Wednesday, November 28th

We had another great day today!  First we wrote about what farmers do.  Then, we read a book called Tops and Bottoms.  Ask your child about the trick Hare played on Bear.  They loved it! Then, we practiced our play, Johnny Appleseed.  After we went to the library, we had two groups of centers/guided reading.  In Social Studies, we learned about income, goods and services.  We shared what jobs our parents do to earn money. We found that some of the children do not know what their parents do!  Please share with your child so he/she knows about your important job.  We also talked about budgets that families must follow and how we have to pay for needs before wants.  It was an interesting conversation!  This afternoon we silent read.  In math, we learned about hundreds.  The children have one page of math homework.  We went to a PBIS assembly and we finished the day with a little bit of Science.

There will be no blog tomorrow or Friday.  I am very fortunate to have an opportunity to represent our district at the National Math Conference in Chicago for the next two days.  I will be learning about new common core mathematics and getting math ideas to add to our classrooms in Addison.  Mrs. Merkle will be subbing in the classroom.  She will accompany the class to the ballet on Friday as well.  Have a wonderful week and weekend!

Tuesday, November 27th

This morning we read a book about Johnny Appleseed and wrote about him in our journals.  We also read a poem about him.  Then, we reviewed words with -eer and -ear.  We also learned our vocabulary words.  Then, we read the play of Johnny Appleseed.  The children enjoyed sharing their different parts.  After art class, we finished our DLP and did a grammar activity on capitalizing the names of days of the week.  This afternoon we read Matilda.  Then, we went to gym and music.  In math, we introduced Chapter 5.  We will be working with place value up to 1,000.  Many students did not know that 999 comes before 1,000.  Talk with your student about numbers in the hundreds.  We cut apart some vocabulary cards to help us practice our new math words and we made a foldable with ones, tens, and hundreds.  Tomorrow we will begin the first lesson.

Spelling Packets are due on Thursday.  We will also take our Spelling test that day.

Monday, November 26th

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving break.  I know mine was filled with celebration after celebration!  This morning we reactivated our brains and wrote everything we could about plants.  We will be studying plants in literacy and science.  It was great to find out what we already know about plants so we can add to that knowledge in second grade!  Then, we talked about words with -eer and -ear.  The toughest words on our spelling list were reindeer, pioneers, and country.  Study those at home!  We will be taking our Spelling test on THURSDAY this week, as we are attending a ballet on Friday and won't have enough time.  We completed a spelling activity in class.  We also completed our DLP, talked about informational paragraphs and the days of the week.  We prepared our Book Bags for this week, too.  In Social Studies, we started a new unit.  We will be talking a lot about income, goods and services.  We read about making predictions and cut apart vocabulary cards.  A sheet went home today will all the vocabulary words for you to help study at home.  I am predicting that we will take a test before the holiday break.  After lunch, we took our Reading MAP test again.  We will compare the results to the first test and alter our instruction accordingly for each student.  Next week we will take the Math MAP test.  When we were finished, we worked on some map skills using a map key.  We also watched a video clip on plants, parts of plants, and saw how they make food. 

Friday, November 16th

Even though it was a shortened day for students, we sure packed in a lot of things!  We wrote about what we are planning to do over Thanksgiving break.  Then, we added a new poem to our binders.  We took our Social Studies test.  Then, we read a Reader's Theater play about Thanksgiving.  We made "glyphs" showing different things about how we celebrate Thanksgiving.  When our glyphs were completed, we added a demonstration on how to set a table.  Your child should be able to help you next Thursday by using his/her glyph!  I do hope you enjoy our Thanksgiving recipes next week.  The children really enjoyed sharing about the different ways we celebrate.  At the end of the day, we did a subject/predicate activity to make silly sentences about Thanksgiving.  I hope you all enjoy reading your child's directions on how to cook a turkey.  Most of them won't be helpful, but they sure are fun to read! Have a wonderful break.  I really enjoyed meeting with all of you this week.

