Week of Feb. 1 - 5

 Helpful Highlights

BOOK REPORT

With the celebration of Presidents’ Day in February, it is a great time to get students learning about presidents! Over the next few weeks, students will be creating a character book report over a United States’ President of their choice. In Reading, we have been creating character bubble maps; so, students are very familiar with the terminology in this book report. Please see the packet that came home on Thursday, January 7th in blue folders for additional details. The planning page is due February 3rd and the completed project is due February 10th. Have fun reading and be creative!

VALENTINE’S DAY EXCHANGE

Second graders will have their Valentine’s Day Exchange on Wednesday, February 10th in their classrooms! Students will decorate a bag or box at home and bring it to class on this day. Students may bring Valentine cards for their classmates as long as they bring one for every student. A class list came home in blue folders on January 27th.  Also, PTF is providing cookies for the children to decorate in class!  Students may wear red and pink on this day, instead of their uniforms, if they would like to!

Loving Learning

Right now, we are loving learning about:

Bible - The Life of Moses:  We will focus this week on “The Passover - A Picture of Jesus,” and “Time to Leave Egypt.”

Phonics / Spelling 

Spelling Focus:   Hard and Soft G

G makes the soft sound /j/ when it comes  before e, i, or y.  Ex:  giant

G makes the hard sound /g/ when it comes before a, o, u or a consonant.  Ex:  goal

Grammar / Creative Writing -  We will continue Ch. 8:  Pronouns.  This weeks topics include:  1) Plural possessives- our, your, and their show ownership. They take the place of possessive nouns.  2) Reflexive pronouns refer to the subject of the sentence and end in self or selves.  On Thursday, a review of the chapter will come home.  The test will be on Tuesday, Feb. 9th.

Reading - Unit 5:  Summarization

• Comprehension Focus:  Summarization

• Pattern Statement:  Essential information can be organized and restated concisely and coherently.

• Visual Tool:  Summary Steps

• SPECS Logs:  Reader’s Response, Visual Tool, Reflection (Today, I learned…..)

• Vocabulary:  auction, gleaming, ordinary, hayloft, deserve, mill, orchard, snarls, abandoned, thieves

Math - We will take a test on Time on Monday, Feb. 1st.  Next, we will wrap up Ch. 5:  students will complete an open response problem by solving an addition problem using two different strategies.  On Thursday, a review will come home for the Ch. 5 test.  The test will be on Monday, Feb. 8th.

Social Studies - This week we switch from Science to Social Studies!!!  We will be getting to know the Creek Indians - where they lived, what their towns were like, their clothing / medicines, and much more!

Save the Date

February 3 - Planning Page Due for President Book Report

February 10 - President Book Report Due & Valentine Exchange

February 11-15 - Winter Break!!!

February 24 - End of Trimester 2

Week of Jan. 25 - 29!

Helpful Highlights

BOOK REPORT

With the celebration of Presidents’ Day in February, it is a great time to get students learning about presidents! Over the next few weeks, students will be creating a character book report over a United States’ President of their choice. In Reading, we have been creating character bubble maps; so, students are very familiar with the terminology in this book report. Please see the packet that came home on Thursday, January 7th in blue folders for additional details. The planning page is due February 3rd and the completed project is due February 10th. Have fun reading and be creative!

VALENTINE’S DAY EXCHANGE

Second graders will have their Valentine’s Day Exchange on Wednesday, February 10th in their classrooms! Students will decorate a bag or box at home and bring it to class on this day. Students may bring Valentine cards for their classmates as long as they bring one for every student. You will find a class list in blue folders on January 27th.

Loving Learning

Right now, we are loving learning about:

Bible - The Life of Moses:  the Passover and how Jesus is our Passover Lamb.  God gave specific instructions to Moses and the Israelites concerning the Passover.  All through the Bible, God carefully instructs us concerning how we should act and how we should treat one another.  One of the most wonderful books in the Bible is Proverbs.  It is often referred to as the Book of Instructions.  We will take a look at several Proverbs and discuss them. 

Phonics / Spelling 

Spelling focus: 

Hard c - makes the hard sound /k/ when it comes before a, o, u, or a consonant

Soft c - c makes the soft sound /s/ when it comes before e,i, or y.  Ex:  city

Grammar / Creative Writing -  We will begin our next Grammar Unit:  Pronouns.  This week we learn what pronouns are and why they are important.  Lessons include:  1) Using “he,” “she,” and “it” to replace nouns.  2) Using “I” in the subject part of a sentence and “me” in the action part.  3) Using Plural Pronouns “we” and “they” to talk about more than one.  4) Using Singular Possessive pronouns my, your, his, her, and its show ownership.

Reading - Unit 5:  Summarization

• Comprehension Focus:  Summarization

• Pattern Statement:  Essential information can be organized and restated concisely and coherently.

• Visual Tool:  Summary Steps

• SPECS Logs:  Reader’s Response, Visual Tool, Reflection (Today, I learned…..)

