12/7/2017 0 Comments Term II Curriculum UpdateMath
So far we have covered place value, and addition and subtraction strategies. In Chapter Four of Go Math! we will practice addition strategies for solving two-digit addition problems. Following the break we will begin Chapter Five on two-digit subtraction. Social Studies In second grade students learn about the seven continents and five major oceans of our planet. We also explore landforms such as the highest mountains and longest rivers in each of the continents. We began the unit with the idea of Pangaea, a supercontinent that scientists believe existed around 300 million years ago. We then tried to answer the question of how many continents there are today (In Europe they learn that there are five, here we teach seven). We compared why this can be seen differently. The students have practiced identifying the continents and have started to work in groups to become experts on a given continent. We have discussed what makes a good research question and the best resources to find the answers. Each group will research a bit about the culture, geography and climate of their continent and prepare an online presentation to share out with the class. Science Students have been excited to engage in lessons on the properties of matter with Mrs. Pilotte. Through Mystery Science, students have solved different mysteries based on the new science standards. Students made hats last week to think about the different properties that work for blocking the sun and absorbing sweat and rain. Ask your child about our pretend root beer floats and the cute booklet we made about solids, liquids, and gases. Language We continue to learn new vocabulary, practice conversing in Spanish, and to stress the importance of whole body listening necessary to acquire a new language. Each day in class students will hear and read vocabulary in Spanish new to them. Language learning is a process and your child needs encouragement to build his/her confidence that learning a language is a process. In my opinion, it does not compare to riding a bike. There is not one single moment where you become fluent and catch your balance, instead you slowly build your receptive and productive vocabulary over time. Keep in mind that biliteracy looks different than if your child was learning literacy skills in one language only. They require ample exposure to both languages. Parents can model the language they are strong in by reading aloud to their children in English, pointing out interesting words in English, and by practicing the skills on the HW cover page with their children in English. For additional exposure to the Spanish language try turning the audio on TV shows to Spanish (include the subtitles in Spanish) or listening to stories on Raz-Kids, podcasts, audible.com or getepic.com
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In SI second grade, we are getting on board with some of our important daily routines:
Upcoming learning activities:
9/6/2017 0 Comments Tea with the Teacher
I have enjoyed introducing the students to Memorial school and second grade Spanish Immersion. We have been having fun learning the school and classroom routines these first few days. I'm very much looking forward to this year and building our literacy and inquiry skills through the Spanish language.
As you may have seen, or even contributed to, the district has been working to expand world language programs with a Home-Stay Exchange for our Nipmuc students. I'm thrilled to be a part of this team and that together with a K-12 school in Spain, we have reached the Exploratory trip stage. This means I will be traveling with a small group of administrators, teachers, and high school students to the North of Spain to work with the staff at our potential sister school. It is a short trip, but I will be missing four days of school. During this time (September 11th-14th), our classroom will have a great substitute who is already familiar with the MURSD SI program. Your children will continue with the same routines and curriculum established in the first two weeks of school. If all goes well, I hope this wonderful opportunity will be available to your children upon entering high school. In the meantime, we will be in touch with students from the elementary grades via a Virtual Exchange. Additionally, I would like you to invite you to a meet and greet on Wednesday, September, 6th. This will take place instead of the Second Grade Open House on September 14th. Please see the ‘Tea with the Teacher’ invite below. Hope to see you there! If you cannot make this time, please be in touch and we can arrange another time for your child to show you around the classroom. You may also check out the Open house presentation below. I can't wait to begin another year of second grade with incoming amigos from Clough. Memorial school has done some rearranging this summer and I'm looking forward to working with my second grade class, as well as the other SI classes in our SI corner. Having our classrooms together will make it easy for us to collaborate on projects, reading buddies and global virtual exchanges. See you in room 214!
6/12/2017 0 Comments Summer Spanish ReadingSupport the Exchange with Spain Fund and build your Spanish library. Check out the form here to learn more and order grade level appropriate Spanish books.
3/29/2017 0 Comments Skype Showcase at iFair
Check out our slideshow on our experience Skyping with amigos at the Santa Teresa School in San Sebastian, Spain. Hope to see you at the iFair! I'll be posting some of our great ChatterPix too.
3/18/2017 0 Comments Term IIIWe are kicking off third term with animal investigations. Earlier in the year students read about animals and explored animals they would like to research further. Now is the time of the year when second grade students begin using books, internet, and experts to learn about animals of their choice. The final report is great practice in writing informative texts while reinforcing the structure of a paragraph. Parents are involved in the project as well. Homework for this week will be to get started on the visual piece. Students have three choices on how they would like to represent their animal: diorama, float, or cube. Read more about this project on the homework page.
Some other exciting events this term are the iFair and International Night. The iFair gives parents and the community a chance to experience the technology we are using in the district. Our class with be showcasing our use of iMovie and Skype and we will be hosting a session on the app ChatterPix Kids. The kids use this app independently in the classroom to record their voices summarizing a text or sharing characters' points of view. Now is their chance to teach it to someone else! Read more about the iFair here and get in touch if your child is able to participate in our showcase or ChatterPix workshop on March 30th. Also mark your calendars for International Night (early this year) on Wednesday, April 26th at 5:30. We have already started to practice our dance for the presentation. If your child wishes to practice at home, this youtube link has some of our moves! Report cards will be coming home on Tuesday and the class has made a lot of progress. This final term we will be getting ready for third grade. We added Lexia to our collection of web tools to learn English reading, phonics, word and text structure, vocabulary, and comprehension. Your child can access the program here and should know his/her password, as it the same one as Go Math! that we use frequently in the classroom. This is a great tool to use over the summer and hit the ground running with English instruction introduced in third grade. UPCOMING UNITS.... We are finishing up our unit on subtraction, one of the harder units in second grade, and getting more hands on with our next unit on Measurement. We continue to learn about the continents and the major oceans, rivers, and mountains in social studies. We look forward to some new social units this term, such as producers and consumers and biography projects. We have been studying matter, friction, animals and plants in science and will be delving into engineering problem solving and biomes in term III. Our new Maravillas reading unit, Making our World a Better Place, will tie in nicely with these science standards: Mejorar nuestro mundo 3/17/2017 0 Comments Hosting an Assistant from SpainInterested in hosting a Spanish Language and Culture Assistant next year?
We are once again applying to the Spanish Language and Culture Assistant program through the Embassy of Spain's Education Office. We are hoping to welcome Language Assistants at both Clough and Memorial School for the 2017-18 school year. As part of the application process we will include information about host families. A family can host for the full year, half the year, or three months. This is an amazing opportunity for your SI student to practice his/her language skills in your home with a native speaker and gives you the opportunity to make a lifelong friend! Let me know if you want to know more. |
AuthorSra. Cardamone Archives
February 2019
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