This week was a lot of reviewing of skills from the previous four weeks. We read a story called A Trip to the Fire Station. This story is a Readers' Theater, which means each student had an assigned role in a script to practice reading using good fluency and expression. We practiced Wednesday and Thursday and did our performances for the class on Friday. With this story we reviewed making predictions and plot. Our high-frequency words were also review for the week. We had ten of them, which is more than a normal week, but since they were all review words, it wasn't too bad. Our words were ago, caught, clear, enough, understand, lose, though, coming, idea, and learn. Robust vocabulary words this week were new, but we really worked hard to use them throughout the week. The words were hazard, efficient, instantly, and drench. We reviewed nouns all week - what they are, as well as singular and plural, common and proper. We began writing a new story about a snowman. Ask your second grader to tell you about his/her story!
Next week our story will be Jamaica Louise James. We will begin learning about author's purpose, which we will tie into our writing as well. We will learn about three purposes of writing - to inform, to entertain, and to persuade. High-frequency words will be draw, question, picture, minute, sure, worry, bought, and especially. Robust vocabulary words will be renowned, kin, original, and adorn. Ask your second grader to tell you about a renowned person that they like - why is that person renowned? Discussing kin and ways you adorn your home for the holidays should be easy this time of year! Point out original objects around your house or in stores as you shop for the holidays. Our grammar skill for next week will be abbreviations. Spelling words will have the sh, ch, tch, and th spelling patterns. Words are:
lunch, shape, wish, chop, show, catch, then, each, bath, such, because, turn, here, why, shadow, bathtub, starfish, matchbox, sandwich
Our specials schedule for next week will be:
Monday - computer
Tuesday - art
Wednesday - music
Thursday - gym
Friday - library
Please note that reading logs for December will be due before the end of the month due to winter break. For this reason, your child is only required to read 200 minutes for the month of December. Reading logs are due on Tuesday, December 20th. This allows for one late turn-in day. I will not return reading logs until after break. Absolutely NO December reading logs will be accepted after break.
On Monday our school will begin a food drive. Canned goods and non-perishables will be accepted. Our class gets one point for each item donated and FIVE points each for peanut butter, full-sized boxes of cereal, and full-sized tubes of toothpaste. The winning class for each grade level wins a class party!
Our class will be visiting the LEO Santa Shop next Wednesday morning. Please send any money for the Santa Shop in a baggie or envelope clearly marked with your child's name. Gifts will be wrapped at the Santa Shop and will come home with your second grader that day.
We have about 75 cup holders for our December project. We need about 45 more, so keep sending them in! We will need them the last week before break.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
'Twas the Week Before Thanksgiving...
This week we read a story that many of the kids had read before - Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type. It's a really cute story, and we really enjoyed reading it! We focused on plot again and talked about characters, setting, beginning, middle, and end. We even threw in a little bit of problem and solution this week as well. Ask your second grader to tell you what Farmer Brown's problem was in the story and how the problem was solved by the end of the story. High frequency words for the week were believe, brought, understand, impossible, quite, early, and enough. Robust vocabulary words were request, negotiate, compromise, and improve. The kids did great with request and improve, but negotiate and compromise were tricky, which was to be expected. Our grammar skill for the week was proper nouns again, but this time we focused more on nouns that can't be touched but still qualify as proper nouns - days of the week, months of the year, and holidays.
Next week will be spent wrapping up some loose ends from this week and working on a few Thanksgiving themed activities. There will be no high frequency, vocabulary, or spelling words next week. I will pass out new spelling lists next Tuesday so you will have them to study over break. Lesson ten is a review list, so ten of the words will be words we have had before. The other ten will be new sight words.
Our specials schedule for next week will be:
Monday - music
Tuesday - computer
*There is no school Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday for Thanksgiving break.
Our specials schedule for the week after Thanksgiving will be:
Monday - art
Tuesday - music
Wednesday - gym
Thursday - library
Friday - music
Keep sending in those drink holders for our December project!
Keep sending in those drink holders for our December project!
Enjoy your weekend, and have a Happy Turkey Day!
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Thank You!
I would like to thank everyone who attended conferences this week. With it being our first year for student-led conferences, I was very impressed at how well the kids did presenting the material and information to you. It's really special to see them taking ownership in their work and behavior! It was really great to hear so many positive comments from parents as well. We are curious to hear your thoughts, too, so if you could just jot me a quick note with any comments (positive or negative), it would be much appreciated.
