The school year is off to a great start! I wanted to specially thank the parents of the new second grade class for your commitment to your child’s education- everyone turned in their parent questionnaires on time and all students had their first brown envelope returned to school the next day with a parent signature. Thank you so much!
We are celebrating the theme of collaborative learning this year by becoming a community of learners. We will be working as teams, within our classrooms, other grade levels and as a school to aid us in our journey of life-long learning.
We walked into second grade on the red carpet and your children have shown me that they are all stars in their own way. Playing upon this theme for the year, every morning we sing “Shinning Star” by Earth, Wind and Fire.
Here is what is happening in second grade during the month of September:
*RELIGION*
We start September by learning about what Jesus has taught us, looking especially at the Holy Trinity. We then learn about the Church and ways we can be disciples of Jesus. The Seven Sacraments will also be studied by the second grade. We end the month taking a closer look at the Sacrament of Baptism.
Students will have a religion test every five lessons. The dates for the tests are included below. Also included in the links section at the bottom of the page is a website with review quizzes to help prepare for religion tests. The day before a religion test, students will take home pages from the section of their religion book their test is on. Going over key words and ideas from the chapter would be helpful before the test.
*READING*
We began this school year by getting acquainted with reading groups and centers in second grade. Similar to first grade, students will read a story from their reading book in small groups. While I am working with small groups, the other students are completing other assignments and projects independently. Part of their reading participation grade depends on how well they can do their work independently and how they participate within the reading group.
We begin the month by reading Ann’s First Day, the story of a girl who is feeling nervous about her first day at school. The comprehension skill we are focusing on is making predictions.
Next, we read Henry and Mudge, a story of friendship between a boy and his dog. We will focus on the story elements (characters, setting, problem, and solution).
We then move on to reading Luka’s Quilt, a story about a young Hawaiian girl, her grandmother and a very special project they work on together. We will focus on story elements for this selection.
Then, we will read The Roundup at Rio Ranch, a selection that tells about a young boy’s experience on his family’s ranch. We will review making predictions as we read this selection.
Last, we end the month with a non-fiction selection entitled “Welcome to a New Museum”. A brother and sister will take us on a special tour of a museum showcasing African-American history in Detroit, Michigan.
Some strategies you might want to try when reading with your student at home are:
- Have your student read the same book/story a few days in a row to allow them to get familiar with it. This can allow them to practice their expression while reading and to understand the story elements.
- Ask your student questions as they are reading to make sure they understand the story. Ask them about the story elements-who the main characters are, where the story takes place, the problem and solution.
- Have your student read non-fiction text. Most of what we read as adults is non-fiction, so it is important that students are able to read and understand this genre as well.
When a take-home book or short reading passages has the “Parent Signature” stamp on it, that indicates that your child should read the selection aloud to you. Your signature verifies that they did so. Again, I would like to thank this group of parents for being involved and signing when you see the parent signature stamp. Keep it up!
Study skills we will learn this month include parts of a book, using a contents page, reading a glossary, using an index and using the internet.
Phonics concepts we will be reviewing both in our stories and spelling lists are short vowels and long vowels.
Vocabulary skills that will be studied are inflection endings (-s, -es) and context clues (using clues in our reading to help us decode and find out what words mean).
*SPELLING*
In second grade, students have 15 spelling words they are responsible for spelling correctly at the end of each week. The first ten follow a spelling/phonics pattern and the last five are vocabulary words from our reading book.
Included are all the spelling lists on the website for the month, so that students can start studying the words for the next week, over the weekend.
Weekly Spelling Assignment Schedule
Monday- Students will have their spelling pretest. They will take their lists home every Monday. These lists will be kept as a reference at home and practiced throughout the week.
Tuesday- Students will have a phonics/ spelling word sort in class. It will be graded on the rubric attached to your child’s spelling word sort from September 2. Students will have a spelling page for homework to reinforce the activity we did in class.
Wednesday- In class spelling activity- spelling sentences. Students sentences will be graded on a rubric sent home on the first spelling sentence assignment. Keep this rubric as a reference. There is no assigned spelling homework, however, students should be practicing their words.
Thursday- In class spelling activity- words in ABC order. There is a spelling page assigned for homework on this day.
Friday- Spelling Test. Students will be tested on all the spelling words and be given two dictation sentences that they will write correctly as part of their test.
Although there is no formal spelling homework on Mondays and Wednesdays, students
Here are some fun suggestions for studying spelling words at home:
-flashcards
-rainbow spelling
-pyramid spelling
-draw pictures of spelling words and write the word next to it
-find spelling words in a newspaper and magazine and cut them out
-In a dark room, use a flashlight to write the letters in the air
-Write words using alphabet pasta or Alpha Bits cereal
-Back writing- “write” the spelling word on a partner’s back and have them guess the word
-Write out spelling words and circle all the vowels
-Write a short story using all spelling words
-Sort the words by number of syllables
For the challenge words that may not follow a particular spelling or phonetic rule, make up a way to remember through a rhyme or saying.
Week of September 2-5
1. still
2. best
3. bat
4. mom
5. just
6. desk
7. clock
8. hut
9. fit
10. plant
11. carrots
12. crawls
13. homework
14. hurry
15. lucky
Week of September 8-12
1. same
2. fine
3. take
4. alone
5. used
6. mine
7. joke
8. late
9. broke
10. bike
11. different
12. hundred
13. parents
14. searched
15. weighed
Week of September 15-19
1. stay
2. plain
3. seat
4. green
5. keep
6. chief
7. mail
8. dream
9. clay
10. mean
11. answered
12. grandmother
13. idea
14. remember
15. serious
Week of September 22-26
1. toe
2. slow
3. old
4. mine
5. by
6. follow
7. dry
8. load
9. row
10. sigh
11. broken
12. carefully
13. cattle
14. gently
15. safety
Week of September 29- October 3
1. time
2. place
3. flags
4. slave
5. vote
6. speech
7. peace
8. tax
9. law
10. trade
11. artist
12. body
13. famous
14. hour
15. visit
Thank you for studying the spelling words with your child at home!
