The End is Near...

Well folks... We've reached that time once again! The end has drawn near...




This past week and a half we have spent time wrapping up our Reader’s Workshop for the year. We have spent time finishing our two author studies of Gail Gibbons and JoAnne Ryder. Our reader’s especially loved looking at the differences between the texts: voice, style, illustration and narration to name a few features! Lastly we began reflecting on our year in Workshop and spent time setting goals for our summer reading. If we can ask you to do one thing for us this summer, it would be to have your child read daily for a minimum of 20 minutes. So much precious time has been spent this year on reading instruction and we have witnessed tremendous growth in all of our readers. Continuing to read over the summer on a daily basis will not only keep your child fluent while reading, but help them to comprehend a variety of texts and in our minds, be most prepared for third grade!


Writer’s Workshop
To end our Writer’s Workshop we have been finishing up our Fantasy Writing Unit. Our kids have had the opportunity to craft several fantasies in blank books based on different Mentor Texts we used throughout the unit. We have also done two different fun topic based writing prompts this week. Students spent time working on an “Introductory Letter” for their third grade teacher (a tradition at Dublin from grade to grade… You should see what they wrote us last year in their letter’s) and students also spent time writing an “Advice for New Second Graders” letter that will be on display next fall at Open House in our classrooms. It was hilarious to see what advice our almost third graders could give to the new second graders about their teacher, their classroom and all of the fun we have in second grade!


Math Workshop
To end the year in Math we have been working on fine tuning major concepts taught this year as well as looking deeper into measurement and graphing skills. Our students have learned a great deal in Math this year and their personal success stories on our latest Math Benchmark can attest to the hard work that has been put forth by your child.


Social Studies
In Social Studies we have been wrapping up our Government Unit. We have talked about rules and laws, we have learned about public verses private and we have even spent time talking about taxes! We did a neat activity where the kids were able to make purchases using play money but had to pay for taxes first based on the income they received. Be sure to ask them how they got their purchases and how they felt when they had income taxes removed from their paychecks!


Important Dates & News
*Please send in $5 ASAP to help cover the cost of our Classroom End of the Year Picnic if you have not done so already*


• Monday, June 11: 12:30-2:30pm – End of the Year Picnic (Your child will need a bag lunch IF they do NOT like pizza) with lunch provided. Please also remember to bring a towel or blanket for our picnic lunch!


• Tuesday, June 12: Last Day of School – ½ Day! Rough schedule for the day includes a “1st Grade/2nd Grade Recess” (kids only) at 9:45-10am and an all school “Sing Along” from 10:50-11:20am (parents are invited – just remember it is going to be BUSY).


The end is near…


This will be the last newsletter that we will be sending out this year. Whether you received your “Second Grade News” on the Blog or in paper copy, we hope that you found our newsletters informative and helpful. If there was anything you wish we would have included in newsletters or done differently, we welcome your suggestions and comments to help us to improve for next year! Please use the important dates and info above to help plan for the last few days of school with your child. We realize that the end of the year comes easier for some than others- you may be seeing behavior signs at home that are atypical for your child. Be sure to ask them to tell you all about what they have loved about school and remind them that every year we agree, the summer goes by way too fast!


Please also make sure that your child still brings a backpack and their green folder to school daily as lots of things will be coming home with them these last few days! It is hard to believe how fast time has passed this year… it has been incredible ride from our view!


Your Partners In Learning,


Laura Brown & Jen Weckstein


Reader’s Workshop