Newsletter 10-23-16

Hello Dragonfly Families!

We have been busy, busy, busy! It's been such a fun month of learning, getting outside, gardening and growing as 2nd graders. There are a lot of important dates coming up! Conferences start this week. Please double check the sign up genius for your time! I can't wait to meet with you! We also have an early release this Wednesday October, 23rd. Our pumpkin bash is Friday October, 28th. Please have the small pumpkins (with the guts loosened) brought to school by Thursday October 27th, so I can purchase any that are needed. The Halloween Howl is Friday night at 6:30! Please have pressed leaves returned to school by November 1st!

Reading

We have been checking out how author's purposefully teach us lessons in the stories they write. We have been using what we find to inspire our own writing. We have also been looking at how authors use humor in their writing and powerful words. We continue to work on fluent reading and how to solve tricky words that we may come across. The students have taken such an initiative during writing to find crafty writing. We are becoming note takers and building upon our reading habits. 

Writing

We are onto our second realistic fiction stories. The students are doing such a nice job planning and preparing for their stories. They are using graphic organizers and their writing notes to help them create their story line and then writing with craftiness and purpose. The students have come so far already just from their first story. This is definitely the highlight of our day and we have so much fun crafting and sharing our stories. We had our first writer's share with finished products and each dragonfly was brave enough to share their writing. This was a powerful activity and the students were able to hear the different ideas their classmates used in their stories. 

Math 

We are wrapping up Unit 2. We have learned different strategies to add larger numbers based off of the facts we know. We used our doubles and near tens strategies the most! We also learned how to jump on a number line in more ways than just by ones. We solved puzzles with frames and arrows and had lessons on following the written directions when it comes to math work. We continue to explain our thinking and practice math fact fluency. 

Science

We are moving into an earth unit that focuses on rocks and soil. We took a trip out to the garden to observe and explore. We picked carrots and tomatoes. We also planted daffodil bulbs and claimed our own 2D spot in the garden. We will be comparing different types of soils and sands and talking about their purpose on our earth. We will also be engaging in more science talks and exploration activities.

We had a first Mystery Reader this week!