Hello Parents!
We're getting so close to Fall Break, but we're not slowing down quite yet!
Classroom Updates
-Fall Break is upcoming! We start break early with a half day (12:30 pm dismissal) on Friday, October 3rd. School will be closed during the week of October 6th - 10th. Parent-teacher conferences will be held on campus on Monday & Tuesday, October 13th & 14th. Students return to campus on Wednesday, October 15th. Conference sign ups will be sent out by Mrs. Heather Robinson, our office manager, shortly.
-We have some upcoming temporary staffing changes upon us in 2nd grade. Mrs. Tremblay will be on maternity leave shortly after returning from break & Mrs. Tifni Shroll will be taking her place as 2B lead. We have welcomed Karly Petago to the team and she will be filling in as 2C's TA. The entire team is helping support & train for these upcoming changes to ensure smooth transitions in both 2B & 2C.
Conversation Starters from Week 8 Content
-What is the poem you're practicing this week for enjoyment? (Something Told the Wild Geese by Rachel Field) What is it about? (Geese sensing that the winter migration is approaching.)
-Do you prefer adding with or without renaming & why?
-Why is Japan called 'A Nation of Islands'? Tell me about the Japan booklet you're making in class/What's on the cover of the booklet (the Japanese flag)?
-What were the main events from Emperor's New Clothes? What happened first, second, last?
-Remind me of the four different types of sentences & matching punctuation. (declarative sentence - statement - period; interrogative sentence - question - question mark; imperative sentence - command - either exclamation mark or period; exclamatory sentence - sentence with strong feeling - exclamation mark)
Week 9 Academics
Poetry: We have a new poem for memorization & recitation: Seashell by Federico Garcia Lorca. It is short -- only 30 words across 8 lines. Students will get it on Monday & recitations will occur on October 1st.
Grammar/Writing: Students will take a very short quiz on the four types of sentences on Friday. The remaining time will be focusing on identifying nouns in sentences & copywork/dictation practice from The Beauty & the Beast.
Literature: Beauty & the Beast will be our featured fairy tale this week. It's a longer text, so we'll break the reading across three days & practice identifying story elements (problem, solution, setting, characters). Warning that this is not the Disney version that students may be familiar with, but an adapted original version from Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont. rtttttgn
Spalding: Regularly scheduled new word instruction on Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday, review on Thursday & test on Friday. We will be taking an addition score from the Spalding tests for handwriting -- focusing on whether or not the student's letters are sitting on the baseline.
Math: Students finished Unit 2 and did very well with the material. We're going to return to Unit 1 & revisit concepts of place value. Next week's content includes counting up to 1,000, identifying & continuing number patterns & comparing numbers (using the terms 'greater than' or 'less than').With number patterns, it is common for students to make errors when crossing a new hundred (for example, 85 + 10: 95, 105, 115) or going backwards crossing a new ten (for example, 91 - 2: 89, 87) or hundred (for example, 310 - 5: 305, 300, 295). If practicing at home, try giving your student a starting number & a pattern to continue, but avoid starting at 0. If your child needs a challenge here, try offering an odd number and then an unusual pattern (for example, start a 19 & continue counting on by 7). Asking students to count backwards also is not yet habitual, so that could also be a practice area (for example, count back from 30 by 3s). Not only does practicing skip counting (counting with a pattern) help support number sense & mental math (ability to calculate in their heads - without fingers or having to write anything down), it subtly lays a foundation for multiplication & factors.
History: Our study of Japan continues by looking at Japanese culture, including art, traditions, food, dress, haiku poems & origami. We will have a short assessment during week 10 & the study guide (purple sheet) will be handed out on Wednesday.
Science: Our study of organisms transitions from plants to animals. We'll look at common animal habitats & how animals change with the seasons.
We hope you have a lovely weekend & enjoy the fall weather!
Thank you,
Second Grade Teaching Team