Wednesday, November 14th

This morning we wrote about things we are thankful for and worked in our Thanksgiving packets.  After we went to the library, we read some of the recipes you have sent in to school and then wrote our own recipes telling  how to cook a turkey.  In Social Studies, we read about how to care for natural resources and made our last vocabulary card.  You can use the cards that come home today to practice for the test on Friday.  We also studied bar graphs and did an activity in class as well.  This afternoon we silent read.  Then, we presented Dinosaur Dioramas.  The students are so proud of their creativity!  In math, we practiced subtracting double-digit numbers for our test tomorrow.

Tuesday, November 13th

We thought we could help you go shopping for Thanksgiving so wrote a shopping list for you!  The children really put a lot of time and effort into dreaming up all their favorite foods.  Some were quite interesting!  I hope you enjoy reading your child's list!  Then, since we were talking about our favorite foods, we decided to make a graph of our class's favorite Thanksgiving foods.  We can't wait for you to check it out in the hallway on the way to your conference!  We also did a Pilgrim Punctuation activity.  Then, we went to art.  This afternoon we read Matilda.  Then, we went to gym and music class.  At the end of the day, we reviewed for our math test that we will take on Thursday.  The children will have to show that they know how to subtract double-digit numbers.  None of the children have math homework.

Don't forget that we have a Social Studies test on Friday.  Also, if you haven't sent in your recipe card, please do so!

Monday, November 12, 2012

We had a great day! This morning we wrote acrostic poems about things we are thankful for.  Then, we watched a video about the Pilgrims, when they first came to America, and the first Thanksgiving.  We read about Thanksgiving in our Social Studies book and then watched a factual video about Thanksgiving today.  We then compared today's Thanksgiving celebrations with the first Thanksgiving on a Venn Diagram.  After that, we reviewed consumers and producers by making a wheel.  You can use that to help your child understand the concepts for Friday's Social Studies test on Unit 2.  A reminder sheet is coming home today with the pages you need to review with your child.  Then, we re-read our lesson on natural resources and made some vocabulary cards for you to study with as well.  This afternoon we read a Mo Willems Elephant and Piggie book.  Check some out at your library...they are hilarious!  In math, we are reviewing for our subtraction test on Thursday.  We made some fact family turkeys.  We also have one page of math homework for practice.  At the end of the day, we went to the computer lab. 

Please help us by sending in a Thanksgiving recipe.  A recipe card and parent letter is coming home with your student today.  Please send it back by Wednesday, if possible.

Friday, November 9, 2012

This morning we wrote in our journals about things we've always wanted to do.  They were quite interesting to listen to!  Then, we put a new poem in our binder for this weekend.  We reviewed words with -our and completed our DLP.  We also took our Reading and Spelling tests.  For Celebration Day we made lemonade to go along with our story this week.  It was fun!  We also had centers/guided reading.  This afternoon we read more of Matilda.  Then we went to gym and music.  In math, we did some problem solving.  Have a wonderful weekend!

Thursday, November 8th

This morning we wrote in and shared our journals.  Then, we reviewed many skills including our vocabulary words, spelling words, compare/contrast, and graphing.  We also completed our DLP and a grammar worksheet on proper nouns.  We re-read the story Lemonade for Sale and read with our 4th grade Book Buddies.  In Social Studies we read about natural resources.  We completed an activity in class.  This afternoon we read Matilda.  Then, we took our Science test and presented more dinosaur projects.  In math, we used our subtraction skills to solve problems.  Most students have homework, but a few finished in class. 

Tomorrow we have a Reading and Spelling test!  There will be no new spelling words for next week as we will be Theme Testing and learning about Thanksgiving traditions.

Wednesday, November 7th

This morning we wrote about our favorite songs.  There were some popular hits in here!  Then, we read Lemonade for Sale and practiced using our voices to imitate different characters.  It was fun!  Then, we completed a scavenger hunt.  We were able to shop at the Book Fair.  If your child did not bring money today, he/she might have a wish list for you.  They can shop again on Friday during the day or next Tuesday night during conferences.  We had centers/guided reading.  Then, we did some "catching up" in Social Studies.  Many of us needed to finish our Landform Booklets.  Those that were finished got to read a Time for Kids magazine and answer some questions about it, too.  After lunch, we read more of Matilda.  In Science, we put on our paleontologist caps and went to work cleaning fossils.  The children were able to re-read their science lessons for tomorrow's test.  We also started presenting the dinosaur dioramas.  We learned a lot!  The students are so proud to show off their work!  In math, we learned how to check subtraction problems by adding.  They were getting quite good at it!  Every student has math homework. 

