Week of October 30th-November 3rd

Curriculum News

   We have enjoyed our study of the Wild West so much that we have decided to extend it for one more week!  This week we will be looking at several non-fiction books about the Wild West.  We will especially be focusing on the numerous tools/accessories that cowboys and cowgirls need to do their job as well as the topic of the Pony Express in our country’s history.  We will also, obviously, be taking a break from our Wild West studies for one day as we explore some fun fictional stories about Halloween!  As we continue to work on more skills that will help us become better writers, we will focus more on using Main Idea and Detail sentences to help us compose better paragraphs and stories.  This will definitely be a fun-filled week that is jam packed full of learning!

During our Social Studies time in the afternoons we will be starting on our “Journey Around the World” as we take a closer look at each of the 7 Continents found on this amazing planet.  This week our focus will be on North America and our time will allow us to explore the fascinating culture of our neighbor to the south-Mexico!    In Math we will continue to work with adding 2-digit numbers, as this is a very necessary skill to master before moving onto more challenging concepts.  Keep practicing those addition facts!

 

*Our spelling list will look a little different week because we will switch our focus to some fun Halloween Spelling words.  There are 15 words and all of them will be included on the spelling list.  Most of them are quite simple with only a few that might challenge us!

 

Spelling  Words (No Challenge Words)

witch     black     fly     broom     night     charm   wand     spell    brew    kettle     hat      cat      moon    toad      magic

 

Reminders/Announcements: 

* October 31st is the Halloween Parade and classroom party.  The parade starts at 1:00 with parties following immediately afterwards.  Students are asked to avoid wearing costumes to school that would be too frightening for our younger students and to avoid things that resemble guns or knives.  These rules are in place so that our younger students are not frightened on this fun-filled day!  If it is raining on that day (hopefully NOT) the parade will take place in the gym.  I already want to say thank you to all parents and volunteers who help make this day so much fun for our students!  Seeing the smiles on their faces is always so wonderful to witness!  We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday!

*Next week is also Red Ribbon Week, which emphasizes the importance of saying “No to Drugs!”  Each day will have a theme and students are asked to dress up if possible.  Below are the themes for each day!

 

Monday-“Furry Friends Stand Up to Drugs”-Dress as your favorite animal or bring a stuffed animal.

Tuesday-“Scare Away Drugs”- Wear your Halloween costume.

Wednesday- “Black out Bullies”- Wear all black.

Thursday-“Don’t let Drugs Take You on a Detour”- Dress as a tacky tourist.

Friday-Red Day!!!

 

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Johnson

Week of October 23rd-27th

Curriculum News

   As we wrap up our unit on the “ Wild West”, we will be reading and discussing the Magic Tree House book- Ghost Town Before Sundown.  The main characters, Jack and Annie will take students on a journey and help them get a better idea of what life was like for cowboys during the pioneer days!  This fictional series is always fun to explore but this week it will help us look at some of the myths and other terminology used during this era in America’s history.  We will also be working on some more “Super Sentences” about the “Wild West” as we use more descriptive words to help our writing become even more interesting!  These students are already very good writers and this will only help them expand on this skill some more!

We will be continuing our study of a variety of habitats as we compare the Ocean, Rainforest, and Desert habitats and discuss their importance in the sustainability of the world.    During our Social Studies time we will begin our unit on the 7 Continents.  The first week will give us a chance to compare the difference between countries and continents and get students familiar with the location and size of all of the continents.  Students will get a chance over the next several weeks to learn a bit about each of the 7 continents individually as we take a look at each one more closely!  This is always a fun unit to explore and gives us the opportunity to be introduced to some amazing cultures and people from around the world!   In Math we will be working with even and odd numbers and adding 2-digit numbers!  We have so many important skills and concepts to cover!!!  I am already looking forward to next week!!!

 

Spelling  Words

nurse      curve      turn      burn      curl      purse       fur     church      hurt      blurt      surf      curb

Challenge Words:     disturb      surprise

 

Reminders/Announcements: 

* October 31st is the Halloween Parade and classroom party.  The parade starts at 1:00 with parties following immediately afterwards.  Students are asked to avoid wearing costumes to school that would be too frightening for our younger students and to avoid things that resemble guns or knives.  These rules are in place so that our younger students are not frightened on this fun-filled day!  Thank you for your cooperation with this!

 

Mrs. Johnson

Week of October 16th-20th

Curriculum News

   During this week’s study of the “Wild West”, we will be taking a closer look at some of the historical facts about this time/era in our country’s history so that students might better understand what exactly life would have been like living in the 19th and early 20th century in America.  We will then shift our focus to some of the popular and entertaining poems about this important time in our country.  Students will read and analyze a variety of literature from those pieces of work that were written to describe this time to those that were written for pure entertainment!  It should be quite entertaining to explore this era from different viewpoints!

During our Science time, we will be continuing with our exploration of habitats as we take a closer look at deserts.    We will get the opportunity to learn a bit more about the fascinating animals and plants found in this part of our world as well as better understand how life survives in this harsh but beautiful environment. This will tie in nicely as we use descriptive words to add more details to some stories about life in the desert.  Students will also be presenting their “Adjective/ Brown Paper Assignment during our Language Arts before reviewing our past work with nouns, verbs, and adjectives.  In Math we will be practicing adding and subtracting tens to numbers as well as using data from charts to answer questions.  There are always so many fun and fascinating things to cover each week!

Keep reading and practicing those math facts 2nd grade!!!

 

Spelling  Words

blue      true      clue      glue      argue      duel      fuel       flew      grew      chew      threw       crew

Challenge Words:     statue         rescue

 

Reminders/Announcements: 

*There is an early dismissal on Wednesday, October 18th at 2:00.

*Brown Paper/ Adjective Assignment is due Monday, October 16th.

 

Mrs. Johnson

 

Week of October 9th-13th

Curriculum News

As we continue with our Wild West Unit during our Reading/Literacy time, we shift our attention to Fairy Tales that are set in the Wild West.  This will give us the opportunity to compare some traditional, well-known fairy tales with other versions which are set during this fascinating time in our country’s history.  I am certain that students will enjoy hearing the interesting twists that these stories take as the setting is changed so drastically.  Students will also be taking a closer look at Adjectives and how they enhance both our reading and writing on a daily basis.  There will be a special “Adjective Assignment” sent home at some point this week which will help them better understand this concept.

During our Science time, we will be taking a closer look at a different habitat which is both fascinating and beautiful.  We will be exploring the rainforest habitat very closely and getting to know the numerous types of plants and animals that call it home.  Students did an excellent job on their Ocean Animal Posters and everyone had the opportunity to learn a lot from each of their presentations!  We will revisit this topic later in the school year but for now, we will continue with our exploration of several other amazing habitats found this beautiful planet!  In Math, we are continuing to work on our addition facts but will also be taking a look at comparing and ordering numbers up to 100.  This will prepare us for some more challenging skills which will be covered very soon!

Students have been doing very well with their Reading Logs so far!  Keep reading second grade!  I know that this is an excellent group of readers!  Their excitement towards reading and learning is contagious!  The Reading Log assignment is just one way to recognize all of their hard work!

 

Spelling  Words

loud   sound   found    shout    count    mouth    ground     house    brown    growl    crown   town

Challenge Words:     shower        powder

 

Reminders/Announcements: 

*No school on Monday, October 9th because of Columbus Day!

Have a great 4 day weekend!

Mrs. Johnson