Happy Holidays!

Dear families,

Wow, It is hard to believe we are already here! Winter break begins tomorrow, Dec. 21st. The students will be on break until January 6th. The time has been flying by!
So far we have had a great year. I hope you enjoy your holiday with your family and treasure the time spent... they only stay little for so long!

When we return in January we will begin a new unit of reading and writing.
In reading we will begin a new unit called Series Books. We will read books in a series and notice how characters behave. We will study character traits and development. Students will be in book clubs based on their choice of books.

In January we will have our second I-Ready assessment. I will inform parents when it will be taking place.

In writing, we will also start a new unit on Opinion writing. This unit fits well with Series Books, we will use the books we read to write opinion letters about them. We will be working on this unit for the next few months!

In math, we are going to complete unit 4 after the break. We have covered measurement to the inch. We will wrap up the last few lessons on place value, telling time and units of measurement.

We have completed our Air and Weather science unit. We reviewed the ABC's of air and weather and wrote what we knew in our All about the Weather books!

Social Studies will begin again after the break. We will be working on communities, mapping and the history of Walled Lake!

Thank you for sending your children to me each day, I feel so grateful to have such a wonderful, kind, caring class! Your children are so special and they give me a wonderful sense of purpose every day!

See you in 2020!
Mrs. Scheck

December 9-13

Hello! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with your families. My family enjoyed seeing out of town relatives, watching football, eating and playing some glow golf!

We are already well into the month of December and we have been so busy with lots of fun and learning in our classroom!

In reading workshop we are continuing to work on reading non-fiction. This past week we read non-fiction books and looked for features such as: a glossary, index and bold words. We used the book Tigers for practice using an entire page to figure out a meaning of a word. Students looked at vocabulary words and found ideas that were similar to those words to share in reading workshop. Today we practiced reading our non-fiction books and sounding like an expert.

This week we began writing informational or non-fiction books. Students brainstormed topics they know a lot about and began writing books on them. We started with putting together a table of contents and writing introductions. We used a writing check lists to begin seeing if second graders are able to include the key parts of a non-fiction book. We will continue to work on non-fiction books until the end of the month. Next we will put a "how to" page into our books and add a glossary at the end picking 2-3 words that we want to teach our readers.

In Phonics, we worked on noticing word patterns in rhyming books. We made lists of words with the same pattern (ack, ill, ight, etc). We used our lists to write rhyming books and today we are sharing our books with Mrs. Megyesi's kindergarten class. Look for pictures on twitter!

We started unit 4 in math, a family letter came home on Monday. Keep the family letter to refer to when your child is working on home links. This unit is all about measurement. We began with telling time on analog clocks to the five minute mark. This skill is developing for many students, practice at home on the paper clock to help your child. We will work next week on place value using base ten blocks to represent numbers and to compare numbers.

We are nearing the end of our science unit this month. We will still record the weather in our science journals. We have worked with tools to learn about measuring the weather using an anemometer, a thermometer, a rain gauge, and a weather vane. We made pin wheels and whirligigs to show how wind moves outside. We studied these types of clouds: cumulus, nimbus, cirrus and stratus. We made a poster and used cotton balls to show the types of clouds and how they look. We read about the changing seasons and learned how the northern hemisphere is tipped away from the sun in winter. This causes the nights to be longer and for us to have less daylight! We discussed where the equator is and how it stays warm year round in countries near it. Next we will make a paper kite and hopefully get outside to try our kites next week!

We are getting ready for our field trip on December 19th. I have the necessary amount of chaperones signed up to go! On that day we will be both outside and inside, students and parents please bring warm clothes for being outside. The experiments we will be doing will show how animals survive in winter. Students will need a sack lunch that day. We will return to school around 1:30 p.m.

Next week is parent teacher conferences! The students have a half day and are dismissed at 11:25 p.m. Parents will meet with me and get their child's first report card for the year. I look forward to seeing you on Dec. 12th!

Have a great weekend,
Mrs. Scheck

November 11-15

Hello families!

This week has been so busy here at Wixom Elementary! With the arrival of snow, winter weather and our MSU/U of M coin challenge we have had an exciting week!

In phonics we worked on learning trouble maker words. The words that are often mispelled by second graders are: about, here, school, what, was, with, could, and very. These words cannot be "sounded out" because they don't follow phonetic rules, hence the word troublemakers!
Students worked with a partner to come up with a way for remembering each word. Then they made posters with reminders for how to remember. We graduated the words to our word wall today! We also put the words into our personal word books! Next week we will work on using word parts and patterns to spell new words.  We will use nursery  rhymes to zoom in on powerful word patterns. We will work specifically with the word patterns: ill, ock, oon, own and ot.

