Curriculum News

This next week we will be starting a brand new unit about “The Wild West”.  This will last several weeks but the first week we will be focusing on tall tales from the “Wild West”.  We will be taking a look at several versions of some tall tales about Paul Bunyan and John Henry.  This will give us the opportunity to get a feel for this particular time in our country’s history as well as allow us to become better acquainted with this entertaining genre that has been enjoyed by many throughout history.

During our Social Studies time we will continue our work with maps as we explore several different types of landforms found around our country as well as the world.  We will also be talking a bit about “Go, Slow, & Whoa” foods as we refresh our memory of why it is important to try to avoid those very tasty and tempting “Whoa” foods as much as possible.  This will take place as we begin our kick-off for out CATCH program which highlights the importance of doing our best to stay healthy.  There is so much to cover this week in spite of our shortened time together!

Students’ Ocean Animal Assignments are due on Monday, October 2^nd!  I know that students have been working very hard on these and they will be shared with others to help teach their classmates about some of the fascinating creatures found in the deep blue sea!  Also, don’t forget that Show & Tell begins this Monday as well.  Calendars were sent out on Tuesday to show who presents each day this month.  Another important thing that has begun is their completion of 2^nd Grade Reading Logs.  Remember, they will be passed out each Monday and should be returned the following Monday!  Keep reading 2^nd grade!!!! (60 Minute Goal)

 

Spelling  

gold      colt      fold       molt       sold       told       bolt      jolt       pole      whole        role       mole

Challenge Words:     revolt         control

 

Reminders/Announcements: 

*Parent/Teacher Conferences are Wednesday (Oct. 4^th) and Thursday (Oct. 5^th) from 3:30-7:00.  I look forward to meeting with everyone!!!

*No school on Friday, October 6^th and Monday, October 9^th because of conferences and Columbus Day!

Mrs. Johnson

Curriculum News

We will continue to take a closer look at the changing seasons during our reading/literacy block time.  This week, however, this topic will be mixed in with a bit of music appreciation ….perhaps a different type of music than what these students are used to enjoying.  Our studies will involve reading about Antonio Vivaldi and listening to one of his greatest pieces of work- his concerto the Four Seasons.  Students will also become more familiar with some of the instruments that are used in classical music which help create some beautiful classical works as well as bands enjoyed today!  We will also continue with many other skills that have recently been introduced, such as addition and subtraction strategies, map skills, and the numerous habitats of the world as this next week progresses.

There are also a few new things that will be started either this next week or the first week in October.  Starting the week of September 25^th, students will be asked to complete a weekly reading log to track the number of minutes read outside of the classroom.  Students are given a goal that should be easily attained.  They are to read 60 minutes within a week’s time.  Papers will be passed out each Monday and are asked to be returned the following Monday.  We will keep track of those that are successfully meeting this goal and they will get a chance at the end of each month to either eat lunch with me or get a homework pass to get out of one assignment.  I know that there are some amazing readers who will meet this goal with no problem and want to provide an incentive for those who always work hard and are responsible enough to turn in this paper each week.  If the paper is misplaced you can always write down the number of minutes read and sign the paper for proof of completion as well.   I am doing this to teach students responsibility and to encourage any bit of extra reading time that they can find in their everyday lives!

Second grade show & tell will also be starting up the first week of October.  Please watch for a monthly calendar which will be sent next week to let students and parents know when their show & tell day is for that particular month.  Each student will get one day per month to bring in no more than 2 things to share and discuss with the class.  Students will also be asked a few questions by students about these special things and it will usually take place after lunch recess (at about 12:20).  If a parent needs to bring something in or needs to set up a different time, that is fine too.  All I ask is that you reach out to me the day before or the morning of to set up a different time!

 

Spelling  

right     might     high      tight      flight      bright      fright     thigh      size     prize      slide     shine

Challenge Words:     delight           twilight

 

Reminders/Announcements: 

*Family Reading Night will be Tuesday, September 26^th at 6:00 PM.  The Fall Book Fair will also be open for students and families to browse and enjoy!

*There is an early dismissal on Wednesday, September 27^th at 11:30! 

