It’s the end of another week of second grade. After being back for two full weeks I continue to be impressed with the children’s ability to adapt to a new teacher, and new routines. We are diving head first into our learning and continuing to grow every day.
This week we had our first media skills lesson with Ms. Bercher. The kids learned about online safety and how to use the iPads correctly. After a quick tour of our updated media center the kids had a chance to check out some new books. We will be having media skills lesson about every two weeks, and at the end the kids will always have a chance to check out new books. They can also go to the media center in the morning and during reading time if they have finished their assignments for the day.
Next week we will have a guidance lesson with our counselor Ms. McLeod. I know the children will enjoy what she has to teach them.
Homework- This week you can expect a reading log for Monday- Thursday, a moon chart to come home on Monday, math homework Tuesday and Thursday, and grammar homework on Wednesday.
Please continue to check and sign your child's agenda each week.
Math
Thursday we had our first math test. I was very impressed with the students. They all worked hard, tried their best and should feel proud of their scores. The tests were handed back today. Please look at them over the weekend, sign them and send them back in on Monday.
After taking a pretest for unit 2 on Friday, we will formally begin the unit on Monday. We will cover two standards next week.
Add and Subtract within 20.
MGSE2.OA.2 Fluently add and subtract within 20 using mental strategies. By end of Grade 2, know from memory all sums of two one-digit numbers.
This standard mentions the word fluently when students are adding and subtracting numbers within 20. Fluency means accuracy (correct answer), efficiency (within 4-5 seconds), and flexibility (using strategies such as making 10 or breaking apart numbers).
Example: 9 + 5 = ___
Student 1: Counting On
I started at 9 and then counted 5 more. I landed at 14.
Student 2: Decomposing a Number Leading to a Ten
I know that 9 and 1 is 10, so I broke 5 into 1 and 4. 9 plus 1 is 10. Then I have to add 4 more, which gets me to 14.
Example: 13 – 9 = ___
Student 1: Using the Relationship between Addition and Subtraction
I know that 9 plus 4 equals 13. So 13 minus 9 equals 4.
Student 2: Creating an Easier Problem
I added 1 to each of the numbers to make the problem 14 minus 10. I know the answer is 4. So 13 minus 9 is also 4.
Student 3: Using the benchmark of 10
I know that 13 minus 3 equals 10, so I take 3 away from the 9 and 3 away from the 13. 10 minus 6 equals 4.
We will be learning and practicing different strategies in class. The students will also be introduced to a fact fluency station that they will use throughout the year. This station will allow the students to practice their math facts and work on increasingly difficult facts as they improve.
You can also help your child practice facts at home. Ask them math facts while driving in the car, or waiting at the doctor’s office. The more fluent students are with their facts the easier some of our other math skills will be this year.
Then we will work on MGSE2.NBT.5 Fluently add and subtract within 100 using strategies based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction.
This standard mentions the word fluently, just as stated with MGSE2.OA.2, when students are adding and subtracting numbers within 100. Fluency means accuracy (correct answer), efficiency (basic facts computed within 4-5 seconds), and flexibility (using strategies such as making 10 or decomposing).
This standard calls for students to use pictorial representations and/or strategies to find the solution.
Initially, students apply base-ten concepts and use direct modeling with physical objects or drawings to find different ways to solve problems. They move to inventing strategies that do not involve physical materials or counting by ones to solve problems. Student-invented strategies likely will be based on place-value concepts, the commutative and associative properties, and the relationship between addition and subtraction. These strategies should be done mentally or with a written record for support.
We are going to spend a lot of time talking about how students came up with their answers. We will discuss all the different ways a problem can be solved.
Example: 67 + 25 = __
Place Value Strategy
I broke both 67 and 25 into tens and ones. 6 tens plus 2 tens equals 8 tens. Then I added the ones. 7 ones plus 5 ones equals 12 ones. I then combined my tens and ones. 8 tens plus 12 ones equals 92.
