It was an eventful, short week in 2.1 this week!  It seems that some sickness has been making its way through our classroom.  Please take extra care this weekend! I pray that everyone will be back to good health by Monday and be able to join us!

This week we began working on our Student Led Conference Portfolios.  We have been reflecting on our learning and looking at how we can improve in each subject area.

In Writing this week, we finished our Final Copy of our Ocean Animal Research Papers.  I am so proud of the students' hard work on these papers and I am excited to read them and see what they have learned.  For Math, we started Unit 7 which focuses on patterns.  We were able to learn some new Math games as well to help us practice our Math facts.  In Bible this week we learned about Jesus healing a deaf and mute man and how Jesus feed 4000 people with only 7 loaves of a bread and a few fish.

This week we also began our learning and practice for Kid's City! We studied the Police Station today and learned what kinds of things happen there.  Every week, we will be learning about a new place leading up to our Kid's City in April.  More information will be coming soon about ways that you can help and be involved with this fun 1st and 2nd grade event!

Important information for this week:

1. TOMORROW we will be wrapping Lumpia for our Bazaar food corner in the Teacher's Lounge at 9AM.  Please bring all of the food donations tomorrow so we can make the Lumpia.  Also, if you are able to come and help please do!

2. The Bazaar is next Saturday, February 28th.  If you are able to help out with our booth that day, please email me or Mrs. Ikehara.

3. There will be no school the Monday after the Bazaar (MARCH 2ND)

4. Student-Led Conferences are coming up very soon! A paper was sent home today with each student's assigned time.  Please return those forms by February 28th.  If you need to reschedule your conference for a different time or day please email me.

5. Spelling Words for this week: slide, sprint, smile, swish, scream, squeal, splash, skate, start, snow, score, sport, scene, school, January, from

6. Bible Memory Verse: "I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in darkness. They will have that light. They will have life."  John 8:12

Have a wonderful and restful weekend!! :)

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Happy Valentine's Day! We had a great time celebrating on Friday! Thank you for all of the wonderful Valentine's gifts and love! :)

This week in Spelling we focused on contractions and learned about apostrophes.  In Reading we continued to focus on our comprehension skills.  I have been so impressed with every one's progress in their reading so far this year!  For Writing, we wrote our first draft of our animal research papers.  We learned how to indent each paragraph to help our readers understand the separation of our ideas.  The students also did a great job of revising and editing their work.  They carefully looked through their writing to change repetitive words and also looked for "tired" words that could be replaced by more exciting ones.  Next week, we will peer reflect and write our final copy.  In Math, we learned about multiplication, division, and also reviewed for our Unit 6 Test on Friday.  We were able to play some fun games to help us practice our addition, subtraction, and multiplication.  For Bible, we learned about Jesus feeding 5,000 men and their families from only 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish.  We also heard the story of Jesus walking on the water.  We talked about how Jesus gives us spiritual life and provides for all of our needs.

On Friday we took some time to talk about Valentine's Day.  We made Heart Maps to show the people and things that we love.  I enjoyed getting to see all the things that are important to our class and see their creativity.  Here are some pictures of our finished Heart Maps:

Important Information:

1. There is NO SCHOOL on Monday for President's Day.  Enjoy the long weekend!! :)

2. This coming SATURDAY (the 21st) we will be wrapping Lumpia for the Bazaar.  We will meet in the Teacher's Lounge at 9:00am.  If you are contributing any food items for the Lumpia please bring them that day or, if they are non-perishable, you may send them in with your student and I will keep them.  If you are able to come and help us wrap the Lumpia that would also be wonderful! Thank you for all of your hard work and contributions for our Bazaar corner!

3. The Bazaar will be on Saturday, February 28.  There will also be No School the following Monday (March 2nd).  If you have any questions about Bazaar, please email me or Mrs. Ikehara.

4. Student-Led Conferences will take place on Friday, March 6th.  More information will be sent home soon.

5. Our Spelling Words for this week are: close, brave, through, place, crash, clothes, threw, glad, flash, ground, traffic, prize, strange, drive, seen, became

6. Our Bible Memory Verse for this week is: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6

Welcome Makana!

