Week 6: September 1st-5th

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

It's been a productive week in 2nd grade. We had our first full Spalding week, recited "The Year" & got to witness what happens when we made mixtures (sand & water, rice & water) & solutions (sugar + water = sugar water, salt + water = salt water). 

Classroom Reminders

- There is no school on Monday, September 1st. It is an R&R weekend, so no homework was assigned. Students, however, are always encouraged to read! We don't need to see the reading bookmark filled out for Fri/Weekend or Monday, though. 

-Wednesday, September 3rd is Spalding & Singapore Curriculum Night for any interested parents. Mrs. Campbell will be discussing Spalding phonics if you want to learn more about how we teach it in the classroom, what the marking means & how to help at home with phonograms/spelling homework from 5:30-6:15. Mrs. Curtis will be speaking to our Singapore math curriculum for 2nd-5th grade from 6:15-7. Topics include word problems, bar models, the importance of fact memorization & how you can best support at home. Please RSVP at https://forms.gle/6vecYWZRDupgRwBN6

-From the Health Office: Reminder parents/guardians that the week of September 8 through September 12 is hearing and vision screening. If your student needs vision aids such as glasses, PLEASE send your student to school with these, particularly during this week. We want to eliminate any false vision screening fails. Please reach out to the health office anytime if you have any questions or concern and a big THANK YOU to everyone who is helping with our hearing and vision screening week.

-Progress notices are letters from your child's teacher outlining any academic areas that are below grade level benchmarks & suggested action steps to support their development in these areas. We will be sending them out by next Wednesday via email. If you do not receive a notice, your child is academically on level and you'll get the more detailed report card checklist at the conclusion of quarter 1 grades. We'll also have parent/teacher conferences at that time to review data points & discuss individual academic and social goals appropriate for your child's unique needs. Our criteria for receiving a progress notice this first quarter are students who:

• are currently not at our M reading level goal (keeping in mind that our end of quarter 1 goal is N for all students)
• scored yellow (below) or red (well below) on the national Dibels reading assessment
• are likely to get a 1 or 2 on their report card for phonogram knowledge
• have struggled on our math check ups and/or displaying underdeveloped number sense from classroom practice

Conversation Starters from Week 5 Content

• Who are the three main gods from the Hindu religion? (Vishnu-the preserver, Brahma-the creator & Shiva-the destroyer)
• What is another name for the Festival of Lights? (Diwali)
• Is pouring milk into cereal a mixture or solution? (Mixture -- both items can be separated...unless it gets really soggy because it was left out on the counter and in that case, it should be immediately tossed down the drain!)
• How do you know that one ten equals ten ones (or one hundred = ten tens)? Can you prove it? 
• How's your poetry recitation go? What do you think went well? How could you improve for next time? 
• What did you enjoy most from The Boxcar Children? Would you like to continue reading more from the series? (If so, we have plenty of the series represented in our classroom libraries. They are rated as level O books, which is above the current benchmark, but we'll allow it as an extra book choice since they are now invested in the characters)

Week 6 Academics

Poetry: Our next poem is much shorter that our first. It's called "The Secret" by Anonymous. Recitations will occur the week of September 8th. You'll see the rubric from "The Year" come home in the Tuesday folder with our comments & notes, but it was not recorded for a grade. We will, however, take a grade for "The Secret". 

Grammar/Writing: We'll use "The Secret" poem as source material for copywork & dictations. We're also super excited to be learning about exclamatory sentences! Yay for sentences with strong feelings!

Literature: Students finished The Boxcar Children. We'll switch over to Sarah, Plain & Tall. Please send in that copy on Tuesday if you haven't already. Reading groups may be starting up for your classroom -- be on the lookout for a sign up from classroom parents. 

Spalding: A shortened list of 20 works lies ahead due to the holiday on Monday. 

Math: We're continuing to add with renaming. We'll build up to adding two 3-digit numbers with regrouping in one or more place values. Students will take a check up/quiz on Wednesday. 

History: Our study of Ancient India continues with a look at the story of Buddha & a explore major events for the ancient society using a timeline.

Science: We're wrapping up our study of states of matter. We'll review together in class on Tuesday by playing a Jeopardy game & filling out a study guide together. The quiz will be on Thursday. The quiz will be mostly multiple choice with one short answer -- everything comes from the study guide.  

