2nd Grade News & Notes

October 27, 2017

Dear Second Grade Families!

What a great few weeks we’ve had! We have had such nice weather we have been able to get out a few times a day. The rain did catch up to us Thursday though! I had jury duty again this past Monday and will be out one more day, November 6 for a jury selection day. Once that is done, my name is out of the pool for a few years!

As I’m sure you’re aware, Tuesday is Halloween! Everyone is quite excited! I will be sending a sign-up genius link out for snack donations for a celebration we will have on Tuesday afternoon. Please don’t feel like you have to sign up if it’s not possible at this time! All the snacks will be on the healthy side to follow the Healthy School Guidelines!

I am also attaching a form about your preferences for Parent/Teacher Conferences. I will be doing 20 minute slots on November 20 and 21. If after school works better for you, I have put some possible times for that as well. Please send back your preferences in the home folder or email me the times you’d prefer.

Here are some of the things we’ve been up to this week…

In Math we have been learning about place value. We have explored with unifix cubes, beans and other manipulatives making and breaking groups of 100s, 10s and extra ones. We are gearing up to begin adding double digits in this next unit of study!

In Readers’ Workshop we have been working hard and growing as second grade readers. This week we talked about problems that can get in the way at reading time and how we can solve them to be the best readers we can be. I’ve been so impressed with the kids’ stamina as readers, they are reading more and more each week!

We began word study this week! Last week, I assessed each student and placed them in groups based on where they are in their spelling development. At the beginning of the week they will get a word sort based on their developmental area and they will cut and sort the words. Then they will have daily choices to practice the words and spelling patterns. I will do an informal assessment at the end of the week to see if they are ready to move to the next list! I’m happy to share more about this at conferences if you’re interested.

In Writers’ Workshop we have been working on fall writing. We have been reviewing important parts of sentences (capitals at the beginning, spaces between words and punctuation at the end). We have also begun to learn about part of speech. We started with what nouns are. We read a story called A Mink, a Fink, a Skating Rink. We did some sorts and activities about nouns and will continue with other parts of speech next week. We are continuing to work on handwriting weekly.

Here are some important dates coming up…

• Tuesday, October 31: Fall Celebration- We will do some crafts and have some special snacks from 1:30-2:30. Look for a snack sign-up in your email!
• Thursday, November 2: Picture Retake day
• Friday, November 3: Popcorn Friday, $0.50 a bag
• Friday, November 10: Early Release Day- 12:30 dismissal
• November 15, 16, 17- Scholastic Book Fair in the library
• Monday & Tuesday, November 20 & 21: Parent/Teacher Conferences- Hope to see you there!

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, call or email! If you’d like to help out with crafts during our celebration Tuesday, let me know, I’ll put you to work!!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Renae