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  January 26, 2019 by Anne Bloomfield
  
  January 28, 2019
  
  Dear Parents,
  
  Although we are on trimesters, this week marks the beginning of the second half of the school year. It’s hard to believe that in 18 weeks your 2nd grader will be a 3rd grader. Time is going so fast!
  
  With the 2nd semester starting this week our specials are changing.  Our specials will change to Music with Mrs. Barton for Mrs. Bloomfield’s class and Art with Mrs. Johnson for Miss Garcia’s class.
  
  Math
  Our work in Math last week and for the next few weeks will be focusing on addition and subtraction with renaming. We will be using the same strategies (open number line, branch method, and partial sums and differences) that students have already been taught.
  
  Last week we worked on decomposing and composing ones and tens to help us make the next ten or next 100 so that we could easily add.
  Here’s what it looked like…
  
  Example 1: Adding ones by making the next ten.
  
   56  + 7 = ____         ↙ ↘        4    3 60 + 3 = 63 1.  The next ten after 56 is 60.       2. To get to 60 you need 4, so the 7 gets decomposed into 4 and 3.  Then take the 4 and compose it with the 56 to make 60.      3. The renamed equation is 60 + 3 = 63.
  
  Example 2:  Adding tens by making the next hundred.
  
   450  + 90 = ___                   ↙ ↘                50   40                 500 + 40 = 540 1.   The next hundred after 450 is 500.        2. To get to 500 you need 50, so the 90 get decomposed into 50 and 40. Then take the 50 and compose it with the 450 to make 500.       3. The renamed equation is 500 + 40 = 540.
  
  This week we will be using the same strategy to subtract.  Students will be counting back to the last 10 or 100.
  
  Example 3:  Subtracting ones by making the next ten.
  
   56  — 7 = ____                   ↙ ↘                   6   1   50 — 1 = 49 1. The last ten before 56 is 50.       2. To get to 50 you need 6, so the 7 gets decomposed into 6 and 1.            3.   The renamed equation is 50 — 1 = 49.
  
  Example 4:  Subtracting tens by making the next hundred.
  
   450  — 90 = ___                  ↙  ↘        50   40 400 — 40 = 360 1.  The last hundred before 450 is 400.       2.  To get to 400 you need 50, so the 90 get decomposed into 50 and 40. Then take the 50 and subtract it from the 450 to make 400.     3.  The renamed equation is 400 — 40 = 360.
  
  Homework
  
  With the beginning of the 2nd semester our homework policy has had some slight changes.  Students will continue to complete math fact sheets 3 days a week but 1 day a week your child will bring home a sheet related to the math concepts that we are currently working on.  At this point the concept related sheet will come home on Tuesday afternoon and it will feature up to 4 problems that reflect the math skills currently being worked on in the classroom.  These sheets should not take more than 10 minutes for your students to complete.
  
  Writing
  
  Second grade writers are now going from writing with a focus on research to narrative writing.  This week students will listen to a variety of personal narratives and start listing potential ideas for their personal narrative.
  
  Language
  
  With the short week of only 3 days and needing to work in a little extra “project time”, we did not get to work with pronouns at all.  This week we will review personal and possessive pronouns (both 1st grade standards) and introduce reflexive pronouns (a 2nd grade standard).  Here are examples of these pronouns.
  
  Our next focus in language will be learning about pronouns (words that take the place of a noun).  We have worked with personal pronouns (I, you, they, and we… to name a few), possessive pronouns which show ownership (mine, his hers, and theirs), and finally reflexive pronouns (himself, ourselves, and myself).
  
  Personal Pronoun Example
  
  My brothers went fishing last Saturday.
  
  They went fishing last Saturday.
  
  Possessive Pronoun Example
  
  Mike’s fish was the biggest.
  
  His fish was the biggest.
  
  Reflexive Pronoun Example
  
  Mike unhooked the fish himself.
  
  Projects
  
  Students are ready to present their landmark projects!  As mentioned in last week’s blog, 2nd graders will present their Landmark Slide Shows on Tuesday, January 29th from 3:00 to 3:15 pm.  Looking forward to seeing you there!
  
  Wishing everyone a happy and productive week.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  Anne Bloomfield
  
  and
  
  Shannon Garcia