MATH: Place Value and Odd/Even Students will identify place and value of numbers to 999. They will Identify numbers as odd or even and order greatest to least and least to greatest. We’ll know we’ve “got it” when we can compose and decompose numbers in picture, standard, and expanded forms. SCIENCE: Scientif ic Processes and Inquiry Students will record inquiries in their science journals following the scientific method. We will experiment with “dancing raisins” and “bleeding color markers” this week. We’ll know we’ve “got it” when we can complete an inquiry based experiment safely and following the scientific method.

Notes from Mrs. Long First, I would like to thank all of you who have donated supplies so far! You are very much appreciated and because of your generosity, the students are able to take their learning to the next level with several hands on inquiry based science experiments J This week I wanted to let you know a little about the “7 habits” you may be hearing your child talk about at home. The 7 Habits of Happy Kids is a spin off of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. Second grade is a big transition year for your child with the end goal being preparing them to be successful third graders. Two teachers, lockers, keeping up with their things between two classrooms, self responsibility, and managing our own behavior are all goals we hope to master this year. The 7 habits is a tool I use to help put these goals into “kid language”. Each week we will talk about a different habit for 5-10 minutes each morning. Once we get through the 7th, we will start over and will have covered each habit 5 times through the end of the year. The first round is really an introduction of the habits and the second round is when the kiddos really start to connect the habits to their daily routines at school AND at home. I encourage the kids to lead our 7 habits discussion in the mornings and use every opportunity I can find to tie our habit of the week into our learning. I have found that the habits really help the kiddos to start thinking about the consequences of their choices (positive and negative), as well as help them learn to manage their own behaviors. The end goal is for them to all be self-sufficient, self-managing, responsible learners by the time they leave me for 3rd grade! You can also use the 7 habits at home! The book is available on Amazon and there are several story books to go along with each habit that are also available.

What we are learning this week:

7 Habits of Happy Kids Habit #2: BEGIN WITH THE END

IN MIND We have spent our morning meeting time this week discussing ways to begin with the end in mind.

• Set a goal • Make a plan to achieve your goal • Each student is an IMPORTANT part of our class

WHAT’S COMING UP Tuesday, Sept 10: 2nd Grade Parent Night 6-7:30 Mary Marek Cafeteria Monday, Sept 23: Student Holiday Fr iday, Sept 27: Math Unit Test #1 (graphs, place value, addit ion, and subtraction <20)

SCHOOL/HOME CONNECTION

How Can I Extend My Child’s Classroom Learning At Home?

HOMEWORK: ASTROS will begin coming home Monday-Wednesday this week. Encourage your child to use what we have learned in class to complete their homework. We will go over homework together in class each day. Pleas encourage your child to do his/her best to solve the problems on their own and make any notes of any problems they may run into so we can address them in class. J STRATEGIES PLACE VALUE AND ODD/EVEN NUMBERS The students have probably already told you how tired they are of hearing me say, “every paper has a home”. They will soon be sick of hearing “every number has a home”!

1. DRAW A PLACE VALUE CHART (Ones, tens, hundreds). Each number really does have a “home” and represents a value depending on its home. Our goal in second grade is to increase awareness of the VALUE of digits depending on their place to allow students to easily compose and decompose numbers. For example, 7 in the ones place = 7. 7 in the tens place = 70. 7 in the hundreds place =700. No place can have more than 1 digit. Once you get to 10, you trade in for the “house” next door.

2. ONES COME IN PAIRS! I teach the students to draw their ones in pairs to make it easier to identify evens and odds. Evens all have a partner. Odds will have an “odd man out”!.

SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY Scientific inquiry is all about having the students use what they already know to make an educated guess (hypothesis) about what the result of their experiment will be. They will then use critical thinking skills to reflect on the results of the experiment to explain why the result did or did not match their hypothesis. Talk to your kids about the experiments from their science journal and prompt them to use their critical thinking skills to EXPLAIN the experiment results to you. INVESTIGATING AT HOME There are several investigations you can do with your child at home found on Pinterest, teacherspayteachers, etc. The kids LOVE science experiments! Most can be done for little to no cost and will work wonders for your child’s critical thinking and problem solving skills. If you have some extra time on the weekend, let your child choose and experiment and let them play teacher and guide you through the scientific process. I love to hear about investigations they have completed at home and they definitely love to share with me and their friends in class! J

Our Week In Pictures “I ‘moustache’ you a question”

Students created their own question, polled the class, and used the data to CREATE their own graphs!

Megan Mendoza Luke Thomas

Morgan Slade

SUPER Students! These students filled their clips with stars this week! Students get a star for

their clip for each day they end on SUPER student on the conduct stick! Once their clip is full, they get their choice of a classroom privilege and their clip

and picture go on the wall of fame J