Second Grade Update – Week of 5/5

Dear Second Grade Families, 

Happy Friday!

A big thank you for supporting your child with their hero square. Students did a wonderful job presenting them to the class, and our hero quilt looks fantastic (see attached picture)! We can all be inspired by the individuals your children picked – such a variety! Thank you AGAIN for helping to make this a meaningful project for them. 🙂

Thank you also for the amazing birthday book, organized by Mrs. Chisholm and Mrs. Cooke! It made me feel so wonderful to see the kids’ work, and I truly appreciate the time you took to organize behind the scenes. It was such a sweet surprise. 🙂 If your child didn’t have time to do a page yet, I see there are spaces in the back and I’d love to have them included in this class gift! (Angelique’s email with the template was sent on April 25th, I believe.) 

Next week, we have a couple big events!

• Thursday – Celebration of the Arts and Spring Concert – Please have children to the classroom by 6:50pm. 
• Friday – Evacuation Drill – Please read the Principal’s instructions here.

Below is our second grade learning update.

Focus Areas for Our Learning Next Week:

• Reading – 
  • In reading groups, students will start our final SUPER magazine. Students shift their thinking back to informational text with a focus on understanding text features to support comprehension. As always, there is a focus on reading fluency and speaking and listening skills as we work together in a small group.
  • At night, students should read aloud to practice fluent reading skills. Please encourage your child to observe punctuation, read at a good pace, and read the words as they appear in the text (no deletions or substitutions).
• Grammar/Spelling – In Superkids, students will practice decoding and encoding long “i” words. They will also practice irregular comparative and superlative adjectives. Students should practice their spelling words for a quiz on Friday.
• Writing – Students continue their animal research reports by using their notes planning page to draft paragraphs focused on several areas: description, habitat, diet, predators, and family life. Students will be mindful about organizing their information in a way that makes sense and flows well.
• Math – Students will review measurement skills and create a “measurement garden” using standard and metric units. They are also working on their last challenge packet for the year, due the first week of June. It includes a review of rounding, graph analysis, and word problems focused on the passage of time, measurement, and three-digit addition and subtraction.
• Religion – We will start our new Family Life Unit – God’s Gift of Life. Students will review how we can take care of all life by making choices that keep ourselves and others safe, healthy, happy, and holy.
• Social Studies –The class will begin our unit about the economy with a focus on wants versus needs and goods and services.
• Science – This week, students will examine how scientists organize animals into groups based on their characteristics. In our activity, students study animal traits and use these traits to sort animal cards into mammals, birds, reptiles, and invertebrates. Students are then challenged to make decisions about animals that don’t fall neatly into any of those categories.

Other Updates for this Week:

• Dates to Remember:
  • Saturday, May 6 – First Communion Retreat, 10am-12:30pm, Banners DUE
  • Tuesday, May 9 – Fun Run!
  • Thursday, May 11 – Celebration of the Arts & Sprint Concert
  • Friday, May 12 – Emergency Evacuation Drill
  • Saturday, May 13 – First Holy Communion, 10am in the church
  • Monday, May 15 – First Communion Brunch after 8:30 Mass
  • Tuesday, May 16 – Free dress for May b-days
  • Friday, May 19 – Sports Awards Night
  • Tuesday, May 23 – Field trip to Semifreddi’s
  • Monday, May 29 – No school – Memorial Day

We look forward to seeing our students on Monday!

All the best,
Catherine