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