Short week!

I am really looking forward to talking with all of you at conferences tomorrow and Thursday! I have so many great things to share with you about your 2nd graders. They continue to work very hard! It is so difficult to believe that we are now into our third trimester of the school year. May will be here before we know it!

In math, we continue to look at strategies for adding and subtracting two and three-digit numbers. Students are beginning to look at challenging story problems involving money and ungrouping. Remember that, as new strategies are introduced, students are not necessarily expected to master all of them. Many strategies are taught so that students can choose a few that they feel comfortable with. I have been very impressed with some of the strategies that students have been demonstrating in class! Last week, I began sending home flashcard practice to help students master their basic fact efficiency. Expect to see flashcards and a practice log coming home about once a week. It is very important that students return flashcards right away, as other students are waiting to take them home. As students become efficient with addition, I will start sending home subtraction, mixed sets, and possibly even some multiplication cards! On your child's flashcard night, feel free to omit the "reading log" portion of your evening!

For the past couple of weeks in writing, students have been working on "small moment" writing. This is when writers take an experience and choose just a small piece of the experience about which to write a story, including a lot of detail. We have looked at Audrey Penn's "The Kissing Hand" and "A Pocketful of Kisses" to see what small moment writing looks like. Students are working hard to determine what the heart of their story is!

On Monday, we will wrap up our Social Studies unit on the presidents and influential African Americans. Last week, each student researched and wrote about a president. This week, students have been studying the Underground Railroad, the Civil War, and the significance of the North Start to runaway slaves. Students are currently working on a research project about famous Americans. I hope to have these ready to share at conferences! Next week, we will begin a rather lengthy Geography unit on the continents. During the course of this unit, we will "visit" all seven continents and learn a little bit about cultures around the world. As we do this, students will be practicing their map-reading skills. As a fun project, each student will be sending a "Flat Stanley" to a friend or family member who lives in another part of the country. I will be giving you more information about this project at conferences. For your part, please provide your child with a stamped envelope with the address of a friend or family member on it next week.

There will be no new spelling words given tomorrow, as we will be spending our spelling time wrapping up some class projects. Students will receive new spelling words next Wednesday.

Reading groups were shuffled around a little bit this past week after 1st and 2nd grade assessment of reading! I look forward to sharing information about your child's current reading level at conferences. During our afternoon language block, our class has been studying homophones and homographs. We also continue to read "Mr. Popper's Penguins", which has definitely turned out to be a class favorite!

I hope that you have a wonderful (long) weekend with your child!