Peek at the Week

We had another wonderful week in second grade!

Here are some things we learned this week:

In Math:

• Continued working on Topic 6
• Used little ten-frames to help add tens and ones
• Practiced making combinations of 10
• Used mental math to add a 1 digit number to a 2 digit number

In Reading:

• Boys and girls worked on independent work this week while students were being tested using the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA)
• In FUNdations students learned how to identify a vowel-consonant-e syllable: the syllable has a vowel, then a consonant, then an e.
• The first bowel is long and the e is silent, the sneaky e!
• Students learned S can say /z/ when it is between two vowels

In Science:

• Read lots of great reptile books!
• Created a reptile sort for the 4 groups: turtles, lizards, snakes, and crocodiles
• Students learned about the different turtle types
• Learned how lizards and salamanders are the same and different
• Created a Venn diagram to compare the two
• Reptile Test will be on Thursday, December 19^th. Please help your child study the study guide that went home yesterday.

**The students also have flash cards to help them**

In Writing:

• Continued to work on the procedural letter to the kindergarten teachers: How to teach them to sit on the rug.

Reminder: Students received a note about participating in our “Secret Pal” activity next week. If you do not want your child to participate, please let me know.

Students have a letter in their bag with more detail about this assignment. Here is a peek at what it says:

Each night for homework, beginning Monday, December 16^th and continuing through Friday, December 20^th, your child is responsible for writing a daily compliment for his/her secret pal AND working at home on a homemade gift to be given on Friday, December 20^th.

Please help your child keep their secret pal, secret.

Stay Warm!

Miss SantulloJ

Peek at the Week

Thank you to everyone who came to parent conferences yesterday! If you were unable to make the conference and would like to set up another time, please email me: csantullo@bpsk12.org

Winter is approaching! I can’t believe it’s already December.

Here are some things we learned this week:

In Math:

• Started Topic 6-Mental Addition
• Add groups of Ten
• Math Vocabulary: mental math, tens digit, next ten
• Explain how to solve a problem using mental math, such as, 28+20
• Students started to mentally add a two-digit number and a one-digit number
• Used single ten-frame mats, and double ten-frame mats

In Reading:

• In FUNdations, we started learning vowel consonant e syllable types
• Introduced new trick words; often, house, move (Santullo/Nelson) and against and once (McLaughlin/Siegel)
• In reading groups: one group started reading Squanto: Friend to the Pilgrims, second group: Pocahontas: A Friend to the Colonists
• Continued working on turning questions into statements when answering a questions
• Practiced highlighting information in the text before answering a question
• Discussed Proper Nouns

In Science:

• Mr. Musselman and Miss. Pavlicek came into school for a whole school assembly on Force and Motion
• We made a KWL chart on what students already knew about Reptiles and what they want to learn about Reptiles
• Introduced the four reptiles; snakes, turtles, crocodiles, and lizards
• Worked on a reptile sort

 In Writing:

• Modeled how to write a procedural letter
• Students started a rough draft of procedural letter to their kindergarten teachers
• Wrote to kindergarten teachers on how to help their students to sit on the rug

Have a great weekend!

Miss Santullo J

Peek at the Peek

November 25^th-27^th

This week went by so fast, I forgot to post!

Here are some of the things we did:

In Math:

• Finished Topic 5, and topic test
• Reviewed how to use data from a chart to answer questions
• Used clues to find a secret number using a chart
• Played addition math bingo

In Reading:

• Finished reading the non-fiction book, How Animals Sleep
• Read a Thanksgiving play about Squanto
• Students took turns reading aloud as different characters

In Writing:

• Students brainstormed ideas on how to help a turkey escape thanksgiving dinner
• Outlined their steps using, first, next, last
• Wrote a short story on how they would help a turkey escape Thanksgiving dinner and published their final draft
• Created thank you cards for parents/guardians and turkey magnets with their faces on them

Half-Day Fun Activities:

• Thanksgiving bingo
• Watched A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving with Ms. McLaughlin’s class

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving break!

Miss Santullo J

Peek at the Week

**Book Fair Tuesday, December 3rd**

For a full week it went by really fast!

