Welcome Back!

Welcome Back from Spring Break! It was great to see everyone again and get ready to finish out this school year!

Here's a peek at what we did this week:

Reading: This week we reviewed our five stations for Daily 5. We practiced Read to Self, Read to Someone, Word Work, Writing, and Listen to Reading. The students did an awesome job at practicing their stations and keeping their stamina!

Writing: In Writing we wrote about what we did over Spring Break and then created a snapshot book of each day.

 

Math: For Math we started our unit on Money. This week we practiced counting coins and dollars, buying items, and estimating costs.

Social Studies: This week in Social Studies we studied North American. We learned about famous places and people and a little of the history of the United States.

Bible: We finished our unit on the parables of Jesus this week. We learned about God's forgiveness and how He accepts us into His family no matter what we have done. We also learned about God's kingdom and how He invites us to believe in Him and enter His kingdom.

Important Information:

1. Spelling Words: chore, farmer, corn, orange, harvest, morning, Lord, arms, horses, hard, before, star, store, north, March, important, June, Wednesday

2. Memory Verse: "You can't be saved by believing in anyone else. God has given people no other name under heaven that will save them." Acts 4:12

3. Next Friday will be our Elementary Field Day! We will start our outdoor activities at 8:45am and then have lunch in the park around 11:45. We will then spend the rest of the afternoon down in the park. All students are asked to bring a home lunch on this day. Parents are welcome to come and join us for the day! If you have any questions, please let me know.

4. Our last Scholastic Book Order went home today. Those will be due on May 6th. You can order online at this link: http://world-schools.scholastic.co.uk/okinawa-christian-school-intl or send in the order form and US dollars with your student.

Upcoming Events:

4/29: Elementary Field Day
5/5: Children's Day - No School
5/30: Memorial Day - No School
6/8: Last Day of School and Class Party - Early Dismissal

Have a wonderful weekend!

Terra Nova and Kid City!

We had a full and busy week in 2.1! On Monday we welcomed Nikko to our class. The students were so excited to meet him and have him join our class!

On Wednesday and Thursday we took the Terra Nova Standardized Test. The students showed their knowledge of reading, math, science, social studies, Bible, and many other things. Although there were lots of tests, the students did a great job staying focused and doing their best! We also had the chance to do some fun activities in the afternoon to celebrate our testing progress.

Today we had our annual Kid City with all of 1st and 2nd grade! Our students worked as bankers, city hall clerks, police officers, cashier, doctors, nurses, and pharmacists. They brought together all of the lessons about community that we have learned over the past few months and did a great job running their very own city. Here are some pictures from today:

THE BANK:

THE PHARMACY:

THE CITY HALL:

THE POLICE STATION:

THE HOSPITAL:

Important Information:

1. Next week is Spring Break! School will resume on Monday, April 18th.

2. Spelling Words for after Spring Break: carries, carrying, dropping, love, loved, live, living, fly, drop, carried, carry, flying, loving, dropped, lived, flies, Tuesday, worker

2. Bible Memory Verse: "Be kind and tender to one another. Forgive one another, just as God forgave you because of what Christ has done." Ephesians 4:32

3. Important Dates:
April 29th - Elementary Field Day
May 5th - Children's Day - No School
May 30th - Memorial Day - No School

Have a wonderful break! 

Student Led Conferences

This week we were busy getting ready for our Student Led Conferences on Friday. The students all did a wonderful job presenting their portfolios. I hope that you were able to see the ways that your student has grown this year and how best you can help them in this fourth quarter!

Here's a look at our week:

Reading: This week in reading we learned about suffixes and how they are added to the end of a word to change the meaning. We brainstormed different words with suffixes and added them to our anchor chart.

Writing: In writing we finished our final copy of our Animal Research Papers and drew a picture of our animal.

Math: This week in math we finished learning about measurement, area, and perimeter. On Monday we made robots and then found the area of each of the body parts. It was great to see the creativity of the students as they designed their robots. We also took our Unit 9 test on Thursday.

Bible: In Bible we continued learning about parables. We talked about the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant and how God wants us to forgive others just as He has forgiven us. We also talked about the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector and the right way to pray.

