Live Food Chain Lesson Provided by the Outdoor Learning Center

Second graders immersed themselves this last two weeks in researching all about insects and animals.  They learned about life cycles and adaptations made by their animal/ insect to survive.   They selected three interesting facts about their animal and insect to share in their reports.  They drew scientific labeled pictures to identify body parts of their insect and their drawings of the animal included it’s habitat. 

Our studies on insects and animals concluded with a live food chain lesson provided by the Outdoor Learning Center education staff.  The entire grade level experienced a lesson in the Christie Learning Commons that they will never forget.  The sun transfers energy to the plants which are producers and then the consumers take over the remainder of the food chain.  This is when the lesson really grabbed the student’s attention.  Live hissing cockroaches were the first consumer introduced that feed on grass.  They were followed by a toad that eats the cockroaches and then a type of lizard that changes color who feasts on the toad.  Next to be introduced, in the same live fashion, was the snake, who was afraid of the noise and tried to hide up the sleeve of the presenter.  The final consumer in the food chain was a live baby alligator.  

No animals were harmed during this lesson; however, it’s my opinion that the students will never forget what they learned and witnessed today at Christie Elementary School.

Measurement Olympics

Hi Parents!

Just as a reminder, there is no tutoring this Tuesday, March 31st, due to STAAR testing.

This Wednesday, our students will participate in the 2^nd grade Measurement Olympics. (Provided the weather cooperates) Students will use their skills acquired in math to measure in Inches, feet, yards, centimeters, and meters. They will also demonstrate their ability to tell time and determine the area of a given space.

Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate.  We will postpone this special event until late April or early May.  We want to make sure it happens after STAAR testing and before MAP testing.  

Week of February 9th-13th

It has been a great week so far.  We are finishing up Geometry and will review addition, subtraction and money.  Next week we will go through the problem-solving model and practice analyzing word problems.  This week the students are learning to identify sequencing within text and how an author might organize their story.  They are also practicing personal narrative and expository writing.  It would be helpful if you had your child practice writing complete sentences at home.  We have moved to science in IC and the students are excited about becoming engineers.  You may want to ask them about it. 

Dates to remember:

Thursday 2/12/15 is Multicultural night 6-7:30 PM

Friday 2/13/15 is the Friendship party @ 1:30-2:30 PM.  The 2^nd grade schedule will be different that day. 

Monday 2/16/15 there is No School!!!

Second Grade Blog- Jan. 26-30

Second Grade Blog- Jan. 26-30

  

Hello Parents,

In Language Arts we have started a new unit. This unit is all about working

together. Our story this week is a folktale called Head, Body, Legs.  This is a fun

story about how the different body parts work together to pick a mango.  In spelling we are teaching words with the /ou/ and /ow/ sound, such as clown, growl, house, and sound.

This week in math your student will be learning about Geometric shapes.

Encourage them to find items in your home that are in the shape of a

triangular prism, rectangular prism, cube, sphere, cylinder and cone. Ask them “how many faces/edges/vertices does the shape have.”  This is a fun unit and the kids love a hide and seek challenge.

On Monday the kids made

lemonade in IC.  This was a great way to help them

Understand about being a producer/consumer. We are also learning about goods and services as well as earning/spending/saving money.  

PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES ARE MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2ND!

PLEASE SEND IN THE SIGN-UP SHEET or sign up on Sign Up Genius 

SO WE CAN TALK ABOUT YOUR CHILD’S PROGRESS.

Week of January 19th

Reminder: NO SCHOOL ON MONDAY, time to celebrate MLK

Tuesday, January 20th  is tutoring until 4:30 p.m.

Tuesday, January 20^th is Christie Parent Technology Night 5:30-6:30 P.M.


Thursday, January 29th  is PTA Arts Night

In Language Arts we've been learning about cause and effect, drawing conclusions, and main idea. When your child reads, take a minute when their done and ask them what happened in the story and what was the effect of that event. Or ask them what was the "Main Idea" of the book/story.

 

In Math we are learning about fractions and the kids are getting it. The students appear to like fractions. We have covered halves, fourths, eighths, and whole parts.  Heads up we will finish up with fractions and begin geometry.

In IC we wrapped up patriotism with several videos of the kids singing patriotic songs. The songs will be aired on the morning announcements as time permits. 

Our new unit is about our government. Your student is learning about our local, state and federal government.

Thanks for keeping up with your kids through our second grade blog.

Welcome Back to School!

Hi Parents!

I hope that you had a wonderful time with your students on break. I really missed them!

Please remember to send your child to school with a coat and snack.  It’s going to be very cold for the next couple of months and 7:00 to 12:30 is a long time to go without any food. 

In math this week we are focusing on fractions! Keep an eye out for items at home that are cut into halves, fourths, and eighths and ask your child to identify what fraction it is.

In reading we are working on cause and effect. Keep up with those reading logs! For at home enrichment, you can have your child write about something that happened during the day.  Instruct them to keep their writing focus on the cause and effects surrounding their experience.    

No tutoring this week!

Tutoring will start on the 13^th of January and last until 4:30.

Happy Tuesday!

Happy Tuesday, December 2nd!

I hope you had a great holiday this past week! Even though we had a week off, we are coming back strong and doing great things in 2^nd grade. In math this week, we are learning the basic steps to multiplication and division. Keep a look out for homework that will be coming home on Mondays and Wednesdays. In Language arts we are reviewing how to summarize the texts. Ask your student to summarize their day for you or a book that they are reading. In Social Studies we are learning all about local, state, and national landmarks.

We will participate in the Hour of Code global event December 8th-14th 2014!

Parents, please be aware that MAP testing will be happening for the next two weeks. Math will be this week, and reading will be next week. Please make sure your student gets extra sleep and eats a healthy breakfast.