It was a beautiful day for Sweet Potato Digging today! We had lots of fun digging up the potatoes and seeing who could find the biggest one.  I hope you enjoy the ones your students were able to bring home! :)

Here's what happened this week in our class:

Reading: This week we learned how to summarize a story.  We learned that a summary is short and includes only the most important parts of a story.  We read a few stories and tried to identify the character, what the character wanted to do, what the problem was, how the character solved the problem, and how the story ended.

Writing: In writing we started learning about Procedural Writing.  We discussed the meaning of procedural writing and when it is used.  We also made a list of ideas of things we could write about.  Starting next week we will take some of these ideas and make them into writing pieces.

Bible: For Bible we learned about the baptism of Jesus and how He was tempted in the desert.  We learned that Jesus is God's son through the story of His baptism.  We also learned about temptation (wanting to do things that we know we shouldn't) and what we can do when it comes.

Math: On Monday we took our Unit 3 test and have now started Unit 4 on addition and subtraction strategies.  This week we learned how to use the Change-to-More Model to help us with addition.  We also continued practicing our different center rotations.

Science: This week we switched to Science with Mr. Fox and started learning about simple machines.  We will continue Science for the next two weeks.

Important Information:

1. Spelling Words: new, due, cute, blue, use, knew, unit, true, blue, flute, music, few, been, December

2. Bible Memory Verse: "Come. Follow Me," Jesus said. "I will make you fishers of people." Matthew 4:19

3. A parent survey was sent home today in Friday Folders.  Please take some time to fill that out and send it back with your student next week. Thank you!

4. Walkathon is coming up in 2 weeks!! If you would like to walk with your student please fill out the permission slip and return it to me.  The price to walk is 2000 yen.  The price to walk and get a t-shirt is 5000 yen.

Here are some pictures from our Field Trip today!

Thank you for a great Parent/Teacher Conference on Friday! It was wonderful to talk with all of you and plan how we can help each one of your children learn and grown this year!

Here's a snapshot of what we learned this week:

Reading:  This week in Reading we focused on Word Work and had several practice sessions.  We also introduced our Word Work notebook and how we will use it in class to help make that time more meaningful.

Writing: In Writing we learned about Complete and Incomplete Sentences.  We started by learning about what a sentence needs in order to be complete and then practiced identifying complete and incomplete sentences.  We finished out the week by practicing how to make an incomplete sentence into a complete sentence.

 

Math: For Math we finished up Unit 3 by learning about how to make change.  We practiced buying things at the "store" and then figured out how much money we should get back.  On Thursday we spent the day reviewing for Unit 3 Test this next week.

Social Studies: This week we finished up our unit on South America.  Last week the students divided into groups to research about a country in South America.  This past Tuesday we had a chance to present what we found to the rest of the class.  The kids did a great job of sharing the fun information that they found!

Important Information:
1. Spelling Words: hold, those, hope, know, coat, spoke, over, grown, froze, older, obey, goal, hundred, high

2. Bible Memory Verse: And a voice came from Heaven, "You are my beloved son; with you I am well pleased." Mark 1:11

3. This Friday we will have our K-3rd grade Sweet Potato Digging Field Trip.  Please wear our new red Friendship Friday t-shirts on that day.

4. Walkathon is coming up soon on November 14th.  If you would like to sign up please send in the Permission Slip and money with your students.  All 2nd grade students must be accompanied by an adult for the Walkathon.

Have a great weekend! :)

Reading: This week we learned how to make predictions while reading stories.  We learned that a prediction is when we make a guess about what will happen next in the story by using clues from the text and pictures. We practiced making predictions as a class, with a partner, and on our own.

Math: We practiced telling time to the minute and learned how to solve Frame-and-Arrow problems with two rules.  We also learned about graphs and made a class graph based on how many pockets we had on our clothes.  Today we also learned a new Math game to practice making $1.00.

Writing: This week we wrote about our favorite weather.  Each student picked their favorite weather and then came up with five reasons why they like it.  Today we wrote our final copy which will be turned into a class book!

Bible: We continued learning about Jesus' birth this week.  We learned how Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem and how Jesus was born.  We also learned about how the angels told the shepherds about Jesus' birth and then they went and told everyone that they knew.

Social Studies: We divided into five group and each group learned about a different South American country.  We studied Brazil, Ecuador, Chile, Peru, and Colombia.  The students found interesting information about their country and next week we will share it with the rest of the class.

Important Information:

1. Spelling Words: cheese, teeth, even, please, team, easy, breeze, these, peace, leave, keep, zero, yours, upon

2. Bible Memory Verse: "Where is the child who has been born to be King of the Jews? When we were in the east, we saw his star. Now we have come to worship Him."  Matthew 2:2

3. Parent/Teacher Conferences will be next FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23rd.  If you have not returned the slip, please do so on Monday.

4. Walktahon is coming up soon!! If you would like to participate please send in the permission slip and money to me.

5. We will be going sweet potato digging on Friday, October 30th! A permission slip was sent home today with each student as well as a flyer with some more information.  Please return those to me by next Friday.

Have a great weekend!

Happy end of 1st Quarter!! It has been a busy start to 2nd grade and the students have done an amazing job this quarter! We are already seeing so much improvement in our academics and social skills!  Here's a glimpse of what happened in our classroom this week:

Reading: This week in Reading we finished learning how to Retell the Story.  We also learned how to do Word Work during Daily 5. We practiced our Spelling words during Word Work and next week we will add it to our Daily 5 time.

Writing: Today we finished our second piece of narrative writing.  We spent the week writing our first copy, revising, editing, and peer reflecting our stories. Today we wrote our final copy.  Here are the students hard at work:

Math: We have started a new system in Math.  We have divided into 3 groups and will be doing Math stations throughout the week.  This week we learned about place value to the hundreds place.  We also learned how to use money to pay for things at a store.  Today we learned a new Math game to play during our centers that helps us practice our money skills.

