I hope that you all enjoyed some time away either in a warm sunny place or having fun in town. I can’t wait to hear about the adventures that my second graders had. As we approach the last nine weeks of school ( I can’t believe it!), there will be many fun activities both at school and at home with spring sports beginning. With that in mind, it will be important to keep routines in place, including bedtime and reading each night.
I can’t wait to see my smiley little ones tomorrow!
Hi Families,
This weekend was BEAUTIFUL!!!!! I trust you all enjoyed being outside and soaking up the sunshine. Our second graders definitely had a great time outside on Friday morning for our writer’s celebration. Many of our children felt strongly that the celebration should be held outside. This was a trend in the persuasive letters that they wrote to me. I thought Carson had another great idea that we could incorporate ….. ICE CREAM!!!!!! Look for pictures soon :). Here are a few more classroom happenings that we wanted to share with you…..
Daily 5: We have been tuning into interesting words through our reading of Johnathon Rand’s Mansion of Madness. It is a great opportunity to practice our inferring strategies by reading the text/sentences around the word and defining the word by what makes sense. We continue to work on comprehending non fiction text using the wondering strategy. We are learning many new things about matter and keeping a log of our discoveries. This week we will be looking at magazine articles from TIME for Kids and putting our comprehension strategies to work. The boys and girls also LOVED having Mrs. Reagan come to read to our class…. THANK YOU MRS. REAGAN!
Writing: The boys and girls have worked SO hard during our study of persuasive writing. Hopefully you received a letter or two from your child and if you would like to write back to them, they would LOVE it. Our next topic of study is writing reviews. This is a concept that is quite foreign to second graders, but we will be immersing ourselves into various reviews, analyzing their characteristics and learning the structure that makes them powerful before we produce them ourselves.
Word Study: Our words for this week are: why, help, put, different, away ( Click on the following link for interactive practice: UNIT 21 WORD PRACTICE)
Math: We are continuing to practice money skills and counting coins up to the quarter. We began two digit subtraction last week with regrouping, which is a tricky concept. Here is a description of the methods our children are learning.
Science: Matter is everywhere!!!!! That is a big discovery for our second graders. This past week we immersed ourselves in identifying properties of matter including touch, smell, length, texture etc. We will be investigating weight, mass, and mixtures this week.
Have a wonderful week!!!!
Mrs. Kuieck 🙂
Hi Families,
I hope you all enjoyed an absolutely WONDERFUL day today!!!!! It looks like this week has warmer weather in store for us as well…. YEAH!!!!
Check out some of our classroom happenings for this week:
Daily 5/Reading: Last week we continued working on non-fiction text and asking “I wonders”. We learned many things about fish and also answered many of our wonders during the reading. This week we will be wondering as we read about our current science study of matter ( describing the states of matter as well as the properties that matter can have).
Writing: Many of you may have received some of your children’s persuasive letters this week. If you have an opportunity, write back to them…. they will LOVE it! This week we will be continuing persuasive writing and celebrating together on Friday. The boys and girls will be writing a persuasive letter to me, convincing me of the best way to celebrate together. I am curious to see what they envision :).
Math: This week we will begin looking at combining money amounts beyond $1.00 using various coins. Practice at home by simply counting loose change, or counting the money in there piggy bank. In the later part of the week, we will be embarking on double digit subtraction with regrouping. This can be a tricky concept for some second graders, look for information pertaining to the strategies that the children will be using to come home later this week. It is definitely different than you and I learned :).
Word Study: Our words for this week are ( Unit 20): place, well, such, here, take. Please use the word study link to practice these words this week.
Science: We are working on describing the properties of matter including which state of matter it is, but also it’s flexibility, color, textures, taste and smell. The boys and girls will be given a mission to build a project based on the properties that the materials should have. We have a very exciting way that we will be doing this. More details to follow.
Other important information:
* Keep reading each night…. it is so important!!!!! As spring approaches, activities become a little crazy, try to keep reading included in that schedule.
* PJ DAY- TOMORROW!!!!!
* Spring Break : March 30 – April 8
* Check out the links on the right side of our blog. I have added MANY new math links to practice essential skills… WOOHOOO!
Have a great week!
Mrs. Kuieck 🙂
Hi Families,
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for attending conferences this past week! It truly is a blessing to work with your children each and every day. They are all so special!!!!
As spring approaches we will have many exciting things on our agenda, but next week proves to be a normal week… YEAH!
Writing: Parents, our children have been working hard at focusing their persuasive letters and providing reasons for the change that they would like to happen. As many letters as possible will be reaching their intended audiences and that includes you :). The kids are excited about the opportunity, but also understand that not everything that they would like to happen is going to happen. Make sure to keep your eyes peeled for any letters delivered to either your mailbox or your inbox. This week we will be focusing our persuasive writing on how we can make the world a better place.