In writing this week, we used a writing check list to revise our lab reports. We added the science term: friction - when two things rub together. We revised with a partner to fix spelling, capitals and periods. Next week we will do another lab report on a different experiment.

In our non-fiction reading unit we are "growing our knowledge" by paying close attention to details. We focused this week on reading the details in directions for Legos, a poster about the clouds, an informational poster about sources of water and a globe. We also looked closely at a penny and noticed all kinds of new things - numbers, words, pictures, etc. Through observation we came up with questions about the penny to research and learn more about. We will continue to work on non-fiction and begin reading non-fiction books asking first, "what is this book trying to teach me?" We will read non-fiction books at each child's level and ask what surprised us reading about a new topic.

In math, we are working on unit 3. We have been practicing ways to subtract and using new strategies: counting up and counting back> We practiced solving for a missing addend in the game Salute! We used fact triangles to practice subtraction and addition facts. We played the number grid difference. Next week we will learn how to play "what's my rule" and about subtracting with 1 and z). We will learn how to use a doubles fact to subtract. 

In Science, we are completing our last air experiment today with balloon rockets! Students will used compressed air inside of a balloon to launch a balloon rocket. This experiment is a lot of fun and it shows how air can be compressed and how it moves things.  Next week we will move on to weather experiments. We will learn about the thermometer, how to use a rain gauge and about wind speed making an anemometer to show how scientist measure how fast the wind is blowing.

We will soon begin a new social studies unit on maps!

Thank you for sending in the appropriate snow clothes each day for your child, we have been adjusting to using our snow clothes and we are working on keeping track of them (boots, mittens, hats). If you are missing any items, the lost and found has many unclaimed things!

Have a great weekend,
Mrs. Scheck

Week of November 4-8

Hello families,

Wow! November is here, I can't believe how quickly October went!
Snow was on the ground at my house and it was very cold this morning.
This weekend would be a good time to get out the boots, mittens, hats, etc. so your child will be ready when the snow starts to stick!

In reading this week, we have begun a non-fiction unit. We spent time reading In the Time of Knights and learning all about their weapons, armor, how to become a knight, the code of chivalry and much more. The book was very engaging! We will read all about tigers next week and learn how to anticipate what you will learn when reading non-fiction. We will use features such as captions and detailed photos to learn more. We will practice reading information like a reporter or an expert on the topic.

In writing, we have start a new unit on non-fiction. We began writing science lab reports and learned the parts of a lab report: a question, a hypothesis, procedures, results, conclusion. We conducted an experiment where we asked will a matchbox car go farther on carpet or a bare floor, we did multiple trials and recorded our results! We included a results and conclusion page to show our thinking about why the car goes farther on a bare floor versus the carpet. We discussed friction and how it works to slow the car down. Next we will change a part (variable) and re-do the experiment, writing a new lab report. We will work with  different materials and test our hypothesis! Students will try writing their own reports after conducting the experiment.

In phonics, we learned all about homophones this week. We wrote silly sentences such as: The knights said," Good night" or The bear was bare! Next week we will focus on the homophones for there, they're and their and work toward using them appropriately in our writing.

We are starting a Unit 3 in Math. A family letter will be coming home today.  Please read the letter to learn what we will be working on in this unit. The unit 2 math test will come home today. Many students did very well!

In science, we will conduct more experiments on air and weather. We will learn how air works under water. We will make a water fountain from tubes, bottles and syringes to show how air is matter, it occupies space even though we can't see it.
We will begin observing and recording the weather as it changes through the fall.

Thank you and have a great weekend!
Mrs. Scheck

Halloween Party

We had a spooky good time in Second Grade!

October 21-25

Hello families!

Here is an update on what we have been working on in Room 105 this week!

In reading, we are wrapping up our first unit on Thursday. We have reflected on all the reading strategies that we learned since the beginning of the year. Each student picked a strategy to write about. We are also picking a favorite book to share with other second graders on Thursday. We wrote about the lessons learned in the book and any warnings about reading the book. A warning maybe "watch out for silly made up words in this Junie B. Jones book!"

In writing we are also ending our first unit called Small Moments. Students are publishing a piece to share with other second graders. We worked on editing this week using a check list to fix spelling, capitals and end punctuation. We are coloring the pictures and getting our pieces ready to share.

In phonics, we reviewed all the phonics we have learned in second grade. Students met in small groups to prepare a lesson to teach a new "student" Gus. Gus is going to learn from the students and we will meet Gus on Thursday... you will be surprised when you find out what Gus is all about!

In math, we are near the end of unit 2. This unit has been all about addition and subtraction strategies. This week we have learned how to add on a number line. We wrote doubles facts, we learned how to use a doubles fact to solve. We practiced making doubles with odd and even numbers. We learned that every number when it is doubled is an even number. We will begin preparing for Unit 2 math test next week!

