Post 31

NEW INFORMATION:

Thanks to all who provided feedback about China project!  

IMPORTANT DATES:

Monday, May 29, 2017 - NO SCHOOL - Memorial Day

Thursday, June 1, 2017 - Art Show - 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. - Drop by and marvel at your child's                                                                                      hard work and creativity this year.

Tuesday, June 6, 2017 - Color Day - More info to come next week

Thursday, June 8, 2017 - Field Trip - Boston Children's Museum

Friday, June 23, 2017 - LAST DAY OF SCHOOL - 12:00 release

REMINDERS: 

Water bottles: Please make sure to send your child to school with a sport top water bottle (i.e. one that you do not have to take the cap off to drink) each morning that s/he should bring into class each morning to keep on his/her table to have easy access to water throughout the day. Thanks! 

Wow words: Please continue to help your child gather new words each week through their reading and your conversations at home and bring them in on Wow Word Wednesday. Here are links to an online dictionary (Merriam Webster for kids - Word Central) and our wow word worksheet in case you need a new one. This is an ongoing reminder for the year. Please make acquiring new words part of your home routine.

CURRICULUM UPDATE:

In reading: 

• We finished up our unit on folktales.
• We began book groups in which we read in groups, complete various jobs within our group and discuss our books. Out book group work focused on butterflies and moths this week.
• We began our poetry unit by reading poems and sharing what we already know and notice about the poems that we read. 

At home, share your favorite poems with your child. Borrow poetry books from the library and read them together.   

Next week, we will continue work in our poetry unit.

In fundations (word study): 

• We began our work in unit 12, in which we learned about the vowel teams oi and oy.
• We practiced writing all of the second grade trick words, using the word wall as a resource for those that we do not know by heart. 

At home, please refer to the Units 1-12 family letter to learn how you can support our word study work at home. Also, look though the fundations/word study section on my website. There, you will find all of the first and second grade trick words. If your child needs practice with these words, please practice through activities such as playing bingo, memory or through reviewing them on flashcards. Here is a link to a great website with different sight word games that you might like to try. 

Next week, we will finish unit 12.

In science we:

• We observed our butterflies.
• We learned about butterfly anatomy.
• We released our butterflies.

At home, ask your child about what they observed with their butterfly this week.

Next week, we will compare butterflies and moths.

In writing: 

• We wrote book awards.

Next week, we will continue to write book awards. Please make sure your child brings in his/her book that s/he wants to give an award to each day over the next week. They may give more than 1 book an award over this period of time.

At home, ask your child to share what book s/he will give an award to. What award would s/he give that book? What examples can they share from the books to support their award choice? 

In math:

• We worked with money to pay for items with exact change and also pay for items with whole dollar amounts that required us to compute the amount of change required.
• We completed story problems involving addition, subtraction and comparison.
• We used base ten blocks to model numbers.

At home, practice place value concepts through games such as Place Value Hockey or these place value games. 
  

Next week, we will continue work with place value.

Enjoy your long weekend!  

Post 30

NEW INFORMATION:

It has been such a pleasure watching your children present their China projects. We are learning so much from each other and it is obvious that they put a lot of time and effort into their work. Thank you for supporting them in this! 

I am also interested in your feedback about projects for homework. Did this work well for your family? Did you feel that you had enough time to complete the project? Too little? Too much? How often would you like to see projects sent home throughout the year for your child to complete? Monthly? Every 6 weeks? Bimonthly? Quarterly? Were the directions clear enough or did you feel that you needed more information/support? Please reply to this email to provide feedback. Thank you in advance!!  

IMPORTANT DATES:

Friday, May 26, 2017 - Red, White and Blue Day - Join other students and staff at M-S and wear red, white and blue to show your patriotic spirit!

