weekly update

Writing:

The kids had fun writing "scaredy cat" stories this week.  We also practiced writing sentences by drawing a picture and captioning it. Many second graders are still having trouble remembering to start sentences with capital letters, and to always use ending marks, so I'm really having them practice simple sentence structure. One thing that may help is having your child write in a journal at home. Just getting thoughts down on paper, and having them practice a few sentences throughout the week may help them with writing sentences.

Math:

We have started the next unit in math, and it's proving to be just as fun as the first unit.  We are starting with subtraction, and skip counting, but soon will be starting time. The last unit had a sort of bugs theme and this unit seems to be beans. We read a fractured fairytale similar to Jack and the Beanstalk and then we counted beans. So many beans! By having the second graders group beans in to tens and hundreds we are starting to get into the number sense required to successfully understand how to ungroup and regroup when adding and subtracting multi-digit numbers. It's an exciting time to be a second grade mathematician!

Phonics:

We have been studying a new high frequency word every day. The second graders are getting very good at matching phonemes with graphemes in the frequently written but often irregularly spelled words! This is the best way to train the brain remember those matches and turn these second graders into super spellers!

Here's an example to have your child show you how to "box the word". Ask your child to sound out the word make.  Since there are three sounds in make there will be three boxes. M and A each make their own sound, so they each get their own box. However k and e will go together in the same box, since the e doesn't make a sound. 

Reading:

The kids are having a great time reading some fun Halloween books this week as well as continuing to read informational books. I am also circling back to listen to some of the second graders read this week, to track their growth in reading levels.  It's so fun to hear how much they are progressing as readers already since the beginning of the school year. I'm so proud of everyone's hard work! Please keep encouraging your child to read 20 minutes every night at home.

Homework:

The homework sheet is due by November 3.

Extra Information:

*October 31- Halloween.  Please have your child come to school already dressed in his/her costume (please bring extra clothes in a bag, just in case your child doesn't want to wear his/her costume the entire day).  We will be starting the parade at 9:15.  We would love to see you all out there!  Here is a map of the route we will be taking:

If you signed up to bring items for our fun-filled day, you can drop them off at the office either that morning, or anytime on Monday.  THANK YOU SO MUCH!

*It looks like colder weather is planning on coming in the near future.  Please make sure that your child's hats, gloves, and coats are all labeled with your child's name.