May 2014

Dear Families,

We can hardly believe this is our last formal newsletter of the year Time has
flown by! There are still many new things that are happening in Second Grade!

Unit of Inquiry

Are We There Yet?
Have you heard this phrase while travelling with your family? This Unit of Inquiry
will focus on map skills, and the purpose of maps. Our central idea is that People
have developed maps to organize their understanding of the world. The children
will be involved in creating maps around the school, participating in a scavenger
hunts and AISBs Amazing Race to see how well they can read and follow
directions, and finally,
they will be asked to apply all they have learned to navigate from one place to
another.
Reading

Throughout the new unit, students will be reading series books. Series books can
support the young reader in many ways. Their predictable and funny structures
allow readers to develop better comprehension because they know what to expect
from the characters in their series books. We will be reading many series books
during this unit, and we ask you to encourage your child to read at least 3 books
from a series. Please encourage your children to enjoy, reread and notice the
patterns in their series books. They can look for how characters change and
develop as well as how they react to different situations. You can find many series
books at our school library or any book store. We appreciate your support with this
unit. It will surely improve the reading comprehension of our second graders.
Writing

We are excited to begin our Realistic Fiction writing unit! Students will put all the
skills theyve learned from our previous units, especially Authors as Mentors, to
write their own realistic fiction stories. We cant wait to see what our authors
produce!

Both the reading and writing units will culminate into a family celebration- - we
hope to see you there! More details about the celebration will come as we get
closer to the
date.
Math
This month we will dive into the world of fractions! Our Investigations unit: Parts
of a Whole, Parts of a Group will be our driving curriculum. Students will inquire
into what fractions are and the many ways they can be represented and used. The
main focuses include investigating fractions of a single object ( of a square, of a
rectangle, and so on) as well as find fractions of a set ( of 12). Students will learn
how fractions are expressed in words and represented with numbers.
Throughout this unit, students are working toward these goals:
BENCHMARKS / GOALS EXAMPLES
Identify , 1/3, and of a region.




What fraction of this flag is black?
Find of a set of objects. Holly had 14 balloons. She gave half of them to
her brother. How many balloons did she give her
brother?


Recognize that a fraction divides the whole into
equal parts.
How would you show half of these shapes?






In class, students will continue to engage in math problems and activities and share
how they solve a given problem. Most importantly, children accurately solve math
problems in ways that make sense to them. At home, encourage your child to
explain his or her math thinking to you.
Upcoming Events/Notices
MAP Testing- May 5-May 23
Unit Introduction to Parents- Tuesday, May 13, 7:40am-7:55am, Rm. 30
Readers on the Move Celebration- Thursday, May 22
Sports Day- Friday, May 23
International Day- Saturday, May 24


Apps of the Month
Free: One Globe Kids - children's stories from around the world
One Globe Kids - children's stories from around the world introduces kids to global
cultures through photo- and audio-based "a day in my life" stories told by individual
kids from different countries. There's Aji in Indonesia, Luna in New York City, and
almost a dozen other stories for kids to listen to and read. Kids can also hear a bit
of each storyteller's language (and record themselves saying a few words), choose
which storyline they'd like to hear, and learn geographic, cultural, and political
facts about each country. One story is free to try. Stories can be heard in four
languages.

Paid: Wurdle
This word search game isn't designed specifically for kids, but works really well for
kids because of the three-letter words count. Players can modify the number of
tiles and choose from several timed-game options, plus there is the option to play
without a timer. The multiplayer mode on the iPad allows for parents and children
to play together.

As always, feel free to contact us with any questions you have.

Yours Professionally,

The Grade 2 Team
Lyndsay Bain
lbain@aisb.ro
Margaret Lewis
mlewis@aisb.ro
Meagan Mathews
mmathews@aisb.ro
Alina Guzganu, EAL
aguzganu@aisb.ro