May Reader's Workshop

Archetypes and Traditional Literature

During the month of May students will learn the different types of traditional literature:

·     Fairytales- have a lot of magic and usually people in a faraway land, like princess and kings and queens, or imaginary creatures like trolls and fairies and witches.  Good characters are rewarded, but they also get a little help from magic to solve their problems.

·     Folktales - usually have characters who are poor, hard -working people.  In these stories honesty, hard work, and kindness are rewarded.  People have to work hard and do the right thing to solve their problems.

                          

·     Fables – sometimes have animals that talk, and they’re shorter than other pieces of traditional literature

 

*We will also be studying character archetypes from all traditional literature (good characters versus evil characters)

May Read Aloud

During the month of May, the students will be learning about the Colonial Time period and how children lived during this time period. The Colonial Time period relates to the 13 original British colonies in North America before their independence in 1776. They will connect this information back to the unit we studied on Native Americans. During this unit, the students will compare and contrast their roles in our community with the roles of children during the colonial times in their community. They will learn the types of food they ate, how they gathered their food, games the children played, how they created these games, roles of men/women/children, homes they lived in and how they were built, children schooling, and modes of transportation, etc. The students will also explore the importance of how the contributions of the Colonials have affected America, even today.

The books we will be reading are:

May Field Trips!

Calpulli Mexican Dancers

As part of our social studies curriculum, students have been learning about the culture of New York City.  We have learned that New York City is a “melting pot” that is composed of many different people and cultures from all over the world.  In order to celebrate and learn more about one of those cultures, we will be going to see the Calpulli Mexican Dancers on Wednesday, May 4^th presented by Enrichment through the arts at the College of Staten Island. 

• Date: Wednesday, May 4th
• Cost: $10
• Time: We will leave the school at 10:00am and return by 1:30.
• Lunch: We will not return to school in time to eat lunch in the cafeteria.  Children will be provided with cheese sandwiches to eat in the classroom upon returning to school.  If your child does not like cheese sandwiches please be sure to send them to school with lunch. 

Brooklyn Bridge

Throughout the school year the second grade has been learning about and visiting each of the 5 boroughs.  To continue our exploration of the five boroughs we will be walking over the Brooklyn Bridge! We will learn the history of the bridge and its importance to the five boroughs, specifically Brooklyn and Manhattan.  Students will be bussed to Manhattan and then walk back to Brooklyn, where they will have some time to enjoy the Brooklyn Bridge Park!

• Date: Thursday, May 19th
• Cost: Free!
• Time: We will leave the school at 9:30am and return by 1:30pm
• Lunch: Weather permitting, we will be eating lunch in Brooklyn Bridge Park.  Students will be provided with cheese sandwiches from the cafeteria.  If your child does not like cheese sandwiches please provide them with lunch. Students will carry their lunch with them over the bridge so please make sure their lunch is in a bag that is easy to carry. 

April Word Study

Unit 13
The students will continue to work on D syllable type. We will be working on new vowel teams. 

Trick words: Monday, tuesday, cousin
                       lose, dance, beautiful 


Unit 14 
The students learned one sound for the the previous vowel teams of oa, ow, and oe. The letter combination also has another sound as in the word plow. 

Trick Words: Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday 
                      bought, library, piece 

April Field Trips!

Space Center

The second graders will take a trip to the space center to further their knowledge about science! Students will participate in the Junior Aviators program.  They will investigate force and motion to understand how airplanes fly.  They will look at model airplanes and even participate in a flight simulation!

• Cost: $5
• Time: We will leave the school at 9:30 and return by 1:30.
• Lunch: We will be eating lunch at the Space Center.  Please send your child to school with a packaged lunch that is easy to carry.  If your child does not bring a lunch they will be provided with a sandwich from the cafeteria. 

Yankee Stadium

Second grade studies the five boroughs and important landmarks in each.  In April, each second grade class will visit Yankee Stadium to see an important landmark in the Bronx!  We will be brought down to the field, around the stadium to places such as the press box, and through the museum.  We will learn the history of the team and the stadium to help us understand a part of New York City culture.

 

Classes 2-203 and 2-205

Thursday, April 14th

• Cost: $10 per kid and $15 per adult, limit of 5 parents per class
• Time: We will leave the school at 9:30am and return by 1:30.
• Lunch: We will not return to school in time to eat lunch in the cafeteria.  Children will be provided with cheese sandwiches to eat in the classroom upon returning to school.  If your child does not like cheese sandwiches please be sure to send them to school with lunch.

Classes 2-202 and 2-209

Friday, April 15th

• Cost: $10 per kid and $15 per adult, limit of 5 parents per class
• Time: We will leave the school at 9:30am and return by 1:30.
• Lunch: We will not return to school in time to eat lunch in the cafeteria.  Children will be provided with cheese sandwiches to eat in the classroom upon returning to school.  If your child does not like cheese sandwiches please be sure to send them to school with lunch.

Class 2-203 at the space center!

Class 2-203 at the space center!