Happy Mayday!

Wow...where has April gone?  It's so hard to believe that this will most likely be my last curriculum update of the year!  I've enjoyed working with all of and getting to know your 2nd graders during the 2015/2016 school year.  They've made so much progress, and I will really miss them next year!  Please read on for important information about our current curriculum, and be sure to make note of the dates at the bottom on your calendars.  We have quite a few things coming up!

Math:  
We will be starting our last math unit next week.  During this unit, students will begin to work with arrays and will learn to make the connection to basic multiplication and division strategies.  We will also be looking at fractions at this time, and connecting those equal parts to division.

At-home connection - Talk with your child about how to divide items equally.  Look at things that come in arrays (egg cartons, the circles on the top of Legos, cookies on a baking sheet, etc.) and talk about the use of repeated addition to find a total

Reading:
We are getting ready to wrap up our Reading Street unit on creativity.  During this last week, students are exploring the question, "Where do Creative Ideas Come From?"  They've really enjoyed learning about George Washington Carver this week and exploring his biography.  Our next...and final...unit will focus on our changing world.  Our last day or reading groups will be on May 13.

At-home connection - Continue reading with your child on a regular basis!  Ask your child about ways they can be creative this summer.

Writing: 
We are about halfway through our unit on opinion writing.  Students are learning how to defend their opinions about books using specific examples.  Next week, we will look at ways to incorporate quotes from characters in our opinions.  Students will also begin to explore creative ways to use comparisons between two pieces of written work to convince their readers to agree with their opinions.

At-home connection - When your child shares an opinion with you...whether it be about a book, a food, or something else...ask him or her to give you convincing reasons!

Science/Health: 
It's been so much fun to hear about the plant and animal models that students are working on!  They should plan to bring those to school no later than May 16.  Please remember that these models should be made of things you have at home already...there's no need to purchase supplies!  I hope that many of you will be able to attend our Ecosystem Zoo Open House on May 18!

Now that we have finished studying ecosystems in class, we will be taking some time to look at our health standards.  Your child is bringing home a letter today with information about the standards we will cover.  Please look it over and contact me with questions.

At-home connection - As we prepare for our Body Venture field trip on May 12, talk with your child about how the body works.  Conduct a little research about the different body systems, or read a fun book about the body together!

Speaking/Listening:
We like to wrap up our 2nd grade school year each year by giving students the chance to see what it's like to be a teacher!  The week of May 16 will be our annual Teach the Class week!  Early next week, your child will be bringing home a note about this project.  Each student will have 5-10 minutes to teach his or her classmates how to do something.  This can be as simple as drawing a picture of a dog or kicking a soccer ball, or as complicated as a small craft project or assembling a favorite food recipe.  This would be a great weekend to start brainstorming ideas with your child!  Please note that no students will be assigned to teach their lesson on May 18, as that is the day of our Ecosystem Zoo!

Upcoming Dates - Mark Your Calendars! 

May 4 - May birthday breakfast/Make-Up birthday breakfast

 

May 6 - ALL library books due! 

 

May 11 - June birthday breakfast - Cara, Davis, Owen

 

May 12 - Body Venture field trip - 11:25-3:25

 

May 16 - Animal and plant models due

 

May 16-20 - Teach the Class week (info coming soon)

 

May 18 - July birthday breakfast - Cooper, Eli S., Ethan

 

May 18 - Come visit our Ecosystem Zoo!  We will be open 12:15-1:00!  

 

May 19 - Talent Show

 

May 20 - Field Day

 

May 26 - Last day...have a GREAT summer! 

Spring Things!

Happy Friday!

I hope that you all have had a great week.  Please read on for current curriculum information, as well as upcoming dates.

Reading Street:
Our current unit is on creativity.  This week and next, students are answering the question "How can we solve problems in a creative way?" We are reviewing what a folk tale is and practicing comparing and contrasting two stories.  To tie in with our story of the week, "Anansi Goes Fishing", my reading groups are working with books that deal with spiders, nets, and webs.  Spelling words for the week are compound words.

At home connection:
Encourage your child to do something creative!  This might be an art project, a writing project, an invention, or imaginative play.

Writing:
In our opinion writing unit, students are reviewing the parts of a letter.  They are then using their letter-writing skills to write about opinions they have about books.  Upcoming lessons include developing opinions in order to convince readers, supporting opinions with specific events from books, providing specific examples when defending an opinion, and thinking carefully about the audience you are speaking to.

At home connection: 
Throughout the day, ask your child to share opinions with you.  Ask them to explain their opinions using words like "because" and "for example".

