Category: Class News

Today, a reading log was sent home with your student. Every FRIDAY I will collect it and give out a new log for the next week. Please record the Good Fit books they have read, and how many minutes they read. They may use more than one line per day. One line=one book. Please sign each night. At the end of the week, I will pass out stickers to put in their Reading Passports, 1 sticker =100 minutes. Since we did not have school on Friday, if you would like to record what your child read over the weekend, please do! Every minute counts!

I have heard back from several parents about being guest readers in our class. If you are interested, please fill out the form I sent home or email me at fowlerj@dearbornschools.org. I will be scheduling Guest Readers this week!

I am so sorry these were not posted earlier. I have been having technical difficulties trying to upload the images. Here are the answer keys-finally! The test will be tomorrow, Monday 3/5.

Tomorrow is the math test. It looks exactly like the homework that has been coming home. Tonight they have 2 pages to serve as their study guide. They will be asked to do 3 digit addition problems using one or more of the methods that we have been learning: the arrow way, the number bond way, vertical form (traditional),or place value chart and chips. Some questions will ask what is the most effective method (best way) to solve a problem.

Arrow way is most effective when one of the numbers end in a zero, because then you just have add hundreds or tens.

Number bond is most effective when one addend is close to a hundred mark, or a 10 and you can make a friendly number. Examples would be 198 +54, 97 + 365, 511 + 399. All of these problems have an addend close to a hundred mark.

Vertical form and place value chart and chips work best for numbers that can’t easily be broken into friendly numbers, or mostly hops of 10 or 100.

Please see the pictures for examples of each of these.

I’m so excited! The River Oaks staff and I have some fun activities and events planned for the March! Today I sent home 2 important opportunities.

1. I am looking for guest readers to read to our class. A guest reader can be a parent, grandparent, other family member, a neighbor, or a friend of the family. The students and I would love to have a special guest come and read a favorite picture book to the class. Don’t worry if you can’t read English – you can read a book in your native language if you want. It’s important for students to understand that reading is important no matter the language. If you want to be a guest reader, please fill out the note that I sent home and I will contact you with a date and time. If certain days are better, please note that on the form. I can’t wait to see you!
2. The other opportunity is that I sent home several book flyers. Scholastic books have a wide range of books and prices. Their prices are exceptionally reasonable compared to book stores and other sites. This is a great opportunity to nurture your child’s love of reading. If you would like to purchase books for your child, complete and return the form on the back of the flyer (each flyer has its own form) along with the total amount due in cash, in an envelope or baggie. Make sure your child’s name is on the form and envelope. Book orders are due March 7.

Stay Tuned for More Exciting Reading Month Activities!

This week we are learning the schwa sound. It makes the /uh/ sound as in the word ago. It is often spelled with the letter a- but it doesn’t make a short a sound or a long a sound. We also have some academic vocabulary words. The schwa sound is highlighted in each word to help you.

Week 22

• alone
• again
• agree
• comma
• idea
• alike
• away
• ago
• along
• above
• done
• about

Content words

• difference
• solve
• surface

Here are some videos to help you hear the schwa sound.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ydm5ELgdKio

Another strategy that we are using is Number Bonds. That is when we “decompose” a number into 2 parts. We do that so that we can combine one part with an addend to make a “10” or a “hundred” also known as a “friendly number.”

Here are a couple of videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mID7vweiuKI

This week we are working on the short /ou/ sound as in “out.” This sound can be spelled either -ou or -ow.

Here are the words:

• clown
• growl
• round
• crown
• loud
• powder
• outside
• south
• ground
• shower

Here are some videos to help practice the sound.

Greetings! This week we will be focusing on the long /oo/ sound and the vowel teams or digraphs that make it. The patterns are: -ue, -oe, -ui, -oo, and -ew.

The words are:

• root
• smooth
• chew
• knew
• clue
• true
• canoe
• shoe
• fruit
• juice

Here are some videos to help.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kL074H5XdNI

Dear Families,

As a second grade team we would like to keep you updated on our math. We have been chosen to pilot two different math programs this year, as you may know. We completed our pilot of the Bridges Mathematics program and will start our new pilot of the Eureka Math Program on January 22, 2018.  This will come with a few changes, including but not limited to:

• Home Connections will no longer be used. Students will be bringing home a homework worksheet each night and will be expected to return it, completed, the next day.
• Homework sheets will include Must Do’s, Can Do’s, and Extension questions.
• Student assessments and tests will look different.
• We will be sending home the Bridges workbooks. Please use them as you would like. They would be a great enrichment tool for you at home during breaks and on rainy days.

If you have any questions, please contact me directly by email at fowlerj@dearbornschools.org.

Thank you for your continued support,

Your second grade team-

Ms. Al-Zaharnah, Mrs. Fowler, Ms. Marano