Mrs. Goodleaf's 2nd Grade

Hello Parents,

I put the conference schedule up.  Let me know if you need to make changes.

Hello Parents,

In the months of Jan. & Feb. we will be doing three different activities to explore  the community around us and the people that help the community. All three have a at home components. I have listed all the important dates for all of these projects in Upcoming Events. (I will also being sending out emails/information packets and reminders during this time to remind you of due dates)

Jan. 3^rd-Jan. 20^th: Community Place Report (Info packets will be sent on Jan. 3^rd) Click here for copies of information already sent home

 The first is a community place report.  In this project the students will each be assigned a place in the community to investigate and reflect on how it helps the community.  The focus of learning is the places in the community and how they meet our wants and needs.  The kids will bring home several questions about their place to answer.  Then students will bring the answers back to class to do a report on their place.

At home component: Visit the place and answer the questions to bring back to class. Due Jan. 20th.

Jan. 25^th-Feb. 24^th: Flat Stanley (Info packets will be sent on Jan. 17^th) Flat Stanley info letter   Flat Stanley to color    Your Community questionnaire

For our Flat Stanley project the students will select a family member or family friend in another state to send their Flat Stanley to.  The focus of learning is for the students to learn about the aspects of the other community and compare it to our own. 

At home component: Send a stamped envelope and address of the person you are sending it to. Due Jan. 25th.

Feb. 6^th-24^th:  Job Share (Info packets will be sent on Jan. 27^th) Career day flyer

This is more of an activity then project for the kids.  As part of our social studies curriculum the students learn about workers in the community.   As part of this learning I would love to have any parents that are willing to come in and share a little about their exciting job. (You will need to include how your job helps/aid the community. All jobs do in one way or another, so please don’t be too concerned with this).  You will only need to talk for 5-10 minutes about what you do and then answer questions.  Any visual aids you might have would be a bonus.

At home component: Parents that are brave enough to volunteer

No School tomorrow due to impending weather.  I hope it actually shows up to make missing a day worth it.

Don’t forget the December Reading Log is due on the 2nd.  If you need another copy see the Homework Tab.

Hello Parents,

We had some excitement today in our class. One of the covers on our light fixture decided it would be a good time to fall down.  The custodian came in and tried to fix it with duct tape, but it didn’t hold so once again it came down.  So we decided to leave the cover off.  No one was hurt, however, I am sure your kids will be coming home today with fun stories to tell about it.

Hello Parents,

Today the kids put the finishing touches on their planet reports.  Right now I have them hanging in my room, but I plan to send them home this Friday.  If you come to the party on the Friday you will get a chance to see both our reports and Gingerbread Milk Carton Town.

Last week our class began creating a Gingerbread Village called Gingerbread Kingdom, inhabited by gingerbread people that escaped being eaten by the fox at the end of the story. After listening to several versions of the story, the students began the project by creating a map of a town square. Later they took their map and created it out of construction paper. Following this they used milk cartons to create house and businesses. They had a lot of fun!

Hello Parents,

Next week we will be taking a few of math tests.  The first two (on Thursday) will be the end of Topic tests for 6 and 7 that we have been learning this month.  We are taking both tests on the same day because during instruction time I paired the addition and subtraction concepts to help facilitate learning the various strategies.  Reviewing the weekly homework is an excellent way to study for the test.  I will also, as always, send home the practice test pages next week to further study.  Here is a list of the concepts that will be on the test:

• adding 2 digit numbers and 1 digit numbers
• 28+3=
• adding 2 digit numbers and 2 digit numbers (without regrouping)
• 43+13=
• subtracting 1 digit number from a 2 digit number
• 83-5=
• subtracting 2 digit numbers from 2 digit numbers (with regrouping)
• 74-12=
• Missing value equaling 100
• 38 + _____ =100
• Continue a number pattern
• 4, 8, …
• Identify missing or extra information story problems

The last test we will be taking (on Friday) is called a CDSA (Common District Standard Assessment).  This test covers all the topics we have covered so far this year. This test is used to see if the students have learned and retained what we have studied this year.

Hello Parents,

When reviewing your child’s test, please keep a couple of things in mind:

1. Even though your child may have gotten all the questions correct they may still have only received a three.
2. The last question (which will be true on all social tests) is where kids can show their thinking and go above a 3. I do remind the kids of this when they take the test.
3. If they just draw and label the types of landforms is a 3.  If they extended themselves and added addtional details or compare/contrast about them they had the possiblity of going above a 3.

Here is a study guide for the test (in case you lost the copy that went home last week). study guide