Here are some of the things we did last week and this week:

In Math:

• Began Topic 5: Place Values to 100
• Learned how many tens and ones are in a number
• New vocabulary: digits, number work, > greater than, < less than, = equal to, before, after, even, odd
• Read and wrote numbers using number words
• Used symbols to compare numbers
• Counting to 100, using words such as; before and after
• Learned to find 10 more and 10 less using a hundred chart
• Talked about even and odd numbers, and learned that if you add two odd numbers together the sum will always be even

In Reading:

• Continued Unit 5 in Fundations
• Unit 5 Test
• Made Non-fiction Flip Books; and talked about the features of a non-fiction book
• Started to read, How Animals Sleep
• Continued reading The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

In Science:

• Reviewed for the Tree Test
• Took Tree Test on Monday
• Introduced new topic: Reptiles

In Writing:

• Students finished their own “How To Take Care of  Cat” book
• Introduced how to write and draw a visual investigation plan: it combines words and pictures to give instructions for making or doing something
• Modeled how to make a scarecrow, along with things I would need to make it, the steps in order to build it, and helpful hints I would tell a person before building a scarecrow
• Students started to create their own visual investigations, choices were: building a sand castle, growing a flower, or cleaning a bedroom

Reminder: Next week is a short week, early release on Wednesday.

Have a great weekend!

Miss Santullo 

Peek at the Week

This morning we had a Veterans Day assembly to honor those who have and are currently still serving. 2^nd graders stood and recited the Pledge of Allegiance-they did a great job!

Room 206 also earned 5 extra minutes twice this week for great behavior J

Here are some of things we have been working on:

In Math:

• Continued working on skip counting skills
• Used models to represent numbers
• Used Arrays to add
• Took Topic 4 test—they all did excellent !

In Reading:

• Started Unit 5 FUNdations
• Introduced how to divide closed syllables with multisyllabic words
• Practiced Trick Words
• Reading groups started to read Lionel and Amelia and A Friend Like Ed, two stories about friendship
• Continued reading The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

In Science:

• Read the book, Tess’s Trees
• Finished our changing tree project
• Created the parts of a tree using a paper plate
• Discussed how trees grow using a diagram

In Writing:

• Students finished their dog research final project
• Created a class book of the students 8 steps on “How to Take Care of a Dog” with partners
• Brainstormed animals for their individual “How To” book, Cats was the winner
• Rough draft of materials and steps needed to care for a cat

Reminder: No School on Monday and Tuesday. Enjoy your extra long weekend!

Miss Santullo J

Peek at the Week

The boys and girls in room 206 had a great week! We started a new challenge: teacher vs. students. Have your child tell you all about it J

Remember to look on the website for new pictures I added!

Here are some of the things we have been working on:

In Math:

• Began Topic 4
• Worked on repeated addition problems
• Learned the vocabulary word “Array”
• Played a game to help students learn to skip count
• Practiced breaking down word problems with multi-step directions

In Reading:

• Finished Unit 4 in FUNdations and had Unit Test
• Students started and finished reading Trick or Treat! A Halloween Rhyme
• Students created their own “Halloween Night” story
• Started to read The Miraculous Journey or Edward Tulane written by Kate DiCamillo to the students

In Science:

• Mrs. Pavlicek from the Science Center came to bring us on a tree walk
• Students learned how to identify different types of trees such as; maple and pine

In Writing:

• Students continued to work on their descriptive writing of their monster they created
• Worked on our Halloween Pumpkins for the vocabulary parade
• Brainstormed adjectives
• 5^th grade book buddies came to read with our class
• Students went around the room to look at every students Family Tree Projects and answer a questionnaire

Have a great weekend

Miss Santullo J

Peek at the Week

Happy Friday! I am so happy to have every student’s family tree project. The trees will be displayed around the classroom and the students will have a chance to look at everyone’s work and do an activity. I will post pictures of the students and their trees next week J

Here are some of the things we have been working on:

In Math:

• Students learned addition and subtraction have an inverse relationship
• Learned a new center game, “Try Together”
• Used ten-frames to make 10 in order to subtract numbers
• Answered multi-step word problems and learned sometimes the answer to one problem or question is needed to find the answer to another problem or question

In Reading:

• Started Unit 4 FUNdations
• Introduced new trick words
• Students learned when to add suffixes to a word; est, ed, es, s, ing, er
• Reading groups finished Mr. Putter and Tabby Pick the Pears and Henry and Mudge Under the Yellow Moon
• Compared the two stories using a Venn diagram
• Worked on TTQA (turning the question around) to answer questions

In Science:

• Continued learning about evergreen and deciduous trees
• Discussed parts of a tree
• Learned about what’s inside a tree

In Writing:

• Continued working on our “How to take care of a dog” research project
• Went to the computer lab and took notes on three different websites about dogs
• Started to take notes on how we will construct our final writing piece
• Created monsters using their first names and starting to use descriptive writing to write about their monster

Have a great weekend!