We wrapped up with The Great Ball Game this week. As I said before, this is a really unique story and the kids really seemed to like it. We were focusing on plot again, with an emphasis on telling about the beginning, middle, and end of the story. High frequency words were ago, accept, half, fair, though, and clear. Robust vocabulary words were feud, superior, refuse, and insult. Our grammar focus was proper nouns. While we did a great job identifying the differences between common and proper nouns, it was easier for the kids to be able to tell whether a given noun was common or proper than to give examples. But no worries because we'll be talking about them again next week. Lastly, we wrote stories about what we would do if we were President. The stories were displayed in the hallway during conferences, so hopefully you got a chance to read some of them. They were good!
Next week we will read Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type. I absolutely love this story, and so will the kids. In fact, many of them have probably read it before. We will continue to focus on plot - characters, setting, beginning, middle, and end. High frequency words will be impossible, quite, understand, believe, brought, early, and enough. Robust vocabulary words are request, negotiate, compromise, and improve. If you are working on these words with your second grader at home, emphasize the difference between negotiate and compromise - these have proven to be confusing in the past. However, these seem to be words that are really easy to use in casual conversation at home, so try to use them as much as possible over the course of the next week. Our grammar skill will be proper nouns again. We will focus more on abstract proper nouns such as days of the week, months of the year, and holidays. Often the students don't think of these as nouns because they can't be touched (which is what our noun chant says makes a noun). Go on a proper noun scavenger hunt with your child - look for them on signs when driving, in books, around the house, and even on TV! Spelling words for next week have the long o sound spelled -oa and -ow. Words are:
boat, snow, coat, grow, float, own, low, load, soak, bowl, also, around, form, three, small
Our specials schedule for next week will be:
Monday - computer
Tuesday - art
Wednesday - music
Thursday - gym
Friday - library
* We will be needing about 40 drink carriers for a project we will be doing around Christmas, so if you get one from a fast food restaurant or think of asking for one when you are there, please send them in.
Have a great weekend!
We wrapped up with The Great Ball Game this week. As I said before, this is a really unique story and the kids really seemed to like it. We were focusing on plot again, with an emphasis on telling about the beginning, middle, and end of the story. High frequency words were ago, accept, half, fair, though, and clear. Robust vocabulary words were feud, superior, refuse, and insult. Our grammar focus was proper nouns. While we did a great job identifying the differences between common and proper nouns, it was easier for the kids to be able to tell whether a given noun was common or proper than to give examples. But no worries because we'll be talking about them again next week. Lastly, we wrote stories about what we would do if we were President. The stories were displayed in the hallway during conferences, so hopefully you got a chance to read some of them. They were good!
Next week we will read Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type. I absolutely love this story, and so will the kids. In fact, many of them have probably read it before. We will continue to focus on plot - characters, setting, beginning, middle, and end. High frequency words will be impossible, quite, understand, believe, brought, early, and enough. Robust vocabulary words are request, negotiate, compromise, and improve. If you are working on these words with your second grader at home, emphasize the difference between negotiate and compromise - these have proven to be confusing in the past. However, these seem to be words that are really easy to use in casual conversation at home, so try to use them as much as possible over the course of the next week. Our grammar skill will be proper nouns again. We will focus more on abstract proper nouns such as days of the week, months of the year, and holidays. Often the students don't think of these as nouns because they can't be touched (which is what our noun chant says makes a noun). Go on a proper noun scavenger hunt with your child - look for them on signs when driving, in books, around the house, and even on TV! Spelling words for next week have the long o sound spelled -oa and -ow. Words are:
boat, snow, coat, grow, float, own, low, load, soak, bowl, also, around, form, three, small
Our specials schedule for next week will be:
Monday - computer
Tuesday - art
Wednesday - music
Thursday - gym
Friday - library
* We will be needing about 40 drink carriers for a project we will be doing around Christmas, so if you get one from a fast food restaurant or think of asking for one when you are there, please send them in.
Have a great weekend!
