It's been another busy week in our class! I continue to be impressed...this class is full of hard workers and great listeners! We continued our study of unlikely friendships, worked with addition fact strategies in math, and launched our Writer's Workshop. We also had our first Bobcat Buck class party! Students enjoyed lunch in the classroom, complete with a fun video. On Tuesday, the class will vote on which incentive we are working to earn next.
This week in Writer's Workshop, we studied the parts of a friendly letter and created some visuals for our wall of student and teacher expectations for the year. Next week, we will begin our first major writing unit. During this unit, students will learn how to write like scientists and will create several expository booklets. On Tuesday, your child will be taking a pre-unit writing assessment. Students will be asked to create a short writing piece about a scientific concept that they choose. Students are invited to bring in a science book from home to use as a resource, if they would like. This is not a requirement, as I have plenty of non-fiction books available in the classroom. I just want to give students the option in case they have something specific in mind and have a good book at home.
At Information Night, we talked about homework and how it is used in our classroom. Students have done an excellent job this week of completing assignments! Here are some things to keep in mind when completing homework:
* When your child completes blog homework on Tuesday nights, he or she is welcome to answer the posted question by simply commenting on my post containing the question, or by going to the menu at the top and selecting "new post". While either option is acceptable, blog posts will only appear on your child's individual blog if "new post" is selected. In addition, other students will only be able to comment when "new post" is clicked.
* Every single student in our class returned math homework yesterday. Thank you so much for your support at home! On mornings when math homework is due, students will do a "mix, pair, share" activity during which they will meet with a partner or small group and compare assignments. In doing this, I feel that students are more likely to learn from their mistakes and practice their communication skills. It was so wonderful yesterday morning, observing students re-solving tricky problems and helping their peers build understanding! We'll plan to continue using math homework in this way, as a valuable learning tool.
* Please look for your child's first spelling list to come home next Wednesday. Remember that Monday nights are for practicing spelling words in a fun way! Spellingcity.com is a good place to start...check it out!
Sometime next week, I will be e-mailing with information about volunteering and a list of supplies we will need for our bridge building projects. Thanks, as always, for all you do! Enjoy the long weekend!
Upcoming Dates...Mark Your Calendars!
September 1 - Labor Day - No School
September 5 - Grandparents' Day
September 15 - No School
Friday, August 29, 2014
Friday, August 22, 2014
First full week!
I really enjoyed seeing all of you last night at our Parent Information Night! I hope you found the presentation helpful and that I answered all your questions. As things come up during the year, feel free to e-mail me or stop in. It's always a pleasure to hear from you! I appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with you all this year as we navigate 2nd grade together.
This week, we continued our study of unlikely friendships. We read the story of Owen and Mzee. I'm sure your child would love to tell you this true story of a baby hippo that befriended an elderly tortoise in Africa! Today, students watched several video clips of other unlikely animal friendships (if you click on the first link under the Language Arts tab on the right side of this page, you can watch the videos, too!) On Monday, students will work in pairs to illustrate and write about one of the unlikely friendships. We will also continue studying vocabulary from the story of Owen and Mzee. We are working together to practice dictionary use, think about the context of words in books, and to put definitions into our own words.
Next week, we will read through some of the stories in the popular "George and Martha" series. We will have a discussion about different book genres with similar themes (Like "Owen and Mzee", the "George and Martha" books are about friendship and include hippos...but they are made up stories, unlike "Owen and Mzee" which is a true story). During this book study, we will look at how authors often use their writing to teach life lessons. As a class, we will try to figure out what lessons about friendship James Marshall teaches in his writing. We will also continue to practice looking at the context of unknown words to determine what the words mean.
I can't begin to tell you how excited I am to start our Writer's Workshop on Monday! Before we jump into the four units I told you about last night, we are going to take a week to establish procedures. At this time, we will also work on composing friendly letters. This will tie in to a brief pen pal activity we are starting. I have connected with a friend who teaches writing at a junior high school in Tennessee, and our class is going to be e-mailing one of her classes as a part of our "Building Bridges with Unlikely Friends" unit. We will work on finding things we have in common with this faraway class. We are excited to receive some friendly letters back from our new buddies!
