Week of September 25th

Is it really autumn?

It sure doesn't feel like it but fall is in the air in second grade! 

Learning about apples, picking apples, cooking with apples, and writing about apples... WOW! 

Click the link to see a slide show of our trip! 

https://animoto.com/play/uo7URbYbE1Ln5Yq6RNtLhA

 
CHRISTIAN CHARACTER FORMATION STUDY
This week we will look a the word JUSTICE. We define Justice as God’s power for you to do what is right according to His Word. We'll explore how David is a wise, compassionate, and honorable leader who fears the Lord, but is still a sinful human being. As we dig deeper, we'll ask ourselves this Big Question, "How can God’s mercy help you do what is right even when you’ve done something really wrong?"

SPELLING and PHONICS 

This week we will review, read, and sort words that have the "short u" and "long u" (specifically the u_e rule) spelling patterns. Also, we will continue to use commonly misspelled sight words. These words will remain on your child's lists until they are mastered. 

READING SKILLS and STRATEGIES 
Our target for the next few weeks will be understanding story elements and retelling a story. While retelling, students will learn to describe the beginning, middle and end of what they are reading, while using details of the characters, the setting, the problem and the solution.

The kiddos will be retelling with Kevin Henkes books, and Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day. If you haven't read this fabulous book, check it out with your second grader! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTesxhlqr1k



GRAMMAR 
Our mentor sentence this week comes from another Kevin Henkes book, Chester's Way. We will continue to study sentence structure and nouns, but we will also discuss dialogue. 

WRITING 

Practicing retelling is perfect for writing personal narratives. As students work on the plots of their stories, they will also focus on using authors to help them write in powerful ways. 

NEWS and NOTES

• THIS FRIDAY, September 29th - September reading log due 
• September 29th and 30th - CCLS Carnival 
• Sunday, October 1st - CCLS Sunday at Webster Gardens 
• October 10th CCLS University Night - 7pm Webster Campus 
• Week of October 23 - Book Fair at Elementary Campus 
• October 25th Early Dismissal - conferences 
• October 27th NO SCHOOL - conferences

BLESSINGS ON YOUR WEEK!

Week of September 18th

Another short, but wonderful week! 

This week might feel short too...We have our field trip on Tuesday, and I will be out for my grandmother's funeral on Wednesday.

Here's a look back on last week... 

We made a Venn Diagram to discuss expectations during Guided Reading...

 We learned from each other during Writers' Workshop...

 We went outside with our Tiny Topic Notebooks to get more ideas to write about...

 The kiddos acted like detectives during independent reading. 

They searched for long vowel sounds in their texts.

CHRISTIAN CHARACTER FORMATION PROJECT
This week we will study the virtue INTEGRITY. We define integrity as God's power for you to do the right thing in each situation. We will read about how David spares Saul's life (his enemy) from 1Samuel 24. As we dig deep into this story, we will ask ourselves this "Big Question," How do you stay true to yourself and God by being kind to people who are not kind to you? 

PHONICS and SPELLING
This week we will review, read, and sort words with "short o" and "long o" (specifically with the o-consonant-e rule). We are also working on learning sight words or commonly misspelled words in your child's writing. You may see some of those words come home on your child's spelling lists.

**Please note**

About spelling homework... 

It would be helpful for you and your child review spelling homework together, specifically the sentences your child writes using the spelling words. I encourage you to review and help your child "edit" their sentences, especially with things such as capital letters, punctuation, or even the misspelling of certain sight words that you feel your child should know. 

READING SKILLS and STRATEGIES 
This week we will read a story called Jamaica Tag-Along and discuss how the characters we read about can relate to our own feelings and personal experiences.

GRAMMAR
Our mentor sentence of the week comes from Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes. We'll be studying good sentence structure, nouns, and pronouns.
Check out this adorable story here...  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4ccFdQNxhs 

WRITING 
This week's writers' workshop sessions will focus on noticing author's craft, and creating personal narratives that have a particular effect on the reader. Revising and editing are also a continued target because each child is always in a different place in the writing process.

NEWS and NOTES 

• Tuesday, September 19th - apple farm field trip 
• September 29th - September reading log due 
• September 29th and 30th - CCLS Carnival 
• Sunday, October 1st - CCLS Sunday at Webster Gardens

BLESSINGS ON YOUR WEEK!

Week of September 11th

Another great week! I'm amazed at the way your children have latched on to the idea of "Reader's Workshop." They do a fabulous job self-assessing their book choices, and have worked hard on building independent reading stamina. 

They're also learning about what "good readers do," focusing on THINKING about READING. To aid in that, everyone started using reader's notebooks! Ask your second grader about what they have inside their reader's notebook!

 Second graders also read ANY sized book! 

