Dear Nightingale Parents,
There are lots of important dates coming up for early release days, Math/Science Night, no school, etc. Please be on the look out for these!
--Math: In math, we finished telling time. This is a skill that is tricky, especially if the minute hand is almost to the next hour. When we have the kids draw the hands on the clock, we have them move the hour hand as well, so a 6:45, the hour hand would be closer to the 7 than the 6. Sometimes this throws them off, but if they ask themselves, "Is it to the _____ yet?" they can do it! We are moving on to fractions. We will begin by talking about fractions being used when we divide something into equal parts. They are currently working on fractions of a whole and soon we will be working on fractions of a set.
--Science/Social Studies: The musical instrument projects were great! I really enjoyed seeing the kids demonstrate their instrument! We are now moving on to the water cycle. The kids need to know the four parts to the water cycle, evaporation, condensation, precipitation and collection (accumulation). In preperation for the upcoming science fair, we will be doing lots of experiments to get them excited! PLEASE COME TO THE SCIENCE FAIR, FRIDAY, FEB. 5th from 5-8! It will also be math night and a Scholastic bookfair, complete with dinner!!!
--Reading Workshop: We will continue to work some on poetry, but move into fairy tales. We will be doing a Cinderella study and comparing various Cinderella stories from around the world. We will also be analyzing the characters in the stories, learning about the protagonist and antagonist. Our main focus will be expressing their ideas in writing through their reading responses!
--Writing Workshop: In writing, we are busy! Many kids have drafted a Winter Break story and are hoping to take it through the writing process. Again, we stress writing PROCESS! You may not see evidence of your child's winter story until March or April! The kids have to prewrite first, then draft, revise and edit, peer conference, teacher conference and THEN publish! The kids are typing their stories, so it is taking a bit longer! We are also writing different types of poetry. I am becoming more of a stickler for capitalization, punctuation, and at least phonetic spelling. Please help remind your child that sentences start with capital letters and end with end marks.
We will also beging to look at persuasive techniques in the media. We will be looking at food advertisements, movie trailers, book reviews, etc. and seeing how they are using persuasive techniques to reel us in to their products.
--Spelling: We are finishing our contractions sound exploration week and will be enter into activities week the following week.
Just a few additional reminders:
--Spring Pictures, includes 2nd grade class picture, WEDNESDAY, JAN. 27th!!!
--Math and Science Night---FRIDAY, FEB. 5th 5:00-8:00! Pizza for sale, teachers showing you math games to play with your children at home, science fair projects, and a Scholastic bookfair all in one amazing night! The faculty has put a lot of effort into this, please attend!!!!!
--Feb. 10th-----Early Release @ 12:45
--Suprisingly, we are beginning to think about the Valentine's party. It will be from 1:00-2:00 on Feb. 12th. Look for more information from Cynthia Mortensen.
--No school Monday, Feb. 15th (staff development for teachers)
--PE days are Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays
--Please send your child a healthy snack each day. Feel free to send a box of something that can be stored in my room.
As always, thanks for your support! Please email or call with any additional questions!
Sincerely,
Sarah Newton
464-5406
sarah_newton@roundrockisd.org
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