We have begun our science unit on Air and Weather. We have completed the first two experiments. We used objects that are common and observed how air moved them. We used syringes to push air through a plastic tube. We learned that air can be compressed into a small space. We used force to push air through the syringe and pop off another syringe!

We have been getting cooler weather, please remember to send a jacket as we do go outside everyday unless it is raining.

A note went home about Halloween. We will have our party on October 31st!

Have a wonderful week!
Mrs. Scheck

Week of Oct. 14-18

Hello Families,

Here is a snap shot of what we will be working on in Room 105 this week....

In writing we are working on Editing one of our small moments. We used a check list today to think about spelling and punctuation. We practiced editing a piece of writing as a class and making changes to make the writing better. We will soon be wrapping up our Small Moments (personal narrative) unit!

In reading, we worked today on figuring out the meanings of words. We read from the book Katie Woo Has the Flu. We looked at this passage, "I hate taking pills, they are such pills!" We discussed using the words in the sentence to help figure out the meaning. We will study how authors have intentions. We will look again at Those Darn Squirrels. We will notice, stop and think about what the author does that is so powerful!

In phonics we are focusing this week on how capitals are used in writing. We read a sample letter from a young writer and we noticed how to use capitals. We saw capitals in the middle of words and fixed them up. We will learn this week to use capitals for: names, place, products, the word I, to start a letter,  to end a letter, to start dates, and to start a new sentence.

In math, we worked more on fact power today. We used doubles facts to help us solve math problems. For example, 5 plus 5 equals 10 will help you know how to solve 5 plus 6. This week we will also learn about the turn around rule for addition. We will try using the turn around rule for subtraction and learn why it will not work. We will also finished taking the I-ready math test.

In science, we will be starting the Air and Weather Unit. We will begin by exploring what we already know about air and weather using a thinking routine called See, Think, Wonder.

Have a great week!
Mrs. Scheck

Week of October 1-4

Hello second grade families,

Here is what we have been working on this week in Room 105...

In reading, most students were able to complete the i-ready reading assessment.
We have begun reading groups! I will usually meet with a group 3 times per week. If your child is reading a book and it comes home, please return it the next day. If your child does not get the time to read the book, still return it. We will need the book in class.

In reading workshop we learned how to stop and jot down important parts of the book that we want to remember. We used sticky notes to record our thinking. We read the book Those Darn Squirrels and the Cat Next Door. We practiced jotting down notes in our own books. We also reviewed ways to solve a tricky word: check the picture, cross check the first letter with the picture, find a part you know, re-read and ask does that make sense? Most important we discussed readers need to stop and try to problem solve!

In writing this week, we worked on using a check list after finishing a story to be sure we have written a small moment. We revised our stories to try to include some emotion. We worked on ending a story with action or talking instead of writing "The End!"

In Phonics, we worked on ways to remember Trouble Maker words: friend, first,girl, your, said, when, went, where, they. We wrote the words out and circled the tricky part. We made chants up to help us remember. We wrote the word and covered it up then checked the spelling. These words will go up on our word wall today!

In math, we took our first math test on Unit 1. We have started Unit 2. A family letter came home on Thursday detailing what to expect in this unit. The first lesson was on counting money with $1, $10 and $100.

In Social Studies, we learned about human made and nature made resources. We learned some mapping skills and how to use a compass rose. Today we wrote out a review for our first social studies test. The test will be on Tuesday, Oct. 8.  Please practice the full address, zip code and phone number. This is the hardest part for most kids. Write it out at home and practice with your child.

The Funky Fall Fund walk is coming up in one week! We hope to raise money and have some fun on Friday, October 11th! If you'd like to volunteer that day, please let the office know! Many parents come to watch and cheer on the students.

Have a wonderful weekend!
Mrs. Scheck

Upcoming events:

Oct. 9th - no school in observance of Jewish Holiday Yom Kippur
Oct. 11th - Funky Fall Fund Walk 2:30-3:30

Week of September 23-27

Hello families,

Here is what has been happening in Room 105!

This week in reading workshop we took some time to begin our i-ready reading assessment.
Due to technical difficulties we have yet to finish the test. Our goal next week will be to complete it once i-ready fixes the problem with their site.  In the classroom this week we continued to work on growing our reading! We read the book Those Darn Squirrels and the Cat Next Door.  We used the book to practice retelling important events. Readers worked on adding some details from the story and using some of the language from the book to their retelling.

In writing, we continue to work on writing small moments. This week we met with a partner to check our stories for capitals to start every sentence, periods at the end of each complete sentence and we fixed up snap words. I introduced a small moments check list for second grade. We used a piece of writing from another author to practice using a checklist with. We worked on re-reading our own writing to make sure it makes sense!