#lovebigbooks

CHRISTIAN CHARACTER FORMATION 
Our virtue this week is self-sacrifice. We define self-sacrifice as God's power for you to give up something to help others. As we explore this virtue, we will read about David and Jonathan from 1 Samuel. Immediately following Goliath’s death, something remarkable happened–David encountered Saul’s son, Jonathan. As Saul’s son, Jonathan was to inherit Saul’s crown, but God had another plan. Instead, God chose David as king, ending Saul’s royal line. Consider this Big Question this week: What can give you the power to sacrifice for someone else?

PHONICS and SPELLING 
This week we will review, read, and sort words with "short I" and "long I" (specifically with the i-consonant-e rule). We also began dictation sentences last week. Those sentences will be a review of grammar skills, spelling patterns, and sight words. I plan on mixing some commonly incorrectly spelled sight words into our pre-test spelling lists.

READING SKILLS and STRATEGIES 
This week we will continue to learn about characters and make connections. One of our read-aloud books is a Historical Fictional called, Girl Wonder: A Baseball Story in Nine Innings. This book demonstrates an excellent lesson on diligence and courage! Can't wait for our book talks! 

Learning to use context clues while studying vocabulary is another way your kiddos are practicing comprehension. Be on the lookout for a vocab practice page to come home every week. I'm hopeful that your second graders vocabulary will begin to surprise you!

My first round of benchmark reading assessments is almost complete, which means guided reading groups will begin soon. Some of us couldn't wait... 🙂

GRAMMAR
Our mentor sentence this week will come from the book Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type by Doreen Cronin. We will continue to discuss common nouns and proper nouns, and punctuation. We will also learn about how to write a friendly letter... Read the book and find out why... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbHoZUZf8RI

WRITING 
Last week the kiddos discovered how challenging self-evaluating their writing can be! As students write this week, they'll be focusing on the plot. Thanks to all the brave kiddos that allow us to learn so much from each other...

NEWS and NOTES 

• Friday, September 15th NO SCHOOL - teacher professional development 
• Tuesday, September 19th - apple farm field trip 
• September 29th - September reading log due 
• September 29th and 30th - CCLS Carnival 
• Sunday, October 1st - CCLS Sunday at Webster Gardens 

BLESSINGS ON YOUR WEEK! 

Week of September 5th

Happy Tuesday! I don't know about you, but I'm going to have to remind myself that it's NOT MONDAY all day. :) I hope many of you were able to enjoy an extra day off AND the beautiful weather God provided! We had a great time at the Klug house. 

Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedules last week to come to the class and learn about second grade. The children really enjoyed having guests!  

CHRISTIAN CHARACTER FORMATION PROJECT

For our Christian Character Formation Project this week we study the story of young David facing Goliath (1 Samuel 17:25-50) to learn about how we can overcome a giant in our life. We focus on the virtue of COURAGE, which is “God’s power for you to overcome fear.” This week we explore how we can have courage and faith like David, able to face our giants with confidence. You are encouraged to have conversations regarding David’s courage and faith, God’s protection, and how we can live with this same courage and confidence in our daily lives.

PHONICS and SPELLING

Well, we did it! We made it through our first spelling test! After much thought and research, I decided to have the kiddos take their tests using an app called SpellingCity. Each week I will import YOUR Child's list to their account. This allows them to play games with their words throughout the week, and then on Thursdays the app actually gives each child a test. It reads their words, and puts the words in a sentence. Besides some basic log-in confusion, week one went pretty well! 

This week's word study will focus on "short a" and "long a" with the "a-consonant-e" spelling pattern. We will still have the test on Thursday even with the shortened week.

READING SKILLS and STRATEGIES 

We are learning so much about "what good readers do" and learning from each other is the best! Last week many children made Text to Self connections during their reading...

This week we will continue to discuss the connections we have with books, and how that helps our comprehension. We'll look at other ways to connect called "text to text" and "text to world", and we will study how understanding the characters feelings can also aid in connecting and comprehending.

GRAMMAR

This week's mentor sentence comes from the book Officer Buckle and Gloria. We'll look further at punctuation and common verses proper nouns. 

Here's a link to the story if you'd like to hear it with your child this week! It's a good one! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmViPSWwbPY

WRITING 

Your young authors have really taken off with their personal narratives. This week we will notice more about author's craft with the book Owl Moon, and we'll try writing in more powerful ways. This is Charlie in "share chair" showing everyone how he stretched out his small moment story.

NEWS and NOTES 

• Friday, September 15th NO SCHOOL - teacher professional development 
• Tuesday, September 19th - apple farm field trip
• September 29th and 30th - CCLS Carnival 
• Sunday, October 1st - CCLS Sunday at Webster Gardens

And for more from last week... 

odd OR even?

 Mouse Paint Art Project