This week, students will finish presenting their Passion Projects to the class on Tuesday and Wednesday. It’s been so fun watching their creativity and learning shine through their work!

On Thursday, in place of traditional student-led conferences, we’ll have all Passion Projects on display for the community to see during the carnival from 3:00–5:00 PM.

If your child created a diorama, tri-fold board, or model, please plan to take it home when you leave on Thursday. We’re so proud of all the hard work and heart they’ve poured into these projects!

This week, students will put the finishing touches on their visual presentations for their Passion Projects. Presentation options include a diorama, trifold board, model, or PowerPoint. Students will have time to work on their projects in class on Monday and Wednesday, and presentations will begin on Thursday.

Parent Volunteers Needed

We’re looking for a few extra hands during the afternoon this week from 12:30 to 1:15 PM to help students as they complete their projects. No special experience is needed—just a willingness to help and encourage!

Possible ways to help include:

• Assisting students with placing poster letters in a straight line
• Helping students choose and email pictures for their project
• Supporting students using PowerPoint
• Typing paragraphs for students who need extra help catching up

If you're available on any day this week, please reply and let me know which date(s) work best for you. Even one day of your time would make a big difference!

We’re excited to begin the project portion of our Passion Projects starting this Monday! Students will be creating a visual presentation of their topic, such as a diorama, tri-fold board, model, or PowerPoint presentation.

If your child is planning to make a diorama, model, or tri-fold board, please make sure they bring any supplies they’ll need to school on Monday. The school will provide tri-fold boards for those who are using them, but students are responsible for bringing in any display materials they’d like to include—such as decorations, craft supplies, printed pictures, letters for the project title on a tri-fold board, labels, or stickers.

Parent Volunteers Needed:

I’m still looking for parent volunteers to come in during the afternoon from 12:30 to 1:15 this week.

Your help might include:

• Helping the students to navigate Microsoft word in creating a new document.
• Typing their work while the student reads it to you.
• Helping students to save their documents.
• Helping students to share their typed-up paragraphs with me.
• Helping students plan out their tri-fold board or diorama.

No special experience is needed, just a willingness to help and encourage! If you’re available on any of these days, please reply and let me know which date(s) would work best for you. Even just one day of your time would make a big difference!

Last week, students began to research their topic, take notes, and write their informational paragraphs. Your student should be finished with research and note-taking. If they are not finished yet, please help them with this at home so that they will be on target to finish their passion project on time. 

This week students will:

• Finish writing their paragraphs: Students are moving beyond the 5-sentence "hamburger" paragraphs to write longer, 8+ sentence paragraphs for their Passion Projects. Using the TIDE structure — Topic sentence, Information, and Detailed explanation (repeated three times), and an Ending sentence — they will practice developing and supporting their ideas more fully.
• Type their paragraphs on the computer.

Parent Volunteers Needed:

I’m looking for parent volunteers to come in during the afternoon from 12:30 to 1:15 this week.

Your help might include:

• Helping them to navigate websites.
• Reading information together with students.
• Guiding them to understand what they’ve read.
• Supporting them in taking clear and accurate notes.
• Helping students transfer their notes to their paragraph graphic organizers.
• Helping the students to navigate Microsoft Word in creating a new document.
• Helping students to save their documents.
• Helping students to share their typed-up paragraphs with me.

No special experience is needed, just a willingness to help and encourage! If you’re available on any of these days, please reply and let me know which date(s) would work best for you. Even just one day of your time would make a big difference!

Passion Projects:

Last week, students chose their topic for their passion projects. I have never had such unique project topics as this year! After choosing their topic, students began to research their topic.

This week students will:

• Finish researching and note-taking.
• Begin Paragraphs: Students are moving beyond the 5-sentence "hamburger" paragraphs to write longer, 8+ sentence paragraphs for their Passion Projects. Using the TIDE structure — Topic sentence, Information and Detailed explanation (repeated three times), and an Ending sentence — they will practice developing and supporting their ideas more fully.

I am excited to see how their research and writing skills are growing!

This week, our class will kick off Passion Projects—an exciting and time-honored tradition in 2nd Grade at Westgate. Each student will choose a topic related to Social Studies or Science, such as panda bears, the biography of Helen Keller, or the country of France, etc. They’ll spend time researching their topic, writing a detailed paragraph, and creating a final project to showcase what they’ve learned. Final projects might be a tri-fold board, diorama, costume and performance, model/construction, or PowerPoint presentation. Projects will include non-fiction elements like maps, graphs, diagrams, timelines, photographs, or captions. Students are also welcome to bring in a related artifact or real-life object connected to their topic, for example, a piece of volcanic rock for a project on volcanoes—to help bring their presentation to life. I can’t wait to see their curiosity and creativity shine through!

