Dear Second-Grade Parents,

This past week in math, the second grade learned about place value up to the thousands place. So far, the students have practiced counting objects up to 100. Now, they have hands-on experience for a deeper understanding of place value by counting a big pile of glass gems. Looking at the glass gems for the first time, the students made a wide range of guesses at how many they had. None of the students was sure if their guess was in any way close to the exact number of gems. There was no way to know but to count them all.

One by one, the students took the gems and made little piles, representing the ones place. Once they had gathered ten gems, they put them in a little drawstring bag and moved them in a space that represented the tens place. When the students had ten drawstring bags, they moved them into a Chinese take-out container and carried it to the hundreds place. Lastly, ten take-out containers were put into a large basket and put into another space that represented the thousands place.The basket turned out to be very heavy. What a great way to see and feel what it means to have 1,000 glass gems!

Throughout the counting process, the class took turns packing the gems in different workstations and documenting the count on a chalkboard. When counting, the students had to physically carry their glass gems from one workstation to another, just as we “carry” numbers to the next higher place in addition. This hands-on experience prepares the students for solving addition sentences in a more abstract way when they advance through the grades. On Friday, they had packed and counted 1,000 gems so far, and they will find out how many glass gems we have in all this week.

Reminders:

Thursday will be the last day of school. It will be a half-day.
The class will have a pajama holiday party on Thursday.
Watch out for a separate email from our class parent, Kristi Hess, to sign up for holiday treats.
Send a pair of silly socks or holiday-themed socks for our sock exchange on Thursday.
Send a favorite holiday-themed picture book to share on Thursday.
It’s the final week of our TOY DRIVE for Must ministries. Please donate a new, unwrapped toy during carpool or you can make a monetary donation here, if desired.

I am wishing you all Happy Holidays and a joyful break!

Gaby Farrokhi