December 17-20

We have three and a half school days left before break and a week of fun and learning.

If your child has not already brought in a shoe box, please have him/her do so. This will be used to carry home the gingerbread house that the students will be making in class on Tuesday.

Wednesday is our International Festival. The students will rotate from one second grade classroom to the next visiting different countries including France, Russia, Spain and China. On this day, your child can wear to school the flag t-shirt they made and wore for the Second Grade Show with uniform bottoms. The afternoon is about celebrating different cultures and having fun.

Thursday is a noon dismissal and the Lower Division Sing-a-Long. You are welcome to join us at 11:00 in the Janet Root Theater. Please come sit with us if you can.

Our field trip to Fresh Food Hydroponics (http://ffhydro.com) was a big hit. If you have some time, I would encourage you to visit to pick some fresh produce. The strawberries and beans were delicious.

We are reviewing spelling, vocabulary, grammar, and handwriting this week in language arts. There will be no formal spelling or vocabulary quiz. We will be reading various holiday stories including Kyle's First Kwanzaa by Angela Shelf Medearis, The Chanukkah Guest by Eric A. Kimmel, The Black Snowman by Phil Mendez, and The Happy Elf by Harry Connick, Jr.

The students will be bringing home their Readers' Toolkit this week to use. Please ask them about it and encourage them to use it as they read.

In math, the students will learn to develop paper-and-pencil strategies for adding 2- and 3-digit numbers and use estimation to check if answers are reasonable.

I wish you a wonderful holiday. Be safe and merry.

Ms. O'Mullane

December 10-14

Welcome to our last full week of school for 2012. There are only 9 school days left until we break for the holidays. Our last day will be a noon dismissal on Thursday, December 20. The Lower Division Sing A long will also take place on this day (11:00am for grades K-4 in the JRT).

This week the students will go on their first Second Grade Field Trip to the First Fruits Hydroponics Farm (3215 46th Avenue North). You are welcome to meet us there at 10:00. This will be a fun field trip and last about 1 hour.

This is the last week we are 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. This Friday, December 14, the students will carry the gifts to the gym to be sorted by family. Thanks for your generosity for these families in need.

Our Second Grade International Festival will be held on Wednesday, December 19 after lunch. Please pack your child a very light lunch on this day, seeing food will be served at the festival.

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

Our Parent Reader this week will be H. Coleman. This is the last week we will have Parent Reader until January. Thanks to all who have come in to read this year.

Here is a glance at what is going on in the classroom this week.

Literacy
* Phonics - s/c or j/g, dge
* Spelling: pledge, central, gentle, celebrate, huge, fudge, fireplace, gymnast, price, space;
* Bonus Spelling: century, general
* Story of the Week - Imogene's Anthers by David Small
* Vocabulary: consulted, eventful, prodded, miniature, milliner
* Reading workshop: Good readers think about what they are reading. Students will continue using their tool kits to guide them as they read
* Writing workshop: Using a dictionary to spell unknown words; Editing checklist; Writing reflections for the Electronic Portfolio
* Grammar: Nouns are names of people, places and objects/things; Proper nouns are capitalized
* Handwriting: Paragraph writing; y - slide down; j - down and turn; the dot comes second

Mathematics - Unit 4
* Estimating costs
* Students will develop strategies for adding 2-digit numbers mentally and calculate the total cost of two items
* Making change for whole-dollar amounts up to $100
* Pencil and paper strategies for adding 2 and 3-digit numbers

Social Studies
* Holiday celebrations around the world
* Exploring Europe

Science - Changes - Separating Mixtures of Color

* The students will brainstorm how colors change when mixed

* The students will use chromatography to separate black and green inks into their component colors

We will also be harvesting the garden, sharing our Antarctica book with our Kindergarten buddies and recording our reflections on Voice Thread.

Have a wonderful week -

Ms. O'Mullane

December 3-7

I hope you enjoyed your weekend as I did decorating my house and yard to celebrate the festive season.

The students had their first compliment party last Friday and are trying hard to fill up the Q Jar (Quality work, Quality attitude and Quality behavior) again. What progress I have seen since the beginning of the school year and I am so lucky to have such a wonderful group of second graders in my care this year. Thanks again for all your support in the education of your amazing children.

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 help out with planning or assisting on the day, please contact G. White or K. Leary who are coordinating this event.

Current Event sharing continues this week. The new Current Event calendar is in your child's Take Home Folder. Our presenters this week will be: on Tuesday: Claire and Matthew; Wednesday: Noah and Stella DeFrain; Thursday: Nico and Rose; and Friday: Nick and Stella Davis

Our Parent Reader this week will be M. Emerson. Thanks again for making our Friday morning a special one.

Here is a glance at what is going on in the classroom this week.

