Friday, October 11, 2013

Reading and Language Arts   

This week we will read aloud the story "Dry Skin" in the book Poppleton and Friends by Cynthia Rylant. This story is about Poppleton having dry skin and his friend Cherry Sue tries to help him get rid of it. 

Comprehension Focus
-Students visualize to make sense of text
-Students informally use schema and inference as they visualize
-Students read independently

Social Development Focus
-Students analyze the effect of their behavior on others and on the group work
-Students relate the values of fairness and helpfulness to their behavior and interactions
-Students develop the group skills of taking turns and listening and helping one another share

Vocabulary Words
-numerous
-recreation
-shelter
-necessary

Reading Logs  Second graders are expected to read 20 minutes each night. Please help your child record their minutes in their October reading folder. Reading log folders should be returned to school at the end of the month after reading for 21 days. 

Writing  In writing next week we will be reading Dogs Don't Wear Sneakers by Laura Numeroff and CLICK, CLACK, MOO:  Cows that Type by Doreen Cronin. 

The focus will be:  students will hear and discuss good writing, write sentences to generate writing ideas, write silly stories, capitalize proper nouns, and approximate the spelling of unfamiliar words. We will continue building our writing community where students are listening respectfully to the thinking of others and sharing their own writing as well as working in a responsible way. Students will express interest in and appreciation for one another's writing.  

Spelling On Tuesday, look for the Weekly Spelling Activity Card along with your child's word sort. Students are being asked to choose a different activity from the Weekly Spelling Activity Card to complete each night (Mon-Thurs) to help them master their spelling words for the week. Once your child has completed the activity, please fill out the spelling homework sheet, indicating which activity they chose, initial it, and have them return it the following day. This will help them prepare for the assessment on Friday. 

Math  We will continue the chapter on place value to 100. Students will read and write 2 digit numbers in word form, expanded form, and standard form, and apply place value concepts to find equivalent representation of numbers.

Flash Cards  Students should be practicing their addition facts with their flash cards. Weekly timed tests are given.

Social Studies  Our visit to the Darien Fire Station was fantastic! The students got to spray the fire hose! Ask them all about it.

Science  We will continue our unit on Energy and Motion. Students will find things in the classroom that move and describe what make them move. Next, we will focus on light energy. Students will draw conclusions on how light moves.

*****************************************************************Star Student of the Week  Eric was our star student of the week. When he is at school he enjoys recess. When he is at home he likes playing with legos. When he grows up he would like to be a builder. Eric is a star because he has massive building skills. Thanks for sharing Eric!

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Important Dates & Announcements

October Dates to Remember
14 - Columbus Day - No School
24 - Early Dismissal @12pm
31 - Classroom Halloween parties

November Dates to Remember
   1 - School Wide Reading Reward Day-Wear orange and black and bring a                   Halloween book to share 
   1 - Family Halloween Party @6:30
4-7 - Parent Teacher Conferences
   8 - Parent Teacher Conferences - No School
  11 -  Veteran's Day - No School
  14 -  Second Grade Concert
  20 -  Early Dismissal @12pm