March 28th-April 1st

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

LIP SYNC BATTLE!  I’m participating in this year’s battle and am so excited (a.k.a. so nervous I’m shaking in my boots!) to represent Russell School!  Tickets are sold right here at Russell.  $10 for adults and $5 for students.  All proceeds benefit the GNG Patriot Parents and all of the wonderful things they do for our schools and communities.  I hope you can make it!

CALLING ALL BOX TOPS!   This is the last week to collect box tops.  If you have any at home, please send them in.  Fingers crossed for the competition!

Homework is in full swing again.  So sorry for the mix-up last week!  I hope everyone enjoyed the random week of homework vacation.  A new packet went home with your child today and it will be due next Monday.

Biography Day!  I know many of you have been asking about the infamous biography day where your child is invited to come to school dressed like the person they have been studying.  Here is your first heads up!  Our tentative plan is to have our dress up day on FRIDAY, APRIL 8TH!  Please know that this should be a simple costume.  It could be something you create out of materials you already have at home or even just a hat.  I’ll send home a paper reminder later in the week as well.

It’s our lucky week!  Mrs. Thibodeau will be coming to visit us again! 

This week in...

Spelling:  We are working on Unit 16.  The words are:  man, too, any, day, and same.  There will be a spelling test on Friday.

Phonics:  We will be working with r-controlled vowels.  We’ll be practicing /ar/ and /or/.  Our focus words are:  part, start, park, farm, dark, sort, storm, short, for, and horse.  

Vocabulary:  Our new words are:  itches, puddles, preens, beasts, handy, and nibble.  We’ll define these words and build connections to them.  Then, we’ll search for them in the short story called “Animals Need to Eat” by Patty Serrano.

Comprehension:  This week, we will focus on comparing.  We’ll practice this skills while we read Splish! Splash! Animal Baths by April Pulley Sayre.  We’ll learn all about how elephants, pigs, birds, chimpanzees, giraffes, hippos, fish, and shrimp stay clean.  Then, we’ll compare all of these behaviors to look for similarities and differences.

Grammar:  This week, students are focusing on commas.  

Scholastic News:  This week, we’ll practice the same skill we practiced during our comprehension lesson.  We’ll focus on comparing.  After reading “Amazing’ Caiman”, we’ll compare a caiman to a crocodile.

Writing:  We’ll continue to work on our biography projects.  This week, students will focus on organizing their research into a rough draft.  They’ll also begin preparing some items for their published books.  They’ll work on their cover page, portrait of the person they have studied, and a snapshot page where they give quick facts.

Math:  This week, we will have a whole second grade strategy switcheroo day!  All second graders will rotate through all of the second grade classrooms and be introduced to some new strategies (based on place value) to help them solve addition and subtraction problems within 100.  These strategies will be the strategies they use to show evidence of their thinking in our new math unit.

We’ll also take some time to review money and time concepts as well as practice our math facts.  

Science:  This week, students will construct a wind-powered maze.  Today, they decided the materials they will use and created a general blueprint for how they think they would like to design their maze.  Tomorrow, students will construct their mazes and test them out.  

Later this week, students will be involved in several experiments to gather understanding about how animals help to pollinate plants.  They will become bees, hummingbirds, and long-nosed bats!  It’s going to be a lot of fun!

Read Aloud:  This week will conclude our adventure with the BFG!  Next week, we’re onto a new adventure!  We’ll be reading Dodger and Me, a book recommended by Russell School’s very own Miss Davis!  

Have a great week!

March 14-19

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

Homework packets are due on Monday.  Please help your child remember to put them back into their backpacks over the weekend.

Uh, oh!  The sneaky leprechauns have stolen our homework packets for the week!  Be on the lookout for a fresh new copy coming home tomorrow.

This Wednesday is an early release day.  Please plan accordingly.

Today, your child was given their activity watches.  These watches can be worn 24/7.  Students will return this watches on Friday afternoon.  If you have any questions, Katherine Harvey will be able to answer them for you.

Please remember to send back your time preferences for conferences.  They are set up on a first come, first serve basis.  I need all forms back by THURSDAY!  Thank you!

This week  in...

Spelling:  We are working on Unit 15.  The new words are:  good, new, write, our, and me.

Phonics:  We are working with /scr/, /str/, and /spr/.   Our new words are:  screen, scream, scrape, stripe, struck, strict, sprain, spring, spruce, and strap.

Vocabulary:  Our focus words are:  sincerely, impatient, furious, demand, emergency, and snoop.  We'll define these words and build relationships with them.  Then, we'll search for them in the short story called "Iggy Pig Saves the Day" by Kevin Tormino.

