Fall is Here!

Fun things are happening in 2nd grade this Fall!

We celebrated Johnny Appleseed's birthday on September 25th by eating delicious homemade applesauce. What a great way to jump start the fall season! In math we tasted and voted on our favorite apples (Granny Smith was the favorite). In Science we made apple observations and in Language Arts we learned about Johnny Appleseed's contributions to America.

On October 14th we are going on our first field trip of the year! We will be visiting the National Building Museum in Washington D.C to engage in a fun activity to learn about communities. Permission slip and and field trip information were sent home in the Homework folders today!

Classroom Updates:

Math:
We have been practicing many of our math skills from counting and identifying coins to comparing numbers and using counting and problem-solving strategies. Our "Investigations" math program is a hands-on approach to learning math that builds on previously learned skills and includes daily routines that reinforce math skills in many areas. The hands-on approach involves students in using math manipulatives or tools to explore math concepts. Next week we will be learning basic math facts that add and subtract 10 and focus on strategies to solve addition and subtraction story problems.

Science:
We just completed an exciting unit on Soil and Erosion. We completed investigations to explore the properties of soil and the "parent" materials that make up soil and its layers. We also investigated soil erosion by observing erosion models made from shoe boxes!

Social Studies:
We began our first social studies unit called "My Community." We learned that a community is a place where people live, work and play together. We will be creating and designing communities as well as learning about rural, urban and suburban communities.

Home-School Connection: While driving in the car with your child, help them point out places in our community where people live, work, and play!

Reading:
This week's reading skill is summarizing. We will be summarizing non-fiction texts by using the strategy of identifying the main idea and details.

Writing:
We learned about the writing trait; organization. We learned how to use "order" or "transition" words in our writing such as first, next, then, also and last.