Almost Halfway There...

 

Can you believe we are almost halfway through another school year? I can't believe how fast this year is flying by! As we approach the end of the first semester, we are doing mid-year testing in reading to assess student growth. By the end of next week your child should know what their new reading level is, based on the Text Reading Comprehension test. I am excited about seeing so much progress already!

Updates!!!

Due to the very short week we did not have a newsletter this week, but the Take a Peek at our Week section is updated for next week, and the new spelling list is also available at Spelling City. I hope you are all having a wonderful week celebrating the holiday with family and friends!

Scholastic Book Order Opportunity

Parents, I know many of you have asked me about opportunities to find "just-right books" for your children to read at home. I've added a great opportunity right here on our blog- if you click the tab at the top of the page title "Scholastic Book Orders" you can browse the scholastic online catalogs for various grade levels, order books direct from Scholastic, and earn credits for our classroom to earn free books as well! Be sure you use our special classroom activation code LQXCG when you place your order! Happy reading! :)

It's Conference Time!!

Parents, I am so excited to visit with you about your child's successes and growth in this first quarter of 2nd grade! We will be talking about grades and assessment data, but this will also be the perfect time to discuss any questions, concerns, or celebrations about your child's performance and social development in the classroom community and at home. Please take advantage of this opportunity to visit about your kiddo- our communication and team work are critical to helping your child reach his or her fullest potential as a learner! Coming to conferences is one way to help us achieve our Parkway vision, "A pathway to the future!" and our mission, "Empowering all students within a positive learning environment". Thank you for all you do for your children! :)

We're Going LOOPY for Fact Families!

This week we learned about addition and subtraction fact families in 2nd grade math. A fun way to practice manipulating numbers to understand the concept of fact families was to do a math investigation with Fruit Loops! Students were given about a half cup of fruit loops, directed to sort them by color, and then grouped them in color pairs. Students then built fact families using the numbers represented by their Fruit Loops. The best part? Our math project became a yummy snack when we were all done! :)

Writing the 4-Square Way

Today in writers' workshop we used a 4-square organizer to start writing about a topic from our seed lists. Students are learning to write a topic sentence, three supporting details, and a conclusion. This visual organizational tool is a great way to start thinking about the beginning, middle, and end of a piece of writing. Take a look at my modeled writing and a couple great examples of student work, and ask your kiddo about the writing we did this week! 

New Communication Folders

Our communication folders are finally here!! Look for your child to bring home his or her new folder this week! This folder needs to go home and come back to school each day. Put notes or homework in the left pocket if it needs to come back to school. The papers on the right are notes and graded work that can stay home. Please help your child take the full advantage of this great communication tool!