Weekly Pictures Here
Unit of Inquiry #4 has been completed. What an exciting time it has been. I will say this was the most difficult unit we have completed due to the rigorous research requirements and writing factor throughout the process. Students have completed paragraphs that contain topic sentences and supporting details. I hope what the students have learned will be carried over into third grade. Presentations will begin Sunday, when we return from the Eid holiday break.
In English we really focused on our writing skills. It seems, even in grade 2, I am constantly reminding the students to capitalize, don’t forget the full stop, and finger spacing. Please continue this conversation with your young pupils. It seems like common knowledge to us, the adults, but to a grade 2 student it can be forgotten. Students completed their first real rough draft for their animal research project. They have been interacting with me as I correct their spelling, grammar, and capitalization mistakes. This process will be repeated throughout the primary years. I believe we started out on a positive note.
This week in math we reviewed the mathematical skill subtraction. We will continue to work on subtracting using multiple manipulatives such as number lines, base ten blocks, pictures, our fingers, and numbers. We will also continue reviewing volume, place value, and subtraction. We completed a practice exam this week, which included addition and subtraction problems. When we completed the practice exam the students corrected their answers using a green pen. The format was a bit different then what the students are used to and that is why we completed a practice exam. Hopefully having completed the practice exam, the students will understand the answer is represented by the correlated letter. Multiple choice questions, in math, are new to the grade 2 students and I felt it was important to create some familiarity.
When we return from Eid holiday we will wrap up the UOI, Sharing the planet by completing all animal research presentations. Then we will embark on a new Unit of Inquiry, How the World Works. We will be taking a look into how machines have made the lives of people easier. The students will get to inquire about simple machines, use simple machines, and figure out how these machines work. I believe the students will enjoy a hands-on inquiry after all the hard work they did when completing their research projects. Our IB Learner Profiles focus will be inquirers, knowledgeable, and communicators. We will be asking lots of questions, learning new vocabulary, and communicating our own ideas.
For English we will continue to work every morning on our writing journals for 15 minutes. In phonics we will resume our vowel team review before moving on to new vowel teams. The vowel teams we have learned are ai, ay, ee, ey, ea, oy, oi, oa, oe, and ow. We will also review glued sounds, glued exceptions, and suffixes. We began working on the topic of organization in our 6+1 Traits of Writing and will continue. Last week we looked at first, next, and last. When we return we will look at the beginning, middle and end. This writing technique will help us tremendously as our writing focus throughout the new UOI is procedural writing. It is important that students know how to write instructions step by step. For our reading focus, we will continue with informational text about simple machines.
In mathematics during the new unit we will focus on volume, subtraction with double digits, addition with triple digit numbers, and we will continue reviewing place value. I cannot express enough on how important the concept of place value is for students’ understanding of mathematical concepts. It is the root of math and it will help all students grow as mathematical thinkers.
Important Dates!!!!!
- Sunday, 30th March onwards: Eid Al Fitr
- Wednesday, 2nd April / Thursday, 3rd April: Staff Professional Development Days – no school
- Thursday, 17th April: Progress reports issued
- Sunday, 20th April: Round 4 ASAs begin
- Sunday, 20th April – Thursday, 24th April: Book Week
- Tuesday, 22nd / Wednesday, 23rd April: Student-Led Conferences (3:30 – 6:00 pm)
- Thursday, 24th April: Student-Led Conferences (1:30 – 3:30 pm)