Feb. 29- March 4

Dear Team Peake,

I truly cannot believe it is already March and that we are entering our last nine weeks together. We plan on making every moment count and are having a blast learning together and preparing for third grade. One of our main focuses this week and last has been to improve in our writing flow and organization. As we transition from writing paragraphs to essays, it becomes more difficult to keep our thoughts organized. I have been stressing the importance of having strong topic sentences and conclusions and I have seen a great deal of improvement. As your child is writing at home, please ask them if their writing includes those elements. I should also be seeing proper indenting before each paragraph. This is hard for our children to remember, but is very important as they read their essays to see a break between each paragraph. We are wrapping up our Research/Essay portion of the Black History Month Project this week and next. I can’t wait to see the creative visual displays to along with their writing!

Here’s a look into what we have been studying and will continue to study next week:

Phonics:

Y as a vowel (bunny, dry, hym)

Soft c and g when preceded by e, i, y  (city, gem)

Endings –dge and –ge (fudge, cage)

Next week: aw, au, a

Ex: claw, Auburn, ball

Grammar:

Commas in a series, contractions

Reading:

Fiction: Identifying major and minor events in a story as it relates to the plot.

Non-Fiction: Identifying the four text features in texts and how they help us to find important information. Ex: bolded text, graphs, tables, glossaries, headings

Math:

Measurement word problems, money word problems, graphing data

Writing:

Writing an essay on an informational topic

Reminders and Important Announcements:

·         Congratulations to India and Scottie, our most recent Star Students! These two girls have been working very hard in second grade! We are proud of India’s open-mindedness that she shows to her classmates and loved learning more about her family this week and what makes her so special. Scottie has been showing her curiosity by asking lots of great questions in class! We look forward to learning even more about our sweet friend this week. Way to go girls!
Please be reminded that the Black History Month visual piece (that is to be completed at home) is due on March 11^th. The students will be presenting their essay and visuals. It would be excellent if you could practice with your child to help build their confidence.

·         March 11^th will also be picture day. I can’t wait to see those precious outfits and smiles!

·         The Spring Book Fair is right around the corner! I have signed our class up to preview the books on March 16th. Your child will be making a wish list and bringing it home to discuss with you. Our purchase day is March 22^nd from 10:45-11:15. If you are able, you are welcome to accompany your child and meet us in the Media Center at this time. You may also send money in with your child in an enclosed envelope or baggy.

·         Our Student-Led Spring Conferences will take place the week of March 21^st. A Signup Genius invitation went home this week with specific times and dates. I am looking forward to guiding your conference with your child and assisting you both in making goals for the next nine weeks. Please be reminded that this is not an individual conference and that if you have any specific questions or concerns that require my undivided attention, it may be best to set up a separate conference. Report cards will be going home on the 23^rd and will not be a part of the conferences. Our children cannot wait to share how they have grown!

·         Wish List: Our class is in need of a few more nutritional emergency snacks and small treasures for our treasure box. Please do not send anything that may have had any contact with peanuts. We have severe allergies.

Some things to think about

Our study of space is coming up in a couple of weeks. If any of you have any special experience with this subject matter and would like to send in anything with your child or come and share please let me know.

If you have not been able to sign up as Mystery Reader or Fun Friday and would like to before the end of the year, please let me know as soon as possible and I will try and find a time for you to come in. J