February 11th-15th

This week is going to jam-packed with Valentines Day and a field trip! Please see your child's agenda for reminders on when all of these things are happening. 

Writing:

We are going to work on our fables this week. Students have picked characters, a setting, and a moral and have come up with a problem and solution that would allow their character to learn the moral. I am so excited to see their creative brains in action! Students will work on their rough draft and then edit with partner and create their final copy. 

Reading:

We are learning about a few more types of folk tales, including legends and tall tales. We have been enjoying reading so many different folk tales from around the world and look forward to this week's books! 

Math: 

Fractions are the focus this week as students continue to practice naming, identifying, and creating different fractions. Students will learn that the more pieces a whole is cut in to, the smaller the pieces will be. So it would behoove to pick a cookie that has been cut in half rather than in fourths. 

Science:

We have been learning about rocks, water, landforms, and maps and this week it is all coming together as students create their own pirate island and treasure map. They will design an island, put landforms and some sources of water on it, bury their treasure, and then create directions using cardinal and intermediate directions to lead them to it. Ahoy matey! Thar be treasure buried here! 

Reminders:

Valentines box: due February 13th

Valentines Party: February 14th from 10:00-10:45

Field Trip: February 15th- kids need a sack lunch and close-toed shoes

No school: February 18th and 19th

Mrs. Alden will be out on February 22nd- moving into our new house :-) 

February 4th-8th

Writing:
We are going to finish our travel brochures this week. Students have done a great job of picking a location that they love and writing about the four best things to do while they are there. We are working on our final copies and they will be up on the bulletin board later in the week so be sure to check out our favorite places!

Reading:
We are continuing on with our study of folk tales. Last week we covered fairy tales and had fun comparing different versions of Cinderella. Who knew that the well known fairy tale had stretched to Cinderelephant and Cinderella Skeleton? This week we will be studying fables, myths, and tall tales. We will read plenty of examples of each and learn about the characteristics that make it unique!

Math:
We are moving onto fractions this week. We will start slow with equal and unequal shares and learn about what it means to split an item into halves, fourths, eighths, and thirds. We will be making candy pizzas to help us learn about fourths. Students will be responsible for displaying their knowledge of fractions using fraction words rather than the normal fraction notation. This way, students learn more about what the words mean rather than memorizing a formula.

Science:
We are continuing with our study of maps. This week we will be labeling important places in Texas. Students will also be making a map of their bedroom. All of this is leading up to our final project, where students will be making a map of their own pirate map!

Reminders:
Picture Day: February 4th
Valentine's Party- February 14th, 10:00-10:45am
Field Trip: February 15th
No School: February 18th and 19th

January 28- February 1st

Writing:
We are going to be making a travel brochure to one of our favorite places! Students will pick a location that they love and think about the four best things to do while you are there. Then they will make a travel brochure complete with explanations of the best things to do and pictures. This weekend, talk with your child about a place they know well and love!

Reading:
We are focusing on folktales this week. Students will be immersed in all sorts of traditional literature, including folktales, fables, fairy tales, tall tales, and myths. They will compare themes found in the stories as well as the moral. This unit will last for several weeks so we will be starting small with the differences between the types of traditional literature.

Math:
We will continue practicing subtraction with regrouping this week. Students will also complete word problems and a spinner game. We are going to combine addition and subtraction and have an assessment at the end of the week.

Science:
We are going to continue with landforms this week as well as begin learning about map skills. Students will learn about a compass rose and how to map a route from one location to the next. We will also label maps of the continents and oceans, the United States, and Texas.

January 21-25th

Writing:
I hope you saw my picture of all of the snake facts we have learned because we have been busy! Students have researched with multiple sources then we organized the facts by topic. Last we decided what we wanted to do to show what we learned. So this week we will be working on our snake fact video! Students are responsible for making a poster of facts they learned and we are going to compile them into a video for you!

Reading:
We are reading a book called Akiak this week where we will discuss character traits and fact versus opinion. Students will also read a nonfiction book about sled dogs and write about the facts that they learned.

Math:
After mastering addition last week, we are ready to move into subtraction. First we will practice subtracting using a number line. Then we will move into subtracting with regrouping. This is a difficult skill and takes students a lot of practice to master. Thank you for checking in with your child at home to make they understand!

