April News

Wow...where did the month of March go?  I can't believe we are in the second to last month of school!  Please look over the following curriculum information and important dates, and let me know if you have any questions.

Math:
Today, students took their unit 6 math test.  We will begin our next and final unit on Monday.  During unit 7, students will study fractions, number lines, word problems, and measurements.  Students will also participate in an introduction to multiplication using rectangular arrays.

Reading:
Students will continue their guided reading groups until about the 1st week of May, when we stop for assessments.  As always, let me know if you have questions or concerns about your child's reading level.  If you are looking for new ways to support your child's reading comprehension at home, shoot me an e-mail and I can pass on some resources to you.  Now is also a great time to start thinking about summer reading plans.  I will be sending out a flyer in a few weeks with information about a 2-day second grade reading club that I plan to host in DeVictor Park.  If you think your child would benefit from some one-on-one tutoring during the summer months in reading (or any other subject), I am happy to provide you with names of staff members who offer tutoring services.

Writing:
We are plugging away at our opinion writing unit!  Students continue writing opinion letters about books.  During the past few weeks, our class has practiced organizing a writing piece into parts that make sense, giving supporting reasons and evidence to convince a reader that your opinion is correct, keeping your audience in mind while writing, using transition words such as "also", "another", and "for example", and using the writing process effectively.  Next week, students will learn how to "award" books for different achievements.

Social Studies:
We are in the middle of our "Journey to Freedom" unit.  This week and last, students studied a book on Abraham Lincoln.  We used this time to review text features, identifying the main idea and details of a non-fiction text, and re-reading a text closely to learn information.  Next week our class will be studying the book Lead Us to Freedom, Harriet Tubman!  By the end of April, we will be ready to move on to our study of world geography and folktales from around the world.

Fun Things:
* We really enjoyed the production of Peter and the Wolf at the Lawrence Arts Center last week!
* This week was our annual Wellness Week.  It was great seeing so many of you at the Fitness Fair on Tuesday!  I am happy to report that our class came in 2nd place in the annual smoothie competition yesterday.
* The class has enjoyed sharing some of the "Mr. Putter and Tabby" books by Cynthia Rylant.  You might want to check them out the next time you at the library!

Please make sure the following dates are on your calendars.  Have a great weekend!

April 4 - Bobcat 5K

April 14 - 2nd Grade Music Program - 7:30 PM

April 21 - Kansas City Zoo trip

April 29 - Birthday Breakfast - Happy birthday, Grace!

May 8 - Field Day

May 11-15 - Teach the Class Week

May 21 - Last day of school