January 2011

Dear Parents,

Your second graders are currently learning about a variety of new subjects and are developing many new skills.
In Math we're continuing to work towards the end-of-second-grade goal of memorizing the addition and subtraction facts to 20. I've begun giving the students a timed addition (or subtraction) test once a week to track their progress. Most students will be bringing home an addition facts game to help them master these facts. If your child is still working to memorize the basic facts to 10, he or she will bring home a game specific to facts to 10. If your child has mastered the facts to 10, he will bring home a game of facts to 20. Playing this at home with the help of parents or older siblings should help in memorizng the basic facts and developing strategies for memorizing or quickly calculating answers. Students who have mastered addition facts to 20 wil be working on subtraction facts to 20. Most adults are surprised to learn that memorizing addition and subtraction facts are two separate processes in the minds of children.
We are also exploring measurement in Math. We're learning more about telling time and have learned to use rulers to measure length in inches and cetimeters. We're also learning to read the temperature on a thermometer.
In Science we're learning about weather and how it affects our lives. We've studied the water cycle. Did you know that all the water currently on Earth, in one form or another, is the same water that was on Earth during the era of the dinosaurs? We're also learning to identify the three main types of clouds and what kind of weather you can generally expect ot find under certain cloud conditions.
In Social Studies we've been learning about two subjects. We've learned more aobut Martin Luther kIng and the Civil Rights struggle. We're also learning about inventions and how they've changed our lives.
Valentines Day is Monday, February 14th. We will have a small party in the classroom that afternoon. Our class will exchange valentines at that time. Please look for a copy of this newsletter to go home with your child. That copy will have a list of our students on it so that you can insure that your child is able to give a valentine to all of his or her classmates.