Welcome Back! November 26-30

I hope you and your children had a fantastic Thanksgiving break, as I did with my family. We are now rested and ready to finish off 2012 with a bang.

I want to congratulate the students again for a wonderful Second Grade Show. I felt so proud of the students. What an amazing job they did. Thanks to all those involved in helping us paint t-shirts and set up and take down the stage. What a great team effort. Please check out the link on November 16 ebytes for some wonderful pictures: http://ebytes.shorecrest.org/?q=ld-11-16-2012

We are currently collecting gifts for the Holiday Gift Drive. Please wrap and label each gift with the Family number and Child's name. A post it or peel away label on the gift with gift content is helpful. On Friday, December 14, the students will carry the gifts to the gym to be sorted by family. Thanks for your generosity for this family in need.


The Lower Division Holiday Sing Along will take place on Thursday, December 20 at 11:00 for grades K-4 in the Janet Root Theatre.

Our Second Grade International Festival will be held on Wednesday, December 19 after lunch. If you would like to share your culture or help out with planning or assisting on the day, please contact G. White or K. Leary who will be coordinating this event.

Current Event sharing resumes this week. Our presenters this week will be: on Tuesday: Auggie and Jackie; Wednesday: Ainsley, Aidan; Thursday: Victoria, Will; Friday: Isabella

Our Parent Reader this week will be H. Kreps (Nov. 30) and M. Emerson the following Friday (Dec. 7).

Just a reminder that for the health, safety, and security of our students, all arriving parents and visitors will sign in at the Lower Division Office to receive a visitor's pass to wear. If you are prefer meeting your child on campus after school, please meet him/her at the lunch picnic tables.

This week the students will learn to log in on Voice Thread and title slides in their Electronic Portfolio. The Electronic Portfolio is a collection of work in the form of a Voice Thread that the students will share with you in May.

Here is what else is going on in our classroom this week.

Literacy
* Phonics: ch, th, tch, sh
* Spelling: cheese, matchbox, toothbrush, starfish, sketch, sandwich, bathtub, shadow, thankful, crash
* Vocabulary: token, collection, clomping, plaque
* Story of the Week: Jamaica Louise James by Amy Hest
* Reading Workshop: Readers visualize what is going on in their books by making pictures in their minds as they read (characters, action, setting); Readers get their "lost" mental picture by going back and rereading; Readers read fluently with talking voices
* Grammar: Abbreviations
*  Writing Workshop: Personal Narrative writing; Publishing our non-fiction book a-z about Antarctica
* Handwriting: Ll down and bump; Kk karate - down, bump, kick and slide away; capitals and commas

Mathematics: Unit 3 
* Review Unit 3 and assessing progress check
Mathematics: Unit 4 - Addition and Subtraction
* Students will solve change-to-more number stories

Social Studies - Europe
The students will locate Europe and start making a fact file about Europe (the second smallest continent in the world),

Science - Changes - A Dissolving Race - Two Forms of Sugar
The students will compare two forms of the same substance - a sugar cube and granulated sugar and how they dissolve in water. The students will record and discuss their observations.