Ms. Pickens’ 2nd Grade November 2016 News Calendar November 7th Beginning of 2nd Quarter November 8th Election Day – No School November 11th November Book Order Due November 14th Tom Turkey Project Due November 17th & 21st Parent/Teacher Conferences November 23rd-25th Thanksgiving Break-No School Happy Birthday 6th – Hailey 28th – Ms. Pickens Pizza Hut Book-It! Don’t forget to turn in your October Book-It calendar, and start on the November calendar. All second grade students are required and encouraged to read 20 minutes a night as homework, so you might as well earn a pizza for all of your hard work! November’s Learning Targets Phonics – ir, er, ur, s, es, ai, ay, ee, ea, y Grammar- adjectives, antonyms and synonyms, adverbs, and verb tenses Writing– d’nealian, paragraphs, indents and spacing, Narrative writing with a beginning, middle, end Math – Numbers to 1,000 & 2-Digit addition and subtraction S.S. & Science– Montana Reservations/Tribes and Native Americans, The 1st Thanksgiving Olweus Bullying Program and MBI Remember to wear your Olweus t-shirt every Friday!!! We are continuing to define and discuss bullying rules and consequences. Students are also learning to distinguish small problems (cutting in line) vs. big problems (hitting). I’m so proud of our class, they are building a wonderful classroom community. You might hear your child talk about the monthly student awards. This is a building-wide program, which showcases students who follow the MBI (Montana Behavior Initiative) theme of the month. The October theme was responsibility and safety, our class winners were Lucy and Kellen! Way to go! November's theme is honesty. What’s Happening in Second Grade Students had a great time learning about bats. They were so intrigued at all of the new discoveries they made. Make sure to ask them all about bats!! In math, 2nd graders have been very busy writing numbers in multiple ways and working on their basic addition and subtraction facts to 20. Please practice these facts at home! We had a wonderful time on the fall field trip and it turned out to be a beautiful day, despite the wet October we had! I hope your child had many fun things to share with you about our exciting day. I was so impressed with all of the new foods they tried on the farm! The Halloween Parade and party was also a very fun day in 2nd grade!  November will be a very busy month. Students will start practicing their Christmas program (The Polar Express), we will start a unit on Native Americans and Reservations in Montana, and do many exciting crafts and projects. Parent Teacher Conferences will be in November and I look forward to visiting with you all towards the end of the month. Enjoy your remaining days of fall! 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! Thank you for all you do at home!! Don’t forget to remind your student to write a descriptive sentence in their agenda nightly!