Second Grade Update – Week of 1/8

Dear Second Grade Families, 

Happy Friday!

This week, we jumped back into our second grade routines! Students worked hard, followed our SLEs, and had fun seeing friends again!
It was wonderful to see students collaborating for their continent projects. Working in a group can be awesome AND challenging at times. We discussed strategies for working through disagreements in fair, kind, and thoughtful ways with the goal of producing an engaging and informative poster. Posters will be finalized next week and group presentations will follow! 

A few notes about how homework will be changing:

• The class was polled and over 90% of students thought homework was too easy, and many students shared that they finished within a day or two.
• In the coming weeks, I will gradually expand homework practice to capture some additional math, grammar, and reading comprehension activities. This will be an opportunity to reinforce and expand on foundational skills.
• I will continue to offer the monthly challenge packet to earn a prize, but only as requested since the majority of students do not complete it (and I do not want to waste paper!). 

Below is our second grade learning update.

Focus Areas for Our Learning Next Week:

• Reading – 
  • In reading groups, students will wrap up their book clubs. We will practice summarizing important plot points in the beginning, middle, and end of stories. 
  • 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 decoding and encoding words with kn/n/ and wr/r/ words (ex. know, write). Students will also work with homophones and should practice their spelling words for homework.
• Writing – Students will wrap up their New Years goals project with an eye for editing their writing. Their paragraph should clearly share their goal, why it is important to them, and what they will do to accomplish it. 🙂
• Math – The class will continue practicing strategies for subtraction of 3-digit numbers when regrouping is required. We will also review concepts of measurement, practice estimating and measuring precisely, identify and relate standard units (inches, feet, yards), and use appropriate tools.
• Religion – We will start our chapter about the Holy Spirit, the third divine person of the Holy Trinity. Students will come to know the Holy Spirit as their supporter and guide.
• Social Studies – Students will work on their first group project! They will use their individual continent research to create a poster together. In addition to reinforcing content knowledge, the goals of the project include using collaboration as well as speaking and listening skills.
• Science – The class will  consider the insulating and conducting properties of different materials. In our activity, students will test different materials and determine which would make the best oven mitts.

Other Updates for this Week:

• Oratorical Fest – Please have your child practice their piece at home. They will need to have it memorized and ready to recite for the week of January 15th. They will start with:
  • Good afternoon. My name is _________ and I am in the second grade. The (poem, speech, prayer, etc.) I will be reciting is _________, written by _________.
  • When finished, say, Thank you.
• Baby Wipes – We received a few containers of baby wipes before break, but we need all families to contribute 1-2 containers. Thank you!
• Dates to Remember:
  • Monday, Jan. 8 – Hard copy of Oratorical selections due to Mrs. Suer (8-12 lines only; please review rules)
  • Friday, Jan. 12 – No school for students; Staff Work Day
  • Monday, Jan. 15 – No school – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
  • Tuesday, Jan. 23 – Free dress January birthdays
  • Wednesday, Jan. 24 – Noon dismissal, Teacher Professional Development
  • Thursday, Jan. 25 – Spirit Day – Class Theme TBD
  • Sunday, Jan. 28 – Catholic Schools Week kick-off with All School Mass, 9:00 am at SPN; Open House immediately following Mass, 10:00-11:30

We look forward to seeing our students on Monday!

All the best,
Catherine