Welcome Fall

                                                                         September 24, 2017

Dear Parents,

Here we are in the 4th week of school, going on our 12th day as a class of 2nd graders, and we have moved from the season of summer to fall!  Miss Garcia and myself really feel like our classes are in a great groove!!

Here’s a little about last week!!

Math

In math students have been working on number flexibility as we have continued to rename 2-digit numbers.  Miss Garcia and myself are really impressed with how well students are doing on this skill!  We also started work with building models of 3-digit numbers using base ten blocks and place value mats.

Math Homework

Monday, September 25th	C.5 Writing Numbers Up to 1,000 in Words
Tuesday, September 26th	Worksheet - writing numbers standard, expanded and word form up to 1,000
Wednesday, September 27th	Worksheet - renaming hundreds, tens and ones.
Thursday, September 28th	XL C.4 Writing Numbers up to 1,000 in Words

Language

During language the focus was on nouns.  This week week we worked on common nouns and proper nouns.  A common noun names a person, place, or thing and a proper noun names a special person, place, or thing.  Proper nouns need to be capitalized.  

Common Noun	Proper Noun
principal	Mrs. Tisdale
school	Oasis Academy
day	Monday

Writing

Second graders are beginning their first writing that will go through the complete writing process.  Students are writing riddles about themselves.  So far students have worked on the prewriting part.  They have listed words that describe their physical characteristics (hair color, eye color, etc.), things they like, and things they don’t like.  We will continue working on this writing this coming week.

Projects

We are still working through learning about all the Tribes Agreements.  This will be completed this week and then students will be selecting the Tribe Agreement that they will work on with a group to write and perform a Reader’s Theater.

With the arrival of fall the weather has gotten chilly, please remember that students need some kind of sweatshirt or light jacket (especially for the morning recess).   Please also remember to send your child with a water bottle.  Students need to be hydrated!!

Hoping everyone is enjoying cooler temperatures and some of the fun fall activities.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Bloomfield and Miss Garcia

P Jammin’ for Cancer!

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.  Students at O.A. will be able to wear their pajamas on Thursday, September 28th.  They can donate any amount of money if they wear pajamas to school.  Please wear tennis shoes, no sandals and make sure that their PJ’s cover as much of their body as their uniform does.  Please NO pillows, blankets or stuffed animals.  

Miss Garcia and Mrs. Bloomfield

Week 3

September 17, 2017

Dear Second Grade Families,

It’s hard to believe we will be entering our 3rd week of school!!  The first 2 weeks have been very busy and all  2nd graders are getting settled into a routine.   

Here’s a few of important reminders…

1.  Although it’s early in the school year, there seems to be a few “bugs” going around already.  If your child is going to be absent, please call the office (423-5437) by 9 a.m.

2.  Also please remember that if anyone comes to check your child/children out of school who is not on the emergency card they will not be released to them.  The list can be updated by going to the Infinite Campus Parent Portal.

3.  “Pjammin For Cancer” is coming up on September 28th.  Several emails have been sent out by Oasis Academy explaining this special Pajama Day.  Participation is optional.

4.  Room 17 has a student who has an allergy to fish and shellfish. While we can have food in our classroom, this is a reminder that students should eat only food that has been packed by an adult for them. Students should not be sharing or trading food.

Math

This week in Math we worked on a very difficult but important skill--renaming tens and ones.  I must say, Miss Garcia and myself are  very proud of how hard students worked to understand this concept.  We used manipulatives and drew pictures to help us work on this skill.  Here's an example...

If the number is 32, it can be renamed the following ways.

32
Tens	Ones
3	2
I I I	■■
2	12
I I	■■■■■■■■■■ ■■
1	22
I	■■■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■■■■ ■■
0	32
	■■■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■■■■ ■■

We will continue to review this skill as it will be very important for mental math.  Other skills we worked on were reading and writing 2-digit numbers in standard form (63), word form (sixty-three), and expanded form (60 + 3)..

Here is the homework for the week…

Monday	IXL A. 6 Number Lines Up to 100
Tuesday	IXL M.5  Place Value 10’s and 1’s
Wednesday	Renaming Worksheet 10’s and 1’s
Thursday	IXL  M.4 Identify a Digit Up to the 100’s Place

Language

We continued to take simple sentences, combine them with conjunctions (and, but, or, so) to form a compound sentence.  These sentences were used to identify nouns, verbs, and conjunctions.  

Writing

In writing we completed a short sensory piece on the first week in 2nd grade.  We also discussed academic and social goals for 2nd grade.  Students were very thoughtful about declaring and writing their goals for the school year.

Projects

Our work with our Tribes Project has continued.  We focused on the Tribes Agreements of Mutual Respect, No Put Downs, and Appreciations.  For each agreement we have made an artifact for the class so that we will remember the agreement throughout the year.

Sincerely,

Anne Bloomfield

and

Shannon Garcia

Week 2

     September 10, 2017

Dear Parents,

It was a very successful first week of second grade.  Students are learning the routines and expectations for being a 2nd grader and this group of students are amazing!!

