2nd Grade Blog

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

In order to prepare for our second grade winter assembly and winter party on December 18th, we would like to have a meeting on Wednesday, 12/02/08 at 2:35 pm. in room 106. Parents who are interested in assisting with costumes and props and planning the winter party are welcome to attend.

Thursday, 12/3 is Literacy Night at Murray. The second grade teachers will share activities related to balanced literacy beginning at 6 p.m. We hope you are able to attend.

The science quiz on balancing will take place on Wednesday, December 2. A study guide was sent home last week to help your child prepare.

Students will not attend school on Friday, December 4. It is a professional development day for teachers and staff.

Language Arts:
Independent Reading (35-40 minutes at the beginning of each day)
Teachers provide guided reading lessons and/or reading conferences during this time.
Differentiated Instruction:
- DIBLES Progress Monitoring
- Guided Writing
- Guided Reading
- Writing conferences
- Phonics: Identifying the y sound in words -Explain the principle y is a letter that sometimes makes a vowel sound. Y sounds like e on the end of words like happy, funny, family. Y sounds like i in words like my, sky, by
- Students play Two-Way Sort.
Spelling Words for the Week: about, better, clean, cut, drink, right, those, use, why, wish

Day 1:
Independent Reading
Morning meeting/morning message
Reading: Identifying the theme (Big Idea)
Interactive Read Aloud:
Music for Alice by Allen Say
- Read and analyze characters to guide students to make written connections from text-to- self. Begin to identify the theme (Big Idea) of: perseverance.
Writing for Readers (Lucy Calkins and Natalie Louis)
Teaching Skills and Strategies - Writing with Sight Words:
- In this session, students will revisit the concept that writers rely on sight words, not just stretching words and recording the sounds, to write with more fluency.
- Students continue writing their Thanksgiving personal narratives.
- Each day a small group of students share their work in progress.

Day 2:
Independent Reading
Morning meeting/morning message
Reading: Identifying the theme (Big Idea)
Interactive read aloud:
A River Dream by Allen Say (p. 1 – 17)
Writing for Readers (Lucy Calkins and Natalie Louis)
Teaching Skills and Strategies - Spacing Words and Indenting:
- In this session, students will learn the importance of leaving a finger-size blank space when they hear no more sounds in a word. They also learn that each paragraph is indented.
- Students continue with their Thanksgiving narratives.

Day 3:
Independent Reading
Morning meeting/morning message
Reading: Identifying the theme (Big Idea)
Interactive read aloud:
A River Dream by Allen Say (p. 18 – 31)
Writing for Readers (Lucy Calkins and Natalie Louis)
Teaching Skills and Strategies - Checking Content: Focus on the content of the Personal Narratives:
- In this session, teachers will remind writers that their content matters, specifically encouraging them to write focused narratives.
- Students utilize strategies from lessons to fancy up their Thanksgiving narratives.

Day 4:
Independent Reading
Morning meeting/morning message
Reading: Identifying the theme (Big Idea)
Interactive read aloud:
Under the Cherry Blossom Tree retold by Allen Say
Writing for Readers (Lucy Calkins and Natalie Louis)
Teaching Skills and Strategies - Learning More Sight Words:
- In this session, students will learn how to write some words in a snap, without sounding them out.
- Students continue to utilize strategies from lessons to fancy up their Thanksgiving narratives. They use watercolors to illustrate their narratives.

Math:
4.3 Exploring Temperature, Money, Shapes (Day 2)
Objective: To guide students as they explore reading temperatures on a thermometer, practice finding the total value of a group of coins, and develop readiness for classifying geometric shapes
- Mental Math and Reflexes/Math Message
- Math Message Follow-Up (Whole-Class Activity)
- Playing Addition Spin (Partner Activity)
- Exploration A: Exploring temperature using a thermometer
- Exploration B: Coins booklets using groups of coins and the total value and dollar and cent notations
- Exploration C: Students classify geometric shapes according to attributes size, color and shape.
- Students complete Math Journal 1, p. 86, 88, 89.

