Weekly News June 12-20, 2017

Field Trip:  We will be walking to the library on Wednesday. Please make sure your child is wearing sneakers. We will be going rain or shine so plan accordingly.

Our End of the year class party will be on Thursday, June 15th at 2:00. Please send your child to school with a special snack to enjoy at our celebration.

Field Day: Friday is our Field Day. Please bring water for your child in a bottle (sport’s cap preferred). Make sure your child’s name is clearly written on the bottle. Our grade 2 color is red. Please try to wear red on Friday!

Language Arts: We will be writing a letter to our third grade teacher and next year’s class of second graders. We will be continuing writing letters to our summer birthday students. We will reading some Scholastic News articles. I will be showing the students their third grade summer reading requirements. I will stress how important it is for them to be reading, writing and practicing math over the summer. I will encourage them to pursue their passions. I hope this makes it easier for you to get your child to read this summer. Learning over the summer can be a lot of fun! I will be sending some Story Works Magazines home for the students to enjoy for the summer.

Mathematics:  We will finish chapter 19 and we will be practicing our multiplication facts for 3s and 4s. We will be reviewing math skills.

Cursive: We will do our hill and valley letters. Finally we will review and learn the capital for our first and last names. I sent home a packet for students to learn capitals on their own. This is optional practice and doesn’t need to be returned.

Science: We will review solids, liquids and gases.

Ways you can help at home: Develop reading/writing/math practice routines for your child to do over the summer. For some children it is easier to read when strong routines are in place. Remember this can be done in fun ways. Use sidewalk chalk to practice high frequency words or write a story. Make a craft/model and then design directions for someone else to make it too. Bake together and have your child read the directions. Learn a new game. Make a project teaching others about your passion. Tell stories. Retell stories. Read about the places where you may be vacationing.

Writing Journals: Please enjoy your child’s journal entry. You do not need to return it to school. Keep it and pull it out for your child to see years from now!

Report Cards: Report cards will be sent home on the last day of school. If you have any questions about your child’s progress please let me know.

We have had a wonderful year of learning together. Thanks again for all you do to support your child. I truly loved working with this class. Best wishes in all you do! Enjoy your summer!!!

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Weekly News June 5-9, 2017

Language Arts: We will be reviewing –ge and -dge sounds in our word work and learn about common suffixes. We will be doing some reading assessments this week. In writing we are working on our informative pieces and putting together our writing portfolios.

Mathematics: We are working on shapes and patterns. This week our focus will be on solids and then we will be working on patterns.

Science: We will continue our study of solids this week. The vocabulary words that are used to describe solid materials include: flexible, rigid, smooth, rough, soft, hard, colored pointed, flat, transparent, opaque and translucent.

 Ways you can help at home: Keep your child on a school routine as much as you possibly can. I know it is a busy time of year but ensuring your child has enough rest and reminding him or her that there is still learning to be done at school is important. Read and talk about the most important part in the story and why you think that was the most important.

Writing Journals: Please enjoy your child’s journal and make sure it comes back for Tuesday.

Sign and return your child’s Friday Reflection.

Weekly News May 29-June 2, 2017

Homework: Congratulations! We have finished our formal homework for the school year. Thanks for all the homework support you have given throughout the year. Please consider making your summer routines now for reading, math and writing practice. I will be encouraging the students at school to read, write and practice math now and over the summer. 
 
Field Trip:  We are going to the Shrewsbury Public Library. Please see the letter for the details and to sign the permission slip. I need the permission slip by June 6th.

Last Change for Scholastic Books: Do you have summer reading ready for your child? I will be submitting our last Scholastic Book order for the year on May 30th. You can go online to see all the books they have available. If you would like to order books please submit them online at https://orders.scholastic.com/GVN48

Language Arts: We will be reviewing ou/ow sounds in our word work and learn about the –ge and –dge words. In writing we will continue to put our portfolios together. We will begin an informative piece on a topic we are passionate about. The goal will be to teach our classmates. In reading we are continuing our work on summarizing.

Mathematics: We will be reviewing our problem solving strategies. We will be taking our end of the year problem solving test and an End of the Year test. We will be talking about accuracy and why it is important in math.

Science: Students will learn about the vocabulary words that are used to describe solid materials. These words include flexible, rigid, smooth, rough, soft, hard, colored pointed, flat, transparent, opaque and translucent. 

 Ways you can help at home: Read and enjoy books together. Have your child tell you a summary about what was read. Look for ou/ow  and –ge/dge words in books. Write a summary of a book you’ve read. Have your child solve a two step word problem. You can find some good math problems at http://bedtimemath.org    Click on Today’s Fun Math. Here is the one from Monday: http://bedtimemath.org/a-moving-memorial/ Get rest and keep your school routines in place.

Writing Journals: Please enjoy your child’s journal and make sure it comes back for Wednesday.

Sign and return your child’s Friday Reflection.

Weekly News May 22-26, 2017

Homework: The math packet is due on Friday. Be sure to return your math and signed reading log in your yellow homework folder on Friday. The timeline project is due on Friday.

Tuesday is our early release day. Please send in a healthy snack to have in the morning.

Scholastic Books: Do you have summer reading ready for your child? I will be submitting our last Scholastic Book order for the year on May 30th. You can go online to see all the books they have available. If you would like to order books please submit them online at https://orders.scholastic.com/GVN48

Language Arts: We will be working with ou/ow sounds in our word work. In writing we will be reviewing the writing we have done this year and work on putting our portfolios together. In reading we are continuing our work on summarizing.

Mathematics: We are beginning chapter 18 on lines and surfaces. Please see the the School Home Connection for this chapter. It is a very short chapter and we will be taking our test on Friday.

