Grade 3 with Mrs. D

Happy (almost) November!

    Thank you so much to everyone who came for conferences last week!  It is always so nice to have a time we can sit down and talk about your child's progress.  If you would ever like to set up another time to check-in, please just let me know!

    We have lots of exciting events coming up in our school.  Here are few you may like to know about...

* Our annual food drive has begun!  We use this as an opportunity to talk about how important it is to look out for the people in our community.  Please send in any type of canned or non-perishable food item you are able to.  This year we are also collecting different home items such as toothpaste and toothbrushes, soap and diapers.  Information was sent home in last week's folder.  Even the smallest donation is a great way to contribute to our community.

*  This Monday, November 3rd, is our in-school field trip.  The students and teachers are all very excited.  We still need a few more volunteers to help run the stations.  If you can be here to help, we only need you from 10-11:15.  It really is a fun experience and, I promise you, nothing too difficult!  Plus, it's right before our lunch so you can stay to dine with your student!

*  No school for students on November 4th due to election day.

*  Science night is coming up on November 6th!  This is always an awesome night filled with all sorts of cool science activities!  More information is coming home in this week's folder.  I hope you will be able to attend.  We are even scheduled to have the star lab here!!

    Next week you will notice that the new homework calendar for November will be a little different.  It is going to be simplified and focus on the skills that 2nd graders really need to practice.  I would appreciate any feedback you would like to share.

    I know it seems like a long way off, but it soon will be time to start planning our Winter Holiday Party!  This is a big event and I would love some parent volunteers to help plan.  Please let me know if you are interested.

    Our music teacher, Dr. Champion, has requested kleenex, sanitizer and wipes for the music room.  Please send those in if you are able to donate.

Here's what we are learning about...

Reading- What is PIE?  That stands for author's purpose....to Persuade, to Inform, to Entertain.  We will spend some time talking about author's purpose and what clues we can find in text to help us decide if it was written to persuade, inform or entertain.  Ask your child each night what the author's purpose was for the text they read!

Math- We have been learning and practicing different strategies for adding and subtracting numbers within 100.  We will continue to work on problem solving skills and number sense as well.

Writing- We have left narratives behind (for a little while) and are working on informative writing.  The first type of informative writing is "how to" writing.  This week we will practice that skill by doing a little cooking and explaining the process.

Social Studies-  We are learning about more early Georiga heros- James Oglethorpe, Tomochichi and Mary Musgrove.

Science- We have been learning about the different sources of heat and light and what an insulator is.  Take this opportunity to find examples of insulators around the house.

Thank you again for your support of our classroom!

 

October already?

    Hello.  Here we are at the end of the first nine-weeks of 2nd grade.  What a great class this has been so far!  I look forward to meeting with each of you during conference week to talk about your child's progress this year.  If you have not yet returned your conference form, please do so as soon as you can.  If the time I sent will not work for you, we can find another.

    Also, we are getting ready for our Creek and Cherokee in-school field trip coming up on November 3rd.  This is such a meaningful and fun experience.  The students spend time rotating through stations that will help them experience and understand the lifestyles of the first Georgians.  They will participate in games, crafts and activities that give them a hands-on learning experience for that social studies standard.  The students will even have creations they will be able to bring home.  Please make sure you send in your signed permission form and $5 donation as soon as possible.  Unfortunately, if our grade level has not collected enough to pay for the experience by October 17th, we will have to cancel.

    Picture retakes are this Friday, October 10th.  Information is coming home on Tuesday if you are interested.

    We are now working on adding and subtracting larger numbers in math.  I'm sure you have noticed the strategies we use now are different from the way you and I learned many years ago.  It is tempting, I'm sure, to teach your child to add and subtract the way you know how, but please resist!  It seems like a lot of extra steps and work, but teaching students to truly understand what they are doing and not just "follow the steps" will really help them understand how to be math thinkers.  If you don't believe me now, just wait until they get to higher level math!  Algebra should be a breeze with this amazing number sense foundation we are building now.  I will be happy to go over the "new" strategies during our conference time, or, better yet, let your child teach you!

What will we be learning soon?

Math- we will continue to work on adding and subtracting numbers up to 100.  We'll especially be focused on using those strategies in problem solving situations.

Reading- We will be looking at the plots of the stories we read both whole group and independently.  Ask your child to tell you about the beginning middle and end of the stories they are reading at home.

Social Studies- We will continue learning about more of the people who started our state.  We are finishing up learning about Sequoyah and will be moving on to James Oglethorpe, Mary Musgrove and Tomochichi.  Do you know who these early Georgians are?  Ask your students!

Writing- This week students will be using the skills we have practices so far this year to write a narrative passage independently.  Soon, we will be moving on to informational writing.

As always, thank you for the support you give our class!  Have a great week!