Pike School Grade 2

Dear Parents,

The Author’s Picnic today was a huge success!  The children had done fabulous work and did a spectacular job sharing their portfolios, anthologies, and reports with their guests.  We hope that everyone enjoyed the event as much as we did!  Thank you again to the room parents for their help this year, and thank you to the Wood family for providing a lovely lunch today!

This has been a busy week in second grade.  The children finished their fiction stories, completed their endangered animal projects, and put together their beautiful author’s portfolios.  We also continued our measurement unit in math, measuring items and comparing measurements of different items.

On Monday and Tuesday we will be doing many closure activities with the children as we prepare to say goodbye for the summer.  This has been a wonderful year in second grade and we thank you all for sharing your children with us!

Have a wonderful summer!

The Second Grade Team

This past week we:
•    went to the Decordova Sculpture Park in Lincoln.  We had a tour of the sculpture park, took photographs of the sculptures, enjoyed a picnic lunch, and then did some sketching before we left.
•    wrote about our favorite sculptures in Language Enrichment.
•    had our last Rainbow Day in Lower School. We talked about the fact that Mrs. Anderson came up with the idea of Rainbow Day and helping Neighbors in Need with our food donations.
•    continued our research on endangered animals
•    finished our author study of Tomie de Paola
•    talked about root words, prefixes, and suffixes in reading group
•    began to put together our portfolios that we will share at the Author’s Picnic next Friday
•    estimated and calculated length that are related by a 2:1 ratio
•    identified strategies for accurate measurement
•    established the need for a common unit in order to compare measurements
•    solved comparison problems by finding the difference between two measurements
•    continued to investigate simple machies by using a two-pulley system to do work
•    went  on a scavenger hunt in search of simple machines

Reminders/Announcements:
•    Next week we would like the second graders to bring in a favorite game from home to share with classmates.  It needs to be a non-electronic game that is well suited for 2-4 players.
•    Our Research Celebration and Authors’ Picnic is on Friday, June 11th.  We are beginning to organize our work as second grade authors to present to our families at this special event!
•    We are sending home math workbooks in the next couple of weeks that will have some unfinished pages in them.  The unfinished pages are a great way to practice our math skills during the summer months!

Enjoy the weekend!

The Grade Two Team

This past week we:
•    continued our research on endangered animals.  We are finishing our notes and preparing to begin writing our final reports.
•    worked on solving subtraction problems by adding up or subtracting back to find the difference
•    practiced subtracting amounts from 100
•    worked on using efficient methods for subtracting and notating strategies
•    compared math problems in which the amount subtracted differs by 1
•    practiced our plus 9 combinations in order to increase our fluency with them
•    began a new math unit on measuring length and time
•    compared the lengths of two objects
•    used direct and indirect comparison to identify lengths
•    identified strategies for accurate measurement
•    discussed what an inclined plane is.  We then walked around the school, both inside and out, looking for inclined planes that help to make work easier.
•    experimented with long inclined planes and short inclined planed, set to various heights in order to determine which inclined planes made the work the easiest
•    explored pulleys in order to determine if they made work easier
•    sent letters to our Brookwood pen pals telling them what we liked best about being their pen pals this year
•    began an author study on Tomie de Paola in our reading groups
•    learned about contractions in reading group

Reminders/Announcements:
•    On Tuesday, June 1st, we will be travelling to the Decordova Sculpture Park.  Please make sure you have sent in the permission slip for this trip, and remember to send you child with a picnic lunch for that day!
•    Our Research Celebration and Authors’ Picnic is on Friday, June 11th.  We are beginning to organize our work as second grade authors to present to our families at this special event!
•    We are sending home math workbooks in the next couple of weeks that will have some unfinished pages in them.  The unfinished pages are a great way to practice our math skills during the summer months!

Enjoy the weekend!

The Grade Two Team

This past week we:
•    learned the endangered animal that we will be researching
•    began gathering information about our animals.  We took notes on the description and behavior of the animal, the animal’s habitat, and the animal’s diet.
•    went to visit our Brookwood pen pals.  We saw their classrooms, played on their playground, and explored their beautiful campus!
•    worked on our plus 9 combinations in math and played a new game called “Plus 9 or 10 Bingo”
•    practiced subtracting numbers from 100 while “pinching paper clips” from a box
•    solved subtraction problems by subtracting in parts
•    worked with levers in our science groups.  We investigated the effect that moving the fulcrum has when using a lever to lift a load.
•    used a variety of levers to work on lifting heavy objects in our science groups
•    continued to work on the final drafts and illustrations for our fiction stories
•    learned the last lower case cursive letter, f
•    continued to talk about plural rules in reading group
•    read some books by the Mexican American author Pat Mora in reading group
•    went to the “Salmon Fest” in Third Grade.

