Weekly Update SY 24- 25

Hello 104 Families,

The Second Graders had another great week of school. It was amazing to see families at the curriculum night yesterday! Here are the slides from curriculum night.

Dates to remember: 

• September 19 Coffee with Principal Negrón | All Parents are invited
• September 24 | Fall Picture Day | Sibling Pictures 

SEL

• This week the students worked with their new partners. They got to discuss in groups and then share with the whole class about classroom norms and rules. The focused questions for this week's talking circle were “why is it important to follow the rules?” and “What are some of the classroom norms/rules you followed this week?”

Math:

• In Math, we started Unit 1- Introducing Multiplications. Students are learning to recognize, represent, and describe situations involving equal groups.

• Students did a great job using working with partners and using Math manipulative.

Foundations:

• Our goal for Foundations was to recognize short vowel sounds in a CVC word.
• The class practiced their foundation skills by cut & glue activities and small group activities.

Reading |Writing:

• In reading, we learned to understand what makes a book a fantasy or a realistic fiction. The class enjoyed reading “Stellaluna” and “The Can Man”. After reading both books, we reviewed why “Stellaluna” is a Fantasy and “The Can Man” is  a realistic fiction book. The students also explored fiction books and wrote their thoughts about the books. 
• In writing, the focus was to understand Sentences and Fragments. The class enjoyed the Scoot cards game by answering the questions on the cards that were placed around the classroom and by changing given fragments into sentences. 

Social Studies |Science:

•  In social studies, we started Unit 1- Today and Long Ago. We are learning about life long ago. The essential question this week was “How do we learn about the past?”. Students explored facts that can be used to answer the essential question. 
• In Science, we started Unit 1- Plant and Animal Relationships. In lesson 1- Plant and Animal relationship, We are being plant scientists and learning about different Habitats and ways to study Habitats. 

SEL:

• This week in SEL we focused on Alike & Different. The class talked about the similarities and differences. The focused questions were- How are you & the classmate Similar or Different from each other? What is one thing you learned about how you are different from your classmates?

Math:

• This week in Math we finished lesson 7- Building Flexibility, Efficiency, and Accuracy with Multiplication Facts. The focus this week was using strategies to solve multiplication problems and finding the missing factors in multiplication problems. 
• This week students enjoyed playing Bingo and Roll, Spin, Multiply games with their partners. The class also took a sub unit Assessment. 

Foundations:

• This week students learned about CVC & CVCe words.
• This week students were part of word sorts based on the focused short vowel and silent ‘e’ sounds. 

Reading/ Writing:

• This week students showed their understanding of the characteristics of Janell Cannon’s books. We explored the books Stellaluna, Pinduli, Crickwing, and Verdi. 
• This week students identified the problem and solution to the problem the characters faced in the Jannel Cannon’s books. Students also took an Assessment to show their understanding of the lessons.   
• This week in writing, students learned the difference between an idea and specific/ strong idea for writing. 

Science/ Social Studies:

• This week in science, we investigated the question: Why aren’t new Chalta Trees growing in the Bengal Tiger Reserve? Students made observations on the maps, plants, and seeds to investigate the problem in West Bengal Tiger Reserve. 
• This week for social studies, students compared daily life long ago and life today. Students took a closer look at schools, homes, technology, and communities long ago and how they are the same or different now.

Hello Families, 

Though it was shorter, this week was so much fun! The class earned all ten stars! We enjoyed the show & tell and we pulled out one stick from the marble jar!

SEL:

• This week in SEL we had a Talking circle with the recess monitors. The focused questions were: How can you get to know the new recess monitors? How can we show them respect and make them feel welcome at our school?
• The focus this week was on understanding and appreciating diversity and differences of others. The focused questions were, What if everyone in the world was exactly the same? Do you think you would want to learn or live in a diverse environment? Why or Why not? 

Math:

• This week in Math students were introduced to Arrays. The goal this week was on Searching for Arrays, Exploring the Commutative Property of Multiplication, Solving Word Problems With Arrays, and Different Representations of Multiplication. 
• The class has been doing great with warm up activities, working with partners, and individual work time. 

Foundations:

• This week students worked with their table friends to add, substitute, or delete consonants and vowels to come up with a new word.
• This week the focus was also to understand that  long ‘a’ can be spelled with the ‘a-e’ as in ‘bake’ and also with ‘ai’ as in wait. 
• The students took a spelling test in foundations this week.

Reading/ Writing:

• This week students began plotting points in read alouds and independent reading books. 
• This week students identified the beginning, events, the high point and ending of the fiction book “Enemy Pie”
• This week the class started working on narrative writing skills. Students identified a problem at school. 
• Next week, the class will continue working on narrative writing. Students will write about the solution, and attempts they might have made to solve the problem.

