Second Grade News You Can Use
October 2019
Welcome!
It was so nice to meet so many parents at Back to School Night on September 10th. The students are off to a great start! Be sure to give your child a hug for making a smooth transition into second grade. We will be communicating via teacher email, Thursday folders, and monthly newsletters. Please be sure to check for these important updates. Thank you for your continued support toward your child’s education. Students are successful when there is a strong home-school connection.
October Dates
Oct 8 -- 2 hour early dismissal
Oct. 9 - No school for students
Oct. 11 - Race for Education
Oct. 18 - Rain Date for Race for Education
Oct. 23 - school opens 4 hours late for evening conferences
Oct. 24 - school opens 4 hours late for evening conferences
Oct. 25 - school dismisses 3.5 hours early for afternoon conferences
Language Arts
Language Arts includes reading, writing and word study. This quarter we are focusing on the “Fab 4”. Reinforcing the importance of predicting, questioning, clarifying (words and questions), and summarizing which increase a reader’s comprehension. Students will have opportunities to develop many strategies with both fiction and non-fiction texts. Keep in mind that the text used in groups correlates to reading and comprehension level. The focus is to dig deeper into the text in order to move from literal questions to ones that require critical thinking skills. Students are also working on foundational skills such as consonant clusters (br, cr, gr, tr), sight words, and long and short vowel patterns. Students are expected to identity and apply the syllable types in their reading and writing. We are focusing on closed syllables (vowel consonant, VC - short vowel sounds) and silent e - (long vowel sounds - VCE) These skills are used both in reading and writing to improve fluency. In writing, students are looking at examples from master writers. The focus will be on narrative writing this term. Students are writing personal narratives based on small moments within their lives. These are stories that they have experienced such as riding a bike for the first time, winning a game or ribbon, or a special event. Our writing lessons focus on both writer’s craft and writing mechanics that master authors incorporate into their stories. Students are learning to stretch small moments into stories by sharing and incorporating what they did, what they saw, what they said and how they felt. Talk to your child about any additional small moments to add to their tiny topic notebook for future writing ideas. For additional ways to support your child at home, visit the Language Arts website.
Math
This quarter in math we are developing the foundation for how numbers work. We are focusing on place value and how we read, model, and write numbers up to three digits in a variety of ways.
We will also be expanding students’ knowledge of skip counting. While some students can skip count by 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s we are developing a deeper understanding beyond memorization. Using the hundreds chart students will learn a variety of strategies to add and subtract in efficient ways. It is important to be able to communicate strategies used to solve a given problem beyond using a traditional algorithm. We will apply our knowledge of place value and addition/subtraction strategies when solving story structures.
Please continue to reinforce the practice of addition and subtraction facts up to 20. Quarterly check-ins will monitor student’s progress toward meeting FCPS goal of 50 problems with 90% accuracy by the end of second grade. This is to strengthen math fluency. We want students apply efficient strategies one example is doubles and doubles plus one. Please click on the following link for a list of activities and resources to help support your child in math.
Social Studies
This quarter, students are learning about Citizenship in our Community. Students are learning about how to be a good citizen by identifying their rights and responsibilities. Students are learning about various local, sate, and national leaders. Students will learn the process in which leaders are placed or elected into their positions and roles various leaders have.