Week of October 9th-15th

Hi Families,
This week was a short week yet also a long week at the same time! It always takes a little more effort to get back into the swing of things following a long weekend. Nevertheless, students persevered! We had an enlightening All School Assembly about Global Citizenship, had fun listening to classmates read poetry, and enjoyed our waning days of pleasant weather during recess.

Important Dates

• Monday, October 16th: Special Guest Mondays featuring Diane D’Angleo (Emma’s mom) who will share a presentation about Gardening. Looking forward to it!
• Friday, October 20th: PTO Monster Mash (rain date: 10/27).
• Tuesday, October 31st: Fall Party in our classroom! Parent volunteers needed. See below for more details.

Important Notes

• Fall Party in Ms. Kimball’s Class: As part of the Barrows 2nd grade tradition, we will have a little party on Halloween day. From 1:15-2;30pm,, we will take a break from our regularly scheduled academic programming to enjoy some Fall activities and spooky fun! I need parent volunteers to help! If you would like to lead an activity or support an activity, fill out a slot on our Fall Party document. Thank you!
• Monster Mash Raffle: An email was sent about contributing toward the 2nd grade BARBIE raffle basket. A form also went home about purchasing raffle tickets in advance.
• Special Guest Mondays: Consider signing up to be a special guest and share something (about your profession, about a hobby, a story, etc) with the class. See the Special Guest Mondays sign up document for more details.

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Here are some highlights from this week:

Community Building
We launched our Star Ticket recording form for students to enter the “Star Tickets” they receive for being respectful, being safe, persevering, being kind, and collaborating.

Literacy
We launched a 2-week study of poetry this week. We have been reading poems and noticing their rhythm, wordplay, punctuation, patterns, and lessons.

Phonics and Foundational Skills
We reviewed the spelling pattern of vowel-consonant-e and practiced reading and spelling words with a silent e at the end. We had fun talking about “silent e” as a “ninja” –that final “e” is silent, leaps over the consonant, and startles the vowel into saying its name. We also looked at words with suffixes (-ful, -less, -er, and -est).

Writing
We wrote poems this week. Students wrote an acrostic poem and an “I Am” poem. Students also practiced fixing run-on sentences and using words with the vowel-consonant-e spelling pattern.

Math
We continued to analyze data in bar graphs, focusing on comparing 2 amounts using equations and statements. We then worked to create diagrams to represent problems in which we compare 2 amounts. For example, in a situation where 6 kids chose red as their favorite color, and 13 kids chose blue, students could write the equation: 13 - 6 = 7 to find the answer to, “How many more kids chose blue than red? 

Science
We began our investigation into how wind and water shape Earth’s surface. We read a book and watched some videos about weathering and erosion.

​​Thank you for taking the time to read the update! Please reach out with any questions.