We wrapped up the year in reading with a nonfiction unit. Reading nonfiction can be hard because there is so much information to take in. We worked on determining the main idea and rereading to gather more information to help us better understand the text. The second graders also learned that when reading nonfiction out loud, their reading voice is different than when reading fiction. Nonfiction readers read out loud in an “expert” voice that teaches the listener. They make their voices pop at important words and build suspense by whispering and slowing down.
On Friday we went to the Drury Lane Theater in Oakbrook to see the musical, James and the Giant Peach. We have been reading the chapter book by Roald Dahl during read aloud. It was an excellent performance! Your second grader’s homework was to tell you three ways the play and the book were the same and three ways they were different. We will discuss on Monday as a class.
In writing we ended our poetry unit and did some letter writing. Everyone wrote and mailed a letter through the school-wide post office (run by Ms. Lee’s first grade classroom). Some children wrote many letters! We also wrote letters to our third grade teachers. The second graders told the teachers a little bit about themselves and asked some good questions. Although we don’t know who that teacher will be yet, I’ll deliver the letters in August when we find out.
Last week we visited several third grade classrooms and had lunch with one of them. The second graders sat with third graders and asked them questions. We walked through two more classrooms and ended the tour by playing in a playground called Pebbles. We found out that Pebbles will soon be developed into an outdoor classroom and a brand new playground will be build next to it. Most second graders are most excited to play in the new playground next year!
In math we ended the year by studying fractions. We worked on dividing shapes into fractions and finding fractions of sets. For example, if I have 15 marbles to share with 5 people, each person will get 3 marbles and 3 is 1/5 of 15. This is a tricky concept that will be revisited again in third grade.
Next week your child will bring home a lot of work from the classroom as well as art from Ms. Mazurek. We are working on an end of year portfolio, which will have various academic activities and writing samples from the year. We hope it is something you cherish forever! We are also sending home a “Kids in the Kitchen” cookbook in the portfolio. We hope you and your young chef will cook your favorite recipes over the summer!
We’d like to give a big THANK YOU to our room parents for all of their help throughout the year: Sandy Davidson, Mirja Haffner, Rachael Lukas, Carol Shilson, Brandi Sandner, and Marina White. We appreciate all of your help with potlucks, Halloween, Valentine’s Day, bringing snacks, and everything else. We would also like to thank everyone who brought Cookie kale and who helped us cook and/or buy ingredients for our cooking. We could not have done it without your help!