Social Studies: This week in Social Studies we started our study of South America.  On Tuesday we learned about Argentina.  We studied some interesting places in Argentina, what food they eat, and other parts of their culture.

Bible: This week in Bible we learned about how an angel visited Zechariah and Mary to tell them about the birth of John the Baptist and Jesus.  We learned that Jesus was born to save His people from their sins and that John the Baptist was given the job of preparing people for Jesus.  Just like John the Baptist, our job is also to tell others what we know about Jesus.


Important Information:

1. Spelling Words: why, fire, wild, Bible, try, bright, mind, life, Friday, skylight, mild, kind, story, could

2. Bible Memory Verse: "I bring you good news of great joy. It is for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord."  Luke 2:10-11

3. There will be NO SCHOOL this coming MONDAY, OCTOBER 10th.

4. Walkathon papers were sent home today! If your student would like to walk please fill out the permission slip and return it to school.  The cost to walk is 2000 yen.  If your student would also like a t-shirt they will need to raise 5000 yen (this includes the price to walk and the price of the t-shirt).

5. Parent-Teacher Conferences will be FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23RD. A paper was sent home today with your time.  Please return the top half of the paper to me as soon as possible.

Have a great weekend and see you on Tuesday!!

Here's a snapshot of what has been happening in 2.1:

Reading: In reading we learned how to retell a story.  We learned that when we retell a story we need to include the characters, setting, beginning, middle, and end.  We also learned how to do Listen to Reading on RazKids.  Friday was our first day of adding Listen to Reading to our Daily 5 time!

Writing: In writing we started a new story this week.  We began the week by planning our character, setting, beginning, middle, and end.  Then later in the week we began to write our stories.  Next week we will finish and publish our stories.

Math: For Math we finished up Unit 2.  This week's focus was subtraction strategies and practice.  On Friday we played a review Jeopardy game to get ready for our test on Monday.

Bible: This week in Bible we learned about how God used Elijah and Elisha to teach the people of Israel about who God.  We saw the bravery of Elijah and how he trusted God even when no one else around him did.  We also learned about the exile of Israel and Judah because of their sin.

Important Information:

1. Spelling Words: grade, played, train, eight, faith, today, neighbor, gave, railway, praise, wave, weigh, enough, children

2. Memory Verse: "She is going to have a son. You must give him the name Jesus. That is because he will save his people from their sins."  Matthew 1:21

3. This Tuesday morning we will have our all school Walkathon assembly.  Students are encouraged to wear their Walkathon t-shirts on that day.

4. There will be NO SCHOOL next Monday, October 12th.

5. Parent/Teacher Conferences will be Friday, October 23rd.  More information will be sent home soon.

Reading: This week we focused on Read to Someone and Accuracy strategies.  Our strategy for the week was Flip the Sound and we learned how to flip vowel sounds in words to help us read them. This week we also introduced choice into our Daily 5 time.  The students were allowed to pick Read to Self, Read to Someone, or Writing during Daily 5 time.  They did a great job with all these new options!

Writing: We learned how to Revise, Edit, and Peer Reflect our writing.  On Thursday we spent time reading one another's stories and helping to fix them.  Then on Friday, we published our first writing piece of the year!

Math: In Math we continued to learn about addition and subtraction.  We learned how to use our doubles facts to help us solve other problems.  We also learned about Frame and Arrow problems. Here are the students learning a new Math game:

Bible: Our focus in Bible was on the Kings of Israel.  We learned about David, Solomon, and Rehoboam this week.  Through the story of David we learned how God is more concerned with our heart than with our appearance.  God wants us to have a heart that loves and obeys Him.  We also learned about how Solomon asked God for wisdom and how we can also ask God for wisdom to help us know what is right and wrong.

Important Information:

1. Spelling: Next week we will have our first review test.  This test will be on words from the last 5 lessons that we have studied.  The test will be a multiple choice test where the students have to pick which of the spelling words is not spelled correctly.  A study sheet will be sent home on Monday.

2. Bible Memory Verse: "That kind of person is like a tree that is planted near a stream of water. It always bears its fruit at the right time. Its leaves don't dry up." Psalm 1:3

3. The Scholastic Book Order was sent in today.  The books should be here in a few weeks.

4. PICTURE DAY is this coming MONDAY.  Our time will be at 9:40 (right before morning recess).

5. Behavioral Packets: A packet was sent home with each student today about the rules and expectations for all elementary students, parents, and staff.  Please take some time to read through the packet of information and then sign your name.  Please return the signed part only to school by next Tuesday.  If you have any questions, please let me know.

6. Raz Kids: This week we introduced a new program to help with our reading called Raz Kids.  The students will be using this program in the computer lab and during our Daily 5 time.  Raz Kids allows students to read stories, listen to stories, and take quizzes to earn stars.  Students can and should also use this program at home.  Here are some instructions for accessing Raz Kids at home:

You can access the Raz Kids website by clicking on the link on our class website.  It should take you to a page that looks like this:

In the teacher username box please type in MelisaGuiles.  Make sure that there is no space in between the first and last name.

This is our class page.  Click on the correct student.

Type in the student password. The password is the same as our AR passwords.

This is the main student screen.  Reading Assignment takes them to books that are at their specific reading level.  Flight Check takes them to an assignment that I have given them to do.  Book Room takes them to all the books on the Raz Kids site.

Students can read a book, listen to a book, or take a quiz. 

If you would like to see how your student is doing, click on the parents tab in the upper right hand corner of the screen and it will take you here.  Enter in your email address and I will add it to your student's account.

Have a great weekend!