Social Studies:  We will review information we learned about the continents. We will be taking our continent test this week. The students have been practicing. They need to identify the oceans and continents. Here are some websites that can help students practice. We did the lizardpoint.com site in class. It has a good straightforward way to practice and worked on our i-pads.

 https://www.sheppardsoftware.com/World_Continents.htm

https://lizardpoint.com/geography/world-quiz.php

http://playkidsgames.com/geographygames.html

http://www.kidsgeo.com/geography-games/

Ways you can help at home: Read and enjoy books together. Have your child tell you a summary about what was read. Look for ou/ow words in books. Write a summary of a book you’ve read. Look for shapes and identify curves and parts of lines. Find solids and describe it. Does it have flat surfaces? Does it have curve surfaces? Work on the timeline project. Have your child read his/her timeline aloud. Practice locating the seven continents and five oceans.

Writing Journals: Please enjoy your child’s journal and make sure it comes back for Tuesday.

Sign and return your child’s Friday Reflection.

Weekly News May 15-19, 2017

Homework: The math packet is due on Friday. Be sure to return your math and signed reading log in your yellow homework folder on Friday. Keep working on the timeline project.

Language Arts/Social Studies: We will be working with oo/oo sounds as in boot and book in our word work. We are continuing our reading about the continents. In writing we will continue our opinion work. In reading we are continuing our work on summarizing.

Mathematics: We will be reviewing chapter 17 on graphs and line plots. We will taking our test on Thursday.

 Ways you can help at home: Show your child graphs that you find as you are reading. Together create a picture graph of your child’s toys or crafts. Look for au/aw words in books. Begin to look through pictures or talk about important dates in your child’s life for the timeline project. Write an opinion piece with your child. Talk about the reasons for your opinion on various topics. Ask your child to give you his or her opinion and the reasons why he or she feels that way.

Writing Journals: Please enjoy your child’s journal and make sure it comes back for Tuesday.

Sign and return your child’s Friday Reflection by Tuesday.

Ways you can help at home: Practice locating the seven continents and five oceans. Show your child graphs that you find as you are reading. Together create a picture graph of your child’s toys or crafts. Look for oo/oo words in books. Work on the timeline project. Write an opinion piece with your child. Talk about the reasons for your opinion on various topics. Ask your child to give you his or her opinion and the reasons why he or she feels that way.

Weekly News May 8-12, 2017

Homework: The math packet is due on Friday. Be sure to return your math and signed reading log in your yellow homework folder on Friday. Keep working on the timeline project. Remember we are only using ten pictures. I explained to the class that it should be pictures that span their lifetime. Your support is greatly appreciated for this project.

Language Arts/Social Studies: We will be working with au/aw words in our word work. The children are having learning about the continents. We will work on Australia and Antarctica. In writing we will continue our opinion work. In reading we are continuing our work on inferring. We will be reading an article about trophies for participation. The students will find the evidence for the yes and the no side. Then they will form their opinion, complete the opinion pillar, and write the paragraph.

Mathematics: We are working on chapter 17 on graphs and line plots this week. Please read the School to Home Connection on this chapter. The students will be answering questions about picture graphs and will be creating picture graphs. Students will learn that reading the key to find out how much the symbol is worth is very important.

Science:  The States of Matter presentation from the Museum of Science scheduled for last Friday got cancelled. We are working on rescheduling it.

 Ways you can help at home: Show your child graphs that you find as you are reading. Together create a picture graph of your child’s toys or crafts. Look for au/aw words in books. Begin to look through pictures or talk about important dates in your child’s life for the timeline project. Write an opinion piece with your child. Talk about the reasons for your opinion on various topics. Ask your child to give you his or her opinion and the reasons why he or she feels that way.

Writing Journals: Please enjoy your child’s journal and make sure it comes back for Tuesday.

Sign and return your child’s Friday Reflection.

Weekly News May 1-5, 2017

Homework: We will be working on a Timeline Project for homework. Please see the information sheet and let me know if you have any questions. The math packet is due on Friday. Be sure to return your math and signed reading log in your yellow homework folder on Friday.

Reminder: Tuesday is an early release day. We dismiss at 12:15. Please send in a healthy snack for your child.

Language Arts/Social Studies: We will be working with oi and oy words in our word work. We will continue to read and study the continents. We are continuing our work on making inferences as we read. In writing we wrote an opinion piece about the playground equipment we would like to have for recess. We will be finishing up this writing and be working on an opinion piece using a reading text. We will read The Day the Crayons Quit. Then we will collect evidence for the reasons each crayon wanted to quit. Students will then select the crayon they feel had the best reasons for quitting. Finally we will complete our opinion pillar and write an opinion paragraph for our reading response.

Mathematics: We will be reviewing A.M. and P.M. We are also working with elapsed time. Students are working on knowing how to read a time on a clock and know what time is an hour (half hour) before or after this time. Also they will do problems like it is 2:00. 1:30 is ______ minutes before or after. The elapsed time is only expected to be known at a conceptual level. We will be taking the test on time on Thursday. We will begin chapter 17 on graphs and line plots.

Science:  We have a States of Matter presentation from the Museum of Science on Friday.

 Ways you can help at home: Have your child practice reading his/her writing assignment out loud to you. Practice using expression, speaking loud enough and reading not too fast or not to slow. Look for oi and oy words as you read. Look for sight words that your child could practice. After you read a book together talk about your opinion of the book and back the opinion up with reasons and examples from the text. Talk about AM and PM as you go through the day. Have your child read times from an analog clock and then say what time was an hour (half hour) earlier and what was an hour (half hour) later.

Writing Journals: Please enjoy your child’s journal and make sure it comes back for Tuesday.

Sign and return your child’s Friday Reflection.