Math:
This week we began Math Expressions Unit 6.  In this unit, students are working with place value in larger numbers.  Skills in this unit include using symbols to compare numbers, ordering numbers, representing numbers in different ways (with money, with boxes, sticks, and circles, in written form, in expanded form, etc.) and using strategies introduced in earlier units to add and subtract numbers in the hundreds.

At home connection:
Today your child is bringing home a copy of a game we played in class called Rhino Race.  This is a great game for practicing number representation and number comparison!  Be sure to check it out!

Science: 
We are currently studying the parts of flowers and pollination.  Students have researched different pollinators (so far, we have focused mostly on bees) and have learned how to identify the basic parts of a flower.  Next week, we will research how pollination works.  For the remainder of April (and part of May), students will be studying the ways that plants and animals are adapted to survive in various ecosystems.

At home connection:
Go on a nature walk with your child and keep track of how many pollinators you see in action!

Upcoming Dates...Mark Your Calendars!

April 19 - Music Program

April 27 - Birthday Breakfast...Happy birthday to Caleb and Lucas!

April 28 - Kansas City Zoo

April 30 - Langston Hughes Family Fun Run

February Fun!

The school year continues to fly by!  Read on for important curriculum information, and be sure to note the important dates on your calendar as well. 

Math:

In Expressions Unit 4, students continue to practice strategies for subtracting numbers within 1,000, both with and without regrouping.  This unit will be tested at the end of next week.  Please continue to work with your 2nd grader not only on subtraction, but also on counting money and reviewing addition strategies and various story problems.  In the next unit, we will begin looking at ways to organize data on graphs.  

Reading:

We are wrapping up Reading Street Unit 2, Working Together.  This next week, students will be reading the story "One Good Turn Deserves Another".  Students will be practicing long "a" words and will be comparing and contrasting characters in a story.  Our next large unit is called Creative Ideas.  During this unit, we will be exploring the question, "What does it mean to be creative?"  Thank you for your continued help in supporting your child with spelling and reading practice at home!

Writing:  

Students have been having a lot of fun with our writing unit on technical writing!  For their first lab report, they experimented with ramps and toy cars.  For their second report, they built catapults in class and are now beginning to test them by launching different objects and comparing how far they go.  Next week, we will review the scientific process and the different text features that scientists us when they write.  It would be a great time to review the steps to the scientific process with your child!  

Science:

The 2nd graders have done an excellent job with their inventors/engineering unit!  If you get the chance, swing through our classroom sometime this week to take a look at our bridges.  Students will modify them on Monday and Tuesday and we will test them out on Wednesday.  We will wrap up this unit by building models of suspension bridges at the end of the week and closely examining their parts.   

Social Studies:

Our Kansas State symbol research projects will be going up on display in the red pod this week.  Next week, we will be studying United States symbols using technology.  

Upcoming Dates:

February 12 - Valentine's Day Party

February 19 - No School

February 24 - Birthday Breakfast

February 24-25 - Conferences - Please sign up on Skyward.

February 25-26 - No School

March 14-18 - Spring Break

March 29 - Langston Hughes Fitness Fair

December/January Updates

Happy New Year!  I hope that you all had a wonderful and relaxing holiday.  I'm so excited to see my 2nd graders and to hear about the great adventures they had during the break!  Please read on for information about upcoming curriculum and, as always, feel free to call or e-mail with any questions.

Math: During our upcoming math unit, students will be reviewing the work we did this fall in adding 2-digit and 3-digit numbers, and using that knowledge of place value to practice subtracting larger numbers.  Students will be learning many strategies for subtracting large numbers.  When you see math homework during this unit, feel free to share other strategies you may know with your 2nd grader!  In this unit, we will also be going further with our study of money as students practicing counting mixed groups of coins higher than $1.00.

Reading Street: We will be continuing our Reading Street unit on working together.  During the next few weeks, students will be reading about and discussing the importance of working together to meet the needs of others.  Please watch for your next "Refrigerator Copy" to come home early next week.  It will include details about upcoming spelling words, comprehension strategies being studied, and new vocabulary words.  We will be taking a short break from reading groups so that I can get some mid-year reading testing underway.  We will not be doing a winter MAP test this year, but I will have Aimsweb scores to share with you at your conference in February.

Writer's Workshop: We are ready to get into our next writing unit!  We took some time away from our regular writing program to review narrative writing and to practice the writing process with the "Important Books" you received during the break as a gift from your child!  During the upcoming unit, students will be learning about technical (how-to) writing.  We will focus on the importance of giving detailed directions, using sequencing words, and using the scientific process to write lab reports.  This would be a great time to review our "How to Draw a Monster" project from earlier this year with your child.