Science/ Social Studies:

• This week in Science, students investigated, observed, and learned about different seeds to better understand the investigation question on ‘why Chalta Trees are not Growing in Bengal Tiger Reserve?”
• The class planted Radish Seeds to investigate whether the plant actually need sunlight and water to sprout and grow. 
• This week the focused questions for social studies was ‘Why did people move to new places?’
• The class Explored immigrants’ journeys to the United States long ago and understood why families moved to Chicago from other parts of the country. 

This week students had their first visit to the library! Student’s checked out books and will be able to do this again on Thursday. Please make sure students turn in the library book by Thursday so that they can check out another book. Have a great weekend!

SEL:

• This week in SEL the class focused on the importance of understanding others feelings. The essential questions this week were “Why is it helpful to know how other people are feeling?” “Do you often talk about your feelings with your friends or family? Who do you talk to the most?”. Students drew feelings pictures based on the focused questions this week.

Math:

• This week the class took a Sub Unit Quiz-2.
• The class started a new sub unit on Graphs. Students have been reading, interpreting, creating, and representing data on scaled bar graphs. 
• The class ended the week with a fun Friday multiplication board game. 

Foundations:

• This week students were introduced to one and two syllable words.
• The class worked with their table friends to sort the long ‘a’ sound words with CVVC and CVCe words. 
• The class also learned about the homophones, words that sound alike, but are spelled differently and mean something different. For example, words like Plain (CVVC) and Plane (CVCe)

Reading/ Writing:

• This week students focused on understanding the characters feelings and traits. 
• The students showed their understanding of the lessons by reading the book ‘The Spelling Bee’ and identified the characters' feelings and traits with evidence from their reading. 
• This week the class continued working on narrative writing. Students identified the problem, setting, and motivation they might have used to solve the problem.

Science/ Social Studies:

• This week in science, the class continued our investigation of the question: Why aren’t new Chalta trees growing in the Bengal Tiger Reserve? 
• The radish seeds that we planted last week have sprouted. Students were excited to see the plants grow. The class also measured the plants and noted their observations. 
• This week in social studies, the class recognized and  learned about the famous Latinos who have helped shape our nation and inspired others to achieve success.

SEL:

• This week in SEL our focus was on “Unkind Speech”, Students were part of the sentence sorting activity. They reviewed sentences with their SEL partners and then sorted it based on kind and unkind sentences. 
• The SEL talking circle focused on the importance of kind speech and avoiding unkind words. The class also shared their thoughts on the quote, “Words can inspire and words can destroy. Choose yours well.” -Robin Sharma

Math:

• This week in Math the class started Unit 2: Area and Multiplications.
• Students did a good job building shapes with foam blocks then described and compared the areas of their shapes with their classmates.
• The class is also learning to estimate the area of space using square centimeters, square inches, square feet, or square meters.

ELA:

• This week in Foundations the students completed Unit 1. The class took a spelling check on CVCe, CVC, and CVVC words with short and long vowel sounds
• This week in Reading students analyzed fiction books by using text evidence to find: Title, Author, Characters, Setting, and the Plot. The class enjoyed the books “Those Darn Squirrels” by Adam Rubin and “Sky Sisters” by Jan Bourdeau Waboose
• This week in writing students finished and the writing organizer and started on their narrative rough draft.

Science/Social Studies:

• This week in Social Studies, students focused on the EQ: ”Why is it Important to Learn about the Past?” Our focus was to understand how people in the past affect our lives today. We learned about the “Brave Bessie”. The class also identified how people’s values in the past helped shape the present. 
• This week in Science, Students gathered more information about how a plant is a system with different parts that help it grow. Students were introduced to the book, A Plant Is a System, to gather more information and to increase their knowledge on plant structures and their functions.

Important Update: Next week in SEL, we will be reading “My Name is a Song”. This book allows students to celebrate their own name. It also lets students share a story or history behind their names. Please have a discussion with your child about the meaning of their name and the reason why you picked that name for them. The students will be sharing the stories behind their names with the class.

SEL:

• This week in SEL students were introduced to a tool to help them express what's bothering them and come up with solutions to problems. The tool is called ‘Bug and a Wish”. 
• A “Bug” is when something annoys you and “Wish” is what you wish for others to do. For example, “It bugs me when you____”, “I wish you would____” . Students are doing a good job expressing their feelings using this tool.

Math:

• This week in Math we continued to learn and explore the Area of shapes using the grids and no grids. The class also learned to determine the area of a rectangle with tick marks only. 
• This week the class took a sub unit assessment to show their understanding of the lessons.

