November Newsletter

                             Science

We have been witnessing many different insect life cycles.  The mealworms have grown into a Darkling Beetle.  Our last insects are here and we are waiting for them to hatch.  Ask your child about the stages of these insects.  Students are working on adding specific scientific details to their journals. From now until the new year the children will be creating their own non fiction book on an insect that they choose.

Writing

Organization is the next writing topic.  Students will work on putting information into an order that makes sense. We will begin with a focus on leads and conclusions, and then move in to using transition words in order to create a fluid beginning, middle, and end to their stories. I foresee authors in the future! We will also complete a narrative response on what it is like to be a pilgrim child and the hardships that they faced. Finally we will begin our non fiction study, where they will be asked to write their own non fiction piece.

   

Reading

The students will be reading many different books about Thanksgiving.  The lessons will focus on strategies to improve their comprehension and define difficult vocabulary words. Book clubs are underway and the children seem to love the discussions, so impressive to watch! They should still be reading for 20 minutes every night (including weekends) to improve accuracy and fluency.  PLEASE HAVE YOUR CHILD BRING HIS/HER READING FOLDER IN EVERY DAY EVEN IF HE/SHE HASN’T FINISHED THE BOOK.

Social Studies

Discussing the hardships of the Pilgrims and Native Americans is our focus for Social Studies.  Thanksgiving’s history will be discussed and shared in our musical. We will also be going on a field trip and role playing colonial life for children in the 1700’s.

We will continue to read current events from Scholastic News.

Math

The focus of instruction for November will be on units of measurement. They will be asked to measure and make estimates with tools such as rulers, yardsticks, measuring tapes, etc. We will talk about the metric and standard units of measurements. We will also be creating, reading, and interpreting graphs in this unit. We will continue to review place value and addition strategies. FLASHCARDS!!!! Need to be fluent on addition facts up to 100!

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.