4.4 Temperature Changes
Objective: To guide students as they read and show temperatures and solve number stories about temperature changes
- Mental Math and Reflexes/Math Message
- Math Message Follow-Up (Whole-Class Activity)
- Solving “How Much Warmer (Colder)?” Problems (Whole-class Activity)
- Reading and Showing Temperatures and Solving Temperature-Change Problems Differentiated Instruction: Students work in pairs using the number grid to solve temperature change problems.
Enrichment: Identifying Situations as Change to More or Change to Less

4.5 Estimating Costs
Objective: To guide students as they use estimation to solve problems for which an exact answer is not necessary
- Mental Math and Reflexes/Math Message
- Math Message Follow-Up (Whole-Class Activity)
- Discussing Estimation (Whole-Class Discussion)
- Solving Problems by Estimation (Whole-Class Discussion and Partner Activity)
Differentiated Instruction: In small groups, teachers use the previously discussed strategies to guide students toward estimating sums of items.
- Enrichment Activity: Using Estimation to Compare Sums of Weights

4.6 A Shopping Activity (Day1)
Objective: To guide students as they develop strategies for adding 2-digit numbers mentally; to provide experiences with calculating the total cost of two items; and to demonstrate making change for whole-dollar amount up to $100
- Mental Math and Reflexes/Math Message
- Math Message Follow-Up (Whole-Class Activity)
- Strategies for Adding 2-Digit Numbers (Whole-Class Discussion)
Differentiated Instruction: Using play money and calculators, students work in assigned pairs playing shopping.

Science:
Lesson 5 (2 days):
- Students build simple mobiles that balance.
- Students describe and compare how their mobiles balanced.
Science Quiz:
Multiple choice, and true and false answers using the following concepts:
- The beam balance has a beam and a fulcrum.
- The fulcrum is the pivot on which a lever moves, that is: the point about which the lever is free to rotate.
- The fulcrum under the beam can be moved from side to side in order to balance objects on the beam.
- When the beam has no weight on it, the fulcrum must be placed in the middle in order for the beam to be balanced.
- If one side of the beam is heavier, the fulcrum must be moved towards the heavier side in order for the beam to be balanced.
- The amount of weight and the position of the weight affect the balance of the beam balance.

Social Studies:
- Practicing for winter assembly

Thank you for your support.
Anh Tuan Hoang, LuAnn Lawson

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

We were so pleased to meet with you during the Parent/Teacher Conferences last Wednesday. It is always very informative to have the input of our students’ parents.

The science quiz on balancing will take place on December 2. A study guide will be sent home this week to help your child prepare.

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, students will continue to write journal entries about how their family celebrates this holiday and use this information for their writing project in class. Please share stories, experiences and traditions with your child.

Words cannot express how thankful we are to have the support of our parents who are so caring and are working arduously at home with the children to ensure that they are successful in school. This really makes our job enjoyable.

Have a happy Thanksgiving filled with love and peace!

Language Arts:
Independent Reading (35-40 minutes at the beginning of each day)
Teachers provide guided reading lessons and/or reading conferences during this time.
Differentiated Instruction:
- Guided Writing
- Guided Reading
- Phonics: Recognizing words with vowels and r
- Students play “Word Grid” game.
- Students from a table grouping are selected each day to read from their journals.

Day 1:
Independent Reading
Morning meeting/morning message
Interactive Read Aloud: Making Connections
Grandfather’s Journey by Allen Say.
- Guide students to reflect upon Mr. Hoang’s presentation to make connections about difficult situations that immigrants have to experience.
Writing for Readers
(Lucy Calkins and Natalie Louis)
Teaching Skills and Strategies - Inspiring Students to Write for Readers:
- In this first session, teachers will aim to convey the big picture of this new unit. Specifically, students will be inspired to work harder and in new ways so that others can read their writing.
- Teachers model verbally a personal narrative about Thanksgiving celebrations and demonstrate how to create an outline for writing the narrative.
- Students share knee-to-knee Thanksgiving celebrations.
- Each student writes an outline for his/her personal narrative. The outline includes the following:
1. Preparation for the Thanksgiving celebration
2. The day of Thanksgiving
3. Why is the celebration important to their family?

Day 2:
Independent Reading
Morning meeting/morning message
Interactive Read Aloud: Making Connections
The Pilgrims and Me by Judy Donnelly (p.1-15)
- Teachers guide students to make connections between personal experiences and the anchor text.
Writing for Readers (Lucy Calkins and Natalie Louis)
Teaching Skills and Strategies - Inspiring Students to Write for Readers:
- In this session, teachers will aim to convey the big picture of this new unit. Specifically, students will be inspired to work harder and in new ways so that others can read their writing.
- Teachers think out-loud of examples of introductions to the personal narratives on celebrations.
- Teachers and students review lists of engaging leads/openings to the narratives.
- Students share knee-to-knee how they would write an introduction, and they begin writing their introductions.

