Happy December!

        Your kids did a beautiful job at both concerts on Friday (for the school and then for families).

We completed our Seed Experiment in science.  We measured the height of our plants and wrote down questions we have that we might want to research further.

This past week we read, Ira Sleeps Over as a whole class and then filled out a worksheet with the retell rope and some comprehension questions.  Then we did a “fish bowl” book club.  Four volunteers discussed the book while the rest of us watched and thought about the guidelines we set up for successful book clubs.  They did a great job.  Now everyone has a holiday book to read (one of 4 different books).  When students finish the preparation for these book clubs, they will meet with their group to have a discussion about the books.  The Ira Sleeps Over book club prep papers are in the folders.  That paper will give you an idea of the comprehension skills we work on in second grade.  How characters respond to a challenge and figuring out the author's message are examples.

         In math we have started our unit on money.  Second graders are expected be able to identify and know the value of quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies.  They made Venn Diagrams to compare pennies to dimes and nickels to quarters.  One of the hardest parts of showing what you know about coins is being able to identify the coins on paper.  Any extra practice at home with coins would be great.  I will have a new “game” involving money for the homework logs on Monday.

         Finally, this week we read about and watched some videos about Beatrice Biira.  She grew up in Uganda and was not able to go to school until she was 10 years old.  Receiving a goat from Heifer International enabled her family to make enough money for her to buy a school uniform and books (thus making it possible for her to go to school).  One of the videos we watched is called, “First World Problems.”  It’s a funny rap song about the kinds of things we have the luxury of complaining about when we are not worried about where our next meal will come from or whether we have enough money for our children to go to school.  I plan to talk with the kids about doing a collection for Heifer International.  It’s great if the money donated is actually the child’s money.  You’ll hear more from your child next week.

Upcoming dates:

Class Holiday Special Snack, Thursday, December 19^th, 1:00 pm

(Room parents will be in contact about volunteers for food)

Winter Break December 21-Jan 5, first day back Jan 6th       

Best,

Caren