In phonics we worked this week on r controlled vowels. We searched for ar, er and ir in a familiar piece of text.  We then learned how to spell burp - and how we know the right vowel to use by looking at the word spelled three ways: berp, birp and burp and then noticing which one looks right!  We learned some rules to help us remember which vowel to use: er- usually comes a the end of a word. Ir and ur are usually in the middle of a word.
Next week we will work on "trouble maker words"...some of them are: said, they, where, first, friend, girl, when, went and your. We will learn how to tackle a tricky word and how to practice it by chanting it, writing it over and over, take a picture in our minds and clapping it into parts.

In Social Studies, we worked this week to deepen our understanding of what makes up an Urban, Rural and Suburban community. We read the story Little House by Virginia Lee Burton. We saw the changes in the environment caused the little house to go from living in the country to the city. We also learned the difference between wants and needs. Next week we will learn about man made versus natural resources. We will wrap up the first unit of social studies toward the end of next week. A study guide will come home on Wednesday to help your child for a unit test. The unit one social studies test will be on Friday, October 4.

In math, we have reached the end of unit 1. We reviewed odd and even numbers, we went over patterns on the number grid, we played the broken calculator game. The quarter was introduced and we practiced counting coins. The unit one study guide went home yesterday and it is due on Tuesday, October 1. Students will take the unit 1 math test on Wednesday, October 2.

Please remember that there is no school on Monday, Sept. 30th.
Upcoming events:
Funky Fall Fund walk/color run - Oct. 11


Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Scheck

Week of September 23-27

Hello families,

This week in our classroom we have begun the reading assessment for i-ready!
Today every student was able to log in and start. Once the test is complete students can begin i-ready lessons. I will let you  know when they can access the lessons and work on them at home.

In reading workshop this week, we continued to build our skills. We worked on giving a book a sneak peek. Some students gave book talks to the class after reading a book to help encourage other readers. We worked on building our stamina for reading and went from 20 minutes to 25 minutes of reading to self! We practiced talking with a partner and using prompts to begin a discussion about a book.
As students read independently, I have been able to assess students one on one.

In writing, we are continuing on with our small moments/personal narrative unit of writing. We used a mentor text, Owl Moon, to discuss ways Jane Yolen writes. We tried to stretch out one small moment and really zoom in on details in our writing!

In phonics this week we have worked on snap words! Last year students learned popcorn words, snap words are similiar. They are words we can read and write in a snap. Every student has a snap words book to keep in their writing folder. We played I spy with our snap words, we did a snap words speed reading test and we looked for snap words in our own writing and fixed them up if they were misspelled!

Next week we will begin learning r-controlled vowels. These are new for most kids and some will be tricky. We will look for patterns and use them throughout the week:, ar, er, or (example, car, tiger, fork).

In math this week we have been working through Unit 1, which is a bit of a review from last year.
We began the week looking at equivalent names for numbers and learned how to do "Quick Look" card.  We played fishing for ten and practiced making combinations of 10. We tried out a math game on the EDM 4 website.  Yesterday we learned the value of a quarter and played two games. Some of the class played the exchange game and some played the penny-nickel-dime-quarter grab!  Please practice counting coins at home and use the EDM 4 website to revisit games for extra practice.

In social studies we are continuing to learn about communities. We made a booklet of all the communities we belong to (school, home, church, sports). We learned about the three main types of communities: urban, rural and suburban.  Please continue to have your child practice their address complete with zip code and their phone number! At the end of this unit they need to know it and be able to write it independently!

Please turn in your field trip permission slip and one dollar for Dairy Queen if you have not done so.

Upcoming events:
Sept. 27  - Field trip to the Dairy Queen, police and library - please let me know if you are coming, you must fill out the background form to go with us.
Sept. 30 - no school

Week of Sept. 9-13

Hello families,
It is hard to believe that we are almost half way through September. Time flies when you are having fun!

In reading this week we read the book Mercy Watson to the Rescue. This book is a short chapter book with a lovable pig as the main character. We read the book and each day practiced something different. We practiced cross checking a word with meaning, structure and visual information. We highlighted words and practiced breaking them apart whole group, then trying it on our own during reading workshop. Today we practiced fluent reading and pausing for punctuation.

In writing, we have been working on revisiting the strategies learned from first grade for writing workshop. We tried to act out parts of our story before writing. Using a mentor text called The Leaving Morning we tried using these craft techniques - a ellipse (or a dot, dot, dot), sound words, dialog, and repeating phrases.

In math, we worked on scrolling numbers to 1000 as a group. We took parts of the scroll and wrote them with partners. We started our first Open Response lesson, working with number grid puzzles. We will begin having home links in Unit 2. We played games to reinforce concepts about the number grid. We practiced counting coins, several students need more work on counting pennies, nickels and dimes.

