This week's news

Students were excited to have outdoor recess this week and we're looking forward to slightly warmer temperatures!  In class we had centers about Force and Motion and second graders began creating experiments to demonstrate Newton's Laws.  We will record the experiments using the iPads.  Ask your child about their experiment!

In math we're continuing to work on solving addition and subtraction word problems.  We've also been reviewing telling time and basic facts.

On Friday report cards will go home with students.  I am happy to discuss your child's progress or clarify questions you may have through email, a conference at school, or over the phone.   This quarter's report card will include comments about your child's strengths and next steps in their learning.  The National PTA has a wonderful guide to help parents understand math and language arts standards for each grade.  Check out what your child is learning in second grade here.

Friday Update

Our Friday included P.E. with Mrs. Stanley's class, health, and the Simonds School Spelling Bee!  Some of next week's lessons will include:

• learning how to solve 2-step word problems in math
• adding "text features" to our non-fiction books in Writing Workshop
• reading the chapter book Matilda
• force and motion centers and experiments
• reading about the Chinese New Year in Scholastic News

FYI: Monday is the Kearsarge Math League!  This is an optional challenge for students and I'm encouraging each student to give it a try.

Also, report cards go home next Friday.

Keep warm!

Ask your second grader about...

Simonds School students were eager to meet with their "Base Groups" again this afternoon to prepare for our upcoming winter carnival! The theme this year is the Winter Olympics and each base group has chosen a sport, athlete, or country to represent.  Ask your child about today's base group!  

Also ask your second grader about:

-the chapters in their non-fiction book

-the book they are reading in their reading group

-a recent learning App they've used on our iPads

-playing the math game Knock-Out!

-how to play "Mystery Number"

We will celebrate friendship and Valentine’s Day on Friday, February 14th by creating Valentine’s for friends and family in class. Your child will bring home a list of class names so that s/he may write valentines to their classmates at home to pass out in school. Creating homemade Valentine’s for friends can be a fun and engaging art and literacy project for your second grader. Although this can be a lengthy task, I encourage second graders to create and write their own Valentine’s. You may choose to spread out the fun over the next few weeks. It’s never too early to start!

Children can bring in their Valentine’s for friends to school once they are completed and we’ll exchange cards on Friday, February 14th.

If you are interested in donating Valentine’s Day craft donations they can be sent in anytime before Valentine’s Day. Thank you!

Doilies

Valentine’s stickers

Pink and red cardstock or construction paper

Any other fun Valentine materials!

Optional Homework Activities

READING
Read a book in an unusual place. Take a picture or draw a picture of you in that place. Write a letter to the class about where you were and the book you read.
Find a nonfiction book to read this week. Write down the title.
Learn more about Martin Luther King Jr. by reading this article from Time for Kids.
Read about the Balloon Popper and answer the questions that go along with it.
LANGUAGE ARTS
Walk around your house or room and make a list of 15 nouns you see.
Practice dictionary guide word skills
MATH
Find six different things you use for measurement in your house. What are they used to measure?
Practice addition skills Lizard Point Math
Practice addition skills Number Invaders 
SCIENCE
Watch the short video about the tablecloth trick. Try to see if you can do it at home with non-breakable items. Write about what happened.
Go to PBS Kids to see how the mass and force affects the distance of the hockey pucks.
Learn all about Newton and his laws. Take the online quiz.
Watch Open Dream Ensemble and learn about Newton's 3 laws.
SOCIAL STUDIES
Learn about Chinese New Year 
Play some online Chinese New Year Games
Practice cardinal directions 
Learn about Martin Luther King Jr. 
Follow current events at time for kids 
WRITING
Imagine you had a superpower. What would it be? What would you do. Write about what your day would be like.
Write down all the winter activities you can think of then see if you can do any of them.
Think of something in the world that you want to see changed. Write about this to persuade people to make this change.

P.E.

Move two different large objects. Tell me which object needed more force to move and why.Take a walk around your house and count all the steps you take. You can also count your footprints in the snow to help you.

ART

Create a piece of art that shows what the weather and outside are like today.

Draw a picture of you doing your favorite winter activity.

COMMUNITY

Describe a problem you once had with a friend. Did you find a way to solve the problem? What advice would you give to others?

HEALTH
Make a list of the foods you eat in a day and mark the ones you think are healthy.

This week's news

Reading and Writing
January is a wonderful month for learning and an exciting time as a teacher to observe the progress of students!  We have been learning about how to understand non-fiction, informational books by looking at the "text features."  Text features are reading tools in the book such as the table of contents, glossary, index, captions, photographs, and maps.  Learning how to use and understand text features increases reading comprehension.  We have been keeping track of our learning in our non-fiction notebooks by drawing an example of what a glossary, caption, or table of contents might look like.  Ask your child to share more!  Yesterday each child choose a topic for their own non-fiction book in writing workshop as well!  Students are writing books to teach about cats, soccer, the ocean, and many more.

Science
This week in science we continued to learn about force and motion.  We learned about Newton's laws and conducted experiments using force.  Ask your second grader about our scooter lab and push/pull experiment.

Math
Our focus in math is on solving word problems using addition and subtraction.  I work with children in a math group each day so each child receives individualized instruction based on their needs.  We are also practicing telling time!

Social Studies

In our Scholastic News article we learned about Martin Luther King, Jr. this week.  Click on the link for more home activities on Dr. King (access code is team27).

Have a great day!