Counting On and Decomposing a Number Leading to Ten
I wanted to start with 67 and then break 25 apart. I started with 67 and counted on to my next ten. 67 plus 3 gets me to 70. Then I added 2 more to get to 72. I then added my 20 and got to 92.
Commutative Property
I broke 67 and 25 into tens and ones so I had to add 60 + 7 + 20 + 5. I added 60 and 20 first to get 80. Then I added 7 to get 87. Then I added 5 more. My answer is 92.
Example: 63 – 32 = __
Relationship between Addition and Subtraction
I broke apart both 63 and 32 into tens and ones. I know that 2 plus 1 equals 3, so I have 1 left in the ones place. I know that 3 plus 3 equals 6, so I have a 3 in my tens place. My answer has a 1 in the ones place and 3 in the tens place, so my answer is 31.
Science
We will continue to study space, but begin to focus on the sun, the earth and the moon. In this unit, students will be able to model the position of the sun relative to a fixed object at various times of the day, use a shadow stick or sundial to record changes in shadows through the day. They will explain why the lengths of day and night differ from summer to winter, and model the shape of the moon as seen from its different positions relative to the earth and sun and to your specific location on earth.
We will use clay to make models of the earth, sun and moon and show how they relate to each other. We will use Oreos to make a model of the moon phases. These hands on activities will help the students understand some more difficult concepts.
On Monday the students will come home with a moon chart. Each night for a week they should look at the moon and draw what they see. These charts will be due on Monday, Oct. 5 and we will discuss the changes that the children noticed.
Writing
In writing we will continue to work on small moment stories. We are imagining that we are taking a magnifying glass to the moments in our life and finding all the little details that we can add to our stories. Next week we will begin to look at our narrative writing checklists and use these expectations to revise our writing. We will practice editing and making sure that all of our sentences are written correctly.
Grammar ties in with writing as we work to add details to our simple and compound sentences.
Reading
Next week students will continue to work with the reading books we began using this week. We will use these books to look at the different points of view of the characters in our stories. Students will explore how the same event can seem different to different characters depending on their character traits and point of view.
Have a great weekend!
This week we had our first media skills lesson with Ms. Bercher. The kids learned about online safety and how to use the iPads correctly. After a quick tour of our updated media center the kids had a chance to check out some new books. We will be having media skills lesson about every two weeks, and at the end the kids will always have a chance to check out new books. They can also go to the media center in the morning and during reading time if they have finished their assignments for the day.
Next week we will have a guidance lesson with our counselor Ms. McLeod. I know the children will enjoy what she has to teach them.
Homework- This week you can expect a reading log for Monday- Thursday, a moon chart to come home on Monday, math homework Tuesday and Thursday, and grammar homework on Wednesday.
Please continue to check and sign your child's agenda each week.
Math
Thursday we had our first math test. I was very impressed with the students. They all worked hard, tried their best and should feel proud of their scores. The tests were handed back today. Please look at them over the weekend, sign them and send them back in on Monday.
After taking a pretest for unit 2 on Friday, we will formally begin the unit on Monday. We will cover two standards next week.
Add and Subtract within 20.
MGSE2.OA.2 Fluently add and subtract within 20 using mental strategies. By end of Grade 2, know from memory all sums of two one-digit numbers.
This standard mentions the word fluently when students are adding and subtracting numbers within 20. Fluency means accuracy (correct answer), efficiency (within 4-5 seconds), and flexibility (using strategies such as making 10 or breaking apart numbers).
Example: 9 + 5 = ___
Student 1: Counting On
I started at 9 and then counted 5 more. I landed at 14.
Student 2: Decomposing a Number Leading to a Ten
I know that 9 and 1 is 10, so I broke 5 into 1 and 4. 9 plus 1 is 10. Then I have to add 4 more, which gets me to 14.
Example: 13 – 9 = ___
Student 1: Using the Relationship between Addition and Subtraction
I know that 9 plus 4 equals 13. So 13 minus 9 equals 4.
