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Second Grade Newsletter August/September |
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Greetings: Thank you for all your help in getting your child off to a wonderful start. We enjoyed meeting everyone at orientation. We are looking forward to getting to know you and your child. We want your child to enjoy coming to school everyday. We also want to make your child's classroom environment a pleasant one,
filled with rich experiences, challenging activities, loads of achievements and lasting friendships. In order to accomplish this task, we feel it is particularly important to develop and maintain a year of classroom involvement with you. We will keep you informed of your child's social and academic progress. Our commitment to each child is genuine and our interaction with parents is essential to each child's education. With your help, this will be a wonderful year. We are off to a great start! Science/Social Studies: In second grade we cover a variety of topics in both Science and Social Studies. We teach in units, alternating between the two subjects. Please be aware that due to resources, all teachers may not be covering the same material at the same time, however, be assured that every class will cover what is required. The curriculum for second grade social studies is diverse. We establish a base of map and globe skills, including being able to locate the oceans and continents. Our first unit, Where We Live, will focus on our community and broaden the perspective to our country and planet. Other units of study that will be covered throughout the year will include; The Earth, Working Together, Our Country; Past and Present, and People and Places in History. Some ways you can expand on what your child learns at school include; watching the news and discussing the major topics and how they affect you at home, discussing family history with your child, purchasing nonfiction books and biographies, and locating places mentioned in books or on television on a map or globe. We begin our year in Science with a study of matter. Students will be involved in several classroom experiments involving the different types of matter. Be prepared for your "little scientist" to tell you all about the properties of solids, liquids, and gases. If your child desires to be a scientist at home, then there are many easy experiments you can do together in your own kitchen. Below you will find listed a couple of web sites to give you some ideas. |
Reading/Language: Our reading series is published by Harcourt, and is standards-based. Instruction in reading begins with literature selections and expands into systematic instruction in reading strategies, phonics and word analysis, comprehension, vocabulary, language
skills and grammar. Lessons within each unit are designed to teach appropriate skills within the content of the reading selections. This program provides the core literature selections intended to be used by all second grade students. To assure that each child will be able to work up to their potential, reading groups will be established to meet specific needs. These guided reading groups will provide each child the individual attention they need in order to become fluent readers. They will be instructed to use strategies that will assist them in gaining meaning and independence in their reading. Through the exposure of a wide variety of materials, expository as well as narrative, students will develop greater fluency, vocabulary, background knowledge, comprehension strategies, and writing
skills. We hope that by the end of this year, each student will have developed a love of reading that will last a lifetime. Daily writing is an important part of our program as well. Students will learn many forms of writing including stories, friendly letters, reports, and poems. Some of their writing will be done in social studies or science. The rest will be done during "Writer's Workshop" where the six traits of writing will be taught and practiced. Math: In second grade we begin the year with our unit over patterns and numbers to 100. The units to follow will review basic addition and subtraction strategies. During these units we will be emphasizing the importance of each child memorizing basic addition and subtraction facts. The math fact sheets that are nightly homework will help you know which facts your child needs to practice. Timed math fact quizzes will be given in class to assess how well each student is doing. Flash cards are the best way to prepare for these quizzes. Flash cards can easily be made at home using index cards. They can also be
purchased a school supply stores. The grade a student earns on his/her quiz will reflect if the practice is being done at home. Other units that will be covered throughout the year will include; Money, Adding Two-Digit Numbers, Subtracting Two-Digit Numbers, Time, Measurement, Patterns and Numbers to 1,000, Geometry, Fractions, and Probability, Adding and Subtracting Three-Digit Numbers, and Exploring Multiplication and Division. Below are some excellent web sites for math practice! Please take time to visit these sites with your child! |