Miss Santullo J

Peek at the week

My second week of second grade has been great! The students have been working really hard and today I was able to SPOT the whole class more than once J

Here are some of the things we have been working on:

In Math:

·         Started Topic 3: Subtraction Strategies

·         Introduced and played Subtract 0, 1, and 2 game

·         Learned concepts such as; 0-less, 1-less-than, and 2-less-than a number in subtraction

·         Students applied their knowledge of addition doubles facts to subtract

·         Played subtraction Bingo

In Reading:

·         Practiced trick words using the gel boards

·         Reviewed close syllable words and closed syllable exception

·         Finished Unit 3 in Fundations

·         Took Unit 3 Test

·         Reading groups switched books. One group is now reading Mr. Putter and Tabby Pick the Pears and the other group is now reading Henry and Mudge Under the Yellow Moon

In Science:

·         Students have been studying features of Evergreen and Deciduous trees

·         Finished tree diagram

·         Started to discuss the parts of a tree

·         Read tree books aloud

In Writing:

·         Introduced first writing class project on how to instruct

·         Learned how to write a list on what a dog needs to live

·         Started to use books to research information on dogs and how to take care of them

·         Took notes in their research notebook

·         Went to the computer lab to continue our research on dogs using internet websites

**Mrs. Farrand had her beautiful baby boy on Monday, October 14, 2013. His name is Asher Livingston Farrand. The baby, Mrs. Farrand and Mr. Farrand are all doing very well!

                               

               

                                 

Hope everyone enjoys their weekend, and just a reminder that the Family Tree Project is due Wednesday, October 23^rd.

Miss Santullo J

Peek At The Week

Happy Columbus Day! I can’t believe the long weekend is already here….

We had another fantastic week of learning in second grade!

Here are some of the things we have been working on:

In Math:

·         Worked on doubles

·         Worked on adding three numbers

·         Learned about adding in any order

·         Learned how to make 10 to add using ten-frames

·         Took Topic 2 Test

In Reading:

·         Week 1 of Unit 3 Fundations

·         Worked on bonus letters and more glued sounds

·         Learned closed syllables and closed syllable expectation

·         Practiced trick words

·         Started Mr. Putter and Tabby Pick the Pears and Henry and Mudge Under the Yellow Moon

·         Started to make text to self connections

In Science:

·         Started to learn about Evergreen and Deciduous trees

·         Read more books about fall

·         Started to create a tree diagram

In Writing:

·         Continued learning about procedural text

·         Wrote directions on how to write a recipe

·         Demonstrated how to draw a cross-section diagram by looking at the inside of an apple and labeling the parts

My first week with the second graders as been a blast! I am so lucky to share the next few months with this group of students.

I hope everyone has a great long weekend—no school on Monday. Please have students start working on their Family Tree projects. If you need anything please let me know. Also, still NO baby news from Mrs. Farrand, we are all hoping VERY soon!

Enjoy your weekend!

-Miss Santullo :) 

Peek At The Week

It was so great to meet many of you last night!

We had another great week of learning in second grade!

Here are some of the things we have been working on:

In Math:

·         Fact Families

·         Topic 1 test

·         Began Topic 2 on addition

·         Added numbers with 0,1, and 2.

·         Played Plus 1 or 2 Bingo

In Reading:

·         Week 2 of Fundations

·         Worked on bonus letters and the glued sound all

·         Continued reading Frog and Toad Are Friends

In Science:

·         Watched a Brain Pop Jr. video on the life cycle of a frog

·         Made a life cycle wheel

·         Learned about the 5 Burlington amphibians and made a booklet

*A study guide went home yesterday for our first science test next week on amphibians. Please help your child study! The test in on Wed. 10/2

In Writing:

·         Made a Who Am I? of our favorite things for Back to School Night

·         Worked on Adjectives

·         Learned about the 5 parts of a friendly letter and made a letter lady

·         Wrote letters to me

Next Week:

·         Mr. Muscleman will teach us about pumpkin science

·         Amphibian Test on Wed. October 2^nd

·         Writing about friends

Enjoy your weekend!

-Mrs. Farrand J

Peek At The Week

We had a great week of learning in second grade!