This week students will:

• Choose 3 possible topics that they are interested in but would like to learn more about. We will do a little bit of research about each topic before deciding the final choice.
• Make our final topic choice and plan out what to research.
• Begin researching and note-taking.

This week, our class will continue our Economics unit “Decision Making.”  

This week, students will:

• Idenitfy goods and services 

• Identify producers and consumers 

• Explain how prices change depending on supply and demand. 

• Take the Economics Post-test. 

This week, our class will continue in our current Civics unit, “Conflict & Cooperation in Our Community.”  

This week, students will learn: 

• Diplomacy is the work that helps countries build or keep good relationships. Countries use diplomacy to solve problems. 

• Treaties are agreements made between two or more countries. I can create a treaty to solve a problem. 

• I can identify how rules help me make good choices and keep me safe.  

• Scarcity happens when there is not enough of something for everyone who wants it. I can give an example of a scarce item or resource. 

This week, we will begin our new civics unit, “Conflict & Cooperation in Our Community.” This unit is a study of how communities manage resources and resolve conflict.

This week, students will learn:

• Leaders and Heroes make contributions to our society.
• Modern heroes and leaders have specific traits and qualities.
• Identify our own leadership traits.
• Analyze multiple ways that various groups work through conflict, such as compromise, authority, and treaties.

This week, we will continue our social studies history unit, “My Community in the Past.”

This week, students will learn:

• Contributions of Immigrants: How different groups of people have contributed to American and Coloradoan culture and society.
• Westgate Timeline: Students will create a timeline of the school’s history to describe its changes over time.
• Denver Then and Now: Students will create a timeline to show how Denver and local landmarks have changed over time

On Friday, students will take the post-test for this unit.

This week, we will continue our Social Studies History unit, “My Community in the Past.”

This week, students will learn about:

• Timelines: Timelines help us see how things change over time.
• Farming in the past vs. Modern farming: Making a timeline about farming tools.
• Fishing in the past vs. Modern Fishing: Fishing has also changed over time, much like farming.
• Contributions of Immigrants: How different groups of people have contributed to American and Coloradoan culture and society.

This week, we will begin our new social studies unit, “My Community in the Past.” In this history unit, students will explore what their community and other communities were like a long time ago. By looking at old photographs and stories, we can ask questions about how our community has changed over time. We will think about how families moved here, how different cultures have shaped our lives, and what we can learn from the past. Our essential question will be, "What was my community like in the past?" We will also consider how understanding the past can help us understand our community today and learn about the special contributions of different groups of people. 

This week, students will learn: 

• Why people move to new places 

• Immigration and Ellis Island 

• Houses in the past 

• Timelines 

• Farming in the past vs. Modern farming 

This week, we will finish up Unit 3, “Geography of My Community.”  

Our focuses for this week:  

• Human Environment Interaction: How can human actions change the environment? 

• Unit 3 Post-Test 

BONUS: We will also learn what an election is and how elections work. We will touch on why voting is important and the impact it can have on communities as well as the world. We will hold a mock election where the students will get to fill out a ballot about which is the best pet (dog, cat, or fish). 

This week, we will begin Unit 3, “Geography of My Community.” In this social studies unit, students will explore how communities manage, modify, and depend on their environments. Students will learn about the differences between renewable and nonrenewable resources and how these resources impact the way communities develop and thrive. They will understand how communities manage and use nonrenewable resources, such as fossil fuels, and renewable resources, like solar and wind energy, to meet their needs. The unit will also explain how the environment influences why people settle in certain areas, such as the availability of water, fertile soil, and favorable climate conditions. Students will identify examples of how human activity influences the environmental characteristics of a place over time, such as urban development, deforestation, and pollution. Additionally, they will explore how culture and lifestyle are impacted by environmental characteristics, such as how climate affects clothing and housing or how natural resources influence local cuisine and industry. 

Our focuses for this week:  

• Places to Settle: How does the environment influence why people settle in certain areas? 

• Renewable and Non-Renewable Resources: What are renewable and non-renewable resources in the places people settle?  

• Characteristics of Communities: How is our way of life impacted by where we live? 

• Rural vs. Urban: How is our way of life impacted by where we live? 

• Where People Live: How can human actions change the environment?