Can you believe there's only 7 days of school left before Christmas break?! That means the school year is nearly half over! I know I'll say this several more times before the school year ends, but "how time flies!"
Thank you for coming to the Christmas program to support your children and the fruits of their preparation. They did a great job! I found myself getting a bit emotional several times throughout the program. I believe the Lord was speaking through your children as they brought Him praise. :)
A few items of note:
- The class Christmas party is this Wednesday afternoon. If you are helping our room parent with the Christmas party and have any questions, please contact me.
- Scholastic book orders are due on Thursday, December 18th. Please note that the books will likely not arrive before Christmas break but will be waiting for students upon their return. Just a reminder if you are submitting a paper copy of a book order to pay by check made out to Scholastic.
A Peek At Our Week:
- Math --- Students will be completing a brief review of Unit 4 before taking the written assessment this week. We *may* begin Unit 5 which focuses on geometry concepts including shapes and line segments.
- Language Arts --- Our social studies and language arts are closely integrated this week, with reading selections focusing on music and instruments from the past and present. Our phonics focus is on decoding words with r-controlled vowels.
- Bible --- This week, students will be working in small groups to create a creche of the manger scene so they can retell the story of Christ's birth with these special props.
Have an enjoyable week!
Sunday, December 14, 2014
Sunday, December 7, 2014
News & Notes {and glitter galore!}
Hello all!
I trust you enjoyed a great weekend with your children. I heard from several students that they had busy weekends and anticipated plans. It is an exciting time of the year, especially for young ones and it's certainly easy for them to become overtired quickly. We are trying very hard to keep a routine flowing in second grade while still enjoying the advent season and the anticipation of the Christmas celebration.
The big thing to keep in mind for the upcoming week is the New Danville Christmas Program. The program will begin at 7pm on Thursday, December 11th. We ask that students arrive in their classrooms no later than 6:45pm. Students should come dressed in their Christmas best. :)
One other item of note regarding spelling: I have reassessed all students' spelling development. I am so proud of how much progress they have made! I have adjusted spelling groups and assigned spelling words accordingly. Your child may or may not be assigned a different "color" of word (the color are strictly for me to keep track of spelling groups and are not indicative of a student's spelling level). I have done my best to put students in a group relatively close to their level of spelling development. If you have questions or concerns regarding the new words that come home this week or your child's spelling development, please contact me.
A Peek At Our Week:
- Bible --- We have started our ABC Advent books to help us prepare for the celebration of Christ's birth. We are taking a break from the Moses story for the month of December (though we will be finishing up a few pages of our Ten Commandments class book). Activities for Bible will help students to focus on what Christmas truly means.
- Language Arts --- Our phonics focus for the week will be on r-controlled vowels and silent letters, while grammar will focus on present-tense verbs. Students will work on summarizing the main points of their texts.
- Math --- Students will continue working on 2-digit addition. Now that they have a solid base of strategies for mentally adding 2-digit addition, we will provide a bit of extra framework for their addition by utilizing a pencil and paper record. Please bear in mind that the strategies taught will feel foreign to you at first when you help with homework. I am not teaching traditional addition (adding ones and then tens, carrying the ones, etc.) yet. Fear not! I will teach that later in the year.
- Social Studies --- We will be comparing and contrasting how Christmas was celebrated in the past with how Christmas is celebrated in the present.
I trust you enjoyed a great weekend with your children. I heard from several students that they had busy weekends and anticipated plans. It is an exciting time of the year, especially for young ones and it's certainly easy for them to become overtired quickly. We are trying very hard to keep a routine flowing in second grade while still enjoying the advent season and the anticipation of the Christmas celebration.
The big thing to keep in mind for the upcoming week is the New Danville Christmas Program. The program will begin at 7pm on Thursday, December 11th. We ask that students arrive in their classrooms no later than 6:45pm. Students should come dressed in their Christmas best. :)
One other item of note regarding spelling: I have reassessed all students' spelling development. I am so proud of how much progress they have made! I have adjusted spelling groups and assigned spelling words accordingly. Your child may or may not be assigned a different "color" of word (the color are strictly for me to keep track of spelling groups and are not indicative of a student's spelling level). I have done my best to put students in a group relatively close to their level of spelling development. If you have questions or concerns regarding the new words that come home this week or your child's spelling development, please contact me.
A Peek At Our Week:
- Bible --- We have started our ABC Advent books to help us prepare for the celebration of Christ's birth. We are taking a break from the Moses story for the month of December (though we will be finishing up a few pages of our Ten Commandments class book). Activities for Bible will help students to focus on what Christmas truly means.
