Weekly Gazette (Dec.1-Dec.5)

What is Your Child Learning This Week?

Reading-character traits/feelings

Math-fractions; rounding numbers to the nearest 10 and 100

Science-We are beginning our unit on dinosaurs!

Writing-letter writing; students will begin writing letters to Santa.

Word Wall- I am revising the Word Wall block in order to make it more integrated with the other subjects. A note detailing the information about this will go home next Monday, December 8th. Therefore, there are no new words for this week, and there will be no Word Wall quiz this week.

Tests and Quizzes

*Friday, December 5th is a test on landforms, continents, and map skills. The study guide went home Tuesday, December 2nd.

*Thursday, December 4th is a Fractions quiz. Please use the study guide that went home Tuesday, December 2nd to study.

*Next Monday, December 8th is a context clues quiz (reading). Study guide went home Tuesday, December 2nd.

*Those students who passed the addition math timed test with an A+ will begin subtraction timed test this Friday. The other students will continue with addition. The test is this Friday. Students have three (3) minutes to answer thirty (30) problems. The graded timed tests are in your child's homework folder!

Important Information/Reminders

*Graded papers will go home this Friday, December 5th.

*The Social Studies project is due next week. Although all students have to turn in a project on the due date, each student has a day to present his/her information. Please check the note for your child's presentation day. Remember, students must come dressed as a person from their country! :)

*THANKS to all who attended the VOG Charla and Math Parent Night. Both events were a huge success! :)

Weekly Gazette (Week of Nov.10-Nov.14)

What is My Child Learning This Week?

Reading-We are beginning a unit on context clues and multiple-meaning words. This skill helps students use word and picture clues to figure out the meaning of an unknown word.

Math-comparing and ordering numbers to 1,000; writing numbers in words

Social Studies-Students are beginning to make a travel guide related to our unit on landforms and maps. This is their first big project. Detailed instructions and the due date will be sent home tomorrow.

Writing- Students are learning how to write a good sentence and how to use more vivid words instead of boring, overused words.

Word Wall- All the words this week are homophones: write, right, know, no, peace, piece, etc. Students do not have to be able to spell these words perfectly, but they are expected to know which one to use in a sentence. A list of words will be sent home today. Students are NOT expected to know all the words for Friday's quiz. The quiz will cover past words from the word wall.


Tests/Quizzes

• Friday, November 14th is a Word Wall quiz on past word wall words. Remember, students are able to use their portable word walls during the test.

• Timed test on addition facts this Friday, November 14th. Students have three minutes to answer thiry problems.

• Students will have a writing sample assessment this Thursday, November 13th. This is something that they can't study for in order to do well. It's simply a way for me to assess writing strengths and weaknesses.

Reminders/Important Information

• Please don't forget to donate clothes and/or blankets for Navidad Sin Frio.

• Please make sure your child has his/her personal dictionary bound and returned to school by December1st. Thanks!

• Graded papers will be sent home this Friday, November 14th.

Weekly Gazette (Nov.3-Nov.7)

What is Your Child Learning This Week?

Reading-We continue to work with main idea/details and how to put the most important ideas together to write a summary. Our primary text is the Social Studies textbook.

Writing-We are learning what is a good sentence and how to add details to make the sentence more interesting. 

Word Wall-We are continuing to learn about homophones. Our words for the week: or, are, too, two, to. 

Social Studies-We continue with the characteristics of the Earth and its landforms.

Math- We continue with double-digit addition and are beginning to practice writing and saying

            numbers up to 1,000 (place value). 

Tests and Quizzes

• Word Wall quiz this Friday, November 7th.
• Addition timed test this Thursday, November 6th.
• Main Idea quiz Friday, November 7th. (study guide will go home Tuesday).
• Double-digit addition problem solving quiz Thursday, November 6th. (study guide will go home Tuesday). 

Reminders

• Please check the Eagle Courier. 

• Parents, please make sure your child is on-time and present at school everyday. Every day missed is one more day that he or she becomes behind.

• Please sign and return your child's report card as soon as you're done reviewing it. 

• Although 2B's library time is every Friday, students are welcome to check-out books throughout the week once they have finished reading the other ones. They just need to ask the teacher for a pass, and they may go to the library during lunch or recess time.

Questions or concerns, email me: thurmiere@gmail.com

Weekly Gazette (Oct.27-Oct.31st)

What is Your Child Learning This Week?

Math-adding and subtracting 10/two-digit addition. We continue with writing numbers in words and putting them in order from least to greatest or greatest to least.

Reading-finding the main idea; summarizing important information

Word Wall-This week we are focusing on words that sound the same but are spelled differently such as or and are (homophones). The words of the week are too, two, to, write, right.

