Second Grade Newsletter
April, 2016
Mark Your Calendars…
April 4 – Welcome Back from Spring Break
April 7 – Dine-Out @ Gentleman Jim’s from 11-9pm
April 8 – Last Day of Quarter 3
April 11 – Quarter 4 Begins
April 12 – Spring Picture Day
April 22 – Field Trip to Imagination Stage
- Q3 Report Cards Go Home
- PTA Fun Run from 6-8 pm
April 26 – Primary Election Day – No School
April 28 – “Take Your Child to Work” Day
Reminders…
Please remember to review the
skills on the homework sheet with
your child every week. Please sign
and return it to school every Friday.
 Your child should be reading for at
least 20 minutes each night. Books
include those chosen from the
media center and guided reading
books.
They should be re-read
multiple times to increase fluency
and reinforce key vocabulary.
 Don’t forget to check out the
MCPS link for this month’s math and
reading newsletters.
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/
curriculum/2.0/parent-newsletters.aspx

Spring is here, and we are looking
forward to the beginning of the fourth
quarter as a great time to continue
learning and making friends here at
Goshen.
We would like to take this
opportunity to give a great BIG THANK
YOU to all of our parent volunteers. Your
dedication and support are greatly
appreciated!
Reading
We will continue to give our students the
tools to do their job of reading. Through
mini-lessons and small group instruction, we
are working towards both fluency and
comprehension. Our goal is for our students
to become independent readers with
multiple strategies to monitor their own
reading comprehension.
During the fourth quarter, we will read and
identify figurative language and rhythm in
poetry. We also will examine word nuances
to recognize the slight differences in the
meanings of various vocabulary words. In
addition to poetry, our students will explore
informational texts. They will continue to ask
and answer questions, clarify meaning, use
text features, explore the connection
between historical events and series of
scientific ideas, and identify the main topic
and key details of a text.
Math
We continue to promote academic
discourse in our classrooms because we
know that this is extremely important in
creating logical, mathematical thinkers. We
will also continue to use our knowledge to
become problem solvers. This quarter, we
will revisit number sense. Our students will
continue to build their strength with basic
facts (addition and subtraction) within 20.
When they know these facts flexibly, it allows
them to be more successful with more
difficult math topics in the future. We will
also continue to compose and decompose
tens in two- and three-digit addition and
subtraction problems.
The Second Grade Team
Mrs. Krempel, Mrs. Lipari, Mr. Lohmeier,
Mrs. Luckenbaugh, Mrs. Monarch, & Mrs. Page
This is important, and we know that our students can do it!
Writing
We will continue to integrate writing across the
curriculum providing students with various
experiences. We are looking at how “good
writers” (authors) write – their styles, tones,
techniques, and voices – and we will use them as
our exemplary models.
Our students enjoy
writing when it is made meaningful for them. We
try to provide opportunities that make writing fun,
while at the same time, teach new skills, such as
writing poetry and setting personal goals.
Science/Social Studies
In science, we will compare plant life cycles with
animal life cycles. These patterns of change
enable us to tie this information together and
help our children make sense of the information.
We will also begin our exciting exploration of
butterflies and their life cycle. All of our second
graders will get to experience this life cycle firsthand in our classrooms!
In social studies, we will study change as it is
presented through cycles, timelines, and
biographies of important people. Our students
will also have the opportunity to learn about the
contributions of government leaders, activists,
heroes, and others to the United States of
America.
Specials
Music: Our students will listen to and describe music that
illustrates fast/slow and loud/soft. We will focus on
dynamics and tempo, while introducing the vocabulary
words - piano, forte, lento, and allegro.
Happy Birthday!
Hope you have a very Special Day!
Charlie Skaggs – 4/1
Teddy Muehlenbeck – 4/2
Alexis Whelan – 4/2
Sophia Ott – 4/12
Martin Cardenas-Sorto – 4/20
Daylen White – 4/21
Matthew Bradford – 4/26
Zhyaire Maxwell – 4/27
Aryana Bahmani – 4/28
Adam Le – 4/28
Unifying Question:
How does identifying what you know or can
do help you to set an achievable, yet
challenging, goal?
Critical Thinking Skill: Synthesis
 I organize parts to find a new or
unique whole.
 I integrate ideas, information, and
theories to invent or devise a solution.
Art: Second grade students have been learning about clay
- what it is and where it comes from. We are learning the
properties of this much-loved material. It can be shaped
while moist, and when it is dry, we can fire it in the kiln.
After this first firing, we call this hard, durable ware
-----------------------------------------------------------------------ceramics.
We are learning about glazes, and we are
painting them onto our ceramics. The glazed ceramics are
fired a second time, and during that firing, the glazes turn
Academic
into beautiful, colored glass.
PE: Second grade students will focus on dribbling with
their feet to start the fourth quarter.
Information Literacy in the Computer Lab: The week that
we come back from spring break will be the final week for
Q3. Our students are finishing up their quarter-long
PowerPoint projects about their technology tool topics.
Each student will have completed four slides that include
inserting images and text boxes. They will finish up by
selecting a background/design theme, changing fonts,
colors, and sizes of their text, and adding the “fun”
transitions for their presentations. Finally, we will have a
gallery walk, so classes can view each other’s hard work!
Next, we will move into Q4 and end the month of April
with poetry. In information literacy, our students will type
one of their poems and illustrate it using digital tools.
Success Skill:
Effort/Motivation/Persistence
 I demonstrate various strategies to
achieve a goal or to solve a problem.
 I self-assess my effectiveness and
redirect my efforts to achieve the
best results.
 I set an achievable, yet challenging,
goal for myself.