ELA:

• This week in Foundations students completed short and long ‘u’ sounds.
• Students showed their understanding of the lesson by doing the word sort for CVC, CVCe, CVVC words on long ‘u’.
• This week in Reading students were introduced to different types of context clues. The class learned about finding the meaning of a vocabulary word by searching for the definition, synonym, antonym, or examples in the sentence. 
• This week in writing students worked on their final books on personal narrative writing.

Social Studies:

• This week in Science, students investigated, observed, and shared their understanding on ‘why Chalta Trees are not Growing in Bengal Tiger Reserve?”.
• We used body models to understand a good space for seeds to grow and What might be the reason that no new Chalta Trees are growing in Bengal Tiger Reserve.

Though it was shorter, this week was so much fun!  

SEL:

• This week in SEL, we received the expectations on how our classroom should look like, sound like, and feel like. We also reviewed behaviors and hallway expectations. 

Math:

• This week in Math, the class finished Unit 2- CH: 12 and 13. The class will be taking a unit practice assessment on Monday (11/11) and will take the Unit Assessment on Tuesday (11/12)

ELA:

• This week in Foundations, students took a spelling test on long and short vowels ‘e’. 
• This week in Reading, students are studying nonfiction texts. They defined and investigated nonfiction informational text this week on “Sharks”.
• Students started Narrative Fiction Writing. They created and added details to for their own fictional characters.

Science/Social Studies:

• This week in Social Studies, We finished Unit 2- Lesson 1: Use a Map. The class loved learning about road maps, political maps, and physical maps. The class is looking forward to creating their own maps on school or neighborhood communities. 

SEL:

• The SEL topic for this week was on Family. The focus questions were “What does family mean to you?” “How is your family different from other families?” “Who is your favorite family member and why?”

Math:

• This week, the class finished Unit 2. Second Graders did a great job taking the end of the unit assessment.
• The class started Unit 3 Wrapping Up Addition and Subtraction Within 1,000. We finished Chapter 1 and 2. 
• The goal was to describe different ways to represent `999`. Identify and compare additional patterns.

ELA:

• This week in Foundations, students finished long and short ‘a’ sounds with CVC, CVCe, CVVC - ae, CVVC- ai, and oddballs.
• This week in reading, students explored different types of nonfiction books. They explored: informational, narrative, and biography books. The students showed their understanding by doing worksheets and sorting books based on nonfiction text.
• This week in writing, students finished their character worksheet and sketched a plan for their fictional story. 

Science/Social Studies:

• This week the class finished a Science lesson on "Plant and Animals Relationship?”  The class reflected on the different ways seeds can be dispersed based on their readings, investigations throughout the unit and from ‘A Seed’s Journey” workshop. 
• This week in Social Studies, students took Unit 2- Lesson 1 assessment. The class finished creating school/ community maps and included map tools. 

SEL:

• This week's SEL topic was on feelings and challenges. The talking circle was focused on feelings and students thought about a time when they had a difficult feeling such as- Sad, Angry, Disappointed, or Embarrassed. We share how our bodies might feel during difficult times and what we can do to comfort ourselves. 

Math:

• This week in Math, the class reviewed place value and subtraction strategies they already know. The class was introduced to Expanded Form and Standard Form Subtraction Algorithms. The class took a Quiz to show their understanding.
• Students were also introduced to a strategy on decomposing a Ten and Hundred to Subtract by Place. 

ELA:

• This week in Reading students explored more non- fiction books and learned about understanding important facts and the author’s message in non-fiction books. 
• This week in writing students added dialogues and sensory details to their fiction books.
• This week we started literacy centers for reading, writing and foundations.

Science/Social Studies:

• This week in Social Studies the class finished the lessons “How Do We Use Land.” Students learned about different communities and explored how people share similarities and differences with others in communities near and far. 
• This week in Science we started a new unit “Properties of Material”. The essential question for the unit is: How can you make a sticky glue?
• This week the students explored different materials that we will use throughout the unit to make a sticky glue. Students also read the book “What if rain boots were made of paper.” with their partners to understand how different materials are used to make different objects. 

SEL:

• This week in SEL, the class spent some time sharing their plans for winter break and doing fun activities.
• During Cultural Corner, the class had an amazing time learning about ‘The Three Wise Men.  

Math: 

• This week in Math, students finished Unit 3. We learned how to round any number within `1,000` to the nearest ten and nearest hundred. Students did a good job with estimation strategies, such as rounding, to make reasonable estimates for two-step problems involving addition and subtraction.
• This week, the class took an assessment to show their understanding of the unit. We will start with Unit 4 after winter break.

