Weekly Update 12/8/18

The children started last week learning about the difference between needs and wants in social studies. They also learned how to be smart consumers and make choices about what items to buy with a given budget. Students had to weigh the opportunities and costs between saving and spending.

This prepared students to begin their Market Days project as a culmination of our economics unit. They are working in teams of three to design and create a good that can be "sold" to third grade students. So far, the teams have brainstormed and decided upon their product and pricing. Action figures, bird houses, and holiday ornaments are some of their choices. They have also considered how to package their goods. Next, the children worked through the steps of the engineering design process to sketch and build a prototype. The teams made observations and recorded the strengths and weaknesses of their products. Then, they were able to make improvements or create new plans. I am proud of the collaboration and communication displayed by students. Many teams had to have a growth mindset when their original designs did not work. I am happy to say each team now has a final prototype to use as a model for next week's production!

In math, we are continuing to work on subtraction of two-digit numbers with and without regrouping. This is a challenging topic for many second graders, but with continued practice the students are making steady progress! Some students do need to review their basic facts in both addition and subtraction. The Freckle website and app have a fact practice section called Number Facts that is perfect for review at home. Students have login information for this website on their lists in their green folders. Using addition to check their work was also covered last week. Next, we will finish out the lessons from the chapter. Emphasis will be on two step word problems and using the break apart strategy when subtracting. 

The students are working on finding the main idea and supporting details from a passage of text in reading. Reading groups are exploring different ways authors organize non-fiction books, such as with a sequence of events. 

Students are working on the bodies of their second opinion letters in writing. We will review what goes into conclusions and work on finishing our letters this week. Then, students will choose one of their two drafts to turn into a published copy. 

Another Flat Stanley has returned from his journey to Milwaukee, Wisconsin!