We enjoyed meeting with many of you last week to talk about your child and their accomplishments, and we look forward to more conferences this week. It is amazing to reflect on the growth that has occurred since the beginning of second grade!
On Monday, students will take the spring district writing prompt. This allows us to measure how children have grown as writers since the fall district writing prompt and also allows us to see areas to focus on for the remainder of the school year. Many students have begun reading biographies about important individuals from history. We have been learning about character traits and how we can support our opinions of the person we are reading about with evidence from the text.
Last Wednesday, our class had our first workshop with Tracy Martin, a Flynn performing artist. With her, we created movements for scenes from the book Blizzard, one of the 2015-2016 Red Clover nominees. We then put these movements to music. Thanks to a grant we received, Tracy will be working with us to make "Words Come Alive" on Wednesday afternoons for the remainder of the school year! She will work with us to bring movement to our science and literacy curriculum, enhancing student learning.
In math, we are wrapping up our unit on place value to one thousand that has also focused on money. Students will take the post-assessment for the unit this week. We will then move into a unit on geometry.
Last week, information about the Jump Rope for Heart fundraiser was sent home. This fun event will take place after school on Wednesday, April 13th, ending at 4pm. Let us know if you have any questions about the event.
Have a great week!
Sunday, March 27, 2016
Sunday, March 20, 2016
Monday News for March 21st
Last Thursday, we saw "The Orchestra Sings" performance at the Flynn. We had been practicing songs for the performance for many weeks, so it was exciting to finally play and sing them with a larger audience and full Orchestra. Your children really enjoyed being part of the show, and we were impressed with their focus when learning the recorders in class. We worked on a whole class opinion writing piece in which we recommended this field trip to other classes. We focused on elaboration of details of our reasons for the recommendation. The recorder is your child's to keep. A book from the Link Up program was also sent home which includes the songs from the performance as well as tips for singing and playing the recorder. It is our hope that your child will continue to show interest in music and will possibly consider playing an instrument in the future! Here is the opinion piece the class wrote together:
Our class got to see a performance at the Flynn theater where we got to be part of the show! We would recommend the orchestra sings field trip to your class too. The first reason is the song Oye. We really liked it because the singing was really good, we got to sing and dance too, and they even had a special dancer in a sparkly dress! The second reason was the song Simple Gifts. This song was really great to sing with the full orchestra and we were able to watch the conductor. The third reason we recommend the show is that big kids play in the Orchestra. We liked this because we got to see many different instruments and the kids all did a great job. Now you know why we think you should see this performance!
This week we begin parent-teacher conferences. We are looking forward to sharing your child's progress with you! If for some reason, you need to reschedule your child's conference, please feel free to go to the sign-up and pick another time that works for you. We still have other times available. We welcome you to bring your child with you. It is great to have your child as a participant. However, we leave this up to your discretion.
Spelling this week will be review of the suffixes ed, ing and s. Since we have a short week with no school on Friday, we are using this time to reinforce previous skills taught so far. We will review trick words as well.
Just a reminder that all second graders should have mastered their addition and subtraction facts by the end of second grade. Second graders are expected to complete twenty addition and subtraction facts in one minute by the end of second grade. On the nights your child does not have math homework, we recommend these facts be practiced. We have suggestions for how this can be done and will suggest ideas at conferences.
Thank you so much for the wonderful donations to our class basket for the PIE raffle! We hope you can make the Family Dance and Basket Raffle on April 1st! It should be a fun family night out.
Thank you so much for the wonderful donations to our class basket for the PIE raffle! We hope you can make the Family Dance and Basket Raffle on April 1st! It should be a fun family night out.
Have a great week ahead and we look forward to meeting with you soon!
Sunday, March 13, 2016
Weekly News for Monday, March 14th
Last Friday, Miss Vermont Outstanding Teen winner, Sophia Parker, came in to talk about her love of animals, and what she does to help them. She is certified in animal rehabilitation and shared her stories and photos of how she started rescuing animals, and where she is today. The students sat fully engrossed for an hour. We wouldn't be surprised if your children end up trying to find an animal to help after listening to Sophia's presentation.
On Thursday, we'll be taking part in the Vermont Symphony Orchestra performance at the Flynn. The children have been busy preparing by singing and playing the recorders in our classroom and in music class. Please make sure your child's recorder is returned to school on Monday, and that you send in the permission slip if you haven't done so already. It should be a great performance, especially since we will be part of the show!