In phonics, we were word detectives! We searched the book Those Darn Squirrels for long vowels - using word windows to find them and a partner.
We read poems and searched for both short and vowels and wrote them out on white boards.
The students have really started noticing words and point out vowel teams, silent e and blends when they are reading and writing!

In Social studies, we have continued to learned the features of a community. A homework assignment to learn our phone numbers and addresses is coming home today!

Upcoming events:
Sept. 17 - half day
Sept 18 - Bingo with dads
Sept. 27 - walking field trip (more details to come!)

Thank you!
Mrs. Scheck

Week 2

Hello families,
We have had a great two weeks of school!

This week we continued to work on learning routines for reading workshop, writing workshop and phonics/word study. We began Unit 1 in our Everyday Math books. We started a new unit on Communities in Social Studies.

In reading workshop we read the book Those Darn Squirrels. We practiced retelling the story. We read the story in the way the book wanted to be read - it was a funny book! We acted out parts of the book. Lastly we discussed the author's message and found evidence in the book to support our claims.
I have just begun to do a few reading assessments to begin sorting students into reading groups.

In writing workshop we have spent this week "Revving up our writing muscles" and remembering what writers do during workshop. We practiced planning out a story and using a partner to help plan. We remembered what a small moment is - something that really happened to you or something you already did. We shared our writing and gave compliments after sharing. We wrote our stories in small steps using the words: first, next, then and last.

In phonics, we have been working on being "Second Grade Phonics Professors". We reviewed consonants, vowels - short and long, capitals, silent e, vowel teams, blends and digraphs.
Today we searched for words that end in silent e, then we went over how to check to see if a vowel is short or long.

The first unit in Math is all a review of what was taught in first grade. We worked on writing numbers on a number line, skip counting by 2's, 5's and 10's, and we played two math games. We played Bunny Hop and Number squeeze.

In Social Studies, we began learning that a community is a place where people live, work and play. We talked about who lives in a community and who community helpers are (fireman, police officers, librarian, postal worker, barber, waitress, teacher, etc). We made booklets and drew places we know in our community.

It has been a busy couple of weeks. Thank you for sending me your awesome boys and girls each day! I am so excited to see their faces every morning. It is truly a great group of students!

Upcoming events:
Sept. 11 - Second grade curriculum night
Sept. 17 - Half day of school for students - Teacher professional development day
Sept. 18 - Bingo and pizza with dads


Have a great weekend,
Mrs. Scheck

First day of school!

Dear families,

We had a great first day of second grade!
Today we had a Snowball Fight to learn each others names. We went outside to take a class picture.
We read the book The Jelly Donut Difference by Maria Dismondy. We colored donuts and wrote ways to "sprinkle kindness" this year at school.
We played a math game called Top It. We worked on an "All About Me" packet that will go in our second grade memory books.
We have had a great start! I just know we will have an awesome year!
Tonight we have a homework assignment. Students have a brown bag in which they may bring 5 things to show the class.

Have a great night,
Mrs. Scheck

Last week of school!!

Pizza party picnic!

Flash light reading!

Our last day of school! 

Have a great summer,

Mrs. Scheck

Week of June 10-17

Last week of a school!
We had so much fun on Circus day! Everyone participated and enjoyed learning new skills and doing circus tricks!
We hope you have heard a little about it at home.
Here are a few pictures to enjoy.

Field day and Field trip Pictures

We learned so much about the 1880's and visited several historic buildings!

We had a great time on Field Day!

Week of May 28-31

Hello families!

What a fun week we had last week with a field trip and field day! I hope everyone enjoyed their Memorial Day Weekend as well!

Mrs. Banks has is closing out the library on May 30th to begin inventory and clean up. Any library books that are missing or over due - either return or discuss the replacement costs with Mrs. Banks.

This week in our classroom we will begin some reading assessments. DRA assessments will be given one on one. The results are to be shared with your child's new third grade teacher for the next school year.  Students will continue to have reading workshop, during which time assessments will be given.

In writing, we are wrapping up our Poetry unit and preparing for our celebration! Invitations will come home to invite parents for June 3rd at 2:30 p.m. We will share one poem to be read to the class and then parents will read student's poems and take a walking tour of our second grader's poetry which will be displayed throughout the school. Parents and students will enjoy popcorn. Students are  allowed to walk with a parent only. Please RSVP so we can plan for the celebration.

In math we are beginning our final unit, Unit 9. A family letter and your child's unit 8 test will go home today. Unit 9 is a review of everything taught this year.

In science, we continue to see our bulbs, potatoes, wheat seeds and vines grow. We will review for a science test on plant life cycles today. The test will be on Thursday. Your child's review will come home for you to help him or her prepare.

In social studies, we will wrap up our history of Walled Lake unit next week and learn more about the debate over having an amusement park in the city.

Word study this week will be on words that have r controlled vowels containing u. 