This week in math, we reviewed math mountains and fact strategies. We will continue this unit on basic addition and subtraction next week. Since we haven't yet sorted students for our break-out math groups, we will also be taking some time in the afternoons to incorporate technology into our math lessons. If you look under the math menu to the right of this post, there are some great interactive math games and activities. I will be sharing these with students in class, but you are also free to explore them at home!
Our 2nd grade homework schedule will start next week. Your child now has a copy of the schedule tucked into the back pocket of his or her home folder. We won't start spelling for another week or two, so there will be no homework on Monday (if you want to start establishing the full schedule before then, this would be a GREAT time to look over the district's 2nd grade word list...let me know if you want a copy). Our first blog question will be posted Tuesday, math homework will come home Wednesday, and I will have reading logs in each child's home folder on Thursday. Please remember that your child is not expected to work on homework for more than 20 minutes on one night. If he or she hits a point of frustration, particularly on math nights, please e-mail me or send me a note so that I can help support your child in class with the assignment.
Let me know if you have any questions about upcoming activities. As always, thanks for all you do to support learning in our classroom! Have a great weekend!
Friday, August 15, 2014
Welcome to 2nd Grade!
Good afternoon!
I can't believe it is already the end of the first week of school! It has been such a joy getting to know your 2nd grade students these past few days. They have been working really hard and have been so helpful and flexible as we have adjusted to a new building and a new school year. Be sure to give your child a big hug and a "job well done!"
This week, we have been working on some team building. We have reviewed the "3 R's" of Bobcat behavior (readiness, respect, responsibility) and have worked together to come up with classroom policies. On Monday, our school will have an assembly to kick off our new behavior system. I'm sure your 2nd grade student has been telling you all about our Bobcat Bucks! I will have information for you about this system at Back to School night on August 21.
We are opening up our school year with a study of the author Kevin Henkes. This week, we have been looking at his book Wemberly Worried and sharing ideas and strategies for dealing with worry. On Monday, we will read Chrysanthemum and take some time celebrating our names. On Monday night, please look for a homework assignment in your child's backpack! He or she will be interviewing you to learn more about the story behind his or her name.
This year, we will be doing six major language arts units that also tie in with our science and social studies standards During our first unit, "Building Bridges with Unlikely Friends", students will study the difference between literal and figurative language. They will learn the importance of making connections with unlikely friends, and will also be doing some engineer work as we look at the structures of different types of bridges. This unit will will begin on Tuesday.
Early next week, students will be taking a beginning-of-the-year math test so that I can see what they remember from first grade. We will then be jumping into our Math Expressions curriculum with a study of math mountains and basic fact strategies.
I will keep you posted in a few weeks when we start leveled reading and math groups.
Next week, I am leaving my schedule open after school. I will be in the classroom on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from 4:00 until 4:45. If you would like to pick an afternoon to stop in for five minutes for a quick visit, let me know. This would be a good chance to share any information about your child that you think I should know right away. I will address general questions (birthday celebrations, behavior management, curriculum, etc.) on Thursday at Back to School night. If you would like to pop in next week between 4:00 and 4:45 on one of those days, just e-mail me and let me know what day you plan to stop by. If you are unable to stop in during that time but have things you would like to share with me, feel free to shoot me an e-mail. I'd be happy to arrange an evening phone conference with you from my home.
Please make note of the following dates on your calendars. Thank you in advance for your help and support. I am looking forward to a wonderful school year!
Upcoming Dates
August 18, 19, 20 - Mrs. Williams available after school
August 21 - 2nd Grade Back to School night - 6:00
September 1 - No school - Labor Day
I can't believe it is already the end of the first week of school! It has been such a joy getting to know your 2nd grade students these past few days. They have been working really hard and have been so helpful and flexible as we have adjusted to a new building and a new school year. Be sure to give your child a big hug and a "job well done!"