*WRITING*
We began the school year by learning the five steps of the writing process and creating a comic strip to help us remember these steps. We used our center time to write about an award we would receive. We used the author’s chair to share our writing with the class and your children really showed their star quality by their reading and listening skills.
We start out the month with a formal writing assignment using the five steps of the writing process. We will be doing letter writing; narratives about family, friends, working with others and favorite places.
Our weekly spelling sentences will also help us to practice our writing. Spelling sentences will also count toward our writing grade.
Writing assignments will be graded on rubrics attached to the writing assignment.
*ENGLISH/GRAMMAR*
In second grade, students have a grammar workbook and complete in-class grammar assignments. At the end of each week, students will take a grammar test to showcase what they have learned throughout the week. Everyday, students will have a grammar lesson and complete a page in their grammar workbooks.
We start the year by reviewing parts of a complete sentence. We learn that every sentence has a capital letter at the beginning, an action word and an end mark (either a period, question mark or exclamation point). We also will be studying subjects and predicates. At the end of the month, we will learn to combine sentences.
Other topics include correcting sentences, parts of a letter, using commas and using quotation marks.
*HANDWRITING*
This school year, neatness and presentation will factor in to students’ grades. I strongly encourage neat handwriting on both handwriting practice and written assignments.
We start off the month by reviewing uppercase and lowercase letters. We are reviewing lowercase curved letters (r, n, m, s, u); lowercase tail letters (p, q, y, g, j); and all uppercase letters.
We start our regular weekly handwriting lessons the second week in September. We begin a new lesson each week. Each lesson consists of three days of practicing letters and words and one day of copying a Bible verse, applying what they have learned.
Letters we will focus on in the lessons for the month are upper and lowercase a, d, g, o, q, u, c and e.
Check the bottom of this page for links to animated letter formation.
The five areas that handwriting is graded on went home in the brown envelope on Tuesday, September 2. Please keep the information attached to your child’s first handwriting assignment as a reference and guide to help your child with their handwriting. I will include comments on your child’s handwriting assignments to help you to understand the grade they received and to offer suggestions to improve their handwriting.
*MATH*
Math concepts we will learn in September:
…identify the characteristics and names of the pattern blocks
…identify the ordinal position to the sixth
…create and identify a repeating pattern
…identify and act out story problems
…compare numbers up to 50
…compare objects by their area size
…order objects by their area size
…complete addition facts by adding 0 and one
…identify addends, sums and the communicative property of addition
…cover a design using pattern blocks
…identify and act out story problems that involve subtraction
…number the face of a clock
…identify the time an hour ago and an hour from now
…differentiate between even and odd numbers
…identify ordinal position to the twelfth position
…complete addition facts when 2 is added
…create and read a repeating pattern
…identify the weekdays and the days of the weekend
…create and read a pictograph
…draw a pictograph
…identify polygons
…complete addition facts: adding 9
…create a color pattern
…identify and sort geometric shapes by characteristics
…draw pictures and write sentences for story problems
…divide a shape in half
…shade in half a shape
Math Facts:
Every five lessons, students will complete an addition fact test (25 facts total). Students will be expected to complete these facts in 2 minutes. We have a class fact practice page and homework fact page everyday. When your child does their facts at home, it would be helpful to time them for 2 minutes to see how many facts they can complete. If any additional problems need to be completed have your child finish the remainder of their facts.
Facts we will be reviewing and testing this month are doubles facts; adding 0, 1, 2, 9. Watch for a parent letter when we begin to review a new set of facts in your child’s homework folder.
*SOCIAL STUDIES*
We start the new school year with new social studies books. We now have 5 smaller social studies books by topic, which makes them the perfect size to go in different spots around the room to buddy read before we read together the sections as a whole class. The theme we are studying this month is how we live together. We will first look at our families and the reasons we have rules at school and home. We will also talk about the communities we live in and different customs and traditions people have. We will also be using our map skills to learn about grid maps.
Every Friday, students will have a social studies assessment on their lesson from the week. My hope is that students will have more of an opportunity to showcase what they have learned, rather than only having a few chances on unit tests. The first on will be Friday, September 5.
*SCIENCE*
We begin second grade by studying all about animals. We will first learn about animals with backbones and explore the ways these animals are adapted to their environments. Halfway through the month, we will have a quiz to give students a chance to show what they have learned. We will end the month by looking at animals without backbones and concluding with a test. During our study of animals, we will be comparing and contrasting different animals and completing a lab during our center time comparing models or worms and snakes.
*CALENDAR*
Wednesday, September 3- Chapter 1 Religion Test
Friday, September 5- Math Written Test
Monday, September 8- Math Written Test
Tuesday, September 9- Math Fact Test (Doubles, 25 facts/ 2 minutes), Mandatory Parent Meeting-6:30 PM
Thursday, September 11- Science Quiz- Animals
Friday, September 12- Chapter 2 Religion Test
Tuesday, September 16- Math Written Test
Wednesday, September 17- Math Fact Test (+0, +1, 25 facts/ 2 minutes)
Tuesday, September 23- Chapter 3 Religion Test
Wednesday, September 24- Math Written Test
Thursday, September 25- Math Fact Test (+2, 25 facts/ 2 minutes)
Monday, September 29- First Quarter Progress Reports go home
*Spelling Test, Grammar Test, Social Studies Assessment every Friday (9/5, 9/12, 9/19 and 9/26)
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