Fantastic!

Fantastic, fun, adorable, productive, engaging...these are just some of the adjectives that come to mind when I think about our return from February break. 

We hit the floor running as always. It was great to listen to all the different things that our friends did over vacation. It was even more great to be back together again! 

We're half way through Unit 6 in math focusing on both addition and subtraction story problems, key words that help us determine the operation to use, and continuing to understand how place value plays a large role in our double and triple digit addition and subtraction. 

We've also begun an informational and/or nonfiction writing unit. Our first task was to interview a peer using at least five questions that we came up with-even before we knew who we were going to interview. This was a blast! Students interviewed one another, then wrote their first informational piece about their friend. We got some good laughs and some sweet moments from these stories. Your second grader even practiced their oral presentation skills as they presented their writing to the class. 

Upcoming: Our first "real" research project! We begin this week. 

Remember: Have your child wear/bring their sneakers to school on Monday, February 29th. We will be having PE Monday rather than Wednesday. 

Helpful hint: Book talks are so much fun. Did you know that they can also help your child dig deeper in their understanding of what they're reading. Engage your child in talking about what they're reading, what they like about it, whether or not they'd recommend it and why, talk of a favorite or least favorite character, and/or tell what questions they now have from reading. 

Using PVC piping as a whisper phone so students can hear themselves read. This helps them hear and reflect on their reading fluency and tone. Our color coded chart helps us visualize a clear beginning, middle, and ending to the book we've read. 

More fun! Partner work digging through nonfiction texts together to determine whether a ladybug or frog goes through a complete metamorphosis. 

As we approach Dr. Suess's birthday and Read Across America week, we had fun decorating our door to represent a favorite series of ours: My Weird School. 

Be sure to check it out if you're in the building. 

We've got Talent! Above your second grader created some of their favorite characters from the Weird School series, along with adjectives that best represent why we love these stories as much as we do.