Language Arts/Social Studies
This week the students worked hard on their biography research and writing. They will each write a book about their person. We have read lots of biographies in class and have noticed the different text features that authors use to teach others a lot about the person they are writing about. Another skill required by this assignment is to determine important facts about the topic being studied. We have used different graphic organizers to help us do that. Talking about your writing can help make it even better. Hopefully your child can teach you a lot about their person by telling you all about them.
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| Double Bubble Map
Determining importance can be challenging for seven- and eight-year olds who don’t yet understand the historical context of the person they are studying. This provides lots of opportunities for great discussions about what life was like in different time periods.
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Math
We continue to work on our skills and knowledge associated with measurement. We have covered U.S. Customary (inch, foot, yard) and Metric (centimeter, meter) and how to measure accurately. We also worked on fact fluency this week. At this point in the year we hope that second graders are fluent with all addition facts within 20 and the subtraction facts that are on the “easier” side. I think most students have a good idea of what they need to be working on. If you work on this at home, the best thing you can do is first work with ten-grid cards and listen to your child describe how they solve the problems. For example, if the cards are 7 and 4 your child might say something like, “I thought about 7 + 3 = 10, and I knew it was one more, 11.” Most students can also articulate what fact strategy the different combinations are (in the previous example, it is a “near friendly ten”).
The goal with the math homework so far this year has been to have kids get lots of experience with the ten-grid cards so they have the visual in their brain as they become more fluent with the facts. If your child cannot verbalize an efficient strategy, they should not be timed or be concerned about how automatic they are with the facts. The “making meaning” and understanding the relationships between numbers are crucial.
I love talking about all of this, so if it doesn’t make sense please reach out. If you
are unsure of the fact strategies, look for that information on the blog. https://2cwray.blogspot.com/ Similar to what I presented at the Parent Information meeting, I have an explanation of the fact strategies.
I met individually with about two-thirds of the class this week to get a sense of where they are with fact fluency. Some students said they didn’t know where their ten-grid cards were at home. We made more copies and sent them home with those students.
As is expected there is a wide range of fluency in second grade. Some students are fluent with both addition and subtraction facts within 20, some are not fluent with either. We can all only be where we are and move forward from there. The work in second grade is foundational. I appreciate anything you can do to make math fun with the ten-grid cards. For students who are already fluent with math facts, whatever math is interesting to them is fine for homework.
In the folders
One paper you will find is a math word problem we did this past week. As a class we are making great progress with showing our work two ways and making sure someone else can understand our math thinking.
The “Make a Plate” form is also in the folder
There is also a pamphlet about Lice. As you may or may not know we have had an ongoing problem with lice in our classroom. Yesterday, the nurse checked almost everyone in the class. If she found anything, she emailed you. If you have any questions please feel free to reach out. If you want your child checked on Monday (because we didn’t get to them Friday), just let me know that as well.
I’m looking forward to meeting with you all for conferences.
From the Rays of Sunshine…HAVEN HELPERS!
For the month of March: Mrs. McCoy, Mrs. Monmaney, Mrs. Clarkson, Mrs. Whaley. Mrs. Vashel and Mrs. Wachsman will be our Buddy Classroom collectors. The requested item are heart healthy BEANS!
Dates for your calendar…
3/9 – Monday: School Closed – Teacher In-service
3/10 – Tuesday: Make A Plate @ 2:45pm
3/11 – International Pot Luck @ 5pm
3/11 – Math Night @ 5:30
3/11 – Hanover School Board meeting @ 7pm
3/17 – Noon Release/Conferences
This is possibly the link to the sign-up. There is only one slot left, just email me if it doesn’t work for anyone not signed up yet.
3/18 - Conferences
3/19 – Noon Release/Conferences
5/29 – Friday, Colonial Day
Best,
Caren
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