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Half and Half
This week was spent wrapping up our Gus and Grandpa lesson and beginning the next lesson, The Great Ball Game. This is a fun story because it is a Porquoi tale - a kind of folktale that explains why something happens in nature. This particular story is a Muskogee story that explains why birds fly south for the winter. Ask your second grader what the story says and how it was decided that they needed to disappear for half the year. Our focus skill for the week was plot - mainly beginning, middle, and end but also including characters and setting as well. High-frequency words are ago, accept, half, fair, though, and clear. See if your second grader can use them in a sentence, or if they can use more than one word in the same sentence! Robust vocabulary words this week are feud, superior, refuse, and insult. Ask who is having a feud in the story this week. Challenge them to be superior to their siblings in some way this week - completing chores or finishing their dinner. Use the word refuse at home (I know they will all refuse to do something at some point in the next week, so point it out to them and use the word). Let them know if they have insulted you or a sibling, or talk about things that may be insulting and why they shouldn't be said. Our grammar skill for the week is proper nouns. We've given lots of examples. Remind your second grader that a proper noun names a noun and begins with a capital letter - ask them to name some for you. Lastly, we began narrative writing. We are writing stories about what we would do if we were the president. Hopefully these will be up at conferences for you to read - they are looking great so far!
Spelling words for the week have the -ar spelling pattern. Words are:
car, art, barn, start, farm, card, yarn, part, dark, hard, boy, follow, came, want, show
Don't forget...conferences are next Tuesday and Wednesday. Remember to bring your child with you so he/she can showcase all that we have been working on! There is no school on Wednesday.
Tuesday is voting day. Remember to exercise your right to vote. Help keep us EXCELLENT - vote YES for Lake Schools!
Specials schedule for next week is:
Monday - music
Tuesday - gym
Wednesday - no school
Thursday - library
Friday - music
Enjoy the weekend! Don't forget about Vendor Day on Saturday in the Lake Elementary cafeteria and tours of the new high school from 12:30-2:30 the same day.
Spelling words for the week have the -ar spelling pattern. Words are:
car, art, barn, start, farm, card, yarn, part, dark, hard, boy, follow, came, want, show
Don't forget...conferences are next Tuesday and Wednesday. Remember to bring your child with you so he/she can showcase all that we have been working on! There is no school on Wednesday.
Tuesday is voting day. Remember to exercise your right to vote. Help keep us EXCELLENT - vote YES for Lake Schools!
Specials schedule for next week is:
Monday - music
Tuesday - gym
Wednesday - no school
Thursday - library
Friday - music
Enjoy the weekend! Don't forget about Vendor Day on Saturday in the Lake Elementary cafeteria and tours of the new high school from 12:30-2:30 the same day.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Fall Festival Party
Our Fall Festival Party was a great time! We had so many yummy treats to eat, and the kids were really excited. They were making me laugh doing "cheers" with their juice boxes - "Cheers to Mrs. Lawniczak," "Cheers to the second grade teachers," "Cheers to the moms who sent in snacks!" After we ate, we played a game in which each table group had to wrap up one person as a mummy using toilet paper! What a riot! A big thanks to everyone who brought in treats - we appreciate your helping make our party a success! And now for some pictures...
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Let the Second Quarter Begin...
We had a fun week this week. It is always a good time when we get to have themed dress up days! We didn't end up getting to accomplish everything I had hoped to this week. It seemed like we had some conflicts that popped up here and there (mostly issues with completing assignments before grades had to be turned in and starting to get ready for conferences), so we are going to continue some of this week's focus skills into the first part of next week.
Our story this week is Gus and Grandpa and the Two-Wheeled Bike. We are still working on making predictions before and during our reading. Have your second grader do a picture walk before reading at night, or read the back cover of a chapter book before beginning to read, and then have your child make predictions as to what they think the story might be about. Stop periodically while reading and confirm if their predictions were correct, and use what they have learned about the story so far to make additional predictions. High frequency words for this lesson are coming, curve, idea, knee, laughed, million, and world. You should hear some of the sentences the kids can come up with using several of these words at once - they are hilarious! Robust vocabulary words are romp, jubilant, defeated, and master. We've been acting the words out this week, and the kids are getting really good at demonstrating their understanding of these words. Ask them to demonstrate at home for you, or ask your child to name situations in which they might feel jubilant or defeated (ask about their report cards!). Discuss with your child various tasks that they would like to master, and when and why they want to be able to do those tasks well. We are focusing on singular and plural nouns in language. Have your child point out examples of nouns for you, and ask if they are singular or plural. We will continue with these skills through next Tuesday, when we will wrap up all of our assessments from lesson 7.