ELA:

• This week in reading students read “The Amazing Penguin Rescue ” and identified the genre, author’s message, and the problem/solution.
• This week in writing student’s finished their final books on fictional writing. The class will get to share their fictional narrative stories with first graders after winter break.

Science/Social Studies:

• This week in Social Studies students continued their investigation to answer the  essential question “How is the environment where we live important”. 
• The class will continue to investigate resources to make the sticky glue.

Thank you for all the amazing gifts Second Grade families! I appreciate it a lot! 

I wish you and your family a happy and safe holiday break.

Happy New Year Second Grade families! Our second graders were excited to be back at school and started off great with the learning and reviewing the school & classroom expectations this week.

Week 17

SEL:

• This week in SEL we have been reviewing the school and classroom expectations. The class is doing a good job earning points for following ‘New Year Same Expectations’. The talking circle was focused on the winter break. Students were excited to share all about the fun they had with their family and friends.  

Math: 

• This week in Math we reviewed Unit 3 that we finished before winter break and started new unit 4- Relating Multiplications to Divisions. 
• Students are learning to represent and solve divisions. We are working on understanding and connecting word problems to drawings and expressions that represent a division situation. 

ELA:

• This week in reading, students read the poem “Titanic Remembers April 16, 1912”. Students learned new vocabulary words related to the poem, drew and wrote about what they visualized while reading the poem. Students enjoyed learning about personifications and ended the lesson with a game.  

Science/Social Studies:

• This week in Social Studies the class finished the last chapter of unit 2. 
• This week we started Unit 3- Economics- People and Places Connected. Students are learning about how people's Wants and Needs are connected. 
• Next week will be focused on Science lessons on Properties of Materials.

SEL:

• This week in SEL, we reviewed using the “Bug and a Wish” strategy. During the talking circle, Students shared times when someone or something has bugged them and how they shared how they can use a wish to help others understand what has been bothering them. We also reviewed expectations for working with partners to create a positive classroom environment. 

Math: 

• This week in Math students finished Unit 4- Chapter 8. The goal was to iIdentify multiplication and division equations that represent the same story problems, one-digit multiplication facts and their related division facts. The class did a great job Identifying patterns in multiplication tables and finished the missing numbers in multiplications. 
• The class did an amazing job with the Math project on "My Math Hot Coco Mug". Students came up with the multiplication equations using the marshmallow numbers and changed it into division equations.

ELA:

• This week in reading, we started our First Novel. The novel we are reading is a biography called Frida Kahlo. This week we learned more about what a biography is and finished chapters 1-3 in Frida Kahlo.
• This week in foundations, we focused on long vowel sounds. Students sorted their words and wrote a sentence for each word they sorted.The class tool a spelling test on long ‘i’ sounds.
• This week in writing, our focus was on the grammar. Students reviewed Nouns and the class finished lessons on types of nouns. 

Science/Social Studies:

• This week in Science, student’s have been tasked with creating a new glue recipe for our school. Our Unit Question is How can you design a mixture for a certain purpose?
• Students read the book “Jelly Bean Engineers” with partners to understand the job of engineers. Students came up with their glue recipes and did their first sticky test at the beginning of this week. 
• Students edited their glue recipe and made a second glue. The class noted the new sticky test results. Students loved and appreciated the hands-on experiments we have been doing in Science.

SEL:

• This week’s SEL focus was on welcoming our new art teacher, Ms. Pitcher. The guiding questions were, “How would you feel going to a new place?” and “What can we do to make Ms. Pitcher feel welcomed at Decatur?” These questions provided students with an opportunity to reflect on their own experiences and consider how they could help Ms. Pitcher enjoy her work.

Math: 

• This week in Math students finished chapter 9 and 10 of Unit 4- Relating Multiplications to Divisions
• Students explored the Distributive Property and learned to decompose rectangles and expressions in different ways to determine their areas or products 

ELA:

• This week in reading, the class finished chapter 3 of Frida Khalo. Students demonstrated their understanding of the reading skills such as, visualizing events, character traits, and analyzing facts. 
• This week in writing, students reviewed Parts of a Paragraph, Topic Sentence, Supporting Sentences, and Conclusion Sentence. Students picked their first prompt for the opinion writing and wrote three reasons that connect to their opinions. 

Science/Social Studies: 

• This week in Social Studies students continued their investigation to answer the  essential question “How do people's Wants and Needs are connected”. 
• The class will continue to investigate resources to make the sticky glue.

