Monarchs!

I hope that your 2nd grader has come home and told you all about the new visitors in our classroom...24 Monarch larvae! Students have been amazed at how quickly these larvae have gone from barely-visible caterpillars to HUGE caterpillars that will soon be going into their chrysalis stage! We will spend the rest of this week, as well as next week, continuing our study of butterflies and moths. Next week, I will e-mail out a study guide to help as you guide your child in reviewing for the test on Tuesday, September 28.

I am excited to hear that several students were able to make it to the Monarch Watch open house last weekend! Here is a link to another opportunity...the Monarch tagging event at Baker Wetlands this Saturday:

http://www.monarchwatch.org/wetlands/

In math, we continue to discuss strategies and write story problems. This week, students were introduced to story problems that involve a missing number at the beginning of the equation. Students are quickly discovering that it is very challenging to write a story problem to go with equations like this! Here is an example of what this type of story problem would look like:

Equation: ___-4=11

I had SOME pretzels. I ate 4 of them. Now, I have eleven pretzels. How many did I start with? I started with 15 pretzels.

Several homework assignments now have had a question involving students in writing their own versions of various types of story problems. Please double check your child's homework to be sure that he or she is grasping this concept!

I am happy to report that we will be starting reading groups next Monday! Be on the lookout for a laminated manila folder coming home in the first few days of reading groups containing reading homework. Students will have reading homework frequently. Books are always due back the following day. One change in 2nd grade is that students will sometimes have WRITTEN homework assignments to go with reading group books. Please help your child be responsible for written assignments, as well as assigned reading.

Last week in writing, students worked with partners on their first research project of the year! I was extremely impressed with the great research students did on assigned butterflies and moths, and cannot wait to share these with you at conferences in the fall! This week, students have been reviewing parts of speech (nouns, verbs, and adjectives) and practicing some more personal narrative and non-fiction writing. Next week, we will continue looking at the writing process. Students will begin to be more involved in their own editing and revising. Next week we will also be sending out friendly letters, so please remember to send in an envelope, a stamp, and an address of someone your child knows if you have not already done so.

As always, thank you for ALL you do! It continues to be a fantastic year!