Important Information:

1. There will be no spelling words and no Bible memory verse because of Terra Nova Testing.

2. Terra Nova Testing will take place next week on Wednesday and Thursday. The Terra Nova is a standardized test that will provide data on how your student is progressing in comparison to other students in American and International schools worldwide. In preparation for these tests please be sure your student:
       - gets 8-10 hours of sleep each night
       - eats a nutritional breakfast before school each morning
       - refrains from extra activities in the evening during testing days
       - brings a light, healthy snack each day such as one banana, a small baggie of popcorn, dried fruit, etc. (please do not bring anything sugary as a snack)
       - is on time to school each day

3. Kid City will take place next Friday, April 8th from 8:45-11:20. We are in need of some parents to come and help us run the different stations. If you are able to come, please send me an email or a note with your student. We will also be sending home a sign up form next week.

4. We are also in need of donations for our Kid City Restaurant. We need cookies (individually wrapped), small Yakult, senbei (individually wrapped), and mikans. If you would like to donate, please send it in with your student this week.

5. We are in need of your help this Tuesday as we get ready for Kid City. We will be working on making signs, making badges, putting money in envelopes, prop making, etc after school from 3:00-4:00 in room 208.

Important Dates:

April 6-7 : Terra Nova Testing
April 8 : Kid City
April 8 : Pre-registration and Early Dismissal
April 9-17 : Spring Break
April 29 : Elementary Field Day

Have a great weekend!

Happy Easter!

This week we said good-bye to Non. We will miss you!

Here's a look at our week:

Reading: In reading we talked about prefixes. We learned that prefixes are added to the beginning of a word to change the meaning. Throughout the week we talked about 6 different prefixes and how they change the meaning of words. Here is the anchor chart that we made:

Writing: In writing we continued working on our ocean animal research projects. The students have put a lot of hard work and effort into these papers! We will be finishing up this unit next week.

Math: This week in math we learned about area. We practiced finding the area of many different shapes by counting the squares and multiplying. We then practiced measuring shapes to find the perimeter and area. We will finish our unit on measuring this next week.

Bible: In Bible class we continued talking about Jesus' death and resurrection. We learned about how the disciples were afraid and confused after Jesus' died because they did not understand what was happening.  Then we learned about how Jesus rose from the dead three days after His death, just as He had promised!

Important Information:

1. Spelling Words: class, dishes, families, bench, box, cherries, classes, benches, dish, teachers, peaches, boxes, family, teacher, peach, cherry, tear, working

2. Bible Memory Verse: "Why do you look for the living among the dead? Jesus is not here! He has risen!"  Luke 24:5b-6a

3. Student Led Conferences will be next Friday, April 1st. If you have not turned in your form yet, please send it with your student on Monday. This will be a great opportunity to hear from your student about how they are doing in school and see their progress this year.

4. Kid City is coming soon! There will be several opportunities for parents to help us make this day a success. We will be having a work day after school the week of Kid City where we will put together the materials needed. We will also need help on the day of Kid City (Friday, April 8th) from parents to help run the different stations. More information about how you can be involved will be coming soon!

5. Important Dates:
4/1 - Student Led Conferences
4/6-4/7 - Terra Nova Testing
4/8 - Kid City and Early Dismissal
4/9-4/17 - Spring Break

Have a great weekend and Happy Easter!

Missions Week

Wow! What a fun and busy few days we have had this week! This week we held our annual Missions Week, so our class was a part of the Kid's Club run by some of our High School and Middle School students.  We had a great time Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning learning about Jesus, singing songs, playing games, and making crafts.

 

Here's a quick look at the rest of our week:

Reading: This week in Reading we finished talking about inferences. We read several books and practiced making inferences from the pictures. We also split into groups and made inferences using the Pigeon books by Mo Willems.

Writing: In Writing we continued working on our Animal Research Projects. We wrote our first draft and starting the editing process.

Math: This week in Math we learned about measurement. We practiced measuring in inches, feet, and meters by going outside and measuring things on the playground.

We also learned how to find the perimeter of a shape. We practiced by making flap books and these Perimeter Ice Cream Cones.

Bible: In Bible we continued learning about the week that Jesus died.  We learned about the Last Supper He had with His disciples and about how He was arrested and tried. Today we learned about how Jesus died on the cross for our sins so that we could have a relationship with God again.

This week we also celebrated Saint Patrick's Day by making these mosaic clovers and writing about people that are "worth more than gold" to us.

