MAY NEWS FROM GRADE TWO Wow! It’s hard to believe that we’re getting so close to the end of the school year. This month will certainly be a busy one as we still have plenty to accomplish before the summer. At this time of year the children often get tired and excited for the summer to come, but it is important for the children to stay focused and continue to work hard through to the last week of school. Students will begin presenting their personal goals at the end of May. Classmates are always looking forward to listening to their peers present what their focuses were over the course of the school year. Posters, photos, DVD’s or live performances are just a few ideas of how others have come to do this in the past. Classroom teachers will send out a schedule closer to the time to inform you when your child is scheduled. We will also dedicate the month of May to our service project. With the help of Mrs. Willis, students created beautiful illustrations of good citizen acts on Kid Pix. These illustrations were then made into cards and will soon go on sale around the ACS campus. All proceeds from the sale of these cards will be donated to Free the Children, a wonderful organization that strives to improve the lives of poor children around the world (through building schools and clean water systems among many others). For more information go to www.freethechildren.com. Now here’s what’s happening: Writer’s Workshop: The students will continue learning about poetry throughout most of May. We are continuing to learn about some of the strategies poets use such as putting powerful thoughts in tiny packages, to use poetic language and voice while searching for precise words and different patterns in poetry. The students are encouraged to include descriptive language and carefully consider word choice while crafting their poems everyday during Writer’s Workshop. They are very excited to share and celebrate their poems at the upcoming Poetry Café on May 16. (More information about this event will follow shortly.) Our young writers knows that authors edit and revise their writing for best results. Since editing and revising is such an important step of the writing process, this will be our focus towards the end of May. Reader’s Workshop: From now until the end of the year, the students will be working on Unit 11: Learning Nouns and Verbs and Unit 15: Looking Back. In Unit 11 the students will learn grammar and punctuation in contexts that are real, practical and relevant to their reading experiences. They will review the definitions of nouns and verbs. The students will practice how to identify nouns and verbs in print. Students will understand the impact of crisp and vivid noun and verb choices on a reader and how they enable the reader to make mind-pictures and to comprehend the text. In Unit 15 the students will practice the processes shared by all successful readers and writers. These include fluency, stamina, and independence. They will reflect on themselves as readers: favorite books read, favorite genre read, reading activities, strategies learned across genres, and reading successes and struggles. We would like to remind parents that students are to be reading for a minimum of 20 minutes every night. They may read from a variety of sources such as books, magazines, and information on the Internet, etc. It is their responsibility to complete the reading log and return it to school everyday. Math: Unit 11 will focus on the following areas: reviewing addition and subtraction algorithms using sums of money, introducing and practicing the trade first subtraction algorithm, solving multiplication and division number stories and practicing multiplication and division facts. Unit 11 is mainly a prelude to what the children will be doing next year in third grade. Mastery of most of the Unit 11 concepts is not expected, but we do expect a developing understanding. Be sure to read the Family Letters that are in the Home Links book, at the beginning of every unit. It’s a great resource for you. Please keep practicing addition and subtraction facts until your child is secure and is able to recall these facts quickly and accurately. Social Studies: The remainder of the year the grade 2 students will be working on the Social Studies Unit 3: Our Community Then and Now. This unit will focus on how communities change over time with a special focus on Abu Dhabi. Elements of culture within a community will be explored (e.g., food, clothing, music, traditions, beliefs, etc.). They will identify similarities and differences between places, time periods, and human elements in a community. The students will also make a timeline of significant events in their own lifetime.  Important Dates In May and June: May 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th- ES Spirit Day May 9th- ES Science Fair May 10th- Parent Coffee (8:15) May 11th- PTA Meeting 3:30 May 16th-18th- ASRP’s End   May 18th & June 1st- Board Meeting May 20th- Volunteer Appreciation May 26th- Assembly (2:15) June 1st- ES Open House (6:00-7:00) June 7th- Assembly (8:15) June 8th- Last Day of School/Report Cards Go Home (10:00am dismissal) The Grade Two Team Kim McNaughton, Maryke Stain, Farah Siddiqui P.E. Newsletter  April has come and gone and the second graders are almost done with their first month of our swimming unit.  I along with two other swimming instructors (Ms. Tanya and Ms. Nadia) have been working with your sons and/or daughters teaching American Red Cross swim lessons.  