October 29 - November 2

PUMPKIN PAINTING WEEK!

On Tuesday we will be painting our pumpkins to celebrate the Fall Season!  We will begin at about 1:45 (ish).  Some students may finish quickly, and others may take awhile.  Parents, you are welcome to join us, just please do not bring any children along.  This may be a messy project!




REPORT CARDS!
Please take the time to review your child's first quarter report card.  You may keep the report, but please sign and send back the envelope.  I have requested a conference with some parents.  I will schedule these conferences sometime in the next couple of weeks.
AWARDS DAY!
Friday November 2nd @ 11:00 AM  Each student will receive at least one reward for his/her first quarter work.


Reading:
This week we will begin reading Flat Stanley (the original story) by Jeff Brown.  This is a simple fiction chapter book that will be just plain fun to read together.  It should take us only about two weeks to complete.  When finished we will compose a friendly letter to send out to a relative far away.  Be thinking of someone - friend/relative - that would be willing to participate in our Flat Stanley project.
Each night - starting Tuesday October 30th - the students will bring home the Flat Stanley chapter book and read one chapter after which they will answer about five quick multiple-choice comprehension questions.
Schedule this week:                                                          
Monday - nothing
Tuesday -      Chapter 1              
Wednesday - Chapter 2
Thursday -     Chapter 3


Math:
This week we will continue to practice addition without regrouping into the hundreds and begin to dabble into regrouping.
Quiz on Tuesday

Spelling:
We will continue working on another second grade high-frequency word list.  Make certain the students are doing their homework each night.

Science:

WEATHER WEATHER WEATHER

The reasons for seasons as well as temperature will be our focus this week.

October 23 - October 26

REPORT CARDS GO OUT FRIDAY!
Report cards will go out this Friday.  Please review the grades, sign and send back in.
Note: Grading scale
77% - 100% = S
60% - 76%   = N
60% - Below = U
If your child receives an N, please make certain we take the time to schedule a conference to investigate how we can get your child on the track to success!


AWARDS DAY!
Friday, November 2nd @ 11:00 AM
All students will receive at least one award




READING:
This week we will take some time off our Reader and investigate our PROVE IT method.  PROVE IT is a method that helps the children turn their "I think" responses into "I KNOW" responses.  It encourages the students to look back into the text and find where they read to find the answer.  This method is important as the students mature into skilled readers.
Review of nouns/plurals/subject/predicate/punctuation

MATH:
Monday we will take a money quiz and then move into a deeper look at two digit addition using place value blocks.  Next week we will begin to extend our two digit addition toward regrouping.  There will be only a bit of homework this week.  It will be a great week to sharpen the students' addition fact fluency.

SPELLING:
For the next five weeks we will take a break from WORDS THEIR WAY and begin to familiarize ourselves with our second grade high frequency words.  I have attached a list with the daily homework to each child's spelling notebook.  The homework will be different for the next five weeks.

SOCIAL STUDIES:  We will take a break from social studies and move into science (weather).  OH YES!  The maps were fabulous.

SCIENCE:  WEATHER!  Our in-house field trip is this Friday October 26th @ 1:45 - 2:30.  You (parents) are welcome to come.  Please no siblings.

Final Notes:

SCHOLASTIC BOOK ORDER DUE SUNDAY OCTOBER 28th.  Our class code is L3XTM.

FLAT STANLEY:

We will begin Flat Stanley next week.  Be on the look out for this book.  Every night the students will be required to read a chapter orally.  

October 15-19

A NEW FALL WEEK!

This week we will be busy building on another story as well as wading into identifying and counting money coin sums.  

Parents, make certain to allow your child to read his/her birthday narrative to you, sign the end, and send it back in.  We really enjoyed sharing these amazing memories with each other.  I am proud of their hard work in writing.  We will continue to write and expand our writing techniques as the year progresses.

READING:

Breman Town Musicians retold as a play by Carol Pugliano-Martin

Illustrated by Jon Goodell

Genre:  Fairy Tale

This is a fun tale about animals that have been discarded by their owners due to their ages.  They band together to find a new destiny.

Grammer:  Plural Noun Endings

Small Group:  Nonfiction Texts

PS:  Our Scholastic and Time Magazines have not arrived yet.  I will try to investigate why this has been delayed.  Mrs. Sheppard checked and said the money has been taken, but our order has not arrived yet.  Thank you for your patience.  Mrs. Hill and I are eager to use these nonfiction texts.  I'll try to keep you informed.

MATH:

We just completed our quarterly math assessment.  It should be coming home for you and your child to review. 

At this point we will move on into money this week.  It is more of an introduction to the various coins we use in the U.S.A. and how we count these coins.  Please allow your child to practice counting up various combinations of coins this week at home.  The more he/she practices, the more familiar and comfortable they will become as we dig deep into discovering money concepts!

ALSO, Please practice simple addition math facts at home with your child, especially if they are still depending heavily on his/her fingers to count.  

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SPELLING:

We will be moving onto two new sorts.  These will be the last sorts for the specific phonetic study.  Next week we will take a week (or two) to focus on our second grade high frequency words.  After, we will return to a new sort and a new phonetic norm.

SOCIAL STUDIES:  We have just completed a study about communities.  REMEMBER:  MAPS ARE DUE MONDAY OCTOBER 15th!

SCIENCE:  Weather unit just ahead.  Our in-house field trip will be October 26th in the afternoon!  This field trip will revolve around weather.

October 8 - 12

BRRRRRRRRR FALL IS HERE!

Make certain your child is dressed warmly since we will be going outside to play daily!

BOOK FAIR THIS WEEK!

If your child is planning on sending in money for the book fair, please send the money in a zipped baggy with your child's first and last name on the bag.

MATH:

This week we will be reviewing what we have learned so far.  We will have a quarterly math test that will look similar to the test we had a couple weeks ago, yet will also have story problems as well as two digit addition problems.

READING:

Turtle's Race with Beaver

Genre:  Folk Tale

Plural vs. Singular Nouns

Small Groups:

We will begin to focus on nonfiction texts over the next few weeks.  This week we will read about:

Jane Goodall

Barack Obama

We will also look into various nonfiction text features.

SPELLING:

New Word Sorts!

SOCIAL STUDIES:

This week we will close our unit study on communities.  

ATTENTION!

Be on watch for a Social Studies project.  The students will be asked to make up a town and draw a map of it.  I will be sending home the project information in Monday's folder. 

 It is due Monday, October 15th.