2Nd Grade Parent Newsletter

nd Common 2 Grade Parent Newsletter Core 2nd Grade Parent Newsletter Curriculum English Language Arts Third

ELACC.2. RF. 3 Phonics and Word Quarter Recognition By third quarter, most phonics instruction is complete. Your child should continue practicing those skills through reading books. ELACC.2.RF.3 Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words. d. Decode words with common prefixes and suffixes. It is important that your child understand that the meaning of words change when you add prefixes (beginnings) and suffixes (endings). At home: Learning does not end in the classroom. Children need help and support at home to succeed in their studies.  TryLook to createin books, a quiet magazines, place for and your newspapers child to study,to find wordsand carve with prefixesout time (for every instance day when un-) andyour suffixes child can (for instance –ful). concentrateHave your child on reading, make a listwriting, of these and words. math uninterruptedMake sure your by child friends, can tell brothers you the ormain sisters, (root) or word other and distractions. its meaning. Ask your child how the meaning changes when the prefix or suffix is added.

ELACC.2.RL Literary Reading

ELACC.2.RL. 4: Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song. Reading is more than just the words on a page. The flow and rhythm of words, especially in poetry, helps second grade students read with a deeper understanding. At home:  Read lots of poems with your child. Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky are two favorite poets. Help your child hear the beat and rhymes. A favorite Jack Prelutsky poem is included at the end of this newsletter! ELACC.2.RL.1: Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text. As the length of books your child is reading gets longer, it is important to stop and ask questions as you are reading. At home:  Begin to read chapter books with your child. After each chapter stop and have your child tell you questions they may be having about their book. Some of these questions may be about what is going to happen in the book or about events that have already happened. Have your child record these questions in a notebook or on sticky notes. As you continue to read, ask your child to tell you when their questions have been answered. Record the answers in the notebook or move the sticky note to the place in the book where your child had the answer.

ELACC.2. I Informational Reading ELACC.2.W.Writing

ELACC.2.RI.9: Compares and contrast the most important points presented by two texts on the same topic. ELACC.2.W.7: Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., read a number of books on a single topic to produce a report, record science observations). Second grade students should be able to compare two books on the same topic. As students read more than one book on a topic, they should be able to think about how the information is alike in each book and if information is different, why it is different. At home:  Gather books, magazines, and newspaper articles on a topic that interests your child. Have your child create a graphic organizer to keep up with facts about the topic. Your child should be able to find the same fact in many sources. If information is different, have your child do further research to support the different facts.  Have your child make a booklet about a topic. Each page should contain facts about the topic with illustrations and graphs to support the text. Have your child use the internet to confirm facts. Remind your child that all facts can not be included in their book. Only the ones they think are most important. Help your child decide which facts are more important than others. ELACC.2.L Language

ELACC.2.L.1: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. f. Produce, expand, and rearrange complete simple and compound sentences. Second grade students should be able to add words and phrases to sentences to make them better sentences. At home:  Give your child a basic sentence. Ask your child to draw a picture of that basic sentence. Help your child realize that when sentences don’t have enough information it is difficult to make a picture (in school this is called visualization). Ask your child to add to the picture. Each time a detail is added ask your child how this changes the sentence. Your child should begin to understand that better sentences contain more vivid words and phrases.  Have your child take more than one basic sentence and combine them to make a better sentence. Many times when you combine sentences they will need to be rearranged. Help your child understand how rearranging sentence order makes a better sentence. ELACC.2.L.4: Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 2 reading and content, choosing flexibly from an array of strategies. e. Use glossaries and beginning dictionaries, both print and digital, to determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases. Second grade students should begin to use resources to help them with word choice when writing and speaking. At home:  Show your child how to use the internet to look up words. There are several great online dictionaries that support younger students.  Play Word Play with your child. Think of a really big word (for example measurement). Write each letter of the big word on an index card. Mix up the cards. Have your child first figure out what the big word is and write it on a piece of paper. Then see if your child can make lots of smaller words using the same letters. Ask your child to look up the words to record in a personal dictionary.

Encourage Your Second Grader

 Make sure your child chooses appropriate books to read by herself. For independent reading, children should be encouraged to read books that they can read fluently, or smoothly, and can understand well by themselves. A good way to tell if a book is at an appropriate level for your child is to listen to her reading a full page aloud. If she reads smoothly, makes no errors or just a couple of errors in reading the words, and can tell you about what she read, then the book is probably at a "just right" level for her. If her reading sounds choppy, she struggles to read words, or she does not understand what she has read, try an easier book.

 Help your child develop an independent reading routine that will last a lifetime. Many second- and third-grade teachers make 20 to 30 minutes of independent reading a regular part of homework because it is important for children's reading development. If your child's teacher requires quiet reading as homework, help your child "budget" his time and figure out when he will complete it. Many children enjoy doing their free reading at a particular time and in a special spot in the house, whether it is on their bed or in the living room. If your child's teacher does not require independent reading, you might make it an expectation in your house.

 Help your child discover the resources available in your local library. When children at this age visit the library regularly, they get valuable assistance in finding new books to read. They also begin to see libraries as a source of information about topics that interest them. They may also even learn some specific library skills, such as how to look up a title on a computerized catalog.

Science During the third quarter, Science investigates physical science. Students are learning all about solids, liquids, and gases. They are also learning about light energy, heat energy, and motion energy. By the end of third quarter students should know:  There are three states of matter: solids, liquids, and gases.  States of matter can change  All matter takes up space and has mass

At home: Boil some water and have your child talk about the steam that rises. Take that same water and make ice cubes. Have your child talk about how it is the same water but it has now changed into a solid. Have your child write about the three states water, ice, and steam and draw a picture.

Social Studies During the third quarter in Social Studies, students look at the lives of Jackie Robinson and Martin Luther King Jr. Your child will also be studying the Economic concepts of scarcity, saving and spending, and how goods and services are allocated. By the end of the third quarter students should know:  Jackie Robinson and Martin Luther King Jr. each contributed to improving the rights of African Americans.  Jackie Robinson was the first African American baseball player in professional baseball.  Martin Luther King Jr. helped begin the civil rights movement.  People must make choices about goods and service because of scarcity.  Goods are services are allocated in different ways (price, majority rule, sharing).

At home:  Have your child make a booklet to show what they have learned about Jackie Robinson and Martin Luther King Jr. Go to the library with your child and check out children’s books about these people.  Have your child make a chart to compare life today with life at the time of Jackie Robinson and Martin Luther King Jr.  Have your child draw a picture of an item he/she would like to buy but does not have enough money to purchase. Ask your child how he/she can save for the item. Michael Built a Bicycle by Jack Prelutsky Michael built a bicycle unsuitable for speed, it’s crammed with more accessories than anyone could need, there’s an AM-FM radio, a deck to play cassettes, a refrigerator-freezer, and a pair of TV sets.

There are shelves for shirts and sweaters, there are hangers for his jeans, a drawer for socks and underwear, a rack for magazines, there’s a fishtank and a birdcage perched upon the handlebars, a bookcase, and a telescope to watch the moon and stars.

There’s a telephone, a blender, and a stove to cook his meals, there’s a sink to do the dishes somehow fastened to the wheels, there’s a portable piano, and a set of model trains, an automatic bumbershoot that opens when it rains. There’s a desk for typing letters on his fabulous machine, a stall for taking showers, and a broom to keep things clean, but you’ll never see him ride it, for it isn’t quite complete, Michael left no room for pedals, and there isn’t any seat.