Monday, May 29, 2017 - NO SCHOOL - Memorial Day

Thursday, June 1, 2017 - Art Show - More info to come

Thursday, June 8, 2017 - Field Trip - Boston Children's Museum

Friday, June 23, 2017 - LAST DAY OF SCHOOL - 12:00 release

REMINDERS: 

Water bottles: Please make sure to send your child to school with a sport top water bottle (i.e. one that you do not have to take the cap off to drink) each morning that s/he should bring into class each morning to keep on his/her table to have easy access to water throughout the day. Thanks! 

Wow words: Please continue to help your child gather new words each week through their reading and your conversations at home and bring them in on Wow Word Wednesday. Here are links to an online dictionary (Merriam Webster for kids - Word Central) and our wow word worksheet in case you need a new one. This is an ongoing reminder for the year. Please make acquiring new words part of your home routine.

CURRICULUM UPDATE:

In reading: 

• We read trickster tales and mapped various trickster tale elements. We also read several Brer Rabbit stories and made a poster with Brer Rabbit's character traits.

At home, search the internet or head to the library to find some trickster tales that you can read together.   

Next week, we will begin a poetry unit.

In fundations (word study): 

• We finished our work in unit 11, which covered the long e sound.  

At home, please refer to the Units 1-12 family letter to learn how you can support our word study work at home. Also, look though the fundations/word study section on my website. There, you will find all of the first and second grade trick words. If your child needs practice with these words, please practice through activities such as playing bingo, memory or through reviewing them on flashcards. Here is a link to a great website with different sight word games that you might like to try. 

Next week, we will begin unit 12, in which we learn about the vowel teams oi and oy.

In science we:

• We made predictions about how long it would take our caterpillars to turn into adults, what the process would look like and what they would look like as adults. 
• We wrote and drew observations of the chrysalis. 
• We explained how we would design a new habitat for our butterflies.
• We discussed whether or not we think a chrysalis is alive.

At home, ask your child about whether or not they think the chrysalis is alive and why.

Next week, we will learn more about butterflies and begin learning about the earth, sun and moon.

In writing: 

• We continued writing opinions.
• Brainstormed awards that we would give to our most treasured books.

Next week, we will write book awards. Please make sure your child brings in his/her book that s/he wants to give an award to each day over the next 2 weeks. They may give more than 1 book an award over this period of time.

At home, ask your child to share what book s/he will give an award to. What award would s/he give that book? What examples can they share from the books to support their award choice? 

In math:

• We completed our measurement unit.
• We began our place value unit with a multiple day project titled color the hundreds in which we we given a large grid and were challenged to determine how many squares were in the grid by breaking the grid up into multiples of 10.

At home, practice place value concepts through games such as Place Value Hockey or these place value games. 
  

Next week, we will continue work with place value.

In CAP:

• We reviewed being safe, strong and free. 
• We reviewed safe places and people in our lives. 
• We talked about what to do when someone who is not a stranger says or does something that makes you feel uncomfortable. TELL, TELL, TELL!

We also participated in A Day in Ghana presentation. We learned about what a child's life is like in Ghana. We practiced some of the chores that children might do, such as baby wearing and fetching water using a large bowl carved from a gourd. We also learned how they would sing the ABCs and learned the dance that accompanies it. Ask your child about it!!

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Post 29

IMPORTANT DATES:

Wednesday, May 19, 2017 - Our Day in Ghana presentation

Monday, May 15 - Thursday, May 18, 2017 - China projects due       

Thursday, May 18, 2017 - our second session of CAP

Monday, May 29, 2017 - NO SCHOOL - Memorial Day

Thursday, June 8, 2017 - Field Trip - Boston Children's Museum

Friday, June 23, 2017 - LAST DAY OF SCHOOL - 12:00 release

REMINDERS: 

Water bottles: Please make sure to send your child to school with a sport top water bottle (i.e. one that you do not have to take the cap off to drink) each morning that s/he should bring into class each morning to keep on his/her table to have easy access to water throughout the day. Thanks! 

