Curriculum

With all of the extra activities that took place this past week, we are just reeling and trying to play “catch-up”.  Our Wild West exploration will wrap up with a closer look at cowboys and cowgirls and the many challenges that came with this very important job.  Students will be taking a look at some fiction and non-fiction books that will give them a better idea of some of the tools that were and still are necessary for cowboys/cowgirls to do their job.  During our writing time, we will be taking a closer look at writing informational paragraphs and proofreading skills as well.

Math will allow us to look a closer look at numbers up to 100.  Students will better understand place value and will be able to compare 2-digit numbers by the end of the week.  We are continuing our work with getting those addition facts memorized….keep practicing!

With the very important holiday of Veterans Day quickly approaching, our Social Studies time will be spent focusing on our veterans and why they are so important in both the history of our country and the future of this wonderful land!

Spelling Words:

well        large     must      big      even     grew     stew      drew     chew      few      brew      unit      color       shape

Challenge:     standard        metric

Upcoming Events

This next week should be a bit calmer without dress up days and Halloween.  We will, however, be celebrating a very important holiday together on Friday, November 6th.  There will be a Veteran’s Day Program on this day at 1:00 pm in the Emden Elementary Gym to help recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of our very valuable veterans.  Everyone is invited and we encourage everyone to wear red, white, and blue.

Have a great weekend and a safe Halloween!

Mrs. Amy Johnson

 

Curriculum News

Each week seems to be more and more busy and filled with too many exciting things to squeeze in.  With that in mind, this week we will continue with our “Wild West” theme during our Reading/Literacy Block time.  We will be wrapping up our work with “Wild West Poetry” and begin our study and discussion of a chapter book from the popular Magic Tree House Series.  The one that we will focus on is Ghost Town at Sundown, which will allow us to continue to discuss a bit more about this time period in our country’s history.  Students have really enjoyed our study of this fascinating time period!  Also, remember to keep reading and keeping track of your minutes read each week.  I know how much this group loves to read so keep it up!

Second graders are continuing to work very hard on their addition facts as we work on getting those facts memorized.  Any extra practice at home would help your child be even more successful with their weekly timed tests!  Keep up the hard work second grade!

During our Science time we will continue to explore our amazing animal world and look at animal classification.  They are enjoying the opportunity to look more closely at some fascinating animals that inhabit our planet!

Spelling Words

also       around      form    three     small       mean       clean       peak      dream     beach       team     length       weight        height

Challenge Words-      temperature         distance

Announcements & Reminders

This upcoming week will be very busy but quite exciting!  We will be celebrating “Red Ribbon Week” which reminds students about the importance of staying drug free!  Along with that will be dress up days each day.  Also, Friday October 30th will be our Halloween Parade and classroom parties.  The parade will begin at 1:30 with parties to follow immediately following the parade!

Another exciting announcement is that second grade is very excited to have a new student join us all the way from Oklahoma!  His name is Josiah Hillis and is fitting right in with this group of awesome students!  Welcome to Hartem, Josiah!

Mrs. Amy Johnson

 

Curriculum News

And now for another short but jam-packed week full of a lot of activities and learning!  With two weeks in a row of 4-day weeks, it is quite difficult to keep up.  We are still studying the “Wild West” during our reading/literacy block.  This next week we will be taking a look at some poetry that includes this fascinating time period in our nation’s history.  During our Math time, we will be going over the topic of place value in 2-digit numbers as well as continue with our practice of addition facts during our “Rocket Math” time.  Students are coming right along.  Make sure that your child is practicing those basic addition facts at home.  Our goal is to be moving onto subtraction facts in January.  Our friendly letters are officially on their way to Hawaii and students are anxiously awaiting responses to their letters!  They had a good time writing these and introducing themselves to some new friends!   During our Science time we will be taking a look at animal classifications and learning about things such as…. “What exactly are mammals, amphibians, insects, reptiles and amphibian?”  It is always exciting to explore our fascinating animal kingdom!