It was another full week in the 2nd grade! We welcomed Makana to our classroom on Monday.  The students have enjoyed having him back at OCSI and in our class!

In Reading this week, we learned how to use pictures and diagrams in books to help us learn what words mean.  We also practiced reading some non-fiction books.  For writing, we started our research projects and spent the week finding information on our different ocean animals.  Next week, we will start putting all our information into a report form.  For Bible, we learned about Jesus healing different people who were sick.  We talked about how Jesus is able to heal people from their sickness and even bring people back from the dead.  On Thursday we studied how Jesus healed a man that had been unable to walk for 38 years.  After Jesus healed him, he told him to go and stop sinning.  We were able to have a great discussion on how Jesus wants to not only heal us, but also wants to help us stop sinning as we grow closer to Him.

In Math, we learned some subtraction strategies and rhymes to help us.  We also looked at arrays and how they are related to multiplication.  The students had fun identifying arrays in our classroom and in their houses.

This week we also had the 1st and 2nd grade Spelling Bee!  We had three contestants from our class who participated: Hideto Ikehara, Steven Ryan, and Shuhei Miyairi.  I was very proud of how each of them studied hard and did their best.  And congratulations to Shuhei Miyairi for earning 1st place!!

Important Announcements:

1. Spelling Words: he's, it's, I'm, I'll, she's, can't, let's, you'll, didn't, they'll, haven't, couldn't, doesn't, wouldn't its, said

2. Bible Memory Verse: Then Jesus said, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry. And whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."  John 6:35

3. The Bazaar is quickly approaching! As a 2nd grade, we have been assigned the Lumpia and Drinks booth.  If you are able to help please see the email that was sent by Mrs. Ikehara or contact me.

4. Monday, February 16th will be a No School Day.

Have a wonderful weekend! :)

Bonjour from France!

This week we "traveled" to France and learned a little about French culture and food.  We also started our Ocean Animal Research Project.  Each student picked an ocean animal that they would like to study and we learned how to look for and classify information.  Today the students had their first opportunity to do their own research.  This will continue on into the next few weeks.  In Reading we focused on asking questions while reading.  We learned the 6 question words and practiced asking questions during our read alouds.  In Bible, we continued our study on miracles.  We learned about Jesus calming the storm, raising a widow's dead son, and healing a man who had evil spirits inside of him.  We learned that Jesus has power over death, evil spirits, and all the things that make us afraid.  For Math this week, we learned some new addition and subtraction strategies.  We also practiced making graphs based on our favorite foods.

Important Information for next week:

1. The last day for book orders is MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2ND.  Please see last week's post for the link if you would like to order online or you can send the money in dollars with your student.

2. This week we sent home Valentine Grams and Cake Order Forms for the Philippines Missions Trip.  If you would like to order either of these please send in the form and money with your student.  Both are due next week.

3. Bazaar forms were also sent home this week.  If you are able to help in any way please fill out the form and return it to me.

4. This Thursday we will have the 1st and 2nd grade Spelling Bee.  Good luck to our top three classroom winners who will compete!

5. For Spelling this week, we will be reviewing the last few lessons. Study sheets will go home on Monday.

6. The Bible Memory Verse for this week is: Then he said to her, "Dear woman, your faith has healed you. Go in peace."   Luke 8:48

Next week we will also welcome a new student to our classroom: Makana Kakazu!

Field Trip!

We had a great short week and had a great time at the aquarium on Friday! This past week we focused on Cause and Effect in Reading and practiced identifying it in our reading.  In Math we finished up Unit 5 on Shapes and took our Unit Test.  For Writing, we had a chance to create a story with a partner and learn what it means to write together.  In Bible we learned about how Jesus healed a man with a king disease and a very sick servant.

We also had our classroom Spelling Bee this week.  Congratulations to our top three winners who will be moving on to the 1st and 2nd grade Spelling Bee in a few weeks!! I am very proud of all the hard work that was put in to studying for the Spelling Bee.  All the students did a wonderful job!

On Friday, we had a great day at the aquarium.  We were able to see the dolphin show and see a lot of very interesting animals inside.  I enjoyed hearing about the student's favorite animals that they saw when we got back.  Thank you to all the parents who came to help!

