S'MORE News from Second Grade
Mathews Elementary Mavericks
Last Week of School Activities
It has been an awesome year in Second Grade! To celebrate, we will have special theme days to help us close out the year in style!
Monday – Crazy Hair and Wacky Dress – pull out those miss-matched outfits and show off your unique wacky style!
Tuesday – Pajama Day and Reading Buddies – Please wear school appropriate PJ’s and bring a book to share with a friend. Books should be able to be read by the student independently.
Wednesday – Dress like a movie star or rock star – time to be glamorous!
Thursday – Beach Wear – PLEASE NO BATHING SUITS – Think a day at the beach but not in the water J
Friday – Yearbook Signing – If you have purchased a yearbook and would like to have friends sign it, please bring your yearbook to school. If you did not purchase a yearbook, we will have an alternate booklet for students to participate.
End-of-the-Year Party
We have some fun activities planned: frisbee golf, big foot race and water "balloon" fight to name a few.
We will need more volunteers than before because of the "carnival" style of the party. Please indicate if you would prefer a water activity. A few donations are also being requested. Many of them can be found at the Dollar Store.
Sign up here:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70a0948a5af2fa6f85-endofyear
Parent/Teacher Conferences
End-of-the-Year Parent/Teacher Conferences are rapidly approaching. Below are the dates for each teacher's Conference Day. Each teacher will send out a Remind with a Signupgenius link to sign up for a time to meet with your child's teacher to discuss testing results and receive information about Third grade.
Mr. Steele - Friday, May 17
Mrs. Hall - Monday, May 20
Mrs. Selec - Tuesday, May 21
Mrs. Bender - Wednesday, May 22
May Important Dates
May 22:
Fifth Grade Graduation at 7:00 p.m.
May 23:
End of Year Parties
May 24:
Last Day of School
Early Dismissal!
- Tuesday, May 7
- Monday, May 20
- Friday, May 24
Dismissal Changes
Daily Expectations
Please arrive on time! Doors open at 7:00, students are released to classrooms at 7:30, and are expected to be seated and ready to begin by the bell at 7:45. All students are asked to bring their green folder, reading log and planner home M-TH to stay organized. On Fridays, students will bring their blue card home (in their green folder) to have it signed by a parent and returned the following Monday. Thank you for helping your child be GREAT every day!
Curriculum Information
Listed below are topics currently being taught in the Second grade. We encourage you to support what we are teaching in the classroom by asking your child what they have learned each day and discussing these topics with your child.
Math
Fact Fluency
Problem Solving
Data Collection
Financial Literacy
Science
Plant Packages
Language Arts
Reading with fluency
Comprehension skills - text features
Writing complete sentences
Capital letters at the beginning of a sentence
Punctuation at the end of a sentence
Writing
Expository
Social Studies
Government
Dreambox
What is DreamBox Learning Math?
● DreamBox Learning Math, the next generation of web-based learning,
provides personalized math learning in an engaging, fun, game-like
framework.
● DreamBox automatically adapts to each student, optimizing his or her
learning experience. The engine does this by customizing the lessons,
difficulty, hints, pace, and sequence to match a student’s knowledge and
learning style -- just as a great tutor would!
Tips for Parents
● Encourage students to FINISH lessons. Explain to students that
DreamBox is constantly taking into consideration their keystrokes,
strategies, speed and answers to build the best “next step”. However, the
platform won’t register all of that data if a lesson is incomplete. The best
way for a learner to show what he or she knows or doesn’t know is to
finish the lesson. Ask them to not out of a lesson because they want to try
another. Encourage them to finish. If they must close a lesson, have them
start with that lesson when they play DreamBox again. It is okay to get
wrong answers and to try their own strategies.
● Encourage them to use the “Help” (K-8) and “Hint” (3-8) buttons .
● Use only the program. No pencil, paper or calculator. DreamBox will
provide any workspaces needed and break the problem down into
manageable parts. Students should use the tools and virtual manipulatives
to guide them.
● Don’t help students answer problems. The program engine wants to
“learn the learner.” If a student gets help, the software adjusts as if the
student understands the lesson. DreamBox will eventually adapt back to
the “right” level for the student, but if a parent helps, it can take longer and
impede progress.
● Encourage a growth mindset. It is okay for students to make
mistakes and try their own ideas! Let students know that it is okay to
get the “Oops, try again!” notification. When students worry about getting
wrong answers, they are often hesitant to try new ideas. Mistakes are
okay! We learn from mistakes every day. Students should be encouraged
to test their own strategies. This leads to true mathematical discoveries
and thus understandings, and lifetime confidence in mathematics learning.
Websites for Home Use
http://www.aplusmath.com/Worksheets/index.html
http://www.superkids.com/aweb/tools/math/
http://www.mrmyers.org/Math_Mania/Math_Games/Jude_e-Clock/clock.htm
http://www.sanchezclass.com/reading-graphic-organizers.htm
www.jamit.com.au/htmlFolder/app1001.html
www.harcourtschool.com/activity/telling_time_gr2
https://www.spellingcity.com/gselec/
www.teacher.scholastic.com/tools/spelling.htm
http://www.readwritethink.org/search/?resource_type=16&grade=9
http://www.worksheetworks.com/
www.playkidsgames.com/games/mathfact/mathFact.htm
www.ws.hmhpub.com (write source)
www.scholastic.com/ups/files/campaigns/src-2013/SCBookList2013_FULL.pdf
2nd Grade Team
Website: http://k12.pisd.edu/mathews-elementary-school
Location: 7500 Marchman Way, Plano, TX, United States
Phone: 469-752-2300
Twitter: @2ndMavs