• Vocabulary:  auction, gleaming, ordinary, hayloft, deserve, mill, orchard, snarls, abandoned, thieves

Math - We will wrap up Unit 5:  Addition and Subtraction.  Students will use open number lines as a tool for solving number stories, solve change-to-more number stories, and solve parts-and-total number stories.  A review will come home on Thursday the 28th for the Test on Monday, Feb. 1st. 

Science - We will wrap up our Simple Machines Unit, with an in-class graded project called, “The Candy Machine.”  There is nothing that students need to do to study or prepare for the project.  Next, we will do a brief study of Moon Phases, just to expose students to this topic.  There will be no test on Moon Phases...just a fun in-class Oreo activity!

Save the Date

February 3 - Planning Page Due for President Book Report

February 10 - President Book Report Due & Valentine Exchange

February 11-15 - Winter Break!!!

February 24 - End of Trimester 2 

Week of Jan. 18 - 22

HELPFUL HIGHLIGHTS

BOOK REPORT

With the celebration of Presidents’ Day in February, it is a great time to get students learning about presidents! Over the next few weeks, students will be creating a character book report over a United States’ President of their choice. In Reading, we have been creating character bubble maps; so, students are very familiar with the terminology in this book report. Please see the packet that came home on Thursday, January 7th in blue folders for additional details. The planning page is due February 3rd and the completed project is due February 10th. Have fun reading and be creative!

Loving Learning

Right now, we are loving learning about:

Bible - The Life of Moses:  The Tenth and Final Plague / Passover.  

Phonics / Spelling 

Spelling Focus:  sound of diphthong /oo/

Grammar / Creative Writing -  We will continue our Creative Writing Unit:  Friendly Letters.  This week we will be in the Publishing Stage, as we write our final copies of our friendly letters!

Reading - Unit 5:  Summarization

• Comprehension Focus:  Summarization

• Pattern Statement:  Essential information can be organized and restated concisely and coherently.

• Visual Tool:  Summary Steps

• SPECS Logs:  Reader’s Response, Visual Tool, Reflection (Today, I learned…..)

• Vocabulary:  auction, gleaming, ordinary, hayloft, deserve, mill, orchard, snarls, abandoned, thieves

Math - We will continue Unit 5:  Addition and Subtraction.  This week’s topics include:  Coin Calculations (making purchases and practicing making change), Exploring Arrays, Times, & Shapes (students make arrays, match clock faces to digital notation, and construct shapes on geoboards), Mental Math (developing strategies for mentally adding and subtracting 10 and 100).

Science - This week we continue our Unit on Simple Machines:  pulley, lever, wheel, and inclined plane.

Save the Date

January 18 - MLK Jr. Holiday (No school)

February 3 - Planning Page Due for President Book Report

February 10 - President Book Report Due

February 11-15 - Winter Break!!!

February 24 - End of Trimester 2

For the week of Jan 11-15

                                                          Helpful Highlights

BOOK REPORT

With the celebration of Presidents’ Day in February, it is a great time to get students learning about presidents! Over the next few weeks, students will be creating a character book report over a United States’ President of their choice. In Reading, we have been creating character bubble maps; so, students are very familiar with the terminology in this book report. Please see the packet that came home on Thursday, January 7th in blue folders for additional details. The planning page is due February 3rd and the completed project is due February 10th. Have fun reading and be creative!

Loving Learning

Right now, we are loving learning about:

Bible - We continue our study of The Life of Moses:  This week we review the First Nine Plagues, and discuss why God sent them.  

Phonics / Spelling 

Spelling Focus:  sounds of bossy r (or and ar)

Grammar / Creative Writing -  We will continue our Creative Writing Unit:  Friendly Letters.  This week we will be in the Drafting, Revising, and Proofreading Stages, as we write our own friendly letters!

Reading - Unit 5:  Summarization

• Comprehension Focus:  Summarization

• Pattern Statement:  Essential information can be organized and restated concisely and coherently.

• Visual Tool:  Summary Steps

• SPECS Logs:  Reader’s Response, Visual Tool, Reflection (Today, I learned…..)

• Vocabulary:  auction, gleaming, ordinary, hayloft, deserve, mill, orchard, snarls, abandoned, thieves

Math - We will wrap up Ch. 4 with the test on Monday, January 11th; then, we will begin Unit 5:  Addition and Subtraction.  This week students will play Beat the Calculator to develop fact power by using mental strategies to add two 1-digit numbers, review coin equivalencies and make different combinations of coins for the same amount of money, and find coin combinations to pay for items and make change by counting up. 

Science - This week we begin our Unit on Simple Machines.  Students will be introduced to the following:  pulley, lever, wheel, and inclined planes.

Save the Date

January 18 - MLK Jr. Holiday (No school)

February 3 - Planning Page Due for President Book Report

February 10 - President Book Report Due

February 11-15 - Winter Break!!!

February 24 - End of Trimester 2