2026-27 3rd Grade Blog

Upcoming:
-Second Grade Butterfly Unit began this week!The larvae are here!
-Early Release Days for Report Cards and conferences on March 13 and 14. School will get out at 12:22.
-Ms. Seyan’s Scheduled conferences:
Friday, March 14th: Austin @ 1:00, Riley @ 1:30, Annabel @ 2:00, and Allison @ 2:30.
Tuesday, March 18th: Bryan @ 12:30, Luis @ 1:00, Bella @ 2:00.
*If you would like a conference this week, please email your child’s teacher at sseyan@sjusd.org or hwon@sjusd.org.

Language Arts
Unit 5:Learning Through Research
Story: Brothers and Sisters by Ellen B. Senisi
eWord Game
Printable Hidden Message Puzzle
Story Summary
Berenstain Bears Story Time
The above links were accessed from Mrs. Smith’s Second Grade Classroom weebly, http://mssmiths2ndgradeclassroom.weebly.com/brothers-and-sisters.html. on March 3, 2014 at 10:50 p.m.

Unit Overview:
Why is it important to explore multiple sources when researching a topic? How does comparing and contrasting multiple texts help the reader to thoroughly understand the topic? How can the reader communicate the information they have learned about a topic to others? …the main purpose for the reader or writer is to communicate their understanding of the message.
Students will:
-ask who, what, when, where, why, and how questions to demonstrate their understanding of text.
-compare and contrast two different texts on the same subject.
-engage in a shared research project to produce a written and oral presentation.
-record science observations.
-use structural analysis and context clues when decoding text.

*Reading
2.RL.4 Describe how words and phrases supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.
2.RI.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 2 topic or subject area.
2.RI.9 Compare and contrast the most important points presented by two texts on the same topic.

*Listening/Speaking
2.SL.4 Tell a story or recount an experience with appropriate facts
and relevant, descriptive details, speaking audibly in coherent sentences.

*Writing
2.W.2 Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.
2.W.7 Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., read a number of books on a single topic to produce a report; record science observations).
2.W.8 Recall information gathered from experiences or gather information provided form sources to answer a question.

*Language/Conventions
2.L.1 Demonstrate command of conventions of Standard English Grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

*Language/Vocabulary
2.L.4 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown or multiple-meaning words and phrases based on Grade 2 text.
2.L.5 Demonstrate understanding of word relationships and nuances in word meanings.

Spelling Words March 3-7:
1. under 2. over 3. brother
4. sister 5. father 6. mother
7. ever 8. summer 9. later
10. order 11. monster 12. number
13. border 14. teacher 15. chapter

Spelling Words March 10-14:
1. winter 2. power 3. water
4. river 5. meter 6. proper
7. finger 8. fever 9. zipper
10. wonder 11. paper 12. center
13. feather 14. later 15. letter

Language Arts Academic Vocabulary:

opinion, information, exposition, main idea, detail, compare, contrast, revise, edit, possessive, contraction

Language Arts Domain Specific Vocabulary:

(Language Arts information from:
San José Unified School District Curriculum, Instruction & EL Services PreK-5 ELA 2nd Grade Curriculum Map aligned to the Common Core State Standards page 59 of 112 SJUSD/Div. of Curriculum, Instruction & EL Services, PK -­‐5:Albarrán/Lax/Petkiewicz/SJUSD 2nd Grade CCSS Cohort Version: November, 2013)

Math

Unit 8: Using Mental Addition to Add Two-Digit Numbers
Topic 6: Mental Addition

Purpose/Focus:
The purpose of this unit is for students to mentally add multiples of 10 or 100 to any number between 100 and 900. In this standard, problems that require students to move from 10’s to 100’s should be included. Example 273+60=333. They can practice this by counting and thinking aloud, finding missing numbers in sequence, and finding missing numbers on the number line or hundreds chart. Explorations should also include looking for relevant patterns.
*Strategies may include counting on: 300, 400, 500…
*examples: 100 more than 653 is_____(753)
Start at 248. Count up by 10’s until I tell you to stop.
Questions:
What numerical patterns do we find in base ten number systems?
How do these numerical patterns help you to solve addition problems mentally?
Vocabulary:
tens, hundreds, digit, pattern

Common Core Standards:
(2.MBT.8)
Mentally add 10 or 100 from a given two-digit number.

