December 22nd and 23rd

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

Team Howard is bringing home the gifts they made for their family members today!  They have already been wrapped with love.  Please be sure to help your child check their backpack and make sure all of the gifts get to where they need to be.

Please remember to send your child to school with their coat, snow pants, boots, hats, and mittens.  Without these items, they are not able to play at recess.

Tomorrow is our reader's theater performance.  Students are encouraged to wear something like their character would wear, but it is not necessary.  

THIS WEEK IN…

Reader's Theater Preparations:  Today, we worked together to create the backgrounds for our plays.  We really had to think of the story and the setting to portray a true background to the play.  We also worked hard to create props that we might need to help our plays come alive!

Festive Fun:  Today, we wrapped all of the gifts we made during our elf workshop.  We did this completely independently!  It was a great experience learning how to cut the wrapping paper, how much tape to use, how to fold the paper, etc.  

We were also visited by the high school choir group.  They sang some lovely carols and even some songs from their concert.  They sounded amazing!  We had fun singing along too.

Tomorrow, we will join Mrs. Sylvester's class in the morning to watch Frozen!  Then, Mrs. Sylvester's class will perform the Nutcracker for us.  

Later in the day, we will perform our own reader's theater plays to Team Howard.  We have been working really hard on using our movie star voices and making the play come alive.  It will be a great experience to see each play put their own spin on the stories.

Even with just a two day week, we are busy, busy, busy!  I hope everyone has a lovely holiday season and enjoys some quality time with their family over winter break.

December 15-19

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

Tomorrow is a combined music and P.E. day.  Please help your child pack their sneakers tonight!

Homework packets are due on Thursday!  Please help your child put their homework packet back into their backpack on Wednesday evening.  Remember... no homework packet = no free choice Friday!

Our December spelling test will be on THURSDAY!  Please help your child to practice spelling the words correctly but also knowing how to use the word in context.  For example, what is the difference between its and it’s?

Antonio da Rocha, a storyteller and mime, will be coming to Russell School on Thursday!  He came to Russell School a few years ago and was a phenomenal storyteller.  I am so excited to see him here again.  Here is his website if you would like some more information:  http://www.storyinmotion.com/index2.htm

Elf Workshop will be on FRIDAY!  Thank you to all of you who volunteered to be master elves and help us out with the crafts.  We are still looking for a few more items to be donated.  Here is our wishlist:

large foam shapes (christmas trees, snowmen, ornaments, etc)

lots of ribbon (1 inch or wider)

festive or colorful cardstock or scrapbook paper

Mrs. Thibodeau is coming to visit us again on Friday!  She’ll be bringing her good friends George and Kelso to help us learn more about how to be better problem solvers.

This week in...

Spelling:  We will be practicing unit 12.  The words are:  long, little, very, after, and words.  We’ll practice spelling these words but also how to use them correctly in a sentence.

You are now entering into the world of Mooseltoe...

Phonics:  This week’s we will be following our Mooseltoe them and practicing the short and long /oo/ sound.  For the long /oo/ sound, we’ll be working with words like food, balloon, moon, and school.  For the short /oo/ sound, we’ll be working with words like cookies, wood, football, and hook.

Vocabulary:  We’ll listen for words like blustery, minor, bountiful, regimented, and tidings when we read Mooseltoe.  

Comprehension: After reading Mooseltoe by Margie Palatini (our theme book for the week), we’ll collect the characters, setting, problem, solution, and moral of the story.

Grammar:  With a partner, we will sort the nouns and verbs from Mooseltoe.

Writing:  In Mooseltoe, Moose tries incredibly hard to have his holiday go perfectly perfect.  However, try as he might, Moose’s holiday is not so perfect.  We’ll be writing about a time that things did not go so perfectly perfect for us and how we solved the problem.  There will be a fun moose craft to go along with our writing, too!

Fluency:  We have begun our Holiday Reader’s Theater productions!  We will be performing three different plays in our classroom.  Mooseltoe, Olive the Other Reindeer, and The Gingerbread Boy!  Students will be encouraged to read with as much expression as the can.  We’ll be using our movie star voices to help us read loud enough for the audience to hear.  This week, we will practice our lines so we can understand how to say them best.  We’ll also study what gestures and mannerisms we might use while reading our lines.  Next week, we’ll have the chance to create our very own backdrops and props to be used during our official classroom performance on Tuesday.  We are so excited to perform for our team!