This week, we have been working on some team building. We have reviewed the "3 R's" of Bobcat behavior (readiness, respect, responsibility) and have worked together to come up with classroom policies. On Monday, our school will have an assembly to kick off our new behavior system. I'm sure your 2nd grade student has been telling you all about our Bobcat Bucks! I will have information for you about this system at Back to School night on August 21.
We are opening up our school year with a study of the author Kevin Henkes. This week, we have been looking at his book Wemberly Worried and sharing ideas and strategies for dealing with worry. On Monday, we will read Chrysanthemum and take some time celebrating our names. On Monday night, please look for a homework assignment in your child's backpack! He or she will be interviewing you to learn more about the story behind his or her name.
This year, we will be doing six major language arts units that also tie in with our science and social studies standards During our first unit, "Building Bridges with Unlikely Friends", students will study the difference between literal and figurative language. They will learn the importance of making connections with unlikely friends, and will also be doing some engineer work as we look at the structures of different types of bridges. This unit will will begin on Tuesday.
Early next week, students will be taking a beginning-of-the-year math test so that I can see what they remember from first grade. We will then be jumping into our Math Expressions curriculum with a study of math mountains and basic fact strategies.
I will keep you posted in a few weeks when we start leveled reading and math groups.
Next week, I am leaving my schedule open after school. I will be in the classroom on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from 4:00 until 4:45. If you would like to pick an afternoon to stop in for five minutes for a quick visit, let me know. This would be a good chance to share any information about your child that you think I should know right away. I will address general questions (birthday celebrations, behavior management, curriculum, etc.) on Thursday at Back to School night. If you would like to pop in next week between 4:00 and 4:45 on one of those days, just e-mail me and let me know what day you plan to stop by. If you are unable to stop in during that time but have things you would like to share with me, feel free to shoot me an e-mail. I'd be happy to arrange an evening phone conference with you from my home.
Please make note of the following dates on your calendars. Thank you in advance for your help and support. I am looking forward to a wonderful school year!
Upcoming Dates
August 18, 19, 20 - Mrs. Williams available after school
August 21 - 2nd Grade Back to School night - 6:00
September 1 - No school - Labor Day
Friday, February 21, 2014
We're up and running again!
It seems that, after several months of technical difficulties, our class blog is ready to let me update it! It was so great meeting with all of you at conferences last week. It's hard to believe that we are in the last trimester of the school year! It's going to be a busy three months, and I'm excited to see the progress that your 2nd graders make as they prepare to become 3rd graders.
Today was our Unit 5 test in math. Unit 5 covered the use of clocks as well as organizing and interpreting data in a variety of ways. I've been so impressed to see how the problem solving skills of students have matured this year! Not only have they been answering complicated 2-step (and even 3-step!) story problems while analyzing data on a graph, but have even been able to write and solve some of their own. On Monday, we will pre-test Unit 6. This unit builds on the subtraction we did in the last unit by including larger numbers. Now would be a good time to review basic subtraction facts and strategies for subtracting 2-digit numbers.
We began our new reading group rotations this week. Students were definitely glad to be back into a regular schedule! If you are looking for reading comprehension activities to work on at home that tie in with the standards we are working on, let me know. I'd be happy to pass along some resources. This week we also began a short research project in celebration of Presidents' Day. Each student has been assigned a president and is working to write a paragraph that follows the pattern as the Important Book project we did in December. Be sure to ask your 2nd grader about his or her president! It's been fun having some of them teach me things from their research that I didn't know before. On Monday, we will jump into our new writing program. The unit we are piloting focuses on opinion writing. Kids have lots of opinions, so I know that they will really enjoy this unit! As we get deeper into the unit, I will pass on to you some of the writing techniques we are practicing.
It was SO fun listening to weather presentations this week! All of the groups did a great job of displaying their information, planning out what they wanted to say, and bringing in extra visual aids and props to support their research. I hope to try another similar activity later this year when we study habitats. I will keep you posted!
