February 25, 2010 Update...

Hi 2nd graders and parents,

We've had a great week! You can check out the subject areas below to find out the specifics! With us being almost 3/4 of the way through the school year (can you believe it!), we've experienced some growing pains this week. I've been placing much emphasis on the students independently showing the very valuable skills of listening, following directions, and organizing their work. We have less than three months before these wonderful children are officially third graders! I feel it would be a disservice if I didn't teach the children the importance of taking responsibility for the work that they turn in. There may be times that I ask your child to forego recess or another "free time" activity to show me their absolute best on an assignment that may not have been completed this way initially. I appreciate your support from at home in this area.

Phonics: We've been studying all about the -or, -ore, and -oar spelling patterns.

Reading: We have been working on various comprehension skills such as sequencing events in a story, making inferences, and finding the main idea in a story. Sequencing is one of the most challenging skills we've worked on so far. Please emphasize the skill of ordering events from a story when reading with your child at home. We also worked in small groups on identifying character traits and finding proof of these traits in the text, as well as comparing and contrasting characters.

Writing: This week, we revisited the skill of summarizing a story, making sure to include the characters, setting, problem and solution. We read the story The Giant and the Beanstalk and summarized this story on an organizer.

Math: This week, we reviewed rounding numbers to the nearest ten and hundred to help us estimate in word problems. We also worked on identifying the mistakes in three digit addition and subtraction problems. Our third nine week benchmark will be given the week of March 8-12. We are working very hard to make sure everyone is ready for this assessment. We will also be giving the subtraction 100 test to everyone who did not make the 85% or higher on last week's quiz.

Class Reminders and News...

Our Scholastic Book Fair is going on now! Your child can visit the book fair if he/she has money for purchasing, or you may bring your child to the book fair any day before or after school. The fair will also be going on during Curriculum Night (check or charge ONLY on Thursday night!). I have left a "wish list" and would love any classroom donations! We are trying to build up our chapter book sets for all this awesome reading that has been going on in here!

Thank you to those who have sent in their kleenex or wipes! Our noses are very grateful!