Mrs. Baker's Class Newsletter-
November 30th, 2017
What is going on?
Reading/Writing: We will begin a 2 week PBL project. Students will research the cultural celebrations of another country and create a culture doll that shows the traditional clothing of that culture.
Spelling and Grammar: asked, clean, does, friend, kind, night, should, turn
We will focus on correct ending punctuation this week. Punctuation marks are something all students know they should be using but often the most common thing they forget to use. We actually talk about this every day but will focus on the three different kinds and when to use them during this unit.
Social Studies: This week, students will be thinking like geographers. We will explore maps (continents, countries, states, parks and other cool maps on hand), and learn all of the components that make up a map. By the end of the week, we will make our own maps.
Math: Students will begin our 2-D shape unit. They will learn all about polygons, quadrilaterals, and other sided shapes. Our focus will be on shapes attributes; the amount of sides and vertices different shapes have.
We are needing a donation of two bags of gum drops, toothpicks, and one bag of mini marshmallows. Please let me know if you can contribute.
Please talk to your child about your holiday culture!
Dear Parents,
We are excited to announce that we are beginning our second PBL project on December 4th. This PBL will focus on Holiday Traditions around the world. As an introduction students will record their winter holiday traditions that they celebrate; specifically focusing on food, clothing, games, dances and songs. . Therefore, if you could have a conversation with your child prior to December 4th. going over your family’s holiday traditions this would be helpful for them to be able to have ideas ready to record.
One last thing….We will be discussing Christmas and the traditions that go along with that, including Santa Claus. If your family does not believe in Santa, please make sure to have a prior conversation with your child to explain this situation. There are many students in our class that do believe in Santa, and my goal is NOT to spoil the magic of Santa Claus for those that believe during our project. Thanks you for your help!
Have a wonderful break!
The Second Grade Team
We will study different cultures soon (Dec) with an emphasis on holidays. If you would like to share your families culture with the class, please let me know! I will create time for you to come in and teach us. What would be super enjoyable is for the students to see traditional clothing, try bite sized food/treats (no nuts), see artifacts/objects, play traditional games, listen to music, experience something authentic, etc.
Think about it!! This is your time to come in and teach us! Share your family with us! Teach us something new! Please come!
Dec. 22 No School for students
Dec. 25 - Jan 5 Winter Break/No School
Jan. 8 Teacher Workday/No School for students
Jan. 9 Students return to School from Winter Break
Jan. 15 No School/MLK, Jr. Day
Feb. 16 Six Flags Read To Succeed Reading Logs due
The Six Flags Reading Logs are going home today! Please keep them in a safe place! We are making a class goal that everyone in our class completes the Six Flags Program. We are reading anyway! We might as get free tickets.
Bring library books tomorrow!
SCIENCE FAIR
It’s that time of the year again! Science Fair is right around the corner. Join us in the library for Science Research Night on Thursday, December 7th from 5:30-6:30. We will have books, rubrics and some science project examples displayed to help your child get in their scientific mindset. All grade levels may participate, however, only grades 3-5 will be judged and may progress to regionals. Science fair projects will be due Friday, January 19 no later than 7:35am. Judging will take place on Monday, January 22. Students will take projects to their classroom.
For more information and frequently asked questions, go to
https://sites.google.com/view/sommersciencefair/ If you are interested in being a science fair judge, please contact Danica Baker at danica_baker@roundrockisd.org.
Cogat Parent Resource-
https://www.testprep-online.com/cogat-verbal.aspx
I have noticed some have not been completing Xtra Math- or not completing it as often. Please lets get back into the routine. It does help with number sense and then carries down into problem solving. It is a concept that pays off in the long run. Thanks for helping!
Also, I have sent home the login information for an amazing typing and coding program that Round Rock pays for. I set up their accounts this week. The login code is stapled into our kids planners on the front page. This is a really great program check it out as often as you can.
It is called learning.com- You can google it or it is on the Sommer Website under students.
Parent Corner-
Other skills to keep fresh over time are: telling time, money, subtraction, addition, number sense, place value, number lines, and finding patterns. Math fact fluency is so important!
Writing a story with a beginning, middle, and end. Complete sentences while adding sensory details.
We have also began using the dictionary and thesaurus. If you have time, look up words to increase efficiency and practice skills learned at school.