Spelling Words:   

boy     follow      came       want      show     nurse      curve       turn       burn        curl        purse      growth     stress      fruit

Challenge Words:          affect          gravity

Reminders

There will be an early dismissal on Wednesday, October 21st at 2:00 pm.  Also, Parent/Teacher Conferences are happening on Thursday evening from 4:00-8:00 PM and on Friday from 8:30-11:30 AM, and because of that there is no school on Friday, October 23rd.

The Halloween parade and party is quickly approaching!  The parade will be on Friday, October 30th at 1:30 followed by classroom parties!  As if I needed to remind you of this…..I am quite sure your children would NOT let you forget!

Have a good weekend!

Mrs. Johnson

 

What’s Happening in 2nd Grade

It has definitely been a busy week at school!  On Tuesday we were fortunate enough to visit the Emden Museum/Historical Society.  With our recent discussions on ancestry and neighborhoods, students were able to see first hand relics from our community’s history which helped to bring the past to life!  This was a great experience and we would like to sincerely thank Betty Gail Wagner and Bob Cross for letting us experience this!

This past week was also Fire Safety Week.  Students did a fantastic job of exiting the building in a quick and safe manner.  The Emden Fire Department was also kind enough to remind us of some very important safety tips for getting out of a burning building quickly and safely!  Students were also given special treats and some even received prizes that can be used in the home to help keep families safe in case of a fire!

Students have also been working hard on the important skill of writing friendly letter.  They are currently working on writing letters to students in the small town of Hana, Maui in the state of Hawaii.  I was able to make contact with a very kind teacher there who agreed to be pen pals with us!  It will be a great opportunity to practice this skill while learning a bit more about the 50th state!  (Yes, I did pick Hawaii on purpose!)

Spelling Words 

means       old        any       same      tell       blue        true         clue          glue         due        argue         hero      action          kind

Challenge:     cause          influence

Upcoming Events/Reminders

There is no school on Monday because of the Columbus Day Holiday.  Thursday, October 15th will be our first Family Reading Night Event at the Emden Grade School.  There will be a lot of fun activities to join in on starting at 6:00.  Everyone is invited to come!  Also, Parent-Teacher Conferences are quickly approaching.  They are scheduled for Thursday, October 22nd from 4:00-8:00 PM and on Friday, October 23rd from 8:30 AM-11:30 AM.  Call and get your conferences scheduled!  I look forward to meeting with everyone!

Have a great 3-day weekend!

Mrs. Johnson

Curriculum

During our Reading/Literacy Block time, we will be taking a closer look at Tall Tales.  This will give us the opportunity to explore some that are quite familiar as well as introduce those that students may not be quite so familiar with.  As we better understand what makes a story a tall tale, we will have some fun taking one of these and making it our own by adding our own details to them!   This second grade class has been doing an amazing job with their Reading Logs/minutes as well.  This last week students read a grand total of 1111 minutes….and that is with only 11 students!  Wow!  We were also able to celebrate their accomplishments by passing out their monthly prizes and highlighting those that went above and beyond the goal!  They definitely deserve the recognition!  Keep it up 2nd grade!

We were also able to learn about our ancestors thanks to some help from you-the parents!  Students were excited to learn about and share their own unique family heritage with the rest of the class.  This activity led to numerous questions about our own special community.  Because of the students’ natural curiosity we will be visiting the Emden Museum on Tuesday, October 6th from approximately 9:30-10:30 in the morning.  We will be walking to the building which is located in downtown Emden, just a quick 5 minute walk away!  This will give students the opportunity to see first hand some photographs and memorabilia that will help tell the story of this special community which we call home!  We are looking forward to it and want to thank Bob and Julia Cross for helping to make this happen!

As a side note, we have been also practicing some very important skills by using some fantastic websites.  Your child can show you some of these first hand, if they haven’t already.  We have been practicing some reading and comprehension skills using the raz kids website and some keyboarding skills using ABCYa.  Have your child show you how these sites work….they are doing a fantastic job with both!

Spelling Words

much        before       line      right       too      loud       sound       found       shout      count        mouth       magnet      rural        touch

Challenge Words:       suburban          urban

Have a great weekend!!!

Mrs. Johnson