Week of: November 1st

 Upcoming Dates:

Nov. 2:  Institute Day - No School for Students

Nov. 24-26: Thanksgiving Break - No School

Dec. 10: Report cards go home today.

Dec. 19-Jan. 3 - Winter Break (school resumes 1/4)

*Italics are repeated from last week's blog.

Reading: This week we will continue our reading unit: "Becoming Experts-Reading Nonfiction. In this unit the kids will be learning how learn from, and enjoy, a nonfiction text.  This week we will learn that using vocabulary is an important part of growing knowledge from a nonfiction book.  We will also learn to use text features and keywords. 

Writing: We will continue our writing unit this week: "The How-To Guide for Nonfiction Writing". The kids will learn to write informational books to teach their readers about something they know well.  We will learn that nonfiction writers add more by asking themselves: "What else could I say?". We will also talk about goal-setting and planning. 

Math:  This week we will continue our work with Module 3: "Place Value, Counting, and Comparison of Numbers to 1,000". In this unit the kids will learn all about place value as well and composing and decomposing numbers.  It will set the foundation for adding and subtracting larger numbers later on in the school year. This week we will learn to count the total value of $1, $10, $100 bills up to $1,000. We will also learn to use a hundred's chart and an empty number line to skip count using different units. 

Social Studies:  We will continue our learning about having a growth mindset all year long.  However, this week we will be learning about the three different types of communities: urban, suburban, and rural. We focused on "urban" and "suburban" communities last week and this week we will learn about "rural" communities. We have also continued to learn the locations of the 50 states.  This past week we added three more states: TX, ME, and FL (the "three corners" of Chef MIMAL's kitchen).

Week of: October 25th

 Upcoming Dates:

Oct. 26: Picture Day 

Oct. 29: Halloween Parade at 1:30
Nov. 2:  Institute Day - No School for Students

Nov. 24-26: Thanksgiving Break - No School

Dec. 10: Report cards go home today.

Dec. 19-Jan. 3 - Winter Break (school resumes 1/4)

*Italics are repeated from last week's blog.

Reading: This week we will start a new reading unit: "Becoming Experts-Reading Nonfiction. In this unit the kids will be learning how learn from, and enjoy, a nonfiction text.  This week we will learn that nonfiction readers pay attention to the details and put those details together to really understand a topic. We will also learn that sometimes readers have to ask questions to learn more, two of those questions being: "What is this book teaching me?" and "How does this book go?". 

Writing: We will also be starting a new writing unit this week: "The How-To Guide for Nonfiction Writing". The kids will learn to write informational books to teach their readers about something they know well.  We will start the unit by showing what we already know about nonfiction writing from kindergarten and first grade.  Then we will lean that nonfiction writers pay attention to published writers and notice what they have done in their books.  Then we think, "I can try this, too!". 

Math:  This week we will continue our work with Module 3: "Place Value, Counting, and Comparison of Numbers to 1,000". In this unit the kids will learn all about place value as well and composing and decomposing numbers.  It will set the foundation for adding and subtracting larger numbers later on in the school year. This week we will learn to write numbers in three different ways: unit form, expanded form, and word form. We will also do a special pumpkin-carving lesson and use our place value skills to count and bundle the seeds! :) 

Social Studies:  We will continue our learning about having a growth mindset all year long.  However, this week we will be learning about the three different types of communities: urban, suburban, and rural. We have also continued to learn the locations of the 50 states.  This past week we reviewed all of the states that we have learned so far.

Week of: October 12th

 Upcoming Dates:

Oct. 11 - Indigenous Peoples' Day - No School
Oct. 18-22 - Parent/Teacher Conference Week - Early Dismissal on Thursday and Friday (11:00)

Oct. 26 and 27 - Picture Day (I will let you know what day is for 2nd grade asap.)
Nov. 2 - Institute Day - No School for Students

Nov. 24-26 - Thanksgiving Break - No School

*Italics are repeated from last week's blog.

