End of the Year Math Work

As the end of the year approaches and our days together slowly dwindle, our class has been working non-stop on Second Grade math skills that we feel are vital to success in the upcoming year. This week specifically we have been drilling time to the quarter and half hour, place values up to the 1,000s and 10,000s, and estimating costs and change. We shopped at the “grocery store” and estimated costs of multiple items. We discussed that calculating exact costs while shopping is not necessary and explained the idea of sales tax. One strategy we taught this week for calculating change was the counting up method. So if your total was $3.25 and you paid with $5, you can count up by quarters to $0.75 cents, the next whole dollar($4.00), then add one more dollar to reach $5.00. Your change would be $1.75. Have your child practice estimating costs of 2-3 items next time you’re at the grocery store.  

Reading Workshop

Second Grade readers spent the week jumping into the second part of our Roald Dahl unit! Scholars loved meeting the unique characters in the book, George’s Marvelous Medicine. In this thought provoking story, students encounter a little boy, George and his cross grandmother.  The grandmother takes medicine, but George feels that it does nothing to help the grandmother.  George decides to create his grandmother a special new medicine. We have all laughed while reading this peculiar and exciting book!

Vulture Cam

On our visit last week to the Birds of Prey center, we witnessed something that was quite unique in the bird world. Wild Vultures had made a nest in between two of the man-made enclosures! The guides were even quite perplexed by the Vulture’s behavior and placement of the nest so close to humans. They have set up a Vulture Cam to capture the growth of these magnificent birds and we watched a few times this week to check it out! Our resident Vulture lover, Arlo, was quite happy that this became an activity we were adding to our daily schedule. You can check out the camera yourself by visiting their website and finding the link on the home page. http://www.thecenterforbirdsofprey.org/

Important Dates

Memorial Day – No School                    May 28

5th Grade Graduation                           May 31, 11:30 dismissal

Field Day                                                  June 1, 11:30 dismissal