Joanna’s Second Grade News

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   Zebedee Headwaters

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Dear Parents,

 

It seems appropriate to recognize the Season of the Beaver Moon…. so named by the Native Americans referring to the third full moon in the autumn. Within a few weeks we will be entering the Long Night Moon, which corresponds to the Winter Solstice—the night with the least amount of daylight. In December, 2016, the winter solstice occurs on Wednesday, December 21 at 5:44 A.M. (ET). This is a time of year when our classroom community is becoming stronger and more tightly knit. It is a time of year when the children build knowledge and skills together, by sharing their earning and extending their collaborative experiences.  Their All School Meeting in November was a pivotal moment in which their hard work and practice together, resulted in a shared celebration of their Wetlands and classroom learning.

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from When the Moon is Full: A Lunar Year, written by Penny Pollock.and iIllustrated by Mary Azarian.

November……The Beaver Moon

Black and icy pond
Mirrors moon so round,
While hidden in the beavers lodge
Coziness abounds.
 …..
December…..The Long Night Moon…….
December moon floats on
Cloud’s crestbeaverpntg
As if to take
A little rest.
No one sees this,
no one knows
Except some sleepy-eyed
Old crows.         
 

 

 Writing/Science

researchThe fact that the beavers are active now, in their preparation for winter created  a wonderful segue into our beaver study. We gathered and compiled beaver research together, as a class, so that I could model the research/report-writing genre. Using the hand paragraph, and Painted Essay formats, we examined the structure of report-writing, identifying an overall focus question, and categorizing facts about food, shelter, predators, and body parts. Our over-arching question was: “How Do Beavers use their skills and body structures to survive in the Winter, in the Wetlands?  Following the completion of our class-wide wide report, each child is now engaged in studying a wetland animal that he will research. Focusing on the unique structures of each animal that enable it to survive, each student will write a report highlighting those specific features, following a similar format to that of the beaver research.

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The hand paragraph is an ingenious and user-friendly tool that helps young children to organize their ideas when they write opinion pieces and reports . With each “digit” on the hand representing a particular component of the writing, the template eases the child into writing with an organized structure. It is a good “first-step” into more complicated writing assignments. Each child has used this technique for helping to write a class-wide beaver report; and then for writing a book about an activity about which he feels he is an expert about. The Painted Essy, a report-writing template designed by Diana Leddy, Vermont educator, uses color o help children understand how to organize the content of a research report. It helps children construct an introduction, focus, paragraphs, and conclusion.

Math

In our math study, we have been working to build a strong sense of number. By comparing numbers and quantities, and working towards an understanding of place value, the children are learning about double digit and triple digit numbers. Using base ten blocks they are learning how to represent larger numbers and how to break them apart when adding and subtracting. The children are learning to develop and refine strategies for solving addition and subtraction problems; and for learning how to add a series of numbers by using combinations of ten; doubles, and near-doubles. They are encouraged to represent their math thinking by showing step by step, how they order the numbers and how they determine the relationship between addition and subtraction
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