From the Desk of Mrs. Holewinski

From the Desk of Mrs. Holewinski
Language Arts
We’ve started reading Theme 4, Amazing Animals. The first story the students
read was Officer Buckle and Gloria. The comprehension focus the students focused
on was drawing conclusions. This means the readers use story clues to figure out
things that are not directly written in the text.
Then we read Ants in which we learned many interesting facts about ants. Ask
your child to tell you all the amazing things ants can do. The comprehension skill we
focused on for this story was text organization. This is a nonfiction story so text is
organized by main ideas and details that support it.
After Ants we read The Great Ball Game. This is a folktale that has been retold
and passed on from generation to generation. As we read this story we focused on
cause and effect. The cause is why something happens or the reason. The effect is
what happens.
We finished the theme by reading and comparing a fantasy and nonfiction story.
First we read Little Grunt and the Big Egg. Then we read Mighty Dinosaurs. Students will review the comprehension strategies taught in this theme.
There were many skills focused on this month. Students learned that pronouns
(he, she, it) can take the place of a noun. Then students practiced changing the
base word of a singular noun to a plural noun. For example, bunny changes to bunnies. Now students know when to use an apostrophe the correct way. It is used for
a singular possessive noun. For example, That is my dog’s bone. It shows that the
bone belongs to the dog. Students also learned how to use a plural possessive
noun. For example, the boys’ uniforms got dirty.
NLSD
Volume 7, Issue 7
February 2012
Special points of interest:
☺ March 1st: Spaghetti Dinner
5:00-7:00
☺ March 15th: Market Day
Pick-up
☺ March 22nd: P/T Conferences 3:30-6:00
☺ March 23rd: No School
☺ March 28th: Character Education Assembly 2:30
☺ March 29th: Family Literacy
Night 3:30-6:00
☺ April 2nd: PTO Meeting 6:00
☺ April 4th-9th: No School
☺ April 19th: Market Day pickup
☺ April 25th: Character Education Assembly 2:30
Math
Students finished the graphing unit and did a very
short 3 day unit on geometry.
Now we have started unit 9 which is subtracting 2–
digit numbers, another big unit for second grade. We
started by counting quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies up to different totals. Then students found ways to
solve 100-n. Students learned 2 different methods for
subtracting. They are the Expanded Method and the
Ungroup First Method. Have your child explain both
ways to you. Your child can use either way to solve the
problems. Let them use the method that is the most
comfortable for them. Students then subtracted 2-digit
numbers with a zero in the tens or ones place. For example, 204—35=?.
Above: Macartney shows his pie graph he made.
Right: Blake is working on his bar graph.
Below right: Avari models what a dental hygienist wears while cleaning teeth and Alexis models
what the patient wears.
Check it out!!!
Listen to your child read and then make a
comment for them to read.
Mrs. Green and I have updated the reading
portfolios on the each child’s blog. Everyone
has made great gains in reading. Go to
www.newlondon.k12.wi.us, Parkview, my
website, and then Holewinski’s Class Happenings. Click on Student Blog. Click on
your child’s name then click on the reading
portfolio. Also check out the graphs students made on the computer. They are on
their blog!
Science
Students have taken notes on
the temperate and tropical rainforests as well as the North American
Prairies, Savannas, and the Pampas
which are different types of grasslands. Then we learned about the
desert and took notes. Students
need to study fresh water and salt
water biome yet then we will be
ready to make our dioramas of the
different biomes.
You can start sending in shoe
boxes for this project. If you do
have extras you are looking forward to getting rid of please send
them our way. Each student will
need their own box.