It looks like Spring may actually come early in Buffalo for once, and boy are these kiddos loving it!
Mrs. Miller has begun gathering points from participating classes for one to win a smoothie making party. We are participating in healthy activities and are crossing our fingers for a win! YOU CAN HELP! Please send pictures of your children participating in healthy habits at home (eating healthy food, composting, being active) to the number/email I sent in ClassDojo. :)
Reading:
We've been "Reading Across America" this week covering a wide variety of topics and states.
Writing:
Students have been working very diligently and enthusiastically researching an arctic animal. From this research we are writing informational writing pieces. We will be publishing these pieces in a class book through Studentreasures. You will have the opportunity to purchase one of these books; information forthcoming.
Spelling
Our next spelling test will be Friday, March 20th.
Math:
Students are doing a fantastic job with subtraction with regrouping. We are working HARD to understand the why for every move we make. It's important for students to recognize that we are not changing the number when we ungroup/regroup, we are simply changing the values in each place. They are doing an excellent job! We've begun incorporating word problems, which has proved to be more tricky. I've reminded students to picture the word problems as stories, and to create math mountains using the numbers from the word problem/equation to help them decide whether to add or subtract.
We had a fantastic week filled with many celebrations. Thank you to all the parents who sent in items and volunteered their time at our Valentine's Day celebration. I hope everyone has a fantastic February Break!
Mrs. Miller has begun gathering points from participating classes for one to win a smoothie making party. We are participating in healthy activities and are crossing our fingers for a win! YOU CAN HELP! Please send pictures of your children participating in healthy habits at home (eating healthy food, composting, being active) to the number/email I sent in ClassDojo. :)
Reading:
Students have been working on ordering story events.
Writing:
In our weekly journals, students are continuing to work on their paragraph writing abilities. They have been taught that paragraphs have a opening sentence that introduces the topic, detail sentences, and a closing sentences. For our formal writing, students are working on narrative pieces. We are working on our "what will life be like in 100 years" writing.
Spelling
Our next spelling test will be Friday, March 6th.
Math:
Students are doing a fantastic job with subtraction with regrouping. We are working HARD to understand the why for every move we make. It's important for students to recognize that we are not changing the number when we ungroup/regroup, we are simply changing the values in each place. They are doing an excellent job!
Science
We've been focusing on matter. Students have identified solids, liquids and gasses. While visiting with Mrs. Miller on Friday this week and learning about maple syrup making, students related their learning about evaporation and condensation to the process of making syrup!
February is here and we are in the spirit of kindness and love! During the month of January students continued focusing on their skills and learning about matter through reading, writing, and experiments. As a focus, we discussed snowflakes and their uniqueness as a form of water which can be all 3 states of matter. We also learned about Snowflake Bentley and his discovery that each and every snowflake is different. We used this to compose a brief individual statement on what makes us unique.
This month we'll be looking forward to the 100th day of school, Valentine's Day and, of course, February Break!
Mrs. Miller has begun gathering points from participating classes for one to win a smoothie making party. We are participating in healthy activities and are crossing our fingers for a win! YOU CAN HELP! Please send pictures of your children participating in healthy habits at home (eating healthy food, composting, being active) to the number/email I sent in ClassDojo. :)
Reading:
Students have been working on identifying cause and effect.
Writing:
In our weekly journals, students are continuing to work on their paragraph writing abilities. They have been taught that paragraphs have a opening sentence that introduces the topic, detail sentences, and a closing sentences. For our formal writing, students are working on narrative pieces. We are working on our "what will life be like in 100 years" writing.
Spelling
Our next spelling test will be Friday, February 14th.
Math:
Students are doing a fantastic job with subtraction with regrouping. We are working HARD to understand the why for every move we make. It's important for students to recognize that we are not changing the number when we ungroup/regroup, we are simply changing the values in each place. They are doing an excellent job!
Science
We've been focusing on matter. Students have identified solids, liquids and gasses. This week we've focused on how matter can change!
