Wednesday--Miss Calderone's class

Today we began as usual with our DLP and writing in our journal. After sharing we did some phonics and talked about what being a friend is. We then completed 3 centers. Our morning ended with social studies. We started looking in our Illinois packet to learn some new facts. We searched 'Illinois Facts' on the Internet and found some really interesting information! We also talked about the other states that border Illinois. With the people sitting next to us, we had fun finding words in an Illinois word search. After lunch we read Harry Potter for a bit before starting math. In math, we reviewed the chapter and took our Chapter 4 test. The students did an excellent job. We then went to library and came back to work on science. We reviewed the animal groups, completed a page together, and had a little bit of time to draw animals to fit in particular animals groups.

The homework for tonight is to read Wilson Sat Alone and complete grammar pg. 91.

Wednesday in Mrs. Bognetti's Class

This morning we reviewed words with -at and -ate. I gave the students two sentences to write down (using their best spelling, capitalization, and punctuation) and then we corrected it. The students started their spelling worksheet, but need to finish it for homework. Check it over for your son or daughter! After, we reviewed our vocabulary and word wall words using Power Point presentations. We re-read Wilson Sat Alone with a partner. We completed our DLP sentences for today. Then, we looked at two sample letters (an invitation and a thank-you letter). We thought of a gift we would like someone to give us and started writing pretend thank-you letters. We will finish them in class tomorrow. Then, we completed three centers. In Science, we started learning about animals and the groups they are classified into. Specifically, today we talked about mammals, reptiles and amphibians. Then we watched a video clip showing examples of each. This afternoon we took our math test. Then, we started talking about the concept of "tens". We used linker cubes to make sticks of ten cubes each. We counted by tens to figure out how many cubes we had altogether. The students have one page of homework. In Social Studies, we talked about famous places in Illinois. We also colored our state neighbors on a map. At the end of the day, the children visited the library.

Tuesday--Miss Calderone's class

Today our day began as usual completing our DLP and writing in our September journal about what we would do to help another classmate not feel lonely. After sharing, we practiced how to read longer words by finding small words and chunks inside of the longer word. We then independently completed a workbook page that reviewed some of the spelling words. After correcting that, we had our first practice lock-down drill. Everybody did an excellent job of following directions and staying quiet. We then had some time to complete 2 centers. We started Art center today and it went really well! Our morning ended with social studies. We reviewed what an urban community is and then learned about a rural and suburban community. After lunch, we read another fun story that a student brought in, and we also had a student sit in the "Author's Chair" and read her very own story! We actually ran out of time and had to go to art. After art we had math for a bit and reviewed how to make number sentences from number stories. Our day ended with science. We finished discussing classification of animals and filled in the rest of our 'Kinds of Animals' chart. We also got to see an ant farm that a student brought in! It was really neat.

The homework for today is to read Wilson Sat Alone, complete math 4-5, and also complete the Fire Safety paragraph (if you choose).

Tuesday in Mrs. Bognetti's Class

This morning I read several books by Kevin Henkes to the class. They really enjoyed hearing the stories and enjoying the humor within. We made lists of words with -at and -ate in them. We added some to our Quick Words. We used letters to make some of our spelling words. Then, the students started their spelling worksheet, but need to finish it for homework. Today we introduced the vocabulary words. I could tell who had studied over the weekend! We cut apart vocabulary cards to be used at home, too. They are in a baggie with their spelling letters. We watched a Power Point presentation and completed a workbook pages using those words. Then, we talked about characters' feelings in stories. As we read Wilson Sat Alone, we tried to think about how he felt being left out. After the story we completed DLP. The students have one worksheet of English for homework. They need to distinguish between subjects and predicates. We also did two centers. In Social Studies, we started our Illinois Booklets. We read some interesting trivia facts about Illinois, looked at a map of Illinois and started an Illinois word search. This afternoon, we used what we know about addition and subtraction to solve story problems. We finished the math worksheet with partners. Then, we played a game to review our math facts. The students need to complete the review for the test workbook page for homework. There will be a test tomorrow. The students were too excited to go to art at the end of the day, as this was their first time using watercolors!

Monday in Mrs. Bognetti's Room

This morning after gym and music, we read a story about friendship. Chester's Way by Kevin Henkes shows how two friends have things in common. It also shows how to include others. Then, we discussed words with -at and -ate and introduced the spelling words. As you saw on the list that went home last Friday, the hardest word this week is "appreciate". Study hard! We completed two sentences of DLP and learned about predicates (the telling parts of sentences). We introduced and completed one center. This afternoon in math we worked with fact families. The students had to come up with two addition and two subtraction sentences for 3 numbers in a fact family. They did very well. We completed our workbook pages in class and sang our doubles song. They have one page of math homework to reinforce those fact families. Then, we went to the computer lab and learned about internet safety. In Social Studies, we talked about states and countries. We learned about Illinois' state capital, as well as our nation's. We will begin our "Illinois Booklets" tomorrow. In it, we will learn about the state's bird, tree, flower, etc. Next week in the computer lab, we will research Illinois' governor. Your child is bringing home his/her Math Test, Reading Test and Science Test from last week. You need to sign them all and send them back to school. Thanks for your support!

Monday--Miss Calderone's class

Today was a very fast day! We began our day very quickly by going to Music and then P.E. right after that. When we came back we corrected some sentences in our DLP and wrote in our September journal. After sharing, we learned our new chunks for the week -at and -ate. We read a poem and found the chunks we learned. We then had our spelling pretest. After correcting it, we learned about the new centers. We completed 2 centers to finish our morning. After lunch we read some scary stories (they weren't really scary at all though :)) from a book that one of our classmates brought in! We then had math where we reviewed fact families. Everybody did an excellent job! After math we had science. We began the new science chapter; animals. We started by reading about reptiles and mammals, and together, filled out a chart. Our day ended with Media Center (computer lab time). We had a great first day!

The homework for tonight is to sign/return the science and reading test, and complete math 4-4. Also check your child's folder for a new mystery reader sheet! We still have some spots open.

Friday--Miss Calderone's class

This morning we came in and began finishing our DLP and writing in our September journal. After correcting and sharing, we began our first center. Before moving onto our second and third, we did some phonics work. After centers we took our Spelling Test. We reviewed for our reading test by playing pictionary with the vocabulary words for Frog and Toad. We finished literacy after we took our reading test. Our morning ended with Social Studies. We learned about urban communities, and drew a picture to represent what they look like. After lunch we read Harry Potter for a bit, and then began math. We used Ten-Frames to add and subtract. After math we had music, followed by celebration day. We had a lot of fun switching rooms to make frogs and lilly-pads for a huge, second grade quilt.

The homework over the weekend, beside reading, is math pg. 4-3. Remember to fill out that reading log!