Math this week, we are wrapping up our Unit 5 learning and will take our end of unit assessment right before winter break. We continue to practice applying the addition strategies we have learned so far, mostly through number stories. The kiddos are doing quite well with this skill. In writing this week, we will wrap up our opinion and persuasive writing. Students will plan and write an independent letter to you! We will launch this exercise with the book, I Wanna Iguana by Karen Orloff and David Catrow. Students will then brainstorm something they want, and write a persuasive letter trying to convince you to get it! Just a reminder that we will snowshoe tomorrow, Monday February 19th, so please send in appropriate gear. As well, our read-a-thon will be on February 23rd. Any pledge sheets can come in on that date. |
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