Curriculum

We will be switching this upcoming week to subtraction fact strategies during our class time.  We will also be continuing with our Rocket Math program.  This class is off to a good start with a majority of students passing quite easily onto the next level!  Keep up the good work 2nd grade!  Keep practicing those addition facts!  Reading will give us the opportunity to look at more poems about nature as well as some orchestral music which focuses on the changing of the seasons.  Students will especially learn about the famous composer Vivaldi as dive into an excellent example of a biography titled I, Vivaldi. Social Studies has always been a favorite subject of mine and this week we will start our unit which covers the topic of history of neighborhoods and communities, as well as, taking a look at neighborhood and city maps.  Just a reminder that the “Ancestor Assignment” is due on Monday.  This will be a good way to tie in the topic of “history” and help them better understand how history shapes and effects our lives even today!  Thank you so much for your help with this!

Spelling

say        great       where       help        gold       colt        fold       mold      sold       told        limited       offspring      parent          stages

Challenge Words-      through         resource

Reminders

-There is an early dismissal on Wednesday, September 30th at 11:30!

-Show and Tell begins on Thursday, October 1st!

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Johnson

Curriculum

This next week is when we will be starting our timed addition tests in math.  This involves us using the “Rocket Math” program that they used in first grade in which they are given 40 one-digit addition problems to complete within one minute and 45 seconds.  They increase slightly in difficulty once each level is passed.  Students pass that particular level even if they miss 2 of them.  In second grade we are expected to finish all basic addition facts and subtraction facts that we will hopefully be starting in January/February.  Also in Math, we will be working on some addition strategies that will help them get to the answer much more quickly!  During our English and Writing time we will be focusing on identifying verbs in sentences and writing something that we like to call “Super Sentences”.  Ask your child what these are about and I am sure that they can fill you in!

Students continue to do a fantastic job of piling up their minutes in their reading logs.  Last week we jumped up to 835 minutes of reading outside of the classroom!  This is absolutely amazing!  Keep it up!  This week’s log is due Monday, September 21st! Also, during our Reading/Literacy time, we will shift our focus towards poetry and take a look at a variety of poem styles that have to do with nature.  Our study of plants in Science flows nicely with our unit on trees and nature as we monitor growth in our small “green house” (…and I do mean very small).  Students are watching for sprouts from a sensitive plant, a sunflower, and a bean plant.  They are very excited to see first hand the stages that these plants go through!

Spelling Words

name        good      sentence      man      think      right       might      high      tight      flight     bright     push      pull       strength

Challenge:         community                   ancestor

Extra Info

Besides our new CATCH program that emphasizes a healthier lifestyle for everyone, we are also being visited by Miss. Sarah Carr from the University of Illinois Extension Office in Lincoln.  Her visits will add even more interesting components to our study of healthy lifestyle choices.  The program that she uses is called, Organ Wise Guys and covers the important organs of our body that we rely on to function and thrive.  She also spends time highlighting healthy food choices and ways to keep our body strong.  This is something that is enjoyed by all participants.  She will be in our classroom every other Friday beginning this Friday, September 18th.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Mrs. Johnson

It is so hard to believe that we will soon be starting our fifth week of school!  Time is certainly flying by as we begin to explore and work on many new things in the second grade classroom.

Curriculum

During our Literacy Block time, we will continue to explore many nonfiction books that go along with our topic of trees and the changing of the seasons.  It is very easy to see that this class is full of some SUPERSTAR readers.  This past week was the first week that reading logs were asked to be turned in and they did absolutely amazing.  These 11 students read for 715 minutes during their very first week!  They have shown me every day exactly how enthusiastic they are to read and share that love of reading daily!  Way to go students and parents!  Remember, even if you misplace the log all that I ask is that you send a note with how many minutes your child read during the previous week and sign and return it to me on the following Monday!

During our “Writer’s Workshop” time, students have been working on coming up with some original adventures for the very popular characters of Henry and Mudge from our Cynthia Rylant author study.  They fell in love with these two characters and the fun-filled adventures that a boy and his big, cuddly dog go on and made their own story!  They all have done a fantastic job with this assignment!  After we share them here with the class, they will be coming home for your own enjoyment very soon!

Starting next week our whole elementary school will be starting a program called CATCH.  This stands for Coordinated Approach To Child Health.  This program focuses on ways to educate young people about and provide support for a healthy lifestyle.  In the 2nd grade classroom, we will be focusing on celebrating health and ways that we can help ensure that everyone has the opportunity to be in the best health possible.  You might be hearing more and more about this from your children as the weeks go on!

Spelling Words:

very       after      things        our        just       girl        dirt         shirt         third        thirst        birth        system         life        cycle

Challenge Words:          produce                consume

Reminders

Reading Logs will be due on Monday, September 7th.  Next week will be another full week of school with no early dismissals!  Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Johnson

Curriculum News/ Updates

Although this next week is short, we will be attempting to get through a lot of important, new topics.  We just finished our first author study during our Literacy Block and are now moving on to study the Seasons.  Our first week will lead us towards the study of the trees and plants that will soon be changing around us.  We will be looking at several non-fiction books that will teach us a bit more about trees as well as the proper way to read and study non-fiction reading passages.  This will also help introduce us to the topic of plants during our science time in the afternoons.  Oceans will still be an important topic in our classroom as we begin to look at the different ocean zones and the various plant and animal life found in this vast habitat.  There are so many fascinating things to explore as we venture down this path!

Spelling Words

live        me        back        give        most         saw       law        raw         jar         straw      draw       ocean        title       country

Challenge/ Extra Credit Words :         motion          change

Reminders and Other Important Information

* No school on Monday, September 7th- Labor Day!  This next week will be our first week of regular dismissals.  Student are dismissed around 3:10 each day!  Hopefully the days will be cooler!

*Book orders are due Tuesday, September 8th please!

*Reading Logs are due next Tuesday (usually due on Mondays though)!  Their reading goal is 80 minutes per week.  If you lose this paper, I am pretty lenient.  All you really need to do is send me a note with the number of minutes read each week with a note about their favorite book and with your signature.  The goal is just to help increase the number of opportunities that they have to read and to instill in them a love of reading!  Even if they do not quite reach their goal, please let me know that they have read some!  We will still celebrate their achievements with as much vigor as if they reached their goal! Thank you!

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Johnson