We hope you have a lovely R&R (restful & relaxing) holiday weekend. We look forward to seeing your scholars on Tuesday morning. 

-The Second Grade Teaching Team

Week 5: August 25 - 29

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 

Week 4: August 18 - 22

Hello Parents,  

Thank you for joining us at Curriculum Night on Wednesday. It was nice to get to meet the faces behind our scholars. If you weren't able to attend, please see the documents attached to the email.

Headmaster Brady's article this week touches upon manners. One way we practice this is with our morning entry into the classroom. Students are asking to meet us at the door with a handshake (could also be an elbow bump if student preferred), eye contract & an exchange of greetings. If the student doesn't prompt the greeting first, we hold out our hand and say, "Good Morning, (student's name)." We hold the handshake until they respond with, "Good Morning, Mrs./Ms. Campbell/Tremblay/Gilletti". Most students have the words down, but are still learning proper handshakes & eye contact. We're looking for students to lock eyes with us while saying the words & extending their entire hand (not just a few fingers) that result in an actual shaking of hands (the preferred handshake among most is more of a high-five situation). These could be practice areas at home - perhaps with Grandma/Grandpa or other household visitors. But we'll continue to practice every morning & remind students of the expectations.

Classroom Reminders

-Reading bookmarks will start this week. You should see one come home in your child's reading book by Friday.

-Galileo testing will occur on Friday morning. See below for more info.

 

Conversation Starters from Week 3 Content
What are some landforms we have here in Phoenix? What about in Flagstaff (or any other place you've visited)?

Remind me of the 6 sounds of the 'ough' phonogram.

How do you remember the difference between the 'ei', 'ey' & 'ie' phonograms?

What are the three different states of matter?

Who have you been sitting next to at lunch?

Can you name the four Boxcar Children from youngest to oldest?

What is the difference between the 'counting on', 'make a 10' & 'using doubles' strategies for mental addition?
 

Week 3 Academics

Poetry: Recitations will occur next week, so your student should be getting comfortable in their memorization of our first poem The Year by Sara Coleridge.

Grammar: I declare that we are learning about declarative sentences. These are sentences that make a statement and they end with a period.

Math: Students will be adding in the ones, tens & hundreds column for two weeks. This first week will be focused on adding without renaming (which is the Singapore method's way of what you're likely familiar with as 'regrouping'. More on that next week). If this comes easily to your child, invite them to 'check' their work using a subtracting problem (ie, taking the answer and subtracting one of the addends -- they should end up with the second addend).
History: Students will be studying the continent of Asia first. Students will locate India on a map & learn about the mystery of the Indus.
Spalding: We will introduce words this week, but a shortened list of 20 words. New words will be introduced Monday & Tuesday, we'll review on Wednesday & take the quiz on Thursday. Thus, homework will look different than the phonograms we've been review this far. We ask that the students write the spelling word once after hearing it from an adult. After they write the word, they are to check their spelling & markings. If they made a mistake, they are to write it again twice more correctly. We tell students not to erase, but just to keep practicing. Their errors help us identify patterns or problem areas we can re-teach or support.

Literature: Students are continuing on reading The Boxcar Children.
Science: We will continue learn about the three states of matter: solid, liquid, and gas.

Friday's academic content is less due to our first round of Galileo testing. This is a computer-based test that covers ELA (English Language Arts) & Math content. It is their first time taking it, so there will be plenty of teacher support. It is not a high stakes test, but gives us valuable information about their academics & their testing skills so we can adapt accordingly to the needs of the class & grade level. We will begin promptly after morning announcements on Friday, so a prompt/early arrival is appreciated!
Have a wonderful weekend! Please feel free to reach out to your teacher with questions, concerns, or joys! 

 
Warm Regards, 
The 2nd Grade Team 

Week 2 Recap & What's Ahead for Week 3

8-8-25

Hello Parents, 

The first full week of school was great! Your students are learning our classroom procedures, working on perseverance, and making new friends. Mrs. Brady's Headmaster Update article speaks about resiliency and we encourage you to read it. An example of resiliency in action this week: a student grappling with feeling overtired after a disrupted night of sleep. The student wanted to nap, lay down on the desk, and not attend to the task. In an attempt to build their coping skills, we took a few minutes to listen and validated their experience/feelings of tiredness, but we moved the conversation to what we can do about it in the moment. Napping wasn't an option nor was going home. We decided to write a letter to said sibling who caused the nighttime disruption, explaining the impact on the student and inviting a conversation to brainstorm potential solutions. This conversation & letter was teacher written and largely teacher guided, but it modeled a sample way to cope with the feelings of tiredness. When the student remembered they were still tired -- right now -- we did a few jumping jacks to bring about some fresh energy in the body. This took less than 10 minutes and prevented further task avoidance & escalation of the tiredness.

