Week of April 18th

What an exciting week! 

I sure hope you all heard about the biome boxes your children created this week!

They all worked very hard at coming up with a plan, critically thinking about how to execute that plan, and then creating a finished product.
If you haven't walked though our hallways, please stop by and check them out...

Maybe you saw the finished products on Seesaw!

If you haven't subscribed and would like some help doing so, please let me know! 

There is also a lot of operetta practice going on as we gear up for the big night. The children sound beautiful! It's going to be fabulous!

Due to more operetta practice and Grandparent's Day, there will be no memory work this week.

SPELLING and GRAMMAR 
This week students will identify spelling patterns and spell words with hard and soft consonants. In grammar we will continue to review skills and  practice editing. Specifically, this week we will review contractions.

LIST ONE 

cent	gym	germ	camp	cave
face	girl	wagon	gift	gem

LIST TWO

cent	gym	germ	calf	content
pencil	graze	guide	gentle	garage

BONUS - grandparent

SCIENCE

Now that we know so much about Biomes, we will dig a little further to study how plants and animals depend on each other to survive. We will be studying food chains what they might look like in each biome.

NEWS and NOTES

• April 21st - Grandparent's Day (Elementary School)
• April 21 - Elementary Operetta  
• May 11th - Chapel by our class and the Writing Celebration directly following 
• May 6th - Field Trip (Storytelling festival) @ the library 
• May 16th - Field Trip to Botanical Gardens 
• May 20th - Field Day
• May 26th - Last Day of School - 11:00 Early Dismissal 

Biome Website

Here is a biome website

http://cbsd.org/Page/10680

Here is the video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fb8143ndo8

Week of April 11th

It's test week! 

Get excited and get your second grader excited! 

Your kiddos are ready!! 

Don't forget to make sure your child gets plenty of sleep and eats a solid, healthy breakfast! 

Afternoons are going to be a nice break from testing this week. We will work on the biome projects and partake in a few extra music classes to practice for the operetta that is quickly approaching.  It's April 21st at 7:00pm! 

Speaking of Biomes, after talking to Mrs. Leet we are going to go ahead with the biome test THIS week. It will be on Friday, April 15th. I will encourage your second grader to take their book (really it's a packet) home to study every night. 

Here's a look back on last week. 

Your children have REALLY enjoyed learning about poetry and writing their own! So far we've tried Free Verse Poems and Rhyming Poems. 

Mark your calendars for a Writing Celebration on May 11th! 

Our class has chapel that morning and after chapel, your children will have the opportunity to share the writing that they've written this year with you! They have been very patient and are dying to show off their published pieces! 

Here's a few authors in the "Author Chair"...

 Finding a funny poem and sharing it with others! 

I love how excited they are about poetry!

 This week we talked about mental images, especially in poems, but in any reading. A good author "paints a picture" for you to see in your mind. 

Research proves that creating mental images helps with comprehension!
I encourage you to try to talk about making visual pictures with your children as they read at home! 

Studying Biomes in small groups...

Many children have started to fill their "compliment chart," but I just LOVED when Jack filled his.  He was SO excited to get his reward - a new book!! 

#loveteachingaloveforreading

PS - That's our new GoNoodle character on the smartborad. Ask your second grader about GoNoodle if you aren't familiar!

RELIGION
This week as we read about the Ascension, we will learn more about the purpose of Jesus coming to Earth; to be our Savior from sin. We will remember that Jesus is our heavenly King, but He is also here with us and will come back one day to bring us to Him. 

MEMORY WORK 
For by the blood of Christ we are set free, that is, our sins are forgiven. How great is the grace of God. Ephesians 1:8

NO SPELLING THIS WEEK!! Grammar will be a review. 

WRITING 
We'll be wrapping up poetry! Students will work on one more type of poem, a poem making comparisons or having repetition. Then we will be revising, editing and putting together our poetry books!

SCIENCE
As our Biome study comes to an end, students will work on the biome box projects and as sets of partners they will create each of the biomes we learned about during this study. TEST is on FRIDAY, April 15th. Sorry about the change!

NEWS and NOTES

• April 11th - 15th Achievement Test week
• April 21st - Grandparent's Day (Elementary School)
• April 21 - Elementary Operetta  
• May 11th - Chapel by our class and the Writing Celebration directly following 
• May 6th - Field Trip (Storytelling festival) @ the library 
• May 16th - Field Trip to Botanical Gardens 
• May 26th - Last Day of School - 11:00 Early Dismissal 

Week of April 4th

Finally! A full week of school again.

It's been nice enjoying a few days off here and there, but it will also be wonderful to have a "normal" week this week. However, after this week ends, things will be different again due to Achievement Tests. Achievement Tests will be given during the morning block, so the afternoons shouldn't be too disrupted, (with the exception of knowing how drained your children might be from their morning tests). Just as a head-up, there will be no spelling during achievement test week because there will be no reading unit to correspond.

Last week was really fun! We stared our science unit on biomes and we began a poetry writing series. I guess we were SO busy that I neglected to take pictures! I apologize and promise to have many next week!

The only one I have is of only some of your children enjoying independent reading at the end of the day. Keep your kiddos reading and responding to what they read. They are learning a lot about inferring with poetry study. I challenge you to ask them questions that make them think with their independent reading at home!

RELIGION

The last unit of the year is packed with stories that include action and power, courage and faith, perseverance and promise. The emphasis is on evangelism. We will look at how the Gospel spread by the command of Jesus and through the power of the Holy Spirit. The mission Jesus gave His followers is the same mission He gives to us. I challenge you to live your lives on mission and spread the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ! 

MEMORY WORK 

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10

SPELLING and GRAMMAR 

This week in spelling we will work on identifying syllables and blend words with silent letters such as gn, kn, wr, and mb. In grammar we will make present tense verbs agree with the pronoun in the subject part of the sentence. 

LIST ONE

knife	knot	gnaw	wrist	wren
thumb	lamb	debt	knee	sign

LIST TWO

knife	knot	gnaw	wrist	wren
thumb	lamb	debt	knight	signpost

BONUS - poetry

WRITING 

Wow! Your kiddos sure know a lot about poetry! Last week, we explored poetry's many different characteristics. This week, we will continue to learn about how poetry is a special kind of writing in which sounds and meanings or words are combined to create ideas and feelings. Stay tuned for some poems to appear on SeeSaw! (If you are not a Seesaw subscriber and you would like to be, please reach out to me and I'll try to get you connected!)

SCIENCE 

Biomes, biomes, biomes... Your second graders are becoming biome experts. They are very interested in how plants and animals survive together in certain climates. We will continue to explore the world's various biomes this week and begin to brainstorm creating biome boxes. Thanks to those of you that sent in boxes. I think I have what we need!

Due to achievement testing the Biome TEST will not be until Monday, April 18th.

NEWS and NOTES

• April 10th - CCLS Sunday at Glendale
• April 11th - 15th Achievement Test week
• April 21st - Grandparent's Day (Elementary School)
• April 21 - Elementary Operetta 

• If anyone would be interested in helping me put together a few motivational themed test-taking notes with treats or surprises, let me know. I've got a few ideas, but I'd love some help with the assembly. Thanks in advance!