Thank you so much for an amazing start of the school year! I am so impressed with the maturity and responsibility your child is demonstrating every day, especially in regards to the book-bag exchange we complete every morning! I am so grateful that your family is benefiting by the simple practice of reading to self and others every day!
This week in reading, our main selection was My Family. This selection was a non-fiction story about a young girl and her family. Our comprehension skill was compare and contrast. The phonics skill was words with short vowels o, u, and e. We will continue the story and these skills next week.
In writer’s workshop we discussed ways in which we can respond to what we read. Although it is a good start to introduce the title and author, it is often more important to focus on a brief summary and some kind of way we can relate to what we read. All in all, our class is getting more confident in writing for a brief ten-minute period. Afterwards, each child shares their writing with the class.
In math, we used logical reasoning to solve word problems, worked with place value, and learned how to use benchmarks to make good estimates. Many of the children know their basic math facts through twenty. Other children are still counting on their fingers to add two digit numbers. Our goal is for all of the children to have these facts memorized.
The math curriculum in second grade often involves multi -step word problems. The children really need to have these basic facts mastered in order to be successful when the math becomes more challenging. The children are using a method known as UPSC to help organize the process of solving word problems.
First they show that they understand by circling what they are being asked to do and then underlining all of the information needed to solve the problem. Next, they plan the best way to solve the problem; writing a number sentence, drawing a picture, or making a chart. Then, they solve the problem by showing their work. Finally, they check their work. You can help at home by having your child follow these steps when solving word problems in his or her weekly homework.
Your child should be spending about 30 minutes with the daily homework. The weekly packet has a fair amount of activities, but please stop your child if he/she is spending more than 30-40 min. a night completing the work. Family time is valuable so even if the work is not entirely completed, please return the work that your child has completed so I will give him or her full credit for the work.
If I were to prioritize the workload, I would place the fluency reading practice and daily reading as the most important piece of the assignments. Children develop and strengthen their reading skills through practice. After the reading homework, math fluency practice and the math practice pages are next in the line of importance and relevance. The spelling words are taught and reviewed in class. Unless your child is struggling in this area, practicing these words may not be necessary for him or her. The math website, Dreambox is fun and has great value. Please encourage your child to use this at home. The program is designed to increase in complexity according to each child’s individual needs, based on his or her performance. This means that the program adjusts to meet the diverse needs of all learners. For this reason, please do not allow siblings or anyone other than your child to play the games.
Please remember that Open House will be on Thursday, September 18th from 6:30-8:00. I look forward to seeing you there!
This week in reading, our main selection was My Family. This selection was a non-fiction story about a young girl and her family. Our comprehension skill was compare and contrast. The phonics skill was words with short vowels o, u, and e. We will continue the story and these skills next week.
In writer’s workshop we discussed ways in which we can respond to what we read. Although it is a good start to introduce the title and author, it is often more important to focus on a brief summary and some kind of way we can relate to what we read. All in all, our class is getting more confident in writing for a brief ten-minute period. Afterwards, each child shares their writing with the class.
In math, we used logical reasoning to solve word problems, worked with place value, and learned how to use benchmarks to make good estimates. Many of the children know their basic math facts through twenty. Other children are still counting on their fingers to add two digit numbers. Our goal is for all of the children to have these facts memorized.
The math curriculum in second grade often involves multi -step word problems. The children really need to have these basic facts mastered in order to be successful when the math becomes more challenging. The children are using a method known as UPSC to help organize the process of solving word problems.
First they show that they understand by circling what they are being asked to do and then underlining all of the information needed to solve the problem. Next, they plan the best way to solve the problem; writing a number sentence, drawing a picture, or making a chart. Then, they solve the problem by showing their work. Finally, they check their work. You can help at home by having your child follow these steps when solving word problems in his or her weekly homework.
Your child should be spending about 30 minutes with the daily homework. The weekly packet has a fair amount of activities, but please stop your child if he/she is spending more than 30-40 min. a night completing the work. Family time is valuable so even if the work is not entirely completed, please return the work that your child has completed so I will give him or her full credit for the work.
If I were to prioritize the workload, I would place the fluency reading practice and daily reading as the most important piece of the assignments. Children develop and strengthen their reading skills through practice. After the reading homework, math fluency practice and the math practice pages are next in the line of importance and relevance. The spelling words are taught and reviewed in class. Unless your child is struggling in this area, practicing these words may not be necessary for him or her. The math website, Dreambox is fun and has great value. Please encourage your child to use this at home. The program is designed to increase in complexity according to each child’s individual needs, based on his or her performance. This means that the program adjusts to meet the diverse needs of all learners. For this reason, please do not allow siblings or anyone other than your child to play the games.
Please remember that Open House will be on Thursday, September 18th from 6:30-8:00. I look forward to seeing you there!