December always feels like a whirlwind, however this year feels exceptionally spinny with Thanksgiving being so late! The students have had great fun shopping the Merry Moose shop, planning their breaks, and sharing the Elf stories!
Reading:
We have been focusing on inferencing in our reading groups and during our class reading.
Writing:
In our weekly journals, students are continuing to work on their paragraph writing abilities. They have been taught that paragraphs have a opening sentence that introduces the topic, detail sentences, and a closing sentences. For our formal writing, students are working on opinion pieces. They each chose the type of community they would live in if given the choices, then came up with reasons why. They are now working on elaborating the reasons.
Students wrote letters to Santa requesting a gift for someone else.
They are wrapping up their community writing pieces.
Spelling
Our next spelling test will be Friday, December 20th.
Math:
Students took their second math test this week. Please keep an eye out for those next week to be signed and returned. We will begin Unit 3 next week.
Social Studies
We are studying Holidays around the world! Ask your child about what they've learned on the following topics: Diwali in India, Holidays in the Netherlands, and Holidays in Sweden!
This week students joined with Mrs. Smith's students to create turkey traps! they collaborated, problem solved, and compromised as a team. The results were very creative!
Next week is extra short with just 2 days. I will not be posting a newsletter next week, so have a fabulous Thanksgiving. I am very grateful to spend each day with your precious babes!
Reading:
We continue working on main idea and details. This reading skill relates to our paragraph writing.
Writing:
In our weekly journals, students are continuing to work on their paragraph writing abilities. They have been taught that paragraphs have a opening sentence that introduces the topic, detail sentences, and a closing sentences. For our formal writing, students are working on opinion pieces. They each chose the type of community they would live in if given the choices, then came up with reasons why. They are now working on elaborating the reasons.
Spelling
New words will went home on Monday. Due to the long Thanksgiving break, students will have these words for 3 weeks. Their next test will be Friday, December 6th.
Math:
Students are working on strategies for adding double digit numbers. We continue to stress the value of a digit based on its place. For example: 52 + 36- First I add the ones (can I make a new 10? No, because I don't have 10 ones), next I add 50 and 30 (can I make a new hundred? No, because I don't have ten tens).
Social Studies
Communities are our current focus. We are learning about rural, suburban, and urban communities and their traits.
A note from Mrs. Cantie, our school social worker:
Don't let the warm weather fool you - Winter is coming! If you need help purchasing winter clothing for your children, please contact our school counselor, Heather Cantie at 646-3280 extension 4218.
Holiday Help: The Hamburg High School Thanksgiving Drive provides a Thanksgiving meal to our families, and Union Pleasant partners with many local organizations to help provide holiday gifts. Please contact Heather Cantie at 646-3280 ext 4218 for any holiday assistance. Many organizations have deadlines in November, so please reach out early! All information is confidential.
We had a great shortened week of school and thoroughly enjoyed our first blast of winter weather!
We are looking forward to our next field trip, Thursday, November 21st! Students will be traveling to Kleinhans for a performance by the BPO. We will be having lunch in the classroom. If your child will be purchasing a school lunch please return the form (will be sent home Tuesday 11/19) by Wednesday the 20th. Please dress your children in theater appropriate clothing.
Reading:
We continue working on main idea and details. This reading skill relates to our paragraph writing.
Writing:
In our weekly journals, students are continuing to work on their paragraph writing abilities. They have been taught that paragraphs have a opening sentence that introduces the topic, detail sentences, and a closing sentences. For our formal writing, students are working on opinion pieces. They each chose the type of community they would live in if given the choices, then came up with reasons why. They are now working on elaborating the reasons.
Spelling
We took our test today. New words will go home on Monday. Due to the long thanksgiving break, students will have these words for 3 weeks. Their next test will be Friday, December 6th.
Math:
Math tests will be sent home Monday. Students are working on strategies for adding double digit numbers. We continue to stress the value of a digit based on its place. For example: 52 + 36- First I add the ones (can I make a new 10? No, because I don't have 10 ones), next I add 50 and 30 (can I make a new hundred? No, because I don't have ten tens).
