Cursive Practice & Pom Poms

Thursday, April 30th, 2015

Today in the second grade, we:

• reviewed our weekly target vocabulary and continued to work with vowel pairs in reading and phonics class
• continued to work with fractions, today solving problems with fractions in math class 
• practiced our latest class poem, listened to our latest class story, and continued to practice cursive writing in independent learning
• reviewed unit 7 in preparation for our quiz tomorrow in science class
• decorated our group fraction charts in art class

Some snaps from this week!

Tonight's Homework:

Complete Math Practice 9.2-9.3.

Special Notes:

I will not be at DISK tomorrow. Below are the spelling words for Monday's quiz and the homework to be completed this coming weekend:

This Weekend's Homework:

• Complete Journeys Practice Book pg. 138-141.
• Complete three or more of the nine activities on the Think-Tac-Toe (in your child's language and spelling notebook.) Please sign any activity that your child completed. Thank you!
• Write spelling words five times and prepare for the spelling quiz on Monday, May 4th. The words come from Journeys pg. 327-344: understand, gathered, impatient, impossible, believe, problem, demand, furious, typewriter, electric, blankets, sincerely, strike, heard, cried, background, neutral, ultimatum, exchange, and emergency.

Wednesday, April 29th, 2015

Today in the second grade, we:

• continued our unit on cursive in language and spelling class
• created fraction charts in math class 
• spent independent learning practicing our latest class poem and listening to our latest class story
• continued to work with vowel pairs in reading and phonics class
• continued to discuss severe weather and how to prepare for it in science class
• worked on a class timeline in social studies class

Tonight's Homework:

Complete Science Fusion pg. 306-308.
Continue to review unit 7 for the science quiz this Friday, May 1st. 

Tuesday, April 28th, 2015

Today in the second grade, we:

• reviewed the weekly target vocabulary, read and discussed the main ideas and supporting details of Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type in reading and phonics class
• continued our unit on cursive in language and spelling class
• continued to work with fractions and played a fractions game in math class 
• practiced our latest class poem, listened to our latest class story, and visited the library during independent learning
• discussed what to during severe weather conditions in science class
• compared and contrasted "ancient" with "modern" and discussed the many ways one can measure time in social studies class

Tonight's Homework:

• Complete Social Studies Activity Book pg. 52.
• Complete "Flower Fractions" worksheet.

Special Notes:

There will be a science quiz on unit 7 this Friday, May 1st.

P.E./Health Quarter 4 Study Guide

PE/Health quarter 4 outline: Grade 2

Health:

Your Health text book: p. 2-5, 8-13

*Students should read and review the information in these pages/and worksheets in folders

P.E:

This year we played Soccer, handball, and kickball.

We reviewed the meaning of teamwork and sportsmanship

Teamwork: working together to get the same thing

Sportsmanship: being respectful, polite and playing fair.

We also learned about general ball play.

We can work together to create new games with different shape balls.

Some balls roll in strange ways (football), some bounce a lot, some are bigger and heavier (basketball)

Accuracy: how straight you can throw to hit a target.

If you are near to the target, you can be very accurate

If you are far from the target, it is more difficult to be accurate

If we are passing to a teammate who is near to us – we can throw underhand to make it easy for them to catch

If we are passing to a teammate who is far away – we can throw overhand so the ball can go further.

Monday, April 27th, 2015

Welcome to week 34!

Today in the second grade, we:

• learned about "obedience" during the weekly assembly
• took our weekly spelling quiz and took turns sharing in front of the class in language and spelling class
• continued to identify fractions that are more, less, or equal to one whole in math class
• started our new unit on vowel pairs, digraphs and diphthongs in reading and phonics class
• started our new unit on past and present by discussing and creating a timeline of this past school year's events in social studies class

Tonight's Homework:

In your language and spelling notebook, write 12-15 sentences (3 or more paragraphs) about a story in Journeys or a story you have read. Please be sure to follow the directions on the accompanying rubric.

The spelling words for our next spelling quiz (Monday, May 4th) will come from Journeys pg. 327-344:

1. understand
2. gathered
3. impatient
4. impossible
5. believe
6. problem
7. demand
8. furious
9. typewriter
10. electric
11. blankets
12. sincerely
13. strike
14. heard
15. cried
16. background
17. neutral
18. ultimatum
19. exchange
20. emergency 

Special Notes:

• The IOWA test results are back. I have stapled an envelope into your child's assignment book containing: a letter from the school, the overall (composite) scores of the grade two class, and your child's scores on the tests.  Mr. Hilden will be holding meetings this Wednesday and Thursday (April 29th and 30th) from 16:00-16:30 to discuss the meaning of the tests and the scores. Mr. Hilden is also available for individual conferences.