Reminders:
•    In conjunction with our study of simple machines, please visit the following website for some fun games and activities:  http://www.edheads.org/activities/simple-machines
•    Your child is encouraged to bring in a simple or non-electronic compound machine to share with the class.
•    Our Research Celebration and Authors’ Picnic is on Friday, June 11th.

Enjoy the weekend!

The Grade Two Team

This past week we:

•    continued to work on our final drafts of our fiction stories
•    wrote notes to our pen pals (who we are going to see next week!)
•    began our research and writing project on endangered animals
•    finished our biome posters during science
•    started a new science unit on simple machines
•    started a new math unit called “Partners, Teams and Paper Clips.”  We have been working on adding odd and even two-digit numbers.
•    Learned some plural spelling rules during reading group
•    Talked about “creative spirit” at our lower school assembly.  The Pre-K shared their letter stories and their beautifully decorated letters.
•    visited the 3rd grade!  We met the teachers, saw the classrooms, and we even played on the middle school playground!
•    performed puppet shows for our 8th grade buddies

Reminders:
•    As we are studying endangered animals, each student may bring in one stuffed animal from home if it happens to be an endangered animal.  We will display the animals in our classrooms.
•    In conjunction with our study of simple machines, please visit the following website for some fun games and activities:  http://www.edheads.org/activities/simple-machines
•    Our Research Celebration and Authors’ Picnic is on Friday, June 11th.

Enjoy the weekend!

The Grade Two Team

This past week we:

•    went to see Hot Peas ‘N Butter at The Center for the Arts at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell.
•    talked about how to write a good beginning to a story to capture the attention of the reader.  We spent some time looking at the beginnings of our current fiction stories and making revisions.
•    looked at our stories to make sure they were organized, sequenced, and  made sense.
•    began to work on the final drafts of our stories.
•    made fraction flags and described how they were colored in terms of fractions (e.g. 1/3 blue,  ¼ red, 2/4 yellow, etc.)
•    began to research biomes in science.  We are working with partners to determine the climate of the biome we are researching, where the biome is found, the types of animals and vegetation that may be found there, and the threats to the biome.  We used our information to create posters about the rainforest, the grasslands, the ocean, the temperate forest, the arctic tundra, and the desert.

Announcements:
•    Thank you for helping your child to find an observation spot at home for his/her science observation homework this week.  Please watch for the next observation sheet to be sent home on Monday!
•    We will be sending home a short piece of homework this weekend which will be due Monday.  Students will be asking for your help to complete a “Meet the Author” worksheet.  Again, we appreciate your support!
•    We will be having our Research Celebration and Authors’ Picnic on Friday, June 11th.  At 11:30 the children will share their portfolios with you, showing their fantastic work as an author this year in second grade.  At 12:00 we will have a picnic lunch (families will bring in their own picnic lunch).  At 12:45 we will reconvene in the library to celebrate the research that the children did on endangered animals.  You don’t want to miss this special event, so please mark your calendars!
•    We would like to thank all of you for making teacher appreciation week so wonderful.  The luncheon was spectacular!  Thank you for all of the parents who helped watch the second grade classes so that we could enjoy the delicious feast!

Enjoy the weekend!

The Grade Two Team

This past week we:

•    read the book “Cactus Hotel” and discussed how the saguaro is similar to an oak tree in that animals use it as part of their habitat
•    looked at the physical characteristics of a cactus and realized that it has some features that allow it to keep moisture in (and thus survive in its desert habitat)
•    went for a walk to observe plants on our school campus (using the skills we have been learning to make good scientific observations)
•    started a new math unit on fractions
•    divided groups of items into halves, or two equal parts, and also into fourths
•    worked with geoblocks to find blocks that were one half the size of other blocks
•    thought about bunches of balloons in a variety of numbers and determined if the bunch could be split in half, and what size the two groups would be
•    planned the setting of our upcoming fiction writing
•    outlined the specific events that make up the plot of our upcoming fiction writing
•    mapped our fiction stories and began to write them
•    received letters from our Brookwood pen pals

Announcements:
•    The Lower School will be traveling to The Center for the Arts at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell on Tuesday, May 4th to hear the musical group Hot Peas ‘N Butter.  If you haven’t already, please make sure your child returns the permission slip for this trip.
•    Thank you for helping your child to find an observation spot at home for his/her science observation homework this week.  Please watch for the next observation sheet to be sent home!

