January 26, 2018

Homework 

This Week's Homework due 1/29 . Reading Log and Math pages 73-74

Next Week's Homework due 2/5

• Math pages 75-76
• Read for at least 20 minutes Monday through Friday and complete the Reading Log

January 19, 2018

Ms. Thomas and Grant talk "code" during technology class this week.

There is nothing as constant as change....
It is our goal to provide your child with quality educational experiences, using current research about what is best for supporting each child's learning! As we attend workshops, conferences and other schools around the country, we gain insight into what other colleagues are doing to enrich their curriculum and how it might impact our own teaching practices. In the past few years we have critiqued our curriculum and asked ourselves "what could we do better?" This year our focus into teaching research introduced the writing skills to produce a brochure that focused on a need each child identified for an agency that served either wild or domestic animals.  Now, as we move forward to researching biographies we are going to have children identify character traits in many people we know as visionaries and/or heroes. We feel that this will provide children a clearer understanding of the qualities that impact the lives of regular human beings and result in our seeing them with greater insight.

Thank you to parents who were able to attend the 2nd/3rd grade parent coffee last week. You can view our presentation (including guiding questions for parents) and some great hero resources for parents we shared.  Please note that this year’s presentation about heroes will be more of a collaborative experience, which will emerge from the ideas and interests of the students, instead of an individual speeches experienced in the past.  This year our hero study will focus on the characteristics of heroes.  Students will choose character traits of heroes, which they will support with specific examples they find while reading about heroes’ lives.  Students will work with Emily Stone, our new Drama Specialist, who will facilitate creativity and role playing into the hero process and presentation.

Social Studies and Literacy

Our work this week focused on investigating brief biographies with a partner. The children discussed character traits they found evidenced in the lives of the people they read about. They found specific examples that demonstrated these characteristics and recorded them in their literacy journals. Ask your child; "What biographies did you explore this week? What interesting facts did you learn about these people? Which character traits did you identify and what evidence did you use to support your thinking?"

Ask your child about their learning in other areas:
Technology

Word Study
Check in with your child about what spelling rule that he/she has been practicing.

Math
We have been discussing how to find information from both pictorial and bar graphs. Today the children each made a graph to share data with their classmates.  On Monday we will discuss and compare the graphs that are posted on our cubby walls just inside the classroom door.  You are always welcome to stop in to see what we are learning about.

Kindergarten Buddies-writing stories together

Homework 

This Week's Homework due 1/22 . Reading Log and Math pages 71-72

Next Week's Homework due 1/29

• Math pages 73-74
• Read for at least 20 minutes Monday through Friday and complete the Reading Log

Update:  Patricia Polacco
We learned this week that Ms. Polacco has been going through a difficult time recently.  She has had some health challenges and lost her horse of many years and several of her smaller animals to old age.  We are going to make an effort to send her a package of cheerful letters and notes in the coming week. If your child wants to make a special picture at home they are more than welcome to bring it in to add to our larger OES gift package.

January 12, 2018

This week the children continued to explore the life and times of  Martin Luther King, Jr. 
( you are invited to search documents to share with your family The King Center Archieve)
and Rosa Parks.  They have discussed the qualities and adjectives that might be used to describe these Civil Rights leaders that we consider heroes today.  We are focused on identifying text features that provide information in different ways.  Ask your child: "What examples did you find that show that Rosa Parks was brave? What interesting facts did you learn about Rosa Parks?  What is a timeline? What does a timeline teach you about a person? Students are developing an understanding of the importance of the historical context in order to fully comprehend each hero’s story.  Next week, they will continue to work on expanding their understanding of what traits of character contribute to a person being considered a hero. They will explore the different ways in which heroes use their power for good by looking for specific evidence in biographies.

