September 3-6

Hi Parents,

We have had a great week of getting to know each other and the routines of Second Grade! Now we are ready to dive into learning.

Reading

In reading we are starting to build the framework for Daily 5. This week we will spend time learning how to pick just-right books and different ways to read a book. Our goals is to become  independent readers as we practice reading to ourselves. We are building our stamina and will be pro-readers in no time!

Writing

In writing we will be reviewing sentences in a fun way.  We will learn  what makes a sentence by  focusing on complete thoughts, capitalization, and correct punctuation.  We will be using our knowledge to make  up funny sentences to write a short comic strip. At the end of the week we will be able to jump into Writing Workshop with full sentences!

Math

We will be working on telling time this week.   Starting by estimating how long common tasks take, a second, minute or hour, we will then move on to telling time to the hour, half hour, quarter hour, and 5 minute intervals on a digital and analog clock.  We’ll discuss the difference between the minute and hour hand and complete a flipbook of time.  At the end of the week, we will race against the clock and work on some problem solving skills with telling time.

Spelling

This week we will take a short spelling inventory that will guide our spelling instruction for the year.  In second grade we use the program Words Their Way, and we focus on sorting words by focusing on  a spelling pattern.  We will go over our spelling in more detail at Open House, and our first set of spelling words will come home the following  week.

Social Studies

This week we will discuss the significance of ethnic and cultural celebrations in our city, state, and nation. We will also be learning about landmarks, and how stories, poems, and paintings can reflect local cultural heritage.

Reminders:

• Agendas will start coming home this week. Please record your child’s reading minutes and initial in the appropriate box. Send these back to school each day.
• Open House is September 9th. Be sure to check back for times.
• Looking ahead: We have an early release day on September 25th. School will end at 12:45. Buses will run normally.