Mrs. Bice's Second Grade

Literacy

We are wrapping up our unit on Series Book Clubs and readers were given the task of deciding how they want to share a series they love! They spent time planning how they will share and reread parts of their series book! Some of them created presentations to teach others all the reasons they love their series while others chose to write post-its and thinking behind to help the next reader!. Today we had a book swap and they were able to share their faves and exchange books with a friend!

In writing, we continued to add in our opinions and TONS of reasons to support our opinions! We finished the week by writing nominations for books awards! They first had to think about a book they feel strongly about! Then, they thought about how to convince others that the book deserves an award, writing their opinions and backing it up with lots of reasons and evidence, using details from the book!

Math

We dove into the world of 2D shapes this week! We looked closely at the different attributes of shapes comparing their vertices, sides, and angles. The mathematicians learned a ton of new words in the 2D shape world: quadrilaterals, polygons, and and right angles! When talking about shapes with your child, help them to describe shapes and be able to compare what makes shapes similar or different. We had a ton of fun composing shapes and even work construction hats to show what hard workers we were! We used toothpicks and marshmallows to create shapes in teams! We also played a game called “Splat That” where we had to pick certain shapes and put them together to create a new shape! The catch was that we used play-doh to imprint the new shape! We spent longer on shapes than our Everyday Math curriculum called for because the unit took place last spring during Covid and there were a few holes due to virtual learning!

KDL

Your child brought home an envelope with an orange form with info on how to sign up for a library card for the Kent District Library! If your child would like a card, please fill out the form and return in back to me by May 19. Your child will receive their card before we finish for the summer!

Phonics

Our Vowel Manual is almost complete! We are applying for a pretend job at the BLC Demolition Company and we were given a task of creating a manual on long vowels! Word builders have been continuing our difficult work in long vowels by looking closer at “o”! We also circled back to inflected endings in our long vowel words! It’s important work for readers and writers to know that the base word and what was added at the end. We practiced adding endings to one syllable words, paying close attention to words with a silent e. We reviewed the concept that the silent e needs to be dropped before adding an ending that starts with a vowel, like -ing, -er, and -ed!

Science

Plants have been so fun to learn about! We loved coming in on Monday to find that our bean seeds had sprouted over the weekend! The scientists have been creating a science folder where they are storing all of their science findings and experiments! This week we learned about the parts of the plant and what a plant needs to grow. We had lots of different questions about how our bean seeds could grow in bags on the window even though they don’t have soil! We then began an experiment to see how sunlight affects plants! Partnerships planted radishes in two different cups and then they covered one cup with aluminum foil and the other is under a plant light! We will water the plants each day and then see what happens and if there is a difference in the sunlight plant vs no sunlight. We finished the week by going on a nature walk to collect leaves and then use the chlorophyll in the leaves to “paint.”

Respect

We kicked off a new social emotional focus this week of: respect! We defined the “golden rule” as the ultimate form of respect! Collaborative groups worked together to create posters that showcased what respects looks like at home, school, and community! In the next few weeks we will cover honesty, appreciating differences and stereotyping.