Enjoy the weekend!

The Grade Two Team

This past week we:

•    read the book “Cactus Hotel” and discussed how the saguaro is similar to an oak tree in that animals use it as part of their habitat
•    looked at the physical characteristics of a cactus and realized that it has some features that allow it to keep moisture in (and thus survive in its desert habitat)
•    went for a walk to observe plants on our school campus (using the skills we have been learning to make good scientific observations)
•    started a new math unit on fractions
•    divided groups of items into halves, or two equal parts, and also into fourths
•    worked with geoblocks to find blocks that were one half the size of other blocks
•    thought about bunches of balloons in a variety of numbers and determined if the bunch could be split in half, and what size the two groups would be
•    planned the setting of our upcoming fiction writing
•    outlined the specific events that make up the plot of our upcoming fiction writing
•    mapped our fiction stories and began to write them
•    received letters from our Brookwood pen pals

Announcements:
•    The Lower School will be traveling to The Center for the Arts at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell on Tuesday, May 4th to hear the musical group Hot Peas ‘N Butter.  If you haven’t already, please make sure your child returns the permission slip for this trip.
•    Thank you for helping your child to find an observation spot at home for his/her science observation homework this week.  Please watch for the next observation sheet to be sent home!

Enjoy the weekend!

The Grade Two Team

This past week we:

•    brainstormed ideas for settings, characters, and problems to be resolved for our upcoming fiction writing
•    individually mapped the characters, setting, problem, and resolution for our stories
•    worked on detailed descriptions and illustrations of the main characters of the stories we are planning to write
•    learned a new math game called “Spend A Dollar”
•    spent a math class reviewing coin names and values and practicing exchanging of coins and making change
•    did some group activities in which we practiced skip counting by 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s
•    dissected owl pellets and sorted the bones we found inside
•    used a chart to classify the various bones we found and determine what the owls had eaten
•    collected data about our findings in the owl pellets and also wrote observations about our findings

Announcements:
•    The Lower School will be traveling to The Center for the Arts at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell to hear the musical group Hot Peas ‘N Butter.  Please make sure your child returns the permission slip for this trip as soon as possible.
•    A science observation sheet will be sent home with your child on Monday.  (A note is coming home with your child about this today).  Please help your child select a quiet spot outdoors where he or she can sit for approximately 10 minutes and write detailed information about what he or she observes.  We appreciate your support with this!

Enjoy the weekend!

The Grade Two Team

This past week we:

•    Enjoyed the beautiful spring weather during recess!
•    finished writing short stories to go with Tomie de Paola’a wordless picture book Flicks
•    shared our recent fiction writings as an entire grade and also in small mixed groups
•    learned three new math games called “Get to 100”, “Collect $1.00”, and “Unroll a Square”
•    further discussed the features of megabats and microbats, and sorted pictures of different bats based on their observable traits
•    continued to observe our classroom terrariums and also our classroom “pets” as we explore habitats in science
•    discussed the oak tree and the many organisms that make the oak tree their habitat
•    went on an observation walk to explore habitats on our school campus
•    had our first meeting with our Brookwood pen pals!

Announcements:
•    There is no school on Monday, April 19th in honor of Patriots Day.
•    Our Brookwood friends would like to exchange home addresses so that the children can continue to write to each other after the school year has ended.  We would love to send along the list of addresses.  If you do not wish to have your home address shared with your child’s pen pal please let your anchor teacher know by April 21st.
•    Next week we will be dissecting owl pellets.  Most of the children had this experience in First Grade and we are excited to investigate owl pellets using a scientific method that we have been discussing with second graders this year.  Please look for a permission slip that will be coming home soon on which you can determine whether or not your child may bring the contents of the owl pellet home.

Enjoy the weekend!

The Grade Two Team