Reading: This week we will continue with the first unit in our reading curriculum, Lucy Calkins Reading Units of Study.  The first unit is called, "Second-Grade Reading Growth Spurt".  This week we will learn that readers pay attention to author's craft and intentions. We will also notice how all the parts of the story work together.  We will work on figuring out what the author may have wanted us to learn from the story (aka: the moral of the story). 

Writing: We will also be continuing our first unit in our writing curriculum, Lucy Calkins Writing Units of Study.  The first unit is called, "Lessons from the Masters: Improving Narrative Writing". This is a narrative writing unit where students will writing about small moments from their own lives.  This week will will learn to craft powerful introductions for our stories.  We will also work on editing not only for conventions, but for using more precise and descriptive language. 

Math:  This week we continue will start a new math module, Module 3: "Place Value, Counting, and Comparison of Numbers to 1,000". In this unit the kids will learn all about place value as well and composing and decomposing numbers.  It will set the foundation for adding and subtracting larger numbers later on in the school year. This week we will bundle and count ones, tens, and hundreds to 1,000. We will also count up and down between 90 and 1,000 by ones, tens, and hundreds. 

Social Studies:  Our first unit in social studies will focus on building classroom community and building a growth mindset.  Both of which will help us to have a successful year in second grade! This week we will continue to focus on one of the 5 habits that help with having a growth mindset and those are: Empathy, Flexibility, Persistence, Resilience, and Optimism. We will most likely focus on one or two words per week! This week our focus will be on "Optimism".  We have also continued to learn the locations of the 50 states.  This past week we reviewed these new states: MI and WI.  Ask your child about the "mitten and the scarf" as well as the "wire whisk".

Week of: October 4th

 Upcoming Dates:

Oct. 5 - Colombian Dance Assembly (in school-through Zoom)

Oct. 6 - Walk to School Day!

Oct. 11 - Indigenous Peoples' Day - No School
Oct. 18-22 - Parent/Teacher Conference Week - Early Dismissal on Thursday and Friday (11:00)

Oct. 26 and 27 - Picture Day (I will let you know what day is for 2nd grade asap.)
Nov. 2 - Institute Day - No School for Students

Nov. 24-26 - Thanksgiving Break - No School

*Italics are repeated from last week's blog.

Reading: This week we will continue with the first unit in our reading curriculum, Lucy Calkins Reading Units of Study.  The first unit is called, "Second-Grade Reading Growth Spurt".  This week we will learn that readers pay attention to author's craft and intentions. We will also notice how all the parts of the story work together.  We will work on figuring out what the author may have wanted us to learn from the story (aka: the moral of the story). 

Writing: We will also be continuing our first unit in our writing curriculum, Lucy Calkins Writing Units of Study.  The first unit is called, "Lessons from the Masters: Improving Narrative Writing". This is a narrative writing unit where students will writing about small moments from their own lives. We will learn that writers get stronger by looking at their writing, making plans, and setting goals.  We will also learn that writers revise on the go and keep their audience in mind at all times.

Math:  This week we continue with our work in Module 2, "Addition and Subtraction of Length Units".  This is a measurement unit that focuses on centimeters and meters. This week we will use string to measure lines and items that are not straight.  We will also learn to use tape diagrams to compare the lengths of two objects. Finally, we will work on solving two-step word problems involving length. We will finish up this math module on measurement, ending the week with an end-of-the-unit assessment.

Social Studies:  Our first unit in social studies will focus on building classroom community and building a growth mindset.  Both of which will help us to have a successful year in second grade! This week we will continue to focus on one of the 5 habits that help with having a growth mindset and those are: Empathy, Flexibility, Persistence, Resilience, and Optimism. We will most likely focus on one or two words per week! This week our focus will be on "Resilience".  We have also continued to learn the locations of the 50 states.  This past week we reviewed these new states: IL, IN, and OH.  Ask your child what happened with Chef MIMAL got an upset stomach and how that can help us remember these new states (warning....it's gross!).