SEL:

• This week in SEL our focus was on understanding the difference between joking and teasing. Joking is saying funny things, making friends laugh. It is between friends. Teasing is to make fun of someone by playfully saying unkind and hurtful things. It can be friendly, but can turn unkind quickly.
• The focused questions were, What can you do if your teasing hurts someone else's feelings? “How can you help someone who is being teased?”

Math:

• This week in Math, Students learned strategies to Compare and contrast one-digit whole numbers by a multiple of `10`.  
• Students learned to Compare different representations and strategies of solving multiplication problems within `100` where 1 factor is a teen number.
• Students were allowed to use base ten blocks and square centimeters worksheets to practice finding products of multiplication problems. 

ELA:

• This week in Reading students continued reading Frida Kahlo. The class finished chapter 5 of the biography. Students identified important settings, nonfiction text features, and juicy words from chapter 1-5.
• This week in Foundations, students focused on identifying long vowel spelling patterns, including long 'e', 'i', and 'a'.
• This week in writing, students practiced opinion writing and started their opinion planning that goes along with the article Finders Keepers.

Science/Social Studies:

• This week in Social Studies we focused on the community's wants and needs. We discussed the difference between a want and a need. The class started the lesson 2: Goods & Services.
• This week in Science, Students read the book “Can you Change it Back” with their partners. The class continued to plan their experiment to make the stickiest glue.

SEL:

• This week in SEL, we talked about our school value of “taking care of each other.” We discussed how showing kindness towards each other is one way to take care of one another.
• Focused questions included: “What does taking care of each other look like to you?” and “How do you think you can take care of each other in the classroom?”
• This week, students participated in a kindness project we created for Mr. Murray to celebrate School Counselors Week.

Math:

• This week in math, students compared and contrasted strategies for solving division problems with greater numbers. They did a great job explaining why they chose a particular strategy for a given division problem.
• The class will be taking an end-of-unit assessment next week. We will spend time reviewing and practicing the strategies we have learned the day before the assessment.

ELA:

• This week in reading, students finished their novel Frida Kahlo.
• Next week, we have a special virtual visit with the author of our novel! The students will be able to ask questions and share their love and understanding of the book.
• In Foundations, students sorted R-influenced words and took a spelling test.
• In writing, students completed their final opinion pieces in response to the question: “Would you keep the $20 you found on the sidewalk?”

Science/Social Studies:

• In science, students tested the stickiness of cornstarch and water (not heated) compared to cornstarch and water (heated and then cooled). Their design goal was to create a sticky glue.
• In social studies, students explored the essential question: “How do producers and consumers depend on one another?”

The class had a great time participating in the Lunar New Year performance and celebration, where they learned about the traditions and significance of the holiday.

SEL:
This week in SEL, we talked about things that annoy us at school or at home. This discussion helped the class understand what bothers their classmates and how to be more considerate by avoiding those behaviors.

Math:
This week in Math, students started Unit 5- Fractions as Numbers. We completed Chapters 1-3, and the class demonstrated strong background knowledge of fractions. Our goal was to describe whole composite shapes and their parts, as well as to show an understanding of equal parts of a whole using words and numbers.

ELA:
In Reading, students read the paired text Ketchup and Mustard. They compared and contrasted the main ideas and identified important facts from the text.
In Writing, students began planning their opinion pieces on The Best Parts of Me. The class started drafting reasons and ideas for their opinion writing. 

Science/Social Studies:
In Science, students explored the book Interesting Ingredients with partners to learn about ingredients with strong adhesive qualities. The class was introduced to new glue ingredients- corn syrup and gelatin- and tested their second homemade glue.
In Social Studies, we completed Lesson 3 on Producers and Consumers.

Week 24: 

SEL:
-This week in SEL, our focus was on Decatur's value of “Enduring Challenges.” The focus questions were: “Can you share a time when you faced a challenge and kept going? What helped you push through?” and “What is something you have worked hard at and improved over time? How did it feel?”

Math:
- In Math, students worked on fractions and completed lessons 4-6. They did a great job understanding non-unit fractions—fractions where the numerator is greater than 1, representing multiple parts of a whole. Students also learned how to represent non-unit fractions on a number line.

ELA:
- In Reading, students explored poetry and read “Winter Poem.” They examined the poem’s vocabulary and discussed what poems always and often include. The class also learned about personification (giving human traits to non-human things) and alliteration (repetition of beginning sounds in words).

In Foundations, students sorted r-influenced vowels with the -or, -ore, and -oar spelling patterns. They completed a word sort during center time.

- In Writing, students finished adding details to their opinion pieces titled “The Best Part of Me.”

