Hello Parents and Guardians,
We're settling into our routines here in 2nd grade!
Classroom Reminders
- Friday, August 29th is a 12:30pm release. It will be an R&R homework so no homework will be assigned. There is also no school on Monday, September 1st as we recognize Labor Day.
- A focus for all three classrooms is talking at appropriate times. There are a lot of friendships in the classroom -- which is lovely! -- but can lead to missed directions or instructions. We allow plenty of time for socialization during the day, but we do expect voices off when teachers are instructing or giving directions. Perhaps inquire with your scholar their part in appropriate talking. For a lot of students, a goal would be reducing their own talking. For others, a goal would be quiet, gentle reminders of the expectation for others nearby (loud shushes often contribute more noise!). Further still, a goal could be ignoring nearby talking instead of getting pulled into it.
- Reading bookmark should stay in the book they're reading & the log should be brought back and forth to school everyday. It must be brought in on their assigned reading day for 1-1 teacher reading. Since we're also visiting the school library, students may also have an additional, non-leveled book coming home.
- Don't be alarmed if you child stayed at the same level -- or went back a few levels -- from their end of year 1st grade level. We see all sorts of reading level changes after a summer break. This isn't your fault nor does it convey any problems with your student. Despite your best efforts, 8 hours of school environment isn't replicable at home over the summer, especially if the love of reading, stamina & independence is not yet establish. We're meeting the students where they currently are and building from there.
- Speaking of varying levels of independence, we know it’s not fun to sign everything. The agenda, the reading bookmark, the Tuesday folder graded tests, especially the perfect score on that assignment... However, your students are forming habits leading towards independence and your supervision is a crucial part in that development. We’ll get to a point where they remind you about the parent signature and that’s a sign your child is well on their way towards independence. Also, we want students to show you all their work. Yes, we want you to be aware of lower scores, but we also want you to be aware of (and perhaps celebrate) the wins and perfect scores!
- Germs are among us. We welcome any donations of tissues and/or disinfectant wipes to keep the germs from spreading.
- Help us wish Mrs. Stuart (2A) TA a happy birthday on Monday!
Conversation Starters from Week 4 Content
-What are the two rivers that run through India? (Ganges & Indus)
-Play a game we did in math class. Each player writes the digits 2 through 12 down. Roll two dice on your turn. Add those numbers together and then erase or cross off the sum. Continue until you've eliminated all numbers. (For example, I roll a 1 and 3. I cross off the number 4.)
-Another more challenging game: Race to 100. Roll two dice and add together the numbers on your turn. Start an ongoing addition problem where you add that new number to your ongoing value (renaming as necessary). The first person to reach 100 (or 200, 1000, really any number of your choice) wins! (For example, I first rolled a 6, then my name turn I rolled a 10, so I have 16. My next turn, I rolled 3, so I now have a total of 19. Next turn, add 4, so a new total of 23, etc.)
-What were the three solids in the paper bag from this week's science demonstration? How did you teacher demonstrate the properties of gas?
Week 5 Academics
Poetry: Students will be reciting The Year next week. Since this is our first poem and it's a long one, we're going to have students stand at the front of the room in groups of 3. Each student will be asked to recite one of the three stanzas (January - April, May- August or September - December). They won't know which stanza they'll be asked to recite, so they should be prepared for all three. Ways to practice at home:
- Have them write out the poem -- or have them fill in missing words.
- Provide them with the first line of each couplet and have them finish the rest.
- Ask them to start at stanza two or three (to prepare for perhaps not starting at stanza one)
Grammar/Writing: We're continuing to practice building writing stamina through copywork & dictation practice, using sentences from The Boxcar Children. Copywork is when the students are writing what we have modeled/displayed on the board. Dictation is when the students first listen to the sentence & try to write it from memory. You can support dictation skills at home by perhaps having them write down the shopping list items as you list the needed items from the pantry. Or give them multi-step directions orally and ask your child to repeat them all - say the directions two or three times fully before having them repeat the directions back to you.
Literature: Students are progressing through The Boxcar Children at the pace of chapter a day. Henry (the oldest) is visiting the doctor's house to complete household tasks and using the money earned to buy food for his siblings. Henry will complete in a foot race & the children will soon face Violet getting ill.
Spalding: Students did will with our first Spalding list. We'll build up to 3 days of words this week, review on Thursday & quiz on Friday. The space for syllabication & markings are only needed on homework Mon-Wed. Thursday homework's primary goals are correct spelling & proper handwriting. Students can write markings and show syllables if they find it helpful on Thursday homework, but it isn't necessary.
Math: Students built up to adding two three-digit numbers without renaming this week using the vertical algorithm. We'll start Monday will a check up (quiz) on this skill. Coming up is adding with renaming across one or two place values. Here is a student video for renaming in the ones place that gives you the language we're using in the classroom for at-home support. Here are two educator/parent videos for some context on how we're teaching if you're not sure how to help with homework: addition & subtraction fluency activities & developing addition algorithms. If your child is ready for a challenge, try doing any of the fluency activities in the video with with additional place values or higher numbers
- "How many more do I need to get to 50 if I have 36 or how many more do I need to get to 100 if I have 74?"
- "One part is 36 & my other part is 25. What's my whole?"
- "My answer is 295. What two numbers could I be adding? I want to see three different possibilities."
History: Our focus on Ancient India continues, revisiting the story of "The Tiger, the Brahman & the Jackal", identify origins and gods/goddesses of Hinduism & the explore the Festival of Lights (known as Diwali).
Science: In our states of matter unit, we'll focus on reversible & irreversible changes and mixtures. To tie in Spalding here, 'ir' is the prefix meaning 'not', so irreversible means not reversible. This is a stepping stone to getting them to see physical & chemical changes, but we won't linger on those terms too much.
Finally, for those interested in helping complete our classroom libraries and/or classroom materials, our Amazon links are fixed on the blog.
We hope you and your family enjoy a terrific weekend. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or concerns.
Thank you,
2nd Grade Teaching Team