Next week:
Monday, June 3, Popcorn and Poetry
Friday, June 7, Circus day (volunteers still needed, ask Mrs. Russel if you'd like to help!)
Wednesday, June 12 - Pizza party - no need to send a lunch (details to follow)
Thursday, June 13, Half-day and last day!

Have a great week!
Mrs. Scheck

Week of May 13-17

Dear families,
Just a few quick notes about this week in room 105!

In reading, we have continued to work on Book Clubs! We looked at literary language in our books including similes and metaphors. We discussed how in a series book we can predict how a story will work. We practiced with familiar characters - Frog and Toad. We discussed how authors bring a story to life with; speech bubbles, bold words, exclamation points, question marks, and sound words. We searched for them in our series books. Beginning next week, I will start doing some one on one assessments. We will have reading workshop, but take a break from book clubs.

In writing, we have been working on writing poems that use comparisons using similes and metaphors and we practiced using a comparison all the way through a poem. We will be having a Popcorn and Poetry celebration on June 3rd in the afternoon. Parents will join us in the classrooms and read poems. We will also have popcorn! Parents will be allowed to take children in the hallways to read other poems on display that day. If you are not able to attend, please let me know.

In math, we have been working on learning more about 3-D shapes and how to partition a shape into equal pieces. We will learn how to make arrays and use them to solve multiplication problems!

In science, we have had great success with our bulbs! Over the weekend our tallest bulb reached 11 inches - doubling in size from Friday to Monday. We also have seed pods that we will harvest on our Brassica plants. Our wheat seeds have sprouted. We measured and observed them.

In Social Studies, we read more about the Flying Dragon and the Walled Lake amusement park! We watched a video and discussed the problems that came with having an amusement park in the city and how it contributed to pollution of Walled Lake that lingered until the 1970's.

Upcoming events:
May 22nd - field trip, departing at 9:30 a.m.
May 24th - field day, half day with dismissal at 12:09.
June 3rd - Popcorn and Poetry celebration- time to be announced!
June 7th - circus day at Wixom

Have a great day!
Mrs. Scheck

Week of May 6-10

Hello families,

We have been working in our classroom on discovering two more ways to start plants...
We took vines from an ivy plant and put them into water to watch and see how a new ivy plant will begin. We planted flower bulbs and will observe how the bulbs sprouts. Our brassica plants grew flowers. We used q-tips to act like bees and pollinate the flowers. The next stage of the plant will be the seedpods that grow where the flower was. This will bring our plants through one full life cycle.
We have learned several science terms so far: pollinate, nutrients, roots, stems, petals, pistols, anthers, and bulbs. We still have a two more ways to plant coming up next week!

We have started a new unit of math on geometry. So far the students have been learning attributes of shapes. We have learned how to identify shapes through their attributes. We have learned these new terms: angles, right angle, sides, vertex, and parallel lines. We played shape capture and sorted shapes by their attributes. The unit 7 math test will go home tonight!

In reading, we have moved on to a new book for book clubs. In our series we have noticed how characters relate to each other, how characters act and we look for evidence to predict what a character will do or say. We read the book The Stories Julian Tells to study the character Julian, his brother and his dad to predict how Julian will solve a problem.
Continue to have your child read their book club book at home and return it to school every day.

I-ready testing will begin soon. We will be doing the spring I-ready reading and math assessments. These will be used to measure your child's growth for placement into Third Grade. Students will need to have his or her headphones. I will let you know when testing will occur a day or so in advance.

In social studies, we have begun to study schools from 1880's and compared them to schools today. We discussed many differences. The students are so excited to visit the one room school house On May 22nd!

Our spelling pattern for May 6-10 is r-controlled vowel patterns or, ore, oar. We will use the online component to sort, write and practice finding those patterns inside of text.

A few dates coming up:
May 22 - field trip
May 24 - field day and half day for students
June 7 - Cirque among us

If you wish to volunteer on June 7th for Cirque among us, please let me know. This event requires a lot of extra help!

Have a great weekend,
Mrs. Scheck

Week of April 29 - May 3

Hello families,

We have had a busy and fun week in our classroom!

In science our Brassica plants have gotten taller and buds have formed. We are expecting to see flowers next week. We learned that the flowers on our plants have pollen on them. We will take our plants and cross pollinate them. The students made diagrams of a Brassica complete with; roots, stem, first leaves, true leaves, petals, piston, anthers and pollen. These are the parts of a plant that they are learning. We also mowed our lawns (cut the grass cups)! Most of our grass had grown as high as 15 cm. Now we will observe how quickly it will grow back after mowing.

During writing workshop students observed every day objects and wrote details about what they saw. They used their notes and rearranged the words to create poems, experimenting with line breaks. We generated adjectives to describe our moms and wrote a little poem to publish next week! We will continue to work on putting powerful thoughts into tiny packages - using a small moment that gives us a big feeling to write about! We will add concrete details to our poems drawing on a big feeling. We will work on editing our poems.