• I have also stapled the quarter 4 P.E./Health study guide from Mr. Yanna into your child's assignment book.

• Finally, congratulations to Eden and Kaitlyn for winning the award for the best overall Science Fair project and to Grace and Wilsoni for winning the award for the most creative Science Fair project! I am proud of my students for working hard, and for my students' parents for supporting their endeavors.

Friday, April 24th, 2015

Today in the second grade, we reviewed our weekly target vocabulary and continued to discuss the seasons before heading to the gym for the final day of the Science Fair.

A few more snaps from this year's Science Fair!

Tonight's Homework:

• Complete Journeys Practice Book pg. 134-137.
• Complete three or more of the nine activities on the Think-Tac-Toe (in your child's language and spelling notebook.) Please sign any activity that your child completed. Thank you!
• Write spelling words five times and prepare for the spelling quiz on Monday, April 27th. The words come from Science Fusion  unit 8: weather, rainy, cloudy, snowy, windy, temperature, precipitation, morning, afternoon, evening, water cycle, condense, evaporate, spring, summer, winter, autumn.

Special Notes:

Thank you for your incredible support during this year's Science Fair. You are fantastic! I hope that you have a lovely, relaxing weekend.

Thursday, April 23rd, 2015

Today in the second grade, we:

• reviewed our weekly target vocabulary, listened to and discussed our latest class story in reading and phonics class
• identified fractions that show less than, more than, or equal to one whole in math class
• spent the afternoon presenting at the Science Fair

We also watched a clip of Arctic deer migrating. I wanted the students to see how sometimes people assist in the migration of animals.

Some snaps from today's Science Fair!

Some snaps taken earlier this week during our weekly sharing time:

 Tonight's Homework:

Complete Math Practice 9.1.

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2015

Today in the second grade, we:

• spent the first two periods practicing and setting up our presentation boards and experiments for the Science Fair
• practiced our typing skills in computer class
• took our unit 4 quiz in phonics in reading and phonics class
• reviewed the key vocabulary and concepts that we have learned so far from unit 7 in science class
• spent the final two periods presenting our presentation boards to the judges and the kindergarteners

Tonight's Homework:

In your science notebook, write a letter using at least three of the unit 7 vocabulary words (hibernate, fall, season, migrate, measure, evaporate, condense, water cycle, weather, temperature, precipitation, wind.)

The students were encouraged to write from the perspective of a plant, animal or an element of nature, for example, the students could write a letter:

• from a raindrop to another raindrop friend, describing its trip through the water cycle
• from a bear to another animal friend, describing its hibernation
• from a bird to another animal friend, describing its migration
• from the leaves on a maple tree to another plant or animal, describing the changing of color and losing its leaves during the fall

The example that we did in class:

April 22^nd, 2015
 

Dear Snowflake,

        Today was a very busy day for me. I was in Kaohsiung hanging out in a little puddle. I felt the temperature getting really hot, and saw my friends in the puddle going home as they evaporated. Suddenly, I felt myself going up, up, up to the sky! I wasn’t with my friends anymore, but I was condensed into a cloud with other raindrops. I liked meeting new friends! Our cloud party started to grow until there were too many of us, and we fell down, down, down to the ground as precipitation. Now I am hanging out in a lake with my cousins. I hope you are doing well.

Love,

Raindrop

Proper School Uniforms Tomorrow

I apologize for this message being posted late, and I understand if you see this too late.

Tomorrow the students are asked to come to school in their proper school uniforms, not their P.E. uniforms as they will be presenting their Science Fair projects to the judges in the afternoon. Thank you!

Tuesday, April 21st, 2015

Today in the second grade, we:

• practiced presenting our Science Fair boards during science class
• added exact words in order to make interesting sentences in language and spelling class
• listened to our latest class story and visited the library during independent learning
• reviewed our weekly target vocabulary and started our new story, Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type in reading and phonics class
• took our unit 4 quiz in social studies class

Tonight's Homework:

• Complete Social Studies Activity Book pg. 50-51.
• Study for tomorrow's unit 4 quiz in phonics.

Science Fair Schedule

Below is the schedule for the annual Science Fair for Thursday, April 23rd and Friday, April 24th. The students will set up on Wednesday morning, April 22nd.

Thursday, April 23rd

Parents and Visitors: 13:00-15:30

Friday, April 24th

Parents and St. Paul's Students: 10:00-11:45

Awards Ceremony: 14:30-15:30

Again, congratulations to Eden, whose egg was chosen as the most artistic from grade two!

 

Monday, April 20th, 2015

Welcome to week 33!

