Week 23

Welcome to week twenty-three! This week’s theme is: How much is one hundred?

Our first field trip for February is coming up next Monday!  This will be a special “in house” field trip.  We will be staying here at school and having a visit from a professional storyteller.

Our book fair will be taking place on February 4-8 from 8:00 – 4:00 pm. Look for a flyer with more information about what books will be offered to come home soon.

Parent teacher conferences are coming up on February 6^th-7^th.  From 3:30pm - 6:00pm.  Signups will be available soon on your Compass account.

The second graders made their tube sock snowmen last Friday.  This was a big success and lots of fun.  Thank you all for donating the filling.  They were “Southern Snowmen”- filled with red beans and rice! Each second grade class is working to earn another special activity or event.  To earn this each class had to accumulate thirty line-up points for lining up within a five second countdown.  The goal is at least eight out of ten times per day.  The classes are a little competitive to see which class will earn it first.  We have upped the ante.  Each class must earn sixty line-up points for the next reward.

In addition, we are working on earning another special presentation for checking the box for ten days of perfect attendance.  This could be an educational movie or a guest speaker. Let us know if you would like to present.

We had an earthquake drill last Friday and all the students dropped and covered.  Please reinforce safety procedures at home. 

Here is a look at what we are learning this week:

Art: Students will continue working on their student directed art projects using mediums such as collage, pastels, paper construction, and water color. Both classes have earned a special clay day for cleaning up quickly.

ASL:  Signing time with Alex and Leah, food, cooking, and gardening fun.  If you want to send in any healthy snacks for thirty to learn to sign and eat, please feel free! We have a formative assessment this week on twelve food related ASL words: garden, grow, eat, breakfast, lunch, dinner, may I be excused, kitchen cup, plate, spoon, and fork.

Dance:  Students will continue studying the different types of movement.

Health: Hygiene. 

Math: Students will continue to learn addition strategies.

Music: Drum beats, recognition and names of notes on the staff- Children are learning FACE and Every Good Boy Does Fine mnemonics to help remember names of notes.

PE: Various games in the gym

Reading: Large Group Phonics: 3 – Letter Blends, Small Group Phonics: Vowel Combinations: oi, oy, Shared Reading: Around Town “Barrio: Jose’s Neighborhood,” Guided Reading by leveled groups, Centers (SSR, iPods, Computers, Partner reading).

Science: Students will finish up their study of physical changes and begin studying electricity.

Social Studies: Students will study ancient Egypt. 

Spanish: Students will continue studying the words for bread=pan, milk=leche, juice=jugo, cookie=galleta, ice cream=helado.  

Writing:

• Writing: Hand writing with Mrs. P: This week will be learning the penmanship of cursive “a,d.”

• Composition with Mrs. P: This week we will continue studying the difference between fact and opinion in preparation for beginning opinion writing next week.

• Spelling with Mrs. S: Students are grouped by levels and engage in Words Their Way sorting activities.  Students sort words into categories by sounds patterns according to their present level of functioning.  We finished our MOY (middle of year) assessment. Those who were absent need to make this up while the others continue to work on their new sorts for the week.

• Sentence Fundamentals with Mrs. S:: Students will continue their study of PENSMARK, a self-regulating strategy developed to teach sentence fundamentals: capital letters, end marks, making sense, simple sentence formulas, and subject/ verb identification. PENSMARK is a mnemonic device that stands for Pick a formula, Explore words to fit the formula, Note the words, Search and Check, Mark out the imposters, Ask “Is there a verb?”, Root out the subject, and Key in on the beginning, middle, and end. Everyone has mastered the three requirements of a complete sentence: Capital letter, End mark, and “Makes sense.” We finished the prerequisite skills for identifying subject nouns and verbs:  Now we are applying those skills to identify the subjects and verbs in the sentences.  This is a prerequisite skill for the second grade benchmark skill: I can correctly use adjectives, adverbs and the past tense of irregular verbs.  Since subject-verb identification may be review for some, students will work at their own pace advancing to the next level as soon as they receive a score of 100 on three consecutive trials.  Some of the students are finished writing sentences using the SV formula for present tense verbs with four consecutive 100% in a row.  Update: The students who mastered the SV sentences with action verbs, identifying the subject and verb correctly in three consecutive trials will work in special learning centers on tenses of verbs, plurals, fact and opinion, conclusions, and contractions.   The others will continue to receive individual and group instruction toward mastery.  Hopefully next week we will all start linking verbs.

Week 22

Welcome to week twenty-two! This week’s theme is: Presidential Week!

If you want to order anything from our Scholastic Book Order look for the flyers that were sent home with your child.  Orders are due by Thursday, January, 24^th.

On Friday, your child’s social studies teacher gave a Martin Luther King, Jr. presentation.  Be sure to discuss this important holiday with your child.

Encourage your child to watch the presidential inauguration news with you at home.

Our library time has been changed to Monday at 12:15, right after lunch. Please remember to send your child’s library book in on Monday.