Here are some of the things we have been working on:

In Math:

·         Subtraction with separating stories

·         Subtraction with comparing stories

·         Fact Families

·         Make Ten- a math game to make combinations of 10

In Reading:

·         Began changing classrooms for Fundations and Reading groups

·         Did some getting to know you activities

·         Discussed friendship

·         Started reading Frog and Toad Are Friends

·         Took our I-Ready test

In Science:

·         Read about frogs and answered questions using TTQA (Turn The Question Around)

·         Watched a short All About Amphibians video

·         Compared frogs and toads using a Venn Diagram

·         Miss Pavlicek came from the Science Center to bring us an American Toad named Milo that we can observe!

In Writing:

·         Sang a verb song

·         Made a list of verbs that describe us

·         Wrote verb poems to display for Open House next week!

Next Week:

·         Picture Day is on Tuesday 9/24

·         Back to School Night is on Thursday 9/26, so I hope you can all come!

Enjoy your weekend!

-Mrs. Farrand J

Peek At The Week

We had our first full week in second grade! The students are learning the routines, rules, and getting to know each other.
Here are some of the things we did:

Math

• learned about bar diagrams to solve addition and subtraction story problems
• played games to reinforce our skills

Literacy

• learned about nouns through Brain Pop, books and fun puzzle activities with friends
• wrote our hopes and dreams for this year
• began Unit 1 in FUNdations
• made an All About Me flower for our favorite things
• read about what good citizens do in our community

Science

• began our amphibians unit
• talked about misconceptions we may have
• learned important characteristics
• made a special folder 

Reading Buddies

• met our 5th grade buddies today
• took a survey
• read books together

It was certainly a full week! I am really proud of them! I know they are trying their best!

Have a great weekend with your child! Check out some fun photos too!

-Mrs. Farrand :)

Back to School!

Welcome to a brand new school year! I am so excited to be starting my sixth year teaching second grade! We have had a great couple days so far getting to know each other. We have been going over and practicing important routines as well as establishing our classroom rules. We read the book First Day Jitters. Ask your child to tell you about the surprise ending! We wrote about how we felt on our first day. Most of us were very happy and excited, which is terrific!

Also, Backpack Folders went home today with important paperwork. Please fill out all the forms and return them as soon as possible. I know it is a lot, but it is very helpful! I will be sending home a blog permission slip tomorrow so that I can begin posting fun photos and things from the students.

It’s going to be a great year!

-Mrs. Farrand J

Peek At Our Final Full Week

Our final full week of second grade together! I can’t believe the end is near!

It has been such a great year of growing and learning together!

In Math, we created more cube train patterns and finished our last unit on tables and patterns. We also played some review games too.

In Writing, we made an “All About Me” favorite things packet. We also finished our memory book pages for our favorite field trip and what we’ll miss the most. I was touched that most wrote about me! J

The students wrote letters about themselves for their third grade teacher. I was very impressed with how well they turned out.

In Science, we learned about structures of buildings and different homes from around the world. The students worked on a see and sketch book and read information about how different homes are built and where they are located. They did a great job!

Friday was a fulfilled Field Day! The weather was perfect for all the activities and we had a ton of fun! Our class won the leaky bucket because they worked as a team!

We reached over 150 compliments for the year! That is amazing. All the students voted and decided to have a stuffed animal day. Each one can bring in a small stuffed animal on Monday.

I hope you have a great weekend with your family!

The last official day of school is on Tuesday, June 25^th and it is a half day.

-Mrs. Farrand J

Peek At The Week

What a very busy week we had! It flew by and it was so fun too! 

The Famous American Tea was fantastic! I always love this event and I am so proud of all my students!

Thank you to all of the parents for helping with this memorable experience!
I would love any pictures that you took from the Tea today. You can email them to me. 
I did put some on the blog.
*See Fun Photos

In Math, we learned about tables and patterns. We filled in tables based on cubes and pattern blocks. We made pattern cube trains too with AB and ABC patterns.

In Social Studies, we wrote cinquain poems about our famous American. We also practiced for the Tea and learned about famous American symbols.

In Writing, we began writing in a special memory book for second grade. We wrote about a favorite book, made our cover portrait, the most interesting thing I learned, and what I liked best about my teacher. I always love reading them!

Thursday, 6/20 will be Field Day (weather permitting). Please check the backpack folder for an important notice about this fun day!

I hope you have a great weekend! I'm glad the weather turned around!

Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads!

I know you’ll enjoy your special gifts from your child!

-Mrs. Farrand