October 29, 2009

READING
Next week we will be reading a realistic story about a brother and sister who go blueberry picking around a pond with their dog named Sam. They see many different plants and animals.
We will be working on the comprehension strategies of categorize, classify and monitor/clarify.
Our vocabulary words are bank, crater, edge, moss, path and shallow.
In phonics we will be focusing on double consonants (summer, pocket) and how to divide words into syllables.
In grammar we will be writing exclamation sentences.

MATH
In math we finished our chapter on adding two digits with regrouping. Our next chapter continues two digit addition with regrouping. Please remember to practice flash cards daily.

Science
We are finished our chapter on the life cycles of animals. Our next chapter focuses on plants, their parts and life cycles.

Student of the Week
Manas is the Student of the Week! He likes to play basketball. His favorite animal is a cheetah and his favorite color is red. When Manas grows up he wants to be a Basketball Player.

Halloween Party
Thank you to Mr. Simpson for organizing our party. Thank you to Mrs. Jarmakowicz and Mrs. Pederson for helping with the party. We had a great time!

Fire Safety Assembly
Lt. Tabisz came to our school on Tuesday and talked about fire safety. We learned about choosing a special meeting place in case of a fire, how to “stop, drop and roll”, and that we should never go back inside to get something we forgot. He also showed us the special gear that firemen wear for protection.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
Oct. 30th – Teacher Institute Day – No School
Nov. 6th – Picture Retake Day
Nov. 11th – Veterans' Day – No School
Nov. 19th - 2nd Grade Music Program
Nov, 26-28 – Thanksgiving Break

October 23, 2009

READING
Due to the short week next week, we will be doing various Halloween reading and writing activities and stories. We will have spelling words and a test on special Halloween words.

MATH
In math we started our chapter on two digit addition. We will be using the math vocabulary regrouping. Please remember to practice flash cards daily.

Science
We are working on putting animals in the categories of birds, mammals, reptiles, fish and amphibians. We are going to work on the life cycles of animals. Our science test will be on Tuesday. We will then be learning about plants and their life cycles.

Student of the Week
Tyler is the Student of the Week! He likes to play with his Nintendo DS. His favorite animal is a dog and his favorite color is green. When Tyler grows up he wants to be a Farmer.

Halloween Partries/Parade
Thursday, October 29th
Parade-1:30, Party-2:00
Please come and watch the parade The students should bring their costumes to school in a bag. We will put them on prior to the parade starting. No makeup will be applied at school and no toy weapons are allowed. We will not be passing out candy at the party. If you child wishes to bring in something for the party they can bring in non-edible things, such as pencils, erasers, etc.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
Oct. 29th – Halloween Parade and Party
Oct. 30th - Teacher Institute Day – No School
Nov. 6th – Picture Retake Day
Nov. 11th – Veterans' Day – No School
Nov. 19th - 2nd Grade Music Program

October 16, 2009

READING
Next week we will be reading about a read park ranger from New York City and the things that he does each day as part of his job.
We will be working on the comprehension strategies of fact and opinion, rereading for understanding and making generalizations.
Our vocabulary words are exploring, protect, tours, habitat, ranger and urban.
In phonics we will be focusing on consonant clusters (r, l, s) and the two sounds for c.
In grammar we will be writing command sentences.

MATH
In math we have been working on number concepts and patterns. Next week we will be finishing our chapter on number patterns. Our chapter test will be on Tuesday. Our next chapter will be on 2-digit addition. Please remember to practice flash cards daily.

Science
We are learning about mammals and birds this week. Next week we will start learning about reptiles, amphibians and fish. We will be classifying animals according to how they are alike and different. We will learn about the habitats, young and body coverings.
Progress Reports
Progress reports are coming home today. Please sign them and send them back to school.

Art to Remember
Art to Remember packets need to come back to school by Tuesday, October 20th.

Student of the Week
Raiven is the Student of the Week! She likes to play the WII. Her favorite animal is a dog and her favorite color is red. When Raiven grows up she wants to be a Lifeguard.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Oct. 21st – Early Dismissal Day
Oct. 23rd – Halloween Fun Fest
Oct. 29th – Halloween Parade and Party
Oct. 30th - Teacher Institute Day – No School
Nov. 9th – Picture Retake Day
Nov. 11th – Veterans' Day – No School

October 9, 2009

READING
Next week we will be working on a Reading/Writing Workshop. We will be concentrating on Descriptive Writing. We will be using descriptive words to write a paragraph about our own Halloween costumes.
We will follow the writing process of topic selection and use our five senses to describe our costumes.
In grammar we will be working on run on sentences.

MATH
In math we will be focusing on odd/even numbers, greater than, less than and equal to when comparing numbers (<,>,=). Please remember to practice flash cards daily.

Science
We finished our unit on living things. We planted lima beans in our classroom to watch how plants grow and develop. Our next unit in Science will be a continuation of living things. We will be learning about mammals, amphibians, reptiles and life cycles.

Student of the Week
Shannon is the Student of the Week! She likes to read books. Her favorite animal is a puppy and her favorite colors are pink, black, blue and purple. When Shannon grows up she wants to be a Veterinarian.

Reading Logs
Most of the children did a great job reading and turning in their reading logs for the month of September. We received a reading party in our classroom at lunchtime and we had an ice cream treat and watched a movie. We are now working on achieving 100% participation for the October reading party.
Keep Reading!

ANNOUNCEMENTS
Oct. 16th – Gym Night
Oct. 22nd – Early Dismissal Day
Oct. 23rd– Halloween Fun Fest
Oct. 29th– Halloween Parade and Party
Oct. 30th – Teacher Institute Day No School

October 2, 2009

READING
Next week we will be reading a fictional story about a boy named Henry who goes camping with his parents and his dog Mudge. Each one of them enjoys camping, but not for the same reasons.
We will be working on the comprehension strategies compare and contrast.
Our vocabulary words are backpack, campfire, hike, lanterns, camping and tent.
In phonics we will be focusing on the long vowel sounds of a, o and u., and the sounds for g.
In grammar we will be reviewing telling sentences and asking questions.

MATH
In math we will be finishing our chapter on Place Value. We will have a chapter test on Monday. Our next chapter is on number concepts and patterns. We will be learning about ordinal numbers, greater than, less than, odd and even numbers and skip counting. Please remember to practice flash cards daily.

Science
We learning about living things and non-living things. We are finding out living things and their needs in order to survive. We have started vocabulary cards which will come home for the children to study for their test next week.

Student of the Week
Danny is the Student of the Week! He likes to jump off the high diving board. His favorite animal is a cat and his favorite color is red. When Danny grows up he wants to be a Police Officer.

October 3rd – Peter

Thank you to the PTO for the Kids on the Block Assembly. We learned about children with differences and bullies. If we see a bully we learned to act brave, ignore, stand up for yourself, tell an adult, be a buddy and don't bully back.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Oct. 16th – Gym Night
Oct. 12th – Columbus Day – No school
Oct. 22nd – Early Dismissal Day
Oct. 23rd– Halloween Fun Fest
Oct. 29th– Halloween Parade and Party