Friday, October 28, 2011

Friday in Mrs. Bognetti's Class

This morning we reviewed words with -ear. We completed an activity in class using these words. Then, we completed our DLP and took our spelling test. I counted all of the abbreviations only as an assessment for abbreviations, Reading 2.01. All of the spelling worksheets from this week will be counted under the same standard. Then, we read with our 4th grade book buddies and completed two guided reading groups/centers. We took our reading test. This afternoon, we finished Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. The class was so excited as the book came to an end! In math, we learned how to add groups of coins. My class does have math homework, some from Mrs. Walter's class do, and none of Mrs. Barrett's class does. In Social Studies, we wrote definitions for and drew pictures of oceans, rivers, and mountains. Then, the highlight of our day came during Science time. We became paleontologists as we cleaned our fossils with tools. They look fabulous! They will be displayed along with our Dinosaur Dioramas, which we began to present today. Everyone is doing an excellent job reading their reports and making eye contact with the audience. Thank you so much for practicing with your child at home! Have a wonderful weekend!

Don't forget to send in a roll of toilet paper for a game at the Halloween party on Monday!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Wednesday in Mrs. Bognetti's Class

DINOSAUR DIORAMAS AND PARAGRAPHS are due TOMORROW! Don't forget to send in the packet of rubrics with your child's projects so we don't have to waste paper and copy new ones!

This morning we practiced using abbreviations of the days of the week, months of the year, people's titles, and measurements. The students have one page of spelling homework. We reread our story Mr. Putter and Tabby Fly the Plane in small groups. They have a scavenger hunt to complete using their books tonight. We completed our DLP and two guided reading groups. The children went to music and gym. This afternoon, we broke the second grade up into vocabulary groups and gave each an opportunity to extend their learning by using flash cards, drawing activities, etc. Then, we gave two math quizzes. One quiz covered even and odd numbers and the other assessed greater than and less than. We just introduced the next chapter, which will be on money. Students are expected to know the coins and their values. If your child does not know them, please work on them at home! There is no math homework for any class. In Social Studies, we read about landforms and started a landform booklet. Students will write definitions and draw pictures of several different landforms. We also completed part of a geography packet. In Science, we talked about endangered animals, completed a worksheet together, and watched a video clip showing examples of endangered animals. There will be a science test sometime next week...more details to follow!

Friday, October 21, 2011

Friday in Mrs. Bognetti's Class

We started off this morning by writing stories about a jack-o-lantern. The children really used their imaginations and they turned out great! Then, we reviewed words with -ack and -ock. We analyzed a poem about a teeny, tiny ghost for our poetry binders. I hope you are all having fun listening to your children read poems every weekend. Their fluency is improving! We completed our DLP and took our reading and spelling tests. We had a visit from some Addison Trail Blazers today. Some of the members of the football team (and prior students of mine!) came to read to us. It was a lot of fun! We also had centers/guided reading. This afternoon, we learned about ordinal numbers in math (first, second, third, etc.). My class and Mrs. Walter's class have math homework, but Mrs. Barrett's class does not. In Science, we talked about extinct and endangered animals. In pairs, we finished our lesson outline. At the end of the day, we celebrated our good behavior by watching "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown", an all-time favorite of mine! Have a wonderful weekend.

Don't forget the Dinosaur Reports and Dioramas are due next Thursday.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Thursday in Mrs. Bognetti's Class

This morning we clapped out words in syllables. Then, we reviewed words with -ear. The students have one page of spelling homework. Then, we reviewed the vocabulary words, reread our story, and talked about main idea. We also talked about colorful words and plural nouns. We visited the library. Then, we completed two centers/guided reading groups. In the afternoon, we practiced how to skip-count by 2, 5, and 10. Then, we learned how to use a number line and hundreds chart to skip-count by 3 and 4. Mrs. Bognetti and Mrs. Walter's classes have math homework, whereas Mrs. Barrett's does not. At the end of the day, the children went to music and gym class. Don't forget there is a reading and spelling test tomorrow.

