April 28- May 2nd

Reading and Writing

This week students will be a working on descriptive writing by making their very own Angry Bird! They will work hard to plan out what their bird will look like, create it with the help of a toilet paper roll, and then write about their birds leaving out those “boring” words and adding powerful words instead!

While reading a selection of Mother’s Day books we’ll begin working on our Mother’s Day projects.

During the next few weeks we’ll assess the reading progress on each child.  This assessment is done at the beginning of the year and again at the end of the year.  It is always so exciting to see their growth!

Spelling

We will practice our words throughout the week and check for understanding on Friday.  

Math

We are beginning a new unit on multiplication this week! We will look at different situations and see how multiplication can help us. If a mushroom has 3 groups of 4 spots, how many spots does it have? If you give a cat 4 cupcakes with 5 sprinkles each, how many sprinkles does he have? We will also learn about arrays and practice using them to help us solve different problems.  

Science

This week in science the students will identify factors in the environment, including temperature and precipitation, that affect growth and behavior such as migration, hibernation, and dormancy of living things.  We’ll discuss temperature and how it affects the behavior of living things.  Do you think the warmer the temperature the more active the animals are?  We’ll investigate the Mexican jumping beans and find out!

Reminders

• No life journals this week
• Field day is on Friday, May 2nd

****There will be stations where your child will get wet so please provide a towel and change of clothes.

• Spelling check on Friday
• Library day is Thursday
• Early Release Day: May 7th

April 21-25

Reading and Writing

This week is quite exciting as we wrap up our final drafts and products of our research and start presenting! Not only will students have the opportunity to score their peers research, but they will also score themselves on being a great audience member as they listen to each presenter. On Friday, each class will have a chance to explore and learn from all the second graders hard work by bouncing from classroom to classroom to view their products!

Spelling

We will practice our words throughout the week and check for understanding on Friday.  

Math

The Easter Bunny will be hopping into 2nd grade as we review everything we’ve learned with some bunny-themed math stations. At the end of the week, we will play a fun basketball game where correct answers get us closer to the hoop! After a week of review, we will be ready to start a new unit on multiplication and division.

Science

This week in science, students will compare and contrast the life cycles of grasshoppers and butterflies.  We will discuss living and nonliving things and their basic needs.  We’ll have fun investigating what type of food a beetle prefers to eat and discuss why beetles eat certain foods.  We will go on an online treasure hunt where students can explore what animals need.

Reminders

• STAAR testing on April 22-24: no volunteers on campus, please!
• Life Journals due Friday
• Spelling check on Friday
• Library day is Thursday

April 14-18

Reading and Writing

Students learned and gathered some interesting and important information on their animals last week. This week they’ll look at the notes that they took and get rid of useless facts and pick out the important ones. After much planning, students will start their research writing and products this week! We will continue practicing our reading skills in groups with some passages about insects!

Spelling

We will practice our words throughout the week and check for understanding on Friday.  

Math

We will be wrapping up measurement with a review on Monday and an assessment over everything we have learned on Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday will be spent completing the RRISD Curriculum Based Assessments (CBA). While this test isn’t the STAAR, we encourage every child to get a good night’s rest and eat breakfast that morning so that they can do their best!

Science

This week in science we’re learning about life cycles.  Students will be given opportunities to observe and record the different stages in the life cycles of a variety of insects.  Students will observe and describe the life stages of a mosquito, butterfly and mealworm.  We will get to grow our own mealworms and watch them throughout our science unit!  At the end of the week, we’ll move into other animals and their characteristics.  Students will be introduced to the friendly reptiles from Austin Reptile Shows! on Thursday.  They will get an up-close experience with many of these misunderstood and curious creatures!  

Reminders

• No school on Friday, April 18th
• Life Journals due Friday
• Spelling check on Friday
• Library day is Thursday

April 7-11

Reading

We are starting our animal research this week! We’ll be discussing research steps and setting research expectations for ourselves. Throughout the week we will be gaining and organizing information by taking notes on our topic. Students will be looking at nonfiction texts and using Pebble Go to find out all they need to know about their animal.

Writing

We are working on dictionary skills this week.  We will learn about guide words, alphabetical order, and parts of speech that are in a dictionary.  The Passports we create will be full of fun destinations!  Our writing focuses on animal research.  We will begin the independent research process with setting goals and taking notes from a variety of sources.   

Spelling

We will practice our words throughout the week and check for understanding on Friday.  

Math

We are continuing with measurement this week, but changing our focus to area. We will practice building different areas with Cheez-it crackers, calculate the area of our names, and build a robot! We will learn that shapes that look very different can have the same area.

Science

This week in science we’re going to explore the different characteristics of plants and how they help the plant thrive and survive.  We’ll discuss how some plants are similar and some are different. Students will investigate which type of soil helps the plants grow the tallest.  We will plant seeds in different types of soil, record and draw their growth.  We’ll have a fun learning lab where students will investigate how stems carry water throughout the plant.  Plant parts and their functions will be explored and we’ll discuss why it’s important for each part to have it’s job for the plant to survive.

Reminders

• Library day is Thursday

• Life Journals due Friday
• Spelling check on Friday
• No school on Friday, April 18th