Have to post the newsletter in chunks, sorry! A more cohesive hard copy will be sent home with the new book order! The Sept. order came today!

                                  Science

The insects have arrived!  The children are observing and recording in their scientific notebooks.  They are doing a wonderful job being entomologists.  Ask your child what they observed or discovered about his/her insect.  We had a bit of trouble with the first batch of larvae, which led to a lot of great discussion and the chance to dissect some of the caterpillars. New ones are on the way! We will still be working with the insect unit through November and December, with a culminating insect research project to finish off the unit.

                                                                      Writing

Within the 6 Traits of Writing Curriculum, the children are working on identifying and creating a main idea in their writing. Sticking to one topic per paragraph is another area that will be discussed.  They have also been working on using their 5 senses to turn “little” thoughts into delicious, developed stories. They are starting to edit their papers for correct punctuation and capitals.  By re-reading what they have written, they are able to identify any missing word or words.  

                                       Social Studies

Thus far in the year we have focused on friendship, expectations, kindness, and what our job is as a second grader. Next week we will learn all about Columbus (the real story), which leads us into our Pilgrim unit, which will be celebrated with our Harvest Dinner, and the second grade show in Nov.

Reading

The students continue to read many different books about insects and Arnold Lobel (a class favorite). We have talked about fiction vs non-fiction, personification, and identifying the 5 W’s of a book in order to get better understanding, etc. They have been working on improving their comprehension by implementing a variety of strategies and responding to text. They should continue to read for 20 minutes every night (including weekends) to improve accuracy and fluency.

Reading Groups have also started in addition to guided reading, and independent reading. Book reading, comprehension, grammar, and word building work will be covered in reading groups.

                                                                                         Math 

The students have started Unit 2, which focuses on understanding and using place value within 1,000. They will be building upon their number sense through the application of expanded notation, using base 10 blocks to identify numbers, understanding that 100 is a bundle of 10, adding within 1,000, using place value to explain addition strategies, and using place value strategies to compose and decompose four digit numbers.