Second Grade Update – Week of 5/13

Dear Second Grade Families, 

Happy Friday!

What a glorious Spring Concert! Our second graders’ voices were full of joy and made me feel the wonder of color in our world! Attached are a few pictures of them after their song. 🙂

Speaking of color, our welcome sign for the Alameda Food Bank is almost complete. Students have worked hard on this beautiful creation, and I look forward to sharing a picture next week! 🙂

Next week, students will take their last STAR assessments of the year – reading on Monday and math on Friday. Please have them get enough rest and eat a good breakfast.

These last few weeks of school will be filled with special events and continued learning. Please pay close attention to the weekly school newsletter as well as mine.

Below is our second grade learning update.

Focus Areas for Our Learning Next Week:

• Reading – 
  • In reading groups, students are shifting focus to the art of reading, interpreting, and solving word problems. We will combine reading and math skills for the remainder of our group time this year. Our focus will be in several areas: 2-3 digit addition/subtraction, time, and money. 🙂
  • At night, students should be reading their AR books and practicing fluent reading skills. Please encourage your child to observe punctuation, read at a good pace, and read the words as they appear in the text (no deletions or substitutions).
• Grammar/Spelling – In Superkids, students will practice decoding and encoding long “o” words. They will also practice with the suffix ‘ness. Students should practice their spelling words for a quiz on Friday.
• Writing – Students continue their animal research reports by using their notes planning page to draft paragraphs focused on several areas: description, habitat, diet, predators, and family life. Students will start with an introduction and be mindful about organizing their information in a way that makes sense and flows well.
• Math – Students will practice rounding to the nearest 10 and 100.
• Religion – We will finish our Family Life Unit – God’s Gift of Love. Students will reflect on how they show love and how they keep promises.
• Social Studies –The class will begin our unit about the economy with a focus on wants versus needs and goods and services.
• Science – This week, students will examine how scientists organize animals into groups based on their characteristics. In our activity, students study animal traits and use these traits to sort animal cards into mammals, birds, reptiles, and invertebrates. Students are then challenged to make decisions about animals that don’t fall neatly into any of those categories.

Other Updates for this Week:

• STAR Assessments – We will complete our final STAR assessments next week on Tuesday and Friday. Please make sure your child has a good breakfast and consistent sleep. As I have said before, these assessments are just one piece of data, but students should give their best effort. Thank you!
• Dates to Remember:
  • Monday, May 13 – Math Night, 5:00-7:00pm
  • Tuesday, May 14 – Fun Run!
  • Friday, May 17 – SPN Spartan Spirit Day; Sports Awards, 5:30-7:30pm
  • Tuesday, May 21 – Free Dress May AND June Birthdays
  • Thursday, May 23 – Field Trip to the U.C. Botanical Gardens!
  • Friday, May 24 – SPN Olympics, 10:45-11:45am; Noon Dismissal
  • Monday, May 27 – No School, Memorial Day
  • Thursday, May 30 – Field Trip to Semifreddi’s Bakery!
  • Thursday, Jun 6 – Noon Dismissal, No Share and Care
  • Friday, Jun 7 – Last Day of School, Moving Up Ceremony, Report Card Day, 10:30 a.m. DISMISSAL, No Share and Care

We wish all the mothers, grandmothers, and other special women in our students’ lives a very happy Mother’s Day!

All the best,
Catherine