Newsletter

Second Grade News                      November 1, 2013

Things to Note:

*PLEASE RETURN GREEN SLIPS FOR Monday, November 11 – Parent Teacher Conferences

*HOMEWORK PACKETS WERE DUE NOVEMBER 1^st

Science:   Our Hands on Nature lesson had students thinking about Life in the Dirt.  Student looked closely at worms and even got to go outside and look at the creatures living in our soil here at Calais! 

Soon we will begin our next science unit on MOTION! I think it should be great fun J

Math:   Students have been exploring coins and their values.  Second graders have been learning how to read and write the time on an analog clock to the nearest ½ hour.  Many of the second graders are ready to move on to reading the clock to the nearest 5 minutes.  We continue to work on knowing our facts fluently.  We have begun some problem solving.  We have learned the problem solving steps (1.  Read the problem, 2. Make a game plan, 3.  Solve the problem, 4.  Reflect) and have used them to solve story problems.  Students have discussed ways that they solved problems and have learned that adding by place is much faster (“efficient”) than a counting all or count on strategy.  One way that students have been using the adding by place strategy is by taking a problem that asks them to add 10 to 12, and decomposing the 12 into two smaller easier to work with number such as 10 and 2, 12=10+2.  Ask them about it!  Next week, we will jump into place value and look closely at numbers and how many groups of hundreds, tens, and ones they have. 

Word Study:

Students have been focused on hearing the difference between long vowel i and short vowel i, as well as studying the spelling patterns used for those long i words.  In addition to looking at specific vowels, second graders have created a word folder that they can record those words that they are always supposed to spell correctly.  They have enjoyed using this new tool when they are writing. 

Writing:

Students have been working hard to write Small Moments (Personal Narratives).  They have learned much about the mechanics of writing as well as the craft of writing.  Their writing growth has been amazing!  We will continue work on writing mechanics, craft, and stamina throughout the year.

Have a great week – Mrs. Raynor

Hands on Nature

Life in the Dirt

Looking at worms

Some information on worms

Exploring the creatures in the Calais dirt!

Looking at all the things we found in the soil. 

Odds n Ends

Hi Everyone,
 Just a quick reminder that I need to have those green parent teacher conference sheets returned ASAP so I can finalize the schedule for Monday, November 11, 2013.  Please SEND IN GREEN SHEETS with your second grade student.  I received a handful of them today which was great! 
Also, a big thank you to families who sent in pots and soil for our spider plants!  The students are very happy they are in soil now and continue to enjoy watching them grow and change over time.  A few supplies the second grade is currently in need of:
* Small Ziplock bags for a variety of projects
* Plastic Spoons and Forks for kiddos who forget them for their snack
*Dry Erase Markers (somehow we have already used up so many)
and strangely enough
*Bookmarks
If you would like to donate any of the items above it would be greatly appreciated!  Thanks for supporting the second graders. -Mrs. Raynor

Halloween

Students are invited to bring ONE piece on their Halloween costume next Thursday.  They will have a chance to wear the ONE piece of their costume and tell their classmates about their costume in the morning.  Students will then put their costume pieces into their backpack for the day to make sure they are safe for trick or treating that night. 
Also, please do not send your children in with any candy in the days following Halloween.  Thank you -Mrs. Raynor 

Whole School Celebration

The students enjoyed a little acting today as the staff pretended to be pirates and take all the coins they had earned for being safe, kind, and working hard. 

They had to walk the plank for being unsafe!

Enjoying a whole school game of Night At The Museum 

And then the entire school went out for recess! What fun we had!

Fire Safety

We learned about kitchen safety!

Ask a second-grader what they learned about staying safe in the kitchen. 

Checking out all the gear

This stuff is heavy!

Our homework:

One- find our smoke detectors in our house 

Two-check the battery in the smoke detectors 

Three-learn our address 

Four- have a fire drill at home

Learning about composting and recycling

The compost cycle

What goes to the landfill and what can be recycled?

Materials

Hi, 

The second graders are looking for ziplock bags to put our word study words in. If you have any small ziplock bags you could donate that would be great! 

Mrs. Raynor

Writing outside

Observing and journaling about plants in nature

Pajama Day

2nd Grade Authors

Sharing our small momentnarratives 

PJ Day!

Picture Retake Day

Our class will retake our group picture on Monday, October 21!

Enjoying math centers!

Newsletter

Second Grade News                      October 10, 2013

Science:  Students enjoyed their first Hands on Nature lesson this week.  Students learned about the different types of leaf eaters in our ecosystem.  Students enjoyed a puppet show, identified different types of leaf eaters, and students even got to go outside and hunt for the different types of leaves that have been eaten by the leaf eaters we learned about. Students also drew their favorite leaf! This week we also had Mr. Bradshaw as a guest teacher!  Mr. Bradshaw talked to us about how plants and animals depend on each other. He also answered our many questions about anything plant related! Science is so FUN! 

Technology:  Last week students were able to actually begin working with the netbooks.  They were so EXCITED!  They quickly found out that technology can sometimes be finicky.  We are looking forward to our next class with Mrs. Abair and beginning to learn how to type. 

Math:  Students have been doing amazing work with Cuisenaire Rods.  Through some guided discovery students found the value for each rod and have identified which rods go together to make 10.  Students have been working to find all the different ways to make numbers 1-8 using rods and recording those ways with drawings and equations in their math journals.  The work they have recorded has been wonderful.  In addition to our work with Cuisenaire Rods, we have been learning new math games and focusing in on how to improve our fact fluency.

Literacy:  Second graders LOVE to read and are always asking for more reading time!  Yay, it is so nice to work with a group of kiddos who already enjoy reading!  We have been focused in on reading non-fiction books about plants.  Students have listened to many books read aloud and have discussed what they have learned from these books as well as reading non-fiction books on their own.  Reading can be for entertainment but it can also be to learn new facts! 

Students are learning about the –ed ending and the different sounds it can make.  Students have worked to sort –ed words into sounds like –d, -ed, and –t at the end lists.  I cannot believe how well the students can hear the different sounds the –ed ending can make.  My hope is that this knowledge of the –ed ending will help students when writing and minimize misspellings such as, pusht for pushed. 

Thank you for being an important part of your child’s education!

Have a great week – Mrs. Raynor

Hands on Nature - Leaf Eaters

Learning about the different types of leaf eaters in our ecosystem.

Enjoying the puppet show!

Identifying the different types of leaf eaters.

Students even got to go outside and hunt for the different types of leaves that have been eaten by the leaf eaters we learned about. Students also drew their favorite leaf! Science is so FUN! 

Guest Teacher

Mr. Bradshaw visited the second graders today and taught about how plants and animals depend on each other. He also answered our many questions about anything plant related! Many thanks to Terry Bradshaw for teaching in 2nd Grade!

First technology class