Hello second grade families,
I hope everyone has had a great start to the New Year! It has been super busy with lots of new
learning and events going on.
The first three days back from winter break the students did
not have any spelling or reading homework.
I took this opportunity to assess the students on “Words their Way
Spelling Inventory”. This was the
assessment I gave the second graders in the beginning of the year, to place
them for spelling groups. Our goal for
the end of the year is to have all students be in the stage of “Within Word
Pattern”. I am happy to say that more than half of the class is already in this
stage in January! This is
wonderful! If you would personally like
to know your child’s spelling stage, feel free to email me.
I was looking forward to get back into the swing of things
with a normal schedule for the week of the 7th but Mother Nature had
other plans with a delay and a snow day that week. As you may have noticed, the only homework I
am giving the students is their spelling words.
Since students are leaving early for swimming (STARTING TOMORROW January
16th 2019) and we have children leaving early for skating, skiing, and
snowboarding on Thursdays for the next month and a half, I will wait until
after February Break to give both reading and spelling homework to the
class. I did tell students that any
chance they get to read at home, they should still do it even though they aren’t
handing in a reading log.
Even with the delay and the snow day last week, Mrs. Giroux,
Mrs. Thorburn, and I, did complete the Fountas and Pinnell Reading assessments
with my second grade class. The reading
groups from October to December went beautifully, and all students made progress
in talking with all the educators involved in leading groups. I was excited to see where students would be
for their reading levels in in January. I
am pumped to tell you, that almost every person in the class went up at least two
reading levels, some even went up three to four. If you would like to know what reading level
your child is at, feel free to email me.
In social studies the students have been learning about the
culture and traditions of people living in Mexico. We have been also been learning about the
geographical locations of different landforms in Mexico, and how the
environment helps or hinders their economy. The class has also been learning
about the past and present of Mexico and what the coat of Arms in the Mexican
flag represents in their history. If you get a chance come look at our bulletin board. The students worked very hard on their Maps of Mexico and Mexican Flags.
In Math the students have been learning about measurement
with inches, feet, and yards. They are
continuing to practice counting and identifying money and coin amounts as well.
In science, the class has been learning about weathering and
erosion and how it changes the environment.
The students also learned some fun facts about Lunar eclipses in
yesterday’s Mystery Doug’s video.
The student have been doing a fabulous job with their
journals and writing. They are getting
used to going back and editing their work.
Soon they will be doing final drafts of their papers by typing them on the
computers.
It has been so nice to be back with the students and see how
dedicated they are to their education. They
brought home a lot of work yesterday to clean out their folder holders. Everyone is on a clean slate and ready to go
for the rest of the year. They are doing
a fantastic job and they are all so kind and responsible. If families have any questions, please feel
free to email me.
Thank you so much and have a great week,
Ms. Mac
