Homework - 11/30

1. Use this week's spelling words or high frequency words in sentences. Create five interesting ones to share in class.
2. Reading.
3. Practice spelling words and read over the student friendly explanations for the vocabulary words.

Week of November 30, 2009

I hope you all had a terrific Thanksgiving.

Here is our week at a glance. No Current Events this week. We will be having open sharing.

Library - Michelle Schnitt
Parent Reader - Meredith Leonhirth

Language Arts
Phonics - long vowel e/ey; Inflections - -ed, -es (y to i)
Spelling - very, messy, lady, happy, key, baby, money, funny, candy, sunny
Bonus - chimney, nobody, breezy, twenty, keyhole
High Frequency Words - board, cook, enjoy, expensive, favorite, imagine, popular, year
Reading - At Play: Long Ago and Today by Lynnette R. Brent
Fluency - Punctuation
Comprehension - Author's purpose and asking questions
Robust Vocabulary - recently, housed, official, nominate, recreation, leisurely, ramble, archaic
Grammar - Singular Possessive Nouns
Writing - Personal Narrative

Mathematics
* Estimating Costs
* A Shopping Activity (adding 2-digit numbers mentally; calculating the total cost of two items; demonstrate making change for whole-dollar amounts up to $100)
* Exploring length, area and attributes
* Paper and pencil addition strategies

Social Studies
Europe

Science
Rocks and Minerals

Happy Thanksgiving

I wish you and your loved ones a Happy Thanksgiving. Life is good and we have a lot to be thankful for this year. I am off to Orlando with my girls to have some fun!

Marion O'Mullane

Spirit Day

Don't forget that it is Spirit Day tomorrow (Wednesday, Nov. 18). Wear your green and gold and celebrate Shorecrest.

South America Presentations

Today we heard Reilly, Renata, Erin, Asher and Emery present information about countries in South America. You all did a fantastic job sharing interesting facts about Ecuador, Venezuela, Brazil, French Guiana, and Colombia. Congratulations. I can't wait to hear from the rest of the students. Thanks also to all those parents who came in to watch. I know that your child felt proud having you in class.

Homework 11/17

1. Math worksheet (Home Link 4.1) Change Number Stories
2. South America project
3. Spelling, vocabulary and reading

Homework this Week

For homework this week, I will be giving the students time to work on their South American country presentation and visual. I can't wait to hear what they have found out. Remember that parents are most welcome to come along to watch the children present. I will post the times of the presentations again at the end of the week. Thanks for your support and help with this project. What a terrific learning experience!

Keep reading each day and review the high frequency words from the list on the back of the homework record sheet. I will be testing these on Thursday, seeing Friday is a day off for the students.

Important Events this Week

* November 9-12 • Book Fair in Student Activity Center
I plan to take the students to the Book Fair at 9am on Tuesday to see what is available for purchase. You can return with your child if you want to purchase. If after school does not work, you can come by and collect your child during the day, but keep in mind that lunch is between 11:30-12:oo and the students do have specials at certain times during the day.

* Wednesday, November 11 • Poetry in the Park (EC-4) 8:30 a.m. Lower Div. Quad
Please bring a deck chair or blanket to sit on. FYI - We will be performing towards the end of the program.
Let's hope it is a fine day. Please send in a bandana and cowboy hat by Tuesday, if you have not already done so.

* Friday, November 13 • No classes EC-8 — Faculty Prof. Day.

South American Research Project

As a part of our unit on South America, the students will be required to do an oral presentation about a country in South America. Note cards can be used to help guide in this presentation and a visual aid will also work well (e.g. poster, book, music, clothing worn, arts/crafts). A note suggesting what to include in this presentation was sent home today (Monday, November 2). You will need to guide your child in locating information about their country, but try to encourage them to work independently on their visual aid. I will be taking the students to the library this week to locate information and demonstrate how to take notes. This is going to be a fun learning experience.

Poetry in the Park

Next Wednesday, November 11 is Poetry in the Park. The students will need to bring in a cowboy hat and bandana to wear for our presentation. If your child does not have a cowboy hat, maybe they could ask a friend or family member to borrow theirs. Please email me if you have any questions.

Homework 11/4

1. Practice poem
2. South American Country Research Project
3. Spelling, vocabulary, and reading

Homework 11/3

1. Practice poem
2. Math - Home Link 3.6 - Frames and Arrows
3. South American Project
4. Reading

Homework 11/2

1. Practice, Bad Baxter Barton (our poem for Poetry in the Park)
2. Start finding out about your South America country (you will do your presentation during the week of Nov. 16th)
3. Spelling review, read over the high-frequency words, and read over the robust vocabulary student-friendly explanations
4. Reading

Week of November 2

Here's our week at a glance. I am busy writing progress reports and can't believe how much the students have progressed since the beginning of the school year. Lots of terrific things are happening in second grade.

I will not be in class on Tuesday and Wednesday this week and the students are in the capable hands of Mrs. Manella. Have a terrific week.

Current Events: Tuesday - Reilly, Devin; Wednesday - Chloe, Noah; Thursday - Emerson, Turner; Friday - John, Erin.

Language Arts (Theme review and Vocabulary Builder)

Phonics - Review long vowel i/ie,igh; long vowel a,ai,ay; r-controlled vowel ar; long vowel o/oa/ow

Spelling - Words with ie, igh, ai, ay, ar, ao, ow (see back of Homework Record sheet for specific words)

High-Frequency words - straight, cheer, brother, lose, learn, caught, coming, knee, idea, laughed, million, surve, world, ago, accept, fair, though, clear, half, believe, impossible, enough, brought, understand, early, quite

Reading - Readers' Theater "A Trip to the Fire Station"(Documentary)

Fluency - Review intonation and expression

Comprehension - Make predicitons, use prior knowledge, plot, and story structure

Robust Vocabulary - minor, previous, priorities, extinguish, hazard, efficient, instantly, drench

Grammar - Nouns, singular and plural nouns, proper nouns

Writing - Poetry (Revise and Publish)

Mathematics - Unit 3* Frames and Arrows

* Making Change by Counting Up

* Coin Exchanges

* Review Unit 3

Social Studies

* South America

* Research project

Science

* Watering Earth's Plants

* Lima bean study

* Planting seeds and watching them grow