Week of January 4
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
We hope that you will have a wonderful and restful winter break and a Happy New Year.
During the winter break, the second grade students are expected to interview a parent or grandparent about their family history. The interview could include family origins, traditions, and experiences unique to your own family. Here are some examples of questions that students may pose:
- Where are my grandparents/parents from?
- Why did my family move to Chicago?
- Does our family have any traditions? What are the traditions?
- Please describe any life experiences (achievements, hardships, special events).
When school resumes on January 4, please make sure your child is ready to share the vivid details of their family history. The interview information will support your child’s writing for their story quilt.
Students will be given a social studies quiz on Friday, 1/08. A study guide will be sent home on Monday, 1/04 to help your child study.
Language Arts:
Independent Reading (35-40 minutes at the beginning of each day)
Teachers administer the DIBELS and the Reading 3D Mid-year Benchmark tests each day during this time.
Differentiated Instruction:
- Guided Reading
- Writing conferences
Spelling Words for the Week: fall, got, hurt, light, much, own, shall, start, today, try
Day 1:
Independent Reading
Morning meeting/morning message
Reading Skill: Inferences
- Explain to students that inferences are something we create in our minds when we notice clues and think about what those clues might mean.
Interactive Read Aloud:
Read and discuss Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold.
Word Study: flood lights, skyscraper, claim, patronize, cohesive
- Teachers provide opportunities for students to infer.
- Guide students to identify the theme or “big idea” of the story, which is family history, cohesiveness, traditions, or hardships.
- Students will share family interviews from journal writing over the holidays.
Writing: Authors As Mentors (Lucy Calkins and Amanda Hartman)–Discovering Small Moments as Faith Might
- In this session, students will learn that Faith Ringgold finds tiny moments to write about, and students will continue to develop this skill.
Day 2:
Independent Reading
Morning meeting/morning message
Reading Skill: Inferences
Read and discuss Bonjour, Lonnie (pp.1-14) by Faith Ringgold.
Word Study: extraordinary, griffins, gargoyles, perched, opera, jubilant, emancipation, exterminated
- Teachers provide opportunities for students to infer.
Writing: Authors As Mentors-Review Leads
- To raise awareness and knowledge of effective leads, and to include leads as parts of their writing process
- Teachers model think alouds of how to compose an introductory paragraph for the narrative on family history, cohesiveness, traditions, or hardships.
- Students begin the introductions for their narratives.
Day 3:
Independent Reading
Morning meeting/morning message
Reading Skill: Inferences
Read and discuss Bonjour, Lonnie (pp.15-28) by Faith Ringgold.
- Teachers provide opportunities for students to infer.
Writing: Authors As Mentors-Review Leads
- To raise awareness and knowledge of effective leads, and to include leads as parts of their writing process
- Teachers model think alouds of how to compose an introductory paragraph for the narrative on family history, cohesiveness, traditions, or hardships.
- Students share work in progress with class.
- Students continue the introductions for their narratives.
Day 4:
Independent Reading
Morning meeting/morning message
Classroom Spelling Bee
Reading Skill: Inferences
Interactive Read Aloud:
Read and discuss Aunt Harriet’s Underground Railroad in the Sky (p. 1 – 12) by Faith Ringgold.
Word Study: ramshackle, bedraggled, plantation, quicksand
- Teachers provide opportunities for students to infer.
Writing: Authors As Mentors (Lucy Calkins and Amanda Hartman)–Studying Faith’s Writing: Putting Quotation Marks around Dialogue
- In this session, students will identify and discuss dialogue within the mentor’s text.
- Students share work in progress with the class.
- Students begin the first body paragraphs of their narratives.
Day 5:
Independent Reading
Morning meeting/morning message
Primary Spelling Bee
Reading Skill: Inferences
Interactive Read Aloud:
Read and discuss Aunt Harriet’s Underground Railroad in the Sky (p. 13 – 24) by Faith Ringgold.
Word Study: clapboard, weather-beaten, resounding
- Teachers provide opportunities for students to infer.
Writing: Authors As Mentors (Lucy Calkins and Amanda Hartman)–Studying Faith’s Writing: Putting Quotation Marks around Dialogue
- In this session, students will identify and discuss dialogue within the mentor’s text.
- Students share work in progress with the class.
- Students continue to stretch the body paragraphs.
Math:
5.2 Points and Line
Segments (Day 2)
Objective: To guide students as they define, name, and draw line segments
- Mental Math and Reflexes/Math Message
- Math Message Follow-Up (Whole-Class Activity)
- Discussing How Points are Named (Whole-Class Discussion)
- Defining and Naming Line Segments (Whole-Class Discussion) (My Reference Book, P. 50)
- Drawing Line Segments with a Straightedge (Partner Activity)
5.3 Parallel Line Segments
Objective: To introduce the concepts of parallel line segments
- Mental Math and Reflexes/Math Message
- Math Message Follow-Up (Whole-Class Activity)
- Discussing the Meaning of Parallel Line Segments (Whole-Class Discussion)
- Drawing Line Segments That Are or Are not Parallel (Independent Activity) Differentiated Instruction: Under teachers’ guidance, students work in a small group using manipulatives to draw segments that are parallel.)
5.4 Exploring Polygons, Arrays, and Coins (2 days)
Objective: To review names and classify polygons, to develop readiness for multiplication, and to provide opportunities to explore similarities and differences of attribute blocks
- Mental Math and Reflexes/Math Message
- Math Message Follow-Up (Whole-Class Activity)
- Reviewing Characteristics of Polygons (Whole-Class Discussion)
- Naming Polygons by the Number of Their Sides or Angles (Whole-Class Discussion)
- Exploration D: Constructing Polygons on a Geoboard (Small-Group Activity)
- Exploration E: Making Centimeter-Cube Arrays (Partner Activity)
- Exploration F: Finding Attribute Blocks that Differ by One Attribute or More (Small-Group Activity)
5.5 Quadrangles
Objective: To guide students as they identify the names and characteristics of various quadrangles, and as they explore similarities and differences among quadrangles
- Math and Reflexes/Math Message
- Math Message Follow-Up (Whole-Class Activity)
- Exploring Similarities and Differences among Quadrilaterals (Whole-Class Discussion)
- Making Shapes Out of Triangles and Rectangles (Independent Activity)
Differentiated Instruction: Under teachers’ guidance, students work in a small group to make shapes using triangles and rectangles.
Science:
Exploring the Equal-Arm Balance
- Students assemble and equilibrate an equal-arm balance.
- Students observe and describe how the equal-arm balance reacts when they place objects in the pails.
- Students compare and contrast the equal-arm balance and the beam balance and record their observations on a class Venn diagram.
- Using the Venn diagram we have generated to review the differences and similarities between the beam balance and the equal-arm balance. Discuss situations when it is appropriate to use one or the other.
- Students use the equal-arm balance to compare objects
- Students record comparisons using binary symbols – greater than (>), less than (<), and equal to (=).
- Students discuss their comparisons and problem-solving strategies.
- Students discuss the concept of fair comparisons.
Social Studies:
Reread Grandfather’s Journey
- Review
- Social Studies Quiz
Thank you for your support.
Anh Tuan Hoang, LuAnn Lawson