Update 1/25

We have been busy in Second Grade over the past couple of weeks!

The children enjoyed a pretend "flight" to our first destination in our Around the World social studies unit, which was Mexico! We have spent the past two weeks learning about the continent of North America as a whole and then focused on the country of Mexico. The children enjoyed making their first scrapbook page and painting sombreros. Our next continent in Asia and the children will learn about Japan.

In math we are finishing up Unit 5. The children have solved change to more number stories through the use of "change diagrams" and parts and total number stores through the use of "parts and total diagrams." We have also discussed temperature and used temperature as a means to solve change to more or change to less number stories. Next week the students will be taking their Unit 5 assessment.

We're off to a great start with our new Opinion Writing unit. The children have had the opportunity to hear several examples of opinion pieces and completed a graphic organizer about a restaurant of their choice that they would like to review. They have also learned about opening sentences which can be a catchy lead, question, or stating their opinion. The children are really enjoying writing their first review and can't wait to write more over the next several weeks.

Next week Robinson is celebrating "The Great Kindness Challenge!" This is a week dedicated to creating a culture of kindness and compassion in school, at home, and in our community. You can learn more about it by visiting GreatKindnessChallenge.Org

A flyer was sent home this week with Spirit Days for the Great Kindness Challenge.
Monday- wear your Robinson School Apparel or colors (red/black)
Tuesday- wear bright neon-colored clothes
Wednesday- wear your favorite superhero attire or colors
Thursday- wear tie-dye, smiley faces, hearts, or peace signs
Friday- wear red or pink

Upcoming Dates:
January 28th-February 1st- Great Kindness Challenge
February 6th- Early Release for Professional Development

Update 1/7

Happy 2019!! I hope everyone is feeling rested and revived after our long winter break. Thank you all so much for helping to make our winter holiday party a huge success. The children (and parent helpers) had a lot of fun! Thanks once again to Mrs. Sperry for organizing another wonderful party! 

We will be kicking off a new year, a new math unit, a new writing unit, and soon a new social studies unit.

The children have completed the first half of the Everyday Math program, so this week they will begin working in a new math journal. We will start Unit 5, which reviews addition and subtraction facts and works on creating automaticity of facts. The students will also work with money during the first few lessons of this unit. They will review coin equivalencies and make different combinations of coins for the same amount of money. 

Our term 2 writing time will be spent working on reviews/opinion writing. This week we'll discuss what people might review and what a good review should include. We'll start off by reviewing the Robinson School Cafeteria as a class- a place we're all familiar with! Then, the children will be picking a place that they have eaten to write a review. It would be helpful if you could start brainstorming with your child about the places they have eaten and why they either liked it or didn't like it. Thank you for your help! 

During our reading blocks, the kids enjoyed reading non-fiction texts. We continued to discuss the non-fiction text features (glossary, index, captions, labels, diagrams, heading, etc.). The kids also had the opportunity to begin thinking about main idea and supporting details. This is a concept that is ongoing for second graders and will be discussed several times throughout the year during reading groups with both fiction and non-fiction texts.

In Social Studies we are finishing up our mapping unit. The students learned about different kinds of maps and cardinal directions. We also looked at map keys. These mapping skills will be the stepping stones into our very large unit of study- “Around the World” that we will begin this month.

The children enjoyed our Science lesson that focused on "How are Materials Used for Different Purposes." The children were asked to build bridges that were both strong and waterproof. They started by testing how strong each material was by placing blocks on the bridge deck. Then they tested whether or not each material was waterproof by spraying a small piece with water. The students then used the data they collected to build a bridge that was both strong and waterproof. Every group's bridge was a success, nice job kids!

Dates to remember:

• January 21^st -No School in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.
• January 22^nd- No School Professional Development