Welcome Back and Happy New Year

Happy New Year and welcome back. I hope you all had a wonderful break. As I write this blog, I think about how thankful I am to be working at Shorecrest and trying to make a difference in the lives of your children. I look forward to watching your children grow and develop over the next five months and try to make a difference in their lives.

I also want to thank you all again for your generous gifts and warm wishes leading up to the holiday period. It is such a pleasure working with your children and delight in seeing their enthusiasm for learning.

Here is our week at a glance. Please take note that Current Events sharing will begin next Tuesday, January 10th. A copy of this month's calendar is in your child's Take Home Folder.

Some important dates for this month include the following:

Parent Reader - Mrs. Leary (January 6th); Jamie McElroy (January 13th); Mrs. George (January 20th) and Mrs. Crupi (January 27th)
Second Grade Social - Saturday. January 7th
Martin Luther King Jr Holiday (no school) - January 16th
Grandparents and Special Friends Day (noon dismissal) - January 27th
Marianne Berkes (visiting author) will be here on Monday, January 9th in the JRT

Thanks to all our parents who help out in the library every Tuesday. We appreciate all that you do.

Here is our week at a glance.

Language Arts
Phonics: Digraphs n/kn; r/wr; f/gh, ph
Spelling Words (10 this week): cough, wrist, handwriting, knight, photograph, knuckle, kneel, elephant, enough, trophy
Reading: Mr. Putter and Tabby Write the Book by Cynthia Rylant (Realistic Fiction)
Fluency: Intonation. Good readers let their voices rise and fall naturally, as they do when they are speaking. For example, they raise their voices at the end of a question and when they read a word in slanted type.
Comprehension: Good readers monitor how well they understand what they read. If they do not understanding something about the story, they can read ahead to gather more information.
Vocabulary: disturb, underneath, procrastinate, diversion
Grammar: Adjectives
Writing: Small Moment and conferring; New Year's Acrostic Poem
Handwriting: Letter i (the dot comes second), e (start, hit the ball, run the bases, stop), letter size and place (with your hand, show letter size and place) a, g, t.

Mathematics - Unit 4
* Addition strategies for adding 2 and 3 digit numbers and using estimation to check if answers are reasonable
* To introduce and practice the partial-sums addition algorithm
* Reviewing tell time
* Review Unit 4 and quiz (Friday or Next Monday)

Social Studies
An introduction to Australia/Oceania (the smallest continent in the world)

Science - Changes
Changing salt water to crystals

I wish you a happy week. Please encourage your child to read every day and fill in their reading log. Reading logs are due every Monday. Thanks for your support.

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