Another component of resiliency is helping students develop good habits despite obstacles or challenges. We all (teachers & parents) have a huge role in this. A habit we're hoping to build in your students is continuing independence in tracking & completing their homework. Most students are not ready to do this independently...yet. Some need minimal guidance and support & other needs a lot of teacher/parent supervision. Because they are at various points in independence with this task, we still ask for your supervision of checking their homework, yellow folder & agenda. You'll be able to wean off this supervision in time in small stages (them reminding you to check their agenda/homework is a good marker of growth). If we pull back our supports too soon, they might encounter even more hurdles and challenges as the expectations regarding homework & study skills get harder in each forthcoming grade.

Classroom Reminders

-Please make sure your scholar has a snack with them everyday.

-If they are wearing anything with belt loops, a belt is required.

-Shirts need to be tucked in at all times.

-We will begin tracking homework this week for a grade. Scholars will be given a math, Spalding, and reading homework grade. Please sign the bottom of your child's agenda and include the title of the book they read for homework.
-Please send The Boxcar Children if you have not done so already. We will start reading the book this Wednesday, August 13th.

-Curriculum Night is coming up on Wednesday, August 13th, 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm. We would love to have you join us to discuss your child's upcoming year of learning. Curriculum Night will begin in the Archway MPR (multi-purpose room). Afterwards, you will join your child's teacher in their classroom for information about our curriculum, parent and student expectations, and classroom procedures. A lot of information is given on Curriculum Night so please make plans to attend!

 

Conversation Starters from Week 2 Content
What is a compass rose? What are the four cardinal directions on a compass rose?

Did you make a new friend yet? What games are you playing at recess?
Tell me 5 phonograms! What's your favorite phonogram?

How many continents are there? What continent do we live on?
 

Week 3 Academics

Poetry: You will find our first poem The Year by Sara Coleridge in your child's yellow folder. While we do practice in class each day, it is vital to be practicing at home daily. Recitation of the whole poem will be the week of August 25th. Students are expected know the whole poem.

Grammar: Students have been learning about different folktales and sayings this week. We have also practiced our poem by reciting the first stanza and illustrating pictures of the first four months in class. Next week, we will illustrate the next four months in our poem. We will also begin our discussion on the four different types of sentences, starting with declarative sentences!
Math: Students reviewed first grade math concepts to see what they could remember after summer break! They did a lovely job, and we're looking forward to moving on to our 2nd grade concepts. Next week, we will work on addition within 1,000 without and with regrouping. Students will use manipulatives, read books, learn to spell and match word forms, and work on place value. Students will learn many strategies for adding. Here's a letter explaining some of the activities you can do at home to support this content. Please note: Students will begin bringing home their math homework book and will have specific pages listed in their agenda that need to be completed for homework. Please watch the math homework page numbers carefully as we are starting with unit 2 (we'll return to unit 1 after completing unit 2). Please check their work for accuracy and be sure they completed the assigned pages.
History: Students have been reviewing the continents and oceans and learning how to use maps and cardinal directions. Next week, we will learn about landforms. We have our first assessment on continents and oceans on Monday, August 11th.  You will find a map labeled with the continents and oceans on purple paper in your child's yellow folder. Please review the map at your convenience with your scholar in preparation for the quiz. 
Spalding: We are reviewing the phonograms. Please dictate and have your child write the phonogram as homework. Thank you. If you are new to phonograms or don't have the sounds memorized, here are some video clips you can use as a resource.
Literature: Students will begin reading The Boxcar Children on Wednesday, August 13th. We will work on predictions and character analysis!
Science: We are studying Properties of Matter to kick off Science. Students will learn about the three states of matter: solid, liquid, and gas.
Have a wonderful weekend! Please feel free to reach out to your teacher with questions, concerns, or joys! 

 
Warm Regards, 
The 2nd Grade Team