Friday, January 21, 2022

 Reminders:

• Please continue to: 

• monitor your email for information regarding Covid mitigation efforts from our district's administrative team. 

• ensure your child has an extra mask (or two) at school. 

• make sure your child has an extra set of weather appropriate clothing in their backpack.

• have your child pack their inside shoes and a water bottle every day.

• email your child’s teacher AND Cindy LaWare (claware@cvsdvt.org) if you have any attendance or dismissal related updates.

If your child is at home and you would like for them to engage in learning, please go to CCS At Home Learning Opportunities.

• CCS students have access to EBooks & Audiobooks through our library! Check out our library’s ‘how to’ section for more information. 

Upcoming: February is kindness month in second grade! We will be incorporating kindness activities throughout the month. In second grade, we do not celebrate Valentine’s Day in the traditional sense. Students will be creating kindness cards in school and exchanging them towards the end of the month. We do this to strengthen our sense of community while continuing to focus on our mantra, “We are all the same. We are all different. We are all unique.” and our school wide expectations of “We take care of ourselves. We take care of others. We take care of this place.”

Math: Second graders have begun their next math unit which focuses on place value to one thousand. In the first module of this unit, students worked on:

• Imagining, visualizing, and counting the number 1000

• Building place value understanding up to 1000

• Adding and subtracting by 10 within 200

Reading: Second graders are growing their knowledge of different topics by reading LOTS of nonfiction! We have been learning about text features and how to read (and use) the language of a topic. This week and next, we will work on growing knowledge across texts as we read topic sets of texts, comparing, contrasting, and connecting information across texts and text sets and doing the vocabulary work that accompanies nonfiction reading.

Word Study:  Second grade spellers are introduced to many spelling patterns.  If you are wondering what spelling patterns second graders should be held accountable for in their writing (at this point in the year), here you go!

August - January Second Grade Spelling Patterns

• I can write words with digraphs and digraph blends, including -ck.

• I can write closed syllables. 

• I can write words with the bonus letters f, l, s, (z). 

• I can write words with ng/nk glued sounds. 

• I can write words with the closed syllable exceptions: ild, ind, old, olt, ost.

• I can categorize suffixes as consonant or vowel suffixes.

• I can isolate the base word from the suffix in reading or writing.

• I can write words using the suffixes -s, -es, -ed, -ing, -est, -er  to unchanging base words.

• I can segment a two syllable word into its syllables.

• I can write words using the suffixes -s, -es, -ed, -ing, -est, -er, -ful, -ment, -ness, -less, -able, -en, & -ish  to unchanging base words.

• I can write two closed & VCe syllable words with and without consonant suffixes.

• I can write words with the VCe syllable exception -ive.

Writing: Our nonfiction writers have been working hard! After reviewing what students learned in first grade nonfiction, we have begun the first bend in our unit. During this bend, writers study other nonfiction authors, noticing the interesting and cool things they do to teach in their books, and trying those moves on right away. We also spent time learning what a second grade informational writing piece looks like and have begun to use our new information writing checklist.

Project: This week second graders dove back into the world of glyphs to make some adorable penguin creations! Check out the pictures below as well as the glyph checklist to see what your child’s winter favorites are. What would your winter penguin look like? 

SEL/Theme: This week in second grade we introduced the topic of emotional management. We used our hands to model what happens when we get overwhelmed and “flip our lid”. When we are calm, cool, and collected we are able to think clearly and plan responsibly. But when our big emotions “flip our lid” making choices that take care of ourselves, others, and this place can be difficult because we are not able to access our “thinking” brain. Being able to recognize and name your own feelings brings you one step closer to managing those big feelings. When students slow down to notice the bodily signs of strong emotions they are more likely to use the calming/centering techniques we’ve learned this year to regulate.

Photos from the week!