Social Studies-Students are beginning to learn about landforms(mountains, valley, island, etc.) found on Earth. We are integrating this skill with finding the main idea.

Writing-Students are continuing to write Halloween stories. We are also focusing on using more vivid words in place of boring words. (e.g, frightened instead of scared or enormous instead of big).

Important Dates/Reminders

• There will be no Word Wall quiz this week. This is a short week and Ms. Jakobson and I have fun Halloween learning activities prepared for the students on Friday!

• Addition timed test is Friday, October 31st. Students have three (3) minutes to answer thirty (30) problems. Study! Study! Study! :)

• The Halloween Parade is this Friday, October 31st at 1:40 p.m. Students need to come to school dressed.

• Early dismissal is next Monday, November 3rd at 11:15 am. in order to have parent-teacher conferences. Report cards will be distributed at this time. Please return the conference form inside your child's homework folder by Friday. Thanks!

*Please email me with any questions or concerns: thurmiere@gmail.com. Thanks!

Weekly Gazette (October 20th-October 24th)

What is Your Child Learning This Week?

Math- Students will continue learning how to add two-digit numbers. In addition, students will review comparing and ordering numbers and writing numbers using words. All of these skills will be integrated.

Word Wall- The words for this week are my, I, are, or. Students are beginning to work more on their personal dictionaries. These dictionaries will be sent home this week so that students may begin to get them bound.

Social Studies- We are beginning our social studies unit on landforms and Earth's geography. We will integrate this topic with the reading objective of locating the main idea/details.

Reading-Students are learning how to locate the most important idea of a paragraph while supporting it with details. We will also focus on using illustrations to help find the main idea.

Writing-Students are writing Halloween stories!


Tests and Quizzes This Week!

• Quiz on Double-Digit Addition Friday, October24th.
• Word Wall quiz Friday, October 24th.
• Solar System quiz Tuesday, October 21st. Study guide was sent home last week.
• THERE WILL BE NO ADDITION TIMED TEST THIS WEEK!

Reminders/Important Dates (PLEASE READ!)

• Graded papers will be sent home Tuesday, October 21st. Please review them with your child. :)
• Colors Day is Friday, October 24th. The cost is five (5) lempiras.
• Don't forget to check the Eagle Courier.
• There is NO SCHOOL next Monday, October 27th in honor of Armed Forces Day.
• First quarter ended last Friday, October 17th. Please talk with your child about how the beginning of second quarter is an opportunity to make new academic and behavioral goals!
• Parents, thanks so much for all the candy we have received! We really appreciate it! The candy sale has been going very well, and second grade is very appreciative of all your support!

Any questions or comments, email me at thurmiere@gmail.com

Weekly Gazette (Week of Oct. 6-Oct.10)

What is Your Child Learning This Week?

Reading- We are continuing with learning how to summarize the most important parts of a text. We will focus on the story elements (characters, setting, problem, events, solution) when summarizing fiction and main idea/details when summarizing non-fiction.

*This is a very difficult skills. While we will also review/incorporate other skills as needed, summarization will be our primary focus for the next two weeks.*

Math-Students will be introduced to place value (up to 1,000) and two-digit addition. Students will be expected to read and write numbers in various forms as well as use correct place value operations when adding. We will focus on these concepts for the next three weeks.

Writing-Students are continuing with the writing process as they continue drafting their personal narratives.

Word Wall-There will be no new words this week. We will continue to focus on the words from last week: crashes, played, pretty, school, truck.

*Students are beginning to work on their Special Dictionary project. This is a dictionary that focuses on blends, diagraphs, vowel patterns, sight words, and any other spelling needs relevant to the student. Each dictionary is personalized, meaning that it will contain words needed only by that particular student. These dictionaries will be used all year. Words will be added based on the student's needs. Students will work on the dictionary at school and at home for the next month or so.

Science-Students will learn why there are four seasons (summer, spring, autumn, winter). They will also visit the science lab and experiment with gravity, solar power, and Earth's characteristics. Students will continue researching information about the planets.



Important Dates

• Friday, October 10th, students will have a quiz on the characteristics of the planets. Students will have to list characteristics of some of the planets. Students will use their planet research information as a study guide. The research is reviewed and discussed in class daily.

• On Friday, October 10th there will be a Word Wall quiz.

• Timed test on addition facts is this Thursday, October 9th. Students will have three (3) minutes to complete thirty (30) problems.

Reminders

• Please make sure to check the Eagle Courier at www.amschool.org

• Please make sure your child brings a water bottle to school! :) This helps maximize class time, for students are not leaving to drink water or fill water bottles.

