2nd Grade MP3 Campus

School Data is open on the first of each month for parent reviews. These are due by the 5th. We hope the cut and paste grade level newsletter will be helpful to supplement your remote learning plan reviews. Thank you for submitting in a timely manner and if you need help, please reach out to your SLPC.

Topics: Class routine, getting to know each other, growth mindset, attributes, fractional parts, what equal means

Activities: We are off to a great start in math. We spent our first two days of class getting to know each other a bit, brainstorming goals and expectations for a successful year as mathematicians, and exploring the idea of growth mindset and how it can help us to be successful in mathematics. We completed the fall diagnostic portion of the iReady math assessment. We have started our first big idea of the school year by working to partition shapes into equal parts that are not necessarily identical.

Teacher Tip: Fact fluency plays a big role in mathematical success. You may want to note which addition and fact families your student has mastered and what still needs work. The end of first grade standard is being automatic with numbers within 10 and knowing strategies for facts within 20, we are currently working on getting completely automatic numbers within 10 in class as well as doubles.

Teacher Info: Mrs. Kurashige, skurashige@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: class routines, getting to know each other, generating story topics, 5 Star Rubric, storytelling, beginning-middle-end, iReady

Activities: We are off to a great start in Jump into Writing! We took a room tour to get comfortable using our space and are learning class routines. We each created a pennant to teach the class a little bit about ourselves. We did our first 5 Star writing and will begin setting 5 Star goals (i.e., start sentences with a capital letter, use end punctuation, put space between words, writing is easy to read, writing makes sense). We read and analyzed the very funny book Mercy to the Rescue by Kate DiCamillo to gain an understanding of the parts of stories. Students created Idea Charts to record their own story ideas from their own lives. Then we each chose a topic from our own lives and shared the story with our elbow partner. We also took time to take the reading portion of the iReady assessment.

Teacher Tips: This is a fantastic time of year to check in on grade-level sight words. You can access sight word lists and other excellent resources at sightwords.com. Tracking trend data can be so motivating and useful (i.e., “9/25 - Can read 44 /100 and spell 40/100 First 100 Fry sight words.”)

Now that we have wrapped up the iReady Assessment, it is a great time to try the iReady Instructional Activities. These lessons are fun and interactive to keep your student engaged as they learn. We recommend students complete 2 lessons per week of personalized learning iReady lessons in math and reading. Your student can access the personalized instruction through their waffle just like they did to take the iReady assessment. Your student can access the personalized instruction through their waffle just like they did to take the iReady assessment.

Teacher Info: Mrs. Giesen, jgiesen@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: Students will explore a number of different solid materials, describe properties of solid materials, recognize solids as different from other states of matter, sort solids by their properties and describe how the properties of solid materials can have specific properties uses in construction.

Activities: Students were given bags with four solid objects and asked to compare and contrast them. They were asked to identify which objects possessed a specific property ( ex: rigid, flexible, has color, flat, rough, smooth, pointed, soft, cylinder). Students were asked to sort a variety of solid objects into groups that shared the same property. Students were given specific solid supplies and asked to construct a tower as tall as possible, realizing what solids they were given that possessed the best qualities to build the tower.

Vocabulary:

Property- the characteristic of an object, something you can observe such as size, color, shape, or texture

Teacher Info: Mrs DeWaard, hdewaard@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: Class routine, getting to know each other, growth mindset, common vocabulary Axels, Beams, Bricks, Flats, Plates and Slants

Activities: We are off to a great start in Robotics, Engineering and Design. We spent our first few days of class getting to know each other a bit and brainstorming goals and expectations for a successful year as Engineers. Innovators and Problem Solvers. Students were given opportunities to provide feedback based on their individual experiences in this class. Information drawn from student feedback is used to adjust instruction. Students chose the Marble Run Challenge activity to get started with.

Challenge Project: Marble Run STEM projects provide hands-on experimental learning. Curiosity is piqued and students investigate many workable solutions using critical thinking skills and explore by manipulating materials to design or solve a problem. The marble run challenge is a multiple day activity. Task 1: Students worked to answer the question; “How can pipe insulation tubes be used to create a pathway for a marble? Working with a partner, Students design and build a pathway using foam tubes as the track, tape, and a marble, Student explore different heights, formations, and construction strategies. Students learned that a marble traveling a roller coaster where the second hill height is more than the first hill, does not have enough potential energy to traverse the second hill. Student teams will continue to explore physics concepts of roller coaster design and engineering.

Teacher Tip: Robotics, Engineering and Design topics and activities can be included in your Independent Science class monthly reviews.

Teacher Info: Mrs. Brannen lbrannen@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: class routines, getting acquainted, Frog and Toad readers theatre, story sequencing, phonic skills , story elements, compound words

Activities: Our first days started with playing get-to-know you games, reviewing classroom routines, brainstorming expectations of what a thriving class looks like and sounds like and building knowledge about the 3Bs (Be safe, Be respectful. Be responsible.) Our feature stories have been "The Lost Button '' and "The Swim" from the book, Frog and Toad are Friends by Arnold Lobel. Activities have included working cooperatively through readers theatre scripts of the stories, documenting story elements (characters, setting, problem, solution), descriptive riddle writing and sharing about a button, story sequencing and various phonic rules including the long/short vowels, magic "e" and the bossy "r". We’ve also played matching games with both compound words and antonyms. Students have been assessed on their knowledge of the first 100 or 200 sight words (depending on their progress from last year). In addition, they were given an oral reading fluency screening which measures the number of words read in a minute.

Teacher Tip: Throughout the semester, we will be talking more about sight words and reading fluency. A great way for you to support this work is by using sightwords.com at home. The ultimate goal is to both read and spell these words. A good place to start with spelling may be the top 150 word list on that same site. To build fluency, you can model read, partner read, participate in repeated readings of the same passage, echo read, pre-teach new vocabulary and track with a finger or highlighter guide.

Teacher Info: Mrs. Elgersma- gelgersma@meridian.wednet.edu