1. April 28 - May 1 PTA Book Fair May 1 Mrs. Jao’s class visits the Zoo May 8 Ms. Jacob and Mrs. Chow’s classes visit the Zoo May 28 No School - PD Day 2 nd Grade Important Dates

2. Reading It is really exciting to see how each second grader is growing as a reader. Here are some questions you and your second grader can ask each other when he/she reads just right books independently and when you read interest books together. What is the author trying to tell the reader? Why do you think (pick a character) acted that way? Does this story remind you of something you have done or read about?

3. Writing After composing numerous fictional stories and beautifully written poems this year, we now turn our focus to non-fiction writing. It’s not so much a research paper as it is an expression of a topic they are already are familiar with. For example a student may feel that they are an ‘expert’ at playing soccer so they will use their Writers Workshop time to create a nonfiction piece about soccer. Students will rely on their planning skills, revision and editing skills to put together an informative final product.

4. Spelling The children are continuing to study words with different spelling patterns and high frequency words that they misspell in their daily writing. They often sort the words with different patterns and find other words that fit the pattern. They have been playing games with their words and using their words in sentences.

5. MATH As we continue to work in our 2 nd Math Journal here are some of the concepts we will be looking at: Unit 10 Decimals and Place Value Using money Review estimation: dollars and cents notation Exploring area, polygon and geoboard fractions Unit 11 Whole Number Operations (including multiplication and division operations) Multiplies of equal groups Multiplication and division fact families Unit 12 Review Time measurement Mental and algorithmic computation Data representation and interpretation

6. Insects and Plants What an exciting time it is in the grade two classrooms. All kinds of things are growing and changing right before our eyes. The children have all planted seeds and watched them sprout. We’re hoping to see them flower and produce new seeds before the year ends. All classes have also seen caterpillars form chrysalises. Some butterflies have emerged. It’s exciting to set them free and watch them take flight!

7. ESL We had a wonderful opportunity to discuss the new FOSS science unit, Plants and Insects, and our new genre study, non-fiction, at the April ESL Parent Workshop. to explore our upcoming science unit, Plants and Insects. It was the perfect time to revisit the ‘Language Focus Form’ and discuss how tiered vocabulary can help you to focus on vocabulary your child needs to learn. We will be meeting again on Wednesday, May 6 at 2:35 in room 2A13. Please feel free to come and learn more about what you can do to help your child retain and improve upon their language skills over the summer. Your child may have informed you that the ESL department has begun their assessment process. After meeting with classroom teachers, we will be able to decide upon the ESL status of your child for Grade 3. Please be patient.