Second Grade Update

Dear Second Grade Families,

Happy Friday! 

A HUGE thank you to our chaperones and drivers for accompanying us on this week’s field trip to the Alameda Food Bank! I am so appreciative. Students had the opportunity to learn about how the Food Bank serves the community by providing free food in a “grocery store environment” and honoring the dignity and needs of all of their clients. The idea that the freezer was “as cold as the North Pole” (not quite!) was also very interesting to your children! 🙂 Please see a couple pictures attached. 🙂

Another highlight of the week was our personal narrative sharing and constructive commenting. Students shared their narratives in groups of two or three and then walked around the classroom to view their other classmates’ narratives and provide written comments. The goal was to share at least one positive comment and then one question or constructive comment. For their first time doing this process, students did a pretty nice job! We talked about how we could get better and better the more we practiced. Positive, thoughtful, and specific comments are the goal for second grade! 🙂

Below is our weekly update:

Focus Areas for Our Learning Next Week:

• Reading – Students will wrap-up SUPER magazine and start our new book club. In book club, we will focus on identifying the characters, setting, and beginning action of each literary text. Fluent reading (reading at an appropriate pace with accuracy and expression) is always a focus for all students. Students will also continue developing the skills of speaking and listening – specifically looking at others when they are contributing thoughts and ideas, giving answers that are related to the text and the ideas we are discussing as a group, and avoiding distractions.
• Grammar/Spelling – In Superkids, students will practice adding -ed to the end of verbs to show that an action happened in the past. We will identify the different sounds ‘ed can make at the end of words – /ed/, /d/, and /t/. We will also learn the spelling rules when adding -ing or -ed to the ends of base words and how words with “y” endings change when making them plural or adding “ing”.
• Writing – Students will learn about opinion writing. They will share an opinion (how they think or feel about something) and plan an opinion paragraph that includes at least three reasons that support and help others understand their opinion.
• Math –Students will demonstrate an understanding that the digits in a 3-digit number represent amounts of hundreds, tens, and ones. Students will use models to represent 3-digit whole numbers. 
• Religion – We will start our chapter about God the Father. Students learn that God loves us unconditionally and explore how we honor God through our service to others. We will also reflect on the lessons of our field trip with an art docent lesson with Mrs. Frentzel focused on service. 🙂 Students should be memorizing the Glory Be prayer (copy sent home last week).
• Science – We will review key concepts in our unit about slow and fast changes to the Earth’s surface, and students will complete an assessment to gauge understanding.
• Social Studies – The class will review key concepts and vocabulary from our family and community unit, and then students will complete our assessment.

Other Updates for this Week:

• All Saints Day Prayer Service: Students are invited to celebrate their favorite saint by dressing up as them for our prayer service on Monday, Nov. 1st. If your child would like to do this, please see link for details.
• First Reconciliation/First Communion – REMINDER: Please submit your paperwork if your child is going to receive these sacraments. If you have questions, you may reach out to Mrs. Bustos (email forwarded from me on Friday, Oct. 1st). Thank you!
• Dates to remember:
  • Friday, Oct. 29th: Noon Dismissal – Halloween Parade
  • Monday, Nov. 1st: All Saints Day Prayer Service (on the yard)
  • Wednesday, Nov. 10th: Noon dismissal, teacher PD
  • Thursday, Nov. 11th: No School – Veterans Day
  • Friday, Nov. 12th: End of the 1st Trimester
  • Nov. 15th-19th: Scholastic Book Fair
  • Tuesday, Nov. 16th – Free Dress for November Birthdays
  • Friday, Nov. 19th: Report Cards
  • Nov. 22nd-26th: Thanksgiving Break

We hope you enjoy the weekend and look forward to seeing our students on Monday!

All the best,
Catherine