Thursday, February 27th

This morning we wrote about our favorite board games.  If we made a bar graph, we would find a lot of votes for Monopoly!  Then, we reviewed adverbs.  We were able to watch the documentary The March of the Penguins.  It is a fantastic non-fiction movie about penguins to go along with our story this week.  The children took notes to write paragraphs when it was over.  Then, we read with our 4th grade Book Buddies.  This afternoon, we learned about the Arctic.  We talked about its climate and the animals that live in that habitat.  We also did an explore activity to see why Arctic animals have different colored coats in the summer and winter.  At the end of the day, we worked on our Washington, D.C. posters.

There will be a Spelling and Reading test tomorrow.

Wednesday, February 27th

We got to choose our own topic to write about in our journals today.  Some chose non-fiction writing, others chose personal narratives, and some wrote fiction stories.  It was fun to listen to them all!  Then, we re-read our story The Emperor's Egg in small groups.  We wrote down three facts about penguins to use later this week for a non-fiction paragraph.  Then, we went to the library.  Afterwards, we had centers/guided reading.  We then learned how to address an envelope.  We are sending letters to Washington, D.C. to request information to help with our research projects.  So far our posters are turning out great!  This afternoon, we worked on our posters for about an hour with our group partners.  In math, we did some problem solving using a table and skip-counting to get our answers.  Students have one page of math homework.

Tuesday, February 26th

We squeezed a lot into our day!  We wrote about Antarctica in our journals this morning.  We read a poem about baby penguins and how they sit on their fathers' feet.  Then, we made a web about penguins and their lives at the South Pole.  We read a story called The Emperor's Egg.  It is a non-fiction story about penguins.  They loved it!  We also reviewed words with -ing and -ly endings and did a Making Words activity.  Then, we went to art class.  When we returned, we set up our Book Bags for this week.  This afternoon, we did a Reader's Theater production about Abraham Lincoln's struggle as President.  We will continue tomorrow.  We went to gym and music.  In math, we analyzed bar graphs.  Most students have math homework. 

Play in the snow tonight!  The children are extra-excited about the snowfall!!!

Friday, February 22nd

This morning we wrote about George Washington since it is his birthday today.  After we shared, we got into groups with the other second graders and started our Washington, D.C. projects.  Each group will produce a poster and paragraph about their specific place of study.  So far they look great!  Then, we read a book about former presidents and I assigned a special project to be completed at home.  Every child chose a President to research.  Directions for the projects are being sent home today.  The President Project will be due on March 6th.  Then, we took our Reading test.  This afternoon we silent read.  Then, we went to gym and music.  In math, we analyzed picture graphs.  We do have one page of math homework.  It was a great day!

Happy Friday!

Wednesday, February 20th

This morning we added third trimester words to our Word Rings and took the second trimester words off.  Then, we wrote in our journals about how to keep cool on a hot day.  We practiced using words with f (v) and add -es.  Then, we did a Making Words activity.  We learned the vocabulary words for Cool Ali and we read the story.  We practiced visualizing and imagining how we would feel in different settings.  We went to the library.  Then, we made some U.S. symbols...liberty bell, bald eagle, and Uncle Sam.  We also started a review packet for the S.S. test tomorrow.  It should help you practice tonight.  This afternoon we learned about the woodland forest.  We did a couple of activities in class including the animals and environment in a woodland forest.  In math, we started taking surveys and making tally charts.  The students have one page of math homework.

Don't forget that the Spelling Packet is due tomorrow and we will have a Social Studies test as well.

Tuesday, February 19th

We had a lot to do today!  We started by writing about how we would feel on a hot and dry day. Then we read a story about a drought and how the characters felt when it finally rained.  After that, we learned our phonics pattern of the week (changing f to v and then adding -es).  We introduced our spelling words, corrected our DLP, and talked about adjectives.  Then, we went to art class.  When we returned, we practiced our handwriting skills.  This afternoon we went to music and gym class.  In math, we started a new unit on data analysis.  We showed different forms of graphs and took an "Am I Ready?" quiz.  We also cut apart new vocabulary cards. 

We will have a Social Studies test on Thursday.  Pages to be reviewed were sent home today.  Spelling Packets will also be due on Thursday.

