Grade 2 Class Updates

Week of November 25

Last week, our Grade 2 class spent our time learning and working on how to write a persuasive paper. This assignment is rudimentary form of a more formal essay writing assignment. Students learn how to write about an opinion they have in a persuasive manner. It also gets them to practicing justifying their opinions and understanding their audience. I have posted the assignment sheet for this task below.

This week, we are back to a more normal schedule. The kids will be reading "How to Read a Story", which is a fun little book with tips about how to enjoy the process of reading. We will be focusing on practicing recognizing text structure and text and graphics features while we read. 

Our spelling and phonics focus will be ending sounds, specifically the k and ck sounds. For grammar we will start working with conjunctions and compound sentences. A practice packet for this task is posted below. 

There will be time for students to finish their persuasive papers as well. If we have time we will begin the prewriting process for our next writing assignment: a fairy tale.

Week of November 11

This week, our class will be reading a great story about how to deal with and handle bullies called Pepita and the Bully. The purpose of the reading this week is similar to last week's focus of find ing the central idea. We will be looking at theme and moral in a text and how to infer them from details in a story. 

Our spelling and phonics focus for this week will be on digraphs (th, sh, ch, tch, and wh). Our grammar lesson will be review of nouns and a focus on possessive nouns. Students will be practicing these in a grammar packet mid-week. 

We will be beginning our focus on persuasive writing this week. With a look at the structure of persuasive texts and how to organize your ideas when writing one.

More resources for this week are posted below:

Week of October 28

I'm sorry for posting late this week. This week, our class will reading a cute story, Big Red Lollipop by R. Kahn. This story focuses on sibling rivalry and the quality of grace and mercy as a way to show love. The reading skills we will focus on will be mostly identifying point of view and keying on the clues that identify the point of view of a story. We'll also work on asking questions as we read. As always we will have a set of vocabulary words to practice from this reading.

While we won't be practicing grammar this week, our spelling and phonics focus will be on consonant blends with a spelling test per usual on Friday. 

The previous week, students worked on and finished their first pen pal letters. We have just mailed those, and we are hoping to get replies soon. The new monthly calendar has been sent home. Please not that due to the typhoon day yesterday, Halloween Fun House will be on Monday, slightly adjusting our usual plan for the week.

More resources for this week are posted below:

Week of October 7

This week, our class will reading a delightful set of poems call Water Rolls, Water Rises by Pat Mora. The purpose of the reading this week is to learn about and practice identifying different elements of poetry. This will be a bit of review from last year, but I hope the kids can learn and retain some cool things from our lesson this week. We'll also work on asking questions as we read. As always we will have a set of vocabulary words to practice from this reading.

We won't be having spelling practice this week. Students should instead practice with their high frequency words for our spelling test. Our grammar lesson will be on types of nouns. Starting easy, we will work on identifying nouns in sentences this week and a bit of noun classification and then working on plural noun practice. 

I hope to get to the parts of a letter assignment this week since we missed two class days last week. We should be receiving our pen pals' letters soon, so we need to be ready to write a reply.

More resources for this week are posted below:

Week of September 30

This week, our class will reading a delightful story called The Great Fuzz Frenzy by Janet Stevens and Susan Crummel. As we read, we'll be honing our skills at using the illustrations of a book to infer more detail about the text and connect the text to the illustrations. We'll also work on asking questions as we read. As always we will have a set of vocabulary words to practice from this reading.

For phonics and spelling, we are doing a final review of CVC and VCe words. The kids have been doing a great job with this skill, so we will soon move on to more challenging spelling words. In our grammar lessons, we'll be delving into the world of nouns. Starting easy, we will work on identifying nouns in sentences this week and a bit of noun classification. 

If we don't lose a day or two to the typhoon this week, we will also do a writing lesson on the parts of a letter in preparation for our first full-length pen pal letters. Our friends at Sirakawa Elementary School in San Jose have received our post cards and are writing replies to us as we speak. Isn't that exciting?

More resources for this week are posted below:

Week of September 16

This week, our class will be diving into a delightful story called Picture Day Perfection by Deborah Diesen. As we read, we'll be honing our skills at identifying characters and their traits. We'll explore both their internal (feelings and thoughts) and external (appearance and actions) characteristics of characters. We'll also work with a set of vocabulary words that go with this story

In our grammar lessons, we'll be delving into the world of sentences. We'll learn about different sentence types and how to use them effectively. These four kinds of sentences are statements, questions, commands, and exclamations. 

this week students will begin the early planning and drafting steps for their Coat of Arms assignment. This assignment requires kids to connect symbols to their family and write a descriptive paragraph or two about it.

To reinforce these lessons at home, please check out the resources below.

Week of September 9

Hello, Second Grade Families!

This week, we're diving into a delicious literary treat: Spoon by Amy Rosenthal! This heartwarming tale will have us exploring the author's purpose and understanding the importance of understanding our own unique selves.

In addition to our literary adventure, we'll be sharpening our writing skills by practicing complete sentences and exploring new vocabulary. Our grammar lesson will focus on what makes a complete sentence, while our spelling review will reinforce short vowel sounds.

To prepare for our upcoming Coat of Arms writing assignment, we'll be laying the groundwork for creative expression. We'll discuss the elements of a coat of arms and brainstorm ideas for our own unique designs.

To reinforce this week's learning, please check out the following resources:

Week of September 2

Get ready for a fin-tastic week in second grade!

This week, we're diving into the exciting world of Clark the Shark. We'll be reading and discussing this popular children's book, exploring themes of friendship, self-control, and problem-solving.

In our phonics lesson, we'll be reviewing short vowel sounds. We'll practice identifying and producing short vowel sounds in words, as well as reading and writing words that contain these sounds.

To enhance our writing skills, we'll continue working on identifying the main idea and supporting details in our writing. We'll also practice writing clear and concise sentences.

In grammar, we'll be delving into the world of subjects and predicates. We'll learn how to identify the main subject and predicate in a sentence and practice writing complete sentences.

Finally, we'll be expanding our vocabulary with new words related to our unit on sharks. We'll learn the meanings of these words and practice using them in sentences.

To help your child reinforce their learning at home, please find practice sheets and resources below.

Week of August 26

Hello, and welcome to the new school year. This page is your home for weekly updates about what will be going on in my class. I will try to keep this page updated, but if I fall behind, do not be shy to email me for updates.

This week is all about getting to know each other and some of the routine lessons and activities from my class.