Math:  We will continue to learn some place value games.  This week, we’ll play beat the calculator, close to 20, and cover up.  When we play beat the calculator, we are practicing adding number strings mentally in a snap!  We’ll have to practice a lot of our math fact skills during this game.  When we play close to 20, we are practicing adding number strings and also how to use a number line.  Using a number line is a crucial skill to learn in second grade!  When we play cover up, we are practicing how to solve missing numbers.

We’ll also review telling time to the nearest hour, half hour, and quarter hour.  We’ll be practicing a new strategy with a highlighter.  To help us figure out which hand we should read first, we will highlight the hour hand.  Once we have figured out the hour, we will will look at the unhighlighted hand (the minute hand) and count by fives to solve the minutes.

We have increased our coin adding goal to $1.00!  Students will play collect $1.00 this week using a recording sheet.  This sheet will help us practice using ¢ and $ appropriately.  

Mooseltoe Math:  This week, we’ll practice a variety of math skills with mooseltoe serving as our theme!  Here are the stations: 

Spin a Stache:  We’ll use our special mooseltoe spinners to spin various mustaches.  Then, we’ll graph our results.

Solving Mooseltoe’s Problems:  We will be solving story problems to solve some of Mooseltoe’s dilemmas.  We’ll have to use different strategies to solve the problem as well as show our thinking.

Measuring Moostaches:  Using 1 inch moose tiles, we will measure various moostaches.  Then, we’ll practice our addition skills by adding measurements together.

Missing Mooseltoe:  We’ll practice missing addends again in this fun game!  We’ll have to match the correct ornament to the correct missing addend equation.


Woo!  I think my head might be spinning with excitement from all of this merry madness.  We certainly have a lot on our to-do list this week!

Have a fabulous week!

December 8-12

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

Tonight is the Winter Concert!  The concert will be at the Middle School.  Kindergarten performs at 6:00, first grade performs at 6:30, and second grade performs at 6:45.  Hope to see you there!

Today the playdate contact list went home with your child.  If you are not on the list and would like to be added to it, please let me know.  I’ll add you to the list and send out a new copy.

This Wednesday is an early release day!  This time, we will be wearing hats to show our school spirit.  Students are dismissed at 1:00.  Please plan accordingly.

Homework packets are due on Thursday!  Please remind your child to put their homework packet in their backpack on Wednesday evening.  Remember... no homework packet = no free choice Friday!

Please remember send your child to school with their coat, snow pants, boots, hats, and mittens.  They need these things to be able to play at recess and earned time.

THIS WEEK IN...

Phonics:  We are working with the long /e/ sound with the following spelling patterns:  e, ee, ea, and y.  Here are our focus words:  eat, mean, leaf, queen, need, seek, baby, pony, he, and we.

Spelling:  This week we will work on units 10 and 11.  Here are our words:  made, over, did, down, only, way, find, use, may, and water.

Vocabulary:  Our new words are:  swung, attached, gasped, breathe, frantically, and delicious.  We will define these words and build connections to them.  Then, we will search for them in a short story called “The Story of the Giant Carrot” by Rosa Manuel.

Comprehension:  This week we will be exploring the world of cause and effect.  The effect is what happens in a story and a cause is why something happens.  When we read, we’ll be asking ourselves:  What happened?  Why did it happen?  We’ll practice this skill while we read Head, Body, Legs, a story retold by Won-Ldy Paye and Margaret H. Lippert.

Grammar:  We will work with action verbs this week.  Action verbs are words that tell what someone or something is doing.  Here are some examples:  walks, opens, sits, eats, and sleeps.

Writing:  We will begin writing a persuasive letter.  A persuasive letter is a letter that gives the writer’s opinion.  It has facts, reasons, or examples to support their opinion.  

Read Aloud:  We have begun a new adventure!  Today, we entered into the world of... The Nutcracker!  We are so excited about our classic holiday adventure.

Scholastic News:  With the temperatures we had this morning, we definitely know that winter is upon us!  This week’s issue is about the snowshoe hare, an animal who not only changes it’s habitat when the season changes but also changes itself!  When we finish reading the article, we’ll use a diagram of the inside of a chipmunk burrow to answer questions.

