GO RAYS! WEAR YOUR SHIRTS TOMORROW

Hello Everyone,

If the Rays win tonight, students may wear their t-shirts with the uniform shorts tomorrow. Let's support the Rays in a sea of blue!!!

Go...............Rays!!!

Ms. O'Mullane

Week 6 - September 26-30 - (šalom) שלום

Hello (šalom) שלום ). What a rainy weekend. Good for our gardens and cozy being indoors.

Can you believe that we are in the last week of September and into our sixth week of second grade already? Last week the students had fun planting plants in our second grade garden including lettuce, cabbage, beans, strawberries, tomatoes and broccoli plants. Now we will tend the garden and see what happens. We predict that we will have a delicious healthy crop ready to harvest in the next couple of months. Thanks to Skyler and Maverick's moms for helping us.

PARENT/TEACHING CONFERENCE
Next Thursday (October 6th) is Parent/Teacher Conference Day and no school for the students. Today you will be receiving a confirmation of your sign-up time. If you need to reschedule, please let me know as soon as possible.

MATH ASSESSMENT
Last week the students did their first math assessment, which we went over today in class. I will be sending this assessment for you to review with your child. I ask that you sign it and send it back to school. Please continue practicing with your child how to read the analog clock in 15 minute intervals (e.g. 12:00; 12:15; 12:30; 12:45), which we are also practicing here in class.

HOME READING LOGS
Research shows that the most prominent indicators of a successful reader is the amount of time spent actually reading. Therefore it is important that we keep an eye on the actual amount of reading that a child is doing. In Reading Workshop, your child keeps a Reading Log that I can refer to for evidence of growth across time and also as a tool for deeper reflection, and for teaching. Your child will also be bringing home a Home Reading Log, to support the reading they are doing at home and monitor what they are reading. I ask that you help your child complete this as part of their home reading routine and sign next to the day your child has read. Home Reading Logs will be due every Monday. Thanks for supporting good reading habits!

Other Reminders
* Parent Reader - Molly Camp (Friday @8:10)
* Current Events - Tuesday: Gabby, John; Wednesday: Lucy, Connor; Thursday: Quentin, Skyler; Friday: Lucile, Ethan
* Spirit Day - Every Friday
* Professional Development Day - Friday, October 14th (No School)
* Picture Re-Take - Tuesday, October 18th
* Halloween Parade/Fall Festival - Friday, October 28th

Here is a glance at the main concepts covered in class this week.

Language Arts
* Phonics: long vowel i/ie, igh
* Spelling: lightning, high, weeknight, lie, flight, nightstand, sight-see, frightened, sunlight, mighty, knew, winter, begin, same, gone
* Reading: James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl; Winners Never Quit! by Mia Hamm; Climb Your Mountain by Helen Thayer
* Vocabulary: techniques, specially, struggle, traction
* Reading Workshop: Fluency - Good readers raise and lower their voices as they read, to add emphasis and expression; Comprehension - Good readers combine what they already know with information from the story to help them understand what they read and to make predictions about what will happen.
* Grammar: Nouns are naming words. Naming words name people, places, things, and animals.
* Writing Workshop: Understanding a small moment. When an author writes a Small Moment story, the author stretches out the sequence of actions across several pages to make the moment feel important and interesting.

Mathematics - Unit 2
* Review +0 and +1 addition facts and to provide practice with addition facts in which one of the addends is 0, 1, 2, or 3
* Review and practice double facts
* Turn around shortcut for addition and provide practice for a shortcut for addition facts that have 9 as an addend
* Explore and practice doubles plus 1 plus 2 facts

Social Studies
* Landmarks of North America
* Each child will research a landmark (man-made or natural) and create their own postcard (2 week project)

Science - Changes - Lesson 4 - Mixing and Separating Solids
Students will use two solids - kosher salt and gravel - to create and investigate a mixture

Have a wonderful week -

Marion O'Mullane

International Peace Day

Wednesday, September 21st is International Peace Day and to mark this celebration, the students can wear a peace t-shirt with their uniform bottoms on this day. If your child does not have a t-shirt, they should come in their regular uniform.

Math Games

Many games you have at home or see at the local store involve mathematical thinking. Children develop their skill in an almost effortless way when they play these games with each other and adults. The ages shown are suggested by the manufacturer, however, let the interest and motivation of your child by your guide when selecting and playing the games (Rf. Everyday Math, Home Connection Handbook).

Counting, Adding and Subtracting
Chutes and Ladders (3+)
Hi Ho! Cherry-O (3+)
Sorry! (6+)
Trouble (6+)
Uno (6+)

Attributes, Patterns, and Geometry
Crazy Eights - traditional card game (4+)
Guess Who? (6+)
Guess Where? (6+)
Jigsaw puzzles
Rummikub (8+)
tangrams (5+)

Strategy and Spacial Perception
The a-MAZE-ing Labyrinth (8+)
Battleship (7+)
checkers (3+)
Jenga (3+)
Connect Four (7+)
mancala (6+)
memory (many names exist for this game of matching face-down pictures (3+)
Mille Bornes (8+)
Othello (8+)
Pretty Pretty Princess (5+)

More excellent games can be found on the Internet by searching under "educational math games."

