2nd Grade December Newsletter

Important Dates☃️

December 3 – Tiger Family Parent Workshop: Understanding Testing from 8:30AM–9:00 AM

December 4 – Lower & Upper School Picture Retake Day

December 8 – PTA Toy Drive Begins

December 9 – November Student of the Month at 9:00 AM (Upper School Auditorium)
December 9 – Kindergarten Applications Open

December 11 – Kindergarten In-Person Open House from 9:00AM–10:00 AM (Lower School)

December 14 – Hanukkah Begins

December 15 – Lower School Tiger Family Morning from 8:15AM–8:45 AM

December 18 – Upper School Tiger Family Morning from 8:15AM–8:45 AM

December 18 – Twin Day

December 23 – P.S. 230 Spirit Day: Pajama Day!

Winter Recess: December 24 – January 2 – No School

Happy Holidays To All! ❄️

Books of the Month: The Thing Lou Couldn’t Do By Ashley Spires

Lou’s friends want to climb a tree, but Lou is scared to try. She learns that it’s okay to be afraid and that being brave can mean trying again when you’re ready.

They feel confident in themselves, take risks, try new things, and step outside their comfort zone. They take responsibility for their choices and don’t compare themselves to others.

In Fundations, students are learning about suffixes - s, es, ed, ing, est, and er. They will learn to categorize suffixes as vowel suffixes or consonant suffixes. Besides learning the meaning of the suffix, the students will learn the rules we apply when writing them. For example - s and es means more than one. The students are learning that if a word ends with a ch, sh, s, x, or z we use -es. Categorizing suffixes and isolating base words lays an important foundation for future work with suffixes.

Reading

In reading, we are continuing to work on Module 3 - Meet in the Middle. The skills we are focusing on are central idea, point of view, monitor and clarifying, and social communication. Students are learning strategies to use when they have a conflict or if they are feeling upset about something. For example, some people like to be alone when they are mad. Other people yell or fight. We are learning how important apologizing, communicating our feelings and compromising is in order to be a team player.

Writing

In writing students are continuing to learn about the elements of opinion writing. They will know the difference between a fact and an opinion. In this module we will be reading mentor texts like "I Wanna Iguana" and "Hey, Little Ant". In this module, students will state their opinion about a particular topic they choose. Then they'll have to support there reasons with evidence. We are working on using supporting sentences.

For example,

Cats are easy to take care of.

You don't have to walk them.

That is the supporting sentence.

Or cats can act silly.

Sometimes cats can chase there own tail.

This helps stretch there writing out. By the end of the module students are expected to write a persuasive essay. A persuasive essay is when you are writing to convince someone or make them believe something.

Illustrative Math - Only class 202/203/206

In this unit, students learn how to measure and compare lengths using standard measurement tools. They practice measuring objects in centimeters, meters, inches, and feet, and use those measurements to solve story problems within 100. Students also work with number lines and line plots to show and interpret measurement data. By the end of the unit, students will be able to measure accurately, choose the correct unit for a task, and use measurement information to solve both one-step and two-step real-world problems.

Investigations Class 201/204/205

In unit 3, students will be focusing on 3 main math ideas.

They are describing, identifying, and comparing attributes of 2-D and 3-D shapes.
Visualizing the structure of arrays.
Understanding equal parts of a whole.

Students will also be sorting and naming polygons according to the number of sides. They will also be developing geometric vocabulary to describe and compare attributes of 3-D shapes and there 2-D faces.

Mr. Shorr Music 🎵

It is "Pianocember." We will learn about different keyboard instruments. We will learn about the vocal pitches do, re, and mi. We will explore the music of Mali.

Mr. Meehan & Mrs. Gursoy 🏀🏀

This month the students will continue to finish the Basketball Unit. They just finished learning how to dribble. Now they will move on to learning how to pass the ball and how to shoot the ball. Since they cannot shoot it into the basketball hoop we will modify it by having them shoot into a hula hoop. For the last two weeks of December we will play some winter games to kick off the winter break.

Ms. Markovinovic - Science 🔬

The 2nd grade Scientists are coming to the end of the unit of study called, Plant and Animal Interactions. They have learned about a variety of habitats and the plants and animals that can survive in those habitats. We will end the unit discussing how all the parts of an ecosystem work together to help each other survive and grow. Students will then begin their next unit of study called, States and Properties of Matter.

Ms.Bakalac - Science 🔬

2nd grade scientists are finishing the first unit of study. Students will be sent home with a study sheet so they can study for the end of unit assessment. After the test is graded, it will be sent home for you to see. The next unit is called Properties and Patterns of Water. Students will learn that water on earth comes in 3 states: solid, liquid, and gas. Please help your child to prepare for the end of unit assessment.

Ms.Brill - Art 🎨

Second grade artists will learn about animals how their bodies help them (camouflage, warmth, etc.). Elements of art like texture will be studied to represent characteristics such as scales and fur. A contribution of a box of tissues or a pack of baby wipes is most appreciated!

Ms.Birshtein - Technology 💻⚙️📱

In technology, we will be learning how to use the chromebooks and how to log into waggle.

Reading

Make sure you are reading with your child each night for at least 20 minutes. Reading builds students’ vocabulary, comprehension skills, and imagination, and helps them become confident, lifelong readers. Over the December holiday break, second graders can continue growing as readers by exploring a mix of picture books, early chapter books, and nonfiction texts. They can also strengthen their comprehension by pausing to make predictions, ask questions, and explain what is happening in the story in their own words.

Math

Please have your student study there math facts and strategies over the winter recess.

Ms. Baccas, Ms.Baizan, Mrs. Coiro, Ms. Dalonzo, Ms.Giddings, Ms. Jakubowski, Ms. Roldan , and Ms. Sidman

Important Dates Important Dates

Book of the Month Book of the Month

Books of the Month: The Thing Lou Couldn’t Do By Ashley Spires

December Student of The Month Characteristics December Student of The Month Characteristics

What is the Second Grade Learning? What is the Second Grade Learning?

HMH Reading / Writing HMH Reading / Writing

Reading

Writing

Math Math

Illustrative Math - Only class 202/203/206

Investigations Class 201/204/205

Cluster Teachers Cluster Teachers

Mr. Shorr Music 🎵

Mr. Meehan & Mrs. Gursoy 🏀🏀

Ms. Markovinovic - Science 🔬

Ms.Bakalac - Science 🔬

Ms.Brill - Art 🎨

Ms.Birshtein - Technology 💻⚙️📱

Notes From The Second Grade Teachers Notes From The Second Grade Teachers

Reading

Math

Happy Holidays - Second Grade Team Happy Holidays - Second Grade Team