Friday, February 15th

This morning we chose our own topics to write about in our journals.  We enjoyed sharing with the class.  Then, we reviewed words with silent letters like kn, wr, and gn.  We practiced finding adjectives and completed our DLP.  We took our Spelling and Reading tests.  We also had centers/guided reading.  There was a little time to squeeze in the cursive letters p and j.  After lunch we silent read.  During music/gym, we attended an assembly. Ask your child what it was about!  At the end of the day, we took our math test on money. Next week we will start learning about data analysis and graphing.

Have a wonderful three day weekend!  Your child should be able to tell you why we have Monday off of school!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

This morning we decorated little pouches to hold our valentines and we worked on a packet of fun Valentine's Day activities.  Then, we got down to business.  We practiced working with compound words.  Then, we discussed and practiced using the strategy inferencing.  We completed our DLP and worked on a worksheet to identify adjectives.  Then, we used everything we learned this week about whales to write non-fiction paragraphs.  They look great!  We also had centers/guided reading.  This afternoon we silent read and set up our book bags.  Then, we passed out our valentines.  During math we reviewed for our test on Money that we will take tomorrow.

There will be a Reading and Spelling test tomorrow, as well as the math test.  The good news is that with all those tests, there won't be homework over the three day weekend! =)

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Today we finished working on our Abraham Lincoln projects from yesterday.  They all look great!  Then, we got into small groups to re-read Dear Mr. Blueberry and completed a study guide.  After we went to the library, we had centers/guided reading.  During Social Studies, we learned how to read and use map grids.  This afternoon we learned about woodland forests in Science.  We watched a video clip, worked on our lesson outline and drew pictures of the woodland forest.  In math, we learned about the dollar.  Most students have math homework. 

Don't forget that Spelling Packets are due tomorrow!  We will be having a Unit 4 Social Studies test next week.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Happy Birthday, Abraham Lincoln!  We started our day by writing down everything we already knew about President Lincoln.  Later in the day, we used our facts to make miniature Lincolns while we watched a video clip about his life.  The children were really excited to learn about our past President! 

We also reviewed words with -oo and -ue.  We did a Making Words activity, too.  Then, we made a web with facts about whales.  We will use that later in the week to write paragraphs.  We talked about inferencing and we read our story Dear Mr. Blueberry.  The story is written in a letter structure.  We analyzed the parts of a letter and picked out non-fiction facts about whales.  We completed our DLP and then we went to art.  This afternoon, we went to gym and music.  In math, we learned how to problem solve using coins.  Some students have math homework, but some finished in class.  There will be a math test on money on Friday.

The Spelling Packet is due on Thursday.

Monday, February 11, 2013

Today we started activating our prior knowledge about whales.  We will read a story this week about whales and by the end of the week, will have written non-fiction paragraphs about them. Then, we learned about our phonics pattern of the week -oo and -ue.  We learned our spelling words and did a word sort.  We also completed our DLP.  At the end of Literacy, we talked about adjectives, writing invitations, and set up our Book Bags for this week.  In Social Studies, we learned about different symbols of the United States (bald eagle, Uncle Sam, Liberty Bell) and watched a BrainPop video about them.  We also talked about Presidents Washington and Lincoln.  We completed a vocabulary worksheet and drew pictures of a famous monument.  This afternoon we learned how to count groups of coins.  We have one page of math homework.  Please get out actual coins and have your child count them!  This is a very short unit of math and there is so much to retain on how to count money!  Give your child practice at the store by having him/her pay when you check out.  At the end of the day, we went to the computer lab.

Spelling Packet is due Thursday.

Friday, February 8th

I'm so happy to be back and glad to see all the children!  We caught each other up on what has been going on in the classroom by writing about our week in our journals.  I learned so many new things about teaching the Common Core Standards and can't wait to implement them in our classroom!  We reviewed words with -eer and -ear sounds this morning.  We also completed our DLP and a grammar worksheet on pronouns and adjectives.  We took our Spelling and Reading tests.  For "Celebration Day", we watched a video clip about the real life of cowboys and decorated cowboy/cowgirl hats.  Then, we went to an assembly about Jump Rope for Heart.  Information about it will be coming home today!

Have a wonderful weekend!  Practice those Poetry Binders!