Second Grade Newsletter December
What's New!        The end of the year is upon us and we are heading towards the end of our second nine weeks.  The children are becoming confident second grade students and wonderful Buckalew Bears!   It is apparent how much they have matured since the beginning of school.  My students have been working hard in all subject areas.  I know they will keep up the good work!  I hope you all have an wonderful and safe winter holiday.  We will see you back next year! Science/Social Studies:     In Science we are investigating the human body and learning about how we grow and change.  Some of our vocabulary words are permanent teeth, skeleton, muscles, heart, digest, saliva, stomach, lungs, and brain.  Did you know that a healthy heart beats more than 66 times a minute?  Or that a human neck has seven bones, the same amount as a giraffe?  This is just some of the fascinating information our class has been learning about the human body.     In Social Studies this month we will be learning about the various customs associated with the winter holidays celebrated throughout the world.  What fun!	Reading/Language:     Students have been doing fabulously in their reading groups within our classroom.  We have been enjoying both nonfiction and fiction material in these groups.  Students also continue to have a weekly story from our second grade reader as well.  Make sure to read our weekly newsletters to be kept informed on our story of the week and the skills taught with it.   A special story all of second grade will be enjoying this month is The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg.  This is a story about a young boy’s adventure to the North Pole aboard the magical train; The Polar Express.  While studying this book we will look at sequencing events, cause and effect, plural nouns, and verbs.  Some of the vocabulary from this story include conductor, insisted, factories, wilderness, harness, sped, and distance.  We will conclude our unit with a Polar Express Day that will include wearing pajamas to school and enjoying hot chocolate!

Math:

In Math we have finished our place value unit and are now diving into our money unit.  This unit will concentrate on counting pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters and half dollars.  Students will be responsible for knowing how to count various combinations of coins to the sum of one dollar.  We will also practice making change, which is a difficult skill that requires practice at school and at home. You can help reinforce this skill with your child by practicing together counting simple change over the holidays.