Week 34

April 25, 2016

Dear Bighorn Parents,

It is said that April showers bring May flowers, that could be the case this week.  Please be sure to check the weather so that your child is dressed properly for recess.  It never ceases to amaze me how different the temperature can be in Northern Nevada during the spring.

We have completed instruction in all 2nd grade math standards!!  For the remainder of the school year, we will be focusing on standards that have not been completely mastered.  Our math will consist of many “mini lessons” and “mini assessments” on previously taught material to ensure that students who previously were at mastery level are still there and students that had not mastered a standard have the opportunity for additional instruction and practice so that they may be reassessed.

This week the focus will be on line plots, bar graphs, and picture graphs.  Students will be using data to create graphs.  They will also use the above mentioned graphs to answer questions.  

Line Plot Books Read in 1 Week                    X             X     X             X     X           X    X               X     X   X     X    X     X           X    X     X   X     X    X     X     ________________________________ 0     1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8

Picture Graph

Bar Graph

Here are a few pictures from math last week.  Students were working on equal groups and building arrays to show repeated addition or the foundation of multiplication.

Creating Equal Groups

Playing Circles and Stars

Building Arrays

     

Homework

Monday	IXL R.7 Create Line Plots
Tuesday	Worksheet
Wednesday	Worksheet
Thursday	Worksheet

Spring activities (baseball, softball, Sound of Music, and lacrosse) are in full swing!!  It’s so fun to watch students participate in these activities.  We have had a lot of tired students this past week.  Miss Garcia and I realize that all these activities can lead to some late nights (not getting home until 9:00 PM or later).  Remember to adjust schedules if needed.  We have had our own children complete homework assignments on the way to practice or games.  

Sincerely,

Mrs. Bloomfield

      and

Miss Garcia

Week 33

 
  

April 18, 2016

Dear Parents,

The school year continues to be flying by, it’s hard to believe that we only have 5 weeks left of school!!  

In Math, 2nd graders will be starting their last “new” unit of the school year--multiplication.  We will be using number bonds and the terms equal groups, repeated addition, and arrays as we explore this concept.  Students will spend time drawing lots of pictures as we learn the foundation of multiplication.

Number Bond

▋ ▋ ▋ ▋     ▋ ▋▋ ▋      ▋ ▋ ▋▋

   

     

This number bond can be described the following ways....

Repeated Addition...4 + 4 + 4 = 12

Multiplication Sentence...3 X 4 = 12

Equal Groups...3 groups of 4 equals 12

Array                 C

                      O

ROWS    L   This array can be described as...

         U   Repeated Addition...4 + 4 + 4 = 12

          M   Equal Groups… 3 rows of 4

                      N   Multiplication Sentence...3 X 4 =12

                      S    

Here’s the homework for the week...

Monday	IXL W.2 Identify Multiplication Sentences for Equal Groups
Tuesday	IXL W.3 Write Multiplication Sentences for Equal Groups
Wednesday	IXL W.4 Relate Addition and Multiplication Sentences  for Equal Groups
Thursday	IXL W.5 Write Multiplication Sentences for Arrays

This week promises to be busy with beautiful weather.  We hope our 2nd grade families are able to get out and enjoy spring in Fallon!!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Bloomfield

and

Miss Garcia

Week 32

 

April 11, 2016

Dear Parents,

Last week we worked on solving 2 step word problems focusing on money.  All week the students were guided through problems, worked in partners, and worked independently solving word problems involving money.  Thursday, the assessment showed that the 2nd grade students need to continue to work on two-step word problems as well as adding up an amount of money then subtracting an amount from the given amount.  This week we will continue to and subtract with money amounts outside of word problems as well as within word problems!

A fun and easy activity for your second grader to work on at home to build this concept is to sort, count and add up an amount of coins.

Homework for Week 32

Monday	IXL P.4 Count money up to $1
Tuesday	IXL P.5 Count money up to $5
Wednesday	Worksheet - Word problems dealing with money $$$
Thursday	IXL P.6 Equivalent amounts of money up to $1

Welcome Back--Week 31

                                                                                April 4, 2016

Dear Parents,

Welcome back from Spring Break!  We hope you had an wonderful, fun and relaxing time.  We saw lots of Facebook posts and pictures, it looks like everyone had a great time!  It’s that time to get back into the swing of school.  This week we will be focusing on adding up to four numbers to find a sum as well as word problems involving: adding, subtracting in both money and measurement.

Please remember, there are a TON of sports going on at this time of year however, your child’s number one job is school and to make sure that they are keeping up on their reading and math homework!  Please continue to support the importance of their school work.

Homework for Week 31

Monday	IXL G.16 Word Problems - add up to 4 digits
Tuesday	IXL I.4 Word Problems - up to 3 digits
Wednesday	IXL I.6 Write an addition sentence up to 3 digits
Thursday	IXL L.9 Word Problems up to 100

Happy Spring

Happy Spring and Happy Easter

                                                                                                           

                                                                                                                March 21, 2016

Dear Parents.

Thanks for making Parent Teacher Conferences great!!  Friday was definitely a packed day, but it was very fun to meet with so many families to discuss the progress of your student.  I only have a handful of conferences for this week and I am looking forward to visiting with these families as well!

Math
This past week students spent time exploring fractions.  So far students have worked on naming fractions of a whole, recognizing the unit fractions one half, one third, and one fourth.  Students have also worked on identifying, reading, and writing fractions.  

 We worked on describing fractions by saying 3/4 of the shape is green.
3/4 is 3 out of the 4 equal parts. 

Our work in  fractions will continue this week with an assessment on Thursday.  Here's this week's homework.