Science/Social Studies:
- In Social Studies, students finished the lesson on producers and consumers. the class understood how the relationships between producers and consumers.

- In Science, students applied their knowledge of different ingredient properties to complete their final glue mixture, designed to be both sticky and strong. They then used their homemade glue to create picture frames.

On February 28th, Ramadan began. This holy month lasts until March 29th. Happy Ramadan to everyone who celebrates!

SEL:

• In SEL, the class reviewed Decatur's Values- Be Present, Endure Challenges, and Take Care of Each Other. The focused questions for the talking circle this week were “What Decatur Pillar did you follow this week? What did you do?” and “What could you change about yourself to become a better person?”

Math: 

• In Math students gained understanding on locating non-unit fractions on the number line, including those less than and greater than `1`. We learned how to identify fractions and equivalent fractions that are equal to whole numbers.
• The class finished lesson 9. Students took a sub unit quiz this week. 

ELA:

• This week in Reading our focus was on Folktales. Students learned about the characteristics, elements, character traits, and lesson vs. theme in different folktales.

• This week in Foundations students explored Ambiguous vowels. Our focus this week was on -wa, -al, and -ough sounds. 
• This week in Writing students edited and revised their opinion writing “The Best Part of Me.” Students added similes and metaphors to their writing piece. 

Science/Social Studies:

• This week in Science we ended the unit on Properties of Materials. Students made drawings for the frame we made out of our final glue.
• This week in Social studies we started a new lesson “The Goods We Use”. The essential question is “Where do the Goods we use come from?”

SEL: 

• This week, we used our SEL time for Wellness Week. We talked about snacks that give us energy, help us grow, and make us feel good, as well as snacks that might taste yummy but don’t provide our bodies with the nutrients they need. The focus questions were: “What is one new healthy snack you want to try?” and “Why is it more important to drink water than sugary drinks?”

Math:

• This week in Math, students took a sub-unit quiz to demonstrate their understanding of fractions on a number line.
• We also finished Lesson 11- Unit 5. Our goal was to understand equivalent fractions and why fractions must refer to the same-sized whole when determining equivalence.

ELA:

• This week in Reading, students read about an orangutan named Gerhana. They sequenced events in the story, identified important details, and created a final project in the form of a poster, mini-book, or newspaper.
• In Foundations, students focused on -ur, -ure, and -ur with a silent e. They completed a word sort to reinforce the different word sounds.
• In Writing, students finished their final opinion piece on “The Best Part of Me.”

Social Studies:

• This week in Social Studies, students finished Unit 3: Economics: People and Places Connected. Second Graders showed great interest in learning about wants & needs, producers & consumers, businesses, farmers, goods & services. It was exciting to see students making connecting lessons to their personal lives and the communities they live in.

Update on first two weeks of April:

On Wednesday, April 2nd, 2025, your child will begin receiving Personal Health and Safety Education as part of the CPS Sexual Health Education Policy. The lessons for Second Grade are:

The Board acknowledges that parents/guardians are the primary sexuality educators for their child/children.  Decatur is committed to partnering with you to provide supplementary instruction to students via the sexual health education lessons.

In alignment with Illinois law  (“No pupil shall be required to take or participate in any class or course on AIDS or family life instruction if his parent or guardian submits written objection thereto, and refusal to take or participate in the course or program shall not be reason for suspension or expulsion of the pupil.”  105 ILCS 110/3), a parent/guardian must provide a timely written objection to opt their child/children out of participating in any CPS Sexual Health Education course. No student with a written parental objection will be suspended or expelled for refusal to participate in any such course. If you wish to have your child excused from participation, please inform me in writing or via email by Friday, March 21st.

SEL:

• This week in SEL our focus was on Showing Compassion. Students learned and shared about what showing compassion means to them? What is one way they can show compassion in the classroom?

Math:

• This week in Math students finished Unit 5: Lesson 14 
• This class spent some math time to play board games and Bingo Fractions.

ELA:

• This week in Reading the students read the books “Hottest, Coldest, Highest, Deepest.” The students learned the new vocabulary related to the text. We learned about making connections, main ideas using important details. 
• This week in ELA students took a spelling test on the ‘R’ influenced words.
• This week in Writing, students started using their ipads and wrote their final draft on “The Best Part of Me” on the google classroom. 

Science/Social Studies:

• This week in Science, the class started new unit on landforms and spent some time reading facts about landforms with their partners
• This week in social studies, the class started new Unit 4: Working and taking actions together. 

