Dear Parents and Students,
Thank you for visiting the blog today! We have had a super week. The children's excitement about all of our special activities is infectious and I just love this time of the year. The children have done a fabulous job of staying on task. We began our stocking stuffer incentive on Thursday and they are loving the challenge of doing their very best all day long. If you have not yet sent in 16 of the same small stocking stuffers, please do so by Monday. Thank you to those who have already sent in items. Your promptness allowed us to start this activity a few days early! Also, don't forget to send in your wrapped, new chapter book for our book exchange on Friday, December 18th. Some children have already sent in their wrapped book, which we've put under our class christmas tree. Check out the information below to see what we've been doing in class. Don't forget to read our Class Reminders and News for important information. Please also look to the right to update your calendar with important dates.
Phonics/Grammar: This week, we reviewed the -ay and -ai spelling pattern. We also talked about complete sentences versus run-ons and phrases. Next week, we will begin working on homophones and multiple meaning words.
Reading: We worked in small groups on chapter books according to reading levels. We also completed our chapter book, Totally Disgusting by Bill Wallace. The children took the AR test on this book. We voted on our new chapter book. We are now reading The BFG, by Roald Dahl. We are working on identifying story elements through the use of this literature. We also have been reading non-fiction passages and using the strategy of going back to the text and highlighting to "prove" our answers to questions.
Writing: We began a new genre of writing this week; narrative writing. This is my favorite style of writing, as it allows the children to show their creativity and imagination. I modeled using an organizer to plan my story, then I modeled using this organizer to write my story. The children then created their own stories. We also reviewed the expectations in regards to conventions when writing (capitalization, punctuation, spelling, grammar).
Math: We continue to work on three digit subtraction with regrouping. We also began the closely correlated skill of making change. Your child will be expected to be able to calculate the change from up to $10.00 as well as buying two items, then calculating change (multi-step problems). We created "recipes" in class that we can follow to help us solve each type of problem. Please work closely on these skills at home with your child, as many processes are involved. We will take the assessment on making change Monday morning, then we will begin our geometry unit.
Social Studies: We began our Economics unit on Goods and Services, discussing choices, investments, and profit.
Class News and Reminders...
We are all bidding a fond farewell to the Glass Family this week! Connor and his family are moving to Jacksonville, Florida. Connor has been a precious student to have in class and Janet has been a phenomenal room mom for us. This family will be greatly missed! The children and I presented Connor with a special momento today and tomorrow will be his last day here. We all wish the Glass family well as they begin their new adventure together.
As we say goodbye to one family, we'd like to welcome two new families to our class! Samantha Kenny and her family are joining us from Tampa, Florida and Elizabeth Thompson and her family are joining us from Rochester, Minnesota. These girls are precious and they have done such an amazing job adjusting to the routine of our class! We are so glad to have them.
I met with Lisa Brooks and Kristie Ketch today to discuss plans for our holiday party. Be on the lookout for an email from Lisa in regards to items we may need or ways you can help on that day.
Make sure you are encouraging math facts practice at home. If the children memorize their math facts, then these multi-step word problems are solved with much more accuracy. Also, continue to encourage writing at home. Refer back several blog updates ago for 2nd grade expectations regarding writing.
Report cards will be coming home in January! Also, be on the lookout for conference dates and times. I will schedule a parent-teacher conference for everyone.
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