We had a wonderful field trip to Walled Lake Outdoor Center! We loved the learning connected to our 2nd grade science units. Here a some of the photos from our trip:
Upcoming Dates
- March 12th: Spring Picture Day
- March 13th: Dublin Family Pizza Night/Bond Talk (join us at 6:30 for pizza, then students will be rounded up for a movie in the cafeteria while parents learn more about the upcoming Walled Lake School Bond.) This bond directly effects all Walled Lake Schools, but especially Dublin!!
- March 18th: Dublin Family Literacy Night
- March 18th-21st: Dublin Spring Book Fair (late evening is on the 21st)
- March 29th: Last Day before Spring Break...2nd grade will have a read-in:) (more info to come home soon)
- April 1st-5th: Spring Break
- April 10th: Dublin Science Night
Reader's Workshop
Our 2nd graders were excited with our Book Series Unit. It was great fun and satisfaction to introduce my students to different series. They were able to share the experience of these series with small book clubs. As we started our newest unit this week on Non-fiction Reading, I had to bargain with many that I would allow time for them to continue some of the book series as well! With the launch of Non-Fiction Reading, we have held off on reading groups this week so the kids could be doing their Non-Fiction work. Groups will resume next week! :-)
Here are some of our learning targets from Series Books:
- I can name and notice book series in our classroom library.
- I can carry all that I know about a series with me as I read.
- I can predict what will happen to a character in a series.
- I can record my noticings about my character to share with my partner.
- I can choose a book club that is just right for me.
- I can look for predictable patterns in my book series.
- I can notice when the character acts out of the ordinary.
- I can stop and reflect on my character's actions.
- I can compare and contrast different strategies.
These are from our newest unit on Non-fiction Reading:
- I can identify N-F text features that help me find information quickly.
- I can identify N-F text features that help expand my learning.
- I can notice how N-F books can be laid out differently.
Writer's Workshop
Our students are becoming letter writing experts! We spent quite a bit of time writing letters to others about books we were reading. From here we moved onto writing book award nominations. They LOVED this! We will be displaying book covers and awards on our doors for Dublin's Family Reading Night. We hope you'll make it in to check them out.
Our next unit is similar to the last...we're entering our Opinion Writing Unit. In this unit we learn to write reviews. Students will be writing about favorite toys, restaurants, games etc.
Math Workshop
Our Unit 5 focused on addition and subtraction with double digit addition. We are currently in Unit 6 (Number Operations and Number Stories). In both units we taught various non-traditional ways of solving these problems, such as using base-10 blocks, open number-lines, and partial sums. In the near future we will begin to teach students double-digit addition with regrouping.
Math topics covered included:
- Representing data using tally charts (tables), bar graphs and pictographs and being able to read and understand the data represented
- Comparison Number Stories (Using Quantity Charts to help organize our numbers)
- Interpreting Number Stories (which chart to use: part-part-total, change to more or quantity charts)
- Solving Two-Step Number Stories and Writing Two-Step Number Stories
- Brainstorming addition strategies (counting up, making friendly numbers, combining 100s, 10s, and 1s)
- Partial Sums for Addition (adding the hundreds, then the tens, then the ones... more to come on this new strategy)
Science
Our second and last science Foss Kit Unit on Air and Weather began a few weeks ago. We are exploring air in many ways. Hopefully your child brought home his/her bag of small items to show how they interacted with air (feather, paper, balloon, straw). S/he may also have shared how we were able to show that air takes up space with our under water exploration. Our last investigation demonstrated pressure caused by air. We will soon be learning more about air related to weather.
