2nd Grade Update

Hello Parents,

      Progress reports are coming next week and I would like to give you all an update of what we are working on, some changes, and what you can help with at home.  Some of the key skills we have worked on over the past 4 weeks are:

READING-Sequencing, Alphabetical Order, Making Connections, Asking Questions, Summarizing, Main Idea and Details, rhyme, Fiction/Nonfiction identification, reading genres-fairy tales, rhyming fiction, fiction.

FLUENCY- Reading with "feeling," Changing tone for dialogue while reading, reading with "flow," reading a poem a week aloud with good fluency.

WRITING- Writing in complete sentences, using a question to formulate an answer, writing a story with a beginning, middle, and end, using graphic organizers for pre-writing, writing a 5 sentence paragraph, writing a heading, writing a narrative and fairy tale story, editing and publishing.  We have written 3 different paragraphs with the use of graphic organizers in class so far.

MATH- Vocabulary words- Addend, sum, difference, doubles, almost doubles, whole, parts, greater, less
than, minus, plus.
Choosing an operation based on a word problem (in all-addition, altogether-addition, how many are left?-subtraction)  Writing a number sentence using a number story, knowing basic math facts, adding doubles (4+4=8, 5+5=10, etc.), Using the "whole" number to begin a subtraction sentence (Greatest number begins the sentence 11-6=5 not 6-5=11)

SOCIAL STUDIES- Government (Vocab-taxes, mayor, governor, president, laws, government services, judge, citizen, election, vote)  The 2nd graders are learning about how local (city), state, and our countries government is run.  They have learned which title identifies leaders of the city, state, and country, what government services are provided to people who pay taxes (roads, schools, and parks), how leaders help us be safe and get along, how an election works, what can be done with tax money, and what consequences can come with breaking of laws. 

With the 5th week of school approaching, I think this class is ready for more of a challenge.  For the students who get 100% on the pretest, they will get a list of 3rd grade words to work with for the week.  I did a practice on Friday with those students, and they did a nice job of putting 21 words in alphabetical order and reading those words with ease.  They will be tested on Friday, as the other students will, so there will be 2 test sessions.  If you don't want your child to participate in the 3rd grade challenge, email me.  I will also be adding writing a 5 sentence paragraph with the vocabulary words in place of writing 5 sentences in which they must have the proper heading, a title, and INDENT!   On Weds. nights, they will use all 15 spelling words in a sentence in the correct context. Monday will remain 3x's each and Thursdays will remain comprehension questions and re-reading the weekly story.  They also take weekly timed test in which my goal is to get them to answer 25 addition and subtraction problems in 1 minute.  I started with 5, moved to 4, last week was 3, and some of them are finishing in about 2 minutes!  Once they master this, they will be given 100 and after mastering that, it is on to multiplication! 

Study Island

Study Island is now activated for all second graders.  This is an excellent at-home tool for students to read, answer comprehension questions, get writing prompts, and strengthen mathematical skills.  Your child can log into www.studyisland.com, or click the link on the side of this page to begin.  Have them type their first initial.last name@rab for their username (EXAMPLE m.morrissey@rab) and rab as their password for now.  They can change it once they log in, or keep it rab.  There are lots of games your children can play and they can do the assessments after reading each lesson.  They get a blue ribbon for each passing score, beware of them clicking until they get the correct answer.  They can get 3 wrong before 1 correct on any given question. It takes off points, but still gives them credit for answering.  Don't be fooled!  I have created a math and reading assignment for at home practicing. Happy islanding!

This Week's Homework

Weekly Homework Assignments:

Monday-

Math- Practice Page 1-7
Writing-
Reading- Spelling Words 3 times each on looseleaf (If your child gets 100% on the pretest, they do not have this homework)
Book Report Due Friday 9/30 and
Read: 15 minutes
Social Studies-
Science-
Other-

Tuesday-

Math- Practice Test Page
Writing-
Reading- Use all 5 vocabulary words in a sentence
Read 15 minutes
Social Studies-
Science-
Other- Math Test Tomorrow and Gym Clothes Tomorrow

Wednesday-

Math- No Homework/Test Today
Writing-
Reading- Skills Practice Pages 33 and 34
Social Studies-
Science-
Other-

Thursday-
Math- Practice page 2-1

Writing

Reading-  5 Comprehension questions on page 77, Re-read "The Elves and the Shoemaker"

Book Report #3 Due 9/30
Preview Spelling and Vocab words
Social Studies-
Science-
Other- Gym tomorrow

Friday-
Math- None

Writing

Reading-  Book Report #4 Due 10/7
Preview Spelling and Vocab words
Social Studies-
Science-
Other-

Spelling and Vocab Words (Week of 9/26-9/30)

Spelling- (Long a, e, i, o, and a_e, i_e, o_e, u_e patterns)
label
vine
bonus
wild
gate
huge
zero
made
spoke
use
Challenge:
basic
program
usual
finest
caper

Vocabulary:
 elves
shoemaker
 flash
 leather
 finest

Spelling and Vocabulary words for reading story: "For the Love of Our Earth"


Spelling - Long u and o (u, o, u_e and o_e patterns)

menu
nose
most
cure
joke
unit
vote
fuse
soda
mule

Challenge- comb, bugle, total, human, suppose

Vocabulary Words

dawn
engines
glows
witness
litter

This Friday

Tomorrow is our first reading and spelling test.  Next week there will be the opportunity to take the pre-test and not have to take the post test.  The new words will be put up tomorrow for next weeks reading story.  Also, the second grade teachers have decided to have a differentiated schedule for Friday's math lesson that includes a timed test, center time, etc.  This means that no math homework will be sent home on Fridays.  Please practice basic math facts with your children at home or they can play games online using the links on this blog.  Have a nice weekend!
                                                                     -Miss Morrissey

Weekly Spelling and Vocabulary Words

Our Reading Story This Week is "Because of You."  202 will have a vocabulary and comprehension test about this story on Friday.  We will read the story multiple times in class and do lots of comprehension and extension activities in whole and small groups throughout the week.  

The Spelling Words of the Week Are:

mild
care
pilot
lady
bake
time
sale
ride
able
kind
apron
final
quite
quiet
share

The Vocabulary Words of the Week Are:

feelings
share
precious
care
kind

The First Week of School

The first week of school is going great! We are doing lots of writing and are learning new procedures for our second grade classroom.  I hope to see you all at Open House on Tuesday Sept. 13 at 6:00 in the lunchroom.