Science/Social Studies:  For the month of January, we will be continuing our study of engineering/inventions.  Before the break, students presented their invention connection projects to the class.  There were so many creative inventions presented, and we had a lot of fun inviting our 5th grade book buddies down to view them!  For the next several weeks, we will be focusing on different types of bridges.  Students will learn the history behind the development of suspension bridges and will be comparing the uses of different types of bridges.  We will be doing several hands-on projects during which students build and test models of plank bridges and suspension bridges.  We will also be talking about forces that affect the structure of bridges, and this vocabulary of forces and motion will also tie in with our technical writing unit.

* Our regular homework schedule will resume this month...December was a bit crazy as we were wrapping so many things up at once!  Please remember...

Mondays - Students practice their spelling and vocabulary words at home in a creative and fun way.

Tuesdays - Students log into our Kidblog and respond to the posted question.

Wednesdays - Students complete a math sheet at home...they need these Thursday mornings for a collaborative activity in class.  

Thursdays - Students read for enjoyment for at least 20 minutes.  

Please make sure the following dates are on your calendars.  Have a GREAT week!  

January 18 - No School

January 27 - Birthday Breakfast - Happy birthday, Annie!

January 28 - Trip to the Lawrence Arts Center (no volunteers or payment required)

February 19 - No School

February 24 - Birthday Breakfast - Happy birthday, Chloe and Brady!  

February 24-25 - Conferences 

February 26 - No School

March 14-18 - Spring Break

March 29 - Langston Hughes Fitness Fair

November Update

Can you believe that the first trimester of this school year is drawing to a close?  2nd graders have been working hard, and I'm really looking forward to sharing their progress with you next week at conferences!  Please read on for important information about this month's curriculum, as well as upcoming dates.

Reading:  

We are wrapping up our first unit of Reading Street this week.  During this unit students have learned about different places to explore, as well at the importance of asking curious questions and seeking the answers.  Comprehension skills covered during this unit included working with main idea and details, as well as discussing author's purpose.  Students have explored various spelling patterns and strategies, including words with endings, consonant digraphs and blends, and short and long vowels.

We will start our next Reading Street unit this coming week.  This unit is titled "Working Together".  During this unit, students will explore texts in many different genres and answer  questions like "How can we help each other in dangerous situations?", "How has working together changed history?" and "How can we work together to solve problems?"

Students continue meeting in their reading skill groups several times a week.

Writing:  

We will be wrapping up our narrative writing unit this week and next.  As a class, we have been closely studying the written work of Jane Yolen and trying some of her craft moves in our writing.  Students are collecting personal narratives as they navigate their way through the writing process.  Next week, we will have our first publishing party!  After conferences, we will begin a unit on expository writing.  Over the course of this unit, students will learn about technical writing and the strategies needed to put together "how to" pieces.

Math: 

The Unit 2 math test will be at the end of this week.  This would be a great time to review 2-digit addition, place value, and counting coins with your 2nd grader.  ABCYA.com has some excellent activities and games for practicing these skills.  Unit 3 will be on measurement and estimation.

 Please remember that math homework comes home each Wednesday.  Completed homework is used for a cooperative activity each Thursday morning, so it's important that students return homework on time so that they are able to participate.

Science/Social Studies:  

Your 2nd grade scientists have been hard at work last week and this week, studying water and its effects on the surface of the earth!  We will be wrapping up our water unit by the end of next week.  Students are participating in some in-class research and lab work.  We should have some great erosion models to share with you at conferences!

After conferences, we will be stepping away from science to work on Social Studies.  We will be studying different inventors and the impact they have had on history.  More information on this new unit will be coming soon!

Have a wonderful week!

Upcoming Dates

November 3 - Wear blue in celebration of the Royals' World Series victory this weekend!

November 6 - No School

November 11-12 - Parent Teacher Conferences

November 12-13 - No School

November 18 - Birthday Breakfast - Happy birthday, Ellie!

November 25-27 - No School - Fall Recess

December 21 - Winter Break Begins - Have a wonderful holiday season!

Fall Fun!

I can't believe it is already mid-October!  The month seems to be flying by.  Here's what's going on in our classroom for the next few weeks!

