Weekly Update - November 30th

Happy Last Friday of November! ...Can you believe tomorrow is already December?! 

Next week we will be working on the following topics: 
ELA: We will be continuing in our Journeys literacy program, focusing on lesson 11. We will review drawing conclusions and predicting, kinds of sentences, base words and endings -s and -es, and introduce prefixes pre- and mis-. We will be writing to inform, focusing on the EET (Expanding Expressions Tool). We will continue reading The BFG by Roald Dahl that ties right into our upcoming unit on sound.      

Math: We will continue spiraling through Saxon working on sums of 11, problem solving, measuring with 1" tiles, naming comparing and writing fractions, and trading pennies for dimes.          

Social Studies: We will continue our geography unit this week, focusing on landforms and natural resources. We will continue to open Flat Stanley letters as we receive them in the mail, discussing the geographic location, climate, activities, etc.  

Friend of the Week: Alexia Davis
Click on this link to see the F.O.W. schedule for the entire year: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ai_iR7kLmmMpdGw0RC1hZmlIeWtPWDd3NTE0QmV4SVE#gid=0

Reminders/F.Y.I:  

• P.E. days this week are Monday, Wednesday, Friday! (A complete schedule for A/B days can be found in the student/parent handbook on page 9)
• We filled our marble jar again!! Students voted to bring their favorite toy to school on Wednesday December 5th. Toys should be relatively small, definitely able to fit in their ZIPPED backpack. If your child cannot handle having a toy at his/her spot, it will hang out on my desk for the day. :-)
• Early Dismissal - Friday, December 7th
• Progress Reports - Monday, December 10th 

Notes from the Principal: 

Parent Wiki: www.cisparentnotes.wikispaces.com

Weekly Update - November 26th

Happy Monday...after a [hopefully] wonderful Thanksgiving break!!  

This week we will be working on the following topics: 
ELA: We will be continuing in our Journeys literacy program, focusing on lesson 10. We will learn about fact/opinion, base words and suffixes, verbs, and contractions. We will be writing to inform, focusing on expository or "how-to" writing. We will finish up reading The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling and hopefully start on The BFG by Roald Dahl.      

Math: We will continue spiraling through Saxon working on adding 10 to multiples of 10, finding missing numbers on a 100's chart, pairs, dividing objects into 2 groups, identifying tens and ones, fractions, and bar graphs.          

Social Studies: We will begin our geography unit this week that will continue through the end of the quarter. We will begin by discussing our schema (or background knowledge) and will learn a song about the 7 continents. Students will be creating their own maps in teams at their tables and will work on reading maps. We will begin to open Flat Stanley letters we have received in the mail, discussing the geographic location, climate, activities, etc.  

Friend of the Week: Taylor David
Click on this link to see the F.O.W. schedule for the entire year: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ai_iR7kLmmMpdGw0RC1hZmlIeWtPWDd3NTE0QmV4SVE#gid=0

Reminders/F.Y.I:  

• P.E. days this week are Tuesday and Thursday! (A complete schedule for A/B days can be found in the student/parent handbook on page 9)
• Zero Waste Lunch - Tuesday, November 27th
• PTSO CiCi's Night - Tuesday, November 27th
• Early Dismissal - Friday, December 7th
• Progress Reports - Monday, December 10th 

Notes from the Principal: 

Parent Wiki: www.cisparentnotes.wikispaces.com

Weekly Update - November 16th

Happy Last Friday Before Break!!  

Next week we will be working on the following topics: 
ELA: We will be doing creative writing activities, word sorts, sequencing activities, comparing and contrasting our past to present, readers theaters, stories, songs, and crafts all focused on Thanksgiving this week. We will also watch a short Brain Pop Jr. clip on Thanksgiving and Disney's Pocahontas. After the movie we will be comparing it to the book and will talk about the historical facts we have learned about Native Americans vs. the "embellishments" that Disney has added.     

Math: We will complete some different holiday math activities this week such as Thanksgiving problem solving and turkey probability!          

Social Studies: We will be finishing up our Native American Unit, focusing on River Indians. We have received quite a few Flat Stanley letters in the mail - but I haven't told students yet! I'm looking forward to surprising them after Thanksgiving when we start our geography unit!! 

Friend of the Week: Short Week = No Friend of the Week Scheduled
Click on this link to see the F.O.W. schedule for the entire year: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ai_iR7kLmmMpdGw0RC1hZmlIeWtPWDd3NTE0QmV4SVE#gid=0

Reminders/F.Y.I:  

• P.E. day next week is Tuesday! (A complete schedule for A/B days can be found in the student/parent handbook on page 9)
• Library - Books are due Tuesday (11/20) before Thanksgiving break 
• No School Wednesday 11/21-Friday 11/23 for Thanksgiving Break

Notes from the Principal: 

Parent Wiki: www.cisparentnotes.wikispaces.com

Weekly Update - November 9th

Happy Freezing Friday!! I will be out one more day (today) for training and will be back Tuesday. 