 

Important Information:

1. Spelling: This week we will be reviewing the spelling words from the last few weeks.

2. Bible: We will have the same verse as this past week and take the test on Thursday.
"Christ didn't have any sin. But God made him become sin for us. So we can be made right with God because of what Christ has done for us." 2 Corinthians 5:21

3. We have reached the end of 3rd quarter! Because of this, there will be NO SCHOOL this coming Monday.

4. There will also be NO SCHOOL this coming Friday because it is Good Friday.

5. Student Led Conferences will be on April 1st. Schedules will be sent home with students on Tuesday.

Important Dates:

March 21st - No School
March 24th - Family Reading Night
March 25th - No School
April 1st - Student Led Conferences
April 6-8 - Terra Nova Testing
April 8th - Kid City
April 9-17 - Spring Break

Have a great weekend!

Culture Fair!

Here's a look at our week:

Reading: In Reading we learned about inferences. We combined our prior knowledge with clues to make guesses. We practiced making inferences about Miss Guiles based on things in her bag and we practiced with pictures. Next week we will practice making inferences with different books.

Writing: This week we finished researching for our ocean animal project and started writing our rough draft. Next week we will revise and edit and then write our final copy.

Math: For Math we finished up our unit on fractions and took our test. The students did a great job showing all of the things that they learned. On Friday we took our Unit 9 Pretest. Next week we will start our next unit on measurement.

Bible: In Bible we started talking about the week leading up to Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection. On Wednesday we learned about Palm Sunday when Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey. We learned that Jesus was showing that He is a king by entering this way.  On Thursday we learned about Jesus cleaning out the temple. The Pharisees were using the temple to sell and trade things instead of giving people a place to pray and worship God.

Important Information:

1. Spelling Words: raft, calf, built, golden, gulf, left, held, shelf, folktale, milk, building, drift, halfway, felt, once, Thursday

2. Bible Memory Verse: "Christ didn't have any sin. But God made him become sin for us. So we can be made right with God because of what Christ has done for us."  2 Corinthians 5:21

3. Next week we will be having Missions Week.  On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday our class will be joining with the rest of 1st and 2nd grade for a Kid's Club in the morning. This club will be led by High School students and include crafts, games, songs, and a Bible lesson. We will be returning to regular class time in the afternoon.

4. Here are some important upcoming dates:

March 18th - End of 3rd Quarter
March 21st - Teacher Professional Development Day - No School
March 24th - Report Cards Sent Home
March 24th - Family Reading Night
March 25th - Good Friday - No School
April 1st - Student Led Conferences
April 6th-8th - Terra Nova Testing
April 8th - Kid City
April 9th - Start of Spring Break

Here are some pictures from the Culture Fair today:

  

Have a great weekend!

We are very excited for the Bazaar tomorrow!! Please come out and join us for a day of fun and fellowship together as a 2nd grade and with the whole school!

Here's a look at our week this week:

Today we said good-bye to one of our dear friends, Souki, who will be moving. We were able to have some good time together as a class at the end of the day, saying good-bye, playing games, and praying for Souki.

Reading: In reading we talked about comparing and contrasting characters.  We started by comparing and contrasting only their appearance in the pictures and then we moved into comparing and contrasting their personalities as well.  We were able to read several books with fun characters and use our new skill!

Writing: This week we started our ocean animal research projects.  Each student picked an ocean animal that they wanted to learn more about.  We learned where to look for information and then began our search.  Next week we will continue our research and start writing the first draft of our report.

Math: In Math we continued learning about fractions.  This week we focused on equivalent fractions and how to compare fractions.  We ended the week by using our new knowledge of fractions to solve number stories.  We will be having our Unit 8 test next Thursday.

Bible: For Bible we started learning about the parables of Jesus.  We learned that a parable is a story that teaches us a lesson.  This week we heard about the Parable of the Sower, the Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds, and the Parable of the Good Samaritan.  We learned how Jesus wants everyone to come to know Him and that He gives us a choice of whether we want to follow Him or not.  We also learned that Jesus wants us to love all people including those that are not so nice to us.

Important Information:

1. Spelling Words: spend, front, thumb, sending, triangle, climb, hung, strong, along, thank, trunk, bring, donkey, think, February, himself

2. Bible Memory Verse: "But here is how God has shown his love for us. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

3. There will be NO SCHOOL on Monday!

4. Next Friday will be the Upper Elementary Culture Fair.  All students need to bring a cold, home lunch that day as we will be having a picnic.

5. Upcoming Events:
March 21st - Teacher Day - NO SCHOOL
March 24th - Elementary Reading Night
March 25th - Good Friday - NO SCHOOL
April 1st - Student Led Conferences
April 6th-8th - Terra Nova Testing
April 8th - Kid City and Early Dismissal
April 9th-17th - Spring Break

Have a wonderful weekend! :)