Classroom News

Reading Workshop​

Our first unit is called "Second Grade Reading Growth Spurts."  As we return to school, we will spend some time learning the routines for Reading Workshop in second grade.  The students will learn how to set achievable goals for themselves and work towards these goals.  They will also learn how to retell and recommend books to others.  We will also be working on strategies for tackling the harder books they are beginning to read.

At home, it would be valuable for you to read to your child books that they may not be able to read themselves and talk about the story.  It is also important that you listen to your child read books at their level and discuss the story with them. Enjoy this time together!

Writing Workshop​

Our first writing unit is called “Revving Up Writing Muscles.”  In this unit the students will review what they have learned and feel power from their past experiences as a writer.  We will focus on how to come up with ideas and then getting them down in an organized, meaningful way.  Then we will take a look at authors we love and try to apply some of the craft of writing into our own pieces.  After this short “bootcamp” of writing we will begin our unit called "Lessons from the Masters."  We will begin with becoming familiar with the Writing Workshop routines in our second grade classroom.  Working with partners will be an important tool that we will use throughout the year, so we will spend time in September learning about partnership routines.  In this narrative writing unit, we will continue to study mentor authors in order to help us generate and expand ideas.  We will work on elaborating our stories by noticing imagery, tension, and literary language that these authors use, and then try it in our own writing.  Our mentor authors will also help us work on editing strategies.

​Encouraging your child to write at home will help them practice their skills and can provide a helpful home-school connection.  If your child writes a story at home, please feel free to send it in-I would love to read it!

Word Study

In second grade we will continue using the Words Their Way Word Study program.  The students are working on differentiated sorts to increase their fluency with various patterns and features. In the beginning of the year we will be learning routines and assessments will be given.  

Grammar/Language Arts

We will begin our year with a review of sentence structure and formation.  We will also be working with nouns, verbs, and adjectives.  Incorporating these into your daily life would be beneficial!  For example, when outside, you can look for nouns, act out verbs, and use adjectives to describe what you see!

Math

This year we will continue to utilize the Everyday Mathematics program.  This program spirals concepts and skills so please keep in mind that not everything introduced is done so with the expectation of mastery.  Unit 1 will help ease students back into math routines.  We will work on representing whole numbers on a number line, solving addition and subtraction number stories, and build fact fluency by finding combinations of 10.  Throughout the unit we will also practice counting tallies and values of coin combinations, as well as finding equivalent names for numbers.  The students will use place-value to look for patterns on the number grid, in skip-counting patterns, and even/odd patterns.  We will also use place-value to help us compare numbers.

Please remember that although it is important that the students are able to automatically recall facts, it is also important that they understand strategies for solving the problems, as this will help them as they begin to encounter larger problems.

During the beginning of the year you will get log-in information for some valuable resources! You will be able to refer to the Everyday Mathematics website.  Encourage your child to explore the Everyday Mathematics website to help extend their learning.  The website contains many valuable resources such as Home Links, a review of skills, and games.   

Science

 Our first unit is called "Structure and Properties of Matter."  In this unit, the students will plan and conduct an investigation to describe and classify different materials by their observable properties.  When at home, it is always fun to discuss solids, liquids and gases when they are seen in your everyday life!  This can be particularly fun when eating a meal or cooking in the kitchen!

Upcoming Dates to Remember:

(Refer to the school calendar!)