Week of Dec. 8th

First of all, we'd like to thank all the parent volunteers who made our fall party last Wednesday a great success.  We enjoyed eating festive cupcakes and creating crafty turkeys.  We also had fun running relay races, pinning the waddle on the turkey, and playing Thanksgiving Bingo.  We will be creating Christmas gifts on December 15th from 1:00 - 3:00.  Please email, text, or call us if you can  help out.  Next week in reading we will be talking about when creative ideas can solve problems.  We'll be reading a realistic fiction story called Rosa and Blanca.  We will be working on the comprehension skill of understanding the theme and plot.  We will work on the strategy of predicting.  During phonics and spelling we will be working with long i words spelled with i, ie, igh, or y.  In language arts the students will continue working on present, past, and future verbs and writing good paragraphs.  In science we will learn about different forms of energy.  During math we will be working in Topic 10:  Using Addition and Subtraction.

Week of Nov. 17th

This week we will be reading the story Dear Juno while working on the comprehension skill of drawing conclusions.  We will learn how to read and spell words with the long o sound spelled with o, oa, and ow.  In Language Arts we will be working on verbs with singular and plural nouns.  We are going to start writing Thanksgiving stories as well.  In Social Studies we will focus on the Pilgrims and the Wampanog people.  In math we will continue working on 2 digit addition with regrouping.  Tuesday night is our school music program at the Havelone Center.  We hope to see you there!

Week of Nov. 10th

This week are starting a new unit in reading focusing on being creative.  We will be reading Pearl and Wagner while working on author's purpose and story structure. We will be learning how to read and spell words with the long e sound spelled with ee and ea.  In Language Arts we are learning about verbs and writing a narrative paragraph.  Veteren's Day and studying the plains natives will be our focus in Social Studies.  In math we will start adding 2 digit numbers.  It will be a fun week!

Week of Nov. 2nd

Next week second grade will be kicking off November by starting our Native American unit.  We'll be comparing and contrasting several different tribes, including the Plains Natives who lived in our area of Nebraska.  We will also be creating some beautiful coffee filter turkeys for our front windows.  In reading we'll be discussing how we can contribute to a celebration.  Our selection of the week will be an animal fantasy called A Turkey for Thanksgiving.  We'll be working on the comprehension skill of drawing conclusions and  visualizing.  In phonics and spelling the students will be learning how to read and spell long a words spelled with a, ai, or ay.   In language arts we will continue working on our class books.  The students will also be working on correctly writing possessive nouns.  In math we will move onto Topic 7:  MentalSubtraction.  Have a great weekend.

Week of Oct. 20th

No school on Thursday or Friday this week.  The teachers will be working on improving our school. This week we will be writing descriptive paragraphs about a classmate.  We will also have some pumpkin fun.  We will be counting seeds in pumpkins and finding out if a pumpkin sinks or floats. We will continue working on money in math.  No spelling test this week but practice the list that was sent home as we will have a test over those words the following week.

Week of Oct. 13th

On Monday we will by celebrating Columbus Day and learning about him and his voyage.  In reading we will be reading the story Turtles Race with Beaver while working on sequencing.  In spelling and phonics we will be working on r controlled words.  This week we will be working on the writing process to create and publish a class book. We will also be focusing on singular and plural nouns.  In Science we will learn how plants and animals live together.  In math we will continue counting collections of coins.

Week of Oct. 6th

This week we will be reading a story called Ronald Morgan Goes to Bat.  We will be working on realism and fantasy as well as contractions.  In Language Arts we will be working on proper nouns and writing a paragraph.  In Science we will start learning about vertebrates.  During math we will start counting money!  Our Boystown skill is disagreeing appropriately.

Week of Sept. 29th

Thank you to those who came to parent teacher conferences.  I enjoyed visiting with you about your child.  This week we will be reading a story called Tara and Tiree Fearless Friends.  We will be working on sequencing, predicting, and r controlled vowels.  In Language Arts we will be focusing on nouns.  We will continue to work on the writing process and learning how to use transition words in our writing.  In Science we will be learning about spiders.  In math we will continue to work on place value and numbers to 100.  In art we are going to make some cool pumpkins learning about positive and negative space as well as symmetry.  Look for these at Dairy Queen during the month of October.