Day 3:
Independent Reading
Morning meeting/morning message
Interactive Read Aloud: Making Connections
The Pilgrims and Me by Judy Donnelly (p.15-30)
- Teachers guide students to make connections between personal experiences and the anchor text.
Writing for Readers (Lucy Calkins and Natalie Louis)
Teaching Skills and Strategies - Stretching and Writing Words:
- In this session, children will be encouraged to hear and record more sounds in the words they write.
- Teachers think out-loud paragraphs on preparation for Thanksgiving.
- Students share knee-to-knee the first body paragraph about how their families prepare for Thanksgiving.
- Students begin writing the body paragraph.
- Each day a small group students share their work in progress.
Interactive read aloud:
The Night Before Thanksgiving by Dav Pilkey

Math:
4.1 Change-to-More Number Stories
Objective: To guide students as they solve change-to-more number stories
- Mental Math and Reflexes/Math Message
- Math Message Follow-Up (Whole-Class Activity)
- Introducing the Change Diagram (Whole-Class Discussion)
- Solving Change-to-More Number Stories (Partner Activity)
Differentiated Instruction: Under teachers’ guidance, students work in assigned pairs using the number grid and base-10 blocks to solve number stories.
Enrichment: Students create Change-to-More number stories for classmates to solve.

4.2 Parts-and-Total Number Stories
Objective: To guide students as they solve parts-and-total number stories
- Mental Math and Reflexes/Math Message
- Math Message Follow-Up (Whole-Class Activity)
- Finding the Cost of Two or More Items (Partner Activity)
Differentiated Instruction:
Enrichment: Students solve Part-and-Total number stories using parts greater than 1 dollar.

4.3 Exploring Temperature, Money, Shapes and Sums (Day 1)
Objective: To guide students as they explore reading temperatures on a thermometer, practice finding the total value of a group of coins, and develop readiness for classifying geometric shapes
- Mental Math and Reflexes/Math Message
- Math Message Follow-Up (Whole-Class Activity)
- Playing Addition Spin (Partner Activity)
- Exploration A: Exploring temperature using a thermometer
- Exploration B: Coin booklets using groups of coins and the total value and dollar and cent notations
- Exploration C: Students classify geometric shapes according to attributes size, color and shape.

Social Studies:
Presentation:
Mr. Hoang continues his presentation about immigrating to the U.S.

Science:
Lesson 2: Building Structures that Balance (Day 1)
- Students build structures that balance using a beam, fulcrum, and Unifix Cubes and base ten blocks to explore how the amount of weight and position of weight affect balance.
- Students read Julie’s Balancing Act.
- Students write about the exploration: Exploring the balancing beam.

Thank you for your support.
Anh Tuan Hoang, LuAnn Lawson

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Last Thursday, a schedule was sent home to remind you of your conference time on Report-card Pickup day. We are looking forward to seeing you on Wednesday, 11/18/09. There is no school for students on that day.

In order to be considerate to all, please keep your appointment time. Each conference is allotted for ten minutes. However, should you feel the need to discuss your child’s progress further, you can always request another appointment and we will be happy to accommodate.

We are wrapping up unit 3 in math, and our students will be given an open response on
Thursday 11/19 and a written assessment on Friday, 11/20. Please refer to the review section below to help your child study.

Language Arts:
Independent Reading (35-40 minutes at the beginning of each day)
Teachers provide guided reading lessons and/or reading conferences during this time.
Differentiated Instruction:
- Guided Writing: Teachers circulate the room to assist students during writing time.
- Guided Reading
- Reading Comprehension Skills: context clues
- Teachers present a short passage and engage students to use context to define the unknown vocabulary.
- Students from a table grouping are selected each day to read from their journals.
Spelling Words for the Week: before, both, found, its, sleep, these, wash, which, would, your

Day 1:
Independent Reading
Morning meeting/morning message
Reading Skill: Ask/answer Questions
Interactive Read Aloud: Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann
- Focus the learning: Questions help us as readers and allow us to think more deeply, as well as make more connections to our prior knowledge
- Model and Guide Practice: Teachers model how to ask questions through thinking out loud.
- End of Story Reflection: Students generate “I wonder” questions. They work in pairs to reflect and write answers to the questions.

Day 2:
Independent Reading
Morning meeting/morning message
Reading Skill: Ask/answer Questions
Interactive Read Aloud: Duke Ellington by Andrea Davis Pinkney
- Focus the learning: Questions help us as readers and allow us to think more deeply, as well as make more connections to our prior knowledge
- Model and Guide Practice: Teachers model how to ask questions through thinking out loud.
- End of Story Reflection: Students generate “I wonder” questions. They work in pairs to reflect and write answers to the questions.

Day3:
Report-card Pickup Day

Day 4:
Real Men Read Program
- Assigned Mentors will read, discuss and analyze children’s literature in the second grade classes once every month. Each month a copy of the selected text will be provided to each student. After each unit, the students will bring their copy to add to their home library. We are extremely excited about Real Men Read and look forward to sharing valuable children’s literature with your family.

