5 Days Down...175 to Go!

Hello Parents and Students,

Welcome to our Class Blog! Parents, this is the place to be to find out all about our week in class. Students, you will find some fun places on the internet to visit to help you remember all that we learned this week, plus some stuff just for fun. On that note, make sure you vote on the poll at the bottom of the page!

Week in Review:
This week in Phonics, we learned the blends sk, sm, dr, tr, br. We played several games to practice reading and writing words containing these sounds. In Writing, we took our Personal Narrative Pre-Assessment and then began learning what to include when writing a narrative. We also revisited using a graphic organizer to help us become better writers and we learned what a "HOMERUN SENTENCE" is. Ask your child about this! A homerun sentence answers the question what, where, and when. For example, a starter sentence would be "Jim plays ball." A second base sentence would be "Jim plays basketball." A third base sentence would be "Jim plays basketball at Lost Mountain Park." A homerun sentence would be "On Sundays, Jim plays basketball at Lost Mountain Park." Encourage your child to write this way the majority of the time. We need to really get away from the simple and repetitive three word sentences. We also read the story The Important Book and then wrote stories about ourselves. You can view these wonderful stories hanging outside our room in the hallway. In Math, we practiced our computation skills by learning how to play "Tile Math". We began our unit on representing numbers in a variety of ways and place value as well. In Reading, we listened to the story Chrysanthemum. We cut apart the letters of the title and made as many words as we could out of these letters. We also reviewed the vowels and created a name grid, coloring the vowels and consonants to make a unique pattern. In Science, we discussed seasonal changes in trees and observed a summer deciduous and a summer coniferous tree. We then completed an organizer, inserting relevant data about the trees.

Class News:
*Thank you for helping make our first week run so smoothly. There was one item left off the 2nd grade supply list that your child will be using on a regular basis. Every student will need a four-color pen. If you cannot find a four color pen, you can send in a red, green and black pen. We will be using these during the editing process of our writing as well as when we check papers in class.
*Thank you to Mrs. Ketch, Mrs. Glass, and Mrs. Brooks for volunteering to be our room moms this year!
*Riding the bus home with friends for playdates will no longer be allowed due to the number of students on the buses.
*We will begin our math facts next week. In addition to flashcards at home, you may wish to visit a great kid-friendly site. Check out the "math facts" link and the "more math facts" link at the bottom of this page.