Week of May 20th

Thank you to the ALHS band and orchestra for performing for us! Students loved the Moana, Lion King & remote control song. Also students got to take an up close look at some instruments. 

We completed our Data math unit with students collecting their own data and making a bar or picture graph. Students have been BEGGING all year to learn division so we had two days of division. Students learned that division is about taking the total and dividing it into equal groups.  Our essential question for the week went right along with our Economics unit How do we use money? One expository text described the process of how a dollar bill is made and another was all about money and how it is used to purchase goods and services. Students are working on making their own business on Google Slides. We reviewed the 5 parts of a friendly letter, designed our own dollar bill and wrote about if we could have a special type of touch (like King Midas' gold touch) what would it be?!? in writing this week. 

Next week is a 4 day week with no school Monday- Happy Memorial Day! Thursday is our History Museum filed trip. We leave right at 9 so please be on time. Students MUST pack a 100% disposable lunch including drink, utensils and bag. We will return at 2. Friday is field day for us in the afternoon so make sure to have tennis shoes, play clothes and layers depending on the weather. 

6 more day!

Thanks!

Marissa Wilhelm 

Week of May 13th

Next week is our last full week of school!

Our essential question for the week was Why is teamwork important? Stories included tales of dive teams, climbing teams and astronauts who MUST work together to accomplish their goals. Vocabulary for the week included exploration, machines, important and scientific. The skill of the week was main idea/ key details and the strategy was summarizing. Students have a hard time with retelling the story using their own words not just rewriting exactly what the story says.  We have completed the math program officially! For the remainder of the year we will review and preview for next year these skills: continued graphing, multiplication, division, time, money and area. In writing, we are reviewing all of the different forms of writing we have written this year including narrative, informational and expository. In FUNdations, we reviewed the long e vowel teams of ee, ea and ey.

In science we made some weather tools that are used to measure wind direction (weather vane) and air pressure (barometer). In social studies, students made a Service Street and a Good Avenue. Each street had to be filled with business that provided either good or services. 

On Monday, 2nd grade will be going with Mrs. Orr to the high school for a music field trip to hear the orchestra. Thursday, May 30th is our field trip to the History Museum. Please return permissions forms and payment. Students MUST bring a 100% disposable lunch as we will be eating at the museum.

I am out on Wednesday, May 22nd so make sure any emails with changes in transportation or attendance go through the office.

Thanks!
Marissa Wilhelm

Week of May 6th

And just like that is is May and we have 15 days of school LEFT!

The end is quickly approaching! Here are important dates for the remainder of the year:
Monday the 20th: Music Field Trip to the High School @ 9:15
Thursday the 30th: Natural History Museum from 9 to 2
Friday the 31st: Field Day from 1 to 3
Tuesday, June 4th: Last Day of School!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On field trip to the Natural History Museum is on Thursday May 30th. Students are bringing home the permission form TODAY! There is a $7 cost and it must be paid with a check.

Thank you to PTA for bringing COSI to Redwood. Students loved the hands-on experience that helped us learn about the amazing human body and all of its systems that work together.

Our final topic in math is Data & Graphs. Your child is learning about graphs and organizing data. In this topic, we will learn about bar graphs, line plots, and picture graphs, and how to draw conclusions, make predictions, and solve problems. All graphs no matter the type MUST have a title and a collection of data. A tally chart is an easy way to collect the needed data. When making the graph, precision is needed to allow the graph to easily show the data in an organized way. The assessment will be on Friday the 17th.

Meteorologist Jon Loufman from Channel 19 came to visit and teach us about all things weather. Students learned the atmosphere is an ocean of air, many weather words are Greek and all about different weather tools. Also, as a part of our weather unit Ms. Hamker visited us and taught us how we need to use text features (headings, captions, vocabulary, photos) to understand nonfictions. Then students had to become an expert on their section of  weather book and had to teach their group what they learned.

Our essential question for the week went along with our weather unit as it asked How does energy work? One story was about the power of water. Another story taught about pedal power and how a bicycle can create enough power to run small appliances like a blender and hairdryer. Power can come from coal, wind, water and the sun. The skill of the week was author's purpose and using the clues to determine why the author wrote the story. Students asked themselves if the story taught them something with information? asked them to do/buy something? or a story made for enjoyment? In FUNdations, we are reviewing vowel teams a (ai & ay) and e (ee, ea, ey). When 2 vowels go a walking, the first vowel does the talking. Adjectives were the grammar skill of the week.

In Economics, students learned what a good and service are. Then, we played a game to practice where good and services come from. Finally students completed a project with Service Street & Good Avenue where they listed business that provided goods (Target, Taco Bell & Home Depot) and Services (Great Clips, Post Office & Car Wash). Students had a great discussion that sometimes a business can provide BOTH goods and services.

Mr. Ebert sent out an email today announcing that he will not be returning to Redwood next year. What an exciting opportunity he has and so close to home! We are excited for him and his family but are sad to see him go. He has done so much for Redwood the last 8 years and we are grateful for his time, excitement and hard work.

Thanks,
Marissa Wilhelm

Happy Spring Break!

I hope everyone has an enjoyable, relaxing spring break! See you back on Monday, April 29th! And only about a month left of 2nd grade! 

Happy Easter!

Marissa Wilhelm