Wednesday, September 30th, 2015

Two days of exams done, two more days to go!

The students spent the morning taking their health and math exams, and then spent the afternoon taking their Chinese exam and reviewing for their science exam.

Thank you for helping your child to study. I appreciate your help, and the students visibly benefit from your support.
 

Our completed first quarter word wall is a lovely new addition to the G2 classroom.

Tonight's Homework:

• Prepare for tomorrow's exam in science.
• Read aloud for 15 minutes and have a parent sign your reading log. 

Announcements:

I have sent home your child's pocket folder with all of their quarter one work (minus the quarter one exams, which will be given to your child in a bundle next Monday.) Please come and talk to me if you have any questions.

Tuesday, September 29th, 2015

Welcome back! I hope that everyone had a good and safe mid-Autumn festival.

• took our first quarter exam in reading and phonics class
• took our first quarter exam  in language and spelling class
• reviewed for tomorrow's exam in math class
• continued to identify everyday technology, as well as reviewed for the quarter exam in science class

The students are welcome to redeem prizes for the Dojo dollars they have earned!

Tonight's Homework:

• Prepare for tomorrow's exam in math.
• Read aloud for 15 minutes and have a parent sign your reading log. 

Announcements:

Ms. Valde has a family emergency to tend to and is absent for the week. She will return next week to give the first quarter computer exams. 

Friday, September 25th, 2015

Today in the second grade, we:

• continued working on our quarter one word walls and listed short vowel words in reading and phonics class
• took turns sharing about our favorite books during our weekly sharing time and continued our handwriting unit in language and spelling class
• identified various technology that we use in our everyday lives in science class

Tonight's Homework:

• Complete Journeys Practice Book pg. 25-26.
• Complete the Think-Tac-Toe (in your child's assignment book.) The students are directed to choose three activities from the sheet. Please sign each activity they complete. All written work should be shown in your child's language notebook. 
  The cartoon that the students were recommended to watch on the TTT is:
  Postman Pat Clowns Around.
• Read aloud for 15 minutes and have a parent sign your reading log.
• Prepare for next Tuesday's 1st quarter exams in reading & phonics and language & spelling. I have encouraged the students to study their word list, but I don't want any student working too hard over the long weekend. 

Announcements:

Happy Moon Festival! Thank you for the treats. I'm spoiled by your kindness!

Thursday, September 24th, 2015

Today in the second grade, we:

• prepared for our weekly sharing time tomorrow by working on an outline of what we would like to present, edited sentences with punctuation and capitalization errors, and continued our unit on handwriting in language and spelling class
• read the fable "The Swallow and the Spider" and compared the text to ourselves-and how we could have rewritten the story to have a different ending, the world-and the behaviors of real-life spiders, and to "Diary of a Spider" in reading and phonics class
• reviewed the key concepts from chapter 3 in math class 
• identified problems and practiced following steps to find solutions in social studies class
• tested our designs for the egg drop challenge in science class
• attended a reader's theater put on by the very talented G3 during ECA 

Tonight's Homework:

• Complete Math Practice pg. 3.7-3.8.
• Read aloud for 15 minutes and have a parent sign your reading log. 
• Practice talking about your favorite book in front of your family. You will have two minutes in front of the class tomorrow during our weekly sharing time. 
  
  *The students prepared an outline of what they want to present. On the back of their outline is a rubric of the points I will be grading their presentation on.
  
  These are questions you can answer:
  
  
  1. What is the book title?
  2. Who is the author?
  3. What is the genre?
  4. Who are the characters?
  5. What is the setting?
  6. What are the problems and solutions?
  7. Why do you like this book?
  8. Who else do you think would enjoy this book and why?

Announcements:

The points for the four houses of DISK will be posted on Class Dojo. You can add the houses account to your current Class Dojo account by following the directions I gave your child today (in your child's assignment book.)  Please let me know if you have any difficulty adding the account.

The winning team will be rewarded at the end of the quarter 2. Right now the yellow house is in the lead, but the red and blue houses aren't too far behind! Just like with our regular class Dojo, the houses are awarded points for positive behavior and participation around the school. 

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2015

Today in the second grade, we:

• edited sentences with capitalization and punctuation errors, worked on our outline for Friday's sharing time, and continued our handwriting unit in language and spelling class
• used strategies (looking for key words, drawing out each step, working backwards) to solve word problems in math class
• shared our letters to the mayor and discussed the role that courts and judges play in our government in social studies class
• continued to work on our designs for the egg drop challenge in science class
• practiced September's class poem and worked on our first quarter word collages during ECA

We will test our designs tomorrow!

The Q1 word walls are coming along well.

Tonight's Homework:

• Complete Science Fusion pg. 55-56. If the students have trouble, they are encouraged to complete what they can, and I will help them with the rest tomorrow.

• Read aloud for 15 minutes and have a parent sign your reading log.

• Complete the outline for Friday's sharing time (the students have already started this and some are finished.)

Announcements:

 

The G2 students are doing a marvelous job of keeping up with their reading logs! I'm so proud of their daily reading habits, and grateful for your support. I have received comprehension sheets (in the back of your child's R.E.D. folder) from almost every student. I have encouraged the students to complete 2-3 of these worksheets every week. Keep up the good work!

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2015

Today in the second grade, we:

• started our first quarter word collages and discussed causes and effect while reading "Diary of a Spider" from Journeys in reading and phonics class
• continued our class story, focused on capital letters and periods, and continued our unit on handwriting in language and spelling class
• wrote number sentences to solve subtraction problems in math class
• split into teams of two and worked on the blueprints (the plan and build stage of the design process) for our egg drop challenge in science class

Tonight's Homework:

• Complete Social Studies Activity Book pg. 15: Write a letter to Kaohsiung's Mayor Chen.
• Read aloud for 15 minutes and have a parent sign your reading log.