Don't forget that the Spelling Packet is due tomorrow and the decorated turkey feather is due on Friday!

Election Day 2012

Today we learned a lot about our election process and voting!  We watched a Brainpop video on the duties of the President.  Then, we learned about the process of being elected.  We also learned about each candidate running for President.  And then after lunch, we voted in Wesley's own Presidential Election!  Every child should come home with a sticker that said he/she voted.  We did discuss that our selections are private.  Ask your child who won our election!

In Literacy, we did a Making Words activity to practice our spelling words.  Then, we learned our vocabulary words for this week's story, Lemonade for Sale.  We completed our DLP and talked about capitalizing proper nouns.  Then, we went to art class.  This afternoon we silent read and swapped out our books in our Book Bags.  Then, we went to gym and music class.  After, we practiced more two-digit subtraction.  We do have one page of math homework.

Don't forget that we have a Science test on Thursday.  The spelling packet is due on that day as well.

Monday, November 5th

This morning we wrote about what we would do if we had our own lemonade stand.  The children came up with their own slogans, prices, and reasons why we should stop at their stands.  They were very creative!  Then, we learned our new phonics pattern for this week: words with -ar, -arm, and -ark.  We completed a word sort in class.  Then, we practiced our spelling words for this week.  I apologize for not sending the words home last Friday!  Then, we completed a workbook page using our new words.  We also checked two sentences of DLP and set up our Book Bags for this week.  In Social Studies, we read about how goods get from the farmer to us.  We also introduced the following vocabulary words: ancestors, producers, and consumers.  We made vocabulary cards and did a sequencing activity as well.  Then, we completed a geography packet.  This afternoon we silent read.  Then, we went to math class and learn how to subtract two-digit numbers from two-digit numbers.  We do have one page of math homework.  We took a timed test and then went to the computer lab.  In the computer lab, we worked on an endangered animals activity to help us study for our Science test that will take place this Thursday.  A half-sheet was sent home today with pages for you to review with your student along with the Science book.

The Spelling packet is due on Thursday. 

Friday, November 2nd

We had such a fun day!  For starters, we baked a cake!  Since Hedgehog bakes a cake in our story, we thought it would be fun to bake one ourselves.  We even followed the directions and tried not to include eggshells!  In the afternoon, we ate it, too!  I sent home Hedgehog's recipe for yellow cake in case you'd like to bake a cake with your child.  Then, we completed an activity on abbreviations and finished our DLP.  We took our Reading and Spelling tests, too.  This afternoon we read some of Matilda.  We also had gym and music.  In math, we learned how to do double digit subtraction without using tens and ones blocks.  Students do have one page of math homework.

The dioramas look great!  The children were so proud when they walked into school today!  I can't wait to listen to the presentations next week!  Have a wonderful weekend.

Thursday, November 1st

We sure were tired this morning after all that trick-or-treating!  We shared in our journals about our favorite type of candy.  I could tell that the sugar highs were all wearing off!  Then, we practiced our word wall words, talked about synonyms, and completed a lesson on following directions.  We finished our DLP for today and completed a grammar worksheet on proper nouns, too.  We read with our Book Buddies and had centers/guided reading.  In Social Studies, we learned how to read landforms on a map.  This afternoon we read more of Matilda.  Then, we learned about endangered animals in science.  We completed one activity together (and we did an explore activity) and then one individually as well.  We watched a short video clip on endangered animals too.  Then, in math we continued working on double digit subtraction.  We all have one page of math homework to finish. 

Don't forget that the dinosaur projects are due TOMORROW.  The rubrics should be sent back to school along with your child's paragraph.  Also, we will have our Reading and Spelling tests.