Weekly Update 3/31

I enjoyed meeting with you all and sharing the progress your child has made in term 2.  This truly is a collaborative process, and I really appreciate all your support and time.  Although spring conferences are our last formal meeting, please know that you can contact me at any time if you have something you'd like to discuss.

We had so much fun performing for you last Friday in our "Colors" show.  We were amazed at how many songs, dances, and lines the kids memorized.  It's always great watching these shows coming together, and it meant a lot to your children that you could attend to witness how all their hard work paid off.

In Social Studies we continued our study of Europe by focusing in on the country of Italy.  The students learned a little bit about what life is like in this country.  We also found out many interesting facts about some famous landmarks, such as the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Colosseum, and the Gondolas of Venice.  After finishing up our Europe study by watching a short video, we then took our next journey to Africa.  We began discussing where this continent is found in the world, as well as how the weather and land affect the daily life of the people and animals that live in Africa.  We will continue to study Africa for at least another week.

Math over the past 2 weeks looked at measuring and collecting data (Arm Spans and How Far We Can Jump!) and representing that data on a line plot.  We then used the data to answer various questions.  The children also explored both Metric and US Customary units of measure, as well as shapes and their attributes.  We finished up Unit 7 on Friday with a brief assessment of what was learned in the unit.  We will be sending this home early in the week for you to take a look at.

The children are doing great with the poetry unit.  They have already written a couplet, cinquain, as well as 2 form poems ("I Like" and "I Meant To").  They are doing rough drafts and final copies of each to be included in their Poetry Notebooks.  They will be excited to share their completed notebooks with you soon!

On Friday 2nd Grade had a chance to tell the rest of the school about our next compassion project, which is a Pet Drive.  Over the next 2 weeks our school will be collecting items for the Lowell Humane Society.  Look for a notice in your child's folder about how you can help.

Let's hope the Spring weather is right around the corner!!!  Here is a look at some important dates to be aware of:

April 5th: Early Release Professional Development
April 14th: School Spirit Day- Beach Day
April 14th: Early Release
April 17th-21st: Spring Break: No School

Weekly Update 3/17

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! This has been a busy couple of weeks with the Alice Drill, Living Lab, Snow Day, 2 Hour Delay, and Play Rehearsals. Although there have been a lot of special activities, we have also been hard at work in the classroom.

Last week we worked on making inferences and visualizing while reading books. We began with a whole class lesson that not only reviewed these reading skills, but also introduced the kids to poetry which is our March writing unit. This reading skill was reinforced during our reading groups.

In terms of Poetry, we spent some time talking about what the kids already knew about poetry, read a few fun poems, and wrote couplet poems to get us started. The kids enjoyed writing their 2 line poems that rhyme. Over the next couple of weeks, the kids will get the opportunity to write several different types of poems. Some of which will rhyme, some of which will be template poems, and some will be free verse.

In math we finished up Unit 6 and have started Unit 7 which focuses on whole number operations, measurement, and data. The children practiced finding differences between 2-digit numbers and multiples of 10 by playing a game called Hit the Target. We also spent some time talking about adding multiple numbers in a logical way to make the problem easier. The children were encouraged to look for "friendly numbers" which could be a multiple of 10 or a doubles fact.

Last week we finished up our travels to Australia by visiting the computer lab to learn more about the Great Barrier Reef. The children then created their own coral reef scrapbook page and included facts that they learned in the computer lab. After Australia, we traveled to the amazing continent of Europe. The kids learned about Europe as a whole, and next week we will focus on the country of Italy!!

The Second Grade performance is coming along nicely and we are excited to perform for you next Friday, March 24th at 1:45 in the Robinson Cafeteria!

I look forward to meeting with you all during Parent Teacher Conferences March 29th and 30th.

Upcoming Events:

• Tuesday, March 21st - School Store for Grade Two (rescheduled due to Snow Day) 
• Wednesday, March 22nd- Performance for the School 
• Friday, March 24th- Performance for Parents at 1:45 
• Wednesday, March 29th- 2 Hour Delay for Parent Teacher Conferences
• Thursday, March 30th- No School for Parent Teacher Conferences 

Weekly Update 3/3

I hope your children all enjoyed February vacation and got to spend some quality time with families and friends.  It’s always nice to have a little extra time at home to refresh, especially when the temperatures allow for some outside time!

I want to make sure to thank Mrs. Sperry, Mrs. Madsen, and Mrs. Su for planning and running the parties this year for our class.  The 3 parties were lots of fun! Thank you also to all of the other parents who came to help out and/or provided snacks or paper goods.  We certainly couldn't have these celebrations without your support!

Here is a look at what we accomplished this last week in school...

Our rehearsals began this week for the upcoming second grade show entitled "Colors". We had 3 practices this week, and the actual performance will be next Wednesday, March 22nd for the school and Friday, March 24th for parents.  The kids were excited to learn what parts they would play in the performance, and I’m sure you’re already hearing the songs being sung at home!

During reading time this week we finished up some loose ends from before vacation.  I also met with a few remaining kids to assess their reading progress in preparation for our upcoming conferences. We continue to practice comprehension strategies during our groups, including summarizing, discussing problem and solution, and making connections.

In math we taught the Partial-Sums Addition Method to combine two and three digit numbers together.  This method should look very familiar, as it is most like the traditional way of adding multiple-digit numbers together. We began the week trying this out with base ten blocks to provide a physical model of what happens when we combine 100's, 10's, and 1's to add two and three digit numbers together. We then transitioned to trying this out without the base ten blocks to help us.  For some kids, this is a difficult concept.  We will provide much more practice in this area in the coming weeks.

Our travels around the world brought us to the continent of Australia this week!  We spent some time learning more about this beautiful continent, and next week we’ll be doing a fun project to explore the incredible Great Barrier Reef!

During our spelling time next week we'll be checking on the spelling of the 100 High Frequency Words.  The list of words is in your child's take home folder.  It's always helpful to be reviewing these words with your child on a regular basis.

On Wednesday of next week our class will be visiting the Living Lab at the Day School. We already have signed permission slips from all of you from the beginning of the year, so the kids are all set to ride the bus over.  Please check the weather and make sure your child has appropriate clothing and footwear for some outside time by the brook.

Coming soon...

Friday, March 10th- Tie Dye School Spirit Day
Monday, March 13th- Online Conference Sign-Up Begins
Friday, March 24th- Parent Portal Opens to View Progress Reports
Wednesday, March 29th- 2 Hour Delay, Conferences 9:00-11:00
Thursday, March 30th- No School; Conferences 2:00-8:00