I sent home a Scholastic Book Order today and instructions on how to order online. If you do not want to shop online, you may send a check made out to Scholastic Books, but I cannot accept cash. It is a great opportunity to add to your child's home library! With each order, our classroom also gets free books!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Wednesday in Mrs. Bognetti's Class

What an exciting day! We started by writing sentences with -ear words. We have one page of spelling homework. We read our story Helping Out and discussed ways we can help others. We completed our DLP, talked about colorful words, and finished a page on plural nouns. Then, we went to music and gym class. After, we had centers. This afternoon, we learned to use the words before, after, and between referring to numbers on a number line or hundreds chart. Most of the students do have math homework. Then, at the end of the day, we became paleontologists while we made our own fossils! The class had a great time and we can't wait for them to dry so we can clean them. If you hear your child singing, it might be a song about dinosaurs or our "number alligator" from math class!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Tuesday in Mrs. Bognetti's Class

This morning we practiced using words with -ear. We have one page of spelling homework. We did a making words activity in class. Then, we learned our vocabulary words. We talked about main idea, using colorful words when writing, and completed our DLP. We made a web about how we can help out at home. This will help us when we read our story this week called Helping Out. We also had a bus evacuation drill and went to the computer lab this morning. After lunch, we switched math groups and started chapter 6 today on patterns and comparing numbers. All math classes have homework. We took our Social Studies test. At the end of the day, we learned about Sue, the T-Rex at our very own Field Museum in Chicago. The children really enjoyed it!

Monday, October 17, 2011

Monday in Mrs. Bognetti's Class

This morning we wrote in our journals and shared them. We are working on our presentation skills. We try to make sure our voice is loud enough to hear and we try to make eye contact with our audience. This is very difficult to do in the beginning of second grade. Then, we learned about words with -ear sounding like -er. We introduced the spelling words, put word wall words on the wall, and completed a workbook page. Then, we completed two sentences of DLP, talked about plural nouns and narrative paragraphs. We went to art class. This afternoon we reviewed estimating in math class. Then, we took a test on place value. We are hoping that this test proves to be better than the last! At the end of the day, we finished Lesson 5 in Social Studies and reviewed for our test tomorrow. We did a rural/urban/suburban sort. This was just a review and does not need to be sent back to school. Coming home with your student is their baggie of vocabulary cards, a poster we made in class, and the textbook. Please review Unit 1 tonight! We also have a vocabulary crossword that will help us review that should be finished for homework tonight!

Friday, October 14, 2011

Friday in Mrs. Bognetti's Class

We did a lot of writing today! We started by writing letters to a friend telling them about our Halloween costumes. Then, we learned how to write using transition words (first, next, then, and last). We wrote "how to" paragraphs telling how to make a jack-o-lantern. We colored a jack-o-lantern to be hung in the hall with our paragraphs. We read with our 4th grade book buddies, too. This afternoon, we learned different ways to write numbers. My class does have math homework. Mrs. Walter's class does not. At the end of the day, we presented our dinosaur project. The children are so excited to share all the details with you when they get home! They will have two weeks to make a diorama and write a report on a dinosaur. Please read through all the materials that are coming home with your child today! Have a wonderful weekend!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Thursday in Mrs. Bognetti's Class

We finished our theme test today! The children were tested on sentences, subject/predicate, and on punctuation. Then, we practiced writing friendly letters. We went to the library. After, we got through two centers/guided reading groups. Yesterday the first set of graded centers came home. The children are assessed on whichever standard they chose. They will have a different set of centers each week. This afternoon we learned how to read numbers and write them in three different ways. My class does not have homework. At the end of the day, the children went to music and gym class.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Wednesday in Mrs. Bognetti's Class

This day went by fast! This morning we wrote in and shared our journals. Then, we took our theme test covering main idea and compare/contrast skills. We also went to music and gym. This afternoon, we learned about the value of digits in numbers. My class does not have math homework. The other classes DO have homework. In Social Studies, we learned about our home being in a neighborhood, a neighborhood being part of a community, a community being part of a state, and a state being part of a country. We made posters to show where we live. Next Tuesday we will take our first Social Studies test. I will be sending home pages to re-read with your child and vocabulary cards to practice soon.

