Weekly Updates 23-24

Hello 104 Families,

We had an amazing second week of School! The Second Graders are  doing a great job in learning as well as following the expectations of the school and classroom community. 

SEL

• Students have got various opportunities to learn and know more about their classmates and Ms. Fazal. The class has been working together to create a classroom community that looks, feels, and sounds Great! 
• The two focused questions in SEL this week were- What are some things we want to do to treat our classmates kindly and things we want to avoid doing if we are treating our classmates Kindly.
• We also enjoyed being part of the talking circle with the recess monitors this week.

Math:

• During math the class started getting into our math routine. Students enjoyed working with a partner to solve the Greg Tang math sheets. We had hands-on activities where students made 3D shapes out of papers and different addition/ subtraction coloring sheets. 

Foundations:

• This week, the class has been part of word study where we are learning about the patterns of the words. Students have been doing great with sorting, cutting, and gluing the words based on their sounds in their composition books. 

Reading/ Writing:

•  Second graders enjoyed the read-alouds throughout the week. The class has been learning about picking books that are “just right” for them. A “just right book” is a book that is not too easy or too difficult to read. We have also worked on sorting different genres, and how to track their thoughts while reading. In writing, second graders worked on giving details and creating complete sentences.

Science/ Social Studies:

•  During Science, the class learned about different aquatic animals. Students enjoyed their time drawing and writing about the sea animals. 
• In Social Studies, the class has been talking about how families are different but have the same family values. These values consist of love, caring, and respect for each other.  Students also got a chance to learn about their classmates' family. 

I hope you are enjoying the long weekend! I look forward to seeing families next Saturday for the Back to School Picnic!

Hello 104 Families,

The Second Graders had another great week of learning. It was amazing to see families at our Back to School Picnic yesterday! Picture Day is on Thursday, September 28, 2023. Orders can be made directly from this site using code 79631QF. 

SEL

• This week the students worked with their new partners. They got to discuss in groups and then share with the whole class about how to be a good friend and what being a good friend means to them. Also, the class enjoyed solving animal puzzles with their SEL partners.

Math:

• In Math, we started Chapter 1- Numbers to 10,000. The goal this week was to identify the value and the place of each digit in a four-digit number.

• The students enjoyed using Math manipulatives such as:  place value cards and base 10 blocks to solve math  problems. 

Foundations:

• Our goal for Foundations was to recognise short vowel sounds in a CVC word. The class participated in coming up with a CVC word that has a short vowel sound and later shared it with the whole class. 

Reading/ Writing:

• In reading, we learned to understand what makes a book a fantasy or a realistic fiction. The class enjoyed reading “Stellaluna” and “The Can Man”. After reading both books, we reviewed why “Stellaluna” is a Fantasy and “The Can Man” is  a realistic fiction book. The students also explored fiction books and wrote their thoughts about the books. 
• In writing, the focus was to understand Sentences and Fragments. The class enjoyed the Scoot cards game by answering the questions on the cards that were placed around the classroom. 

Social Studies:

• We started chapter 1 in social studies. We are learning about life long ago and the ways we could learn about the past. One of the assignments students enjoyed working on was drawing and writing about their personal timeline. 

Hello 104 Families,

I can’t believe we are in week 4 already! Read below for some highlights:

Social Emotional: 

• This week we had a talking circle about understanding the boundaries.
• This week we spoke about the importance of friendship and what it looks like to make every friend feel included.

Literacy:

• This week in reading we did an author study on Janell Cannon. We read Stellaluna, Crickwing, and Pinduli. We identified the problems and solutions in each story.
• This week in writing we practice taking an idea for our writing and making it more specific.
• This week in foundations we differentiated CVC short vowel words. We also identified CVC words in our independent reading books.

Math

• This week in math we learned about rounding to the nearest thousand and hundred.
• This week in math we created a number line on the board and our own human number line.

Social Studies | Science

• This week in Social Studies we learned about Museums, timelines, and Artifacts. We discussed the Essential Question: Why is it important to learn about the past?
• This week in Science we learned about the Sand tilefish, Lionfish, Flying gurnard and Porcupine fish.

