August 2, 2014

Welcome to 2nd Grade here at Elk Meadows for the 2014-2015 school year.  I am new at working with the 2nd grade blog so please be patient with me in my efforts.  I haven't yet figured out :rea. I will learn the rest and let you know when it is up and available with more information.

GREAT NEWS - Our school has received a grant for us to use the Reflex Math online Math Facts practice and assessment tools.  Your child has or will soon bring home a paper giving you information about this program and your child's username, class name and password to begin using this program at home. WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO HELP YOUR CHILD ACCESS AND USE THIS PROGRAM 3-4 TIMES A WEEK AT HOME. It has been proven to substantially help improve children's fluency with basic math facts. 2nd graders will begin by working on addition and subtraction math facts. We, as your child's teachers, can access the account and receive a report on all children and their usage and progress. You, as parents, can sign up for an account to also see your child's progress. We encourage you to do so.

This week in 2nd grade:
Math  - We will be reviewing representations for addition and subtraction
                  equations
                  Math Mountains    an inverted V that looks like a mountain with the SUM  or  TOTAL at the top and the partners or addends at the bottom of each leg. This model can be used for addition and subtraction. In fact the students are taught to see one Math Mountain and form 8 equations from it. 
     For example - a Math Mountain with the number 10 at the top and 3 and 7 on the can create these 8 equations:   
     3+7=10   7+3=10   10-3=7   10-7=3   10=3+7   10=7+3   3=10-7   7=10-3
These are like Fact Families but the mountain model is a better representation that sticks in the students heads.   There will be a Family Letter sent home to help parents understand this model.
    Students will be taught to think of the big number in addition and then count on from there. This can be used with addition and subtraction.
    Students will practice "the Teen Machine" which is just a routine to practice adding 10 and any single digit number.  We do this with cards at the front of the class and it really helps build the kids understanding and fluency with these addition problems.
    Students will explore the relationship between addition and subtraction.
    Students will work with the "Make a Ten Strategy" - this uses their knowledge (we hope) of the combinations that make ten (0+10. 1+9, 2+8, 3+7, 4+6, 5+5 and their inverses).  When a student is given a problem such as 8+6, they should think "Make a Ten" by breaking the 6 into 2+4 then thinking 8+2 = 10 plus 4 more = 14. It seems like extra steps but really is a great strategy for kids to learn as it builds an understanding of the base 10 number system but also helps them with mental math with larger numbers later.
    Students see how a Math Mountain with a sum of 13, an addend of 9 and an unknown addend can be solved with a subtraction problem of 13-9=     .  They can also use the "Make a Ten" strategy to solve this.  "Well 9+1=10 and adding 3 more = 13,  so I added the 1 and the 3 which makes 4. We will do lots of practice with unknown addends.

    I know that for some parents this seems like extra steps. However, we are trying to meet the needs of all students and help them understand the concepts not just the facts. If they do that they have a better foundation of understanding upon which to build higher level concepts. Also different children learn differently so we teach things in several ways to try to help all students.

Language Arts - We will be using a new Houghton Mifflin Harcourt basal reader and related materials for teaching high-frequency words, vocabulary, phonics and spelling, grammar, reading accuracy, comprehension and fluency, we will also use it for some of our writing instruction.
     Each week the students will bring home a list of High-Frequency Words and Spelling Words. They should study the spelling on all words on both lists. The High-Frequency Words should be more of a review as they should know these words. The students will be tested on 15 words from these lists; 8 from the  main spelling list, (2 review words for struggling spellers or 2 challenge words for those who don't struggle as much with spelling), and 5 words from the High-Frequency Words list.
THE SPELLING TEST WILL BE EACH FRIDAY.

HIGH FREQUENCY WORDS
around      or     be     pull     five     take     help     until     next     walked

SPELLING WORDS - words with CVC pattern   (Consonant, Vowel, Consonant) and short a, i
sad,   flat   dig   if   jam   fix   glad   rip   list   kit   win   mast 
  REVIEW   as   his
  CHALLENGE    sandwich     picnic

Rotations - 4-5 times a week (depending on how many classes are on track) students will be going to a rotation class at 10:45 - 11:30. These classes will be Art, PE, Science/Social Studies, and Music, and the additonal class will teach about the Leader in Me Habits or additional Science/Social Studies topics. To these classes we are mixing students from all classes so that it gives the students and teachers experience with different class groupings. Hopefully your child will get to know more of the 2nd graders in the school.

PLEASE CHECK THE BLOG WEEKLY FOR UPDATES ON SPELLING WORDS AND OTHER INFORMATION.  WE MAY ALSO LIST IN PLANNERS IF ADDITIONAL AND IMPORTANT INFORMATION IS PLACED ON THE BLOG THAT WE FEEL PARENTS NEED TO BE MADE AWARE OF.