Day 5:
Independent Reading
Morning meeting/morning message
Reading Skill: Making Connections
Interactive Read Aloud: Miss Nelson is Missing by James Marshall
- Focus the learning: Making connections helps us understand the story better.
- Model and Guide Practice: Teachers model how to make connections through thinking out loud.
- End of Story Reflection: Students work in pairs to discuss which connections help to understand the story better.
Writing for Readers:
(Lucy Calkins and Natalie Louis)
Teaching Skills and Strategies
Session 1: Inspiring Students to Write for Readers
- In this first session, teachers will aim to convey the big picture of this new unit. Specifically, students will be inspired to work harder and in new ways so that others can read their writing.
- Teachers model orally a personal narrative about Thanksgiving celebrations and demonstrate how to create an outline for writing the narrative.
- Students share knee-to-knee Thanksgiving celebrations.
- Each student writes an outline for his/her personal narrative. The outline includes the following:
1. Preparation for the Thanksgiving celebration
2. The day of Thanksgiving
3. Why is the celebration important to their family?

Math:
3.8 Coin Exchanges (Day 2)
Objective: To guide students as they solve multi-step problems for amounts under $1.00 and as they practice making change using nickels, dimes, and quarters
- Mental Math and Reflexes/Math Message
- Math Message Follow-Up (Whole-Class Activity)
- Making Vending Machine Purchases (Partner Activity)
Differentiated Instruction:
Enrichment: Playing Making Change

3.9 Unit Review- Mental Math and Reflexes/Math Message
- Math Message Follow-Up (Whole-Class Activity)
Mini Lesson:
Model a math extended response.
- Identifying the values for the given base-10 blocks (e.g. 1 flat, 2 longs and 4 cubes equal 124
- Identifying ones, tens and hundreds places
- Writing P, N, D, or Q to show the coins use to pay the exact amount. (e.g. Nina paid 43 cent for an apple. Students write Q, D, N, P, P, P)
- Adding and subtracting
- Solving addition story problems
- Interpreting bar graphs
- Skip counting by 5s and 25s
- Solving Frames-and Arrows problems with two rules
- Making change (e.g. You buy a milk for 35 cents. You paid with 2 quarters. How much change should you get back?)
- Reading a thermometer

Unit 3 Written Extended Response
(Students will take the assessment in the morning)
- Students need to know how to calculate the value of coin combinations and make exchanges between coins.

Unit 3 Written Assessment
(Students will take the assessment in the morning)

Science:
Thinking about balance
- Using paper butterflies, paper clips and a pencil, students will explore the principals of balance. Words study: fulcrum, symmetry, weight distribution
- Using a paper cutout of an asymmetrical animal, paper clips and a pencil, students will explore the principals of balance. Words study: asymmetry
- Students share out what they discovered from previous explorations.
- Teachers model how to write a lab observation.

Social Studies:
Mr. Hoang will present his immigration experiences from Vietnam to the U.S.A.

Thank you for your support.
Anh Tuan Hoang, LuAnn Lawson

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

A copy of the conference schedule will be sent home with students on November 10 to remind you of your conference time. We are looking forward to seeing you on Report-card Pickup day, which is Wednesday, November 18.

There will be no school for students on Wednesday, November 11 for Veterans’ Day.

Picture retake day is Friday, November 13. If you would like for your child to participate, please return the unwanted pictures by that time.

We are wrapping up unit 3 in math, and our students will be given an open response on Thursday 11/19 and a written assessment on Friday, 11/20. Please refer to the review section bellow to help your child study.

In the week of November 16, we will begin a new author study of the works of Allen Say, which have the theme of immigration. Social Studies will be integrated in this unit. Please let us know if your family emigrated from another country, and you would like to share your story. We would love your participation.

Language Arts:
Independent Reading (35-40 minutes at the beginning of each day)
Teachers provide guided reading lessons and/or reading conferences during this time.
Differentiated Instruction:
- Guided Writing: teachers circulate the room to assist students during writing time.
- Guided Reading
- Word Knowledge (Fountas and Pinnell): Each day, students will explore sight words by playing the Make, Say, Check, Mix game.
Spelling Words for the Week:
because, best, don’t, first, green, pull, sit, upon, very, work

Day 1:
Using Prior Knowledge
Interactive Read Aloud: Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
- Mini Lesson: Teachers demonstrate using prior knowledge from life experiences to better comprehend text.
- Students utilize skills from previous lessons to identify big ideas.
- Writing: Students reflect on what they had learned during the first quarter.
- Teachers model orally about what we learned in reading.
- Students write a paragraph about what they learned in reading.