Monday, September 21st, 2015

Today in the second grade, we:

• listened to a presentation on the houses and then broke into our houses for some team-building games in assembly
• took our weekly spelling quiz and continued to work with short vowel sounds in reading and phonics class
• worked with today's number (20) and found the missing number in addition and subtraction problems in math class
• discovered the real-life duties of the mayor in social studies class
• practiced our September song and poem during ECA

Tonight's Homework:

• Complete the reading response on "The Scientific Method" and check the rubric (in your child's assignment book.) 

• Read aloud for 15 minutes and have a parent sign your reading log.

Announcements:

• The topic for this Friday's weekly sharing time is: My Favorite Book.

• I sent home the weekly spelling quiz home. Please sign and return it with your child. Thank you!

• The first quarter exams will be held next week, so there won't be any new spelling words assigned for the next two weeks. The students are encouraged to study this quarter's word list.

•  I have sent home your child's pocket folder. Please take a look at your child's recent quizzes and class work and return it by the end of the week. Thank you!

Fall Scholastic Orders

The fall Scholastic catalogs are out! I have placed a copy into your child's assignment book along with my recommendations. Please return your order by Monday, September 21st if you wish to order. Thank you very much!

Friday, September 18th, 2015

Today in the second grade, we:

• reviewed our weekly target vocabulary and identified items around the classroom that have short vowel sounds in reading and phonics class
• took turns sharing about our favorite animals during our weekly sharing time and continued our handwriting unit in language and spelling class
• reviewed the steps of the design process by going through the steps of the egg drop challenge (which will start next Tuesday) in science class

We practiced our problem-solving skills with a skit yesterday in social studies class. Each group was given a problem and had to work through the steps we reviewed to find a solution. We'll exercise our improv acting skills again soon.

Tonight's Homework:

• Complete Journeys Practice Book pg. 21-22.
• Complete the Think-Tac-Toe (in your child's assignment book.) The students are directed to choose three activities from the sheet. Please sign each activity they complete. All written work should be shown in your child's language notebook. 
  The cartoon that the students were recommended to watch on the TTT is:
  Postman Pat Goes Undercover.
•  Read aloud for 15 minutes and have a parent sign your reading log.
• Prepare for next Monday's (September 21st) spelling quiz: observe, predict, measure, classify, compare, thermometer, balance, hand lens, tape measure, communicate (from Science Fusion unit 1 pg. 1-36.)

 Announcements:

The quarter 1 study guides and schedule are in your child's assignment book. I will be teaching quarter 1 material through next Friday, September 25th.

1st Quarter Exam Study Guides

The exam study guides have been posted. I will make copies and put them into your child's assignment book tomorrow, September 18th.

I truly hope that our quarterly assessment time isn't a period of stress for you the parents or the students. It really is meant to be a time where I evaluate what the students have learned this past quarter, and then decide what we should revisit and where we can keep moving ahead. If your child is doing well with their school work, he or she should be just fine on the exams! And if your child is struggling, this will be an opportunity for me to see where he or she needs extra help.

Thank you for all of your help and consideration!

First Quarter Study Guide for Language and Spelling

First Quarter Study Guide for Language and Spelling

*Please review the workbook Workbook Plus (pg. 1-15).

Be able to:

-correct spelling mistakes within a sentence

-list what a sentence needs (capital letter, end mark, a naming part, an action part)

-correct statements and questions so that they end with the correct mark (period or question mark)

-print several sentences with your best handwriting

-list ways to be a good speaker and a good listener

*Please review the following spelling words:

·         found

·         flounder

·         thought

·         school

·         forgot

·         quite

·         spell

·         later

·         drooled

·         collars

·         curly

·         weighed

·         floppy

·         stood

·         straight

·         row

·         number line

·         before

·         after

·         less

·         more

·         greater than

·         fewer

·         less than

·         estimate

·         answer

·         remembered

·         porch

·         crown

·         spend

·         stuck

·         visit

·         cousin

·         piano

·         family

·         Spanish

·         community

·         citizen

·         rule

·         fair

·         main idea

·         detail

·         cooperate

·         city

·         state

·         change

·         observe

·         predict

·         measure

·         classify

·         compare

·         balance

·         hand lens

·         tape measure

·         communicate

·         thermometer

First Quarter Study Guide for Math

First Quarter Study Guide for Math

*Please review the textbook Math unit 1, chapters 1, 2 and 3 (pg. 1a-74).

Chapter 1: Number Concepts Through 50 (pg. 1a-26)

Be able to:

-order numbers through 100

-compare numbers through 50

-estimate amounts through 50

-choose the most reasonable answer

Key Vocabulary:

·        number line

·        before

·        after

·        less

·        more

·        greater than

·        fewer

·        less than

·        estimate

Chapter 2: Addition Facts (pg. 27-48)

Be able to:

-add two and three numbers in any order

-add zero

-count on using a number line to find a sum

-use doubles and doubles-plus-one facts to find the sum

-find the sum of 10 and a 1-digit number

-make a ten to find sums to 18

-draw a picture to solve a problem

Key Vocabulary

·        add

·        sum

·        equal sign

·        double facts

·        double-plus-one facts

Chapter 3: Subtraction Facts (pg. 49-74)

Be able to:

-subtract two numbers under twenty

-write the missing addend

-use a fact family to solve an equation

Key Vocabulary:

·        subtract

·        difference

·        fact family