Thank you to everyone who donated supplies or volunteered at our Christmas Centers.  The children had a lot of fun!

Christmas Centers on PhotoPeach

Feliz Navidad! on PhotoPeach

winter boots

1 sweatsuit

We have been working our our addition facts a lot lately.  I have introduced some strategies to help students with their speed and memorization. We have practiced +0 and +1.  We have also worked on the “doubles” (2+2, 6+6, 8+8, etc.)  If these facts can be memorized they will be helpful for “Next Door Neighbor” facts.

“Next Door Neighbor” facts are math problems where the addends are numbers that would be next to each other on a number line. (Examples: 2+3, 5+6,  8+7, etc.)  There are 2 “Next door Neighbors” in every pack of flashcards so this is a good strategy to practice.  To solve these facts quickly you follow two steps.

1. Double the smaller number.

2. Add one more.

Examples:  4+5  [4+4=8, one more makes 9]              7+6  [6+6=12, one more makes 13]

Encourage your child to say “Doubles” or “Next Door Neighbor” as you flash the flashcard to them.  Recognizing when to use a strategy is as important as knowing how to use the strategy.

Today Mrs. Andersen held an assembly for second grade to introduce the students to Book Adventure.  Book Adventure is a free, web-based reading motivation program that encourages children to read great books, take quizzes, and win prizes.  Book Adventure not only rewards children for reading, but also enables parents and teachers to track a child’s progress and help develop his/her love of reading.

Here’s how it works:

1. Read a Book Adventure book (Today everyone checked one out of the library.   You can check search the website by title or author to see if a book you plan to read is included.)

2. Log onto the website www.bookadventure.com

Username= student’s school username  (email me if you need it).

Password= brecknock2

3. Go to Quiz-o-Matic and type the book title or author to find the quiz.  Take the quiz. Pass the quiz and earn 100 points for K-2 level books.

4. Earn prizes at the school level: Monthly top class readers awarded, prizes at different levels given out monthly

5. Earn prizes from Book Adventure (visit their prize library)

You can view your child’s progress by registering as a “Parent”.  After registering, help your child enter the email address you entered during registration within his/her own account (under the profile section).  Once both accounts have the same email address listed your accounts will be linked and you can view their full report.

Have fun reading and participating in our reading incentive program!

This month we have been focusing on place value during math.  Each day during “Math Activities” students have the chance to practice our newly learned skills in game format.  One game you can easily play at home to reinforce place value is called The Digit Game.  You can use the numer cards from a deck of playing cards.  Begin with the deck face down.  Each player chooses three cards and uses them to make the largest number possible.  (If I picked a 3, 2 and a 5 I could make 532).  The player who creates the greatest number gets to keep all the cards from that round. Keep playing until the deck is gone and then players count their piles to see who has most. When playing with your child, stop every now and then to ask questions such as “Which digit is the tens digit in your number?” or “What is the value of the hundreds digit in your number?” Have fun!

Each week we review and practice our spelling words at school.  I try to get the students up and moving to make this practice kinesthetic.  We start by writing the word on our whiteboards and then say each letter in a fun way. Today we practiced “Salute to Spelling”.  We marched to the letters and saluted the word at the end.  We have also tried “Cheerleading” spelling where we cheer each letter while doing cheer arm movements.  “Basketball” spelling was also a hit.  Students dribble the letters and shoot the word.  If you are looking for a fun way to practice spelling at home ask your child to show you one of these spelling activities or have them create one of their own.

Here are a few more spelling chants to try:

Snap and Clap- Snap for the vowels and clap for the consonants.

Explosion- Start by whispering the letters, then say them normally and then say them loudly at the end of the word.

Jumping Jacks- One jumping jack for each letter.

Blast Off- Start crouched at the floor.  As you say each letter get a little higher. Then jump into the air as you say the whole word.

Lap and Clap- Pair up and clap hands for consonants and lap clap for vowels.

Robot- Spell in a robotic voice with your arms moving back and forth.

This week our class will begin working on math fact fluency. One of the goals in second grade is to use mental strategies to add and subtract fluently and efficiently. Math fact fluency is often defined as the ability to solve a fact problem in three seconds or less.

We will focus first on our addition facts and will strive to learn them in groups (+2s, +3s, +4s, etc.).  Most mornings students will take a one minute math fact quiz on a fact group known as a “Math Racer.”  The quiz has 20 problems and students need to complete all problems correctly in one minute to pass. Students who pass will move on to the next fact group.  We will track our progress to math fluency on a bulletin board where each student has a car that will drive along a road past signs for each fact group.

Every second grader will bring home a flashcard envelope.  This envelope should be kept in the back pocket of their red homework folder so it can be used at school and home each day.  In the envelope you will find flashcards for the fact group your child is working on.  Please practice this flashcard set each night…even on weekends.  The best way to memorize math facts is to have frequent exposure to them.  The flashcards from previous fact groups will also be kept in the envelope.  It would be a good idea to periodically review these facts as well.

Thank you in advance for doing your part in helping your second grader become fluent in math facts.  Please let me know if you have any questions.  Check out our Math Racer bulletin board next time you visit our classroom.

Some students have been practicing our spelling words using the website spellingcity.com.  Well, things just got easier!  Mrs. Swavely (a 2nd grade teacher at Brecknock) typed all the words for the entire year!  Now all you have to do is click on the list that matches with our week.  Scroll down to find Unit 1 and our story for this week is “A Walk in the Desert”.  Then start playing games and practicing your spelling words.  Bookmark this link or click my Spelling tab at the top to find it next time you want to play.

https://www.spellingcity.com/Brecknock2/