Reading:
We continue our Reading Street unit on exploration.  So far, students have learned what can be learned by exploring in different communities, exploring in outer space, and exploring in nature.  This week, we will talk about what can be learned by exploring the desert.  There are two more weeks in this unit.   Please remember to look for the "refrigerator copy" of words and skills that your child brings home at the beginning of each new week.  Students should be taking time each week to study their spelling words at home.  This week, students are working with inflected endings (ed, s, and ing) and reviewing how to find the main ideas and detail within an expository text.

Writing:
In Writer's Workshop, students continue to learn about writing personal narratives.  This week, we are working on "zooming in" to a story to find its heart and adding details to make a story better.  I hope your 2nd grader remembered to tell you about his or her new Tiny Topic Notebook!  This is for your child to use to record ideas of things he or she would like to write about.

Math:
We started Unit 2 of Math Expressions this week.  During this unit, students will learn about place value, money, and strategies for adding 2-digit numbers together.  Be sure to check out the math links on the right side of this page...there are some great practice games available!

Science/Social Studies:
In addition to daily geography practice, we are studying land and water.  I really enjoyed seeing the amazing posters and models that students brought in earlier this week!  They enjoyed sharing them with their classmates and are looking forward to sharing them with our 5th grade book buddies on Wednesday.  During the next couple of weeks, we will be studying the properties of matter (solid, liquid, gas) and learning about how water and wind can cause land erosion.

Upcoming Dates...Mark Your Calendars!
* Friday, October 16 - No school for students
* Wednesday, October 28 - Birthday Breakfast
* Friday, October 30 - Halloween parade/class parties
* Friday, November 6 - No school for students
* November 11&12 - Conferences (don't forget to sign up on Skyward)
* Friday, November 13 - No school

September Happenings

It was so wonderful meeting with you all on Thursday night!  I hope that you found the information presented to be helpful.  If you were unable to attend curriculum night, please look over the yellow packet your child brought home and let me know what questions you have or what clarification you need.

I can't believe that today is already the first day of September!  It's been so much fun getting to know my new students over the past couple of weeks.  We are slowly settling into our normal routine, and many students are coming to school ready to work hard and to learn!  Please read on for information about upcoming curriculum and events.  

Reading:
This week, we are working on finishing MAP and Aimsweb testing.  These results will be used as we start putting together our guided reading groups (hopefully in the next couple of weeks).  Next week, we are hoping to start diving into the new Reading Street program that our district has adopted.  The first unit is called "The Twin Club".  During the first week, we will be reading about and exploring different communities.  I will send information home about spelling/vocabulary lists, as well as any other at-home connections that may be helpful to you, as soon as I can.  Thanks in advance for your patience with me as I learn the new program and figure out how to best implement it in our classroom.  

Writing: 
I would like to begin the narrative unit of our Units of Study program the week of September 14.  This week, students are working on composing written responses to books by Kevin Henkes.  We've been using his books about friendship and feelings to lead discussions about class expectations in the way we treat other people.  Students are also showing me their writing abilities in their daily morning journals, as well as in written responses to a variety of curriculum-based questions throughout the day.  

Math:
We are a few days into Unit 1 in math.  During this unit, students will look at many different strategies for solving addition, subtraction, and missing partner problems.  We will also get into a variety of types of word problems.  As I tell the class frequently...my job right now is to expose them to a variety of math problem solving strategies.  Their job is to practice the different strategies but, ultimately, to pick the strategies that make the most sense to them.  As you see math homework pages coming home (on Wednesdays...our first one will be tomorrow), feel free to work with your child on additional strategies that you believe may be helpful to them.  We pretested Unit 1 earlier this week, and should be ready to start our first round of leveled math groups next week.  

Science/Social Studies:
We have been using this block of our schedule for team building exercises.  We've also been working with our health textbook to learn about feelings and good citizenship.  Students did an excellent job today practicing reading a passage and then responding to comprehension questions in writing.  

Additional Items:
* The schedule you were originally given listed Mondays as our library checkout days.  Due to a scheduling problem, we have switched times with another class and will now be checking out books on Thursdays.  
* Thank you for continuing to talk with your 2nd grade student about appropriate behavior at school.  We continue to discuss respectful listening and personal responsibility in our classroom.  I really appreciate your support with these conversations at home.  
* Please check the newsletter that was e-mailed by the office last week.  Attached, there is a flier with information about Grandparent's Day on the 11th.  Please print this off and send it back to me if your child is planning on bringing a guest.  
* Thank you to everyone who has helped our class out with Clorox wipes, baggies, and mechanical pencils!  
* I'll be sending out information about opportunities for volunteering in our classroom soon.  Thanks for your patience!

As always, thank you for your support!  I look forward to working with all of you this school year.  Have a GREAT evening!