Sunday, November 26, 2017

Welcome Back from Fall Break



  November 27, 2017
Dear Parents,

Welcome back from vacation!!  Miss Garcia and myself hope that everyone had a wonderful vacation and fun, family-filled Thanksgiving.  The first week back from vacation will be a busy one as it is also the last week of the first trimester!  

Math
Last week students finished adding and subtracting 3-digit numbers using open number line and the arrow method.  Our students have done a fantastic job working on learning 4 different strategies to add and subtract with 2-digit and 3-digit numbers.  Miss Garcia and myself are very proud of all our 2nd graders.
This week we will start off working on word problems that will allow students to use their addition and subtraction strategies.  We will be determining whether a problem is a part, part, whole problem or a whole, part, part problem. Then we will move towards working with gathering data, creating graphs, and interpreting graphs.
Picture Graph
Favorite Colors
Red
Blue
Yellow
Bar Graph
Favorite Colors
Red






Blue






Yellow






Here's the homework schedule for this week...
Monday
Word Problem Worksheet
Tuesday
IXL R.1 Interpret Tally Charts and Tables
Wednesday
IXL R.7 Interpret Pictographs
Thursday
IXL R.8 Create Pictographs (Be sure to watch the scale!)

Language
This week we will move onto learning about adjectives and how they describe nouns.  By learning about adjectives, the 2nd graders will be able to add them into their Opinion writings to make them more descriptive.
 Writing
The second graders will finish their opinion pieces this week.  All 2nd grade writers have selected a holiday that they feel is the best holiday.  They have to state their opinion, give three reasons, explain each reason, and then restate their opinion.  Students have picked a wide variety holidays.  The finished products will be completed this week.
Projects
The 2nd grade scientists are learning about matter.  We have been learning about the properties of solids, liquids, and gas.  Students have also learned about how molecules “act” in each of the forms of matter.
Looking forward to amazing week back!!
Sincerely,
Anne Bloomfield
and
Shannon Garcia

Sunday, November 12, 2017

Week 11 Fall Break and Happy Thanksgiving




Free illustration: Thanksgiving, Happy Thanksgiving - Free Image ...

                                                                                                    November 13, 2017

Dear Parents,

20171109_093925.jpgI hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful Veteran’s Day weekend!  Many 2nd graders showed their patriotism by wearing patriotic clothing on Thursday.  Our school was a sea of red, white, and blue with some camouflage and miltiary uniforms thrown in.  It really set a “proud to be an American” tone and gave students the opportunity to share about the special veterans in their families.

On Thursday Room 17 was lucky enough to have an unexpected visitor!  Mrs. Pilarski (Caleb’s Mom) came to our class for Veteran’s Day ready to share a book that she co-wrote with her Dad.  The book is about her Dad’s experiences during the Korean War.  While the book is written for adults, Mrs. Pilarski told a couple of stories.  It was so exciting for the students to visit and ask questions of an author.

Math
Students have been using the strategies that we used when adding and subtracting 2-digit numbers (open number line, partial sums and differences, and branching) and applying them to 3-digit numbers.  Last week we focused on branching to add and subtract 3-digit numbers.  This week we will finish up by using the open number line and partial sums and differences to add and subtract 3-digit numbers.  Miss Garcia and myself are so proud of how well students are doing with this math work!!
Here's the homework schedule for this week...
Monday
Worksheet-- 3-digit Addition and Subtraction Open Number Line
Tuesday
Worksheet--3-digit Partial Sum/Difference
Wednesday
IXL I.1 Add Multiples of 100
Thursday
No Homework--Happy Fall Break

Language
Free vector graphic: Feedback, Opinion, Gut, Bad - Free Image on ...We will finish up our work with collective nouns this week.  Each student picked a collective noun to create a slide.  These slides will be put together to make a Collective Noun Slide Show.   So far students have done a great job!  This standard will be assessed this week!
Writing
The writers in 2nd grade are moving forward with their opinion pieces on the best holiday.  They will be stating their opinion, giving three reasons along with explanations, and restate their opinion.  It will be interesting to see what holidays students select along with their reasons.
Projects
20171107_154801.jpgStudents are involved with a new project!!  We are working in the area of science.  Our scientific second graders have been learning about the 3 forms of matter.  This week students have made observations about various forms of matter.  They have participated in two different experiments--The Balloon Poke and Melting Matter.
20171107_154810.jpg20171107_154817.jpg
2nd Graders observing matter.
20171108_154545.jpg  20171108_154149.jpg
The Balloon Poke!!

