Second Grade Update – Week of 1/23

Dear Second Grade Families, 

Happy Friday!

This week, students were blessed with a lesson and art project to celebrate the Lunar New Year, prepared and led by Mrs. Chung! THANK YOU! Thank you also to her assistant, Mr. Le! Students learned what makes the Lunar New Year a special celebration, including the thoughts and beliefs behind many traditions! Attached is a picture of their projects. 🙂 Happy Lunar New Year to all!

Next week, students will have a special homework assignment in preparation for celebrating our families during Catholic Schools Week. They will write a paragraph about a family tradition and draw a picture to match. These will be presented by students during class on Wednesday, 2/1. To accomodate this assignment, there will be no math or spelling words next week.

Below is our second grade learning update.

Focus Areas for Our Learning Next Week:

• Reading – 
  • In reading groups, students will wrap up our SUPER magazine with a poem. Students will identify the main idea and details of a paragraph, use illustrations to enhance understanding, and make connections between two texts. As always, there is a focus on 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 practice with letter-sound correspondences igh/ī/, aught/ôt/, and ought/ôt/ (ex. night, caught, brought). They should practice their spelling words for homework so they are prepared for the quiz on Friday.
• Writing – Students will start a descriptive narrative project where they will get to invent characters and write a problem/solution story. This week, we will review character traits and students will start developing their main character with as many details as possible (likes, dislikes, what they look like, where they live, etc.).
• Math – The class will incorporate concepts of measurement into story problems. We will review the language of story problems and how to interpret them in order to solve them successfully, including labeling answers! 🙂
• Religion – We will continue our chapter about the Church. Key ideas include the “Body of Christ” meaning the faith congregation, and the “Communion of Saints” another name for the followers of Christ, also including those who have passed on before us. 
• Social Studies – Students will continue our unit on discovering our past. This week, we will discuss the colonies and revisit core map skills with grid map practice. As mentioned, conversations will be age appropriate, but we will also address that injustice is also part of our nation’s history and that changemakers were needed then AND now to ensure we always uphold justice, equality, and liberty.
• Science – Students learn about the solid and liquid states of matter and then discover why plastic was invented. In the activity, Candy Melt, students will conduct an investigation to determine which types of candy melt in hot water. Using their observations, they will decide which candy is the best choice to bring to a hot summer camp! 🙂

Other Updates for this Week:

• AR Reading – Many students are reading more challenging books these days. I am encouraging all students to use their AR book for their homework reading time (15 minutes each afternoon/evening). This means they can bring their AR book back and forth to school. As soon as students finish reading at home, they should put their book right back in their backpack each evening.
• Dates to Remember:
  • Tuesday, Jan. 24 – Free dress for January birthdays
  • Wednesday, Jan. 25th – Noon dismissal; teacher professional development
  • Sunday, Jan. 29 – Mass (9am) and Open House (10-11:30am) to kick off Catholic Schools Week
  • Jan. 29 – Feb. 3 – Catholic Schools Week

We look forward to seeing our students on Monday!

All the best,
Catherine