Important Dates:
Friday, June 15th- Highland Playground Tuesday, June 18th- LAST DAY! Walking field trip to Main St. Ice Cream |
I have often said that a true "test" of a class is their behavior for substitute teachers, and on Monday this group passed their first test of this type! Our substitute spoke highly of the children and their behaviors :). Students enjoyed some more time in the Giving Garden this week learning about worms and how they assist in breaking down compost.
Next week Tuesday will be our Halloween party. As a second grade team, we ask that students dress in their costumes from the neck up. Face-paint, hats, etc. are welcome but please refrain from sending in props and masks. If a student's costume is similar to an every day outfit (not baggy or with fancy footwear and extra distractions) they are welcome to wear that; we are encouraging students to participate in the school wide black and orange spirit day. Also please remember that this is a P.E. day so students will need to be dressed appropriately and ready for that class. If you have not taken a look or signed-up already, you can find the Sign-Up Genius link for our classroom party here. Any volunteering or donations would be greatly appreciated. Reading: We continue to focus on the concept of main idea and detail and using this skill in our writing. This week students also continued their focus on subject and verb use in a sentence. They know that every sentence should have a subject and a verb and should be able to identify these items, even when the verb is a helping/linking verb. In our small reading groups we continue other skills and stories. Math: Word Problems This week student's advanced their word problem solving abilities with solving 2-step word problems. We discussed in great detail how this can be tricky and it's necessary to work slowly, triple checking our work that we've answered the correct question. Our first math test will be next Thursday, November 2nd. We will review all next week for this test. The skills we've been working on such as basic addition, addition in word problems, comparison problems, and 2-step word problems will be on this test. Writing: Personal Narrative Students chose their favorite draft and are working on editing it. This story will be used to write their final personal narrative book. It's very important for students to be starting all sentences with a capital letter and ending with punctuation. This will assist in greater writing success throughout the year. We practiced adding dialogue to our narratives to help the reader feel like they are there in the moment. Science: Balancing and Weighing .Students wrapped up their practice with weighing objects and comparing the object's weights. Next week we will be finishing this unit with a balancing activity using the story Room on the Broom.
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This week we visited the Giving Garden, completed more math word problems, created main idea spiders and more! We will be visiting the Giving Garden again on Monday, so long as it isn't raining; please ensure your child has a sweater or coat for the weather. Also, a reminder that we will be attending the Book Fair as a class on Tuesday. If you would like your child to purchase a book during school this is the most ideal time. Please send in a note if you ONLY WANT them to purchase books, not other trinkets. Also, no school for students next week Friday, October 27th.
Students took their first spelling test on Friday. Please sign and return these. Overall they did an excellent job! The sorts they have been using are now done and new words will be sent home next week. Spelling City will also be updated next week. Their next spelling test will be Friday, November 3rd. If your family needs help purchasing new winter clothing, please contact our school social worker, Heather Cantie, at 646-3280 ext 4218. She also works with many local groups to anonymously provide holiday gifts for our families. Thank you! Reading: After reading about spiders we created giant spiders for the hallway. On the spiders abdomen we had the main idea with three details. We then practiced the paragraph writing skill of naming your topic first, then having at least 3 detail sentences, and a closing sentence that restates the main idea/topic. Students will continue to practice this paragraph writing format regularly. In our small reading groups we began other skills and stories. Math: Word Problems As we continue to work on word problems we focused on the skill of ignoring "extra" information that tries to trick us and doesn't help us solve the question. We also practiced adding in our own information when the problem is missing information that is necessary to help us solve the question. Writing: Personal Narrative Students continued working on their personal narrative drafts and ensuring that they are writing with complete sentences. It's very important for students to be starting all sentences with a capital letter and ending with punctuation. This will assist in greater writing success throughout the year. We practiced adding dialogue to our narratives to help the reader feel like they are there in the moment. Science: Balancing and Weighing We discussed the difference between balancing and weighing and ways we use these skills. Rain and gloomy skies didn't prevent us from having a great week! Students were excited to begin their next science unit. A flyer was sent home this week regarding our school's upcoming Book Fair. We will be attending the Book Fair on Tuesday, October 24th after lunch. If you would like your child to purchase something during school, this is the ideal time to do so. A smany of you know, trinkets/bookmarks/etc. are also sold at the fair. If you DO NOT want your child purchasing these items and only want them to buy books, please indicate so on a note with their money.