Social Studies
Communities are our current focus. We are learning about rural, suburban, and urban communities and their traits.
A note from Mrs. Cantie, our school social worker:
Don't let the warm weather fool you - Winter is coming! If you need help purchasing winter clothing for your children, please contact our school counselor, Heather Cantie at 646-3280 extension 4218.
Holiday Help: The Hamburg High School Thanksgiving Drive provides a Thanksgiving meal to our families, and Union Pleasant partners with many local organizations to help provide holiday gifts. Please contact Heather Cantie at 646-3280 ext 4218 for any holiday assistance. Many organizations have deadlines in November, so please reach out early! All information is confidential.
My November resolution is to be better at updating this site! Students had a successful first field trip this week. They were respectful at the Dollar Tree and thoughtful with their purchases. If you have more items you'd like to donate to the Thanksgiving Food Drive, please feel free to send them in with your child.
We are looking forward to our next walking field trip, Tuesday, November 12th! Students will be traveling around the village to photograph the places and things that make it a suburban community! We will then be using these images, as well as those families have submitted of their visits to urban and rural communities, to create green screen informational projects.
Reading:
Students have been focusing on facts vs opinion through reading informational pieces.
Spelling
New spelling words went home Monday. Their next test will be Friday, November 15th.
Math
We took our first math test last week. Please be on the look out for these coming home to be signed and returned. We continue to focus on the value of numbers in Unit 2 through building on our place value concepts.
Social Studies
Communities are our current focus. We are learning about rural, suburban, and urban communities and their traits.
A note from Mrs. Cantie, our school social worker:
Don't let the warm weather fool you - Winter is coming! If you need help purchasing winter clothing for your children, please contact our school counselor, Heather Cantie at 646-3280 extension 4218.
Holiday Help: The Hamburg High School Thanksgiving Drive provides a Thanksgiving meal to our families, and Union Pleasant partners with many local organizations to help provide holiday gifts. Please contact Heather Cantie at 646-3280 ext 4218 for any holiday assistance. Many organizations have deadlines in November, so please reach out early! All information is confidential.
It's hard to believe that we are already nearly halfway through our second month of second grade! Students are adjusting well to this new grade and our classroom expectations. We are working hard and having fun! For the month of October we are participating in the NFL and Independent Health's Play 60 challenge. I will continue to collect these forms at the start of each week to update our class chart! Thanks for your assistance in participating in this challenge.
Reading:
We have been focusing on identifying the main idea (what the story's mostly about) and details (proof of the main idea) of stories. We read My Mouth Is A Volcano and identified these parts of this funny and relate-able story.
Spelling
On Monday, October 7th, students will be receiving their first set of spelling words. The cut outs and mats to sort can be left at home. These are resources for the students to use at home to practice their spelling words. Each sort/list will be assigned for two weeks and tested on the last school day of those two weeks. For this first list, the test will be given on Friday, October 18th. Examples of ways to sort these words can be found under our learning links tab.
Math
Students have reviewed their adding and subtracting strategies, including the use of make a ten and doubles facts. We have then used these skills in word problems. I encourage students to read the word problem first to understand each word, next create a picture in their brain of the story that's happening, and finally to work with the numbers that they are given.
Social Studies
Communities are our current focus. We are learning about rural, suburban, and urban communities and their traits.
A note from Mrs. Cantie, our school social worker:
Don't let the warm weather fool you - Winter is coming! If you need help purchasing winter clothing for your children, please contact our school counselor, Heather Cantie at 646-3280 extension 4218.
Holiday Help: The Hamburg High School Thanksgiving Drive provides a Thanksgiving meal to our families, and Union Pleasant partners with many local organizations to help provide holiday gifts. Please contact Heather Cantie at 646-3280 ext 4218 for any holiday assistance. Many organizations have deadlines in November, so please reach out early! All information is confidential.