Grade 2 Week of 1/10/17

Hello Families,

We hope that you had a wonderful, restful winter break. We are back into the swing of things at school. This is an exciting time for us, as we are finishing up current units and beginning brand new ones. Here’s a look at our week ahead.

In Writing, we are finishing up our publishing. It is amazing to see how much information the students have learned about their topics through the research process. We are hoping to complete the pieces by Friday, January 13, 2017. Our next unit will be a feature article linked to the social studies topic of New Amsterdam. The students will also have the opportunity to create a Powerpoint Presentation on their topic with the help of Xposure in the classroom. We are looking forward to a big New Amsterdam celebration to mark the end of the unit. Stay tuned!

In Reader’s Workshop, we will be starting a great new chapter book called, ‘Jake Drake, Bully Buster’. This will be tied into our new reading unit where students will be learning how to write about what they are reading by making inferences, text to self connections, text to world connections and much more. This book also ties in beautifully with our talks of friendship and bullying in school.

In Math, we are ending our measurement and data unit with a focus on time. This week, we first introduced time using a number line model, showing 12 groups of 5, totalling 60 units. Students quickly made the connection between the number line and the 60 minutes on a clock, and we turned our number line model into a clock model:

Students then had the opportunity to make their own clocks, which they labeled with the minutes and hours. Much of our work this week focuses on utilizing the landmark numbers in time: 00, 15, 30, and 45. We see this work as ongoing, and will be threading time throughout our curriculum as a regular routine.

In Social Studies, we are learning about the unusually peaceful transition of power that occurred when the English claimed New Amsterdam as their own and renamed the land “New York”. Later this week, ask your children to tell you the story of how Peter Stuyvesant relinquished the territory after some heated discussions with the townspeople. As we move forward in history, we will study maps to understand how people started to change the landscape of New York City at the end of the 17th century in order to suit their needs.
Just some reminders, we will be sending home a trip slip this week for our next trip to The Tenement Museum on February 13th. As you know it is the time of year when germs are in full force in the classroom. If your children are not feeling well please do not send them to school. We are trying to keep from spreading the germs to the class. Also, Pokeman Cards, Electronic Watches and other toys are not permitted in school.

Have a great week!

Ms. Mathis and Ms. Anne