THANK YOU to everyone for filling out my survey. We had 100% participation! I am going to work on showing you how much your children are actually challenged in second grade and would love any constructive criticism.  

Next week we will be working on the following topics: 
ELA: We will be continuing in Lesson 9 from our Journeys program, focusing on Understanding Characters and Summarizing. We will also continue to work on verbs and will introduce synonyms. In spelling we will focus on words ending in -ed and -ing. Be sure to ask your child the new phonics dances/chants they've learned! For writing, students will be working on writing to inform - working with book reviews, summaries, and outlines. We will continue reading our Roald Dahl book, The BFG, that ties right into our geography unit.   

Math: We will continue spiraling through our Saxon math, focusing specifically on dividing a whole into fractions, writing fractions (focusing on 1/2, 1/4, and 1/8), sums of 10, and weight. We will also take an assessment this week.         

Science: We will continue in our short unit on our past, focusing on Native American tribes. We have already begun to receive Flat Stanley letters in the mail - but I haven't told students yet! I'm looking forward to surprising them after Thanksgiving when we start our geography unit!! 

Friend of the Week: Our F.O.W. this week is Ms. Glass
Click on this link to see the F.O.W. schedule for the entire year: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ai_iR7kLmmMpdGw0RC1hZmlIeWtPWDd3NTE0QmV4SVE#gid=0

Reminders/F.Y.I:  

• P.E. days next week are Wednesday and Friday! (A complete schedule for A/B days can be found in the student/parent handbook on page 9)
• MAP Testing - It is essential that your child is in school Tuesday and Wednesday next week so they don't miss our MAP testing. Tuesday we will be taking the math test and Wednesday we will be taking the reading test. Please make sure they eat a good breakfast and get lots of rest!
• Library - Books are due Tuesday (11/20) before Thanksgiving break 
• I will be out of the classroom for training on Thursday 11/8 and Friday 11/9. If you try to email or call I will respond by Tuesday 11/13.
• No School Monday 11/12 in remembrance of Veteran's Day

Notes from the Principal: 

Parent Wiki: www.cisparentnotes.wikispaces.com

Weekly Update - November 2nd

Happy Teacher Work Day from a completely empty and quiet classroom...

Please take a few minutes to fill out this 10 question survey. It is completely anonymous. I want to make this year the best it can possibly be for you and your child. Please feel free to comment if you'd like to elaborate on any particular question/answer. I will be asking you to fill this out at the end of each quarter so I know what I need to improve upon. Thanks in advance!
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/QGNB23R

Next week we will be working on the following topics: 
ELA: We will be continuing in Lesson 8 from our Journeys program, focusing on Main Idea and Details from a non-fiction text. We will also introduce verbs, compound words, and consonant digraphs in spelling (sh, th, ch, wh). We will be introducing the Phonics Dance starting this week, so be sure to ask your child what songs/chants they've learned to help them remember digraphs this week. For writing, students are still working on publishing their books. They are working very hard - I am so proud of them!! We will also begin our next Roald Dahl book, The BFG, that ties right into our geography unit.   

Math: We will continue spiraling through our Saxon math, focusing specifically on bar graphs, tallies by 5's, line segments, and problem solving.        

Science: We will begin 2nd quarter with social studies. We will start with a short 5 lesson unit on our past, focusing on Native American tribes. By the end of those 5 lessons we should hopefully be receiving some of our Flat Stanleys back in the mail to get students excited about our geography unit!! 

Friend of the Week: Our F.O.W. this week is Jack Busto
Click on this link to see the F.O.W. schedule for the entire year: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ai_iR7kLmmMpdGw0RC1hZmlIeWtPWDd3NTE0QmV4SVE#gid=0

Reminders/F.Y.I:  

• P.E. days next week are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday! (A complete schedule for A/B days can be found in the student/parent handbook on page 9)
• Mrs. Wilhelm needs someone to fill in for her November 7th Mystery Reader slot - if you are willing/able please go to the following link and enter your name. Thanks! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlWG7l4g_Hk6dC1tQXhjNGY4aFlKdnYtclNWV1Jhb3c#gid=0
• Library - Books are due Thursday (11/8) 
• November 9th - casual day (jeans $1), ice cream day, report cards
• I will be out of the classroom for training on Thursday 11/8 and Friday 11/9. If you try to email or call I will respond by Tuesday 11/13.
• No School Monday 11/12 in remembrance of Veteran's Day
• Please fill out the survey I sent out via email and posted at the top of this blog! Thanks! 

Notes from the Principal: 

Parent Wiki: www.cisparentnotes.wikispaces.com