Science:
We are continuing our study of natural resources and students will think about what they can do to help everyone conserve our natural resources! Then we will move into learning about landforms. Students will identify different kinds of landforms and learn where they could find them on a map. We learned about Google Earth last week and will use it to find landforms on the globe.

Reminders:
No School on Monday. Have a good holiday!
Science Night: Wednesday, 6-8pm

January 14-18

Writing:
Last week we picked our class research topic and decided on snakes so students have been busy looking through books for facts on a snake's appearance, diet, habits, and life cycle. This week we will continue to research using sources found on the internet. Then we will organize our facts so that we can use them to create a product showing what we learned.

Reading:
Our book of the week is Snow Day by Lester Laminack. We will read the book, think about comprehension questions, and compare it to another book called Brave Irene, using a venn diagram. Students will be responsible for coming up with the lesson that the character learned in each book.

Math:
We are learning how to add two digit numbers with regrouping this week. This is an important skill and it's imperative that students learn the reasoning behind it. So we will be taking it slow with lots of practice with base-ten blocks. Then students will participate in our daily math centers with journal pages, games, and centers to practice.

Science:
We are learning about fresh water versus salt water. Students will find sources of both and learn about the percentage of each on Earth. Then students will learn about natural and man-made resources. They will name examples and uses of each.

Reminders:
Library on Friday
No School: January 21st
Science Night: January 23rd, 6-8 pm

December 17-19

Wow, we have come to the final week of the semester! Second grade is halfway done, how crazy is that? It's been a wonderful few months of learning and I am excited for the spring semester and the experiences we will have. Kids will learning about folk tales, 2 and 3 digit addition and subtraction, and multiplication and division. We will be completing a research project as a class and then they will get the chance to create their own project later in the semester. Thank you for all of your support so far and I am looking forward for the months to come!

A change that will be occurring is we will no longer have weekly spelling tests. Round Rock ISD has changed its philosophy on phonics education and has purchased a phonics curriculum for all second grade teachers. The lessons will be similar, students will be learning about different spelling patterns, contractions, high-frequency words, and vocabulary words, but there just won't be an end-of-week- test like there was this semester. The assessments will be more based on observation and application along with a few check-ins here and there. You won't see a spelling list coming home each week, but please still ask your child what pattern they learned about in class that day. Ask them to spell a few words that use that pattern and look for the pattern in the books they are reading. I am very excited about these changes and look forward to putting them into practice!

This week we are finishing up some holiday projects, including our Grinch letters and a very special gift for you! We will be taking our assessment on measurement before spending the rest of the week playing review games and activities. We will finish learning about energy while creating an energy robot that has multiple sources of sound, light, and heat energy.

Our holiday party is on Wednesday at 12:15. I hope you will come join the fun! Please also send in a wrapped book for our book exchange.

Winter Break begins on Thursday, December 20th and school resumes on January 8th.

Kids will need a new set of crayons and markers for next semester. Ours have worn out over the course of the semester. Please plan on sending in a box of each in January.  Sending in an extra box for a child who can't bring one is always appreciated.

Happy Holidays, everyone! Hopefully I'll see you next week, but if I don't, have a very restful and merry holiday.

December 10-14

Writing:
We have a little bit of work to do to finish our letters. Students have done a fantastic job of thinking of a real problem in our community or school and coming up with actionable suggestions to fix the problem. It's so exciting to see kids take an interest in bettering our community! After we finish the letters, we are writing a completely different type of letter: to the Grinch! We are going to think about how we can cheer him up this holiday season and write a letter explaining our suggestions.

Reading:
We have two more Leo Lionni books to read. Kids have been enjoying finding similarities and differences between his books. After we finish our Leo Lionni books, we will begin wrapping up the semester with a review on everything we've learned, including retelling a story, character traits, main idea, and fiction versus nonfiction.

Math:
Last week we studied the customary system of measurement and this week we are focusing on the metric system. Students will measure items in centimeters and meters. We will have a race car derby where we will measure how far the car rolled! Students will also learn about the inverse relationship between the size of the unit and the number of units needed.

Science:
We are focusing on energy. Students will learn how they can increase or decrease energy to make a change in a material. We will focus on thermal, sound, and light energy.

Reminders:
Book Fair this week!
International Festival: Thursday, 6pm. Book Fair is open late that night!