 

Mrs. Johnson

Curriculum News

We will be continuing to take a closer look at the changing seasons during our reading/literacy block time.  This week we will be looking at poetry which uses descriptive language to help readers experience all four of our seasons.  We will be taking a look at some poems by some very famous authors such as Robert Louis Stevenson and Robert Lee Frost as we learn a bit more about the composition of poems and look at a variety of styles.  Some of our writing activities this week will tie in with this as we work on a basic acrostic poem about Autumn.  Students have already shown some very good writing skills which will continue to strengthen as this school year progresses!

 

This week in Math we will be working on a variety of other skills that will hopefully continue to develop their retention of both addition and subtraction facts.  Please continue to work with your child on the addition facts, as we have recently begun timed tests using the Rocket Math program.  The only way to retain these facts is with practice, practice, practice…..you can do this 2^nd grade!   Our study of the ocean will continue in Science as we discuss the job of oceanographers and marine biologists.  Students will be developing this skill as they do a bit of research on some fascinating ocean creatures!  It is always exciting to learn about the fascinating creatures found in the deep, blue sea!

 

Spelling  

girl       dirt      shirt      third       thirst      skirt       fern       term       herd        curl       blur         turn

Challenge Words:     purple        circle

 

Reminders/Announcements:  Volleyball Homecoming week is this next week.  Dress-up days are given below.

Monday- Country Day

Tuesday- College Day

Wednesday- Sports Day

Thursday- Orange & Black Day

Friday- Halloween Day (wear old costumes without mask or props)

 

Mrs. Johnson

Curriculum News

During our Reading/Literacy Block time, we will be taking a look at some informational texts to learn as much as we can about trees!  With this in mind, I am asking that students bring in 3 different types of leaves for us to study next week.  They can be brought in a Ziploc bag and will probably not be needed until Wednesday (9/13) of next week.  During our reading time we will be discussing ways to read and understand non-fiction books and will take the opportunity to introduce the topic of the changing seasons which will be explored more closely for some time to come.  Thank you for your help with this project!  This will allow us to do a bit more exploring of our own surroundings as we get more familiar with some of the beautiful trees that are found right here in central Illinois!

 

This week in Math we will be looking at several more examples of addition strategies and putting them to use on our timed tests.  We will start out by taking them twice a week but will soon increase that to three times per week.  Students must have this basic math skill mastered before tackling more challenging math work so I encourage everyone to keep practicing those addition facts!  For Science, we will continue to take a look at the ocean habitat and will also begin our study of the water cycle.  As the school year continues, we will be covering more and more challenging topics that will hopefully leave these young scientific minds wanting more and more information!

 

Spelling

saw      law       raw      straw      draw      hawk       lawn      claw      thaw       yawn       dawn        fawn

Challenge Words:     squawk        awful

 

Reminders:

There are no upcoming events this next week.  Starting in the month of October, we will be doing one show & tell per day in 2^nd grade.  There will be more information sent home very soon that will explain this in greater detail!  Have a great weekend!

 

Mrs. Johnson

2^nd Grade Curriculum News                                                                    

Although students may NOT be so thrilled, teachers (including myself) are quite excited about finally having our regular dismissal schedule back.  There still might be some rather warm days but we are well on our way towards Fall!  The first week of school in the month of September will find us quite busy as we will be taking our first set of benchmark tests.  Students will not be tested every day and the tests are quite short.  These will be given at 3 different times throughout the school year to help give us an idea of where students stand and which areas we need to work on.  So students, show up ready to show us how smart you really are!  I have already seen some wonderful things from this group!

 

Curriculum News

During our Reading/Literacy Block time in the morning, we will continue with our Cynthia Rylant author study.   She has written many beloved children’s books such as the Henry and Mudge Series and has written numerous other amazing books which students have enjoyed.  During Math, we will be looking at many different strategies for improving our addition and subtraction skills.  We should have a bit more time to explore the topics of neighborhoods and different types of communities during our Social Studies time.  We will also have some time to look at writing better sentences as we explore the different types of sentences during our English/Grammar time.  There is so much to cover this week!  This week’s spelling words are given below.  Remember that the test is given on Friday and the Challenge Words are graded as extra or bonus points on the test!

Spelling

rain      mail      wait       paid       paint        sail       aim        pain       main       claim        faint         aid

Challenge Words:  again            attain

 

Reminders:

There is no school on Monday, September 4^th because of Labor Day.  Have a wonderful holiday weekend and enjoy the last “unofficial” weekend of summer!

 

Mrs. Johnson