If you have not signed up for a conference, please do so at this link. If there is not a time available that works for you, please contact us and we'll figure something out.
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090844afad2a1-parentteacher4
This Friday, March 18th, is the last day to contribute to our kitchen gadget basket for the family dance basket raffle on April 1st. If you would like to contribute an item, please sign up at this link and send the item in by Friday. Thanks to all who have already contributed!
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090844afad2a1-rainy
This week in reading, we'll continue to focus on character traits. Students have been working to come up with describing words about a character, and then supporting the description with evidence from the text. This work ties to the opinion writing students are doing as well.
In math, we are currently focusing on coin values (pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters), solving story problems and playing games with coins. Reinforcing the coin names and values is something great to do at home as well.
Last Monday, students earned extra recess/sledding. We hope you enjoy the pictures! Have a great week!
On Thursday, we'll be taking part in the Vermont Symphony Orchestra performance at the Flynn. The children have been busy preparing by singing and playing the recorders in our classroom and in music class. Please make sure your child's recorder is returned to school on Monday, and that you send in the permission slip if you haven't done so already. It should be a great performance, especially since we will be part of the show!
If you have not signed up for a conference, please do so at this link. If there is not a time available that works for you, please contact us and we'll figure something out.
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090844afad2a1-parentteacher4
This Friday, March 18th, is the last day to contribute to our kitchen gadget basket for the family dance basket raffle on April 1st. If you would like to contribute an item, please sign up at this link and send the item in by Friday. Thanks to all who have already contributed!
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090844afad2a1-rainy
This week in reading, we'll continue to focus on character traits. Students have been working to come up with describing words about a character, and then supporting the description with evidence from the text. This work ties to the opinion writing students are doing as well.
In math, we are currently focusing on coin values (pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters), solving story problems and playing games with coins. Reinforcing the coin names and values is something great to do at home as well.
Last Monday, students earned extra recess/sledding. We hope you enjoy the pictures! Have a great week!
Sunday, March 6, 2016
Weekly News for March 7th
It's hard to believe that March is upon us! It also looks like we might be getting some springtime weather later in the week. With the arrival of spring, we often have wet fields and mud. Therefore, we'd love it if you can continue to send your children with boots and shoes to change into after recess so we can keep a mud free, dry classroom. Thank you for your help with this!
Important Reminders:
Field Trip to the Flynn on March 17th - Please make sure you sign and send in your child's permission slip.
Basket Raffle and Family Dance April 1st- We appreciate any donations to our Kitchen Gadget Basket. All donations are due by March 18th. If you would like to make a donation, please click on the following link http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090844afad2a1-rainy. Money raised from this fundraiser go to classroom teachers to support academic programs. Thank you in advance for your support!
Parent-Teacher Conferences - Please be sure to sign-up for a conference time. Please click on the following link: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090844afad2a1-parentteacher4. If you do not see a date or time that works for you, please contact us and we will try to work something out. We look forward to sharing your child's progress!
In class we are continuing with our unit on Opinion writing and will be branching out into writing our opinions about the books we are reading. The children will be writing recommendations about books they have read and backing up their claims with evidence from the text. Later in the month all second graders will be responding to a writing prompt and will be scored on their writing. This is a district wide assessment given every year in March to see how students are progressing as writers.
The children continue to work with money and time during Number Corner and are also learning about 3D shapes. The students are identifying mystery shapes by exploring clues that identify the number of edges, vertices and faces a shape may have. During our Math lesson, the big focus is on place value and adding and subtracting larger numbers. I have included the link to the Bridges Support Site for parents. This web site will help you to support your child at home with their math homework and will give you a better idea of approaches that may be different from the way you were taught math in school. Please let us know if you have any questions.
Have a wonderful week ahead!
In class we are continuing with our unit on Opinion writing and will be branching out into writing our opinions about the books we are reading. The children will be writing recommendations about books they have read and backing up their claims with evidence from the text. Later in the month all second graders will be responding to a writing prompt and will be scored on their writing. This is a district wide assessment given every year in March to see how students are progressing as writers.
The children continue to work with money and time during Number Corner and are also learning about 3D shapes. The students are identifying mystery shapes by exploring clues that identify the number of edges, vertices and faces a shape may have. During our Math lesson, the big focus is on place value and adding and subtracting larger numbers. I have included the link to the Bridges Support Site for parents. This web site will help you to support your child at home with their math homework and will give you a better idea of approaches that may be different from the way you were taught math in school. Please let us know if you have any questions.
Have a wonderful week ahead!
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