Second Grade News

Flat Stanley Goes Global                
We have really enjoyed watching Flat Stanley travel the country, and we can say that Stanley has even seen the world. We have received several Flat Stanleys from other countries including Iraq, Japan, and beyond.  Please stop by the second grade hallway and see all of the places that Stanley has traveled. This has been a great experience for the students, and we hope to receive even more Flat Stanleys soon. 

Big Thanks!
Thank you to the Deep Run Wildcat Band for entertaining us last week with their sounds in the halls of Twin Hickory. We would also like to thank all of those parents involved in helping the PTA with organizing the incentive movie for Twin Hickory’s success in achieving 100% PTA participation.  The students enjoyed some tasty popcorn while watching Frosty the Snowman.

Reading
We just finished reading “Johnny Appleseed” in class. We spent time focusing on reading for details and learning the parts of a play.  Next week we will read  “From Seed to Plant.”  We will be focusing on reading charts and diagrams.  This will also help the students with our Science unit on living systems. Our vocabulary words for this story will be beautiful, nutrition, protects, ripens, and streams. The following week we will work on a Readers Theater.  The play is called Piggins.  The main character, a butler named Piggins, must solve a mystery about a missing lavaliere.  Will he do it?  Who was the thief?

English, Writing, and Word Study
We continue to work on adjectives.  Students enjoyed writing an Acrostic Poem using their name and thinking of many adjectives that describe themselves.  Next week students will use adjectives to describe a mystery object.  They will see if their friends can figure out what the object is from all their descriptive clues. 
Please send in a picture of a toy from a magazine by Tuesday, Dec. 8. This picture will be your child’s mystery object.

We will not have Word Study the week of December 14.  Word Study will resume when we return from winter break.

Math
We have been working very hard this week in math.  We introduced the word “regrouping”. Adding two-digit numbers can be very challenging for second graders. You can help at home by working checking over your child’s math homework, asking questions about whether or not there is a need to regroup, and of course practice the addition facts.   We will continue to work on this addition skill up to winter break.  After winter break we will begin another challenging concept, subtraction with regrouping.

Science
We are continuing our unit on Living Systems.  Students have had a good time learning about the life cycles of both a frog and a butterfly.  They are amazed that after these animals hatch from eggs that they look so different when they become adults.  Next we will learn about plants.  This will include what plants need to live, the parts of a plant, how a plant grows, how a flower becomes a fruit, important products we get from plants, and what plants are grown in Virginia.  As you can see we will be very busy before winter break.
Dates to Remember
Thurs., Dec. 10th        PTA 7 PM-5th Grade Winter 
Program
Tues., Dec. 15th        Jingle Bell Jam 8:55-9:25 K-2
Fri., Dec. 18th            Holly Day/Winter Party
Dec. 21st-Jan.31st        Winter Break
Mon., Jan. 4th         First day back to school