Wednesday, January 20th, 2016

Today in the second grade, we:

• practiced choosing the correct present tense verbs to complete sentences (ex: She runs to the store. Vs. They run to the store) read the newest letters we received from our pen pals and continued our cursive writing unit by writing addresses in cursive in language and spelling class
• solved problems using data from a picture in math class
• compared and contrasted family, community and cultural traditions in social studies class
• listened to the this humorous book about what could happen if food fell from the sky rather than precipitation in science class  

More Sports Day snaps!

Tonight's Homework:

• Complete Science Fusion pg. 272-274.
• After listening to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs again at home, write a short opinion paragraph about the book in cursive. Write at least four sentences.
• Read aloud for 15 minutes and have a parent sign your reading log.

Announcements:

• The G2 class will join the G1 and G3 classes for a field trip to the Ten Drums Cultural Center on Tuesday, February 2nd. There is a permission slip in your child's assignment book. Please complete the slip and return it with 800 NT by next Monday, January 25th. We will be leaving the school at 8:30 a.m. sharp, stay for lunch, and return just before 3 p.m. We are excited by this opportunity to introduce the lower elementary students to traditional Taiwanese drumming.

Tuesday, January 19th 2016

Happy Family Day! It was great to see so many of you at the potluck and the sports day events. I hope you and your child had a great afternoon.

We started off the day with our monthly mass. We then went back to the classroom where we spent some time:

• reviewing this week's target vocabulary
• making sentences with this week's idiom: "Calling the Shots" 
• listening to our latest class story 
• practicing January's class poem
• contributing to a discussion on our different heritages

We then went downstairs to enjoy family lunch before sports day.

Tonight's Homework:

• Complete Social Studies Activity Book pg. 42-43.
• Read aloud for 15 minutes and have a parent sign your reading log.

Monday, January 18th, 2016

Today in the second grade, we:

• were updated on our house points and celebrated the angel of the week, as well as recent accomplishments from the students and teachers during our weekly assembly
• took our weekly spelling quiz, previewed our weekly target vocabulary, and continued identifying and pronouncing words with r-controlled vowels in reading and phonics class
• identified and wrote fractions that represent part of a group or a set in math class
• our math period extended into our social studies class, where we created fractions charts
• attended mass rehearsal during ECA
  
  
  Our G3 teacher, Mr. Yaremchuck, paid G2 a visit to show us a trophy that his hockey team won this weekend. Good job, Mr. Y!

The G2 students did a fantastic job of working together on their fraction charts. 

I'm proud and pleased to see the students working hard to collaborate together.

Tonight's Homework:

• Complete the reading response on "3-D: It's Not Just For Movies" and check the rubric (in your child's assignment book.) 
• Read aloud for 15 minutes and have a parent sign your reading log.

Announcements:

•  Tomorrow is Family Day! If it is raining in the afternoon, Sports Day will be moved to a later, sunnier date. The schedule is as follows:

• 8:30-9:45: Mass
• 9:45-11:00: Sports Day Preparation/Spirit Building/Classroom Time
• 11:00-12:50: Family Lunch (Potluck Syle: G1 and G2 are in charge of salads and sides)
• 12:50: Line up in houses at the outdoor stage to recite the sports day pledge
• 13:00-15:00: Activities (ten rotating stations)
• 15:15: Awards

• The topic for this Friday's weekly sharing time is: Weather. The students have already completed their outlines, but have been encouraged to refine and practice their presentation.
• I sent home the weekly spelling quiz. Please sign and send it back with your child. Thank you!
  
  
• The spelling words for next Monday's spelling quiz (January 25th) will come from Horizons pg. 164-183.)

1. culture
2. religion
3. ancestor
4. custom
5. heritage
6. tradition
7. people
8. recreation
9. Inuit
10. unique
11. different
12. point of view
13. explorer
14. pioneer
15. immigrant
16. route
17. person

Friday, January 15th, 2016

Today in the second grade, we:

• started off the morning by reviewing our weekly target vocabulary
• we then worked on cutting out our fraction matching game (picture, number, and words) while we listened to and finished our latest class story
• continued to work with r-controlled vowels (ar, er/ir/ur, or) in reading and phonics class 
• continued learning our new dance for the Chinese festival in dance class
• reviewed capital and lowercase cursive letters in preparation for our cursive license test on Thursday, January 28th, and moved this week's sharing time to next Friday, so the students would have more time to practice in language and spelling class
• identified various weather tools and completed our weather cycle diagrams in science class
• started our quarter three electives!

