January 14-18

Welcome to another week in second grade. I am sure it will be another jam packed and fun one. Since returning from the break, the students are more motivated then ever to reach for their goals and be the best workers they can be. It is such a pleasure coming to school each day and working with them.

Spring Conferences are around the corner (Thursday, Feb. 7th) and you should have received an email by now confirming the time we will meet. I am looking forward to sharing the progress your child has made since our last formal conference in October and setting some goals for the remainder of the school year.

Current Events sharing will continue this week. Students sharing this week include on: Tuesday: Auggie, Jackie; Wednesday: Ainsley, Aidan; Thursday: Victoria, Will; Friday: Isabella.

Thanks for the support I know you have been giving your child to help them get ready to share.

This week your child will sit for their fourth math assessment and today you will receive a Math Home Link explaining the method for addition that focuses on place value. Please practice this method (the partial sums method) with your child at home, as I am doing here at school.

Other Important Dates to Remember:
Parent Reader - Friday, January 18: H. Coleman
Ident a Kid - Wednesday, January 23
Martin Luther King Jr Holiday (no school) - January 21
Grandparents and Special Friends Day (noon dismissal) - Friday, January 25
Oldie Goldie Book Sale: Friday, March 22
Town Meeting Presentation: Our class will share at Town Metting on Tuesday, February 19

Literacy
* Phonics: Diagraphs /f/ - gh, ph
* Spelling List 17: phone, tough, graph, enough, laugh, photo, cough, phoncs, trophy, rough
plus up to five high frequency words
* Vocabulary: cozy, mystery, stoke, enchanting
* Story of the Week: Mr. Putter and Tabby Write the Book by Cynthia Rylant
* Reading Workshop: Friendship Unit; Readers play close attention to how the friends in our books sound when they are talking to one another and we do this by listening in on the conversations that friends are having during good times and bad times. When friends are going through a bad time, readers notice how characters react. We picture in our minds how each friend behaves. The actions of each of our friends gives us insight into and lets up know more about the type of relationship that these friends have.
* Grammar: Review question and exclamation sentences; capitals in sentences; quotation marks
* Writing Workshop - Small Moment Narrative: Stretching ideas out over the pages
* Handwriting - f, q, paragraph practice, x, z

Mathematics - Unit 4 Review
We will be reviewing the concepts in Unit 4 and the students will sit for their math assessment on Wednesday.

Social Studies - Australia
We will watch a music video of I Still Call Australia Home to spark interest in the small continent on earth. The students will then brainstorm topics of interest that they will individually research and present  to the group in the next couple of weeks.

Science - Plant Growth and Development
Students will have the opportunity to reflect on how much they already know about plants and what they would like to learn. They are also asked to look closely at the outside of a bean seed, an exercise that introduces skills that will be developed throughout the unit: observing, recording and predicting.

Welcome Back! January 7-11, 2013

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 this week. Students sharing this week include" Tuesday: Claire, Matthew; Wednesday: Noah, Stella DeFrain; Thursday: Nicolas, Rose; Friday: Nick and Stella Davis

Other Important Dates to Remember:

Parent Reader - Friday, January 11: White; January 18:, H. Coleman
Ident a Kid - Wednesday, January 23
Martin Luther King Jr Holiday (no school) - January 21
Grandparents and Special Friends Day (noon dismissal) - Friday, January 25
Oldie Goldie Book Sale: Friday, March 22

Here is our week at a glance.

Literacy
Phonics: change y to i and add es
Spelling Words: duty, duties, candy, candies, bunny, bunnies, fairy, fairies, pony, ponies, plus five high frequency words your child still needs to learn
Story of the Week: Horace and Morris But Mostly Dolores by James Howe
Vocabulary: decision, downhearted, friendship, discussion, exploring
Reading Workshop: We will begin our Friendship Unit: Examining Good Times and Bad Times. This is a thematic unit on friendship that encourages students to follow the friends in their series books through journeys consisting of good times and bad times. This is a way for the students to dig deeper into reading skills that promote the exploration of character relationshops.
Writing: Small Moment and conferring; New Year's reflection
Handwriting: Upper case and lower case letter: n, m, h, b

Mathematics - Unit 4
* Review ballpark estimates (rounding off numbers to the nearest ten)
* To introduce and practice the partial-sums addition algorithm
* Reviewing telling time
* Review Unit 4

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

Science - Changes - Bubbles and FIzz: Observing a Chemical Reaction
Throughout the unit, students have observed some of the changes that occur when solids and liquids are  mixed and separated. They have also tested some methods for separating their mixtures into the original components. Now they have the opportunity to investigate some of the changes that can occur when solids and liquids react chemically with one another. In this lesson, students first observe what happens when they mix water with baking soda. Then they observe the visible chemical reaction that occurs when they mix vinegar and baking soda. By comparing these observations, students are introduced to the idea that some solids and liquids react with one another to form a new substance - in this case, a gas.

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.