Weeks of Oct. 9 & 16

Dear Parents –

I hope you had a great weekend.  We’re coming up on two shortened weeks, so this update will cover the next two weeks.  Please expect the next update to be for the week of Oct. 23. 

Here’s a peek at the next two weeks:

Monday, Oct. 9 – No School; Parent-Teacher Conferences

Tuesday, Oct. 10 – No School; Parent-Teacher Conferences

Wednesday, Oct. 11 (Day 5) – Library and World Language

Thursday, Oct. 12 (Day 6) – Music and PE

Friday, Oct. 13 (Day 1) – Art and World Language

Monday, Oct. 16 (Day 2) – Music and PE

Tuesday, Oct. 17 (Day 3) – World Language

Wednesday, Oct. 18 – No School; October Break begins

If your travel plans require your child to miss school, please let me know as this will help with planning our lessons over the next two weeks. 

Reader’s Workshop

We’ll spend the next two weeks introducing students to our second reading unit:  Building Better Readers.  This unit focuses on the important foundational reading skills of fluency, literary language, and maneuvering tricky texts.  We will begin by working on reading punctuation, adding tone and making sure students understand pace. 

Writer’s Workshop

This week we also begin our next writing unit:  Lab Reports and Science Writing.  This unit will give students an opportunity to explore scientific procedural writing using the scientific method as a framework to help them elaborate each part of the scientific process.  The unit begins with an introduction to how-to writing, where students will be asked to think about something that they know how to do, and to write a text to teach others how to do it.

Social Studies

Our social studies unit on Communities is coming to an end and students are busy completing their assessment where they were asked to create a community and think about various aspects of their community, such as leadership, rules and laws, citizenship, goods and services, and interdependence.  Students will have an opportunity to share their projects with their peers. 

Science

We are also beginning our first science unit:  Changes in Matter.   In this unit we will explore properties of solids, liquids, and gases, and the differences between chemical and physical changes.  We’ll spend a few days before break tuning into our unit with simple demonstrations to help students think like a scientist and introduce them to the scientific method.  Students will also be introduced to our science labs to learn about how to use the space and the equipment safely while they conduct their experiments. 

Math

This week we start our second math unit:  Becoming Fluent with Addition and Subtraction.  During this unit students will learn how addition and subtraction are related, and learn strategies for solving two-digit addition and subtraction problems.  Our unit begins with a review of problem solving strategies and vocabulary.  The emphasis during these first few days will be on how to identify the operation needed to solve a story problem, and how to adequately explain our thinking.  In grade 2, students are expected to solve story problems by using a picture, equation and answer, which includes a number and label.  It is important for students to continue practicing their basic addition and subtraction facts to help them become more successful solving two-digit addition and subtraction problems encountered in this unit. 

Dinner Questions

What was the best part of our parent-teacher conference?  Why?

Tell me about one of your lessons with Mrs. Wright.

What is your favorite app to use in class?  Why?  How do you use it?