Since we started switching classes in math, I also started a weekly assignment sheet to help the students keep track of what homework they are personally accountable for. This sheet should stay in the homework folder and be brought back to school each day. It will also tell you what color their card was on for each day! I hope this helps!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Tuesday in Mrs. Bognetti's Class

Review! Review! Review! This morning we reviewed several skills that are going to be on our Theme Test this week. They are main idea, compare/contrast, identifying sentences, statements, questions, and exclamations, and subjects/predicates. We completed a packet of worksheets together as we discussed each. Then, we introduced the centers for this week. We also went to the computer lab. This afternoon, we reviewed tens and ones. We used blocks to help us count. We completed two workbook pages in class. The students in my math class have homework. At the end of the day, we learned about the environment in which dinosaurs lived (warm and wet). We drew pictures of that environment and then sponge painted some dinosaurs in! It was fun!

Friday, October 7, 2011

Friday in Mrs. Bognetti's Class

This morning we reviewed words with -at and -ate. Then, we completed our DLP and worked on a review page on subjects, predicates and nouns. We took our spelling and reading tests and read with our Book Buddies. We were able to get to centers/guided reading today as well. Math today was interesting. For starters, we switched groups for the first time. We decided, after assessing the second grade students on place value, that we need to reteach a few concepts. So, we were able to work with each group at their own level and hopefully when we assess them again, we will see some growth. The groups that went to Mrs. Walter's and Mrs. Barrett's classes for math today have homework, the students in my class do not. In Science we re-read our lesson about fossils and dinosaurs. We completed two worksheets in class. At the end of the day, we had Celebration Day.

Have a wonderful three day weekend!

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Thursday in Mrs. Bognetti's Class

This morning we broke words into syllables by clapping our hands and by noticing vowel, consonant, consonant, vowel patterns. Then, we worked on and finished our spelling activity in class. We reviewed our vocabulary words. We talked about sequencing and acted out our story showing the characters in the order they appear in the story. What fun that was! We completed our DLP, an activity on nouns and got to centers/guided reading today! We also visited the library. This afternoon, the children did a great job silent reading. In math, we did some problem solving with partners. Then, we took a math test. At the end of the day, the children went to music and gym class.

Don't forget there is a Reading and Spelling test tomorrow! Please help your child study!

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Wednesday in Mrs. Bognetti's Class

We started our day by writing and talking about what we would do if we found a fossil. Then, we practiced writing our spelling words. The students have one page of spelling homework. Then, we re-read the story The Enormous Turnip in small groups and worked on a scavenger hunt as well. We completed the DLP. We highlighted quotation marks in a passage from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. We also completed an activity on nouns. The children went to music and gym class. This afternoon, we learned how to estimate in math. We finished our worksheet in class and took a timed test as well. We practiced a fire drill today. In Social Studies, we finished our Illinois Booklets, including adding a picture of the governor of Illinois. In Science, we did an explore activity where we had to put together pieces of a dinosaur skeleton like paleontologists. Then, we read our lesson. We have a lesson outline to complete for homework.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Tuesday in Mrs. Bognetti's Class

This morning we talked about vegetables and whether we like to eat them or not. Then, we turned the conversation toward turnips, a vegetable in our story this week. Then, we talked about words with -ack and -ock. We did a making words activity in class. Your student can use the letters to make his/her spelling words at home! We finished our spelling worksheet in class. Then, we discussed the vocabulary words and used vocabulary cards to help us study them from a Power Point. We talked about sequencing, putting things in order. Then, we read our story for this week The Enormous Turnip. After the story, we talked about working together to get a job done. We completed our DLP, highlighted some quotation marks, and found nouns in sentences. When we went to the computer lab today, we researched information about our governor. We found where he was born, what his children's names are, and some important facts about him. This afternoon, we learned how to read and write numbers. We finished our work in class. A fun worksheet was sent home, a crossword using number words, but it does not have to be sent back to school. In Science, we looked at real fossils and watched a video clip on fossils.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Monday in Mrs. Bognetti's Class

This morning we analyzed words with -ack and -ock. We completed an activity together in class. Then, we learned our spelling words for this week. We hung words on our word wall and completed a workbook page, too. We completed our DLP for today. We talked about quotation marks and what they mean as well as nouns. We actually had time for centers today! We will be starting guided reading groups next week. We also went to art. This afternoon we learned about place value (tens and ones). We completed our work in class and we took a timed test. Keep practicing those facts at home! In Social Studies, we learned about our state tree, flower, motto and colored a state flag. There is no paper homework, but you can always practice spelling and vocabulary words!!!