Second Grade Update – Week of 2/10

Dear Second Grade Families, 

Happy Friday!

This week, students reflected on our first 100 days of school – things they have enjoyed, accomplished, learned, and appreciated! We still have great experiences ahead of us and a lot of learning to do together! Please encourage your child to keep their foot on the gas! 🙂

For music reflection today, we honored Black History Month by speaking about and then listening to “Lift Every Voice and Sing”. If you don’t already know it, it is an important song in our nation’s history and one that speaks to the need for perseverance in the face of struggle, striving for liberty for all people, and having continued faith in God.

Next week we celebrate St. Valentine’s Day on Friday, Feb. 14th! If they would like to, students may bring valentines for their classmates. They should have one for each classmate (18 students in the class, so 17). We would appreciate it if valentines are NOT addressed to specific students because it takes too long to pass them out. We will also have a little party – thank you to anyone who is donating treats and to Mrs. Valenzuela and Mr. Weesner for volunteering in the classroom! 🙂

Focus Areas for Our Learning Next Week:

• Reading –
  • Students will continue book clubs with a focus on identifying key events in the story and the cause and effect of character actions and events. As always, students continue to work on speaking and listening skills as part of a 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 continue to practice with words with double consonants after a short vowel ff, ll, ss, and dd (ex. paddle, cliff, bluff). Students will also learn to use the suffixes -ful and -less to create adjectives. Everyone should practice their sight word spelling list for homework so they are prepared for the quiz on Friday.
• Writing – Based on our practice from last week, students will plan  problem/solution plots for their descriptive narratives. They will use the main characters they have developed. 🙂 I can’t wait to see what these stories will be about! 🙂
• Math – The class will wrap up their graphing projects by creating a poster of their survey question, data, graph, and analysis! We will also revisit place value with 3-digit numbers and practice interpreting and solving story problems.
• Religion – We will start our chapter about the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the gift of forgiveness. In Family Life, we will focus on God’s gift of family, discussing why families have rules and how we can make good choices.
• Social Studies – The class will review our unit about our nation’s early history, and students will complete an assessment. We continue to celebrate Black History Month through read-alouds and discussions about important individuals who have contributed to our nation and world! This week, we focus on the Sit-In and photographer Gordon Parks.
• Science – Students will review how certain materials can change states between solid and liquid.

Other Updates for this Week:

• AR Reading – Just a reminder – I am encouraging all students to use their AR book for their homework reading time (15 minutes each afternoon/evening).
• Dates to Remember:
  • Saturday, Feb. 1 – SPN Crab Feed (Athletic Fundraiser)
  • Friday, Feb. 14 – St. Valentine’s Day, Noon Dismissal
  • Monday, Feb. 17 – No School, Presidents’ Day
  • Tuesday, Feb. 18 – Free Dress February B-Days
  • Friday, Feb. 21 – STAR Reading
  • Tuesday, Feb. 25 – STAR Math
  • Friday, Feb. 28 – End of Trimester 2

We look forward to seeing our students on Monday!

All the best,
Catherine