Friday, December 20, 2024

 

Reminders:

• No school Monday, December 23 - Wednesday, January 1. We will see your children on Thursday, January 2, 2025!

• Want to volunteer? Here is the Pease Mountain sign up! Please make sure to read the top section before you sign up. Thank you!

• Please support your child to have weather appropriate clothing. Please label your child’s belongings. Now is also a great time to support your child to learn how to tie their own shoes. 

Math: For the past two weeks, our lessons have focused on:

• Adding by 1s, 5s, and 10s on the number line

• Skip counting by 5s and 10s

• Understanding that the digits in a 3-digit number represent ones, tens, and hundreds

• Solving two digit addition and subtraction problems using place value strategies

• Using the number line to solve addition and subtraction story problems

• Comparing and contrasting heights within story problems

Word Study: We wrapped up our sixth word study unit. This unit focused on spelling patterns:

• v-e syllables

• S sounding like /s/ and /z/

• Combining v-e syllables with closed syllables to spell multisyllabic words

• Adding consonant suffixes to one or two syllable words that end with v-e syllables

Please read the Home Support Letter for Unit 6 (linked in our blog)  if you would like more information!

Writers’ Workshop: What a celebration! We wrapped up our poetry unit with a ‘Hot Cocoa House’ poetry celebration. We followed a recipe to make our own hot cocoa and then enjoyed sipping our warm drinks and reading each other’s poetry collections. Thank you to all of the caregivers who helped with supplies! Second graders then wrote their own recipe book! Each squad member has a copy and we had fun reading from ‘Cups of Love’ during today’s Read-A-Thon. 

Readers’ Workshop: Our second graders are learning a lot about decoding words! They’ve been introduced to five syllable division patterns, all six syllable types, compound words, common prefixes & suffixes and how to separate these from the base word when decoding, and so much more!

SEL/Theme: In Second Step, we are continuing our work with empathy. Over the last two weeks, students have learned that sometimes people prefer different things; they have different preferences. Having empathy helps you notice and understand preferences, and that preferences can change. You can be friends and get along by respecting different

preferences. Students also learned how noticing and understanding how someone is feeling will help them have empathy. When you have empathy for someone, you can show your care and concern by saying or doing something kind. Showing care and concern is called showing

compassion. 

Science: We wrapped up our Matter unit by focusing on changing states of matter. Students worked to understand that heating or cooling causes changes in states of matter and that changes can be reversible or irreversible.

Quiet Time: Our students have ‘traveled’ far these past two weeks!

Friday, December 6, 2024

 Reminders:

• No school Monday, December 23 - Wednesday, January 1

• Want to volunteer? Here is the Pease Mountain sign up! Please make sure to read the top section before you sign up. Thank you!

• Please support your child to have weather appropriate clothing. Please label your child’s belongings.

Math: We wrapped up our second unit in math! The work of the unit included:

• Explore base ten concepts and models within 1,000

• Review the first three place value units: ones, tens, hundreds

• Develop strategies for counting, measurement and double-digit computation

• Decomposition - the ability to break numbers into their component parts

• Develop early understanding of the open number line and base ten area pieces

Word Study: In word study we wrapped up unit 5 and began unit 6. Units 5 had students use their understanding of closed syllables to spell longer words including words with more than one syllable and/or words that have a suffix. In unit 6 our second graders were introduced to a new syllable type, the v-e syllable. In this syllable the first vowel is long while the e is silent. We also learned that the vowel u has TWO long vowel sounds, like in the words rule and mule. Students have also been introduced to spelling the /z/ sound in a v-e word.

Writers’ Workshop: Second grade poets are in the home stretch of our poetry unit! They have been focusing playing with language and structure to bring out the meaning of their poems. 

Readers’ Workshop: We have begun learning syllable division patterns! Second graders are being incredibly curious and finding new words to decode everywhere. We explored the six syllable types in our first bend and this week we began our second bend. During this bend, we will focus on the Core Idea: Readers decode long words by breaking the word into its syllables. As we entered this work, we worked with big ideas/reminders about decoding and then learned our first syllable division pattern: VC/CV.

SEL/Theme: In Second Step we are entering the third unit which focuses on emotion management. Throughout this unit, students learn specific skills for calming down when experiencing strong feelings, such as anxiety or anger. Over the last two weeks, students practiced identifying physical and situational clues that indicate the feeling of confidence. They also practiced noticing and detecting when their own or others’ feelings changed. Our class learned that practicing helps build confidence and feeling confident helps you do your best and makes you proud. 

Science: We are continuing to learn and explore matter. Over the past two weeks, second grade scientists have worked with the:

Core Idea: Heating and cooling the phases of matter.

Skills & Concepts: 

• Some solids can change into liquids

• Some Liquids can change into solids

• How solids and liquids change

Second graders were introduced to the concept that matter is made up of molecules which are made up of atoms. We had a blast acting like molecules in different states of matter!

Quiet Time: Our students have ‘traveled’ far these past two weeks!