As we finish this week, we head into our “Fall Break” and the official start of the holiday season.  Miss Garcia and myself wish everyone a restful, fun-filled, safe break and a lovely Thanksgiving.  See you all after break on Monday, November 27th!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Bloomfield
and
Miss Garcia

Here’s some information from our reading teachers, Mrs. Jackson and Mrs. Rowlett!!

Reading News from Mrs. Jackson and Mrs. Rowlett

Happy Thanksgiving 2nd grade Families.  Mrs. Jackson and I would like to let you know that 2nd graders will not have a spelling list or test this week. We will be working on trimester assessments during this time. Please remember that the students will have reading homework Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday but not on Thursday since this is the beginning of our fall break. If your child chooses to read over Thanksgiving break and logs their reading we will give a prize to all students who read for 20 minutes at least 5 days on the break.

Have a Wonderful Holiday


Sunday, November 5, 2017

Week 10



                       
Patriotic, Background - Free pictures on Pixabay
                                                                                                        November 6, 2017
Dear Parents,

Between the Book Fair, Project Performances, and Halloween; last week was a crazy, busy week!  Miss Garcia and myself are looking forward to a nice calm week!

A BIG Shout Out to all the family members that were able to come to our first project.  Students did a great job presenting their Tribes Agreement Reader’s Theater.  We are looking forward to the next project to share with parents.

We would also like to thank ALL parents/volunteers that made our Scholastic Book Fair such a success. It was a great time of year to hold the book fair and the “Western” theme was perfect!  Remember that a percentage of the money that we made at the book fair is returned to Oasis Academy.

Remember on Thursday, November 9th students may pay a dollar to wear patriotic clothing instead of their uniform.  This special day is in honor of Veteran’s Day which is celebrated on Saturday, November 11th.

Don’t forget to “Fall Back” and set your clocks back one hour so that you arrive to school on time on Monday!

Math
Last week 2nd grade mathematicians became pros at using the partial sum strategy!!  This week students will be work on using the partial difference and the arrow method.
Partial difference
          5 6  →  50 + 6      1.  Show the minuend in expanded form.  
      -   3  2  →  30  + 2     2.  Show the subtrahend in expanded form.
       2 0       20 + 4     3.  Subtract the tens and ones.
     +     4                     4.  Add the partial differences (tens and ones)   
       2 4                      to get the difference.                                                                                                                                                        
We realize that these strategies are very different from the traditional algorithm that we all learned but knowing these strategies helps to deepen the mathematical understanding of adding and subtracting.

Even with Halloween on Tuesday students were still engaged in reviewing math strategies by working in triads to make a poster of a 2-digit addition or subtraction equation.  The group had to solve the equation using a given strategy (Branching or Open Number Line).  Groups then presented their posted explaining each stop of the strategy.
20171031_084445.jpg 20171031_084516.jpg
20171031_084521.jpg 20171031_084525.jpg
20171031_084534.jpg 20171031_084647.jpg

Here's the homework schedule for this week...
Monday
Worksheet Partial Difference
Tuesday
Worksheet Partial Difference
Wednesday
Worksheet Addition Branching 3-digit
Thursday
Worksheet Subtraction Branching 3-digit

Language
Second graders reviewed nouns and learned about a new type of noun--collective nouns.  Collective nouns name a group like a pod of whales or a class of students.  The second graders also learned about some “Halloween” collective nouns through making a 6 page book with sentences and illustrations.  
Did you know…..
...the collective noun for Jack O Lanterns is leer?
...the collective noun for ghosts is congress?
Writing
The second graders are still working on their Opinion piece, using the acronym OREO!  With all the writing in projects our opinion pieces have slowed down, but with the Tribes Project over time for our opinion pieces will be back to normal.
Projects
We are so happy to be finished with our first project.  This week students will be begin our next project in the area of science!!  The 2nd grade Scientists will be exploring Matter!  

Wishing everyone a fabulous week!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Bloomfield
and

Miss Garcia