- Language Arts --- Our phonics focus for the week will be on r-controlled vowels and silent letters, while grammar will focus on present-tense verbs. Students will work on summarizing the main points of their texts.
- Math --- Students will continue working on 2-digit addition. Now that they have a solid base of strategies for mentally adding 2-digit addition, we will provide a bit of extra framework for their addition by utilizing a pencil and paper record. Please bear in mind that the strategies taught will feel foreign to you at first when you help with homework. I am not teaching traditional addition (adding ones and then tens, carrying the ones, etc.) yet. Fear not! I will teach that later in the year.
- Social Studies --- We will be comparing and contrasting how Christmas was celebrated in the past with how Christmas is celebrated in the present.
All of the students helped me to brighten up our room for the Christmas season... even though our tree isn't very reflective of this time of year, the lights certainly are!
Each student created a "shining synonym" light bulb.
There was glitter galore!
Earlier in the week, students teamed up to add 2-digit numbers mentally using the parts and total diagram from earlier this year.
After finding the answer mentally, some students decided to check their answers using the class number grid. Way to use those strategies!
Knowing that we would be working on 2-digit addition again next week, we took a short break from all of the adding to explore measurement and the difference between inches and centimeters.
Students measured the height of their chairs in both inches and centimeters to compare the results. We also measured the height of our desks and the width of the classroom doors, but with all of the excitement of comparing the measurements I did more conversing than snapping of pictures. ;)
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Addition Spin!
Has your child mentioned addition spin? It's a great game that I highly recommend to practice extending those addition facts they are already learning on Reflex. Though it's still difficult for some students, most are catching on quickly. They are learning to use facts they know to solve double-digit addition. Get this... they're solving these problems mentally!
Here are the directions and everything you need to get started at home.
Materials needed:
- 1 Addition Spin spinner
- 1 paper clip
- 1 pencil
- 1 calculator
- 1 sheet of paper
Directions:
1. Players take turns being the "Spinner". The Spinner uses a pencil and a paper clip to make a spinner.
2. The Spinner spins the paper clip.
3. The Spinner writes the number that the paper clip points to (optional if the Spinner can remember this number in his/her head).
4. The Spinner spins a second time and writes the new number (again, optional if the Spinner can remember both numbers in his/her head).
5. The Spinner adds the 2 numbers and writes the sum on his/her side of the paper. The other player should check to ensure the addition was done correctly.
6. Players switch roles. They stop after they have each written 3 sums. Each player uses a calculator to find the total of his or her sums.
7. The player with the larger total wins.
Tips for helping your child:
- Encourage them to add the tens place first, ignoring the ones place. Example: 40 + 25. Encourage your child to think 40 + 20 first and then to add the 5 afterwards.
- Point out addition facts they already know. Example: 55 + 30. Say "If you know that 5 + 3 = 8, then 50 + 30 = 80." Then encourage the addition of the 5 in the ones place as well.
- Refrain from using this game to teach pencil and paper strategies such as stacking and carrying the one. Those will be taught later this year. This game is geared toward helping your child develop confidence in his/her mental math abilities.
- Keep the sessions short to maintain high interest. One or two complete games is plenty.
Here's the spinner for you to print out and use at home.
Here are the directions and everything you need to get started at home.
Materials needed:
- 1 Addition Spin spinner
- 1 paper clip
- 1 pencil
- 1 calculator
- 1 sheet of paper
Directions:
1. Players take turns being the "Spinner". The Spinner uses a pencil and a paper clip to make a spinner.
2. The Spinner spins the paper clip.
3. The Spinner writes the number that the paper clip points to (optional if the Spinner can remember this number in his/her head).
4. The Spinner spins a second time and writes the new number (again, optional if the Spinner can remember both numbers in his/her head).
5. The Spinner adds the 2 numbers and writes the sum on his/her side of the paper. The other player should check to ensure the addition was done correctly.
6. Players switch roles. They stop after they have each written 3 sums. Each player uses a calculator to find the total of his or her sums.
7. The player with the larger total wins.
Tips for helping your child:
- Encourage them to add the tens place first, ignoring the ones place. Example: 40 + 25. Encourage your child to think 40 + 20 first and then to add the 5 afterwards.
- Point out addition facts they already know. Example: 55 + 30. Say "If you know that 5 + 3 = 8, then 50 + 30 = 80." Then encourage the addition of the 5 in the ones place as well.
- Refrain from using this game to teach pencil and paper strategies such as stacking and carrying the one. Those will be taught later this year. This game is geared toward helping your child develop confidence in his/her mental math abilities.
- Keep the sessions short to maintain high interest. One or two complete games is plenty.
Here's the spinner for you to print out and use at home.
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