Week of 11/29/21

Judaic Studies: The 2nd graders students were excited to learn about Chanukah. We learned how much it is important to keep your identity and when lighting the candles of Chanukah we remember the miracles of Chanukah and that we are part of a community.

The students learned the difference between the Menorah and the Chanukiah. And while learning about the customs of the holiday, each student wrote in script sentences relating to Chanukah.

Hebrew: The 2nd graders start reading sentences and short stories containing all of the Hebrew vowels, including the brachot of Chanukah and the songs they were singing.

Reading: During reading, the second graders have been learning about homophones such as to, two, too and there, their and they’re and spelling patterns such as er, ir, ur. 

They also learned how to scoop phrases in order to read more fluently, as if we are speaking. Our readers practiced reading aloud so we could hear the breaks or pauses within the sentences. At home, be sure to ask your child to read in a storytelling voice where they capture the essence of the story while scooping phrases together.

Writing: The students have been busy learning about opinion writing, specifically with reviews of their favorite books that they read in school. We don’t want to divulge too much here, otherwise it won’t be a surprise! We can’t wait to share them with you at the Publishing Party on December 9th!

Social Studies: We kicked off our community study! We started by discussing different types of communities (specifically, family, school and neighborhood), people who are associated in each and how people can belong to more than one. We will continue with diving deeper into rural, suburban and urban communities and what characterizes them. We will also discuss population density, pollution and why people choose to live in each as the unit of study progresses further. 

Math: In math, we learned how to regroup with addition and subtraction with multi digits. You may hear your children saying, “knock next door to get some more” when they need to regroup. Please see this chart to follow our jungle while practicing homework!

Science: The second grade scientists have been learning about density! They experimented with salt water and also with seltzer water and raisins. Many students noticed that the raisins “danced” when they were added to the soda. We had a rich discussion about why and how  the raisins moved up and down and how density played a factor as well.

Music: Second Graders have been learning the Ladino song Ocho Kandelikas with movements. They performed the song beautifully at school for Hanukkah Candle Lighting on Wednesday! To honor Native American heritage day/month, they learned the Iroquois lullaby Ho Ho Watanay.