March 2010

We are marching into Spring with many exciting activities.

Read Across America on March 2, Dr. Seuss’ birthday was a lot of fun!  The second graders came well-prepared with books, pillows, and stuffed animal friends.  The day was dedicated to nurturing a love of reading.

On March 17 at Canyon View’s Jogathon, we will contribute to our school’s financial needs while showing off our physical stamina.    

Conference Week will be March 22-March 26 and affords you an opportunity to discuss your child’s progress this year.

If you are interested in looking at the Second Grade Curriculum Standards designated by the state of California you will find them at: http://www.iusd.org/curriculum/crrprog.htm

Writing:Research writing takes the stage in second grade as students work on two Social Studies units requiring them to build and use research skills.  Their work will involve writing to a prompt, writing an information paragraph, and writing an opinion paragraph.  See Social Studies below to learn more about the exciting ways we are using information resources

 Reading/Language Arts:  The RTI reading instruction is a big success in Second Grade! Students are receiving intensive, specific skill level instruction for 4 times a week. They are all making wonderful progress and are being challenged to do their best work.

The students love reading and learning to become better readers. In our reading text from Houghton Mifflin, they are working in the fifth theme, Family Time. The children will read fictional and non-fictional stories about how members of a family learn from and help each other.  Some of the skills they will learn are:

• -er and –le endings in two syllable words
• Contractions
• Base Words and Endings –ed, -ing
• Silent consonants gh, k(n), b
• Prefixes
• Comprehensions Skills including: making generalizations, following directions, making judgments, and sequencing events

Math:  Students are continuing work on subtracting two digit numbers.  Beginning in mid-March, we will be exploring geometric planes and solids.  As we approach standardized testing at the beginning of May, you will see a focus on review of previously taught concepts as well as an introduction to the concepts of multiplication, division, and fractions.

   In addition to the regular math program, the students continue taking weekly timed tests. These tests are helping the students to solidify their math facts and place those facts at the automatic level. It makes learning the higher level of math concepts much easier. Their math facts tests cover addition, subtraction and the second grade standard of multiplication of 2, 5 and 10.  For those students that pass the required minimum, we challenge them to continue through multiplication and division.

 Websites: http://www.eduplace.com/kids/mthexp/g2/index.html

                      http://primarygames.com

Social Science: During our study of Government, the students learned many helpful skills as they created biographies of American presidents.  This new knowledge about how to research and write a biography will be utilized in our upcoming unit about “People Who Make a Difference.” In this unit, the children learn about the contributions of famous people that have become our heroes.  Children will be asked to complete a research report about a hero or heroine of their choice.

  Science:   In science we are focusing on balance, force, and motion including simple machines.  In each day’s lesson students are using and creating manipulatives to reinforce their understanding.  Be prepared to have them come home excited to show you what they have learned about how things move each day.

   Website:  http://www.edheads.org/activities/simple-machines/ http://www.edheads.org/activities/simple-machines/

• Every Friday is Spirit Day! Wear your CV shirt or a blue or gray shirt to show your spirit!
• Practice math facts every night!