Wow words: Please continue to help your child gather new words each week through their reading and your conversations at home and bring them in on Wow Word Wednesday. Here are links to an online dictionary (Merriam Webster for kids - Word Central) and our wow word worksheet in case you need a new one. This is an ongoing reminder for the year. Please make acquiring new words part of your home routine.

China Project: Here is the original letter to check that all parts are complete:

1. Your child will have the next two weeks to complete an assignment on China that they will present to the class.  Projects will be due May 18^th, however your child may bring it in anytime the week of May 15^th.

2. The 2^nd graders are to research an aspect of China. Some ideas for a theme may include:

-       The Great Wall

-       The Forbidden City

-       The Yellow or Yangtze river

-       An Emperor

-       Holidays

-       Beijing

-       Landmarks

3.  The 2^nd graders are to prepare a presentation to present to the class, such as:

-       Power Point

-       poster

-       model

Their presentation must have a written component that includes:

-       The topic

-       Why it is important to China?

-       At least 3 important facts

-       2 sources of information, either books or the internet

-       List of sources with Book Title by Author or name of website & address

Students are expected to continue reading nightly and completing the reading response as usual.

Please contact us with any questions, comments or concerns.

CURRICULUM UPDATE:

In reading: 

• We read pourquoi tales and over the course of the week, we determined what elements are similar in all pourquoi tales. We mapped the pourquoi tales we read using the maps that we created. 

At home, search the internet for pourquoi tales that you can read together. 

Next week, we will begin learning about a new type of folktale - trickster tales.

In fundations (word study): 

• Continued our work in unit 11, which covers the long e sound. 
• We used the spelling options procedure to practice writing words with long e using the vowel teams ee, ea, ey and e-e, e and y.
• Trick words ready, breakfast, head  

At home, please refer to the Units 1-11 family letter to learn how you can support our word study work at home. Also, look though the fundations/word study section on my website. There, you will find all of the first and second grade trick words. If your child needs practice with these words, please practice through activities such as playing bingo, memory or through reviewing them on flashcards. Here is a link to a great website with different sight word games that you might like to try. 

Next week, we will finish our work in unit 11.

In social studies: 

• We read a story and watched a video to learn about Chinese New Year. 
• We watched a video about ancient China.

At home, finish work on the China project. These are due next week. You may bring them in on Monday-Thursday and students will present at some point after they have been turned in.      

Next week, we will learn from each other's presentations.

In science we:

• We learned about the parts of a caterpillar.
• We learned a song about the parts of a caterpillar. It is sung to the tune of Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. 

Head, thorax, abdomen

And 6 true legs

Head, thorax, abdomen

And pro-legs, too!

And antennae and mandible and spiracles, too.

Head, thorax, abdomen 

At home, ask your child about the parts of a caterpillar.

Next week, we will continue learning more about caterpillars.

In writing: 

• We wrote opinion pieces about our favorite special, starting with a topic sentence that states our opinion, providing a most important reason to support our opinion, stating multiple examples and writing a conclusion. 

Next week, we will continue working in our opinion writing unit by writing book awards.

In math:

• We worked on a math problem about a new Color Day activity involving time and distance.
• We measured objects in inches and centimeters.

At home, challenge your child to estimate distances or lengths in your home and then measure them accurately. 
  

Next week, we will work with place value.

In CAP:

• We discussed being safe, strong and free. 
• We discussed safe places and people in our lives. 
• We talked about having your children talk with you about what you would like them to do if you are ever separated in a public place, such as a store or museum. The suggestions were to either find someone who works at that location or a mom, however talk with your child about what you would like them to do.
• We discussed stranger safety.

We also had a presentation about sustainable fishing practices today by a group of students in Luke's mom's class at Newton South. They wrote an engaging children's book about the topic that they shared with us. Ask your child about it!!

Have a great weekend! Happy Mother's Day!! 

