A few quick reminders:
Please continue to remind your child to choose whether they are going to eat school breakfast BEFORE they walk in the door, so they don't waste any time getting their breakfast. They can either get their breakfast as they come into D building, or they can drop off their possessions and then go get breakfast.
Waterbottles are encouraged! Students may leave them at school and refill them each morning as part of their morning routine.
The lost and found is already filling up! Please be sure to write your child's name on any outerwear like hoodies, jackets, or sweaters, so there is a better chance of it coming home.
Be sure you are checking your child's Communicator (found in their yellow homework folder) each evening, as it will give you information about homework assigned, what they learned that day, and what their behavior was like. Please sign it each evening so I know you've seen it.
Jog-A-Thon information came home on Friday!
Upcoming week:
Language Arts:
We will be reading a photo-essay and exploring a National Geographic article, both about jobs around the world. This ties in with our unit study of communities. We will be doing more writing from pictures, using them to inspire a story, memory, or idea. In spelling, we will continue to study long and short vowels, as well as the spelling patterns ow and ou.
Math:
Our review continues, and we will continue to explore our first unit: strategies for adding and subtracting. We will also practice counting back to subtract and writing number sentences to solve problems.
Content area studies (Social Studies):
We continue our study of communities and maps. The chair of Sandy Historical Society will be in to present about Sandy's history, and we will explore different kinds of maps of our community. We will be talking about what makes a community: looking at various businesses and agencies in Sandy, students will understand that it is the people that truly make up a community. I encourage you to talk with your child about the various communities your family belongs to, as well as their favorite people and locations in their communities.
Life and social skills:
We will continue practicing self control, and showing what it looks like in all areas of the school. As we zoom in on Sandy, students will be encouraged to demonstrate that they can recite their own address. It would be great if you could help them with that at home, as well!
Other:
Our class' first regular visit to the school library will be on Thursday morning. This week, students will get to check out one book. It is my understanding that children who bring the one book back will then get to check out two at a time.
Week in review:
Language Arts:
We read "The Adventures of Maxi the Taxi Dog" and "Quinito's Neighborhood," focusing on making predictions and character analysis. In writing, we practiced the expectations of Writers' Workshop, and writing from pictures. Students also got to share some of their writing with their classmates. Every student will get many opportunities to speak in front of the class over the course of the year, both sharing their writing, and presenting on themselves and other topics. In spelling, we reviewed vowels and consonants, short and long vowels, syllabication, and ow and ou sounds.
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| Face your audience. |
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| Speak loud and proud. |
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| Speak clearly! |
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| The four pictures to inspire our writing this week. We got quite a variety of stories and essays! |
Math:
We explored the first five lessons in our first unit on strategies for addition and subtraction: the commutative property of addition, using a number line to count on, doubles and near-doubles, and make a ten with a ten-frame. We also practiced adding three digits by looking for easier sums first.Content area studies (Social Studies):
We learned about our place in the world: planet Earth, North American continent, our country the United States of America, our state of Oregon, the county of Clackamas, and the city of Sandy. This concept of nesting places, increasing and shrinking in size, is a big one for second graders and will need practice. As you drive from place to place, have conversations about where you are, and whether it's a city, county, or state, and what the differences mean. We also are building our understanding of how a map works. Your second grader should be able to tell you about the title, key, and compass rose.
Life skills and social skills:
Students who memorized their entire birthdays earned an M&M. If your student has yet to memorize their birthday, they still can! It is an important piece of information.
Mrs. Anderson, our school counselor, started her lessons with second grade, with some fun goal setting. A person without goals is like a ship without sails!
Other:
We read "Loveable Lyle," some of Shel Silverstein's "Runny Babbit,' and learned the expectations for a fire drill, AND MORE! We also had our first Activity Time, which is a fun half hour on Friday afternoons, for students to practice turn-taking, conversational skills, and enjoy each others' company.
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| Taking turns and sharing are still practiced in second grade! |
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| The take it apart tub is always looking for new donations! If it is safe to disassemble (and not too messy), and has lots of screws and moving parts, we'll take it! |
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| Legos are always a popular choice. |
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| Teamwork is great! |
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| It's nice to spend mellow time with friends. |
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I am working with the most current, accurate list of media exclusions. If your child's face is obscured, and you would like to have that changed on future posts, please let the front office know, who will notify me, and I will update my list!
