Part 1 (Daily Reading Homework): your child needs to read at least 20 minutes every night. Please record what they read, how long they read for and then initial it. Thanks!

Part 2 (Study for the Spelling Test): We have a spelling test tomorrow. Are you ready?

Part 3 (Minute Math): Minute Math is a daily activity. It is not due until Friday.

Part 4 (Main Idea): Today the kids wrote a paragraph. The assignment was to write a paper about the best toy ever. As always, it needed a title that contained the main idea, the first sentence was to contain the main idea and the last sentence was supposed to re-state the main idea. I am sending your student’s graded paper home. Anyone who wants to re-do the paper for a better grade is welcome to.

1/28/09 Writing & Comprehension

Part 1 (Daily Reading Homework): your child needs to read at least 20 minutes every night. Below, please record what they read, how long they read for and then initial it. Thanks!

Part 2 (Reading Comprehension): One of the main focuses of our year has been reading comprehension. Simply reading a book, article, or passage isn’t enough. Readers need to be able to re-tell what they’ve read in their own words!
Tonight your student is reading another short passage about what to do in case of a fire. After they read the passage then need to answer 6 simple questions about the passage. There is explicit and implicit information available to help your student answer the questions. Explicit means that the information is written on the page. Implicit means that they figure out their answer from clues provided on the page. Readers need to constantly check for implicit and explicit information. See if your child can tell you the difference between implicit and explicit information.

Part 3 (Creative writing): Have your child complete this simple piece of creative writing. Are they neat enough? Do they use capital letters to begin sentences and end each sentence with punctuation? Do they write in complete sentences? Please go over the piece with your student when they are done.


Part 4 (Minute Math): Minute Math is a daily activity. It is not due until Friday.

1/27/09 Subtraction & Subject/Verb Agreement

Part 1 (Daily Reading Homework): your child needs to read at least 20 minutes every night. Please record what they read, how long they read for and then initial it

Part 2 (Subject-Verb Agreement): As you’ve seen with the Daily Language Reviews that we do each week, the kids have been studying how to properly form sentences. Tonight’s homework is simple: the students are to choose the correct form of the verb that will match the noun (subject/verb agreement).

Part 3 (Subtraction with Regrouping): Please help your child complete math mat 9-5. Does your child understand the concept? Do they understand that sometimes they’ll need to re-group out of the tens place and sometimes they won’t? Please let me know how your child does with this concept.

Part 4 (Minute Math): Minute Math is a daily activity. It is not due until Friday.

1/26/09 Subtraction

Part 1 (Daily Reading Homework): your child needs to read at least 20 minutes every night. Below, please record what they read, how long they read for and then initial it. Thanks!
What was read? Time spent reading parent’s initials

Part 2 (Subtraction). Please help your child complete math mat 9-4.

Part 3 (Math): Drops in the Bucket Math: we are reviewing many of the math facts that we have learned to date: comparing numbers, patterns, adding and subtracting, how many in all, money, place value, comparing numbers, time, and shapes (& following directions).

Part 4 (Minute Math): Minute Math is a daily activity. It is not due until Friday.

1/22/09 Subtraction with Regrouping

Part 1 (Daily Reading Homework): your child needs to read at least 20 minutes every night. Please record what they read, how long they read for and then initial it. Thanks!

Part 2 (Subtraction): We have been working on subtraction with re-grouping. It is one of the harder concepts that 2nd graders grapple with and I’d like some input from you, the families. How does your student do when they have to re-group out of the tens place to solve a problem? Please let me know. They’ve learned a saying to help them remember when they need to re-group. It goes:

More on the floor, go next door!

More on top, you just stop!

Please help your student complete the math problems on the back of the sheet and then let me know how they are doing with this in the home setting. Thanks!

Part 3 (Study for the Spelling Test): We have a spelling test tomorrow. Are you ready?

Part 4 (Minute Math): Minute Math is a daily activity. It is not due until Friday.

1/21/09 Quotation Marks & Comprehension

Part 1 (Daily Reading Homework): your child needs to read at least 20 minutes every night. Below, please record what they read, how long they read for and then initial it. Thanks!

Part 2 (Reading Comprehension): One of the main focuses of our year has been reading comprehension. Simply reading a book, article, or passage isn’t enough. Readers need to be able to re-tell what they’ve read in their own words!
Tonight your student is reading another short passage about polar bears. We’ve been studying the arctic so they already have some knowledge to start with. After they read the passage then need to answer 5 simple questions about the passage. There is explicit and implicit information available to help your student answer the questions. Explicit means that the information is written on the page. Implicit means that they figure out their answer from clues provided on the page. Readers need to constantly check for implicit and explicit information. See if your child can tell you the difference between implicit and explicit information.

Part 4 (Quotation Marks): We’ve been studying the proper use of quotation marks in class. Have your child show you their understanding of quotation marks with this short work sheet. We’ve learned a song that helps us remember when to use quotation marks. Have your student sing it! It goes:

Whenever you see two marks like these someone is usually talking.
The dog says, “Bow wow.”
The cat says, “Meow.”
The man says, “I am walking.”


Part 3 (Minute Math): Minute Math is a daily activity. It is not due until Friday.

1/19/09 Drops in the Bucket Math

Part 1 (Daily Reading Homework): your child needs to read at least 20 minutes every night. Below, please record what they read, how long they read for and then initial it. Thanks!