How to Help Your Child Learn His/Her Spelling Words The Old Fashion Way

How your child will learn to spell the words he/she has spelled incorrectly on his pre-test:

1) Have him/her say the word while looking at it.

2) Tell him/her to close his/her eyes, try to see the word, and then spell the word out loud.

3) Have him/her look at the written word to see if he/she has spelled it out loud correctly.

4) Ask him/her to look at the word, then cover the word and have him write it.

5) Finally, your child should check to see if he/she has written the word correctly. If the word is misspelled, all four steps should be repeated before moving on to the next word.

Once your child has learned to use this technique, he/she will be able to study his/her spelling words independently. On the night before the test, give him/her a final test of all the words.

Week 4 - September 12-16 - Hallo/Guten Tag

Our greeting of the week comes form Germany - Hallo/Guten Tag.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. How quick it always seems to go. I spent mine enjoying the sunshine with my family.

Last week was the first week of Current Events, and what a fantastic job the students did. We learned about a Giant Crab found in Antarctica, a surfing dog, Hurricane Irene, and a dog that can do math. We look forward to hearing from the rest of the students this coming week: Tuesday - Gabby, John; Wednesday: Lucy, Connor; Thursday: Quentin, Skyler; Friday - Lucile, Ethan.
I have put a copy of the Current Events Calendar for September in your child's Take Home Folder, so he/she has plenty of time to prepare and practice for the day he/she will present.

Parent Reader has been a big hit so far. Thanks to Mrs. Ryan and Mrs. Peters for coming in to read to us the last two Friday mornings. Giving the students a chance to listen to you read helps instill a love of reading in them, as well as, model to them what a proficient reader does.

This Tuesday, September 13th, is Roald Dahl Day, and there will be events happening all around the world. On this day, second grade will begin reading James and the Giant Peach (which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year) and prepare something "peachy" for snack.

Please continue having your child practice the Seven Continents and Europe Poems at home, as well as start learning South America, which I will be sending home this week as part of homework. Be on the lookout for this in your child's Take Home Folder.

Picture day is Tuesday, September 13. All students, whether they are buying photos or not, need to have their photo taken ECC - 4th grade for the yearbook. Students must bring in their money by Tuesday if they plan to buy photos. Students who are out ill will have their picture taken on Picture Re-take Day Tuesday, October 18.

There will be a new student pizza lunch for grades 1 & 2 on Wednesday, September 14 at 11:30 in room C-9. Our two new students, Connor and Ethan will be involved in this.

The children will bring home the first Home Link in math this week and sit for their first math assessment. We will be doing lots of practice in class to help build up their confidence and proficiency in telling time, adding coins, counting on a number grid and line, as well as using tally marks.

Here are some themes/concepts covered this week in class.

Language Arts
* Phonics - long vowel e/ee, ea; Inflections -ed, -ing
* Spelling - teapot, seaweed, peanut, mealtime, please, feast, beneath, beehive, screech, sneak,
close, even, grow, some, gave
* Vocabulary - anxious, ached, crooned, scent
* Reading - Stellaluna by Janell Cannon; Dogs by Jennifer Gillis
* Reading Workshop: Fluency: Good readers vary their reading rate depending on what they are reading. They slow down when they notice new words. They read long, involved sentences, and unfamiliar ideas more carefully. They speed up when words and ideas are easy to understand. Comprehension: Review main idea and details. The main idea is the most important idea of a passage and details give more information about the main idea. Knowing the main idea helps readers understand what they are reading.
* Grammar - Parts of a sentence. A sentence has two parts - a naming part and a telling part. To find the naming part of a sentence, you can ask yourself, who or what the sentence is about. You can find the telling part by asking yourself what someone or something is or does.
* Writing Workshop - Editing and publishing reflections; Topics from the Heart; Personal Narrative
* Handwriting Without Tears - Pencil grip and slanting paper; Frog Jump Capitals (FEDPBRNM)

Mathematics - Unit 1
* Counting and looking for patterns on the calculator
* Comparing numbers using the relation symbols greater than, less than, equal to
* Introducing Home Links (Math Homework)
* Exploring Temperatures, Base 10 Structures and Dominoes
* Review Unit 1

Social Studies
* Postcards from North America
* Research facts about North America using World Book for Kids (Log-in : Shorecrest; Password: chargers). Student will put facts about North America in a web and add to this throughout the week. They are learning to read and take notes.


Science - Changes - Freezing and Melting
* Students will observe and record the properties of ice;
* Students design and implement a method for melting an ice cube
* Students set up an investigation of evaporation