Today in the second grade, we:

• had our pictures taken for the yearbook during the weekly assembly
• took our weekly spelling quiz and took turns sharing in front of the class in language and spelling class
• started our new unit on fractions in math class
• prepared for Wednesday's quiz on unit 4 in reading and phonics class
• prepared for tomorrow's quiz on unit 4 in social studies class

Tonight's Homework:

• In your language and spelling notebook, write 12-15 sentences (3 or more paragraphs) about a story in Journeys or a story you have read. Please be sure to follow the directions on the accompanying rubric.
• Prepare for tomorrow's unit 4 quiz in social studies.

The spelling words for our next spelling quiz (Monday, April 27th) will come from Science Fusion unit 7:

1. weather
2. rainy
3. cloudy
4. snowy
5. windy
6. temperature
7. precipitation
8. morning
9. afternoon
10. evening
11. water cycle
12. condense
13. evaporate
14. spring
15. summer
16. winter
17. autumn
18. season

Incredible, Bendable Second Graders

We had to clear out our old desks and chairs yesterday afternoon to make room for our beautiful, new desks in chairs. We enjoyed the use of the temporary free space!

Friday, April 17th, 2015

Today in the second grade, we:

• reviewed our weekly target vocabulary and practiced writing a news story using the 5 W's and how in reading and phonics class
• practiced revising sentences in language and spelling class
• took our chapter 8 quiz in math class
• in independent learning, we practiced presenting our Science Fair presentation boards in front of grade one and listened to our latest class story
• practiced our typing skills in computer class

Some snaps of the students writing their seasonal haikus this week:

Tonight's Homework:

• Complete Journeys Practice Book pg. 130-133
• Complete three or more of the nine activities on the Think-Tac-Toe (in your child's Journeys Practice Book.) Please sign any activity that your child completed. Thank you!
• Write spelling words five times and prepare for the spelling quiz on Monday, April 20th. The words come from Math chapters 7 and 8: face, edge, vertex, rectangular prism, sphere, square, pyramid, cone, cube, cylinder, circle, solid, plane, shapes, pattern, slide, flip, turn.

Special Notes:

• Sister Heart came in during Christian Living yesterday to tell the students about a campaign to end world hunger by 2025. She gave each student an envelope with which to collect money in for the next two weeks. She is asking the students to collect donations and to return their envelopes next Monday, April 20th, and the following Monday, April 27th.
• We have received brand-new adjustable desks in grade two!  
• Picture day will be this coming Monday, April 20th. Please make sure your child is dressed in their proper school uniform in preparation for the yearbook pictures. 
• I am moving the schedules social studies quiz (unit 4) from Monday, April 20th to Tuesday, April 21st so that the students have some more time to prepare in class. Thank you for your flexibility!

Thursday, April 16th, 2015

Today in the second grade, we:

• reviewed our weekly target vocabulary and started our new story, Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type in reading and phonics class
• reviewed solid shapes in preparation for tomorrow's quiz on chapter 8 in math class
• discussed the seasons and how they affect which clothes we decide to wear and which activities we decide to do during different seasons, and practiced presenting our Science Fair projects in front of the class during science class
• in independent learning, we practiced our latest class poem and listened to our latest class story
• created seasonal pictures in art class

Tonight's Homework:

• Complete Math Practice  8.3-8.5.
• Prepare for tomorrow's math quiz on chapter 8.

Wednesday, April 15th, 2015

Today in the second grade, we:

• reviewed our weekly target vocabulary and continued to work with suffixes and syllabification in reading and phonics class
• continued to review solid shapes in preparation for our quiz on chapter 8 this Friday, April 17th in math class
• practiced our typing skills in computer class
• practiced our latest class poem, listened to our latest class story, and practiced presenting our science fair projects to each other during independent learning
• reviewed the key concepts and vocabulary from unit 7 in science class
• prepared for our unit 4 quiz next Monday, April 20th in social studies class

Congratulations to Eden, whose egg was chosen as the most artistic in grade two. Well done!

Tonight's Homework:

Practice presenting your science fair project to your family. 

Tuesday, April 14th, 2015

Today in the second grade, we:

• attended Mass and had our annual Easter Egg Hunt in the morning
• used logical thinking in order to solve problems involving solid shapes in math class
• practiced our latest class poem, listened to our latest class story  and checked out books from the library during independent learning
• identified and discussed the four seasons and practiced presenting our Science Fair projects in science class
• reviewed unit 4 in preparation for our quiz on Monday, April 20th in social studies class

We also celebrated our two latest Kindness Stars, Benson and Huan!

I have caught both Huan and Benson tidying up, helping others who are struggling, reminding others to be their best self, and overall just being kind. Super work, my sweethearts!

Tonight's Homework:

Complete Social Studies Activity Book pg. 48-49.