This year, your child will continue using the Math in Focus program introduced last year. The Math in Focus program focuses on fewer mathematics topics in greater detail in depth in order to achieve increased mastery of skills and concepts.
To help your child be prepared for math class, please work with him or her to practice addition and subtraction facts every night. You may ask your child facts, use flashcards, or use technology to play games on the computer, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, etc. Your child will need to feel comfortable in knowing these facts for speed and accuracy so that he or she can gain the confidence needed to build upon these skills.
In addition to practicing facts nightly, your child will have written homework Monday through Thursday. Homework will cover topics that we have covered that day in class and/or a review of previously taught topics. Please help your child remember to return the completed homework assignment on time, as well as any math manipulatives (counters, tens and ones blocks, etc) that were sent home.
Our first math chapter in second grade will be Place Value. In first grade, your child was introduced to the concept of place value: the ideas of tens and ones and being able to make sense of two-digit numbers. Children needed to be confident in their understanding of place value in order to handle the arithmetic operations of addition and subtraction, which required students to recognize two-digit numbers as groups of tens and ones. They also used place value concepts to make comparisons between two or more numbers.
In second grade, your child will be exposed to hundreds in order to help him or her make sense of three-digit numbers. This is an important first unit. This will set the foundation for our next two chapters of three-digit addition and three-digit subtraction. As in first grade, children need to be confident in their understanding of place value in order to handle the arithmetic operations of addition and subtraction, which will require students to recognize three-digit numbers as groups of hundreds, tens, and ones.
Our
newest math chapter in second grade is Three Digit Subtraction. In
first grade, your child was taught the basic subtraction algorithm of
subtracting from right to left. Your child will need a solid foundation in subtraction facts to find success in this unit.
We will be starting our unit with a
review of the first grade material. In our new unit, the children will learn two types of multi-digit subtraction: subtraction without regrouping and subtraction with regrouping. Students will be taught subtraction with regrouping using base-ten blocks and place-value charts as concrete representations. Children will also be reminded that addition and subtraction are inverse operations so addition can be used to check subtraction. Another method of subtraction taught in this chapter is subtraction across zeros.
This month, we will be learning a new strategy for problem solving. This strategy is bar models. The bar model strategy is important for students to learn because we will be using it during other chapters during the year. Your child will also see bar models in other grades. For more information about bar models, please read the Grade 2 article in this month's Manito Messenger.
While our first several chapters were quite lengthy, please know that the math units will now start moving more quickly, which means that we will be testing more frequently. It is important that you "check in" with your child each night to discuss the homework so that your child does not fall behind. We are halfway through our metric measurement unit. Students have been learning about using metersticks to measure items in meters (m) and to compare lengths. Next, we will be using centimeter rulers to measure items in centimeters (cm) and to compare lengths. Our test will be on Tuesday, March 12.
By now, I'm sure that you have noticed how much shorter some of our chapters are. There are some chapters that are only 2 or 3 lessons long! I am so proud of the hard work the students are accomplishing during their math class period. I hope that you will help me support their mathematical learning by reviewing their homework with them each night. Students will be taking a test on our Money Unit (Chapter 11) on Tuesday, April 23. We have begun our study of fractions and will continue learning about how to identify, compare, and add fractions. Our test on Fractions (Chapter 12) is scheduled for Wednesday, May 1. The following unit will be on customary measurement - inches, feet, and yards. The test for Chapter 13 will be on Friday, May 10. The following unit will be on telling time. You can help your child at home by encouraging him or her to use an analog clock instead of a digital clock.