I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday and New Year. It's 2010 already- yikes! The kids came back to school with a variety of emotions: excitement, fatigue, a little grumpiness...but as the day went on I think everybody was genuinely glad to be back at school with their friends. Now that the new year has begun, the end of quarter 2 is upon us and our first semester of second grade is nearly complete. We have a lot to do in the next couple of weeks (Quarter 2 ends Jan 22). Here is what we have been up to and where we are headed:
Reading: We are immersed in our Nonfiction Study. It has been so wonderful to see kids be excited about what they are reading and share their new learning with the class. We did complete a Nonfiction book club where kids were placed in small groups to study one topic and discuss. Now, the kids have choosen a new club to participate in. Ask your child what book club he/she is a part of and also ask what are some feautures of nonfiction.
Math: We just took our Unit 5 Test this week. You will see those in home folders on Monday- a couple of kids still need to finish. This was a harder test than other units. Remember, the white areas on the scoring sheet are expected to be mastered, while the gray areas are more guiding inofrmation for future learning. We are moving on to adding larger numbers, more than two numbers, Just a reminder: The Family Letter in the front of your child's home link packet, contains the answers to the home links. Recalling math facts is a standard on the reprot card. This quarter that score will reflect the subtraction facts tests. Second grade proficiancy is a 54 on the test.
Writing: Before winter break, we were able to celebrate as writer's the hard work we did in our letter writing unit. We had our Author's Celebration where every kid shared their favorite letter he/she published. It was a great success! We are officially ending our Letter writing unit with the Flat Stanley project. A note was sent home Wednesday asking parents to help your child find an address of a family member or friend who lives out of state. Along with the address, please send 1 stamp to school. We will be addressing envelopes and sending out Flat selves away on vacation. The project is inspired by The Flat Stanley book series.
SS and Science: We will be finsihing up or mapping unit before the end of the quarter. We did a lot of fun work in the computer lab with coordinate grids and cardinal directions. Ask your child what 4 directions are on a compass rose. In science, we just started our New Plants unit. We planted or first seeds: brassica. These seeds are specially designed to have a quick life cycle so school and students like us can observe all stages in a short amount of time. They are pretty cool. Ask your child what a plant needs to grow. Also, ask what types of everyday thinsg come from plants (We learned lots like gum, t-shirts, coffee...)
HELP:
We are in need of pencils and glue sticks. If you are willing to donate some to our classroom, that would be great! Thank you!
Reminders:
No School for kids Mon Jan 18 or Mon Jan 25
Flat Stanley address and 1 postage stamp by Monday
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