March’s Learning Focus What’s Happening in Second Grade Ms. Pickens’ 2nd Grade March 2017 News Calendar March 3rd March Book Orders Due March 7th – 9th CogAT Testing March 20th – 24th Spring Break – No School March 28th Habitat Diorama Supplies Due March 30th In-Class Habitat Diorama Project March 31st End of 3rd Quarter Homework Continue to read for 20 minutes a night at home and add these minutes to all three of the current reading incentives going on. Practice math facts up to 20, student should have these mastered by the end of 2nd grade. Practice counting money, making change, and reading an analog clock. March’s Learning Focus Phonics- suffixes: -ly, -ful, -er, -or, prefixes: un-, re-, pre-, dis-, words with kn, wr, gn, mb Grammar- Irregular verbs, collective nouns, comparative adjectives Math- Money, Time, and Measurement Writing- Opinion and letter writing, spelling test words should always be correct! Capitals, capitals, capitals! Handwriting – Line use, making sure are letters are not too small. D’Nealian formation for the transition to cursive. Science and Social Studies- Habitats and St. Patrick’s Science Experiments! Olweus- Friendships and Kindness What’s Happening in Second Grade I want to start by saying how great Read Across America Week is going. I am loving all of the fun and creative dress-up ideas. February started with our 100 day rockstar celebration! Students had a great time and were very excited about their rockstar gear. Your 2nd grader is about 64 days away from being a 3rd grader!  We have also been spending a lot of time talking about kindness and how just one random act of kindness can change the world around them. Students wrote stories about living in snow globes and used non-fiction texts to find facts about famous presidents. Lastly, our class has developed some amazing knowledge about rocks, I hope they share some of that with all of you. I can see that there may be a few geology degrees earned in 15 years! March will bring us into our habitat unit and habitat diorama projects, St. Patrick’s Day fun, spring science experiments, and the end of the third quarter. Remember it is the last month for the Book-It reading program, Silverwood Reading Program slips are due March 15th, and the Hit the Books reading program starts this month! Thanks for all of your support at home! CogAT Testing Next week, March 7th – 9th, your student will be taking a series of Cognitive Abilities Tests. We will be taking these tests first thing in the morning. Please make sure your child is to school on time and has a healthy breakfast! Your student will be tested on how well they can solve verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal problems. There will be no spelling next week, March 6-10 due to CogAT testing. PLEASE REMEMBER TO BRING IN DIORAMA SUPPLIES BY MARCH 28TH!!!!! More Information to follow! Comments, questions and concerns – Contact me! By Phone – School 721-2160 ext. 2080 By E-mail – apickens@hellgate.k12.mt.us In person – Feel free to stop by! Weather Spring hasn’t arrived just yet, and Montana’s weather is constantly changing. Students need to have warm clothes as it can still be very chilly in the morning. Please send them to school with a jacket. We have had many chats on when they will be allowed to go outside in short sleeves.  Thanks!