Hello 104 Families,

Though it was shorter, this week was so much fun! Check out some highlights from this week!

SEL:

• This week in SEL we focused on happiness. What does happiness look like at school and home? What makes us happy at school?
• We also spoke about how we can share our emotions with adults and peers.
• We had our first spotlight student this week. The student got an opportunity to sit on the teachers chair and answer to the questions their classmates have to know more about the student.

Math:

• This week, Students took an assessment on Tuesday for Chapter 1.
• This week we started Chapter 2- Addition and Subtraction. Students are enjoying learning about mental additions. Students created addition and subtraction expressions and equations.
• This week students enjoyed doing a math project where they came up with their own word problems and wrote the expressions to go along with it.

Foundations:

• This week students completed a Spelling Check.
• This week students worked on word operations. This means that students took a word and changed it to create new words. Students changed consonant letters at the beginning or end of the given word (ex. same→tame→tale)

Reading/ Writing:

• This week students began plotting points in read alouds and independent reading books. 
• This week students identified the beginning, events, the high point and ending of the fiction book “How bad could it be?”
• This week the class started working on narrative writing skills. Students identified a problem at school and then created solution attempts that students might take to solve their problem.

Science/ Social Studies:

• This week for science, we investigated the question: Why aren’t new chalta trees growing in the Bengal Tiger Reserve? Students are having fun investigating systems in Bengal Forest.
• This week for social studies, students compared daily life long ago and life today. Students took a closer look at schools, homes, computers, and communities long ago and how they are the same or different now.

SEL:

• This week in SEL we focused on the importance of sharing our feelings with friends and adults. Students drew feeling pictures based on the focused questions. The class had fun playing feelings charades. The class also talked about why it is important to share our feelings.

Math:

• This week we learned strategies to do mental Addition, Subtraction, and strategies to make 100 and 1000. The class loved using Place Value Disks and playing the games where they were making 100s and 1000s.

Foundations:

• This week students learned about oddball words and finding the words in their independent reading books.
• This week students worked with their partners to sort CVVC and CVCe words. 
• This week the focus was also to understand that  long ‘a’ can be spelled with the ‘a-e’ as in ‘bake’ and also with ‘ai’ as in wait. 

Reading/ Writing:

• This week students focused on understanding the characters, their feelings, and traits. 
• This week students showed their understanding of the lessons by reading the book ‘The Spelling Bee’ and showing the characters' feelings and traits with evidence from their reading. 
• This week the class continued working on narrative writing. Students identified the problem, setting, solution, and attempts they might have made to solve the problem.

Science/ Social Studies:

• This week for science, we continued our investigation of the question: Why aren’t new Chalta trees growing in the Bengal Tiger Reserve? 
• This week students read “My Nature Book” and made their observations on different habitats that will help us learn about the broadleaf forest habitat in the Bengal Tiger Reserve.
• This week the focused questions for social studies were ‘Why did people move to new places?’  ‘How were the journeys people took the same? ‘How were they different?’ ‘What did immigrants and Black Americans who moved to Chicago have in common?’

SEL:

• This week in SEL Students got to know their new SEL partners by asking them thick questions. 
• The students worked with their partners and also participated in whole group discussions. 
• The focused questions were: Why is it important that we treat one another with respect, both in the classroom and on the playground? How can we respect each other's boundaries? 

Math:

• This week we worked on understanding word problems and coming up with the expression and equation of the problem.
• Students also learned part- whole bar model strategies to solve the addition and subtraction word problems.

Foundations:

• This week students took a spell check in foundations based on short and long ‘a’ vowel spelling patterns.
• They started short and long ‘o’ sounds. They sorted CVC, CVVC and CVCe words in their foundations book.
• Also, students searched and recorded short and long ‘o’ sounds from their independent reading books. 