Our next big social studies unit begins on Monday and is titled "A Journey to Freedom". During this unit, students will study influential African Americans like Hariett Tubman, Henry Brown, and Langston Hughes. To kick off he unit, we will take a close look at the presidency of Abraham Lincoln and the significance of the Civil War. Each week, we will delve into important literature to deepen understanding.
As always, thank you for all you do to support our classroom. You continue to be a wonderful group of parents to work with, and I truly enjoy the time that I spend with your children. Please jot down the dates below and contact me with any questions. Have a WONDERFUL weekend!
February 24-26 - Book Fair (Pancake feed on February 25)
February 26 - Birthday Breakfast (June birthdays)
March 3 - Read Across America Day - Happy Birthday, Dr. Suess!
March 17-21 - Spring Break
April 1 - Fitness Fair (6:00-7:30)
April 5 - Family Fun Run
April 17 - Possible date for Kansas City Zoo field trip
May 22 - Last day of school!
Today was our Unit 5 test in math. Unit 5 covered the use of clocks as well as organizing and interpreting data in a variety of ways. I've been so impressed to see how the problem solving skills of students have matured this year! Not only have they been answering complicated 2-step (and even 3-step!) story problems while analyzing data on a graph, but have even been able to write and solve some of their own. On Monday, we will pre-test Unit 6. This unit builds on the subtraction we did in the last unit by including larger numbers. Now would be a good time to review basic subtraction facts and strategies for subtracting 2-digit numbers.
We began our new reading group rotations this week. Students were definitely glad to be back into a regular schedule! If you are looking for reading comprehension activities to work on at home that tie in with the standards we are working on, let me know. I'd be happy to pass along some resources. This week we also began a short research project in celebration of Presidents' Day. Each student has been assigned a president and is working to write a paragraph that follows the pattern as the Important Book project we did in December. Be sure to ask your 2nd grader about his or her president! It's been fun having some of them teach me things from their research that I didn't know before. On Monday, we will jump into our new writing program. The unit we are piloting focuses on opinion writing. Kids have lots of opinions, so I know that they will really enjoy this unit! As we get deeper into the unit, I will pass on to you some of the writing techniques we are practicing.
It was SO fun listening to weather presentations this week! All of the groups did a great job of displaying their information, planning out what they wanted to say, and bringing in extra visual aids and props to support their research. I hope to try another similar activity later this year when we study habitats. I will keep you posted!
Our next big social studies unit begins on Monday and is titled "A Journey to Freedom". During this unit, students will study influential African Americans like Hariett Tubman, Henry Brown, and Langston Hughes. To kick off he unit, we will take a close look at the presidency of Abraham Lincoln and the significance of the Civil War. Each week, we will delve into important literature to deepen understanding.
As always, thank you for all you do to support our classroom. You continue to be a wonderful group of parents to work with, and I truly enjoy the time that I spend with your children. Please jot down the dates below and contact me with any questions. Have a WONDERFUL weekend!
February 24-26 - Book Fair (Pancake feed on February 25)
February 26 - Birthday Breakfast (June birthdays)
March 3 - Read Across America Day - Happy Birthday, Dr. Suess!
March 17-21 - Spring Break
April 1 - Fitness Fair (6:00-7:30)
April 5 - Family Fun Run
April 17 - Possible date for Kansas City Zoo field trip
May 22 - Last day of school!
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Autumn Happenings
It's so hard to believe that we are already well into the month of October! We have been very busy in our class, and your 2nd graders are working very hard.
I hope that your child has been sharing information and activities from his or her guided reading group with you. As we move toward new reading standards this year, we are spending more time within texts and different genres and working with many different objectives. We are taking a break from guided reading groups for the next couple of weeks to assess and update reading levels. I hope to have some useful data to share with you at conferences in a few weeks! During our language arts block, students continue to working on spelling and other basic conventions. We are also beginning a short unit on technical writing. During this unit, students will use the writing process to complete a how-to piece entitled "How to Draw a Monster".