Student 2: Creating an Easier Problem
I added 1 to each of the numbers to make the problem 14 minus 10. I know the answer is 4. So 13 minus 9 is also 4.
Student 3: Using the benchmark of 10
I know that 13 minus 3 equals 10, so I take 3 away from the 9 and 3 away from the 13. 10 minus 6 equals 4.
We will be learning and practicing different strategies in class. The students will also be introduced to a fact fluency station that they will use throughout the year. This station will allow the students to practice their math facts and work on increasingly difficult facts as they improve.
You can also help your child practice facts at home. Ask them math facts while driving in the car, or waiting at the doctor’s office. The more fluent students are with their facts the easier some of our other math skills will be this year.
Then we will work on MGSE2.NBT.5 Fluently add and subtract within 100 using strategies based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction.
This standard mentions the word fluently, just as stated with MGSE2.OA.2, when students are adding and subtracting numbers within 100. Fluency means accuracy (correct answer), efficiency (basic facts computed within 4-5 seconds), and flexibility (using strategies such as making 10 or decomposing).
This standard calls for students to use pictorial representations and/or strategies to find the solution.
Initially, students apply base-ten concepts and use direct modeling with physical objects or drawings to find different ways to solve problems. They move to inventing strategies that do not involve physical materials or counting by ones to solve problems. Student-invented strategies likely will be based on place-value concepts, the commutative and associative properties, and the relationship between addition and subtraction. These strategies should be done mentally or with a written record for support.
We are going to spend a lot of time talking about how students came up with their answers. We will discuss all the different ways a problem can be solved.
Example: 67 + 25 = __
Place Value Strategy
I broke both 67 and 25 into tens and ones. 6 tens plus 2 tens equals 8 tens. Then I added the ones. 7 ones plus 5 ones equals 12 ones. I then combined my tens and ones. 8 tens plus 12 ones equals 92.
Counting On and Decomposing a Number Leading to Ten
I wanted to start with 67 and then break 25 apart. I started with 67 and counted on to my next ten. 67 plus 3 gets me to 70. Then I added 2 more to get to 72. I then added my 20 and got to 92.
Commutative Property
I broke 67 and 25 into tens and ones so I had to add 60 + 7 + 20 + 5. I added 60 and 20 first to get 80. Then I added 7 to get 87. Then I added 5 more. My answer is 92.
Example: 63 – 32 = __
Relationship between Addition and Subtraction
I broke apart both 63 and 32 into tens and ones. I know that 2 plus 1 equals 3, so I have 1 left in the ones place. I know that 3 plus 3 equals 6, so I have a 3 in my tens place. My answer has a 1 in the ones place and 3 in the tens place, so my answer is 31.
Science
We will continue to study space, but begin to focus on the sun, the earth and the moon. In this unit, students will be able to model the position of the sun relative to a fixed object at various times of the day, use a shadow stick or sundial to record changes in shadows through the day. They will explain why the lengths of day and night differ from summer to winter, and model the shape of the moon as seen from its different positions relative to the earth and sun and to your specific location on earth.
We will use clay to make models of the earth, sun and moon and show how they relate to each other. We will use Oreos to make a model of the moon phases. These hands on activities will help the students understand some more difficult concepts.
On Monday the students will come home with a moon chart. Each night for a week they should look at the moon and draw what they see. These charts will be due on Monday, Oct. 5 and we will discuss the changes that the children noticed.
Writing
In writing we will continue to work on small moment stories. We are imagining that we are taking a magnifying glass to the moments in our life and finding all the little details that we can add to our stories. Next week we will begin to look at our narrative writing checklists and use these expectations to revise our writing. We will practice editing and making sure that all of our sentences are written correctly.
Grammar ties in with writing as we work to add details to our simple and compound sentences.
Reading
Next week students will continue to work with the reading books we began using this week. We will use these books to look at the different points of view of the characters in our stories. Students will explore how the same event can seem different to different characters depending on their character traits and point of view.
Have a great weekend!