Since it is November, we wanted to take the time to say thanks! Thank you to those of you who were
able to come attend Community Visitation Week. The children were so happy to show you how they
spend their time in school. We also want to say thank you to all of you who donated items from the
wish list for our classrooms. It is very generous and much appreciated. Thanks also goes out to the
homeroom coordinators for planning such wonderful fall parties with delicious treats and fun-filled
games and crafts. All of the children had a terrific time! Thanks to all of the helpers who came and
assisted and to those of you who sent in items. Last, but not least, thanks to all of you who took
time out of your busy day to join us for the fall parade. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!
We have many new and exciting things coming up in November!
Everyday Math - Our math through the month of November will find us engaged in practice with the
following concepts:
*place value in 2-digit and 3-digit numbers
*coin values and exchanges among coins
*telling time and writing time in digital-clock notation
*gathering data by counting
*analyzing the data collected
*solving number stories
*reading and showing temperatures on a thermometer
*developing different strategies for adding 2- and 3-digit
numbers
Science- We are currently working on our Weather Unit. The children are taking turns being the
Junior Meteorologist for the day and reporting the cloud cover, precipitation, wind speed, and
temperature to the class. We will finish up this science unit with some fall preparation for The
Journey North program. The Journey North tracks the movement of spring through North America
(for more in-depth info, see link from our Web Sites on our second grade web site.) We adopted a
tree and will be planting tulip bulbs so that we will be ready to observe spring as it comes our way.
(After a long winter, of course!)
Social Studies - Our focus will be on the following essential questions:
1. What is a community?
2. What is leadership in a community?
3. What are the responsibilities of a good community member?
4. What is the history and heritage of my community?
5. How does geography impact a community?
6. How do communities satisfy needs and wants?
7. How are communities alike and different?
Language Arts - We continue to work on spelling patterns and word families. This month our focus
will be on consonant blends and digraphs.
It is amazing to see second graders using craft in their writing such as: power of three, comparisons,
meaningful repetition, sound words, dialogue, etc. Ask your child to tell you about the kind of craft
he/she is using in his/her writing. Students are currently using the five steps of the writing process.
Soon they will polish a piece from the first quarter. In our Focus Factory, we will be learning about
nouns.
Reading - Students are learning how to write connection responses. A connection response is
identifying with some element of a story (event, character, etc.) and explaining how it connects either
through text-to-self, text-to-text, or text-to-world. Making a connection helps students become
better readers because they're more likely to remember what they've read and it becomes more
meaningful. Both of which can increase a reader's comprehension. In Guided Reading, we are
working on using before, during, and after strategies to enhance comprehension. Through this
guided approach, the students will learn to use these strategies independently as they read on their
own.
Once again, another full month of learning!
The Second Grade Team