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

Weeks of Dec. 21 - Jan. 8

Helpful Highlights 

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM SECOND GRADE!

We wish all our second grade families a very Merry Christmas!  It is a blessing to teach your child about God’s greatest Gift each and every day!  We love to watch your children grow and look forward to the amazing things God has in store for us in 2021!  Please have a safe and wonderful Christmas Break!  Students will return on Tuesday, January 5th. 

BIBLE TEST #18

Want a jump start?  The new verse will come home on Jan. 5th (or you can see it now at the top right of this page), and the next test will be the Friday after Christmas break.  Since that’s only a four day week (due to the 4th being a Teacher Workday), you may want to look ahead.  We will also email it to you on the 4th.  Our next verse will be 2 Corinthians 5:17!

SPELLING TEST #16

Spelling words for List 16 will be emailed to you on Monday, January 4th, in case you want to get a jump start on studying that first week back from break.  We wanted you to have access to them, since that will only be a four day week.  As always, you can find them here at the top right of the blog.

Loving Learning

Right now, we are loving learning about:

Bible - We return to our study of The Life of Moses:  This week we begin learning about the First Nine Plagues.  

Phonics / Spelling 

Spelling Focus:  Ending Blends

Grammar / Creative Writing -  We will begin our Creative Writing Unit:  Friendly Letters.  This week we will discuss the purpose of friendly letters and begin the Planning Stage to write our own!

Reading - We will wrap up our third unit of Foundations & Frameworks:  Characterization.  A review will come home on January 5th and the Performance Task Test will be on January 7th.  

Comprehension Focus:  Character

• Pattern Statement:  Appearance, actions, and words can reveal things about the character.

• Visual Tool:  Bubble Map

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

• Vocabulary: brier patch, madame, strict, recital, wilting, mail coach, clerk, dangerous, boil, gliding

Math - We will wrap up Unit 4.  A review will come home on Wednesday the 6th for the Test on Monday the 11th.

Science - This week we will wrap up our Unit on States of Matter.  A review will come home on Wednesday the 6th for the Test on Friday the 8th.

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

Week of Dec. 14 - 18

                                                                     Helpful Highlights

2nd GRADE CANDY CANE CHRISTMAS

On Wednesday, December 16th, Lower School will be having a fun Christmas themed day.  2nd Grade has chosen a “Candy Cane Christmas,” as our theme.  Students do not have to wear their uniforms that day.  Instead they need to wear red and/or white clothes.  This will be a regular school day; but, all activities will be based around this theme.  Lower School wanted to do a little extra something this week, to make it fun for the children as we head into the holidays.  There will be a portion of this theme day that we will be combining all 2nd Grade classes together for story time and a special singing.  Normally, we invite parents to join us during this fun time; however, due to COVID restrictions, we cannot this year.  We did come up with a close “second best” solution, though!  We will be sending out a Zoom link so you can join virtually!  Watch your emails for the link! 

CHRISTMAS PROGRAM 

On Friday, December 18th, Lower School will have their Christmas Program!  Students should wear dressy Christmas attire.  Below is an itinerary of the day:

8:00 - School Starts (regular morning routine in classrooms)

8:45 - Christmas Program Begins in Gym   

*This is a half-day so students may leave with parents after the program.

BRR IT’S COLD OUTSIDE!

As the wintry weather is upon us, please have your child bring a coat or sweatshirt to school daily. Layers are especially needed in the mornings as students come into the building, at recess, walking to/from various specials, and during carline. 

BIBLE TEST #18

Want a jump start?  The new verse will come home on Jan. 5th (or you can see it now at the top right of this page), and the next test will be the Friday after Christmas break.  Since that’s only a four day week (due to the 4th being a Teacher Workday), you may want to look ahead.  We will also email it to you on the 4th.  Our next verse will be 2 Corinthians 5:17!

SPELLING TEST #16

Spelling words for List 16 will be emailed to you on Monday, January 4th, in case you want to get a jump start on studying that first week back from break.  We wanted you to have access to them, since that will only be a four day week.  As always, you can find them here at the top right of the blog.

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM SECOND GRADE!

We wish all our second grade families a very Merry Christmas!  It is a blessing to teach your child about God’s greatest Gift each and every day!  We love to watch your children grow and look forward to the amazing things God has in store for us in 2021!  Please have a safe and wonderful Christmas Break!  Students will return on Tuesday, January 5th. 

Loving Learning

Right now, we are loving learning about:

Bible - We continue the Christmas story with:  “Angels Bring Good News to the Shepherds,” “Wise Men Worship the King,” and wrap up with our final lesson on “The Flight into Egypt.”  