In all academic areas we have been working on reviewing and routines.  In math students are skip counting by 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s.  They are also worked on modeling 2-digit numbers with base ten blocks.

                      

Students practicing “skip counting” with a partner.                                     

IXL seems to be working well.  To our knowledge, all students have been added to appropriate grade level rosters.  We receive and check reports from IXL regularly.  Please make sure that your child completes homework in a timely fashion.

In Language Arts we focused on nouns.  The students created a circle map listing any person, place or thing as a noun.  This poster will be used as a tool in the room to refer to as the year goes on.  

More highlights for the week were starting our work in projects.  The “Driving Question” for the first project is...How can we as a Tribes Community present our knowledge of the Tribes Agreements with younger students?  Our focus this week was Attentive Listening, next week we will work on the rest of the agreements--Mutual Respect, Appreciations, No Put Downs, and Right to Pass.  

Students also enjoyed going to specials--during the first quarter Mrs. Bloomfield’s class has music with Mrs. Barton and Miss Garcia’s class has art with Mrs. Johnson.  All 2nd graders participated in P.E. with Miss Martin and Mrs. Wiessmer.

Some Important Reminders for the Upcoming Week…

• Monday is Picture Day.  Second grade will be having our pictures taken at 8:10 am.
• If you haven’t sent back the beginning of the school year paperwork please be sure to get that in.
• We have had a schedule change.  Students will have their “specials” class on Mondays and Wednesdays.  P.E. will be on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
• On P.E. days (Tuesday/Thursday) please be sure that your child has a water bottle and wears sneakers.                                           

Here is the homework for the week!!

Monday	IXL C.2 Writing Numbers Up to 100 in Word Form
Tuesday	IXL C.3 Writing Numbers Up to 100 in Words
Wednesday	IXL A.7 Hundreds Chart
Thursday	IXL M.1 Place Value Models 10’s and 1’s

We are looking forward to our 2nd week in 2nd grade!!

Sincerely,

Anne Bloomfield

and

Shannon Garcia

Here is some important information from the 1st Grade Teachers…

MAPS

This week your child will take the MAPS test. This is a test that state of Nevada is requiring all kindergarten through third grade students to take in the area of English Language Arts. This test will measure your child's instructional level and measure their growth. They will take the test three times a year.

Here is some information you be interested in about MAPS:

*It is taken on a chromebook

*It will get easier or harder depending on your child answers

*It should take about 45 minutes

*You will get a report showing your child's growth after each test

*Miss Garcia’s 2nd graders will take the test on Wednesday during their reading block with Mrs. Rowlett

*Mrs. Bloomfield’s 2nd graders will take the test on Thursday during their reading block with Mrs. Jackson.

Please don't hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions.

Time for Second Grade!!

September 3, 2017

Dear Parents,

Welcome to the 2017-2018 school year!  The 2nd Grade Team (Mrs. Bloomfield, Miss Sue, Miss Garcia, and Mr. Carroll) were so happy to meet so many students on  Wednesday afternoon and then have so many parents come back to join us on Wednesday evening for Back to School Night!

Our main focus of the first week of school will be working on the day to day routines that are so important to establish.  Time spent on routines early in the year make the rest of the year run very smoothly.  Even though we will be working hard on our routines our academic work will begin as well.  We will begin switching for reading with Mrs. Jackson and Mrs. Rowlett  starting on Tuesday.  Our first writing assignment will also be started this week.  We will also begin our first project of the year, which will focus around the Tribes Agreements of Mutual Respect, Attentive Listening, Appreciations, No Put-Downs, and the Right to Pass.  It's going to be a busy week!!

Remember, it's a long day for 2nd graders!  Going to school until 4:00 PM is a big transition from last year!  When you take a longer school day and add on activities such as soccer, football, or dance; there is bound to be an adjustment period.  Please make sure that your child has a second healthy snack for the afternoon.  They will definitely be tired, be sure to establish bedtimes that ensure that your child gets enough sleep.  

Additional Supply Item

We made an error on the 2nd Grade Supply List.  Students will need head phones for their chrome books.  Please label them with your child’s name.  They will not need them until the week of Sept. 11th.  Sorry for the inconvenience!!   

As we move into this new school year, Miss Garcia and myself will be sending home assigned math homework starting Tuesday.  The homework schedule for the week is listed below.  We will be teaching classroom routines and beginning some informal assessments.  We suggest that you practice your homework time routine on Tuesday and Wednesday evening by spending 20 minutes reading with or to your child and practicing 15 minutes of math OR 10 math problems - not NOT to exceed 15 minutes.  It is our hope to ease your 2nd grader and your family into the new school year.  Looking forward to our first day, Tuesday, September 5th!

Happy Back to School,

Mrs. Bloomfield & Miss Garcia

Homework

Tuesday	Making Groups of 10 and Counting Worksheet
Wednesday	IXL A.1 Skip Counting
Thursday	Base Ten Block Worksheet