Monday	IXL  U.4-Which Shape Illustrates a Fraction?
Tuesday	IXL U.9- Order fractions With Like Numerators
Wednesday	Review Worksheets
Thursday	No Homework--Happy Spring Break

Language/Writing
In language students have been working on correctly placing commas in writing.  We practiced writing friendly letters to place commas in the date, greeting, and closing.

Part of our language time was spent working on reciting poetry.  This falls under our speaking standards.  The poem students recited was called "On St. Patrick's Day".  As a class we came up with motions to go with the poem.  On St. Patricks Day we recited the poem to Mrs. Marsh's kindergarten class, Miss Garcia's class, and the front office staff.
Projects
Our new project is focused on plants.  Last week students soaked and planted bean seeds.  Each child planted 3 seeds.  The first seed will receive sun and water, the second seed will receive sun and no water, and the third seed will receive water and no sun.  It will be interesting to see how well the plants grow.

This week will be busy as we count down the days to till Spring Break!!  Wishing you all a safe and fun-filled Easter and Spring Break.

Sincerely,
Anne Bloomfield

Welcome to the 4th Quarter!!

                                                                                                    March 14, 2016

Dear Second Grade Families,

I'd like to say a BIG thank-you to all the parents and family members that were able to come to the special events last week.  First, our drama performance, "Giraffes Don't Dance" was a smash hit.  The students with the direction of Mrs. Berg put on a fabulous show.  Secondly many of you came back to hear students present their animal projects.  I was very pleased that we had so many guests visit our "zoo".

Well here we are in the first week of the 4th quarter.  If the first three quarters have seemed to pass in a snap; I can't image how quickly the last quarter will pass!  

Math
Our week in math continued to be all about word problems.  We worked on word problems related to money and measurement.  Students have been working extremely hard on reading, understanding, and solving word problems.  We ended our week with an assessment.

As we enter the 4th quarter, students will be exploring fractions.  We will be looking at wholes versus fractions, as well as halves, thirds, fourths, sixths, and eighths.  

Homework for Week 29

Monday	IXL U.1 - Equal Parts
Tuesday	IXL U.2 - Halves, Thirds, Fourths
Wednesday	Fraction worksheet
Thursday	IXL U.3 - Identify the Fraction

Language

In language students are working on 2 very important punctuation marks that are often confused, the comma and the apostrophe.  Students will be learning about where commas are used in dates, letters, lists, and in writing the names of cities with their states.  They will be using apostrophe's in contractions and possessive nouns.

  Writing/Projects

Writing was all about putting the finishing touches on our research papers on animals and on our maps of where our animals are found in the wild.  The week concluded with students getting to share their animal reports with everyone that visited our zoo!  

Although this project took quite a while to complete, I was very pleased with the finished product!  Many thanks to those that were able to join us on Thursday!!

Wishing you all a Happy St. Patrick's Day and a Happy 1st Day of Spring!


Sincerely,
Anne Bloomfield

Good-bye Third Quarter

                                                                                                      March 7, 2016

Dear Bighorn Parents,

This week marks the end of the 3rd quarter of school and I can't believe it!!  Everyone should have received a notification from Sign-Up Genius to sign up for a Spring Conference.  The primary day for conferences is Friday, March 18th but I also have some times available for Monday, March 21 and Tuesday, March 22.  My goal is to meet with every family so please let me know if an alternative date and time needs to be set up.

Math
In math we have been spending lots of time on word problems.  While this is a skill that students have worked on weekly throughout the year, Miss Garcia and myself have been keeping it as our main focus during the past week.  Out of the 26 standards for math there are 3 standards that involve word problems.  Those standards involve word problems that have 2 steps and/or that deal with numbers within 100, use money, and measurement.  

Since all the prerequisite standards have been taught and our work has been extensive on word problems throughout the 2nd and 3rd quarters, students will continue to work on word problems this week and beyond.  

Here's the homework for the week...

Monday         IXL P.14 Add and Subtract Money up to $1.

Tuesday        Word Problem Worksheet--Money

Wednesday   Word Problem Worksheet--Measurement

Thursday       IXL G. 16 Add  Four or More Numbers Up to 2 Digits

Language
Our time in language was spent with producing, expanding, and rearranging complete simple and compound sentences.  Students did a fantastic job taking a very simple sentence and making it more complex by adding adjectives, adverbs, a "where", or a "when".
My dog ate.
Last night, my little dog quickly ate all the dog food in the pen before my bigger dogs could eat.

Students also practiced rearranging sentences.
Last night, before my bigger dogs could eat; my little dog quickly ate all the dog food in the pen.

This standard was assessed on Tuesday.
The rest of the week we reviewed and assessed on collective nouns.

Writing/Projects
Writing takes time...I realize it seems like forever but students are finally working on their final drafts of their animal research projects.  Students are also busy working on their maps that go with where their animal is from.   

Special Event
Speaking of research projects...
The students of Room 17 would like to invite you to listen to their research papers.  They will be sharing their papers on Thursday, March 10th from 3:15-3:45 in Room 17 and in the hall outside Room 17.  Please plan on stopping by to learn about a variety of animals.

Sweet brothers!!

It was not a big picture week for Room 17, but I did want to share a couple of gems from March 2nd (Dr. Seuss' Birthday).  Mrs. Mori and Mrs. Mc Ellhannon arranged for some time for the 2nd and 3rd graders to enjoy the 5th graders reading some Dr. Seuss books to them.  It was really sweet just watching the interaction of the older students reading to the younger students.

Spring weather is slowly creeping in (although March can be very winter like).  Softball, baseball, and lacrosse practices have begun and next weekend (Sunday, March 13th) it will be time to spring forward by setting our clocks ahead by 1 hour.  Busy, busy times, remember not to get caught up in the rush!

Sincerely,
Anne Bloomfield