International Festival Attire

This Thursday is our Second Grade International Festival and to get into the spirit, your child can wear (to school) clothing/traditional attire from another country/culture, OR jeans and the country flag t-shirt that he/she wore for our Second Grade performance.

Week of December 13th

This morning we heard from Jonathan, Samuel, Shaherzad, Channing and Brenna who presented information about Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Ireland and Denmark and what an amazing job they did. Presentations were organized, interesting and creative. Thanks for the support I know that you have been giving your child at home. I can't wait to listen to the rest of the class present tomorrow and on Wednesday.

Another busy week ahead with attending the choir performance on Wednesday, our Second Grade International Festival on Thursday and holiday sing-a-long on Friday. I am not giving any new spelling words this week, but ask that you review words your child may have missed on his/her quiz last week. We will also play a spelling game on Friday using words from the last 5 weeks or so, which your child has a copy of in their homework folder. I also have not set formal homework this week, seeing the students are working hard on their Europe presentations and to celebrate the festive season.

Remember our library day is on Tuesday and I ask that you help remind your child to pack their library books in their bag. Tomorrow will be your child's last chance to check out books for a couple of weeks and would be nice for them to have some new material to read over the break.

By now you have probably heard that we will have an International Festival on Thursday, Dec. 16th from 1:00-2:40. During the International Day, the children will be rotating through the countries using passports. They will check into each country through customs, once through customs, the children will eat the food and do the activity for that country. Countries they will visit are Pakistan, China, Mexico, Peru, France, Australia, South Africa, Italy and Germany.
What a great event for the children. Chris F. has sent out an email with specific things we need including globes, artifacts and volunteers.

Parent Reader - Gina W.
Current Events - No Current Events this week due to Europe presentations

Language Arts
Review spelling and vocabulary
Plural Possessive Nouns

Writing for Readers - Proofreading and editing Small Moment Stories

Mathematics
Partial Sums Addition

Social Studies
International Festival on Thursday
Europe presentations

Science
Making crystals from salt

I wish you a safe and happy holiday. While on break, please encourage your child to read each day and write when the opportunity arises (e.g. on a postcard, in a journal).

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

Week of Nov. 29th

Hello and welcome back. I hope you and your children had a fantastic Thanksgiving break, as I did. We are now rested and ready to finish off 2010 with a bang. This week we begin our trip to Europe and your child will be given a country to research and present to the class. More information is coming your way tomorrow, so please be on the lookout for this. Our International Festival will be on Thursday, Dec. 16th at 1:00-2:40, which our Second Grade Reps. are planning and coordinating. Countries represented at our festival will be France, Italy, China, Mexico, Peru, Australia, Pakistan and South America. If you would like to participate or share some expertise, please contact Lisa Hahn or myself in the next few days.

Here is our week at a glance. We are currently collecting gifts for the Holiday Gift Drive for Marina, Liam and Landon. 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, Dec. 10, the students will carry the gifts to the gym to be sorted by family. Thanks for your generosity for this family in need.

Parent Reader - Hutch C.
Current Events - Tuesday: Lauren W, Jonathan; Wednesday:McIntosh, Brenna; Thursday:Samuel, Julia; Friday:Kendall, Abby

Language Arts
* Phonics - long vowel e/ey, y; inflections -ed, -es (y to i)
* Spelling - chimney, nobody, breezy, twenty, keyhole, valley, money, hungry, donkey, speedy, picture, question, favorite, minute, especially
* Reading - At Play:Long Ago and Today by Lynnette R. Brent
* Fluency - Good readers pay attention to punctuation. They pause when they come to a comma, a period, a question mark, or an exclamation mark
* Comprehension - Author's Purpose
* Vocabulary - recently, housed, official, nominate, recreation, leisurely, ramble, archaic
* Grammar - Singular Possessive Nouns
* Writer's Workshop - Writing for Readers: Teaching Skills and Strategies

Mathematics - Unit 4
* Temperature changes and reading a thermometer
* Using estimation to solve problems for which an exact answer is not necessary
* Help develop strategies for adding 2-digit numbers mentally; calculating the total cost of two items; making change for whole-dollar amounts up to $100
* Exploring length, area and attributes

Social Studies
* Europe (location and basic facts)
* Country research

Science
* Harvest our garden
* Changes: A dissolving race: warm and cold water
Comparing the temperature of two cups of water and reflecting on other factors they have investigated, students expand their understanding of the process of dissolving.

CHANGE IN SHOW CLOTHING

Dear Parents,

If you haven't already heard, there was a change in show clothing this year and the students will be required to wear denim bottoms (jean shorts, shirt or pants) for both our dress-rehearsal tomorrow (Nov. 18th) and our program on Friday (Nov. 19th). I apologize in advance for this last minute change and thank you for your accommodation. If your child doesn't have denim they can wear, please send them in their regular Shorecrest uniform bottoms.

We are looking forward to seeing you on Friday. You are in for a special treat.

Kind regards,

Ms. O'Mullane
momullane@shorecrest.org

Student Information Required

Dear Parents,

Just a reminder that we need a student information form completed for each child attending Shorecrest. Please fill out the form electronically, save the file using your child's first and last name, and send it via e-mail to forms@shorecrest.org. The form can be downloaded from the Parents Page on our Online Community, http://www.shorecrest.org/?page=ParentsPage.

If you have any problems using the online form, please contact Judy Roberge at jroberge@shorecrest.org or (727) 456-7513.

Thank you.

Week of Nov. 15

This week the focus will be on practicing for our Second Grade Show and our mornings will be spent rehearsal in the theater. As I mentioned to the students this morning, hard work will pay off when they are up their on the stage, singing, dancing and reciting their poems for you. Our afternoon's will be spent working on activities related to Thanksgiving and we will begin our new math unit, which relates to Addition and Subtraction. Please be on the lookout for the Family Letter, which will explain in more detail what the new math unit entails. Tuesday is our library day and please have your child return their books on time so they will be able to check out books to read over the Thanksgiving break.

Thanks for all who have helped prepare for this week's show, particularly our Grade Level Representatives, Chris F. and Heidi J. Thanks so much, ladies. I also want to thank all who helped paint the t-shirts with the students and sent in supplies for our stage. It is going to be a fantastic show.

We will continue with our Current Events each day. The following students' will be sharing this week: Tuesday - Lauren W. , Jonathan; Wednesday - McIntosh, Brenna; Thursday - Samuel, Julia; Friday - Kendall, Abby.

I have given the students a list of Fall Words to practice this week for spelling. If your child missed words from last week's quiz, have them practice these again for our quiz on Friday (which we will do after our show).

I will see you all on Friday and wish you a safe and happy Thanksgiving. Please continue to give your child lots of opportunities to read and write over this period.