This week will bring a lot of new things to be learned and explored to our classroom!  During our Literacy Block time in the morning, we will explore the topic of Fairy Tales and Western Stories.  This will give us the opportunity to get a feel for a different genre and writing style that is available for us to enjoy!  During our Math time we will begin to look at basic 2-digit addition and subtraction.  Adjectives will be the new topic during our Language Arts time as well.  Students will get a better understanding of why these descriptive words make both our writing and reading of stories much more enjoyable!

Reminder- School Carnival Saturday 18th 3:00-6:00 & Early Dismissal @2:00 on Wednesday the 22nd

Spelling Words:

means      old       any      same     tell      blue       true     clue      glue      due      hero     argue      action      kind           Challenge:    influence        cause

We look forward to another fantastic week in 2nd grade!

*Reminders- Columbus Day/ No School on Monday  & Book Orders Due Tuesday, October 14th

In spite of next week being a shorter week, there will still be many important skills that will be covered.  We will continue our work with our addition facts by working on our timed tests…..don’t forget to practice everyone.  During our reading/literacy block we will be discussing tall tales and comparing different versions of the same story during our time in whole group.  As we continue our exploration of the ocean, we will be looking at different categories of animals found in this vast yet beautiful habitat.

Spelling words for next week are below:

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

Challenge Words-      suburbs      urban

*We look forward to seeing everyone for our School Carnival on Saturday, October 18th!

Mrs. Johnson

Next week will be another busy week.  We will be taking a closer look at fire safety as we celebrate Fire Safety Week at school.  Our work with writing will continue to go strong as we sharpen our basic poetry writing skills.  Students have been enjoying the opportunity to read and study a variety of poems during our literacy block time each morning.  This next week we will shift our attention to another type of art- the art of music.  We will learn about some famous composers as we read biographies about them and will even get the opportunity to listen to a few of their very famous concertos.

*Reminder- Contributions to our carnival basket (Christmas theme) are actually due on Friday the 10th of October!

Spelling Words for this next week are below:

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

Extra Credit Words:  resource       offspring

Show & Tell

Students will be given the opportunity to share somethings special with the class and myself beginning tomorrow when our official “Show & Tell” days begin.  Each student is given one show and tell day each month.  If they forget that day they do get one day to make it up.  If there is a need to set up special arrangements for their show and tell, I just ask that you contact me ahead of time and we can always figure something out!

Book Orders

I will be sending October book orders home tomorrow.  They will be due on Monday, October 13th!  Please look through them and see what kind of exciting books there are for our young, blossoming readers!

Carnival Baskets

Just a reminder that the school carnival is coming up in approximately 2 1/2 weeks (Oct. 18th)!  We do need to work on filling up our classroom basket that will be raffled off during this fun-filled event!  Remember that our theme is Christmas and that we do need each family to bring in something that is approximately worth $5-$8 value to fill it in!  This needs to be in by Friday, October 10th as well!  Thank you!!!

While last week was jam packed and fun-filled, hopefully this next week will quiet down some and allow us some time to focus on some very important topics.  Our Science time will give us the opportunity to focus some animals found in the ocean as well as the effects of high levels of salt.  During our Social Studies time we will be taking a closer look at city/ town maps and ways to better understand them.

Our Spelling list may also look a bit different as I am shortening the list to 14 words but making two of the words extra credit and will not be counted wrong if incorrect.

Spelling Words:

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

Extra Credit:  community             ancestor

Have a good weekend!

Our building will also help show some school spirit during the week of Sept. 22nd-26th.  The class that has the highest rate of participation will also receive pizzas to enjoy in their own classrooms!  The days are listed below:

Monday- Nerd Day

Tuesday- Favorite Sport Day

Wednesday- Music Genre Day

Thursday- Pirate Day

Friday- Orange and Black Day

This is always a lot of fun and helps show our school spirit!

There are so many announcements to make this week!  For starters, our 1st book orders of the school year are due on Monday.  The website for ordering books is scholastic.com/readingclub and the activation code is HBGWB.

Also, our 2nd grade classroom is in need of a comfy, colorful, large carpet for a gathering place to meet and discuss our love of books.  There will be an article in the October newsletter that gives more information, however, I have taken a step that will hopefully help us get closer to our goal (funding) which is needed so that we can enjoy and put this tool to use for the remainder of the school year.  Our classroom need is posted on a website that allows others to view projects that are needed in public schools around the country.  If you would like to check this site out please go to:     http://www.donorschoose.org/ajhula .

Another upcoming event is our school carnival.  There is a letter that is going home today that gives more information about what we can do to help ensure that this year’s festivities are a huge success.  I honestly do not know what we would do without the Hartem Community Club because many of the fun activities that our students are able to enjoy throughout the year are because of them!  Please be sure to check out this letter which is attached through the following link:   school carnival[1] .

Also, we cannot forget next week’s spelling words which are given below:

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

I am looking forward to another fantastic week in 2nd grade!!!

As we continue our exploration of the 4 seasons during our Literacy block, we will begin our exploration of reading informational text.  This will allow us to take a closer look at the science behind trees and their transformation through all four seasons.  In Math we will begin to look at basic 2-step story problems as well as a variety of addition and subtraction strategies.  We have so many things to get through this week!

Below are this week’s spelling words:

live        me         back         give        most         saw     law        raw       jar       straw         draw     country         title      city         motion          change

*Special Program

On Monday September 15th, 2nd grade will be fortunate to have a visitor from the University of Illinois Extension Office in Lincoln.  The University of Illinois Extension will be introducing your child to an exciting nutrition education program called OrganWise Guys.  The OrganWise Guys program is a fun, interactive way to engage K-2^nd grade students in nutrition education and physical activity.  This program will teach students about healthy eating using plush character organs of the human body such as “Pepto” the stomach.  Its purpose is to encourage healthy eating and physical activity habits from a young age.  If you would like more information about the OrganWise Guys program visitwww.organwiseguys.com  We are very excited about this visit and the upcoming week!

Book order forms are going home today!  Please take a look at them!  Directions and the website for scholastic are included in the introductory letter that is attached.  It is always great to refresh your child’s home library from time to time!

Due date on these orders are Monday, September 22nd!  Thank you!

As we begin our fourth week of school, our daily 5 literacy program is in full swing!  Here are the second graders in action enjoying time spent reading and taking part in word work activities!