Beginning next Wednesday, we will switch to lesson 8. We will read The Great Ball Game. Our focus skill will shift to plot (beginning, middle, and end). High frequency words will be ago, accept, though, clear, half, and fair. Robust vocabulary words will be feud, superior, refuse, and insult. We will continue discussing nouns, and we will explore the difference between common and proper nouns. Spelling words will have the -ar spelling pattern. Words will be:
car, art, barn, start, farm, card, yarn, part, dark, hard, boy, follow, came, want, show
We will NOT have a spelling test next Thursday. I am still sending the list of new words home this Friday, but you will have two weeks to study. Spelling test for lesson 8 will be on Thursday, November 10th! The students have no school on the 9th due to conferences, so they can spend ALL day studying (haha!).
Speaking of conferences, many parents have not yet returned their confirmation of your conference time. These are due on Monday. Please check your calendars and let me know if you will be able to attend your designated time slot or not. I do still have one or two time slots open on Tuesday and a few on Wednesday afternoon if anyone needs to reschedule. Please note that we are trying something new with conferences this year. We are attempting to switch to a more student-led conference meeting, with your child doing a lot of the talking and explaining their strengths and weaknesses. For this reason, it is very important that you BRING YOUR CHILD WITH YOU TO CONFERENCES. The students will be sharing their part for the first 5-10 minutes, and then we will have to last 10-15 minutes to speak privately if necessary. This is a building-wide change, and we appreciate your patience and support through the change. We do plan to send a feedback form home after conferences are over so we can hear your thoughts about the new format.
A big thank you goes out to all of the parents who helped out with our Fall Festival party. This includes parents who sent in snacks and those who were in the classroom to help. We couldn't have had a successful party without any of you! The party was a good time. I will be posting pictures as soon as I can - check back next week.
Our specials schedule for next week will be:
Monday - gym
Tuesday - library
Wednesday - music
Thursday - computer
Friday - art
Enjoy the weekend - try to stay warm, especially on Saturday!
Our story this week is Gus and Grandpa and the Two-Wheeled Bike. We are still working on making predictions before and during our reading. Have your second grader do a picture walk before reading at night, or read the back cover of a chapter book before beginning to read, and then have your child make predictions as to what they think the story might be about. Stop periodically while reading and confirm if their predictions were correct, and use what they have learned about the story so far to make additional predictions. High frequency words for this lesson are coming, curve, idea, knee, laughed, million, and world. You should hear some of the sentences the kids can come up with using several of these words at once - they are hilarious! Robust vocabulary words are romp, jubilant, defeated, and master. We've been acting the words out this week, and the kids are getting really good at demonstrating their understanding of these words. Ask them to demonstrate at home for you, or ask your child to name situations in which they might feel jubilant or defeated (ask about their report cards!). Discuss with your child various tasks that they would like to master, and when and why they want to be able to do those tasks well. We are focusing on singular and plural nouns in language. Have your child point out examples of nouns for you, and ask if they are singular or plural. We will continue with these skills through next Tuesday, when we will wrap up all of our assessments from lesson 7.
Beginning next Wednesday, we will switch to lesson 8. We will read The Great Ball Game. Our focus skill will shift to plot (beginning, middle, and end). High frequency words will be ago, accept, though, clear, half, and fair. Robust vocabulary words will be feud, superior, refuse, and insult. We will continue discussing nouns, and we will explore the difference between common and proper nouns. Spelling words will have the -ar spelling pattern. Words will be:
car, art, barn, start, farm, card, yarn, part, dark, hard, boy, follow, came, want, show
We will NOT have a spelling test next Thursday. I am still sending the list of new words home this Friday, but you will have two weeks to study. Spelling test for lesson 8 will be on Thursday, November 10th! The students have no school on the 9th due to conferences, so they can spend ALL day studying (haha!).
Speaking of conferences, many parents have not yet returned their confirmation of your conference time. These are due on Monday. Please check your calendars and let me know if you will be able to attend your designated time slot or not. I do still have one or two time slots open on Tuesday and a few on Wednesday afternoon if anyone needs to reschedule. Please note that we are trying something new with conferences this year. We are attempting to switch to a more student-led conference meeting, with your child doing a lot of the talking and explaining their strengths and weaknesses. For this reason, it is very important that you BRING YOUR CHILD WITH YOU TO CONFERENCES. The students will be sharing their part for the first 5-10 minutes, and then we will have to last 10-15 minutes to speak privately if necessary. This is a building-wide change, and we appreciate your patience and support through the change. We do plan to send a feedback form home after conferences are over so we can hear your thoughts about the new format.
