Second Grade Update – Week of 10/9

Happy Friday!

Thank you so much for attending our parent/student/teacher conference! I appreciated your time and the opportunity to reflect with your child and you about how they can be a great second grade student! It was helpful to touch base about all they are doing well as well as their opportunities for growth this year. Thank you! 🙂

Even with a short week, students still accomplished a lot! Two things stand out:

• Gratitude letters to Ms. Andie – Students reviewed the structure of a letter, brainstormed why we were grateful to Ms. Andie for our library visit last week, and wrote thoughtful, detailed letters to her! They added illustrations and even addressed their own envelopes and designed their own stamps! I will drop off the letters next week, and I know Ms. Andie will love them! Don’t worry, we made copies of the letters that will come home so that you can see how considerate your children are!
• Adoration – Students participated in our first Adoration of the year. They were amazingly reverent as they knelt respectfully in Jesus’s presence. We will have the opportunity for Adoration on the first Friday of each month.

Next week, I’m excited to have longer days again! Our new writing project will be personal narratives – students will choose an important/fun/exciting/etc. event from their life and share the story through a 5-7 sentence paragraph (maybe longer if they have more details). To start, students will review what a personal narrative is, discuss how to structure a short narrative story clearly, and then start the planning stage of the writing process to generate and organize ideas. To help your child prepare, please take a few moments this weekend and ask them to share about a few events they remember from their lives. (They will choose one idea for their narrative.) They should be able to share at least 3-4 details about the event. This brief conversation will help many students avoid writer’s block! An example of a personal narrative is attached.

Below is our second grade update.

Focus Areas for Our Learning Next Week:

• Reading – 
  • In reading groups, students will start our first book clubs! Book club texts are differentiated based on current reading skills. Students will use active listening skills, follow along with other readers, identify what might motivate characters, and connect events (cause/effect).
  • 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 decode/encode words that end in “y”. This sound will sometimes be long i and sometimes long e. Students should practice their spelling words for homework so they are prepared for the quiz on Friday.
• Writing – Students will begin personal narratives by discussing the writing process and starting the planning stage. Each student will decide on one memorable event from their life to write about. They will need to be able to share at least 3-4 details about their event. The goal is a well-written 5-7 sentence paragraph. In ALL writing in the classroom (whether for morning work, reading group responses, etc.), students are reminded to write in complete sentences and to edit their work by reading it aloud and checking for proper capitalization and end marks.
• Math – Students practice using different strategies for solving addition and subtraction problems. While most students will gravitate toward one strategy, it is useful to think about multiple types of solution strategies as we start to delve into more complicated concepts. Students will also practice solving story problems with a focus on language, what question is being asked, showing your solution, and labeling your answer.
• Religion – We will continue our chapter about the Holy Trinity. Students will learn about God as three divine persons – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
• Science – This week, students investigate the effects of rocks tumbling in a river. Based on their observations, they construct an explanation for why there is sand at a beach. This reinforces the effect of erosion on land structures.
• Social Studies – The class will explore how things in our communities have changed over time – transportation, school, technology, etc. This is also a great opportunity to touch upon how inspiring change makers have been instrumental in creating a better society by working to change minds, laws, and ways of treating each other. At the end of the week, students will be assessed on our unit concepts and vocabulary.

Other Updates for this Week:

• ART SHIRT – Please have your child bring an old t-shirt to fit over their uniform top. They need this shirt on Monday! 
• First Communion Update – Forms were sent home last week. Please submit all forms to the parish office by October 27th. Please also add all of the dates to your calendars.
• Covid Daily Screening – Please continue to do the daily screening. Your diligence is important and appreciated.
• Dates to Remember:
  • Monday, Oct 9 – NO SCHOOL: Indigenous Peoples Day
  • Tuesday, Oct. 17 – Free dress October B-days
  • Thursday, Oct. 26 – Art Docent!
  • Tuesday, Oct. 31 – Noon Dismissal – Halloween

We look forward to seeing our students on Tuesday! 

All the best,
Catherine