We had our Unit 2 assessment in math earlier this week. I was so impressed the progress I saw in place value and 2-digit addition! If you are looking for a quick and easy way to practice math at home, now would be a great time to work on counting groups of mixed coins up to five dollars with your child. Today, we began our next math unit. Over the next couple of weeks, 2nd graders will be working on measurement (centimeters and inches) and shapes. Some vocabulary terms to look out for are right angle, quadrilateral, line segment, equal faces, trapezoid, and hexagon. If you are measuring things at home, try to get your child involved!
Some exciting things are going on in our health study right now! The 2nd grade team is teaching a new unit this year on the human body. We are incorporating technology and some pieces of great expository text with some fun projects and experiments on the body and the body systems. Last week, students took a close look at "The Magic School Bus: Inside the Human Body". As a class, we talked about key ideas and supporting details, as well as the organization of Joanna Cole's books and the use of diagrams in her stories. This week, we are starting a group project. Each small group has been assigned a body system. Today and tomorrow, groups will research online and in books and articles and practice taking notes. Next week, each group will collaboratively plan a 3-dimensional display of its assigned body system. Your child will bring home a note telling what materials he or she has volunteered to provide for the group (this could be things like yarn, clay, balloons, dry pasta, etc.) Groups will assemble a display, label it, and complete a small research paper. After the completion of this project, we will be diving into the book "Good Enough to Eat" and doing some experiments with food. There are some supplies we will need at that time. I will send out an e-mail when I have more information for you. Now would be a great time, if you have items at home that tie into our human body study, to send them in for your child to share with the class!
Please look over the important dates below and let me know if you have any questions. As always, thanks for all that you do!
October 31 - Halloween Celebration
November 1 - No School - Recording/Reporting
November 6-7 - Conferences
November 8 - No School
November 27-29 - Fall Recess...Happy Thanksgiving!
I hope that your child has been sharing information and activities from his or her guided reading group with you. As we move toward new reading standards this year, we are spending more time within texts and different genres and working with many different objectives. We are taking a break from guided reading groups for the next couple of weeks to assess and update reading levels. I hope to have some useful data to share with you at conferences in a few weeks! During our language arts block, students continue to working on spelling and other basic conventions. We are also beginning a short unit on technical writing. During this unit, students will use the writing process to complete a how-to piece entitled "How to Draw a Monster".
We had our Unit 2 assessment in math earlier this week. I was so impressed the progress I saw in place value and 2-digit addition! If you are looking for a quick and easy way to practice math at home, now would be a great time to work on counting groups of mixed coins up to five dollars with your child. Today, we began our next math unit. Over the next couple of weeks, 2nd graders will be working on measurement (centimeters and inches) and shapes. Some vocabulary terms to look out for are right angle, quadrilateral, line segment, equal faces, trapezoid, and hexagon. If you are measuring things at home, try to get your child involved!
Some exciting things are going on in our health study right now! The 2nd grade team is teaching a new unit this year on the human body. We are incorporating technology and some pieces of great expository text with some fun projects and experiments on the body and the body systems. Last week, students took a close look at "The Magic School Bus: Inside the Human Body". As a class, we talked about key ideas and supporting details, as well as the organization of Joanna Cole's books and the use of diagrams in her stories. This week, we are starting a group project. Each small group has been assigned a body system. Today and tomorrow, groups will research online and in books and articles and practice taking notes. Next week, each group will collaboratively plan a 3-dimensional display of its assigned body system. Your child will bring home a note telling what materials he or she has volunteered to provide for the group (this could be things like yarn, clay, balloons, dry pasta, etc.) Groups will assemble a display, label it, and complete a small research paper. After the completion of this project, we will be diving into the book "Good Enough to Eat" and doing some experiments with food. There are some supplies we will need at that time. I will send out an e-mail when I have more information for you. Now would be a great time, if you have items at home that tie into our human body study, to send them in for your child to share with the class!
Please look over the important dates below and let me know if you have any questions. As always, thanks for all that you do!
