NEWS FROM SECOND GRADE

FROM MRS. BESTEIRO

December 3, 2009

Hello!  I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I can’t believe we are only 2 weeks away from the holiday break.  Where is the time going? 

The second grade class has been extremely busy during the last few weeks.  I know that the children have been very excited during the holiday season but they have been focused and work well as a group.

In writing class, the students have been studying how the author Ezra Jack Keats uses his words in interesting ways.  I encourage you to ask your child in what interesting ways they have used words in their stories.  Story telling is always a great way to help the writing process. 

In math class the students have been working on how to solve number stories, how to read and show temperatures, and how to develop strategies for adding 2 and 3-digit numbers.  The class will soon move on to basic geometry, studying line segments, points, and parallel lines.

The second graders have finished studying the Great Plains Native Americans and have moved west to study the Northwesten Coastal Native Americans.  For this unit the children will study the culture, food, clothing and shelter of the Northwestern Coastal Native American.  We will also be looking carefully at totem poles and writing about them. 

Science class has been very active.  The children had a great time dissecting the cow eye and learning how the eye works.  They tallied up all the eye color of DDS students and learned that the most common eye color brown, followed by blue, and then hazel/green.  The next until will be on light studying how light travels.

REMINDERS:

1.              WARM CLOTHES: Every child will need a warm winter coat, hat and gloves each day! Once we have snow, a pair of boots and snow pants will be required for playing in the snow.  Each child has a place to store boots at school.  An extra pair of socks are essential if your child enjoys playing in the snow.

2.             Book Fair is this Friday for the second graders, at 11:10

        I would like to thank the room mothers, Debbie Domber and Keek Hatfirld for organizing the successful Halloween party and for organizing the treats for the holiday gingerbread houses.  I would also like to thank all the parents for supplying the class with a variety of candy for our holiday project!

Stay Warm!

Diana 

In a happy way – laughed, giggled, joked, smiled

In a sad way – cried, groaned, wept, whispered

In a Loud way – screamed, called, sang out, yelled, cheered

As an Answer - told, answered, responded, replied, suggested

As you and your child read at night, please point out how the author uses one of these words instead of always using said.  Discuss how a character might say something in the story because of how the author has written it.  Have fun!!

1. To review place value in the 2-digit and 3-digit numbers
2. To review coin values and exchanges among coins
3. To tell time and to write time in digital-clock notation 
4. To gather data by counting and to analyze data. 

Please review these concepts with your child at home.

come

home

fun

funny

 run

running

ran

us

use

around

found

sound

go

going

most

kind

find

gave

so

do

doing

there

your

before

see

got

she

sheep

shop

queen

been

bee

he

read

which

upon

ask

came

name

ride

bone

save

kite

cute

mine

very

these

use

Where has the time gone?  I can’t believe we are already half way through October!  The second graders continue to settle into the daily routine and it is fun to learn more about their interests as we explore many topics.

In science lab, the children are studying weather and climate.  Some of the activities included walking around reading the temperature from various points throughout the school and observing and learning the names of the different clouds.  Ask your child to look at the clouds and see how many you can identify together.

In writing class, the children have been learning where writers get ideas and creating a list of their own ideas.  They have also learned that stories have characters, setting and a plot (action).  The students created a class flip book where characters, settings and actions can be flipped to create different stories. We continue to practice writing sentences beginning with capital letters and ending with the correct punctuation.

The second graders enjoyed their first gathering with their 8th grade pen pals.  We read and discussed the poem “The Great Figure” by William Carlos Williams.  The pen pals then had to create their own descriptive sentences and illustrate them in the pen pal notebooks. I am looking forward to sharing some of these sentences with you!  Pictures of this activity are on the second grade blog.

In math class, the children have focused on addition and subtraction facts. They have covered fact families and turn-around-facts to reinforce addition and subtraction skills. I ask that you please continue to set aside ten minutes every night to practice the addition and subtraction fact triangles to assist your child in the memorization process, as well as practice making change and asking your child to tell you the time during the day.

Social studies discussions have centered on the Woodland Native Americans.  I have read several Native American legends and the children have created wonderful False Face masks. The field trip to the Institute of Native American Studies was fantastic.  The children enjoyed making beaded necklaces and walking through a village complete with long houses, wigwams, canoes and a garden.  The children also viewed and handled tools and artifacts the Native Americans used.  We will be moving onto the Plains Native Americans shortly.

REMINDERS  -
** Please note that the time is rapidly approaching for our Parent/Teacher conference on Friday, November 20th.  To schedule an appointment, call the school office.  Remember that there will be no school for the children that day.
** Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately for the weather.  Your child will be outside for recess except for rainy or extremely cold days.
** Please check in regularly to the second grade blog.  You will find spelling words for the week, pictures of activities and updated information about what is happening in the class.

Thank you,
Diana