• Reading logs are due every Friday. Please make sure your child is reading every night! :)

• Don't forget to review your child's graded papers and return them by the due date.

Weekly Gazette (Sept. 8-Sept. 12)

Reminders

• Tuesday, September 9th is early dismissal at 1:00 pm. Please make transportation arrangements.
  


• First (1st) and second (2nd) grade students who are part of the Eagle League will have practice Tuesday, September 9th at 1:00 p.m.
  


• Check the Eagle Courier through www.amschool.org.
  


• Please make sure that your child keeps his/her nails cut short. Doing so helps with appropriate typing formation on the keyboard in computer class.
  


• Please review graded papers with your child and return them by the due date.
  
  

Important Dates

o Word Wall quiz Friday, September 12th.

o Addition timed test on doubles and sums of ten (10) Friday, September 12th. Students will have three

(3) minutes to answer twenty-five (25) questions.

o Wednesday, September 10th is Children’s Day! Students will receive a free popsicle at recess!

What are Students Learning This Week?

Reading- Students are beginning a unit on how to use comprehension strategies. Comprehension strategies are behaviors that good readers exhibit when reading. These strategies help readers better understand the text, and they also facilitate the learning of other comprehension skills. The ultimate goal is for students to use these strategies independently. The comprehension strategies include the following:
· Predicting (using pictures, titles, and word clues to think about what will happen next in a story).
· Clarifying (breaking big words into smaller words, using context clues to make sense of unknown words).
· Summarizing (retelling the most important events or ideas of a text).
· Questioning (asking questions about unclear information or about the author’s decisions about the problem, characters, etc.)
· Making connections (connecting the text to a personal experience, another book, or a worldly experience).
· Visualizing (creating mental pictures as the text is being read).

***We will focus on these strategies over the next month. Although we will practice these strategies using various texts, our primary texts will be Frog and Toad are Friends and informational text pertaining to the Solar System.

Writing- We will begin Writer’s Workshop this week. Good writing contains elements from six traits: conventions, ideas, voice, sentence fluency, organization, and word choice. For the first quarter, we will focus on the traits of conventions and ideas. Conventions is the part of writing that focuses on spelling, punctuation, capitalization, format, and paragraph formation. Ideas focus on the writer’s ability to elaborate details, focus on a main idea, and choose an appropriate topic.

Math- We will review doubles and focus on sums of ten (10). We will also focus on mathematical language such as equal, add, sum, double, greater, etc. and begin creating our math word wall.

Science- Students will learn rules/procedures for using the science lab. Wednesday is “Science Exploration Day” where the students will participate in science stations and experiment with static electricity and how some chemicals react to one another. This day serves to show to students how fun science can be! Thursday we begin our unit on the Solar System!

Word Wall/Spelling: black, brothers, clock slow, trip. All the words this week contain a blend (bl, br, cl, sl, tr). We will focus on blends and rhyming words this week.

September Calendar

Weekly Gazette-September 1-5th

What is My Child Learning This Week?

• Reading-sequencing; vocabulary development (context clues)
  
• Writing- how to use a checklist; generating ideas for writing
  
• Math-adding doubles; addition strategies
  
• Word Wall Words-boy, children, cousin, girl, nice
  
• Social Studies-map skills; characteristics of a community
  

Tests and Quizzes

• Sequencing quiz on Tuesday, September 2nd. (rubric sent home Monday, Sept. 1st)
  
• Math Timed test on doubles Friday, September 5th. Students will have four (4) minutes to answer twenty-five (25) problems. 
  
• Word Wall test Friday, September 5th. 
  

Important Dates/Reminders

• Students will begin taking Diagnostic Reading Assessment (DRA) this Monday. Please make sure your child gets enough rest and a good breakfast all week! :) 

• Summer Reading Projects are due Tuesday, September 2nd. 

• Please pay party money to Ms. Love, Ms. Jakobsen, or any of the room mothers if you have not done so. Thanks!

• Please check the Eagle Courier and the monthly calendar for upcoming events.

Welcome to 2B's Blog

Hello parents and students! This is Ms. Love! I am excited to introduce to you this alternative means of communicating important information pertaining to our classroom. Presently, a primary goal of the American School is to use as little paper as possible. Therefore, one of our classroom goals this year is to use less paper also. That means that as the school year continues, I will rely less on paper communication and will depend more upon this blog as a communication device of important upcoming dates and events in our school and our classroom. 

This blog will also serve as a means of displaying student work, and I will also share with you online websites that may be useful in helping to reinforce students' academic skills. 

This blog is interactive, meaning that parents can post comments and concerns relating to material published. Please peruse the blog! There's more soon to come! :)