We had another fantastic week in 2-2! Thomas was a terrific star student and line leader. We enjoyed learning more about him through the pictures and star poster he showed and displayed on the star bulletin board throughout the week. Thomas brought in a fascinating book about Abraham Lincoln to share with his classmates, too! 

Reading: We kicked off our next reading unit. The students will be focusing on fiction texts. We learned that there are 3 types of fiction:  traditional literature, realistic fiction, and fantasy fiction. The children are considering these types carefully and are working to classify the books they are reading during our independent reading time. During this unit, the children will be reading fiction carefully, retelling the key parts of the stories (beginning, middle, end). They will also work to identify the text's structure (chronological, description, problem/solution, etc.) Recognizing the text structure will help the children better anticipate the text and take their understanding even deeper.

Word Study:  The children zeroed in on 10 high-frequency words to practice this week. We learned about words that begin with consonant clusters, and we practiced reading, typing, and sorting them. We are hoping to use both our word study lessons and our word wall word practice to increase the accuracy of our spelling when writing. 

Writing:  We read a lovely story called Miss Tizzy this past week. Miss Tizzy is a sweet, unique, older neighbor who befriends the children in her neighborhood. They bake cookies, dress up, make crafts, and having impromptu parades. These children were eager to show Miss Tizzy the same love that she showed them when she isn't feeling well at the end of the story. 

Our class then brainstormed a list of friends that they might like to write a story about. We will put these stories into motion this week! When writing, the children are encouraged to remember proper capitalization and punctuation, to write in complete sentences, and to pay closer attention to the spelling of those high-frequency words.

Handwriting:  The children are doing a BEAUTIFUL job of practicing their handwriting in their handwriting workbooks.  They are remembering good writing posture and a strong pencil grip (pencil held between the thumb and pointer finger, resting on the third finger). The children are also working to remember the proper formation of each letter. Finally, it is really important that the children begin to transfer this beautiful practice to ALL of their written work! 

Math:  The children reviewed Chapter 2, took a practice test, and then took their Chapter 2 test on Friday afternoon. During this chapter, the children worked to learn and quickly recall their basic math facts.  They also learned to add 3 digit numbers with the use of regrouping, and without it.

Science: We learned about a 2nd habitat last week... The Saguaro Cactus habitat!  Like the Oak Tree, the cactus is surrounded with life. We learned not only about the cactus itself and its 200-year life span, but also the birds, insects, and mammals who call the Saguaro Cactus "home."

Headphones

If your child hasn't yet brought his or her headphones to school, please send them in when you can. We often use them during class and in the LMC. Much appreciated!

Book Orders

I received an email from Scholastic informing me that there are delays in shipping! 😩 I am so sorry about that! As soon as our full order arrives, I will get the books to the kids! Hopefully, they will be here this week.

Picture Day

The children smiled beautifully for their pictures on Thursday! I was able to snap a few photos, which are posted below. 

Fire Drill with AHFD:

Again, the children showed their best behavior while we focused on exiting the building quietly and safely!

MAP Report:

You should have found your child's MAP report in their backpack mail on Friday afternoon.

Friday Journals

 The children are really enjoying the letters you write to them every week in their Friday Journal. Thank you so much for motivating your child to write for a real, authentic purpose!                                                        

Homework Calendars:

Thank you for helping your child remember to turn in their first homework assignment on Friday, 10/1. I was blown away by all of the reading and math practice the children did during the month of October! Thank you, parents, for helping to total up the number of minutes that your child practiced at home, and "signing off" on this important work! You should have been able to locate the new homework calendar inside your child's red home folder. This completed calendar will be due on November 1st!

Upcoming Dates:

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 - Kindergarten & New Student Health Forms are due

10/15 - PTA Fall Fest Movie Night, 6:00 - 8:30 pm

10/20 - PTA Running Club, 8:10 am in the Dryden field

10/21 & 10/22 - Parent-Teacher Conferences (No School for Students)

10/25 - RULER Parent Presentation, 7:00 pm, Dryden LMC

10/29 - Halloween Parade & Classroom Parties

10/31 - Last day for 5% off Yearbook price

11/4 - PTA Reflections Art Program entries due

 

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

This week in 2nd grade we...

