Last week we defined
“cycle” as a set of events that happen again and again in the same order. We thought about the lifecycles we had
studied, but then I asked if there were other cycles. I LOVED the responses. First a student said a washing machine has a
cycle. Then someone asked if time was a
cycle. A third student said time did
have a cycle because we had a lunch time every day. Little did they know, but this is exactly
what I wanted to talk about in science – how the Earth moves and the associated
cycles! I am very proud of how much
students are really thinking about what we are learning, and making connections
with other information! This creates
such a rich learning environment! We
have another exciting week in second grade:
Language Arts: This week we will read chapters 3 and 4 of Sarah,
Plain and Tall. In association with
topics in the story, we will read several poems this week: “Who has seen the
Wind” by Christina Rossetti, “Windy Nights,” by Robert Louis Stevenson, and “Seashell,”
by Federico Garcia Lorca. We will
continue to focus on reading with expression to help with comprehension. Last week we were not able to have reading
groups on Tuesday and had large groups on Thursday. All students benefit from smaller reading
groups, but this will only happen if we have parents who are able to help. The link is on the right side of this blog if
you are able to volunteer.
In grammar this week
we will focus on the uses of apostrophes – to form contractions, to show
possessives, and show plurals of letters, symbols, and numbers (the word Mississippi
has 4 s’s). Please help your child with
his/her homework to make sure he/she understands these concepts. We will continue new Riggs words this week. We will have Riggs words quizzes
Tues-Friday. Spelling tests are returned
the next testing day so corrections can be made. Each set of words is tested 4 times. On the 4th assessment, a score is
given for that set of words. Each word
is worth 4 points: 1 point for handwriting,
1 point for markings, and 2 points for spelling. I am very impressed by the very neat
handwriting of most students in the class!
History: We will continue to learn about the
traditions of Japan this week. Our
topics include clothing, poetry, origami, food, and celebrations. On Friday we will make fish kites as we learn
about Children’s Day. Thank you for the
many volunteers who offered to help with the cutting involved in this project!
Science: Last week we started thinking about other
cycles in nature – starting with ways the Earth moves. We remembered why we have day and night. We then thought about how it is summer in the
United States and winter in Brazil at the same time. We figured out that out how the tilt of the Earth
causes different amounts of sunlight to reach different parts of the earth, and
as a result, we have seasons. This week
we will focus more specifically on how plants and animals adapt during each
season using a reader’s theater script.
Remember to keep
reading every night with your child.
This practice will help in every academic area, especially math!
Warmly,
Ms. Norris