Part 2 (Math): Drops in the Bucket Math: we are reviewing many of the math facts that we have learned to date: comparing numbers, patterns, adding and subtracting, how many in all, money, place value, time, and shapes.
When working on Drops in the Bucket with your student please constantly ask them to explain themselves to you. Say things like: “How do you know that?” and “Tell me why.” when they give you answers.
#5 is about fact families (the fact family made up of 8, 8 and 16... 8+8=16 and 16-8=8). The rest of #5 is dedicated to basic addition and subtraction. #8 is about equivalency... it shows that 5 tens and 4 ones is the same as 4 tens and 14 ones. #10 is about following directions.

Part 3 (Minute Math): Minute Math is a daily activity. It is not due until Friday

1/12/09

Part 1 (Daily Reading Homework): your child needs to read at least 20 minutes every night. Please record what they read, how long they read for and then initial it. Thanks!

Part 2 (Subtracting Two Digit Numbers): We are starting our unit on subtracting with re-grouping (subtracting with carrying to all you old timers... like me... out there). Please check out the math mat that your child brings home today. Ask them to discuss the regrouping game that they played and check their understanding of the concept. Have them do the two mental math problems (#s 1 & 2) and then the add on to subtract problems (#s 3 & 4). As a reminder, add on to subtract works like this: 15-7=____   7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15... looks at fingers... 15 minus 7 is 8!

Part 3 (Math): Drops in the Bucket Math: we are reviewing many of the math facts that we have learned to date: comparing numbers, patterns, adding and subtracting, how many in all, money, place value, time, and shapes.
When working on Drops in the Bucket with your student please constantly ask them to explain themselves to you. Say things like: “How do you know that?” and “Tell me why.” when they give you answers. On problem #8 the students are asked to understand that 1 ten and 1 one is the same as zero tens and 11 ones. The cubes on the left are equivalent to the cubes on the right. Problem #9 deals with telling time. Many of the children don’t know how to tell time on a clock with a face yet. If this is still hard for your child read the face to them, “4:55” and then have them write the time on the digital clock. Please work with your child on telling time! Please let me know if you are starting to work with your child on telling time on an analog (face) clock and how it is going. Problem #10 involves shapes and following directions.

Part 4 (Minute Math): Minute Math is a daily activity. It is not due until Friday.

1/8/09

Part 1 (Daily Reading Homework): your child needs to read at least 20 minutes every night. Record what they read, how long they read for and then initial it. Thanks!

Part 2 (Spelling): We have a Spelling Test tomorrow. Are you ready?

Part 3 (Minute Math): Minute Math is a daily activity. It is not due until Friday.

Part 4 (Draw and Write): Your student is to write about a real life event that happened to them.

Part 1 (Daily Reading Homework): your child needs to read at least 20 minutes every night. Please record what they read, how long they read for and then initial it. Note: you student checked out new library books today. Ask them about their new books!

Part 2 (Contractions): All year long we have been working with contractions. Tonight’s homework (on the back of this sheet) focuses on making contractions with the word “not.” Can not becomes can’t and are not becomes aren’t. Please check your learner’s understanding of this skill in the home setting and let me know how it goes.

Part 3 (Minute Math): Minute Math is a daily activity. It is not due until Friday.

Part 4 (Adding Two Digit Numbers): We continue to do addition problems with

 and without regrouping. Please have your student finish the unfinished problems on Mathmat #8-7. Problem 8 is a journal problem and the kids need to use their own words to create a story adding a two digit to another two digit number. For example:
I have 28 frogs. Mom give me 39 more frogs. 28+39=67 Now I have 67 frogs.

The key is having your child understand how to regroup if they end up with more than 9 things in the ones place (or any place). How is addition with re-grouping coming for your student?

1/5/09 Drops in the Bucket Math, Addition with Re-grouping

Part 1 (Daily Reading Homework): your child needs to read at least 20 minutes every night. Please record what they read, how long they read for and then initial it. Thanks!

Part 2 (Adding Two and One Digit Numbers): We continue to do addition problems with and without regrouping. Please have your student finish the unfinished problems on Mathmat #8-4. Problem 6 is a journal problem and the kids need to use their own words to create a story adding a two digit to a one digit number. For example:
I have 18 cookies. Mom give me 5 more cookies. 18+5=23      Now I have 23 cookies.

The key is having your child understand how to regroup if they end up with more than 9 things in the ones place (or any place).

Part 3 (Math): Drops in the Bucket Math: we are reviewing many of the math facts that we have learned to date: comparing numbers, patterns, adding and subtracting, how many in all, money, place value, time, and shapes.
When working on Drops in the Bucket with your student please constantly ask them to explain themselves to you. Say things like: “How do you know that?” and “Tell me why.” when they give you answers. On problem #3 the students are asked to do some double digit addition and subtraction. Check to see if your student starts in the ones place. There is regrouping in the first problem. Problem #9 deals with telling time. Many of the children don’t know how to tell time on a clock with a face yet. If this is still hard for your child read the face to them, “10:10” and then have them write the time on the digital clock. Please work with your child on telling time! Please let me know if you are starting to work with your child on telling time on an analog (face) clock and how it is going. Problem #10 involves dividing shapes in half evenly. None of the shapes show will divided evenly if they are split top to bottom. See if your child understands that even halves are created with these shapes by dividing across the shapes.

Part 4 (Minute Math): Minute Math is a daily activity. It is not due until Friday.