Ms.+Davis

Quarter Plans ______________________________________________________________________________________________________   Second Quarter Planner October through 19 January 2011 **  Language Arts   ** Unit 2 is about kindness. It gives students opportunities to read about kindness and gain understanding and clarity about when, why and how to express it. The main goal of this unit is to help students grow socially and personally. The children will share personal acts of kindness that will reinforce their long term development and knowledge of personal responsibility. It will also contribute to their love of reading and learning. The highlighted tasks for this unit are: drawing conclusions, sequence, cause and effect, inference, plot, and surprise/suspense. Students will continue to explore literary devices and practice comprehension. Writing is also a primary part of this quarter. Students will prepare books for themselves, for others and simply for the joy of creating written work. Students are expected to listen thoughtfully, retell what they have heard and entertain children and adults with their tales. **  Math   ** Chapters 4 and 5 will be covered this quarter. Chapter 4 focuses on measurement, graphing and probability. Students are expected to measure length in standard and nonstandard units. Students will use various methods of data collection and organization. They will analyze the results of probability experiments. Chapter 5 introduces the algorithm for two-digit addition. The base-ten system will be mastered, and children will readily model addition using sticks, fingers, play money and other manipulatives. Each week we will play math games to reinforce the lessons taught in class. The homework, consisting of worksheets, is practice of what was taught in class that day. **  Science   ** This quarter will cover information about the Earth in Unit B, C and D. We will study, explore and learn about the water cycle, erosion, earthquakes, landslides and volcanoes. Topics will include clues rocks, dinosaurs and extinction. Students will also learn about the Earth’s rotation on its axis and how Earth orbits around the sun cause night and day. We will also cover the sun, the moon and stars briefly. **  Social Studies   ** We will discuss lessons 3, 4 and 5. We continue our coverage of communities; places where people live, work and solve problems together. We will spend time discussing peace and peaceful techniques, hoping and trying to make the world a more peaceful place. We will practice caring for our environment to preserve our natural resources and reduce pollution. Special Events  n Parent / Teacher Conferences – November 11  n Winter Break – 17 December through 7 January 2011  n Halloween  n Session 2 of After School Activities Quarter runs from 28 October through 19 January 2011

First Quarter Planner

17 August to 27 October 2010
** Language Arts **

We use the __Open Court Reading Series__ and other books and stories. The main goal of this unit is to reinforce a love of reading and learning. Unit 1 is about sharing stories. The tasks highlighted for this unit are: prediction, author’s purpose, figurative language, repetition, poetry, and inference. Students’ are expected to deepen their understanding of literary devises and practice comprehension skills. Vocabulary and spelling words include position words, short vowel patterns, simple plurals and multisyllabic words. Writing is also a large part of this unit as students write about books, peace, and other relevant subjects. They are expected to be thoughtful listeners and able to retell what they have learned.

** Math **

We use __SRA Real Math__ books. Chapters 1 through 3 will be covered this quarter. Chapter 1 focuses on number sense. Students are expected to count, write and estimate numbers. Chapter 2 reviews and practices addition facts. Chapter 3 is about subtraction and has students using their knowledge to determine whether addition or subtraction is required to solve the problem. Each week we play math games to reinforce the lessons taught in class. The homework, consisting of worksheets, is practice of what was taught in class that day.

** Science **

We use __McGraw-Hill Science__ resources and the __Foss Kit__. This quarter will cover plants and animals in Unit A. We will study, explore and classify plants and animals. They will learn what makes a plant a living thing, parts of plants and how we use plants in our everyday lives. Students will learn to recognize all kinds of animals, how they meet their needs as well as how they grow and change. We will also begin to cover Unit B that focuses on habitats and which animals and plants live where. We discuss the weather everyday and utilizing the Air and Weather Module of the Foss Kit, we will explore natural worlds by using simple tools to observe and monitor change.

** Social Studies **

In the textbook __Social Studies Alive__, we will discuss lessons 1, 2 and 3. We will cover communities; places where people live, work and solve problems together. We will explore where communities are located; rural, urban or suburban. And, we will use a map. We will spend time discussing peace and peaceful techniques, hoping and trying to make the world a more peaceful place. We will end the quarter with International Day wrap-ups and evaluations.

Special Events

 n Open House – September 10  n International Day of Peace -- September 21  n International Day -- October 22  n Session 1 of After School Activities

Quarter runs from 17 August through 27 October 2010 ---

Parent/Caregiver/Family Letter of Introduction
--- 23 August 2010

Dear Parents,

**Welcome to Second Grade**! I am looking forward to getting to know both you and your child this year. We will learn a lot and we will grow! You will see your child’s reading and academic skills soar, as well as watch his/her self-confidence, social skills and love for learning develop and blossom. Good communication between all of us; you, me and your child is very important for your child’s academic success.

We have regular homework in Grade Two. Your child will have homework every night, seven days a week. On most nights, it should average between 30 and 60 minutes; sometimes it will only be to read a fun book for more than 20 minutes and write a summary of what was read. Generally speaking, we have math homework every night, spelling homework four nights a week, and writing, social studies or science homework once every week or so. On rare occasions, your child may have more than one hour of homework.

Each evening, you can expect your child to arrive at home with his or her homework written in the assignment notebook. Each day, all assignments are written on a whiteboard, and at least five minutes are given at the beginning of the day for students to copy this information into their assignment notebooks. Please review this information with your child, and sign the book each day. I may write notes home in this space, and please feel free to use the assignment notebook to write notes for me, as well. Together, we can help your child succeed in school and prepare for excellence in life.

I demand a great deal of independent reading for pleasure from my students. I know that a love of reading is vital to a child’s educational future, and I view reading as a priority. We have a selection of books in our own classroom, and this year our classroom is right next door to the library!

I am available to meet with parents between 12:05 and 12:35 PM, while your child is in English Language Learners (ELL) or Mandarin class. Please write a note in the homework book so that I can expect you. For parents who use e-mail, I check my e-mail daily, and this is often the quickest and most efficient way to get in touch with me, or to discuss any of your concerns. I will respond promptly. Please feel free to e-mail me at any time, at: Susanne.Davis@AIAN.org.cn.

If you have any special questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to contact me. Send me a note with your child in the morning or by e-mail and we can set up a time to talk. If coming to AIAN is too hard, we can conference by e-mail – together we will make this a great year for your child.

With joy and anticipation,

Susanne Davis, Teacher Second Grade