- practiced a hard lockdown. During this drill, the children practiced moving out of sight and staying quiet. They did a terrific job!

- thought about ourselves as readers. We considered what area of reading we would like to focus on individually, and we set our first reading goal! Ask your child to share their goal with you, and help them work to achieve it at home, too! 

- practiced making and writing compound words. When we can identify the two smaller words in a compound word, we can are better able to read and write them!

- started Chapter 2 in math. We focused on adding basic facts. We reviewed the numbers that "make a ten," and then we worked to create number bonds to add these numbers together more easily. For example, 5+6 is the same as 5+5+1. We know that 5+5 =10, and then we can add one more to make 11! 

- made our own version of an Oak Tree!  The children are learning that habitats contain a diversity of life. Each habitat provides the organisms who live there with all of their basic needs, including food, water, shelter, and protection. We discussed the difference between needs and wants. The children worked to add a variety of living things to our oak tree habitat! Special thanks to Claire for taking such great pictures!

- learned about the owl who lives in an oak tree. The children will be dissecting owl pellets during science class on Monday, in order to investigate what food the owl consumed in its habitat! 

- practiced forming the letters "a" and "d" beginning with the "magic c" during handwriting practice

-celebrated our first star student of the year, Andrew! We loved getting to know Andrew better this week! He was a great line leader for our class. We enjoyed his special book choice, Dragons Love Tacos!

.  

In your child's backpack mail you should have found:

-picture day order form (Picture day is 9/30)

-Music for Youth program information

-A science letter explaining our upcoming owl dissecting activity on Monday

Upcoming Dates:

9/23 - Music for Youth Parent Information Night, 7:00 pm at Olive Mary-Stitt School

9/23 - Board of Education Meeting, District Administration Center, 7:30 pm

9/24 - Last Day for PTA Fund the 'Phins Fundraiser

9/27 - Fire Drill with AHFD

9/28 - Dryden PTA Dine-Out at Noodles & Company, 4:00 - 8:00 pm

9/30 - PTA Picture Day

9/30 - Last Day for 10% Discount on PTA Yearbook Purchase

10/1 - MAP Reports sent home

10/6 - Walk to School Day

10/7 - Board of Education Meeting, District Administration Center, 7:30 pm

10/11 - Institute Day, No School for Students

10/13 - MONDAY specials schedule

10/14 - 5th Grade Musical performance, 5:15 pm

10/20 & 10/21 - Parent-Teacher Conferences (No School for Students)

10/29 - Halloween Parade & Classroom Parties

*please remember to take a look at your child's "Friday Journal," and jot them a note! They'll love to hear from you! :)

Weekly Update

Even though it was a short week, we accomplished so much!

- we took both the reading and math MAP tests on the iPads in our classroom. The children worked so hard on this test! They took their time, they used scratch paper to solve math problems, they raised their hands if they needed help, and they worked patiently and independently while their classmates finished their test if they happened to finish earlier. I am SO PROUD of these kids! :)

- we finished Chapter 1 in math, and we took our Chapter practice test

- a bunch of us enjoyed a sing-a-long with Mr. Deptula before school Friday morning, in honor of 9/11

- we updated our Friday Journals! Parents, remember to take a look and respond if you can. (The children are LOVING the messages, drawings, and even little comic strips you are including in your responses! Thank you for participating in this with us!! :)

- we drew sketches of the space around us as inspiration for our writing. The children enjoyed sitting in the courtyard and drawing little pictures of ideas they'd like to write about based on what they observed around them!

- our book order was sent to Scholastic Thursday. Many friends in our class ordered cool new books to read! We can't wait for them to arrive! :)

- remember to continue reading and math practice each day! Keep updating those homework calendars! 

Upcoming events:

9/12 - PTA Dryden Spirit Wear Sale Ends

9/13 - Fund the ‘Phin PTA fundraiser begins

9/13 - Lockdown practice drill

9/15 - PTA Running Club, 8:10 AM, Dryden Field

9/16 - No School

9/30 - PTA Picture Day

9/30 - Last Day for 10% Discount on PTA Yearbook Purchase

Below are some photos I was able to capture this week...

Have a great dolphin weekend!

:)