Day 2:
Using Prior Knowledge
Interactive Read Aloud:
Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin
- Mini Lesson: Teachers demonstrate using prior knowledge from life experiences to better comprehend text.
- Students utilize skills from previous lessons to identify big ideas.
- Writing: Students reflect on what they had learned during the first quarter.
- Teachers model orally about what we learned in writing.
- Students write a paragraph about what they learned in writing.

Day 3:
Using Prior Knowledge
Interactive Read Aloud:
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
- Mini Lesson: Teachers demonstrate using prior knowledge from life experiences to better comprehend text.
- Students utilize skills from previous lessons to identify big ideas.
- Writing: Students reflect on what they had learned during the first quarter.
- Teachers model orally about what we learned in math.
- Students write a paragraph about what they learned in math.

Day 4:
Using Prior Knowledge
Interactive Read Aloud:
Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse by Leo Lionni
- Mini Lesson: Teachers demonstrate using prior knowledge from life experiences to better comprehend text.
- Students utilize skills from previous lessons to identify big ideas.
- Writing: Students reflect on what they had learned during the first quarter.
- Teachers model orally about what we learned in science.
- Students write a paragraph about what they learned in science.

Math:
3.6 Frames and Arrows Having Two Rules (2 Days)
Objective: To guide students as they solve Frames-and-Arrows problems having two rules
- Mental Math and Reflexes/Math Message
- Math Message Follow-Up (Whole-Class Activity)
- Frames-and-Arrows Diagrams Having Two Rules (Whole-Class Activity)
- Solving Frames-and-Arrows Problems (Independent Activity)
- Students complete Math Journal 1, p. 68, 69, 71.
Differentiated Instruction: Students work in assigned pairs under teachers’ supervision. We use manipulatives to solve Frames-and-Arrows problems.
Enrichment: Reading a Bar Graph

3.7 Making Change by Counting Up
Objective: To guide students as they make change by counting up from the cost of an item to the amount tendered
- Mental Math and Reflexes/Math Message
- Math Message Follow-Up (Whole-Class Activity)
- Demonstrating How to Make Change by Counting Up (Whole-Class Activity)
- Acting as Customer or Clerk (Partner Activity)
Differentiated Instruction: Under teachers’ guidance, students work in assigned pairs using coins and dollar bills to purchase and make change.
Enrichment: Solving Frames-and-Arrows Problems Having Two Rules

3.8 Coin Exchanges (Day 1)
Objective: To guide students as they solve multi-step problems for amounts under $1.00 and as they practice making change using nickels, dimes, and quarters
- Mental Math and Reflexes/Math Message
- Math Message Follow-Up (Whole-Class Activity)
- Buying Items with Exact Change Only (Whole-Class Activity)
- Buying Items without Exact Change (Whole-Class Activity)
Differentiated Instruction:
Enrichment: Playing Making Change

3.9 Unit Review
- Identifying the values for the given base-10 blocks (e.g. 1 flat, 2 longs and 4 cubes equal 124
- Identifying ones, tens and hundreds places
- Writing P, N, D, or Q to show the coins use to pay the exact amount. (e.g. Nina paid 43 cent for an apple. Students write Q, D, N, P, P, P)
- Adding and subtracting
- Solving addition story problems
- Interpreting bar graphs
- Skip counting by 5s and 25s
- Solving Frames-and Arrows problems with two rules
- Making change (e.g. You buy a milk for 35 cents. You paid with 2 quarters. How much change should you get back?)
- Reading a thermometer

Science:
Balancing and Weighing
Pre-Unit Assessment (3 Days)
On a beam balance, balance is dependent on the relative mass of objects, the location of the fulcrum, and the relative lengths of the arms of the beam.
Lesson 1: Thinking about balance
Students use simple materials to explore the relationship between balance and mass.
- Students write ideas in response to the statement “What I know about balancing.”
- Chart students’ responses to “What they would like to know about balancing.”
- Let the students know that during the next few weeks they will be investigating balancing and weighing. At the end of this time, they will look at the chart again to see which questions they have answered.

Social Studies:
Interactive Read Aloud; Why Did They Come? by Solomon Gordon
- Teachers and students read and discuss how and why people from around the world came to America to escape danger, hunger and poverty.
- Teachers guide students to trace travel sailing routes on a globe and map to the countries/continents mentioned in the book (Europe, Asia, Ireland, China, Russia).

Thank you for your support.
Anh Tuan Hoang, LuAnn Lawson