Weekly Update

A big thanks to Mrs Bowen for being on the field for the Fire Up Friday game. The kids adore Luke and they all have so much fun helping us out in class. We appreciate the time he spends in our classroom!

Writing:

The kids are working on their non-fiction pieces during writing.  We have been  focused on making sure each chapter has a topic sentence with a main idea supporting facts and details. We have talked about facts and opinions and how informational books are full of facts.

Math:

This week we practiced skip counting by 5s and 10s as we worked on place value.  We started on lots of different numbers that ended with either a zero or a five. Counting by 5s is extremely helpful when we work on telling time. Later in the year we will count by 5s and 10 starting on any number!

The second graders are also still exploring measurement. This week every student made their own measuring tape and measured all kinds of things around the classroom.

Social Studies:

We have had so much fun learning about maps and looking at maps in our community.  The second graders have been making maps too. They made a map of our classroom and then we went outside to make a map of our playground! 

Reading:

The second graders have been reading non-fiction books with their partners and exploring non-fiction text features. They have also been reading short passages and locating the topic sentence, facts, and supporting details.  This will help them when they are writing their own chapters.

Fort building was so much fun! The second graders did a great job working together to build them and even did some work inside them! We decided we definitely did not have enough time in our forts, so if we ever make them again we will build them earlier in the day! Thanks also to the parents who sent in treats!

Upcoming dates:

• Wed., Oct. 16 All skate Tarry Hall 6:15-8:15
• Monday, Oct. 21 - No School
• Nov. 19 & 21 Parent Teacher Conferences

• Thursday, December 5, 2024 -Park Holiday Music Program

weekly update

We had so much fun celebrating spirit week!

This was mismatch day. Just in case you couldn't tell : )

Writing:

The second graders are all now working on writing their first non-fiction piece! They have picked a topic they know a lot about, or are an "expert" on. This is not a research project, but if your child wants to read more about their topic that's just fine! A great conversation starter would be to ask your child what he or she picked for a topic and what they are planning to write for their chapters. 

Math:

This unit is all about measurement. In fact the second graders measured giant magic beans using unifix cubes this week! We have also been learning about three digit numbers and a little bit about time too.  A checkpoint covering place value and time went home Friday.  This is just a check to keep us updated on the second graders' progress with these concepts. It isn't meant to be summative or a final assessment, but more of a way to see what each child need to work on more. Miss Greydanus and I went through these with each child individually to talk through how they did and which concept they are really going to focus on for the next few weeks. If there are things on the checkpoint that your child is still struggling with, please know that we will continue to work on it. As always if there are items that you can't figure out at home you can send it back to school and I can go over it again with your second grader.

Social Studies:

The kids have been learning about communities, and the different characteristics of a rural, urban, and suburban community.  Ask your child what type of community they would like to live in when they grow up and why.

Reading:

We have started a unit on nonfiction - just in time to support our work in writing.  Each second grader wrote a list of topics they want to know more about. Then they were paired with classmates to do some reading together. Miss Greydanus tried to create some text sets around their topics so they have a variety of books and levels. It has been fun watching the second graders read and discuss their topics. Everyone also got a book pouch this week to add to their book box. This is where they will store their independent reading books. I added a decodable book to each pouch so that when I meet with them we will be able to spend a little time working on building their phonics skills in action.

Homework:

The two-sided math page is due by Friday, October 11.

Extra Information

Just because we are focused on social studies for the next few weeks doesn't mean we ignore SEL goals. We did a really fun teambuilding activity. We also stopped several times during the activity to try and name the feelings the second graders were having. Everyone agreed in the end it was a tough task but fun too, especially when comments were encouraging and focused on what we should do instead of what we were doing wrong. We got to talk about being positive and having a growth mindset while building a cup tower!

Extra Information:

October 21- No School