October 28- November 1

Hi Parents,

Reading

Our book reports are finished and now we are ready to share our hard work. We will spend a few days presenting our book reports and pumpkin characters! Please have your child bring his or her pumpkin to school on Monday so we will be ready to present! Pumpkins will go home on Halloween.

On Friday we will be starting a unit on nonfiction texts. If you go to Barnes and Noble or the library with your child, this would be a great week to to check out a few nonfiction books!  

Writing

We will focus on the season this week with fun and relevant to second grader writing.  We will write a pro and con list of the reasons for eating candy, we will complete and share Frankenstein stories and we will write about what we did for Halloween.  We will also do some fun ABC sorting exercises and word work practice.  This is a fun week, and we will stay busy with lots of exciting writing to keep us focused at school!

Spelling

Our spelling words focus on words with beginning sh-, ch-, and th- sounds. Words will go home on Monday and we will check our learning on Friday.  Remember that we are not trying to memorize our word lists, but practicing the spelling pattern.  If you cut out and sort the home lists and brainstorm other words that fit the pattern together, then your child should do great on their surprise words by applying what they learned.

Math

We’re beginning a new unit on money this week.  We will introduce pennies, nickels and dimes. Counting coins by 1s for pennies, by 5s for nickels and 10s for dimes will be reviewed.  Then we will challenge students to begin counting collections of coins and teach them strategies for money problem solving.  Students will share out strategies for counting with their class. Money games will be played to help reinforce coin recognition and adding up the values.  At the end of the week, we will have a Halloween Math Stations Lab where we’ll be incorporating our Math TEKS with money, patterns, adding, subtracting, counting and reasonableness.  Here is the link to sign up to help with our fun day: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0D4EA8AF229-halloween/341045

Social Studies

We will be finishing up our class candy election activity and continue to discuss the voting and election process this week. We will also discuss the importance of voting and how citizens can participate in their own governance through staying informed of what public officials are doing and by volunteering in government functions. We will take an assessment over all that we have learned at the end of the week.  

Reminders:

• Life journals are due on Friday.
• Library day is Thursday.
• October 30, 2013    Early Release

October 21-25

Hi Parents,

Reading

Trick-or-treat! We are getting into the spirit of Halloween with our Trick-or-treat book reports. We are going to pick out the setting, characters, problem, climax, and solution of our book and turn it into a book report that looks good enough to eat. Please make sure your child brings his or her book to school by Monday the 21st!

Pumpkin characters are due October 28th!

Writing

Fall is here and pumpkin descriptive writing is on the way! We will be creating a paper pumpkin in class and then writing about the process using descriptive adjectives. This fun writing assignment will allow our students to have a creative outlet and stretch their imagination in a fun way! Come by and check them out when we are done!

Spelling

Our spelling words focus on words with ng and nk as in string and junk.. Words will go home on Monday and we will check our learning on Friday.  

Math

This is the last week for addition and subtraction facts to 20.  We will be mixing it up with both addition and subtraction.  Each day we will have a subtraction quick check with math facts where you will see how quickly you can answer them.  These are not timed tests, but we want each student to be practicing their math facts recall and try to increase their math fluency.  We’ll have fun problem solving with some Jeopardy games that have several different math fact categories.  We will review at the the end of the week and assess on Friday.  Math facts knowledge is an ongoing skill that needs to be practiced just like reading.  Please continue to work on these skills at home throughout the year.

Please continue to practice math facts at home through games on IXL, decks of cards, dominoes or flashcards.  Students should have a 6 second recall for math facts.

Social Studies

As we continue our government unit, students will learn about the president and compare his role to the roles of the public officials we discussed last week. Students will then understand how these officials are selected. Towards the end of the week, we will talk about  the election and voting process. Students will have the opportunity to participate in our very own class candy bar election!

Reminders:

• Life journals are due on Friday.
• Library day is Thursday.
• October 21-25 Red Ribbon Week

Monday:  “Sock it to Drugs” day – wear crazy or mismatched socks

Tuesday:  “Stomp out Drugs” day - wear tennis shoes

Wednesday: “Boot out Drugs” day – wear boots or western wear

Thursday:  “Pledge to be Drug Free” day - wear red, white and blue

Friday:  “Say BOO to Drugs” day – wear Halloween colors or t-shirt

• October 23, 2013    Caraway PTA Family Skate Night 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Playland Skate Center

• October 30, 2013    Early Release

October 14-18

Hi Parents,

Reading

This week will be a review of all of the reading skills we have learned. During Daily 5, we will use our toolkits to flag spots where we had questions and made connections. We will continue to practice making predictions and inferences while reading.

Be sure to look in this week’s Tuesday folder for a note about our Trick or Treat book reports. Please sign the form and return it by Friday. We will begin using the books on Monday the 21st.

Writing

Bam! Wham! Pow! This week your child will be creating their own super hero action story!  We will be using all the knowledge we have about verbs to create vivid verb action in our stories.  We will read superhero stories and comic strips to model our stories after.  These are fun stories that will fit perfectly with our four day school week. Please come by to see our action packed stories in the hall once we are all done!  

Spelling

Our spelling words focus on silent e endings. Words will go home on Tuesday and we will check our learning on Friday. Due to the short week everyone will be on the same list.

Math

Subtraction problem solving will be our focus this week.  We’ll discuss strategies to help figure out when to subtract and what to look for in a problem.  We’ll use fun math games to help enforce math facts and play subtraction BINGO.  Racing cars has never been more fun when we solve word problems and when we get them correct our cars speed to the finish line!  On your mark, get set, SUBTRACT!