Week of Sept. 22nd

I hope to see all of you at parent teacher conferences next week.  They will be on Monday and Thursday evenings.  Please come at your scheduled time.  This week we will be reading the story The Strongest One.  We will be working on realism and fantasy as well as consonant digraphs.  In Language Arts we will be learning about commands and exclamations.  Our Science time will be spent learning about snails, slugs, and earthworms.  In Math we will be working on place value.

Fun with Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches

Fun with Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches

Week of Sept. 15th

This week we will be reading the story A Walk in the Desert and focusing on main idea and details.  We will also be working on inflected endings (words ending in ed and ing).  Those words will be the focus for our spelling words as well.  In Language Arts we will be learning about writing a story with a beginning, middle, and end as well as statements and questions.  In Social Studies we will be learning about Constitution Day and Johnny Appleseed.  We will be doing an art project about Johnny Appleseed too.  In Science Nicole Stoner, an extension educator will be bringing her Madagascar hissing cockroaches.  We will get to do som experiments with them.  We will also be comparing butterflies and moths.  In math we will continue to work on subtraction strategies.

Week of Sept. 8th

This week our Boystown skill is accepting no for an answer.  In Reading we will be reading the story Henry and Mudge and the Starry Night.  We will be working on consonant blends and character and setting.  In Language Arts we will be learning what the predicate of a sentence is.  We will also be learning about a famous artist named Peter Max and painting a picture of the Statue of Liberty.  In Science we will start our unit on invertebrates.  This week we will focus on insects!  In math we will be learning strategies to subtract.  It should be a fun week!

Week of Sept. 1st

Happy Labor Day! - No School Monday

This week we will be exploring space while working on text structure, main idea, and details.  In phonics and spelling we will be working on words with long vowels.  In Language Arts we will be learning about the writing process and working on recognizing what the subject of a sentence is.  In math we will continue to work on addition strategies.  In Social Studies we are learning about our world.

Welcome to 2nd Grade!- Week of August 25th

It has been so much fun getting to know your child.  We have a lot of interesting concepts to learn this year. The next 5 weeks in reading our stories will be about exploration.  This week we will be reading the story Iris and Walter while exploring urban and rural communities.  We will also work on short vowels and character and setting.  In Language Arts we will be learning how to write a great sentence.  In social studies we will be learning about where we live in the world.  In Math we are working on strategies to master addition facts.  Please practice xtra math and your spelling words at home.

Week of April 7th

This week we will be reading a realistic fiction story called A Birthday Basket for Tia while working on summarizing and drawing conclusions.  In phonics and spelling we will be working on words with suffixes tion and ture.  In Language Arts we will be learning when to use a comma and finish our dinosaur reports.  We will be creating our dinosaurs and making a diorama for our dinosaurs.  In math we will start 3 digit addition and subtraction.

Week of March 31st

This week we will be reading the story Red, White, and Blue while working on fact and opinion.  We will also be working on reading and spelling words with inflected endings.  (words with ed and ing)  In Language Arts we will be learning how to use quotation marks and writing a research paper on a specific dinosaur.  In Science we will be spending time learning more about fossils.  In math we will continue working on place value.

Our artist in residence

Week of Feb. 23rd

Second graders are really looking forward to working with Charles Ahovissi, our artist in residence from Africa, next week!  We can hardly wait!  In reading we'll be discussing how we can be responsible family members.  We'll read another realistic fiction story called Bad Dog, Dodger!   We'll be using word structure to figure out vocabulary words.  We'll also be working on the plot and theme as a comprehension strategy.  In phonics and spelling we'll work with words which have silent letters.  In language arts we will finish up our book reviews and work on the pronouns, I and me.  Then, we will begin working on our add-on stories.  During math we will finish up Topic 14:  Measurement:  Capacity and Weight.  Then we'll move onto Topic 15:  Time and Temperature.  In health class we will continue learning about our bodies.  We'll focus on our skeletal, digestive, respiratory and circulatory systems during the next week.  Keep reading those AR books and practicing your spelling words!

