February 1-5

Our Big Kahuna this week is Hunter!

Thank you Sindie Mubata for coming on Thursday and sharing pictures and stories of Petra!

Writing: This week we will be finishing up our expository paragraph. We will do our final copy and complete a rubric, where students will grade their own writing.

Math: We will continue our math camp on money.

This week's math focus:

• Read and write three-digit numbers.
• Understand place value.
• Compare two numbers (up to 999) and say which is greater.

Test Prep: At the end of the year (end of April or beginning of May) students will have to take the CRTs. This is a national test to see where individual students rank in Language Arts and Math. Second grade is the first year students have to take this test, so we will be doing some practice tests to get the students ready on how to take the test.

January 25-29

Our Big Kahuna this week is Petra! Happy Birthday!

Thanks, Malinda Hernandez, for coming on Thursday.

Writing: We are editing and revising our Expository paragraphs this week.

Language Arts: Continue learning about Antonyms.

Social Studies: We will learn how to use a map, including grid points.

Math: We will begin our math camp on money this week. Have students practice counting any extra change you have at home. Money is usually hard for students. They need to not only recognize the coin but they have to think of how much it's worth and add on as they continue counting change. Money is a skill students should have mastered by the end of 2nd grade.

This week's math focus:

• Measure, compare, and order objects according to capacity.
• Solve problems involving capacity and money.
• Review and test Topic 7.
  

January 18-22

No school on Monday, January 18th honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Enjoy your 3 day weekend! Save the Date- Friday, January 29th, Breakfast With A Buddy!

Thanks Rob and Valorie Foster for coming last week. The students had a lot of fun!

Our Big Kahuna this week is Elianna! Happy Birthday!

Writing: We will begin our expository paragraph. This is such a fun topic where the students get to be experts at something of their choice.

Language Arts: Antonyms

Social Studies: Cultures and Maps

Math: We will be finishing up our Math Camp on Measurement this week.

This week's math focus:

• Recognize, describe, and draw shapes from different perspectives.
• Direction and distance
• Measure, compare, and order objects according to weight.
• Interpret and analyze data in a pictograph and bar graph.

January 11-15

We had a great first week back! It sounds like everyone had a great Christmas break. Last week we wrote our New Year's Resolutions, and the students have very good goals in mind.

This week Sami will be our Big Kahuna!

Reading: I will be testing this week for reading including comprehension and fluency levels for our mid-year report.

Social Studies: We will continue learning about Martin Luther King.

Writing: We will start our Expository paragraphs.

Math: Continue working on double-digit addition and subtraction. Our math camp focus is measurement.

This week's math focus is:

• Putting together and taking apart 2-D shapes.
• Identify parallel lines and right angles.
• Use shapes to cover a surface without leaving any gaps.
  

January 4-8

Happy New Year! Can you believe it's already 2010? I hope everyone had a great relaxing break and is ready to come back.

A BIG THANKS to:

• Tara Baird and Debbie Tandy for helping with our Christmas Ornaments.
• Becky VanLehn, Laurie Caldwell, and Laura Lewis for helping with our Christmas party.
• Sindie Mubata for helping with Math every week.

Thank you so much for your support and time. You are much appreciated by me and the students!

Our classroom is in need of Lysol/Clorox wipes and tissues. If you are able to donate any to our class, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Social Studies: We will be studying Martin Luther King.

Writing: Students will use verbs in their own writing.

Math: We will begin Math Camp this week on Measurement. In 2nd grade, students need to know inches, centimeters, and various ways to measure- scale for weight, measuring cup for liquid, and ruler for length or height.

This week's math focus is:

• Recognize and create shapes that have symmetry.
• Identify lines of symmetry.
• Investigating the result of putting together and taking apart 2-D shapes.
  

December 14-18

Merry Christmas! I know everybody is ready for a great break to relax and spend time with their families. Thank you for all of your time and support. You have such great kids and I thoroughly enjoy spending time with them and watching them learn and grow. It is the best feeling in the world to watch a child finally understand something they have been working on. I love watching the "light bulb go off" in their minds; you can physically see it!

We have been working on some Christmas projects that will be coming home this week! The students have been working hard on a winter painting and also a surprise for your Christmas tree!

Our Big Kahuna this week is Noah! Happy Birthday :)

Writing: Persuasive letter to Santa

This week's math focus:

• Collect, organize, and represent data in a graph, chart, or on a line plot.
  
• Topic 6 Review and Test.

December 7-11

Last week we finished up our Rock Unit. The students had a lot of fun learning about Igneous, Sedimentary, and Metamorphic rocks. Apple Day was a fun and exciting day. Thank you for all bringing an apple and even extras! We described an apple using adjectives, we investigated the outside and inside of an apple, we wrote an expository (how-to) paragraph telling how we made our apple crisp, we also had fun apple story problems, and an appleseed toss game. The students had fun and it was nice to change our routine for a day!

Writing: Our Thanksgiving descriptive paragraph is up in the hall if you want to come take a look. This week we will be doing our final copy of our expository paragraph from apple day.

Art: We are working on a winter scene. This involves drawing, coloring, and painting. We will finish our projects this week!

Language Arts: Abbreviations and Antonyms

Math: We finished up our Math Camp on place value last week. We have been practicing everyday addition and subtraction with double digits. These involve borrowing and carrying. I know the students will be successful but we have to review review review so they leave second grade being able to do these with no problem. Please review this at home.

This week's math focus:

• Read and show on-the-hour and half-hour times on an analog clock.
• Solve problems that involve elapsed time.
• Read and show times past the hour (five-minute intervals) on an analog clock.
• Interpret, analyze, and compare data in a pictograph and tally chart.