October 31 - Halloween Celebration
November 1 - No School - Recording/Reporting
November 6-7 - Conferences
November 8 - No School
November 27-29 - Fall Recess...Happy Thanksgiving!
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Welcome to 2nd Grade!
It was so great seeing so many of you at Parent Information Night last week! It is going to be an exciting year with many changes and opportunities, and I am so happy to be working with such a wonderful group of supportive parents. If you were unable to attend Parent Information Night, please look through the folder your child brought home for information on classroom management, curriculum, celebrations, and more. Let me know if you have any questions.
We have kicked off our year with a Language Arts unit entitled "Building Bridges with Unlikely Friends". Many of the new KCCR standards will be covered in this unit. Students are learning about the differences between figurative and literal language, how authors often teach life lessons through their writing, and how to retell a story. During our writing time, students are working on sentence writing and the parts of a friendly letter. As we go through this unit, we are working with a 5th grade class in Richmond, Indiana through letters and e-mails. We are tying the standards in with several read-aloud books, including the works of Kevin Henkes (the author of Chrysanthemum) and Isabella Hatkoff (the young co-author of the Owen and Mzee books).
To begin the year in math, students are exploring equations, math strategies, and story problems. As we go deeper into strategies and math vocabulary this year, students will be doing a lot of practice with having math conversations and explaining their thinking in writing, pictures, and words. As we talked about last week, students are bringing home math homework a couple of times a week to use to facilitate math talk. Thank you for your help in getting this done. Remember....if it takes your child more than 20 minutes to do math homework, feel free to call it quits for the night and just send me a note letting me know.
Some very special visitors will be coming to stay in our classroom next week! Our Monarch butterfly larvae are scheduled to arrive on Tuesday. During this unit in science, 2nd graders are studying different life cycles, the traits of insects, and Monarch butterflies. We look forward to releasing some of our own Monarchs this fall!
I am looking over volunteer needs right now and will be sending out an e-mail soon to those of you who signed up to help in our classroom. Thank you for your patience as I try to get organized enough to put things like that together.
Have a great week! Thanks, as always, for all that you do.
We have kicked off our year with a Language Arts unit entitled "Building Bridges with Unlikely Friends". Many of the new KCCR standards will be covered in this unit. Students are learning about the differences between figurative and literal language, how authors often teach life lessons through their writing, and how to retell a story. During our writing time, students are working on sentence writing and the parts of a friendly letter. As we go through this unit, we are working with a 5th grade class in Richmond, Indiana through letters and e-mails. We are tying the standards in with several read-aloud books, including the works of Kevin Henkes (the author of Chrysanthemum) and Isabella Hatkoff (the young co-author of the Owen and Mzee books).
To begin the year in math, students are exploring equations, math strategies, and story problems. As we go deeper into strategies and math vocabulary this year, students will be doing a lot of practice with having math conversations and explaining their thinking in writing, pictures, and words. As we talked about last week, students are bringing home math homework a couple of times a week to use to facilitate math talk. Thank you for your help in getting this done. Remember....if it takes your child more than 20 minutes to do math homework, feel free to call it quits for the night and just send me a note letting me know.
Some very special visitors will be coming to stay in our classroom next week! Our Monarch butterfly larvae are scheduled to arrive on Tuesday. During this unit in science, 2nd graders are studying different life cycles, the traits of insects, and Monarch butterflies. We look forward to releasing some of our own Monarchs this fall!
I am looking over volunteer needs right now and will be sending out an e-mail soon to those of you who signed up to help in our classroom. Thank you for your patience as I try to get organized enough to put things like that together.
Have a great week! Thanks, as always, for all that you do.
Friday, April 5, 2013
Spring has (finally) sprung!
Happy Friday! I want to thank all of you for your patience, kindness, and understanding as I have adjusted to being back at school these past few weeks. It is difficult leaving Teddy each morning, but I have really enjoyed getting back into the swing of things and working with your 2nd graders again! I'm lucky to be working with such a great group of families this year! I'm sorry that our class blog hasn't been updated since I've been back. I'm still playing catch-up, but think I am almost there!