In reading, most groups have begun their second book club book! Groups will select a new book to start. We have been noticing things that are the same across a series. We will look into our books for evidence to back up or theories about a character. Students will generate ideas about a character using this sentence starter, "Why did he/she---?" to understand a characters actions.

In math, we have ended Unit 7 and will have a unit test on Tuesday. Monday, we will do a review scoot and go over the study guide in class. Unit 8 is all about Geometry! A family letter will come home soon!

In social studies, be prepared for a project to come home on Wednesday, May 1st. Students will need pictures of themselves from ages 0-present day. We will discuss time lines in class and each student will create a personal timeline at home as part of our Social Studies unit. Personal time lines will be shared in class and displayed in our hall. We will be learning the time line of the history of Walled Lake and creating a time line in class with a small group.

Our field trip is coming up! Please send in permission slips and $11.00 fee. We are going to be discussing schools in the past and compare to school in the present to help us prepare.

On Monday second graders will visit the small garden in the courtyard and plant some wild flower seeds. We will also put the rocks we had painted in the fall in the garden as decorations. Please dress in clothes that you and your child will not mind getting a little dirty!

Have a wonderful weekend!
Mrs. Scheck

Opinion writing celebration

Here are a few pictures of our class sharing our opinion writing with fellow second graders!

Week of April 22-26

Hello families,

This week our class ended our opinion writing unit. We also had a great first week with book clubs! We are in the middle of unit 7 in math and we have planted Brassica plants and grass to observe for in science! It has been a busy week!

On Thursday, April 18th, we wrapped up our opinion writing with a celebration! Students chose one book they loved the most to write about. We began with a rough draft and used our rough drafts to compose a final copy. We then made posters to advertise the book to a fellow second grader. Lastly we colored trophies to give to our books for being so awesome! We shared books, the posters we made, a paper and a trophy on our desks. Classes visited each other and walked around sampling the books. I heard many positive comments from readers! Mrs. Russel came and visited too to see what we have been working on the last several weeks.

Our new unit of writing will be Poetry. We will begin next week by using poet's eyes to see the world differently. We will listen to poems and try looking at objects with our poets eyes. We will experiment writing our poems with different line breaks. We will learn write poems that create a picture in our heads. We will listen for the music inside of poems.

In phonics we will continue to use www.pearsonrealize.com to practice word study. This week we worked with  R controlled vowels that appear in words with -ar, -are, -air. Next week we will work again on R controlled vowels with a new pattern: er, ear, eer. The class has been doing their sort on the computer, saving us paper!

We are continuing our work with book clubs. Many groups have already read a whole chapter book and completed their first book club. We wrote a retelling of a whole chapter, we noticed traits about the main character and wrote them down to share. Next week several groups will be selecting new books. In class students wrote reviews about their book club book to share with another reader. The students are enjoying the new format for reading workshop. Please remind your child to bring his or her book to school every day. Even if they do not complete the reading or the writing, he or she can work in class during reading workshop to read from their book. They will fall further behind their group if their book is not here.

In math, we have been measuring with the yardstick and meter stick. We practiced estimating the size of items in our room, then doing actual measurements. Next week we will learn about arm span, collect data for standing jumps and make a frequency table. We will be ending unit 7 at the end of next week. Look for an email letting you know that the unit 7 study guide will come home! We will try doing another kahoot to review in class as they children loved the one we did for social studies!

Science is in full swing in our classroom! The Brassica plants are doing great. We have observed and measured their growth. We have discussed and read about parts of a plant: roots, stem, leaves, true leaves and bud. We will continue to observe next week. We planted grass today! We will observe it growing and soon we will be cutting it as it gets longer.

We are getting prepared for a field trip to Mill Race Village on May 22nd. Permission slips went home earlier this week. In social studies, we will begin learning the history of Walled Lake and learn about the amusement park that was once in town.. We will learn about schools in the past and present and compare them using a Venn Diagram.  We will make personal time lines as an at home project - an email will come home before I send it.

Have a wonderful holiday weekend!
Mrs. Scheck

Week of April 8-12

Hello families!

Welcome back from Spring Break! I hope everyone enjoyed some time outside, doing something they enjoy!

This week we will be wrapping up our opinion writing unit. Students have selected one book they think is so good that it deserves an award. They will finish their rough drafts, write a final copy and lastly make a poster about the book they select. We will be sharing our opinion papers and favorite books with the other second graders soon.

In reading, we will be starting a new unit called "Series books" and we will begin Book Clubs. Students will preview books and make a list of their top three choices. I will put students into a book club and we will learn how to have discussions about the books. This unit is very fun. I will impress upon each group the importance of doing the actual reading and writing! Books clubs work well when everyone does their part!