Here are some fun games you can play at home to increase math facts knowledge:

• Dice game:  Roll the dice and add the dots together or subtract one number from the other.
• You can use dominoes to add, subtract, greater than, less than, or equal to, and multiplication.

• Flash Cards; every child should have a set to improve math fluency.  Use index cards to make them or many stores have them for a reasonable price.
• Addition, subtraction, and multiplication boards with dry erase markers. Have them time themselves to make it a game.
• Playing cards games:

1. Find the missing numbers game-  Need 2 players and a referee.  The referee gives each player a card without them looking at it and they place it on their forehead facing their opponent.  Their opponent and the referee can see the other player’s card.  The ref mentally adds the cards and says, “The sum is _____”. The players have to look at their opponent’s card and figure out what card is on their own forehead, then say it first aloud.
2. Addition Attack game-Two players divide the deck of cards in half.  Then each player pulls a card and lays it down for the other to see.  They quickly add the numbers and the first one to add the two cards and say the sum aloud gets to take the cards and keep.  The person with the most cards at the end of the game wins.

Please continue to practice math facts at home through games on IXL, decks of cards, dominoes or flashcards.  Students should have a 6 second recall for math facts.

Social Studies

This week in Social Studies, we will be starting our government unit. Students will understand the functions of government. They will also be identifying governmental services in the community such as police and fire protection, libraries, schools, etc. Students will learn about our current mayor and governor and their duties in our local community and state.

Reminders:

• Life journals are due on Friday.
• Library day is Thursday.
• October 14, 2013    No School (student holiday)
• October 18, 2013    Annual "HOOT" Caraway Picnic 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. @ Caraway Elementary by the school playground
• October 21-25 Red Ribbon Week

Monday:  “Sock it to Drugs” day – wear crazy or mismatched socks

Tuesday:  “Stomp out Drugs” day - wear tennis shoes

Wednesday: “Boot out Drugs” day – wear boots or western wear

Thursday:  “Pledge to be Drug Free” day - wear red, white and blue

Friday:  “Say BOO to Drugs” day – wear Halloween colors or t-shirt

• October 23, 2013    Caraway PTA Family Skate Night 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Playland Skate Center
• October 30, 2013    Early Release

October 7-11

Hi Parents,

Reading

Put on your hardhats, we are getting out our Reader’s Toolkits! We will be making toolkits to help us remember strategies for becoming a stronger reader. Going into our toolkit is the skill of asking questions. As good readers we want to ask ourselves questions to help us understand what we are reading. We will be thinking of questions to ask before, during, and after reading. Help support this skill at home: ask your child if they are wondering anything when reading. Have their questions been answered or do they need more information?

Writing

We continue to work on launching Writing Workshop by Lucy Calkins.  This week we are working on real world uses for writing like letters and lists.  We will talk about why each of these types of writing is useful, and then your child will generate several lists and letters.  We will also be introducing verbs by doing some fun movement and games. Next week we will continue with verb types and tenses.

Spelling

Our spelling words focus on end blend sounds as in sand, wept, and gulf. Words will go home on Monday and we will check our learning on Friday.

Math

We’re continuing with addition math facts to 20 this week.  We’re learning great strategies to help us find the sums by seeing how if you know your doubles facts, then you know your “Near Doubles” facts too!  A fun game to practice these facts will be playing “Slides and Ladders”.  Making 10 is another addition strategy that will increase our math fluency and help you solve these problems. At the end of the week, we’ll begin subtraction and use addition facts to help us solve subtraction.

Here are some fun games you can play at home to increase math facts knowledge:

• Dice game:  Roll the dice and add the dots together or subtract one number from the other.
• You can use dominoes to add, subtract, greater than, less than, or equal to, and multiplication.

• Flash Cards; every child should have a set to improve math fluency.  Use index cards to make them or many stores have them for a reasonable price.
• Addition, subtraction, and multiplication boards with dry erase markers. Have them time themselves to make it a game.
• Playing cards games:

1. Find the missing numbers game-  Need 2 players and a referee.  The referee gives each player a card without them looking at it and they place it on their forehead facing their opponent.  Their opponent and the referee can see the other player’s card.  The ref mentally adds the cards and says, “The sum is _____”. The players have to look at their opponent’s card and figure out what card is on their own forehead, then say it first aloud.
2. Addition Attack game-Two players divide the deck of cards in half.  Then each player pulls a card and lays it down for the other to see.  They quickly add the numbers and the first one to add the two cards and say the sum aloud gets to take the cards and keep.  The person with the most cards at the end of the game wins.

Please continue to practice math facts at home through games on IXL, decks of cards, dominoes or flashcards.  Students should have a 6 second recall for math facts.

Science

This week we will be continuing our matter unit. We will read Bartholomew and the Oobleck and then make some oobleck of our own! Students will learn about the physical and chemical properties of matter. We will end the week with a review and assessment.  

Reminders:

• Please remember that it is unsafe and now illegal to talk or text on your cell phones while you are driving in a school zone.
• Life journals are due on Friday.
• Library day is Thursday.
• October 9, 2013      International Bike & Walk to School Day
• October 10, 2013    Caraway PTA Science Night 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. @ Caraway Elementary
• October 14, 2013    No School (student holiday)
• October 18, 2013    Annual "HOOT" Caraway Picnic 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. @ Caraway Elementary by the school playground
• October 23, 2013    Caraway PTA Family Skate Night 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Playland Skate Center
• October 30, 2013    Early Release

Here are some pictures from our Domino Math lesson on Wednesday:

Here is our new Second Grade assistant: Ms. Greer! She will be helping out in all of the second grade classes!

Here are some pictures from our science experiment: Penny Boats!

We wanted to experiment with different boat shapes to see which shape could hold the most pennies before sinking. The record was 21 pennies!!