Mr. Koerner did an amazing job taking over while I was out in January and February. It was fun seeing all the work your students did with weather, poetry, presidents, Kansas symbols, and many other subject areas in my absence. We are now finishing up our trip around the world in Social Studies. Students are "visiting" the seven continents. At each stop we are investigating the land, culture, animals, location, and fun facts of that area. This afternoon we will visit South America, and will return home to North America on Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday and Thursday we will do some review activities, and students will be tested on this unit on Friday, April 12. For the test, students will be asked to label a blank map with the 7 continents and 4 oceans (there will be a word bank). They will also need to write down 2 or 3 facts they know about each continent and tell me a little about the landforms we have studied. Instead of a study guide, your child will be bringing home his or her "suitcase" early next week. Please take time to sit with your child and allow him or her to tell you all about our trip.
Our next major unit of study will be our study of amphibians and reptiles in science. To prepare for this unit, we had a special guest from Prairie Park Nature Center visit our pod this morning with some animal friends. During this unit, we will compare various amphibians and reptiles, look at the differences between species, and learn about animal adaptations.
In writing, students have been working on some small research projects to prepare for our next major writing project. 2nd graders will be working with partners to write a book about an assigned animal. We will be focusing on the writing process, taking notes, using text features, and the traits of good writing.
Our current author study is Mem Fox, who has tied in well with our Social Studies unit as she is from Australia. We also continue to read "SuperFudge". Our next big read-aloud will be "Judy Moody Saves the World".
In math, students are working on place value, adding 3-digit numbers with regrouping, and reading and writing numbers to to 1,000 and beyond. Thank you for your continued support with homework.
As always, thanks for all that you do to support our classroom. Please add the dates below to your calendar.
April 6 - Family Fun Run at YSI
April 16 - 2nd Grade Music Program
April 23 - Family Fitness Fair
April 25 - Kansas City Zoo
May 10 - Lied Center trip, Field Day
May 23 - Last day of school
Mr. Koerner did an amazing job taking over while I was out in January and February. It was fun seeing all the work your students did with weather, poetry, presidents, Kansas symbols, and many other subject areas in my absence. We are now finishing up our trip around the world in Social Studies. Students are "visiting" the seven continents. At each stop we are investigating the land, culture, animals, location, and fun facts of that area. This afternoon we will visit South America, and will return home to North America on Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday and Thursday we will do some review activities, and students will be tested on this unit on Friday, April 12. For the test, students will be asked to label a blank map with the 7 continents and 4 oceans (there will be a word bank). They will also need to write down 2 or 3 facts they know about each continent and tell me a little about the landforms we have studied. Instead of a study guide, your child will be bringing home his or her "suitcase" early next week. Please take time to sit with your child and allow him or her to tell you all about our trip.
Our next major unit of study will be our study of amphibians and reptiles in science. To prepare for this unit, we had a special guest from Prairie Park Nature Center visit our pod this morning with some animal friends. During this unit, we will compare various amphibians and reptiles, look at the differences between species, and learn about animal adaptations.
In writing, students have been working on some small research projects to prepare for our next major writing project. 2nd graders will be working with partners to write a book about an assigned animal. We will be focusing on the writing process, taking notes, using text features, and the traits of good writing.
Our current author study is Mem Fox, who has tied in well with our Social Studies unit as she is from Australia. We also continue to read "SuperFudge". Our next big read-aloud will be "Judy Moody Saves the World".
In math, students are working on place value, adding 3-digit numbers with regrouping, and reading and writing numbers to to 1,000 and beyond. Thank you for your continued support with homework.
As always, thanks for all that you do to support our classroom. Please add the dates below to your calendar.
April 6 - Family Fun Run at YSI
April 16 - 2nd Grade Music Program
April 23 - Family Fitness Fair
April 25 - Kansas City Zoo
May 10 - Lied Center trip, Field Day
May 23 - Last day of school
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