February 2016
Dear Parents of second graders,
It’s hard to believe that we are already halfway
through the school year! We hope you enjoyed
the historic blizzard last week and were able to
spend quality time with your family.
Please
continue to dress your child in layers during this
month of constant temperature changes.
As part of this month’s Reading/Language Arts
program, your child will continue to study informational text. The students
will ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of key details in
a text and determine the meaning of the word technology, a word relevant to
social studies, science, and writing.
Additionally, students will read
informational text to explore how authors use reasons to support points.
They use this knowledge to supply reasons in their own writing. Students will
also compare and contrast the most important points presented by two texts
on the same topic. Finally, the students will describe connections between
concepts (cause and effect), identify the main purpose of a text, and explain
how specific images contribute to or clarify a text.
Your child will investigate technology and will write an opinion piece in
response to the question: What technology tool is most important to you and
why? Students will introduce their topic and supply reasons from their own
background knowledge and from research in class. Students will gather
information from eBooks, print materials, online resources and peers.
Measurement with metric units (centimeters, meters) and U.S. standard
units (inches, feet and yards) is the Math focus this month. Students will
use materials to measure the lengths of objects in centimeters. Students
will create models of meter sticks and measure using the models.
Additionally, they will compare lengths and continue to practice addition and
subtraction of 2 and 3 digits numbers as students solve word problems.
Students will also create line plots to display the lengths of objects. Finally,
students will estimate lengths of objects and compare actual lengths to
estimates. Help your child by having them figure out answers to questions
using “How much (longer, shorter, …)” and “How many in all?”
In Social Studies this month we will be learning about technology in our lives
and how new technologies change the way we live, work and play. Students
will compare the methods of transportation and communication. They will
determine how these technologies have changed over time and how they
affect our daily life. We will also be identifying the natural, capital and
human resources used to produce a good or service.
During Science, students will observe changes over time in order to look for
patterns that can be used to understand natural cycles in both the
Measurement Topics of Earth & Space Sciences and Life Sciences. To begin
the marking period, we will be enjoying learning about the earth’s moon
surface and the phases the moon goes through as well as the sun and other
stars. Try to make time for your child to observe the moon several times
throughout the month to see the changes in shape and location in the sky.
These observations will take place over several months.
Our Valentine’s Day party will be held in our classroom on Friday afternoon,
February 12. We look forward to a fun afternoon and hope to see you there!
Attached is a class list for your child to use to write Valentine’s Day cards.

There will be no school for students on Monday, February 15 in observation
of President’s Day.
As always, thank you for your home support.
The Second Grade Team,
Mrs. DeHaas
Mrs. Titherington
Mrs. Oxman
Mrs. Levy
Ms. Williams
Mrs. Podor