Happy Thanksgiving!

I can't believe how quickly the only full week of school in November has gone! Students have been very busy and I know are looking forward to the break from school next week.

In math, we are wrapping up our study of the measurement of volume. Students have built models based on written plans, as well as planned and constructed their own models. They have also looked at different ways to find the total volume of an object by using a variety of number sentences and strategies. Next week, we will spend a day working on estimation and a day reviewing place value. After Thanksgiving, we will begin our study of measuring mass.

This week in writing, students have been practicing writing from another person's point of view. They have been keeping Pilgrim journals as we have studied the lives of pilgrims in social studies. They also learned how to use a thesaurus this week...I really have enjoyed seeing the 2nd graders get so excited about spicing up their word choice in writing!

Next week we will wrap up our current social studies unit on "Our Past". We will review Christopher Columbus, pilgrims, the Revolutionary War, George Washington, and pioneers. We have covered a lot of ground in our nation's history these past couple of weeks! We will spend the next few days comparing and contrasting Native American tribes. The week of November 30, we will begin a unit in health on staying safe and healthy.

Our author of the month is Janell Cannon. If your child has any of her books and would like to bring them in to share with the class, feel free to send them!

Thank you so much to all of you who have signed up to send ingredients for our individual pumpkin pies next week. If you would still like to volunteer, there are a couple of ingredients left on the list...let me know!

It was great meeting with all of you at conferences last week. I hope that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with your family!

Conference Week!

Thank you to everyone for returning your conference forms! I'm looking forward to meeting with you and sharing all of the growth that your 2nd graders have shown this trimester! Remember that there will be no school on Thursday and Friday of this week.

We finished our health unit about the body systems last Thursday. We will spend the next couple of weeks in Social Studies learning about our past! Students will compare and contrast Native American tribes and also take some time studying pioneers. To supplement this, we will be reading the book The Josefina Story Quilt. If you have any books or items pertaining to quilts, Native American culture, or pioneers, students are welcome to bring them in to share with the class!

We have wrapped up our math study of place value and will spend the next several days looking at volume with cube model plans. If you are looking for great math games to play at home with your child, please see the math links on the side of our blog!

Students will not receive new spelling words this week. We will move into the next spelling lesson next Wednesday, November 18.

We will have a marble party this Wednesday, November 11. Students voted to have a pajama day, so they are welcome to wear their pajamas that day!

I hope that you all have a wonderful week!