* Please send in an emergency sweatshirt with your child's name on the tag * Pink code of conduct forms should be returned * If possible please send $3 for the PTSA to use for homeroom parties/etc. If your family needs help purchasing new winter clothing, please contact our school social worker, Heather Cantie, at 646-3280 ext 4218. She also works with many local groups to anonymously provide holiday gifts for our families. Thank you! On 11/7 Nick Bruel, author of the Bad Kitty series, will be joining us here at UPES for some wonderful presentations. If you'd like to order a signed copy of one of his books for your child please use the following link: https://fs12.formsite.com/msmdbooks/form37/index.html Reading: This week students learned about finding the main idea in their reading. This can be a very complex skill for second graders. Students were taught that clues for what the story's focus or main idea will be can be found in the title and cover picture as well as on the text of the first and last pages. We compared the main idea to a pizza and the details to the toppings on the pizza that give it flavor and color. In small groups we read about spiders, determined the main idea and details, and next week will do a craftivity with this. Math: Word Problems Students continued solving word problems this week using CUBS and ensuring they write an equation for each problem. This week comparison bars were introduced for word problems where people or things are compared to each other. Students draw their comparison bars (one larger rectangle on top with one half its size below) with a circle next to the smaller rectangle. The circle is for any number that is attached to more or less; if the question is asking how many more or how many less, you know this will be empty. The bars are for the two people or things being compared. Whichever has more gets the larger bar and whichever has the least gets the smaller bar. We then think of it as a math mountain to decide which operation to use and write an equation. Students began using a new online game that can be accessed at home to practice skills. the link for Sumdog can be found on the UPES homepage under the students tab, or through our math review tab on this site. Student's login information can be found there (our class site) as well. To gain access to the site students must use this specific link; they cannot just go to sumdog.com or they will have difficulty logging in. Writing: Personal Narrative Students continued working on their personal narrative drafts and ensuring that they are writing with complete sentences. It's very important for students to be starting all sentences with a capital letter and ending with punctuation. This will assist in greater writing success throughout the year. We practiced adding dialogue to our narratives to help the reader feel like they are there in the moment. Social Studies: Communities Students completed a walk about the room where they read about different kids and decided what type of community they must live in. Science: Balancing and Weighing In preparation for this upcoming unit students were partnered up and put together their scales. Another fabulous week of learning in second grade! We are settling into our routines and expectations. We also began our guided reading rotations and students have done very well during our independent and group meeting times.
* Please send in an emergency sweatshirt with your child's name on the tag * Pink code of conduct forms should be returned * If possible please send $3 for the PTSA to use for homeroom parties/etc. If your family needs help purchasing new winter clothing, please contact our school social worker, Heather Cantie, at 646-3280 ext 4218. She also works with many local groups to anonymously provide holiday gifts for our families. Thank you! On 11/7 Nick Bruel, author of the Bad Kitty series, will be joining us here at UPES for some wonderful presentations. If you'd like to order a signed copy of one of his books for your child please use the following link: https://fs12.formsite.com/msmdbooks/form37/index.html Reading: We worked on our reading fluency skills and will be beginning groups in the next few weeks. We also began to focus on the characters and settings in the stories we read. We discussed that a character's traits are more than just how they look and their age, they're also their personality and the way they act. This week students also began working in their guided reading groups with me. Math: Mountains This week students practiced their word problem solving skills. We are implementing the practice of CUBS. After reading a word problem the first time, they should go back and sentence by sentence Circle important numbers, Underline key words (words that help them know which operation to use), Box the label, and then Solve. They have been very successful in retrieving their knowledge from past years and implementing it into our second grade curriculum. Students began using a new online game that can be accessed at home to practice skills. the link for Sumdog can be found on the UPES homepage under the students tab, or through our math review tab on this site. Student's login information can be found there (our class site) as well. To gain access to the site students must use this specific link; they cannot just go to sumdog.com or they will have difficulty logging in. Writing: Personal Narrative Students continued working on their personal narrative drafts and ensuring that they are writing with complete sentences. It's very important for students to be starting all sentences with a capital letter and ending with punctuation. This will assist in greater writing success throughout the year. Social Studies: Communities As we wrap up our communities units students mapped out their own communities and reviewed the different traits of rural, urban, and suburban communities. |