weekly update

We had our 100th day of school!

Writing:

We have officially wrapped up the letter writing part of our persuasive writing unit! We will continue writing letters and postcards during free writing time, but the focus of our writing lessons will be shifting to persuasive reviews. We will build on the persuasive writing we have been doing in our letters to now write reviews of movies, restaurants and books with the goal of persuading others to share our opinion. The second graders have written some amazing letters and hopefully you all have received some mail in your own mailboxes by now! 

I am happy to announce that everyone has finished writing their valentine cards as well! We will be decorating them next week before we hand them out on Friday. Thanks to those who have helped us out by sending in stickers and decorations and helping us edit and revise. We could still use some stickers and decorations for our decorating days if you want to send some in. 

Math

The second graders took a test on Wednesday and Thursday and I will have those checked and in the grade book by next week. In the next unit we will be working on adding up to 1,000. To get ready for that we will be working on adding and subtracting by skip counting. We are also practicing telling time and our number corner will have us talking about fractions of flags. The second graders continue to collect coins in their "wallets" and save and spend their coins. We are practicing so many skills all at once, but in fun ways so it doesn't feel like work!

Social Studies/Reading:

We are continuing to read about Social Studies during our reading time. Each grade has a few Core Democratic Values they focus on in Social Studies. Ours are the Common Good, Individual Freedom and Patriotism. These are big ideas that will come up in social studies units throughout the year, but this is the unit where the second graders really learn what they are. This week we talked about how governments have to balance the Common Good with Individual Freedoms. We have been reading short informational texts and picture books to help us understand these big concepts. We read the book Old Henry and talked about how we would respond if we were the mayor. We also spent time talking about the three branches of government and personal and civic responsibilities. Next week we will talk more about those and also discuss Patriotism. These are all big ideas that we will continue to learn about for the rest of the year in Social Studies. 

Homework:

Enjoy the long Mid-Winter Break weekend! I didn't send any new homework so that everyone can get caught up with old homework and just take a break! Since we will be starting persuasive reviews when we come back I would encourage you to talk with your second grader about his or her favorite movie or restaurant since those are the types of reviews we will be writing first.

Extra Information:

February 10 and 11- No School

February 14- Valentine's Day

February 21 - VIP Bowling

February 28- Early Release Day

March 4 & 6 - Parent Teacher Conferences