The 100th Day of School brought a fun day filled with math connections in every second grade classroom. Students worked independently, in partnerships and in small groups using manipulatives and illustrations to represent the number 100. As students worked to show their ideas of what 100 looks like, they discovered that they could use addition, subtraction and multiplication to arrive at the number 100. Friends were eager to show their representations for 100 and come up with number models for them too. With 100-themed activities throughout the day students had opportunities to explore what 100 sounds like (holding a note for 100 seconds, saying a word 100 times). They had time to experience what 100 feels like (clapping hands with a partner, jumping up and down 100 times) and time to work on their 100th Day of School hats. The day was topped off with a 100th Day of School assembly where second graders paraded into the gym to celebrate the special day with the entire Primary School community.
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Second grade authors were very excited to publish their realistic fiction stories using technology tools. Throughout the past month, children learned about the nature of the realistic fiction genre, envisioned their main characters inside and out, and brainstormed potential problems for characters to face in stories. They then planned stories on graphic organizers and drafted stories that incorporated specific writing craft techniques, such as dialogue, comparisons, and sound words. After weeks of planning and drafting, students bravely began the process of revising and editing their work to make it stronger. Lastly, as they prepared to publish, students practiced reading their own writing aloud to build fluency. They recorded their stories into the iPad app Book Creator, drawing illustrations and importing these illustrations from the camera tool. Children customized the look of their books using font and color and collaborated with one another to share discoveries about how to use technology tools. This week, second grade writers proudly shared their stories with classmates using iBooks. It was thrilling to turn the pages on our e-books and hear the writing come to life by listening to the author's voice! Grade 2 parents will receive an email from their child's teacher with an epub file so they can enjoy their child's individual story at home. We are so proud of the children's efforts to publish in a digital format and hope you enjoy viewing your child's hard work.
 In Math Workshop, Second Grade students have been developing their spatial sense and ability to represent and describe the world in our unit of study on Geometry. Second graders have been very excited to learn more about this very "grown-up" topic! Children kicked off the unit with an exploration of polygons, 2-dimensional closed figures made up of 3 or more line segments that meet only at their end point. Children enjoyed finding examples of polygons in their classrooms, at home, and in their neighborhoods. Our study of polygons bridged into an exploration of five basic kinds of 3-dimensional shapes: prisms, pyramids, cylinders, cones, and spheres. In order to identify and sort the shapes, children have been noticing and naming both similarities and differences between them. Using math language to name the different parts of the shapes (such as face, vertex, and edge) can help describe these similarities and differences. A study of shapes provides many opportunities for hands on learning! Children enjoyed finding examples of 3-dimensional shapes at home, which they brought in to help create our "Shapes Museum." Tissue boxes, shampoo bottles, and tennis balls have all featured in our study of Geometry!
2nd graders enjoy word activities and games in class to help support them in spelling throughout the day. Students work to build visual skills and learn spelling concepts introduced in class. They also review phonemic awareness and phonics skills throughout the day to help support literacy skills overall. Word families and long vowel patterns activities are also part of word study times and these areas are practiced using word work manipulatives, technology tools and paper-based word activities. Students love discovering homophone sets and words within words while working within the structure of word choice activities. They continue to review their Words to Learn lists derived from spelling assessments and their writing work. Reviewing these words with your child at home will help them become more confident second grade spellers.
• Read for 15 minutes
• Retell what you read to someone at home • Log onto IXL Math and try activity T.1, T.2 or T.3 (listed under the Geometry heading) or • Practice math facts using the following link http://resources.oswego.org/games/mathmagician/mathsadd.html Choose this option if you do not remember your IXL password. ***Students can access IXL Math by logging into Moodle, then navigating to IXL Math on their classroom site and entering their login information. |