Our phonics focus for this week are words that have r-controlled vowels.  We will use the online component to practice sorting, writing and reading words with the patterns -ar, -or.

In math, we have begun unit 7. The family letter went home before spring break. This week we will work on adding three numbers and learn to how to play two new games called Hit the Target and Basketball Addition. We will review how to make a pictograph. Home links will come home on Tuesday and Thursday.

In social studies, we practiced sorting wants and needs. We reviewed how wants are the things we want but we can survive without them! We will review producers and consumers. We will wrap up this unit and have a short assessment on Friday.

Our new science kits have arrived. We will begin a new unit on Plants and Life cycles. Students will be growing many different types of plants. We will begin with the fast growing Brassica. We will observe the plant over several days, recording changes. This unit is very hands on. We encourage students to begin looking outside for new plants! It is the perfect time of year to be learning about Plants!

We are raising money for Scarlet's Smile, a playground for all children, that will be handicap accessible. Smencils sales began this week. The students may purchase smencils, tattoos and bracelets before or after lunch.

Have a wonderful week!

Mrs. Scheck

Week of March 25-29

Hello families,

We are off to a good start this week! The students are continuing to work on: opinion writing, reading to find the main idea, using strategies to add two digit and subtract two digit numbers, and working on a new vowel team: ei, ie.

In reading, we will continue to read books with chapters and determine the most important part. this is an important skill. When students are asked to retell as story, it helps them to pause in their reading and write what happened. We have discussed characters, problem, solution, main events, and some details because they all go into a good retelling.

In writing, we are selecting a book we have read to give an award to. We will write a rough draft, outlining three reasons we think the book is great, then we will use the rough draft to write a final copy. We will also make a poster advertising the book to other students. After spring break, we will share the books with other second grade classes in a celebration to end our opinion writing unit.

In math, we are at the end of Unit 6. We worked yesterday previewing unit 7 through explorations. We will be working on measurement, addition with four or more addends, generating and organizing data, and interpreting data. The math test for Unit 6 is Wednesday, March 27th. The study guide is due tomorrow. We will do a "math scoot" in class to help us prepare!

In phonics we have a new vowel team ei, and ie. We will work with words containing these vowels all week. I hope you had a chance to try the sort on  www.pearsonrealize.com. It is just another tool for practice. We will be doing the sort in class this week along with other activities from the site!

Second grade musical information- a note went home from Ms. Emmet last week. It details what the students are wearing. We will perform the musical in school on Thursday, March 28th. We will perform again at night on Thursday. Students arrive at 6:30 p.m.

The book fair is open during lunch time and on Thursday night! If you like to shop with your child and help him or her select books, you can do that. If your child bring money to school to shop, the book fair is open at lunch time and he or she can shop!

Have a great day!
Mrs. Scheck

Week of March 18-22

Dear families,

I hope you enjoyed the little bit of sunshine on Sunday and maybe forgot about the snow on Saturday morning! My oldest son turned 15 on St. Patrick's day and we celebrated by going to his swim meet!

In reading this week we will continue to work on looking for literary language in reading workshop. We are practicing new reader's theaters plays for the week as well. We have been noticing similies (comparisons), playful language such as "the words flew out the window", alliteration and repeating phrases. We will read more about a favorite character, Mercy Watson.

In writing, students have been writing longer opinion letters in the form of booklets. We have been using a check list to remind ourselves what an opinion letter includes. We wrote about the characters, retold a favorite part, talked about the title and the cover and a lesson that is learned through reading the book. This week we will continue to write opinion letters, making them longer.

In Social Studies, we have begun the new unit on Producers and Consumers. We have learned we are all consumers! We focused on ice cream and the processing of ice cream. We will make a flow chart to tell the important steps in the process.

In math, we will continue to work on number stories with more than one step. We learned how to make a ball park estimate (rounding numbers to the nearest 10). I can see this will take a little more practice for us!

On Tuesday our class will visit the Media Center and shop for books with Mrs. Banks. If your child forgets his or her money, we can have students shop during lunch recess.

Friday is a half day for students, dismissal time is 12:09. Please email me any changes in your child's daily dismissal routine to avoid any confusion that day.

March is reading month book logs are due Monday. Please total your child's minutes and write them in the box at the bottom of the book log for week 3 - this saves me some time!

Thank you!
Mrs. Scheck

Leprechaun traps!

Hello families!

Today we made Leprechaun traps in our classroom! Students brought in boxes, decorations, and fake gold to make their traps. They made a plan first, then carried out their plan. Many students shared their materials and were helping each other make traps. They had a blast! The traps are set for tomorrow and who knows... maybe a little leprechaun will make his way to Room 105!!