Dear 2nd Grade Parents,
Can you believe we are to Thanksgiving break? There is a lot going on and we want to update you on important dates and events that will take place after break and in our remaining three weeks before Winter break! Most importantly second grade will begin taking the SAT 10 tests beginning Thursday, December 1st and ending on December 8th. It is vital that students are on time to school, and present in the mornings during testing. If you can, please schedule any doctor appointments in the afternoon. Thank you in advance. In addition, we will be administering our mid-year testing to see the progress in student reading levels and how many words per minute they can read. Due to the amount of end of the year testing, we are not taking any more spelling tests or giving any math homework until after the Winter break. We will be giving our students time in the classroom to work on math homework and we will have review centers for spelling. If your child needs extra practice, please take advantage of mobymax.com or xtramath.com for reading, math, and comprehension help. For the holidays, second grade is collaborating with kindergarten and fifth grade to sponsor kids for the Camelot Giving Tree. When we return from Thanksgiving break, we will be putting up a tree in each of our rooms that will have “ornaments” that you as a family can remove from the tree. Each ornament represents a child in need and has their wishes for the holiday season. Second grade is focusing on the spirit of the holidays and how important giving back is in the community. We feel regardless of religious beliefs, the message of helping those in need is important for all children to learn. Our Holiday program will be on December 16th, and more information will come at a later date. However, each student is need of one headband and a couple pieces of felt. These materials will be combined to create dog ears to use as a prop in the Holiday program. We are requesting that felt material be in brown, black, or white. Second grade is coming together to have a fun holiday sock and cookie exchange on Wednesday, December 14th. We ask that each student bring in a pair of new, and fun wrapped holiday socks to exchange with another student in second grade. The hope is that after the exchange that all the kids wear their new socks to school the following day on December 15th! We have much testing in December, so we are trying to bring a lot of fun into the classrooms the last week of December. In addition, to the sock exchange we will have a cookie exchange. If you would like to donate a package of unopened store bought cookies for the cookie exchange, please donate on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday of that last week before Winter break. Lastly, we have been reviewing the scores on the last Unit test for reading and as a grade level we decided to use this test as a learning opportunity for our students. We are teaching our students about explicit and implicit questions, how to read directions, how to reread their answer to see if it matches the question being asked, as well as, teaching them the importance of slowing down. All students will be given their tests back and given a chance to correct any mistakes. Thank you for your patience and understanding in the delay of returning these tests. We will be entering the scores, and returning the tests after break; however, please, understand it will not be Monday. We have students who are absent and still need a chance to correct their tests. After the new year, we will no longer be giving students chances to retake their tests because we have to realistically prepare them for third grade. We wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving and we hope that you have a marvelous break with your children. Hello Families!
Here are a few quick reminders for the remaining days before Thanksgiving break. Veterans/Oxi Day celebration is this Friday, November 11th from 2:00 until 3:00 p.m. Students must wear school uniform. Second grade is requesting that students wear either their white or blue school uniform polo on Friday. Please remember you will sign out your child when the performance is over and then pick your child up from the classroom. The school wide canned food drive is taking place now and will end on Wednesday, November 16th. Second grade is working together to collect more cans than any other grade level to earn a donut party! A friendly reminder that Kona Ice will be here on Friday, November 18th! Also, we will be starting the book, "Sarah Plain and Tall" next week and will finish the book after Thanksgiving break. All students were asked in the beginning of the year to supply a copy of this book. If you have not sent your copy in, we are kindly requesting that you send your copy by Monday, November 14th. In addition,the book Who was Sojourner Truth?, was also requested at the beginning of the year and we will be reading this book in December. Please send in a copy of this book by December 5th. I look forward to seeing you at the performance on Friday. Have a great day. Salutations Families!
It's November! I can't even believe how fast time is flying by. Thanks to all of the families who shared their students Halloween costume photos with me! We showcased them as a class and the kids were excited to talk about their costumes together. November begins the season of school-wide and classroom events. Be sure to mark you calendars, or print this email and leave it on the fridge to keep up with all of the amazing events and opportunities we will have at school. November dates to remember Friday, November 4th- Spelling Test (Students will take this on iPads); Fall Festival 6pm-9pm Monday, November 7th- Canned Food Drive Begins; Unit 2 Language Arts test (3 Days) Wednesday, November 9th- Topic 5 Math Test Friday, November 11th- OXI and Veterans Day Celebration; Mid-Terms sent home Tuesday, November 15th- Fall picture Re-takes Wednesday, November 16th- Great American Teach In Friday, November 18th- Kona Ice ($3-$5); Thanksgiving Reader's Celebration 1-3pm Monday, November 21-15- Thanksgiving Break (No School) What are we learning this week? Math- We will continue our math topic 5, learning various strategies for subtracting double digit numbers. Knowing addition and subtraction facts is paramount in mastering this topic. For practice in math facts, I encourage students to practice xtramath.org for 5 minutes each night. Topic 5 test will be on November 9th. Language Arts- This week we are reading "I wanna Iguana" from our text collections and studying the ways that authors state their opinions and reasons why. We will also be writing our own opinion pieces. Unit 2 Language Arts Assessment will be November 7-10. We spread it out across 4 days to ensure student completion. We will have a spelling Test will be on November 4th. Be sure to study the words and complete the activities on Spelling City. This week, all students will take the spelling test on their iPads. Social Studies- This week begins our unit on Explorers. Students will learn why people came to the United States throughout history and about the various contributions of African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, veterans and women. Students will have the opportunity to research an explorer and learn more about their contributions. Science- This week we will finish up our lesson on identifying and measuring properties of objects. Students will practice measuring objects using inches, centimeters, and feet. Health- Students will be able to explain why household products and medicines can be harmful if misused. Character Education- November begins citizenship month. Citizenship is defined as... (1) Being involved in trying to make the world a better place, engaged in big and small ways in helping others. (2) Actions and attitudes which reflect pride in being part of a community; showing good citizenship means being law-abiding and involved in service to school, community and country.
Books for class If you did not purchase and send in the books from the supply list Sarah, Plain and Tall or Who Was Sojourner Truth, please have those to class by November 14th. We will begin Sarah, Plain and Tall on November 14th and Who Was Sojourner Truth on November 28th. OZOBOTS! I am pleased to let you know that PTO has graciously decided to gift our class with a classroom kit of 18 Ozobots. I am so excited to get working with these wonderful classroom tools. The students will have the opportunity to use them during coding and math centers. THANK YOU PTO! Door Decor If anyone is interested in decorating our door for the month of November, please let me know. I was hoping to have the door decorated with a new design by November 4th or 7th. Please let me know if this is something you're interested in. As always, if you need anything... feel free to stop by or send me an email and I'd be happy to help. :) |
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