Comprehension:  This week, we'll focus on cause and effect.  The cause is why something happened.  The effect is what happened.  For example, if it rained (cause), you would use an umbrella (effect).  We'll practice this skill while we read Click, Clack, Moo:  Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin.  

Scholastic News:  This week's article is called "At Home in a Castle."  We'll learn all about life in a castle long, long ago.  Then, we'll use a map to answer questions about the country of Ireland.  Finally, we'll complete an activity where the students will have to identify where they learned various facts.  Did they learn it from the text?  Did they learn it from the pictures?  Did they learn it from both?

Writing:  Students have picked the person they would like to research for their biography projects!  Lessons this week will focus on gathering facts from several sources including books and websites.  Students will be learning all about what the person is best known for, some interesting facts, and also how they are like the person they are studying.

Math:  This is the last week for math switcheroo.  These last few days will focus on whether or not students are able to read and write numbers in numbers, words, and expanded form.  They'll also practice how to identify the hundreds, tens, and ones place as well as bundles of 100, bundles of 10, and bundles of 1.  They'll also practice how to skip count by 5s, 10s, and 100s.  Finally, they'll practice how to compare two three-digit numbers using <, >, and =.  

Read Aloud:  The BFG!  We love the Big Friendly Giant!

Science:  We'll continue to observe our radish seeds as they grow.  It's been so exciting to see what has been happening with our seeds.

St. Patrick's Day Fun:  We started the week off with a fun engineering project!  Using pipe cleaners, play-doh, a cup, and some coins, students were asked to create a rainbow bridge that was strong enough to hold the heaviest pot of gold.  We experimented with different materials and different designs.  It was so great to see all of the problem solving happening in the classroom!

On Wednesday, we'll dedicate our day to creating our very own leprechaun traps using materials you can find in the classroom.  Then, we'll be challenged to write about how to create our leprechaun traps.  On Thursday, we'll give our writing to a friend to see if they can build the very same trap!  It will be a great assessment of our writing and a super fun project too!  

March 7-11

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

Please remember to send your child to school with their winter coat.  The weather varies so greatly from day to day and even hour to hour.  It’s better to have a coat and not need it than to have not have one and need it.  Thanks so much!

Please remember to send all homework packets back to school on Mondays.  When students turn in their homework, they receive 15 minutes of indoor recess.  For students who don’t have their homework packet, they spend 15 minutes practicing their learning goals on RAZ kids, spelling city, or IXL.

THIS WEEK IN...

Spelling:  We are working on Unit 14 words.  They are:  get, through, back, much, and go.  

Phonics:  We are continuing our work with the digraphs /sh/, /th/, /wh/, and /ch/.  Our focus words will be:  each, which, teaching, path, teeth, fishing, wishbone, watch, matching, and dish.

Vocabulary:  Our new words are students, effort, perform, mood, remember, and proud.  We’ll define these words and build connections to them.  Then, we’ll search for them in the short story called “A Little Symphony” by Lani Perlin.

Comprehension:  We continue our work on summarizing. When we summarize, we retell the most important parts of the story.  We’ll practice this skill while we read Dancing As a Team by Sharon Dennis Wyeth.

Scholastic News:  This week, we’ll read an article all about birds and spring weather.  Then, we’ll use a bar graph to answer questions.  Students will also have time to practice identifying the main idea and details of the article using a graphic organizer.

Writing:  We are wrapping up our autobiographies.  Later this week, students will be introduced to the ever famous second grade biography unit!  This week, students will be asked to explore several books about famous people.  At the end of the week, they will pick someone they are most interested in learning more about.  This person will be the focus of their biography reports.  We’ll be looking for information about what this person is best known for, some interesting facts about them, and some ways they are just like us.  Students will be asked to use two different sources to help them find information.

Math:  We continue our flexible groups for place value.  Miss Gilmour will also be introducing a new math topic this week:  odd and even numbers!  The goal is for students to be able to identify a number is odd or even and prove it with a doubles or near doubles number sentence.  For example, 8 is even because it can be broken into two equal teams.  It can be represented as 4+4.  9 is odd because it cannot be broken into two equal teams.  It can be represented as 4+5.

Science:  Our adventure with plants continues!  Today, Team Howard will plant their very own radish seeds.  Our goal is to find out what plants need to grow.  Some plants will receive both water and sunlight.  Some plants will only be receiving water OR sunlight.  We’ll observe these plants over the next two weeks to find out what happens.  

Have a great week!