October 19-23

Don't forget THURSDAY and FRIDAY we will dismiss at 12:00pm for Parent Teacher Conferences! Make sure you are signed up with your teacher to have a conference! We look forward to talking with you about your student!

Here's what we are learning this week...

Reading - Readers describe characters using their feelings and traits. Readers prove with textual evidence. Feelings are a character's emotional response to the actions around them. A feeling is a temporary emotion.

Writing - We will begin our argumentative/review unit!

Math - We will continue regrouping by learning regrouping in the tens place.

Social Studies - We will understand the purpose of government: both local, state and federal. We will identify the functions of governments such as establishing order, providing security and managing conflict.

Science - We will continue to discuss weather and continue using thermometers to measure air temperature!

October 12-16

We hope everyone had a great 3 day weekend!



Don't forget our FIELD TRIP is WEDNESDAY to the Altharetta Yeargin Art Museum! Please send your child in their HCE spirit shirt! Mrs. Boyd's class, Mrs. Scott's class and Miss Giese's class will go in the morning, Miss Howard and Miss Coan's class will go in the afternoon!



Here's what we are learning this week...



Reading - We will continue to use the terminology of narrative structure to map a familiar story on a story arc.



Writing - This is our last week in non-fiction! We will continue to talk about how writers write to teach and readers read to learn.



Math - We will continue regrouping in the ones and move to regrouping in the tens place.



Social Studies - We will understand the purpose of government: both local, state and federal. We will identify the functions of governments such as establishing order, providing security and managing conflict.



Science - We will create a class weather calendar to record daily weather observations, we will explore using thermometers to measure air temperature!

October 5-9

Happy October everyone! We hope you’re enjoying this “Fall” weather we are finally seeing a little bit of! 

Here’s what we are learning this week in 2^nd grade…

Reading – Readers create story arcs for familiar and unfamiliar texts. We will learn how to map our stories and the events in them!

Writing – Writers write to teach and read to learn. We will continue to work on our nonfiction topic books. We will also talk about things good writers do such as: including a “who” and a “what” in complete sentences, using capital letters and ending punctuation in every sentence, using our writing folders to spell sight words correctly, and revising our pieces.

Math – We will begin addition with regrouping this week! We will talk about magic number 9 and how we know when to regroup! We will use base ten blocks to model why we regroup.

Social Studies – We will wrap up our study of symbols by finishing up U.S. Symbols! We will continue to look at what they stand for and what their significance is to our country.

Science – We will wrap up our study of matter, what it is, and how it can change!

September 28 - October 2

Can you believe it's October this week?! This year sure is flying by so far! Here are a few reminders for the week first:

Tuesday, September 29th is OPEN HOUSE! Our classrooms will be open for you to visit from 5:30-6:30pm. Please come by with your student and let them show you all we are doing in 2nd grade! After Open House the first PTA meeting will be held at 6:40. Coach Thompson has graciously offered for the students to watch a movie in the gym for the duration of the PTA meeting! Thanks, Coach Thompson!

Also, soon you will be receiving information about how to sign up for Parent Teacher Conferences October 22nd and 23rd. There will also be information about signing up at Open House.

Here's what we are learning in 2nd grade this week..

Reading – Readers describe main characters in works of fiction, including their traits, motivations, and feelings. Readers also notice characteristics of fairytales, folktales, and legends.

Writing – Writers continue writing non-fiction books on topics in which they are experts. Writers will use tools and features to teach their readers.

Math – We will be learning about addition without regrouping! We will use base ten blocks and what we know about place value to add 2 and 3 digit numbers to the 1,000’s.

Social Studies – We will be learning several USA symbols! Students will be reviewing the symbols so that they can explain the significance of each and how they tie to our country.  

Science – We will be exploring the physical properties of matter and how it changes. We will be demonstrating that things can be done to materials to change their physical properties such as cutting, folding, sanding and melting.

Traffic Light Questioning

Readers ask questions while we read! This week we have been talking about Traffic Light Questioning! We talk about questions we ask ourselves before we read, while we read and after we read! Check out the picture below to see what kinds of questions we encourage the students to ask.

We use these questions to help check for understanding and increase comprehension! Please feel free to use these at home and encourage your readers to ask questions and think out loud with you! 

September 21-25

We hope you had a wonderful weekend! 

Please always remember to send back Spelling Test spirals signed on Mondays! They will come home every Friday with your child. Progress Reports will be coming home on this Friday, September 25th! So be on the look-out for those.

Here's what we're learning this week..

Reading – Readers make meaningful text to world connections to the books they are reading. Readers ask questions when they read. Readers read to identify the lesson taught in folktales, myths, fables, or stories.

Writing – Writers choose topics they are interested in. Writers begin making a plan or what they will write. Writers have lots of tools they use to teach about their topics.

Math – We will be wrapping up our unit on place value, comparing and ordering numbers.

Social Studies – We will be learning about Texas state symbols! Students will be reviewing the symbols so that they can explain the significance of each and how they tie to our state.  

Science – Students will be getting a chance to think like a scientist. We will be doing different hands on experiments. The students will compare and contrast the mass and volume of different types of matter and record their observations!

Text Connections

Above you'll find some "making connections" vocabulary that you can use with your child! This is a chart that we actually made in class that helps us understand what connections are and how we make them!

Also.. Here are some guiding questions you can use for discussion! These are great questions to ask your children while reading!

Text-to-self:
What does this remind me of in my life? 
What is this similar to in my life? 
How is this different from my life? 
Has something like this ever happened to me?
How does this relate to my life?
What were my feelings when I read this?

Text-to-text:
What does this remind me of in another book I’ve read? 
How is this text similar to other things I’ve read? 
How is this different from other books I’ve read?
Have I read about something like this before?

Text-to-world:
What does this remind me of in the real world?
How is this text similar to things that happen in the real world? 
How is this different from things that happen in the real world? 
How did that part relate to the world around me?