Literacy
* Phonics: long e, ey and y
* Spelling words: speedy, keyhole, valley, twenty, donkey, chimney, money, breezy, nobody, hungry

* Story of the Week: Wombat Divine by Mem Fox

* Vocabulary: divine, audition, beamed, stroked

* Grammar: Abbreviations

* Reading workshop: Readers read fluently by reading with talking voices; Readers make their reading sound smooth by going back and rereading; Readers read with phrasing and intonation by noticing and using punctuation

* Writing Workshop: Using the dictionary as a tool for writing; Story endings

* Handwriting: Capitals, Commas, and Paragraphs

Mathematics - Unit 4

We started our new math unit today and so please have a look at the new Family Letter that I placed in your child's Take Home Folder. We also will review the Unit 3 quiz, which I have sent home for you to look at and do some further review with your child. Please return this school when you have view and signed it.

This week the students will:

* solve change-to-more number and parts-and-total number stories

* explore reading temperatures on a thermometer, finding the total value of a group of coins, and develop readiness for classifying geometric shapes

* read and show temperatures and solve number stories about temperature change

Social Studies

* Complete a scavenger hunt A to Z about Europe

* The students will begin investigating holiday traditions around the world. If you have a holiday tradition you would like to share with the students, please email me and we will set up a time for you to come to the classroom and share this tradition

Science - Changes 

A Dissolving Race: Warm and Cold Water

* The students will explore the relationship between the temperature of liquid and how fast a solid dissolves

Separating Mixtures of Color

* The students will brainstorm how colors change when mixed

* The students will use chromatography to separate black and green inks into their component colors

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.

November 12-16

Wow. What a fantastic job the students did last Thursday reciting the poem, The Spider and the Fly by Mary Howitt. I was so proud of them. Thanks for coming out and supporting us.

We are all very excited about the upcoming Second Grade Program. The students are so excited and have been working very hard to get ready. They will be rehearsing every morning this week in the Janet Root Theater for the big performance on Friday, November 16th at 8:30am.

Mrs Rowe will need volunteers to help set up the stage tomorrow in the JRT from 9:30-11:30am, if you are available.

Please make sure that your child wears blue denim bottoms (shorts, skirts/skorts or pants) on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Their flag shirts are here at school for them to get changed into.

Other reminders:
* Holiday Gift Drive - The Holiday Gift Drive will take place December 3-December 14. A container will be placed near your child's classroom door to collect holiday gifts. On Friday, December 14, the students will carry the gifts to the gym to be sorted by family.
* The Lower Division Sing Along will take place on Thursday, December 20 at 11:00 for grades K-4 in the Janet Root Theatre.
* Thanksgiving Break - Nov. 19-23
* Current Events: Tuesday: Claire, Matthew; Wednesday - Noah, Stella Grace; Thursday - Nicolas, Rose; Friday - Nick and Stella D.

Because we are busy preparing for our show, there are only five new spelling words this week. When the students return from Thanksgiving break, we will be back at ten new spelling words every week. As the year progresses we will build the spelling list up to fifteen words, preparing them for third grade.

We will also be finishing off Unit 3 in math, including reading a graph, making change by counting up and solving multistep problems for amounts under $1.00, and,  making chance using nickels, dimes, and quarters. We will also be reading Thanksgiving stories, including Three Young Pilgrims) and do various activities around the Thanksgiving theme and doing some more science experiments as part of our exploration of solids, liquids and gases.

I wish you a very happy Thanksgiving celebration with your family and friends. It is such a special time to come together and to give thanks. How lucky we are to have so many wonderful things in our lives.

First Grade Service-Learning Project

First Grade Service-Learning Project:

First grade's service-learning project for the SPCA is in full swing. They are collecting items needed for the care of the animals. PLEASE help your child experience “giving” for such a wonderful cause. Below are some of the suggested items needed by the SPCA. The collection bins are in the hallways and need filling! First grade will take all the collections to the SPCA on November 14^th.  Thank you so much to those who have donated so far! You may also go to the "Animals Wish List" at the following link to see what they need.

http://www.spcafl.org/

Donate a Dog or Cat Bed

The Book Fair has kicked off this week. Today the students got the chance to preview books and created a Wish List. The fair is open from Monday (Nov. 5) to Thursday (Nov. 8) if you wish to check it out with your child.

The second graders are excited! This year the four classes are combining their talents for Poetry in the Park, which will take place this Thursday, November 8th at 8:30am. Bring a lawn chair or blanket and joins us for this annual event. The students sound fantastic and you are in for a treat. Boys will dress in black, to represent the spider, and the girls will dress in fun, brightly colored clothing, to represent the fly.

The children are also working hard to get ready for our Second Grade Program. Please continue sending in brown paper grocery bags, clear/white gallon milk water bottles (no yellow) for creating the scenery and stuffed jungle type animals labeled with student names (animals can be brought in the week of the show). You should have received a note about this last week. Mrs. Rowe will need help setting up the stage in the JRT on Tuesday 11/13 from 9:30-11:30am if you are available.

Current Events begins again this week, so please refer to the calendar in your child's Take-Home Folder.

I want to thank all those parents who helped prepare the t-shirts for painting today and/or helped the students paint their show t-shirts today. I took a personal day, but heard that the afternoon was a success. I can't wait to see the students on stage representing countries from all around the world.

This Friday is a Professional Work Day for faculty and no school day for the students.

I wish you a wonderful week - Ms. O'Mullane