Week of Dec.6, 2010

Here is our week at a glance. The students are busy at work on researching a country in Europe, which they will present in class next week. An outline of the project was sent home on Monday. While it is expected that the students work on this project at home, they will be given some time in class to gather information, as well as practice the art of presenting to an audience. I can't wait to see and hear what they have learned. Please come along to your child's presentation on the day they are scheduled to present.

Last Friday, we harvested the second grade garden, and on Monday we chopped, baked and fried the veggies and had a veggie feast. Ask your child what their favorite vegetable was? The fried green tomatoes were my favorite (yum!). Be on the lookout for photos in ebytes.

This Wednesday, the students will see a performance of The Hundred Dresses in the JRT and on Friday carry the holiday gifts to the gym to be sorted by family. We will also have buddy reading with Ms. Conroy's Kindergarten class on this same day. The students are excited to take the lead and guide the younger students.

Parent Reader - Mike W.

Current Events -Tuesday:Hailey, Channing; Wednesday: Shaherzad, Aidan; Thursday: Rylan, Zaynab; Friday: Lauren E., Gage
Showcase - Gage F.

Language Arts

* Phonics - Consonants s/c; j/g, dge; Inflections -ed, -ing (double final consonant)

* Spelling words - central, fireplace, gentle, gymnast, celebrate, pledge, budge, cereal, fancy, prince, several, getting, probably, never, earth

* Class Reader - The Big Bushy Mustache by Gary Soto

* Fluency - Good readers read long sentences by breaking them up into shorter groups of words that go together. Reading groups of words without pausing helps you make sense of what you are reading, and it sounds more like natural speech

* Comprehension - Fiction and Nonfiction; Monitor Comprehension: Reread

* Robust Vocabulary - wilting, flitted, swirling, trance, route, semblance, distraught, improvise

* Grammar - Plural Possessive Nouns

* Writing Workshop - Writing for Readers: Teaching Skills and Strategies;
Checking content: Focused Small Moment Stories

Mathematics (Unit 4)

* Exploring length, area and attributes

* Paper and pencil addition strategies

* The Partial-Sums Addition Algorithm

Social Studies

* Holidays Around the World

* Europe

* Country Research

* Review the equator, southern and northern hemispheres

Science

* Changing salt water to crystals

* Tend our garden