Word
Study
Last week students worked on spelling patterns with long a
sounds and also ending consonant clusters such as st and nk. They also worked with high frequency words
playing a “Go-Fish” game. This week
we’ll be working again with homographs, words that sound the same but have
different meanings. Students will also
revisit plural words looking at plural endings we’ve learned such as –ies while
looking closer at irregular plurals such as mice, children, feet etc.
Writer’s
Workshop
While we are still in progress with our non-fiction writing
unit we have had to take a break to complete our end of the year DWA writing
piece. Students were asked to write a
personal narrative about a time they were hurt.
We took a few days to walk back through the writing process from start
to finish. It was rewarding to compare
the progress made from fall to now. We
also completed our poems about our mothers.
Hope you enjoyed them.
This week we’re back on track with our bird
investigation. Students will be turning
note taking facts into paragraphs for our bird articles. Once students have a complete article ready
to publish we will be asking parents for help from home with the typing. Each student will bring his/her piece home, a
parent will type it and send it back electronically so that I can put it into a
word document. More details will be
coming as this draws closer.
Reader’s
Workshop
It has been interesting studying Gail Gibbons and Joanne
Ryder. To quote one of my students, “I
love getting to know new authors!” It
doesn’t get any more rewarding than that!
These students amaze me when I see them analyze an author’s style. We made anchor charts for both authors and
they are quick to point out the similarities and differences. We’re working on a Venn diagram that shows
this comparison. We will continue to
look at authors and styles as we end the year.
Students are learning to fit books we read into genres we have
studied. I would say that informational
fiction has become a favorite genre in our room this spring.
Math
We have begun our final math unit of the year. This is a unit that reviews and extends
concepts we’ve been working at throughout the year. This past week we practiced telling time and
also worked towards understanding elapsed time.
We also looked closely at the calendar memorizing the number of days and
weeks in a year. Ask your child if s/he
can tell you either of those.
Multiplication continues to be a focus as we end second grade. I’ve been preparing my students with the fact
that these will need to be memorized next year.
I’ve encouraged them to work very hard next year with these as they are
a basic building block for all future math learning. As for now, our goal is for them to
understand what multiplication is…simply adding multiple times. This week graphs are coming back! These too are important for students’ future
learning in all subject areas.
Social
Studies
Our Walled Lake history unit is coming to an end. I think this unit was enjoyable for
students. They were most amazed to find
out that Walled Lake used to have a large amusement park here. We looked at the land it once occupied and
had discussions about who might or might not want to have an amusement park
here now. Students will be happy to know
that this unit and our next do not have tests!
Our last unit is titled “Leading our Community”. We will learn a bit about government and
patriotism.
Important
dates to remember…
·
Book fair purchases this Thursday during our morning media time (Tuesday it will be
open till 5pm for parents and Thursday until 6pm)
·
Field Day this
Friday (2nd grade participates in the morning hours…Hot dog
lunch is provided and please don’t forget your cookie donations!
·
June 7th: Ice cream social!
·
May 18th:
Mom to Mom sale
·
May 21st: Volunteer Tea
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