Update: On Thursday, April 3rd,  2025, your child will begin receiving Personal Health and Safety Education as part of the CPS Sexual Health Education Policy.  The lessons for Second Grade are:

The Board acknowledges that parents/guardians are the primary sexuality educators for their child/children.  Decatur is committed to partnering with you to provide supplementary instruction to students via the sexual health education lessons.

In alignment with Illinois law  (“No pupil shall be required to take or participate in any class or course on AIDS or family life instruction if his parent or guardian submits written objection thereto, and refusal to take or participate in the course or program shall not be reason for suspension or expulsion of the pupil.”  105 ILCS 110/3), a parent/guardian must provide a timely written objection to opt their child/children out of participating in any CPS Sexual Health Education course. No student with a written parental objection will be suspended or expelled for refusal to participate in any such course.

SEL:

• This week in SEL, use the circle to talk about Spring break. The focused questions were, “What is one thing you appreciate about your break from school?” and “ What is your FAVORITE thing about Spring?

Math:

• This week in Math students reviewed lessons on Fractions. 
• The class finished Lesson 15. Students learned how to compare any 2 unit fractions based on their denominators and how that relates to the number of equal parts in `1` same-sized whole.
• We had Math centers and played Fractions Bingo.

ELA:

• This week in Reading the students read the paired text about the history of Ice and Ice Cream. Students completed KWL chart on Icy History.
• This week in Writing students worked on their spring break writing. Students completed worksheet on Spring Snapshot with pictures, labels and added details to their drawings. 

Science/Social Studies:

• This week in Social Studies students started Unit 4: Lesson 2- How does our Government work. Students learned about roles and responsibilities of the different levels of government, including the three branches of the federal government.  
• This week we started Health and Safety lessons. The class finished Lesson 1 and Lesson 2

It was so nice connecting with parents this week! I’m truly looking forward to finishing this year strong. Thank you for all the support you provide at home to help our kids thrive in the classroom! I also want to express my heartfelt thanks for the amazing EID wishes and the generous gift card. I’ll be sure to enjoy it with my family!

SEL:

• This week, we focused on the importance of settling back into a routine after time away. The class also engaged in discussions about perseverance—what it means, why it matters, and how it helps us overcome challenges.

Math:

• Students wrapped up Unit 5: Fractions as Numbers. On Thursday, they took a practice assessment to sharpen their skills, and on Friday, they completed the final unit assessment. Great effort all around!

ELA:

• Reading: We delved into the history of the Great Chicago Fire. Students explored the events that led to the disaster and visualized the city while identifying critical mistakes that contributed to the fire.
• The class is very excited to start our second novel "I Survived the Great Chicago Fire" next week.

Writing:

• Our focus was on verbs. Students learned about action verbs as well as singular and plural forms.
• Foundations: We began Unit 6 with an introduction to diphthongs -oi and -oy. Students completed a word sort activity and practiced spelling by changing beginning consonants to form new words.

Science & Social Studies:

• Social Studies: We continued investigating how the government works and discussed how individuals, including students can work with leaders to make positive changes in their communities.
• Science: Students shared their understanding of landforms and explored what they are made of. Working in pairs, they read and discussed a book all about different landforms.

SEL:

• The focus this week was on responding to the attention getters that adults do to get the class focused and ready, like call-and-responses, claps, or countdowns. 
• The focused questions were What attention getters does Ms. Khatoon use the most? How do you usually feel when we use it? What happens when some students respond and others don’t? How does it affect the class?

Math:

• This week in Math we finished Lessons 5-7 of unit 6 and took a sub unit quiz. 
• The goal this week was to Justify the choice of scale based on the data being represented. weights of objects in grams and kilograms. Explore grams (g) and kilograms (kg).

ELA:

• This week in Reading, the class took an assessment on chapters 1-5 of the novel “The Great Chicago Fire, 1871”. The focused objectives for reading this week was to identify similes, metaphors, and important settings. 
• This week in Writing students finished adding detail to their informational writing on Slimy Sea Slugs.
• This week in foundations we continued to learn about Diphthongs and Ambiguous vowels. Students completed a word sort and took an assessment on silent consonants Diphthongs.

Social Studies/Science:

• This week in Social studies we started lesson 4: Together Around the world. Students are learning about ways that governments around the world cooperate with each other and have been Identifying world problems that people have to solve together. 
• This week in Science students are learning about Changing Landforms. Students used their senses to understand the different sands and their properties. The class also learned about how to visualize something even if you cannot see it.

SEL:

• This week, we talked about what it means to be a good friend. Our guiding questions were: What does being a good friend mean to you? and What is one quality you look for in a friend? Students shared thoughtful insights and had great conversations about kindness, trust, and respect.