Standards for Mathematical Practice
MP1: Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
Interpret and make meaning of a problem to find a starting point. Analyze what is given in order to explain the problem. Plan a solution pathway instead of jumping to a solution.
MP6: Attend to precision.
Calculate efficiently and accurately. What would be a more efficient strategy? How are you showing the meaning of the quantities?
MP8: Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.
Continually evaluate the reasonableness of their work; finding generalizations that support the patterns. Noticing consistencies.

(Math information from:
San Jose Unified School District Curriculum, Instruction & EL Services PreK-5 2nd Grade CCSSM Scope and Sequence SJUSD Division of Instruction –Albarrán/ Lax/ Petkiewicz / Centeno / SJUSD 2nd Grade CCSS Cohort Page 23 of 47.

Created and modified from original work with permission from the Dana Center, University of Texas, Austin June, 2013)

There will be another clean up day at the Carson School and Community Garden Sunday, February 16, 2014 from 10 am to 4 pm. The focus will be on finishing the weeding, trimming the arbor and fruit trees, and completing the new planter boxes for the school. All hands are welcome! If you have tools, such as rakes, hoes, shovels, gloves, and pruners, please bring them along.

Find more information on the Carson School and Community Garden Website

Story “The Great Ball Game”
Author: Joseph Brushac
eWord Game
Cause and Effect
Story Summary
Another Bat fable
Bat Activities

Language Arts:
Unit 4: Point of View
Questions: How do readers identify an author’s point of view? How does an author support his or her viewpoint? How do readers note different characters’ points of view?
Standards:
2.RI.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text relevant to grade 2 topic or subject area.
2.L.4 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on Grade 2 reading and content, choosing flexibly from an array of strategies.
a. Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
b. Determine the meaning of a new word formed when a known prefix is added to a known word (e.g., happy/unhappy, tell/retell)
c. Use a known root word as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word.
d. Use the knowledge of meanings of individual words to predict the meaning of compound words (e.g., birdhouse, lighthouse, housefly).
e. Use glossaries and beginning dictionaries, both print and digital, to determine or clarify the meanings of words and phrases.
2.SL.4 Tell a story or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking audibly in coherent sentences.
2.W.1 (opinion) Write opinion pieces in which they introduce a topic or book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply reasons that support that opinion, use linking words (e.g., because, and, also) to connect opinion and reasons, and provide a concluding statement or section.
2.W.2 Write informative/explanatory texts in which they produce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.
Vocabulary/Conventions Focus Areas for this unit:
Prefixes, roots, and compound words; reflexive pronouns (myself, ourselves); producing and rearranging compound sentences; commas in greetings and closings in letters; use of glossaries and dictionaries.
Spelling Words

Language Arts Academic Vocabulary:
Language Arts Domain Specific Vocabulary:
speech, text, voice, support, alliteration, rhyme, rhythm.
Math:
Unit 6: Solving Problems Involving Money
Purpose/Focus: Students solve word problems involving either dollars or cents. Example: What are some possible combinations of coins (pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters) that equal 37 cents? Students should solve story problems connecting the different representations. These representations may include objects, pictures, charts, tables, words, and/or numbers. Students should communicate their mathematical thinking and justify their answers. . ( SJUSD Division of Instruction, June 2013)
2.MD.8 Solve word problems involving dollar bills, quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies, using $ and the cents symbols appropriately.
Standards for Mathematical Practice:
MP1: Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. Interpret and make meaning of the problem to find a starting point. Plan a solution pathway instead of jumping to a solution.
MP2: Reason abstractly and quantitatively. Decontextualize (represent a situation symbolically and represent symbols) and contextualize (make meaning of the symbols in a problem) quantitative relationships.
MP6: Attend to precision. Communicate precisely with others and try to use clear mathematical language when discussing their reasoning.
MP7: Look for and make use of structure. See complicated things as single objects or as being composed of several objects.