We have been busy as usual in 2nd Grade!
Lily had a terrific week as our star student and line leader last week.
The children did a fantastic job during our Practice Fire Drill on Monday afternoon with the Arlington Heights Fire Department.
**Please remember that it is Picture Day on Thursday! Don't forget your smiles!!**
Read on to learn what we have been working on in our classroom...
Reading:
We reached the end of our Launch unit. During this unit, we experienced a little bit of each of our upcoming units. We thought about ourselves as readers, we practiced summarizing fiction texts, took notes while reading nonfiction texts. We also noticed nonfiction text features and discussed different text structures! We practiced visualizing the texts we are reading in order to make a movie in our minds. We practiced sharing our thinking in a focused discussion with a neighbor. Coming up, we will be focusing on Fiction texts in our next unit.
Handwriting:
The children are keeping a close eye on their pencil grip. The pencil should be grasped between the pointer finger and the thumb, and it should be resting on the third finger. We are paying careful attention to make our tall letters tall, our small letters small, and to bring descending letters below the line. The children practiced their "magic c" letters, including c, a, d, o, g and q. These letters begin by making the letter c.
Writing:
The children wrote about an "It Happened to Me" moment. We wrote our stories on every other line in our writer's notebook so we would have extra space for editing. The children were encouraged to add "sight and sound" words to make their writing more descriptive. They have enjoyed sharing their stories with the class using a loud, clear voice!
Math:
We are nearing the end of Chapter 2 in math. During this chapter, we have been focusing on speedy recall of our basic addition facts. The children have also been working to add 3 digit numbers with and without regrouping in the ones and the tens place.
Science:
The children were fascinated to learn about the eating habits of an owl. They carefully dissected their owl pellet and made detailed observations. We discussed what would happen if the voles if the owl population was affected, and what would happen to the owls if the vole population was affected. We realized that the oak tree habitat is balanced. If the owl or vole were to disappear, this delicate balance would be affected.
We moved on to begin learning about the Saguaro Cactus habitat. Like the oak tree habitat, the cactus is full of life! The children were fascinated to learn the cactus can live up to 200 years, housing creatures such as the elf owl, woodpecker, and the dove. It also offers shade and protection from the hot summer sun.
Upcoming Dates:
9/28 - Dryden PTA Dine-Out at Noodles & Company, 4:00 - 8:00 pm
9/29 - PTA Running Club, 8:10 am in the Dryden field
9/30 - School Picture Day
9/30 - Last Day for 10% Discount on PTA Yearbook Purchase
9/30 - Parent-Teacher Conference Sign-Up Genius emailed to all parents, 7:00 pm
10/1 - MAP Reports sent home
10/6 - Walk to School Day
10/11 - Institute Day, No School for Students
10/13 - MONDAY specials schedule
10/13 - PTA Running Club, 8:10 am in the Dryden field
10/13 - PTA Birthday Books for October birthdays
10/15 - PTA Fall Fest Movie Night
10/20 & 10/21 - Parent-Teacher Conferences (No School for Students)
10/25 - RULER Parent Presentation, 7:00 pm, Dryden LMC
10/29 - Halloween Parade & Classroom Parties