Science:  We will continue to work on our matter unit.  This week, we will have some more practice classifying matter as a solid, liquid, or gas.  

Math:  This week we will continue to work on time, money, and place value.  We’ll practice reading clocks with our class manipulatives and our clock buddies.  We’ll also have some practice on IXL.  To practice money, we’ll play collect 50¢.  It’s a great game that has us identifying coins and their values as well as adding them together.  We also practice trading coins of equal values.  To practice place value, we’ll introduce three new games this week that focus on place value skills and a place value tool... the hundreds chart!  

Have a wonderful week!

December 1-5

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

We will be going on a field trip to Memorial School TOMORROW!  If I have not received a permission slip from you already, you should see a GREEN copy of the permission in your child’s backpack today.  Please make sure you sign it and return it to school first thing in the morning.  If we do not receive permission from you, your child will not be able to join us on the field trip.

Vacation Homework Packets will be due on Thursday!  Some students chose to turn them in today and that it totally fine.  If your child did not turn it in today, they will have until Thursday to pass it in.

Mrs. Thibodeau will be visiting us again on Friday!  Her friend Kelso and George will be coming to discuss ways we can be better friends and solve the small problems we might have with our friends.

Please be sure to send your child to school with their winter coat, snow pants, snow boots, hats, and mittens.  Without these things, they will not be allowed to play in the snow.

THIS WEEK IN...

Phonics:  We are working with the long /o/ sound with the spelling patterns /o/, /oe/, /oa/, and /ow/.  Here are our focus words:  grow, mow, crow, toe, goes, toast, soap, foam, told, and most.  

Spelling:  We took our December pre-test today.  I will get them graded and sent back to you by Thursday.  This should help you know what words to focus on for homework.  The post-test will be on December 18th.  This week, we will focus on unit 9.  The words are:  its, who, now, people, and my.

Vocabulary:  Our new words are:  imaginary, uniform, practices, starting, tryouts, and coach.  We’ll define these words and build connections to them.  Then, we’ll search for them in the short story called “Brian Gets Fit on the Field” by Emily Goldman.

Comprehension:  This week we will practice making inferences again.  When you make an inference, you make a decision about the story based on what you know and what you read in the story.  We’ll practice this skill while we read There’s Nothing LIke Baseball by Angela Johnson.

Writing:  This week, students will practice writing an explanation.  An explanation includes personal feelings, lively details, and reasons that help the reader understand the writer’s opinion or experience.  Team Howard will write about something they like to do.  They will explain why you enjoy doing that activity and also add lively words to their writing.  When they are finished, they will read their explanation to a partner.

Grammar:  We will be working with plural nouns.  A plural noun names more than one person place or thing.  To change most singular nouns to plural nouns, add -s.  If a singular noun ends in s, sh, ch, or x, we will add -es to make it plural.

Math:  December will be a month for us to focus on time and money.  We will also be introducing many place value skills that will be essential in our next unit.  We’ll introduce these skills by playing lots of fun games!  Here are the goals for time and money:

Time:  I can tell and write time to the nearest five minutes, using a.m. and p.m.

Money:  I can identify the value of a penny, nickel, dime, quarter, and dollar.  I can use addition to add coins together for amounts greater than $1.00.  I can use $ and ¢ appropriately.

Science:  We just started a new science unit:  Matter, Matter, All Around!  Matter is anything that takes up space.  We can classify matter into three categories:  solids, liquids, and gases.  This week, we will be exploring different kinds of matter and deciding whether they are a solid, liquid, or gas based on their properties.  Here are some examples:

Solids:  Trees, pencils, bookshelf, sand, chairs, etc.

Liquids:  Water, soda, milk, gasoline, etc.

Gases:  Air, Helium, a big gust of wind, etc.

Scholastic News:  With the holiday season upon us, we will be reading a Scholastic News issue titled Holiday Economics.  We’ll learn how people decide what gifts to buy, who makes the gifts, and how we get the gifts to the people we love.  We’ll learn words like goods, service, and budget.  Then, we’ll become economics experts!  Using what we learned in the article, we will decide whether something is a good or a service and also if certain gifts fit the character’s budget.

Read Aloud:  We are getting closer and closer to the end of Stanley, Flat Again!  My goal is to get Team Howard’s flat kids in the mail by the end of the week.  We are definitely looking forward to learning more about the different places in the world!