Second Grade Happenings October 30-November 3rd

Who would have thought that we were already at the end of October?!?! It's hard for me to believe that we are rolling into November this week! These next few months will continue to fly by, I'm sure.

We have a couple extra events this week:

Monday - Pajama Day

Tuesday - Orange and Black Day

Conferences are on November 9 and 14. Please sign up for a time if you still need to. A like to the sign-up was sent by email last Thursday. Here is the link for your reference: https://ptcfast.com/schools/NDLC. I am looking forward to meeting with all of you to share your child's growth and goals.

The Food Drive, which is organized by the National Honor Society at the High School begins on Monday. Please consider sending in any non-perishable food items for this event. 

Curriculum Updates:

Reading ~ We are beginning to grow our knowledge through reading informational texts. Our learning for this unit centers around three main reading goals: identifying the main idea, questioning, and comparing and contrasting. 

Writing ~ Our Informational Writing Unit officially begins this week. We will take what we are learning as readers and put many of those same skills into our writing. We will be writing to teach on topics that we are experts on or topics we have researched.  

Math ~ Students did well on the first unit test. They will be shared at conferences. Unit 2, Adding and Subtracting to 200, begins with reviewing numbers to 200. We will work to understand that the three digits of a three-digit number represent amounts of hundreds, tens, and ones. In this unit students will have a mix of standard equations and story problems with numbers through 200. 

Content ~ We will continue studying maps and the geography of Kaukauna in comparison to the rest of our state. We will explore four types of maps through centers this week: road maps, product maps, elevation maps, and population maps. Please remember to complete the homework by this Friday. A copy of the assignment can be found here.

Have a GREAT week!

Kathy

Second Grade Happenings October 16-20

Hello,
We've had another great week in second grade! Our field trip on Friday was a great way to end our butterfly unit. The Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary is full of amazing learning opportunities. Thank you to all of our volunteers! 

What's coming up?

Monday, October 16th-Badger Sports Wear Day

Tuesday, October 17 - Family Night - Grandparents, Games, and Goodies 6:00-7:00 PM

Thursday and Friday, October 26 & 27 - No School

RED RIBBON WEEK

October is Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Abuse Awareness (ATODA) month. October 23rd thru October 31st is National Red Ribbon Week… a week dedicated to celebrating a healthy and drug free life. Kaukauna Elementary Schools have several activities planned during the month to promote awareness. The following is a list of dates and activities planned at school:

       Dress up Days: Monday, October 23rd -Wednesday October 25th

      *Monday, October 23rd- “Teaming Up Against Drugs is NO SWEAT!”

       Wear your favorite Sweats and/or Team Apparel!

      *Tuesday, October 24th-“My Future is BRIGHT DRUG FREE!”

       Wear BRIGHT or NEON colors!

      *Wednesday, October 25th-“Red Day!” “Be United Against Drugs!”

       Deck yourself out in Red apparel!

Curricular Notes

Math - We continue to work on solving a mix of word problems, including compare problems, problems with extra information, problems with hidden information, and 2-step problems. Here’s an example of a comparison problem: Mrs. O'Brien has 24 cookies. Ms. Zobel has 16.  How many more cookies does Mrs. O'Brien have than Ms. Zobel? Students should also notice that they could say this as, "How many fewer cookies does Ms.Zobel have than Mrs. O'Brien?" 

Reading – We have been working on our word solving muscles by noticing when our reading is fuzzy and then rolling up our sleeves to fix it. We can ask ourselves, “Does it look right? Does it sound right? Does it make sense?”

Writing – In writing we are continuing to work on our Small Moments stories. We have been studying Owl Moon by Jane Yolen to notice craft moves we can try in our own writing. Some things we have noticed are how she makes you feel like you are there by saying what she sees, hears and feels. 

Science - Releasing our butterflies last Monday was a highlight of the week. Although it was sad to see them go, we were excited to see them fly free. We also enjoyed our visit to the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary. Be prepared to learn a lot of information about Kaukauna soon! Our next Social Studies unit is the Geography of Kaukauna. This unit is a favorite with kids (and teachers) as they learn about an area they are already familiar with. 

I hope everyone has an awesome week! 


Kathy

Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary

We had a great time on our field trip!

Second Grade Happenings October 9-13

Sunday, October 8, 2017
Wow! I'm amazed at all we've accomplished in just one short month! Now that we have our routines in place and students have built stamina in all areas, I'm excited to see what the rest of October will bring! I know it will be filled with lots of fun, learning, and student growth! :)

What's coming up at NDLC?

-Our trip to Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary is this Friday! We'll leave at 8:15 and will return around 1:45. Please remember to send your child with a cold lunch on that day unless you ordered a bag lunch from Chartwells. We will be spending some time inside and some time outside, so please dress accordingly. It looks like it is going to be a nice day, but layers and walking shoes would be a good idea. If you volunteered to chaperone, please be to school by 8:05.

-Our next family event, Grandfriends and Goodies, will be held on October 17th from 6:00-7:00. Students will have the opportunity to share their school with their grandparents (or other special grandfriends), play bingo and board games, do a little art project, and dance in the gym. Dinner will not be served that night, but there will be a light snack for students and their grandfriends to enjoy.

-Just a reminder that there is no school for students on Thursday and Friday, October 26th and 27th.

-Book orders are due Tuesday (tomorrow).

Curricular Update:

-We had some excitement last Monday morning! Our butterflies started to emerge from their chrysalises! We had so much fun watching them crawl out and dry their wings. Because the butterflies were not quite ready to fly for a few hours after emerging, we were able to take one out to hold and observe up close. I hope you enjoyed the pictures I posted on the blog :)

-Throughout the coming week, we'll be solving different types of story problems by asking what information we know and what information we are looking for. We have also been working on mastering our addition facts. We are doing this work by using bead racks to structure the numbers. By using the racks and only focusing on a few facts at a time, kids are getting really quick at the facts. The goal for kids is to look at the groups to develop a strategy for solving each fact, rather than just memorizing or counting up by ones.

-We continue to work on small moment stories in writing. We are drawing on the work of several mentor authors to help us write in meaningful ways. We are currently working on strong story leads, endings, and revision techniques.

-Partnership talk and tackling tricky words have been the highlight of our work in reading this past week. This week, we will continue to work on these things, along with looking at author's craft and the lessons we can learn in our books. Thank you for your help with reading each night!


Have a great week!
Kathy

We Have Butterflies!