Math:

• We wrapped up our Unit 6 assessment and began Unit 7: Two-Dimensional Shapes and Perimeter. Students are learning how to describe and compare shapes using their attributes. They are doing a fantastic job identifying and explaining what makes a rectangle, square, and rhombus unique!

ELA:

• In Reading, we completed our novel I Survived the Great Chicago Fire, 1871. Students focused on how characters’ feelings changed, the importance of setting, key events, and the theme. They also practiced using text evidence to support their thinking and completed the draft for their end-of-novel project.
• In Writing, we wrapped up our informational pieces on Slimy Sea Slugs! Students also began learning about the continents and chose one to research. Next week, they’ll dive into their informational research reports using books assigned on Epic.

Social Studies & Science:

• In Social Studies, we concluded our lesson on Being a Hero. Students explored different sources to understand how everyday people can be heroes. They reflected on what makes someone a hero and how we decide to give that title.
• In Science, we continued investigating how landforms change. Students observed pumice rocks formed from volcanic eruptions and explored how pieces break off from landforms over time.

Important Note – Show Week is Here!
Next week is Moana Jr. Show Week! Our Second Graders are thrilled and full of excitement. It is going to be a busy and fun-filled week with rehearsals and classroom lunches. Please take a moment to talk with your child about the importance of:

• Respecting others' boundaries
  
  
• Following school and classroom expectations
  
  
• Being a problem-solver

Thank you for your partnership!

Second Graders had an amazing time during Show Week! They did a fantastic job following expectations and demonstrating flexibility with our adjusted schedule. I am so proud of their hard work and enthusiasm!

SEL: 

• This week, we reflected on the show and revisited class expectations. During our talking circle, students shared thoughts about the spring musical. Our guiding questions were: What part of the musical are you most excited to perform or see come to life? and If you could trade roles for a day, who would you want to play and why?

Math:

• In Math, we wrapped up Lesson 5 this week. Students explored attributes of shapes, learning to describe and identify rectangles, squares, and rhombuses, as well as draw quadrilaterals that don’t fall into these categories. The class also completed Sub-Unit Quiz A.

ELA

• In Reading, students focused on enhancing the details in their final mini-projects based on our class novel. We also watched an informational video on The Great Chicago Fire and completed an assessment to demonstrate understanding of the text.
• In Writing, students completed their research papers on their chosen continents and began creating their final informational writing books.

Social Studies/Science:

• In Social Studies, we continued with Unit 5: Making a Difference. Students are reflecting on how individuals and groups can positively contribute to their communities.

Wishing you a relaxing and joyful Memorial Day weekend with your loved ones!

Second Graders had an amazing time on their field trip! I am so proud of how well they listened and followed all of the field trip expectations! 

SEL: 

• This week, our SEL focus was on respecting adults and making safe choices. Students participated in discussions and activities that helped reinforce these important life skills

Math:

• We wrapped up Lesson 8 this week. Students learned how to draw different polygons with the same perimeter and determine the perimeter of polygons using all or some side lengths. Students will be taking Sub-Unit Quiz 2 on Thursday next week.

ELA

• In Reading, Students read and illustrated the poem “A Circle of the Sun.” They also showed their understanding by completing a comprehension assessment.
• In Writing, We began our Second Grade Memory Books! Students reflected on their favorite memories and experiences from the year as they completed several pages.

Social Studies & Science:

• In Science, Students continued exploring how landforms change over time. Students learned that water, erosion, and weathering are key forces that can reshape land.
• In Social Studies, this week’s focus was on the essential question, “How does creativity connect us?” Students analyzed written documents, artwork, and objects to explore how creativity brings people together. We also started Unit 5, Lesson 4: "Being Strong", where students learned about individuals who demonstrated strength and perseverance while fighting for rights and inspiring others.

SEL:

• In SEL our focus was on how we can end the year with positivity. Students talked about what they accomplished in 2nd grade. They shared their favorite memories of second grade and made friendship bracelets for their buddies. 

Math:

• In Math we finished unit 7- Two Dimentional shapes & Perimeters. Students did a great job solving Area & Perimeter of rectangles. The class showed their understanding by drawing rectangles with the same perimeter and different areas.

ELA:

• Students read a paired text about the most crowded and loneliest place on Earth. We have spent time doing art, free draw, and cut and glue activities
• This week in Writing students finished their Second Grade Memory books.

Science & Social Studies :

• In Science and Social Studies, we completed the final units and students demonstrated a strong understanding of how landforms change over time. They explored books and made thoughtful observations about the processes that shape landforms. Additionally, students showed a deep understanding of the importance of bravery and standing up for others, engaging meaningfully with these concepts through discussions and classroom activities.