Reading/ Writing:

• This week in reading, we focused on finding Text Evidence.
• The class read the book ‘True Colors’. They showed their understanding of the characters, their traits, and finding text evidence for those traits. 
• In writing,  students learned about dialogues and added dialogues to their writing Graphic Organizer as sensory details 

Science/ Social Studies:

• For science, we continued our investigation of the question: Why aren’t new Chalta trees growing in the Bengal Tiger Reserve? 
• This week's Investigation Question was: How do scientists study habitats?  Such as the habitat in the Bengal Tiger Reserve.
• This week students got a chance to be plant scientists. They investigated the habitat outside the school. This helped them understand how scientists in the Bengal Tiger Reserve do their investigations and research. 
• In Social Studies, The essential question was How do families and their past shape our community? 
• Students learned about “how families share cultures” and “what are their favorite traditions to follow”.

Students had their first visit to the school library. They checked out books and will be able to do this every Tuesday! Please make sure they bring back the books so that they can check out another one.

SEL:

• This week in SEL our focus was “Who works in our School”. The students brainstormed ideas on who they want to interview and learn more about their job at Decatur. 
• On Monday, the students will be able to interview the staff members they picked. 
• Our SEL talking circle focused on respecting the staff at our school.

Math:

• This week in Math we finished our Chapter 2: Addition and Subtraction- Part 1.
• Students reviewed word problems on scoot task cards around the classroom.
• Students took an assessment to show their understanding of Chapter 2.

ELA:

• This week in Foundations students completed their Tic-Tac-Toe worksheet which focused on CVCe, CVC, Oddball and CVVC words. Students also took a spelling test.
• In Reading, students learned about the settings of different fiction books. Students also analyzed fiction books by using text evidence to find: Title, Author, Characters, Setting, and the Plot.
• In writing students finished their narrative rough draft. 

Science/Social Studies:

• This week in Social Studies, students focused on the EQ: “How do people in the past affect our lives today?” Also, the class learned about “Brave Bessie”.
• This week in Science, students studied maps of the Bengal Tiger Reserve and investigated different  habitats.

Also, the Jogathon is on Friday, October 20th! More information can be found on the Jogathon page. Please help out with the school fundraiser. Looking forward to seeing families cheer the class on! 

104 had a wonderful week including the Jogathon! Thank you to all of the parents who came to support the second graders!

SEL:

• This week in SEL our focus was on kindness and what steps are we taking to show kindness towards our friends and adults in the classroom/school. 

• 104 friends also had the opportunity to interview people who work at our school. Students interviewed Ms. Martino, Ms. Doggett, Ms. Beard, Ms. Cross, Ms. Case, and Mr. Chriss to learn more about their job at Decatur.

Math:

• This week in Math we continued to work on Chapter 3. Students have been learning addition, subtraction, rounding, and estimating problems.

ELA:

• This week in Foundations students completed short and long ‘u’ sounds.

• Students showed their understanding of the lesson by doing the word sort for CVC, CVCe, CVVC words

• This week in Reading students were introduced to different types of context clues. The class learned about finding the meaning of the vocabulary word by looking at the definition, synonym, antonym, and examples. 

• This week in writing students worked on their final drafts on personal narrative writing.

Science/Social Studies:

• This week in Social Studies, students finished Chapter 1 on Life Long ago and Today. We ended the chapter by reviewing the main ideas of the lessons and by taking the assessment. 

• This week in Science, students investigated, observed, and learned about different seeds to better understand the investigation question on ‘Why Chalta Trees are not Growing in Bengal Tiger Reserve?”

SEL:

• This week’s SEL focus was on emotions and deep breathing. We discussed different kinds of breathings such as, snake breath, bunny breath to help us calm our mind and bodies.

Math:

• The class finished chapter 3 in Math this week.
• The students took the end of the lesson assessment.

ELA:

• This week in Foundations students took a spell check on short and long ‘u’ sounds.
• This week in Reading, the class learned about poetry, the elements and metaphors in a poem. 
• In writing, we finished the final narratives and took a self reflection.

Science:

• This week in Science, the class investigate how new plants such as, Red Silk Trees, and Chalta Trees Grow?
• The class made predictions on what seeds need to grow and learned to measure plants using the centimeter scale.