In the coming weeks we will be beginning a writing unit that focuses on using an author as a literacy mentor. The children met Patricia Polacco last year during her visit to O.E.S. Now we will focus and use her writing to inspire developing our craft with the wonderfully rich storytelling in her books. You can read more and listen about Ms. Polacco's inspiration in vignettes where she shares about the subjects of her books.
Patricia Polacco Shares Inspiration for her books

Homework 

This Week's Homework due 1/16 (Jan. 15th no school)

• Math pages 63-68

• Read for at least 20 minutes Monday through Friday and complete Reading Log

Next Week's Homework due 1/22

• Math pages 71-72
• Read for at least 20 minutes Monday through Friday and complete the Reading Log

Valentines

Second graders are getting excited about Valentine’s Day!  We are too! We will exchange valentines and have a simple party on Wednesday, February 14th. If your child wishes to exchange or make valentines, we request that they have one for every child in the class. Valentines may be exchanged with members of other classes, but should be delivered before school in order to avoid feelings of exclusion (unless there is one for each member of that class). Candy treats may also be exchanged, but we ask that they are small, individually wrapped, and meet our school’s nut free policy. Please try to include gluten-free treats so that all members of our community can enjoy! Second grade class lists are in your OES directory and can be helpful in making sure everyone gets a valentine.

January 5, 2018

Welcome back!   As we transition back into the routines of school, the children will be reviewing the expectations and routines that were in place before the winter break. Now that the children have completed their first independent research project, resulting in the brochures, we move forward to learning about people who demonstrated heroic qualities. This week, we began this next portion of our research talking about a true hero of our nation, Martin Luther King Jr.

As a class, we brainstormed and created a list about what we felt we already know about this important hero.
What we  think we already know about Martin Luther King, Jr.?

• ·      He was a very good person. Someone sadly shot him with a gun and he was buried on MLK Blvd.
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• ·      He started the march on Washington.
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• ·      His house got bombed.
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• ·      His grave was made in 500 graveyards.
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• ·      When he was doing the march to Washington, people were sent to help them (protect them).
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• ·      He believed that dark skinned and white skinned people could be together.
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• ·      He had a friend that was white and he was dark and his friend’s mom said they couldn’t be friends anymore because of their skin color.
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• ·      MLK changed that black people could go to white people’s school.
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• ·      He had 2 daughters and a wife.
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• ·      He went to jail a bunch.
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• ·      He changed the world.
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• ·      He also helped change by helping black people to go to white people’s schools.
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• ·      He was buried in a coffin.
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• ·      He saved the black lives (the black people were slaves to white people).
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• ·      His dad was named Martin Luther King.
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• ·      He skipped grades in his school.
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• ·      When he was buried in his coffin, everyone who helped him in the march-gathered in his memory.

Students applied the reading strategy “tuning into interesting vocabulary” and generated some new and interesting words to explore as they learn more about Civil Rights. We will continue to explore biographies and look specifically at their text features i.e. timelines, photographs, bold headings, fact boxes, etc.  

Ask your child: "What interesting facts did you learn after reading a biography, with a partner, about Martin Luther King, Jr.?"

The children enjoyed renewing friendships and collaborating during Free Choice activities to end our shortened school week.

Homework

We have returned to our regular homework routine.  Please note that we have increased the number of minutes of reading per night to 20.  

Homework due: 1/8

• Math: pages 59-60 and Reading Log

Next Week'sHomework due 1/16 (Jan. 15th no school)

• Math pages 63-68

• Read for at least 20 minutes Monday through Friday and complete Reading Log

Homework Expectations

As we progress through the school year, expectations for students gradually increase. Now that second graders have had several months to practice their homework routine, we are encouraging students to turn in homework more completely, punctually and independently.  To help students understand the importance of responsibility and accountability, I will continue to ask those who have not turned in homework on time or turned in incomplete work (including forgetting their name) to complete a “make-up assignment” during their weekly free choice time.  Once they have completed their work they may join the rest of the class for the free choice time.  If there is a circumstance that prevents your child from turning homework in on time, please send a note.  Thank you for your support.

You can support your child at home by:

• Establishing a routine for when and where homework is completed – this includes making sure the homework folder “travels” home and back to school in the backpack
• Encouraging your child to try all homework assignments independently
• Sitting together and discussing the assignment (this is especially beneficial in building language to explain mathematical thinking)
• Checking together for completeness, neatness, and accuracy – Ask your child: Is this your personal best work?
• Offering your child specific praise for work

Weather

Please be sure your child comes to school with a heavy coat with a hood or a hat, and gloves.  Children will be spending their 15-30 minutes of recess (three times per day!) in these temperatures and we want to be sure they are protected.