A big thank you goes out to all of the parents who helped out with our Fall Festival party. This includes parents who sent in snacks and those who were in the classroom to help. We couldn't have had a successful party without any of you! The party was a good time. I will be posting pictures as soon as I can - check back next week.
Our specials schedule for next week will be:
Monday - gym
Tuesday - library
Wednesday - music
Thursday - computer
Friday - art
Enjoy the weekend - try to stay warm, especially on Saturday!
Thursday, October 20, 2011
First Quarter Is Over Already!
This week we wrapped up first quarter (can you believe it?!) with a story called Winners Never Quit. It is an autobiography written by Mia Hamm, a famous U.S. women's soccer player. We introduced the skill of making predictions, and we talked about how we use what we know about a story plus what we know about real life to make predictions about what will happen next in a story. The kids did really well with this! Our high-frequency words for the week were brother, caught, cheer, learn, lose, and straight. Robust vocabulary words were agile, spectator, competitive, and worthwhile. These were difficult words for the kids because many of them had not heard of any of the words before. I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly many of the kids are picking up on the words, what they mean, and how to use them correctly in sentences. We are developing such grown up vocabularies! Our grammar skill for the week was nouns. We mostly focused on identifying nouns as people, places, animals, and things, but we did touch on singular and plural as well. We finished up our letter writing unit.
Next week will mark the beginning of second quarter. We will read Gus and Grandpa and the Two-Wheeled Bike. We will continue to work on predictions. High-frequency words for next week will be coming, curve, idea, knee, laughed, million, and world. It's a longer list next week, but I am feeling confident that the kids will have no problems. Robust vocabulary words for next week will be romp, defeated, jubilant, and master. We will continue with nouns. Our big focus for next week will be distinguishing between singular and plural nouns, and using the correct endings (-s or -es) for plural nouns. We will begin a writing unit on narrative stories, and this will be our primary focus throughout second quarter (though we will continue to practice writing friendly letters and journaling as well). Spelling words for next week have the long a sound (spelled ai and ay). Words are:
pay, mail, paint, day, rain, stay, sail, way, train, tray, means, old, any, same, tell
Conferences are quickly approaching. Several parents have not yet signed up for a conference time. On Tuesday, I sent home a form to request a day/time for those parents who did not sign up at Fee Collection Day or Open House. If you have not yet returned that form, please do so by Monday. Parents who have not returned the form by Monday will be assigned whatever time slots I have left open. Reminders will go home for all parents next Monday listing your day/time.
I would like to welcome a new student to our classroom. Tyler joined our class last Friday. He comes from Erie, Pennsylvania. The students have done an outstanding job making him feel welcome. He is a wonderful addition to our class and a great role model for other students!
Our specials schedule for next week will be:
Monday - library
Tuesday - music
Wednesday - computer
Thursday - art
Friday - music
Enjoy your weekend!
Next week will mark the beginning of second quarter. We will read Gus and Grandpa and the Two-Wheeled Bike. We will continue to work on predictions. High-frequency words for next week will be coming, curve, idea, knee, laughed, million, and world. It's a longer list next week, but I am feeling confident that the kids will have no problems. Robust vocabulary words for next week will be romp, defeated, jubilant, and master. We will continue with nouns. Our big focus for next week will be distinguishing between singular and plural nouns, and using the correct endings (-s or -es) for plural nouns. We will begin a writing unit on narrative stories, and this will be our primary focus throughout second quarter (though we will continue to practice writing friendly letters and journaling as well). Spelling words for next week have the long a sound (spelled ai and ay). Words are:
pay, mail, paint, day, rain, stay, sail, way, train, tray, means, old, any, same, tell
Conferences are quickly approaching. Several parents have not yet signed up for a conference time. On Tuesday, I sent home a form to request a day/time for those parents who did not sign up at Fee Collection Day or Open House. If you have not yet returned that form, please do so by Monday. Parents who have not returned the form by Monday will be assigned whatever time slots I have left open. Reminders will go home for all parents next Monday listing your day/time.
I would like to welcome a new student to our classroom. Tyler joined our class last Friday. He comes from Erie, Pennsylvania. The students have done an outstanding job making him feel welcome. He is a wonderful addition to our class and a great role model for other students!
Our specials schedule for next week will be:
Monday - library
Tuesday - music
Wednesday - computer
Thursday - art
Friday - music
Enjoy your weekend!
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