Mrs. Slade’s class has earned over thirty line-up points.  They will be allowed a special classroom activity on Friday during class time.  Mrs. Slade’s class will be making tube sock snowmen.  These students deserve a big hug and lots of praise for lining up within a five second countdown!  Mrs. Piacenti’s class is still working to reach the thirty goal.  As of today they only have 2 more points left to earn.  If Mrs. Piacenti’s class reaches the thirty goal by Friday they will also join in the snowman making activity.  Talk with you student about the importance of lining up quickly for safety and for protection of our instructional time.

Our book fair will be taking place on February 4-8 from 8:00 – 4:00 pm. Look for a flyer with more information about what books will be offered to come home soon.

Here is a look at what we are learning this week:

Art: Students will continue working on their student directed art projects using mediums such as collage, pastels, paper construction, and water color.

ASL:  Signing time with Alex and Leah, food, cooking, and gardening fun.  If you want to send in any healthy snacks for thirty to learn to sign and eat, please feel free!

Dance:  Students will study the different types of movement.

Health: Hygiene. 

Math: Students will continue to learn addition strategies.

Music: Drum beats, recognition and names of notes on the staff- Children are learning FACE and Every Good Boy Does Fine mnemonics to help remember names of notes.

PE: Various games in the gym.

Reading: Large Group Phonics:  Consonant Blend Review, Small Group Phonics: Vowel Combinations: au, aw, Shared Reading: Around Town “Grandpa’s
Corner Store,” Guided Reading by leveled groups, Centers (SSR, iPods, Computers, Partner reading

Science: Students will finish up their study of physical changes and begin studying electricity.

Social Studies: Students will continue studying the stone age.

Spanish: Students will begin studying the words for bread=pan, milk=leche, juice=jugo, cookie=galleta, ice cream=helado.  

Writing:

• Writing: Hand writing with Mrs. P: This week will be learning the penmanship of cursive “c.”

• Composition with Mrs. P: This week we will be studying the difference between fact and opinion in preparation for beginning opinion writing next week.

• Spelling with Mrs. S: Students are grouped by levels and engage in Words Their Way sorting activities.  Students sort words into categories by sounds patterns according to their present level of functioning.  We finished our MOY (middle of year) assessment. Those who were absent need to make this up while the others continue to work on their new sorts for the week.

• Sentence Fundamentals with Mrs. S:: Students will continue their study of PENSMARK, a self-regulating strategy developed to teach sentence fundamentals: capital letters, end marks, making sense, simple sentence formulas, and subject/ verb identification. PENSMARK is a mnemonic device that stands for Pick a formula, Explore words to fit the formula, Note the words, Search and Check, Mark out the imposters, Ask “Is there a verb?”, Root out the subject, and Key in on the beginning, middle, and end. Everyone has mastered the three requirements of a complete sentence: Capital letter, End mark, and “Makes sense.” We finished the prerequisite skills for identifying subject nouns and verbs:  Now we are applying those skills to identify the subjects and verbs in the sentences.  This is a prerequisite skill for the second grade benchmark skill: I can correctly use adjectives, adverbs and the past tense of irregular verbs.  Since subject-verb identification may be review for some, students will work at their own pace advancing to the next level as soon as they receive a score of 100 on three consecutive trials.  Some of the students are finished writing sentences using the SV formula for present tense verbs with four consecutive 100% in a row.  This week they will write SV sentences using the past and future tense of verbs from their verb banks. Next week we will use linking verbs…their favorite!

Week 21

Welcome to week twenty-one! This week’s theme is: Inventions Week!

Term 2 ended on Thursday.  Expect progress reports to come home with your child soon!

The second graders have made great progress in learning to line up quickly.  They are motivated to earn points toward a special class activity.  Each time the class lines up within a five second countdown, the class earns a point.  When each class earns thirty points, they will be allowed to make tube sock snow men.  In addition, if they earn eight points in one day, the “Monkey will come out!” This is a surprise, they have not seen yet!

Due to a scheduling conflict our January field trip will be moved to February.  We will have two field trips next month!  Look for more information regarding the field trips coming soon!  We are hoping to go to a grocery store.  If  you have any connections with any local groceries, please let us know.

Here is a look at what we are learning this week:

Art: Students will continue working on their student directed art projects using mediums such as collage, pastels, paper construction, and water color.

ASL:  Signing time with Alex and Leah, food, cooking, and gardening fun.  If you want to send in any healthy snacks for thirty to learn to sign and eat, please feel free!

Dance:  Students will continue to study shape relationships i.e. far/ away, over/ under.

Health: Hygiene. 

Math: Students will review one digit to one digit and then begin studying two digit addition.

Music: Drum beats, recognition and names of notes on the staff- Children are learning FACE and Every Good Boy Does Fine mnemonics to help remember names of notes.

PE: Students are working on their Presidential Fitness by running or walking laps of our school. Second Grade has already run 100 miles this school year! We hope to make it to 200 miles by Thanksgiving.  Please have your children dressed for weather as we will go out in the cold, clear, crisp air this winter! Inside, we are working on sit-ups, push-ups, jumping jacks, tumbling, and some basketball.