The swim lessons have brought a nice change of pace from being in the gym or outside on the fields, and the students definitely seem to be enjoying themselves.  Along with the swimming instruction, students are also learning what it means to be safe in and out of the water, as well as healthy tips when outside in the sun.  I would just like to remind parents or guardians to remember to please make sure your son and/or daughter has everything they need when they come to class (i.e., swimsuit, goggles, swim cap, towel, and bag to carry everything in). Arabic Conversation and Culture Class -Gr2 In the month of May students will continue learning more common Arabic greetings. After reviewing the previous letters, we will continue learning more letters in the Arabic text book "I love the Arabic letters" repeating simple words related to the letters Na, Ha, Wa, Ya as well as distinguishing beginning, middle, and ending sounds in single-syllable words. Students will learn and practice vocabulary words related to “Music" and "Wild animals". Please check the vocabulary words in your child's booklets. From: Ms. Fadia, Ms. Maha & Mrs. Mina ART: LARGE MOSAICS This project was all about collaboration from the very beginning. ACS is big on recycling so towards the end of the year a lot of people start to throw away their old crayons. The students were asked to bring them in and peel off the wrappings. The crayons were then sorted by color, melted and poured on to wax paper. Once cooled, the puddle of melted crayon could be broken into mosaic pieces. These are much easier to use and safer for little fingers. Then every student drew an idea for a classroom mosaic project and we all voted on one drawing. Each student took a section of the large board to fill in with the mosaic pieces. When finished, these will be displayed around campus for all to enjoy.  Gr. 2- Arabic Language for Native Speakers It’s May already…We will continue with part two of the Arabic book and hope to cover all of it by the end of May.  The objective in these lessons is acquiring more vocabulary words, reinforcing word structure (nouns, verbs and adjectives) and forming verbal clauses and writing short paragraphs. Tech News for May The second grade students are finishing their service project picture in KidpIx. These will be made into greeting cards and will be sold to raise money for the charity the second grade classes have chosen. We will return to Key Skills for language arts and math to review basic skills during the remainder of the month. Mrs. Willis Technology Integrator MUSIC We have just finished unit 2 in our books and are completing our written assessments this month. In May we will review all the songs we have learned this year and prepare a small in-class presentation for parents to show you some of the things we have been learning this year in music. Our presentation will be May 17, 18 or 19th during your child's music class time (11:15-11:55) in the ES Music Room. We hope you can join us! Seminar Day: Our last Seminar Day of the year will be May 25, 26, or 27 during your child's music class on the day he/she presents. I am confirming with students this week that will present and will send the final list next week. Parents are of course welcome to attend but this is not a requirement.  Student Recitals: Do you have a child who takes music lessons and is looking for a performance venue? Did your student have a music-related goal this year to present? If so, we will be having 2 student music recitals in May for children who are taking private lessons or have a music-related goal. They will be held on Wednesday, May 19 and on Wednesday, May 26 from 3:30-4:30 pm in the ES Multipurpose Room. A sign-up sheet will be available outside the music room starting Sunday, May 02. Students may sign up to perform on 1 recital. There will not be auditions but students and parents will need to fill out a form letting us know what piece will be performed, the composer and the performance length. There are a lot of ARTS events happening in school and in Abu Dhabi before the end of the year with some great opportunities for your children to attend. A few of note are: Wed May 05-May 08 Disney's Beauty and the Beast - Abu Dhabi Choral Group      See ACS Link Abu Dhabi Officer's Club Fri May 14  Dame Evelyn Glennie - Percussionist   7:00 pm  Abu Dhabi Theatre Beauty and the Beast will feature a lot of people from the ACS community from students to parents as well as ACS staff members. Our very own Katie Pritz (Mother of Eli &Joy Pritz) will be performing the lead as Belle. Mr. Pavlos (HS Drama) is Gaston, Ms. Banu (Ms. Mary's assistant), Ms. Salminen (ES Librarian) and myself will be playing cello, oboe and flute in the orchestra. There are 6 performances including 2 afternoon matinees and ACS receives a discount on tickets! Tickets will be on sale every day after school in the middle school courtyard until next Monday. Evelyn Glennie is a musician we have studied in class this year and she will be coming to Abu Dhabi. In music we read the story "Moses Goes to a Concert." Moses is a deaf student who goes to see a deaf percussionist. Evelyn Glennie is not only the first female percussionist to make a solo-playing career for herself but she herself is also 90% deaf. Tickets are available for children and adults ages 3 and up. Child tickets are only Dhs. 30.00. Visit www.abudhabiclassics.com for more details. Ms. Brooks