November 10-14

Hello 2nd grade! Happy Veteran's Day!

Let's start off this blog post with some fun "Math Fact Practice Strategies"!

From www.fantasticfunandlearning.com ... here are some great tips to make math facts FUN!

• Use the flashcards like a card game of WAR. The person with the largest sum/product wins the war. 
• Create a memory type game where kids have to match the fact to the answer. 
• Find a fun Math Facts App on your mobile device for the kids to use.
• Ask kids how they want to practice their math facts. You might be surprised by how creative their ideas are. 
• Play Go Fact Family with the same rules as Go Fish. Find all the flashcards that create one fact family. You can do one operation at a time: Addition (3+2, 2+3) or you can do two related operations: Addition & Subtraction (2+3, 3+2, 5-2, 5-3). Great for older students!
• Make a Math Facts Poster. Let your student create a work of art full of math facts. Layout a poster board or large sheet of paper. In the middle of the paper, write a large number. Then the student can write all the facts for that number around the outside. Get crafty!
• Play Hop to It. Have your student write each fact on a large index card or sheet of paper. Spread the cards around the room. They can be scattered or along a pathway.  It can also be figured like a hopscotch board.  Then get moving! The student can move across the room by jumping on the fact and saying the fact out loud. You can also try dancing, twirling, or wiggling from math fact to math fact, whatever your child enjoys. This lets your child write the fact, see the fact, and say the fact!
• Get out the sidewalk chalk and write the facts on your driveway!

Here's what's going on in 2nd grade this week..

In WRITING we are continuing the Writer's Workshop process. We are continuing to take pieces from the beginning through the final stages of publishing.

In READING we are identifying events on a story arc - looking at what does setting the stage, rising action, climax and resolution mean!

In MATH we are continuing subtraction with regrouping - please practice this at home as this is a tricky concept for many students!

In SCIENCE we are continuing to study balance and motion!

In SOCIAL STUDIES we are using map skills to locate importance places and landforms on a map and also locating places of significance including our community, our state and our country!