Reading: Large Group Phonics: Short Vowel Review, Small Group Phonics: Vowel Combinations: ai, ay, Shared Reading: Guided Reading by leveled groups, Centers (SSR, iPods, Computers, Partner reading)

Science: Students will finish up their study of animals and their habitats and begin their study of physical science.

Social Studies: Students will continue to study cultures around the world.

Spanish: Students will continue to study the vocabulary for fruits and vegetables in preparation for our test next week. 

Writing:

• Writing: Hand writing with Mrs. P: This week we will be starting cursive!  We will start our study of cursive with some warm up exercises.

• Composition with Mrs. P: During composition time students will work on non-fiction writing about their favorite planet.

• Spelling with Mrs. S: Students are grouped by levels and engage in Words Their Way sorting activities.  Students sort words into categories by sounds patterns according to their present level of functioning.  We finished our MOY (middle of year) assessment. Those who were absent need to make this up while the others continue to work on their new sorts for the week.

• Sentence Fundamentals with Mrs. S:: Students will continue their study of PENSMARK, a self-regulating strategy developed to teach sentence fundamentals: capital letters, end marks, making sense, simple sentence formulas, and subject/ verb identification. PENSMARK is a mnemonic device that stands for Pick a formula, Explore words to fit the formula, Note the words, Search and Check, Mark out the imposters, Ask “Is there a verb?”, Root out the subject, and Key in on the beginning, middle, and end. Everyone has mastered the three requirements of a complete sentence: Capital letter, End mark, and “Makes sense.” We finished the prerequisite skills for identifying subject nouns and verbs:  Now we are applying those skills to identify the subjects and verbs in the sentences.  This is a prerequisite skill for the second grade benchmark skill: I can correctly use adjectives, adverbs and the past tense of irregular verbs.  Since subject-verb identification may be review for some, students will work at their own pace advancing to the next level as soon as they receive a score of 100 on three consecutive trials.  Students are currently writing sentences using the SV formula for present tense verbs.  After that they will write SV sentences using the past and future tense of verbs from their verb banks. 

Week 20

Welcome to week twenty! This week’s theme is: New Year’s Resolutions.

Happy New Year!

Here is a fun game to play at home with your child to review what we are learning in science:

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/games/animalclassgame800.htme

Be on the lookout!  We are sending home a Get Ready to Read Home Literacy Environment Checklist from www.GetReadytoRead.org.  You can post it on your refrigerator, and you and your child can check off the items together to make sure your home is the best possible learning environment for your child. We will also email you the link to this and many more resources for parents of school age children.

Here is a look at what we are learning this week:

Art: Students will continue working on their student directed art projects using mediums such as collage, pastels, paper construction, and water color.

ASL:  Signing time with Alex and Leah video of foods

Dance:  Students will study the dance element energy.

Health: How to cope with stress.

Math: Students will review one digit to one digit and then begin studying two digit addition.

Music: Music notes on the staff: FACE and Every Good Boy Does Fine

PE: Students are working on their Presidential Fitness by running or walking laps of our school. Second Grade has already run 100 miles this school year! We hope to make it to 200 miles by Thanksgiving.  Please have your children dressed for weather as we will go out in the cold, clear, crisp air this winter!  During cold weather we will have indoor recess and work on our sit-ups, push-ups, and jumping jacks.

Reading: Large Group Phonics: Medial Consonants, Small Group Phonics: Vowel Combinations: ee, Shared Reading: Around Town “Jamaica Louise James, “Guided Reading by leveled groups, Centers (SSR, iPods, Computers, Partner reading)

Science: Students will finish up their study of animals and their habitats and begin their study of physical science.

Social Studies: Students will learn about Martin Luther King jr. and explore folklore from various cultures. 

Spanish: Students will continue to study the vocabulary for fruits and vegetables in preparation for our test next week.

Writing:

• Writing: Hand writing with Mrs. P: Students will be learning the penmanship of lowercase “x,z” 

• Composition with Mrs. P: During composition time students will work on non-fiction writing about their favorite planet.

• Spelling with Mrs. S: Students are grouped by levels and engage in Words Their Way sorting activities.  Students sort words into categories by sounds patterns according to their present level of functioning.  This week students will play word board games.

• Sentence Fundamentals with Mrs. S:: Students will continue their study of PENSMARK, a self-regulating strategy developed to teach sentence fundamentals: capital letters, end marks, making sense, simple sentence formulas, and subject/ verb identification. PENSMARK is a mnemonic device that stands for Pick a formula, Explore words to fit the formula, Note the words, Search and Check, Mark out the imposters, Ask “Is there a verb?”, Root out the subject, and Key in on the beginning, middle, and end. Everyone has mastered the three requirements of a complete sentence: Capital letter, End mark, and “Makes sense.” We finished the prerequisite skills for identifying subject nouns and verbs:  Now we are applying those skills to identify the subjects and verbs in the sentences.  This is a prerequisite skill for the second grade benchmark skill: I can correctly use adjectives, adverbs and the past tense of irregular verbs.  Since subject-verb identification may be review for some, students will work at their own pace advancing to the next level as soon as they receive a score of 100 on three consecutive trials.  Students are writing their own sentences using a verb and noun bank.