Post 28

NEW INFORMATION:

Hello Families,

We are excited to introduce our next at home project for the 2^nd graders!

1. Your child will have the next two weeks to complete an assignment on China that they will present to the class.  Projects will be due May 18^th, however your child may bring it in anytime the week of May 15^th.

2. The 2^nd graders are to research an aspect of China. Some ideas for a theme may include:

-       The Great Wall

-       The Forbidden City

-       The Yellow or Yangtze river

-       An Emperor

-       Holidays

-       Beijing

-       Landmarks

3.  The 2^nd graders are to prepare a presentation to present to the class, such as:

-       Power Point

-       poster

-       model

Their presentation must have a written component that includes:

-       The topic

-       Why it is important to China?

-       At least 3 important facts

-       2 sources of information, either books or the internet

-       List of sources with Book Title by Author or name of website & address

Students are expected to continue reading nightly and completing the reading response as usual.

Please contact us with any questions, comments or concerns.

                      The Second grade team

IMPORTANT DATES:

Thursday, May 11, 2017  - our first session of CAP 

Thursday, May 11, 2017 - 12:30 Release

Wednesday, May 19, 2017 - Our Day in Ghana presentation

Thursday, May 18, 2017 (or any prior day that week)- China projects due       

Thursday, May 18, 2017 - our second session of CAP

Thursday, June 8, 2017 - Field Trip - Boston Children's Museum

REMINDERS: 

Water bottles: Please make sure to send your child to school with a sport top water bottle (i.e. one that will not spill when tipped over) each morning that s/he should bring into class each morning to keep on his/her table to have easy access to water throughout the day. Thanks! 

Wow words: Please continue to help your child gather new words each week through their reading and your conversations at home and bring them in on Wow Word Wednesday. Here are links to an online dictionary (Merriam Webster for kids - Word Central) and our wow word worksheet in case you need a new one. This is an ongoing reminder for the year. Please make acquiring new words part of your home routine.

CURRICULUM UPDATE:

In reading: 

• We compared fables.
• We practiced and presented fables reader's theater.
• We began learning about another type of folktale - pourquoi tales.  

At home, search the internet for pourquoi tales that you can read together. 

Next week, we will continue reading and learning more about pourquoi tales.

In fundations (word study): 

• Continued our work in unit 11, which covers the long e sound. 
• We used the spelling options procedure to practice writing words with long e using the vowel teams ee, ea, ey and e-e, e and y.
• Trick words son, won and whose  

At home, please refer to the Units 1-11 family letter to learn how you can support our word study work at home. Also, look though the fundations/word study section on my website. There, you will find all of the first and second grade trick words. If your child needs practice with these words, please practice through activities such as playing bingo, memory or through reviewing them on flashcards. Here is a link to a great website with different sight word games that you might like to try. 

Next week, we will continue working in unit 11.

In social studies: 

• We read and wrote about inventions from China.
• We read, watched a video and wrote about Chinese foods.

At home, begin working on the China project. Help your child choose a topic, begin gathering resources, and choose a format for the project.       

Next week, we will learn about Chinese New Year.

In science we:

• We examined the new creatures in our room - caterpillars! We wrote and drew about what we already know about caterpillars and observed our caterpillars, noting what we observed in our journals.

At home, ask your child about what they observed with their caterpillars this week and talk about what they wonder about caterpillars.

Next week, we will continue learning more about caterpillars.

In writing: 

• We wrote opinion pieces, starting with a topic sentence that states our opinion, providing a most important reason to support our opinion, stating multiple examples and writing a conclusion. 

Next week, we will continue working in our opinion writing unit.

In math:

• We measured objects on our playground in meters.
• We measured objects in our classroom in feet, inches, decimeters and centimeters.
• We worked on solving number stories involving measurement. 

At home, challenge your child to estimate distances or lengths in your home and then measure them accurately. 
  

Next week, we will finish our measurement unit and begin a unit in place value.

Have a great weekend!