Important Announcements:

1. Our Spelling words for this week are: draw, saw, ought, pause, straw, paws, lawn, bought, August, caught, brought, taught, because, thought, sure, goes

2. Our Bible Memory Verse for this week is: They asked one another, "Who is this? He commands even the winds and the waves, and they obey him."  Luke 8:25b

3. Scholastic book orders were sent home last week.  There are two ways that you can order.  The first is online at http://world-schools.scholastic.co.uk/okinawa-christian-school-intl with a credit card.  You can also send in the order form with US DOLLARS to me in the classroom.  The last day to order is February 2nd.  If you have any questions please email me.

Spirit Week

We had a very full and eventful week this week! I enjoyed seeing all of the student's dress up and show their school spirit this Spirit Week! Monday was a beautiful day for our annual Kite Day.  Thank you to all the parents who came out to help us fly our kites and enjoy the day with us.

In our Writing time this week, we focused on past, present, and future verb tenses.  We finished out the week by writing a book about ourselves in the past, present, and future.  In Math we learned about 3D shapes and lines of symmetry.  We had fun trying to identify these shapes in the world around us. For Bible we continued our study of Jesus' Miracles and learned how Jesus healed people and provided for his disciples.  In Reading we focused on characters in preparations for today's Character Parade.  It was wonderful to see all the students dressed up as their characters today! We had a great time parading through the school and then listening to some stories afterwards.  The students also enjoyed sharing their characters with their classmates.

Important Information:

1. There will be NO SCHOOL on MONDAY.

2. We will be having our classroom Spelling Bee this week.  Students should continue to study the list that was sent home after Christmas Break.

3. Our field trip to the Aquarium is this coming FRIDAY, JANUARY 23RD. We will be leaving the school at 8:45 and coming back at 2:00.  Students need to bring a home lunch with them that day.  Permission slips for the field trip are due this coming Tuesday.

4. Our Bible Memory Verse for next week is: "The earth belongs to the Lord. And so does everything in it." Psalm 24:1a

1st Week of 3rd Quarter

It was great to see all the students back after the Christmas Break! We had a good first week back reviewing our procedures and learning some new things too.  In Reading, we reviewed each section of the Daily 5 and practiced them as a whole class.  We also introduced our Daily 5 Notebooks which will help us to keep track of our learning while we are reading.  We reviewed how to Check for Comprehension and how to Use Prior Knowledge to help us understand our reading more.  For Writing, we set goals for the new year and also wrote about our Christmas Break and the many fun activities.  In Math, we have started our Unit on Shapes and Lines.  This week we learned about points, lines, parallel lines, and polygons.  For Bible we started our study of Jesus' Miracles.  We learned about Jesus changing water into wine at a wedding and how he healed the official's son.  With each miracle we have seen how Jesus has great power and can do things that are impossible for a normal person to do.

Important Announcements:

1. Report Cards were sent home today.  Please return the Blue Envelope with your signature on the line for 2nd quarter by Tuesday.  It is only necessary to send in the envelope; the papers inside are for you to keep.  If you any questions or concerns please let me know.

2. Monday is KITE DAY for Elementary.  We will be flying our kites from 10:00-10:45am.  Students are asked to wear their Friendship Friday T-Shirts on that day.  Parents are welcome to come and help us fly our kites! :)

3. Next week is Spirit Week.  A paper was sent home today about each day.
    Monday - Crazy Hair Day/Mismatch Day
    Tuesday - Decades Day
    Wednesday - Class Color Day (ours is RED)
    Thursday - School Color Day (Red and White)

4. Character Parade is next FRIDAY from 9-10am.  A flier was sent home today with more information.  Students are asked to pick a character from a book to dress up as.  They need to be sure to bring the book along with them on Friday to show where their character comes from.

5. Our class Field Trip to the Aquarium is coming up on Friday, January 23rd.  More information will be sent home soon.

6. Spelling for the upcoming week: we will be practicing our Spelling Bee words for our class Spelling Bee the next week.

7. Bible Memory Verse for next week: "Lord my God, I called out to you for help. And you healed me."  Psalm 30:2

Have a wonderful weekend! :)