Daily 5: Did you know that some plants eat animals? This week we practiced wondering while we read non fiction books, including learning about meat eating plants. Make sure to check out these links on Pitcher Plants and the Venus Fly Trap. As the last trimester of Reading Counts has begun, there is a BIG challenge that is up for grabs. Any child who makes their goal will earn a pizza lunch with me. Anyone who doubles their goal will earn pizza AND and an ice cream sundae. Lastly, anyone who triples their goal will earn a pizza lunch, AND ice cream sundae AND a bowling trip…….. WOOOHOOOOO!
Math: This week we will be wrapping up our study of graphs and beginning a unit of counting combinations of coins. We have some wonderful apps that we will be using in the classroom to help us including, Counting Bills and Coins, Counting Coins, Coin Math-Free, Count Money, Coin Crazy and Rocket Math. If you have an ipod or ipad at home, these would be some great options for practice at home as well.
Science: YEAH!!!! We will be starting our first science unit of the year, which is a study of matter. This involves describing the three states of matter as well as the properties of various materials. Check out the links on our blog under the science tab for some fun practice.
Here’s to a great week!!!!
Mrs. Kuieck 🙂
Hi Families,
I hope you all enjoyed time with family and friends during this snowy weekend! I am looking forward to meeting with you during conferences this week. Our second graders have been working so hard and I can’t wait to share their progress with you!
Here are a few things to be aware of this week:
* Word Study: We will not have any new words this week. Since we have a short week, we will continue practicing our words last week and also review the long vowel patterns in words.
* Social Studies: Market Day is almost here and the children are excited!!! Actually excited is an understatement. Thanks so much for sending in “capital resources” for our projects. Market Day will be Thursday March 1 from 10:30 -11:30. We will be shopping and running our stores with the other second grade classrooms. This is a great opportunity to experience economics. If you happen to be in the building during that time, feel free to stop by.
* Math: We will be continuing our study of graphs this week and then moving on into a study of money. Take a few minutes in the next week or so to practice identifying coins and their value. Also, visit the money practice sites listed on our blog for added practice.
* Writing: Our second graders are persuading their audience to do, provide and change many different things. We are learning that defending our opinion with many different reasons is the key to persuading others to share our feelings.
Other important information…….
* COIN WARS starts on MONDAY and will end on THURSDAY!!!! This is a classroom competition in which we will be raising money for our school PTC. Please send in silver coins of any kind ( no pennies please). The top 3 winning classes all receive various prizes from pizza parties, to ice cream and the most coveted prize, a special lunch with Mrs. Reagan!!!!!!! GO KUIECK”S KIDDOS!!!!
* No School for students on Friday March 2.
* We will be changing our library time this week. I will send an email tomorrow regarding our new day.
* Report cards will be coming home on MONDAY.
See you all this week :)!
Mrs. Kuieck
I trust that everyone enjoyed a wonderful winter ( pre-spring :)) break. The sunshine was a beautiful gift! Please make sure to continue to check the blog frequently as we will have many special events and happenings in the weeks to come. We have a busy week ahead, including an assembly on Wednesday…. YEAH!
Writing
We are venturing into a brand new study of writing… persuasive writing! We will begin on Monday by convincing others why we would be a great president. Constructing a persuasive piece of writing/letter revolves around who our audience is, and what our focus will be. I am very excited to hear our children’s voices speak through their writing.
Daily 5
This week we will continue working on the comprehension strategy of wondering. We will be moving from fiction stories to non-fiction texts. Sometimes this transition can be tricky for children but as we use strategies that they are already familiar with, it will aide our comprehension.
Math
We are very excited about creating graphs and reading data. One of our goals through this unit is to challenge the children to analyze a graph and be able to identify if the symbol stands for 1 object or for a different number. The first thing they will look for is a key to see if the symbol stands for something other than “1”. This type of graph is called a pictograph.
A few things to note…..
* We will have an African Acrobats assembly on Wednesday morning.
* Friday February 24 is the last day of the second marking period for Reading Counts… Keep Reading :)!
* NO SCHOOL on March 2.
* Parent Teacher Conferences: February 27 – 29
Have a wonderful week :)!
Mrs. Kuieck
Hi Families,
Brrrr… hopefully everyone stayed warm this weekend and maybe snuggled up with a good book or two :). We have a short, fun filled week ahead. Here are some things to keep in mind….
* Valentine Party on Tuesday at 2:00. Thanks in advance to all the moms who are organizing!
* Social Studies EXCITEMENT!!!! Our kiddos are working on producing a product with their “business partners” to prepare for Market Day. All of the second grade classrooms will open up their stores for business and provide hands on experience with economics. Our Market Day will be on February 24 and we are so excited!