Phonics / Spelling 

Spelling Focus:  letter y as a vowel with sounds of 

                           short i, long i, and long e

Grammar / Creative Writing -  We will be reviewing Ch. 7 for our upcoming test.  We will review abbreviations, possessives, proper nouns, and capitalization rules.  A study guide will come home on Tuesday for the Test on Thursday.

Reading - We continue our third unit of Foundations & Frameworks:  Characterization  

Comprehension Focus:  Character

• Pattern Statement:  Appearance, actions, and words can reveal things about the character.

• Visual Tool:  Bubble Map

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

• Vocabulary: brier patch, madame, strict, recital, wilting, mail coach, clerk, dangerous, boil, gliding

Math - We will continue working on measurements.  Students will use base-10 blocks to model addition and subtraction of multi-digit numbers, as well as show expanded notation.  They will measure objects with a foot-long foot, and be introduced to the inch & centimeter, as a standard unit of length.  

Science - This week we continue our States of Matter Unit.  We have some fun activities, like making “Ice Cream Floats,” to describe physical properties of matter & physical / chemical changes in matter. 

Save the Date

December 16 - Candy Cane Christmas (more details to come)

December 18 - LS Christmas Program (Half-day)

December 21 - January 4 - Christmas Break!!!

Week of December 7th - 11th

Helpful Highlights

                   

CHRISTMAS SHOPPE

It is time for the most anticipated PTF event of the year, Christmas Shoppe (located on campus).  Our students get to shop for special gifts for the special people on their list!  Gifts are wrapped by volunteers and ready to go under the tree.  Our visit to the Christmas Shoppe is on Thursday, December 10th.

2nd GRADE CANDY CANE CHRISTMAS

On Wednesday, December 16th, Lower School will be having a fun Christmas themed day.  2nd Grade has chosen a “Candy Cane Christmas,” as our theme.  Students do not have to wear their uniforms that day.  Instead they need to wear red and/or white clothes.  This will be a regular school day; but, all activities will be based around this theme.  Lower School just wanted to do a little extra something this week, to make it fun for the children, as we head into the holidays.  There will be a portion of this theme day that we will be combining all 2nd Grade classes together for story time and a special singing. Normally, we invite parents to join us during this time; however, due to COVID restrictions, we cannot this year.  We did come up with a close “second best” solution, though!  We will be sending out a Zoom link so you can join virtually!  Watch your emails for the link! 

SPELLING BEE

Each year, students in grades 1st-4th have the opportunity to compete in the ACSI Spelling Bee. The Spelling Bee encourages and develops good spelling habits and usage of words and vocabulary.  This year due to COVID, ACSI is having each school host their own spelling bee.  All materials, rules and processes will be followed as specified by ACSI.  The NCCS Lower School Spelling Bee will be hosted on our campus, on Friday, February 19, 2021.

CONGRATULATIONS to our Top 4 Spellers who will be moving on to compete in the NCCS Lower School Spelling Bee!!! 

Davis - Jonah Attard, Corban Baddock, Yanai McNeil, and Sydney Williams

Floresta - Brooks Cossick, Abby Deel, Anna Godfrey, Farryn Stoughton

Romine - Ella Becklean, Michael Rivera, Eli Strange, Elena Stubbs

Loving Learning

Right now, we are loving learning about:

Bible - How God Shows His Great Power!  We will discuss how God’s power is greater than Satan’s, and we’ll compare the character of God vs. Satan.  We will also begin the Christmas story.

Phonics / Spelling 

Spelling Focus:  consonant le syllable-

“Start at the e and count back 3; 1,2,3 divide” (divide the word before the consonant le.

.

Grammar / Creative Writing -  We continue our “More on Nouns” Unit.  This week’s topics include:  1) Abbreviations - identifying the abbreviations of streets and states in USA and applying abbreviations when addressing envelopes.  2) Possessive Nouns - Recognizing nouns that show ownership, using an apostrophe and an S to make nouns possessive, and writing possessive nouns correctly in a sentence.

Reading - We continue our third unit of Foundations & Frameworks:  Characterization  

Comprehension Focus:  Character

• Pattern Statement:  Appearance, actions, and words can reveal things about the character.

• Visual Tool:  Bubble Map

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

• Vocabulary: brier patch, madame, strict, recital, wilting, mail coach, clerk, dangerous, boil, gliding

Math - We will continue Unit 4:  Telling Time - to 5 five minutes, half-hour, and quarter past.  

Science - This week we begin our States of Matter Unit, with a fun experiment and a class project using Fruit Loops to show what molecules look like in a solid, liquid, and gas!

Save the Date

December 16 - Candy Cane Christmas 

December 18 - LS Christmas Program (Half-day)

December 21 - January 4 - Christmas Break!!!