The 2A Express
The Weekly Roundup
Week Thirty Three
Greetings Parents and Caregivers,
I hope this email finds you and your family well.
After checking the calendar this morning i was surprised to see how very little time we have together as a class before they walk through the ASD gates, enjoy their vacation time, and then pass through the gates of a new school or ASD, as Third Graders!
The students all underwent their MAP Assessments this week and I was impressed with the way that persevered with a rage of challenging questions either in Math and Reading. I was happy with the way that they had put this years' learning into practice and gave me a snapshot of what they can do independently at this time.
Thank you very much for returning your child's portfolio this week. We will be sitting down next week to put into place an action plan that will allow them the opportunity to achieve their short term goal over the next five weeks. If your child has not handed in their portfolio, it would be much appreciated if you could send them to school with it next week.
The barbecue lunch was a great success, with the students enjoying a hotdog, bag of chips, ASD drink bottle and a warm, sunny day. It was nice to get in an outdoor lunch before the temperature reached the point of warranting a red flag day.
Please take the time to look through the newsletter as there is some important information regarding the next few weeks, click on the images of your child engaged in learning and feel free to contact me with any queries or issues that may arise.
The Thirty Third Week
The Subjects
Math
This week saw the 2A mathematicians look closely at an alternative way to display a collection of data.
2A conducted a quick measurement of their handspans and collated the information as tallies on a table. From this point the students were introduced to a line plot where they added the data that was recorded.
After plotting the data they looked at a trend that they noticed as they analyzed the line plot.
This was the final week of the Data and Measurement unit. Next week 2A begins unit that begins to build a foundation of multiplication and division. There will be a unit overview going home in folders next week for you to read over and look ahead to what your child will be learning within this unit
Below is the unit link by Eureka Math housed on YouTube embedded in the newsletter. This is a cluster of short videos that provides parents, students and teachers with an overview of the strategies that are being taught this unit lesson by lesson, and how to solve some of the questions that students are exposed to.
Our Latest Unit Tutorial YouTube Playlist
IXL Second Grade Resources
Reader's Workshop
This week saw the readers of 2A continue to meet with their partners and larger reading groups to discuss their thoughts about a range of topics within the series books they are reading.
We continued to work towards being experts at understanding the primary characters in our books, predicting how they will respond to a problem, their catch phrases, and all the while noting new information about them on our Post It notes.
In addition to keeping tabs on our characters we are also beginning to review the author's craft; how an author creates vivid images from their word choice and sentences used.
Each group is working towards completing their assigned reading task with their partner and will present their findings mid week. I am looking forward to what they have to share about their book, character and series.
Series Reading and Book Clubs Lesson Slides
Great Reading resources for Second Graders and Beyond
Writer's Workshop
This week saw the authors of 2A continue to produce a revised and revamped nonfiction text.
We have spent some time reviewing text features and when these should be used in relation to our text, but also spending more time on ensuring that our written text is both factual, simple and creative, engaging the reader with what they really need to learn about the chosen topic.
There are many differing topics in this unit and I am looking forward to seeing these ideas grow into a polished piece of nonfiction text. We will be spending next week on publishing these in a written medium, before we move onto a review of fiction writing.
Sharing the First Few Chapters of Our Nonfiction Books
Science
We have built upon our basic understanding of force and motion by undertaking a force experiment and the role of friction; surfaces that slow down the motion of an object caused by a force. These experiments saw the students investigating different surfaces. We wanted to know which type of surface had more or less friction. We used toy cars, ramps, carpets, sandpaper, foam, and more to help us learn how friction works!
Next week we take a look at the question "What makes things fall?".
Take a look at the photographs and ask your child what they observed when taking part in the experiments.
Experiment One: Experimenting with DIfferent Types of Forces
Experiment Two: Friction and It's Different Surfaces
Exploratory
This project will be a student initiated and student driven project, based upon their curiosity. They will be in charge of their research, collection of necessary materials and presentation of their final product.
It should be a wonderful time to complete the year and have students independently move through the engineering process.
More details to come!
Other things:
Alanndia and the Other Grade Two Continents
Hot Dog Barbeque Winners
Things To Know:
Mulan
Tickets for Mulan are on sale in the elementary office for 20QR.
There are two shows: May 11 at 6:00pm and May 12 at 7:00pm.
Come on out and support ASD theatre.
Arab Mothers Association Fundraising Activities
May Dates At A Glance
May 12 Grade 5 Play @ 10 am
May 19 Trimester 3 ASA’s finish
May 22 PD – No Students
May 24 Full Day of School – Tuesday Morning Schedule
- May 30 Irish Storyteller Visit
Mr Craig Campbell
Email: ccampbell@asd.edu.qa
Location: American School of Doha, Al Bustan Street, Doha, Qatar
Mrs. Danijela Delic-Domazet
Email: ddelic@asd.edu.qa
Location: American School of Doha, Al Bustan Street, Doha, Qatar