* No homework or spelling words this week (WOOHOOO!!!!), but there is a small reading challenge coming home today.
* No School on Thursday ( Records Day) and Friday ( Winter Break)…. ENJOY!!!!!
* Parent Teacher Conferences are quickly approaching. Please check your conference time below and let me know ASAP if you need to reschedule. I am looking forward to sharing with you all of the wonderful things your child has been doing at school.
parent teacher conference schedule
Have a great week!
Mrs. Kuieck
Hi Families,
Our second graders have been busy beavers in the classroom! Please make sure to check out the newsletter below for important classroom information: Jan. 22 Newsletter
For a quick peek at our adventures, check out these highlights:
Writing: WOW! We have some talented second graders. We have all enjoyed watching each child’s How To presentations. We will wrap up tomorrow and have a VERY SPECIAL celebration. Check out a link later this week to our YOUTUBE channel that will contain video clips of the presentations. We will be moving on into writing an ALL ABOUT piece this week. Look for information coming home this week pertaining to some research that your child may need to do for their topic.
Reading: Our second graders are working hard at inferring while they read. This week we will learn a new strategy to aide our comprehension by asking ” I wonder” statements. I have also begun individual reading assessments in preparation for report cards. I am amazed at the reading growth each child has made so far this year! Each child has made progress at their own level and I am so proud of them!
Math: We have wrapped up our study of two digit addition, but it will be important to continue to review these strategies at home through homework and independent practice. Our next unit of study concentrates on telling time. The goal for second graders is to tell time to the nearest 5 minute on an analog clock. This is a tricky concept for some children as our main method of telling time revolves around a digital clock, not a traditional analog clock. Any additional support you could provide at home would be helpful :).
Word Study: The words that we are focusing on these week are : good, new, write, our, me
Don’t forget to visit the Word Study link located on our blog on the right hand side to practice these words throughout the week ( Unit 15).
Social Studies: Our classroom has been buzzing with government! We have elected a mayor, Braden and a judge, Luci. We acted as a city council and formed committees to create “laws” for different places in our building. They all take their rules very seriously and it offers us a great opportunity to discuss the three branches of local government ( city council, mayor, court).
Here’s to a great week ahead!
Love, Mrs. Kuieck 🙂
Hi Families!!!
Welcome to the second week of January, although it seems more like March weather out there. We all quickly adjusted to our second grade schedule and dove back into our learning. For a complete update of our classroom happenings, please see our most recent newsletter. Jan. 12 Newsletter
For a quick peek at our adventures, check out these highlights:
Writing: WOOHOO!!!! We are moving on into non-fiction writing, in particular constructing “How To” pieces.
Reading: We are learning a new strategy to aide our comprehension of text called inferring. Click on the following link to learn more about the strategy and how you can help at home. Inferring Parent Guide
Math: Two digit addition continues to be our focus. There is a NEW site where we can practice the strategies and concepts that we are learning. The beauty of the site is that I assign the kiddos assignments and they are specific to our math content. It is called TenMarks. You can either click on the following link, TEN MARKS, or it will be housed under the Math Links Tab on our blog. Your child’s username and password will be sent home on Monday.
Word Study: The words that we are focusing on these week are : called, just, where, most, know
Don’t forget to visit the Word Study link located on our blog on the right hand side to practice these words throughout the week ( Unit 13).
Our classroom supply of dry erase markers and disinfecting wipes is getting VERY low. If you would be willing to donate any of these items, we would be so grateful 🙂
Here’s to a great week ahead!
Love, Mrs. Kuieck 🙂
Hi Families,
I trust that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving break and are ready for the Christmas season to begin. This week we have MANY things happening here at school. Please make note of the following classroom/school happenings:
* Tuesday ( 11/29/11)– We will be visiting Santa’s Secret Shop. If you would like your child to participate, please fill out the form and return to school tomorrow.
* Wednesday ( 11/30/11) OUR CLASS PIZZA PARTY!!!! No need to send in a lunch, but each child will need to bring their own drink ( no pop please).
* Thursday ( 12/1/11) Christmas Program Dress Rehearsal will be in the morning.
CHRISTMAS PROGRAM TO-DOS:
* Please have your child to our designated room by 5:45 ( More information to follow pertaining to the specific location). I can’t wait to see our stylish second graders!
* Each child needs to bring a pair of sunglasses, labeled with their name, with them to the performance.
* There will not be any room for coats, so please plan on taking them with you…. thanks so much for your cooperation!
The library will be closed all week due to Santa’s Secret shop :(. BUT, children can still take RC quizzes as they will be able to “check out” RC books from our classroom. Today we start a NEW Reading Counts marking period. Each child has a new reading log in their RC baggie, which contains their level and their goal. Happy Reading!!!
Have a great week!!!!
Mrs. Kuieck 🙂