 
Tonight's Homework:

• Complete Journeys Practice Book pg. 72-73.
• Complete the Think-Tac-Toe (in your child's language notebook.) 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:
  Raindrop: Frosty the Snowlord
• Read aloud for 15 minutes and have a parent sign your reading log.
• Prepare for next Monday's (January 18th) spelling quiz: weather, changes, temperature, sunny, rainy, cloudy, snowy, windy, crystals, cumulus, cirrus, stratus, cumulonimbus, precipitation, condenses, water cycle, evaporate (from Science Fusion pg. 263-281.)

Announcements:

• I have sent home your child's pocket folder. Please send it back with your child on Monday.   

Thursday, January 14th, 2016

Today in the second grade, we:

• created a list of commonly used verbs and used them to create sentences and continued our unit on cursive writing (capital Y and Z) in language and spelling class
• echo read "Meet Norburt W" from Journeys and made connections to ourselves by discussing if we'd rather write about ocean animals or take pictures of them, to another text (Jellies) by comparing photos and captions from each text, and finally to the world by voting for a marine animal that we would be interested in learning more about (the students voted to check out different kinds of sharks) in reading and phonics class
• reviewed what we have learned about unit fractions and then practiced comparing fractions using greater, less than, and equal symbols in math class 
• created a map and planned alternative routes to places around DISK and checked out routes on the U.S. highway system in social studies class
• drew and labeled a diagram of the weather cycle (precipitation, evaporation, condensation) in science class
• met with Sister Heart during ECA  

Tonight's Homework:

• Complete Math Practice 9.1-9.4.
• Read aloud for 15 minutes and have a parent sign your reading log.  
• Practice your sharing time outline for tomorrow's presentations on weather.

Announcements:

• P.E. day tomorrow: the children are reminded to wear their P.E. uniforms.  
• For next Tuesday's (January 19th) family day lunch/pot-luck: if you have more than one child attending DISK, please only bring one dish for the family (unless you really want to bring more!)  
• The Scholastic flyers are out. Please return any order forms by next Tuesday, January 19th. Thank you!

Wednesday, January 13th, 2016

Today in the second grade, we:

• added adverbs to sentences to describe actions and continued our cursive writing unit (capital W and X) in language and spelling class
• identified fractions that show one whole or more than one whole in math class
• brainstormed ways that immigrants can change a country in social studies class
• identified seasonal weather patterns in science class 

Tonight's Homework:

• Log onto your Science Fusion account to watch the 3rd video of Unit 7: "What Are Some Weather Changes?" and complete the accompanying worksheet that is in your child's science notebook. The students have already started this worksheet.
• Read aloud for 15 minutes and have a parent sign your reading log.

Announcements:

• Next Tuesday, January 19th, will be Family Day. You are welcome to join us for part of the day or the whole day. The schedule is as follows:
  
  
  • 8:30-9:45: Mass
  • 9:45-11:00: Sports Day Preparation/Spirit Building/Classroom Time
  • 11:00-12:50: Family Lunch (Potluck Syle: G1 and G2 are in charge of salads and sides)
  • 12:50: Line up in houses at the outdoor stage to recite the sports day pledge
  • 13:00-15:00: Activities (ten rotating stations)
  • 15:15: Awards

Tuesday, January 12th, 2016

Today in the second grade, we:

• popcorn read our latest story in Journeys, "Jellies: The Life of Jellyfish"  and distinguished facts from opinions in this informational text during reading and phonics class 
• practiced writing strong beginnings for a story and continued our unit on cursive writing (capital U and V) in language and spelling class
• started our new unit on fractions by identifying and writing unit fractions in math class
• worked on our sharing time outlines and started learning about the water cycle during science class
• met with our K2 reading buddies during ECA
• celebrated Kellen's birthday a day early!

Tonight's Homework:

• Complete Social Studies Activity Book pg. 40-41.
• Read aloud for 15 minutes and have a parent sign your reading log. 
• Complete sharing time outline on "Weather."

Announcements:

• Library day tomorrow: the children are reminded to bring their library books.
• P.E. day tomorrow: the children are reminded to wear their P.E. uniforms.