Week of Feb. 17th

Next week in reading we'll be discussing why we should take care of animals.  We'll read a realistic fiction story called One Dark Night.  We will work on sequencing and use graphic organizers.  We'll continue working on using context clues to understand vocabulary words.  In phonics and spelling we'll be reading words with prefixes.  In language arts the students will be learning about pronouns for one and more than one.  We'll also learn how to write a book review of a fiction book.  During math class, we'll continue working in Topic 14:  Measurement:  Capacity and Weight.  On President's Day, we'll be learning about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.  Then we'll begin our Health unit.  First, we'll learn about human life cycles.  Then we'll learn about our muscles.  Have a great week!

Week of Feb. 3rd

Next week in reading we'll be discussing how changes in weather affect us.  We'll be reading a narrative nonfiction called Helen Keller and the Big Storm.  The vocabulary strategy we will work on is using context clues to figure out word meanings.  We'll work on the comprehension skill of understanding fact and opinion, The students will be working with the comprehension strategy of asking questions.  In phonics and spelling we will be learning to read and spell words with the vowel patterns oo, ue,ew, and ui.  In language arts we will continue working on adverbs, specifically focusing on adverbs which tell how.  The students will also learn to write a response paragraph about the book Thundercake.  In social studies we will begin learning about African American heroes.  Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, and Ruby Bridges are some of the heroes we'll be learning about.  In art we'll see art created by an artist named Jim Dine, and then create one of our own heart paintings.  We'll make our Valentine's Day sacks, and place them on our lockers for when friends begin bringing cards.  During math class we'll continue working in Topic 13:  Measurement:  Length and Area.  Have a great week!

January 27, 2014

This week we will be reading the story I Like Where I Am while working on plot and theme.  We will be working on spelling and decoding words with the vowel sound in joy.  In Language Arts we will be working on adverbs that tell when and where.  In Social Studies we will be learning about  maps with directions, American symbols and famous Americans. We will also be learning about Chinese New Year which takes place Jan. 31st.  In Math we will be finishing up our fractions unit and start on measurement.

Week of Jan. 20th

On Tuesday we will be 100 days smarter.  This week we will be celebrating our 100th day of school by writing a paragraph of what we will be doing and what we might look like when we are 100 years old. We are trying to jazz up our writing by adding lots of adjectives.   We will also be making mozaics of ourselves.  We will be making a special snack of 100 items and doing some other fun 100 day activities.  We will be reading Frogs and working on words with the ou and ow sounds.  We will be learning how these letters can make the sound that is in the word gown.  We will also work on comparing and contrasting.  Monday we will celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday while learning about this famous African American.  In Social Studies we are learning about natural and cultural features.  We will also learn how these features are represented by symbols on a map.

Week of January 13th

This week we will be reading about the lLifecycle of a Pumpkin and working on fact and opinion.  We will also be reading and spelling words with the vowel sound in book.  In Language Arts we will continue to work on using adjectives and writing friendly letters.  We will be finishing up our geometry unit in math working on symmetry, translations, reflections and rotations.  In Science we will be learning aout the sun and the planets in our solar system.

Week of Jan. 6th

Welcome Back!  I hope you all had a super break.  This week we will be reading The Quilt Story and work on comparing and contrasting.  We will also be learning about words that end in -le.  In Guidance we will have a guest speaker to teach us about good touches, bad touches, and secret touches.  A note was sent home about this before Christmas.  In Language Arts we will focus on  writing a persuasive paragraph and using adjectives in our writing.  In Math we will be starting geometry learning about plane shapes and solid figures.  Goods, services, needs, and wants will be our Social Studies focus this week.  We will also be making a snowman art project to be displayed at Burger King.  The students will also be taking the MAPS tests this week and next to help the staff determine how to best meet each students individual needs.  Have a great week and stay warm!