Week of August 31st - September 4th

Last week was such a busy week! From learning about where we live on the map to using a cheeseburger to help us write a story, your second graders are doing excellent work!
 Check out some of our learning...

Students loved sharing their summer stories...

We also had fun transitioning between subjects 
with a little "gonoodle"...

Shhhhhh... There is a lot of good writing going on...

And 2nd Grade authors reading in "Author's chair...

 Second Grade on the Map... 

 

For next week...

Religion 
We plan on reading about two bible stories this week. First, God's promise to Abram. The children will learn about Abram's great faith and obedience to God. Let's give thanks for that and remind ourselves to always trust in God. Our second story is Isaac blessing his sons, Jacob and Esau. This story teaches us the importance of birthrights so that children understand why Esau was extremely upset when he discovered that Jacob had stolen his blessing.  We plan on watching this video to help us understand. You might want to take a look yourselves, it explains it SO well... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6LlNZo5xLQ

MEMORY WORK
Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Matthew 5:44

SPELLING

This week in spelling we will focus on words with short e, short o, and short u. Be sure to practice the spelling words and other short vowel words at home!

     SPELLING WORDS

          went   tell    pet     job      fog

          not      tug    hut     tub     bun

GRAMMAR

Our skills in grammar this week will include

A command - a sentence that tells someone to do something and ends with a period.

An exclamation - a sentence that shows strong feelings and ends with an exclamation point!

We will also continue to work on capital letters at the beginnings of sentences, and other appropriate places like proper nouns.

WRITING

Did anyone hear about the cheeseburger? Last week your children practiced their pre-writing skills and brainstormed ideas that they wanted to write about. We also began working on the beginnings of our stories. This week we will continue working on our stories, focusing on the middle and the end.

SOCIAL STUDIES

Maps, Maps, Maps! We will continue our study of maps, emphasizing the difference between states, countries, and continents. Students will also explore where various oceans are located, and discover the difference between maps and globes. It's going to be a busy week! Map test is scheduled for September 11th! You might see some extra map homework come home this week, or next week.

 News and Notes

• Library starts this week!!! (Tuesday, September 1st)
• No school September 7th 
  

  Come to CCLS Day at Busch Stadium instead of going to school!
• First field trip September 17th - Apple picking
• No school September 18th (Professional development day for teachers)
• Carnival October 16-17th
• Please take some time to see how you can volunteer at CCLS by looking at our teammates website... http://www.ccls-stlouis.org/#/get-involved/teammates

As always, please contact me if you have any questions or concerns!
Blessings on your week! 
Rachel Klug

August 24 - 28

Wow!

What a great first week of school!

Amazing things were happening as we learned about each other and the rituals and routines of second grade. Last week we started to build the foundation for a solid community in our classroom.  This is vital as your child learns, grows and takes risks this year! 

PS - Our love was OVERFLOWING for each other this week! 

And, we came up with a great recipe for friendship after reading Enemy Pie...

Your kiddos were SUPER excited to share "what was in their sack"!!

We learned so much about each other!

Take a look...

  

This week in...
Religion 
We will begin our study of God's Word with the unit called "Beginnings". Students will receive the first of nine workbooks for our study. In our Bible time together, we will see God's love in action through the lives of Adam and Eve, and Noah. God gives each of them fresh beginnings even though each is sinful. I challenge you to take time at home to read these Bible stories with your child and together share the Good News of God's love in Jesus.

Memory work -  God saw everything that He made, and it was very good. Genesis 1:31

Spelling and Grammar

More new beginnings. This week kiddos will receive the first of many spelling words. For now, we have one list with 10 words. Your child will practice the words throughout the week, and will be expected to complete 2 pages, front and back (so you could say 4 pages) of spelling homework for the week. Spelling homework is given on Mondays, and is due back by Thursday.  It can be turned in earlier if you'd like.  Spelling tests are also on Thursdays. Along with the spelling test, your child will also be quizzed on a few dictation sentences. Most of the words in the dictation portion should be words that your child has already learned in previous grades. Our grammar lessons this week will focus on statement sentences and question sentences. Your kiddos will be using a practice workbook in class to review the skills, and we will also except them to use what they learn in their writing.
     SPELLING WORDS
          has    wag    bad    six     will
          sat     had     fix      him    if
          
Writing 
We will begin a "writers' workshop" style writing curriculum this week. The children will explore narratives and begin writing their own stories. Our focus will be brainstorming ideas, and writing with a beginning, middle, and end. Ask your child how a cheeseburger helps them write a story!

Social Studies 
This week we will begin our study of maps. As the students explore maps, our objectives will be to learn about using map keys, symbols, and cardinal directions.  We will also read the book called Me on the Map and identify various states, countries, and continents. Throughout this unit, your child will explore and demonstrate various map and globe skills that we will use throughout second grade. Our Map Test is scheduled for Friday, September 11th.

News and Notes

• Curriculum night - Thursday August 27th @ 7:00pm  
• Library starts September 1st
• CCLS Day at Busch Stadium September 7th
• First field trip September 17th - Apple picking
• No school September 18th (Professional development day for teachers)
• Carnival October 16-17th
• Please take some time to see how you can volunteer at CCLS by looking at our teammates website... http://www.ccls-stlouis.org/#/get-involved/teammates

As always, please contact me if you have any questions or concerns!
Blessings on your week! 
Rachel Klug

FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL

As a child, the first week of school was always one of my favorites... Starting back up with regular routines at home and learning new ones at school. Buying fresh, new school supplies and organizing my desk. Checking the class list and jumping for joy because all my friends were in my class. And of course, meeting my new teacher, which was never a disappointment. Through the excitement, I also had nerves. I had anxiety about all the uncertainties, but there was one thing that I could always count on. God's love.

I'm absolutely thrilled to begin this new chapter of my life in second grade with you all. As a CCLS graduate, I feel extremely blessed to be back in this loving community and can't wait to start growing together with your children each day. I'm equally overjoyed to share the gift of God's love with your child each and every day, and that is why I love our theme this year!!

1 Thessalonians 3:12

May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other.

I pray that this year we are so filled with God's love that our love for each other grows and overflows for all of those around us.

WEEKLY OBJECTIVES

RELIGION

During religion this week, we will dive into the meaning of this year's theme verse and discuss what love overflowing might look like in our families, our school, our comminutes, and even our world. This week's memory work is our theme verse, which is written above (and pasted in your child's planner). Memory work will be recited for a grade every Friday. Start learning that verse!

Spelling, Grammar and Writing

Spelling and grammar lessons will tie into the reading lessons Mrs. Leet teaches in the morning. Those will begin next week. Our focus this week will be building friendships and establishing classroom community. Because of that, there are a few spelling words I have already posted in our classroom.  Please take note that these words will not be tested. 

•    friend
•    teamwork
•    caring

In writing, we will start our summer stories! Don't forget to help your child bring in pictures, tickets stubs, or other fun summer reminders so they can create their summer posters!

The kids will also be creating "I Am Special" books. This helps me get to know and assess everyone's various writing talents.

Science and Social Studies

This week is all about getting to know each other! We will be focus on building relationships and learning about friendship. Some books we will be reading include First Day Jitters,  The Crayon Box that Talked,  Enemy Pie, and Shel Silversteins Poem "What's in the Sack".

Don't forget to send your child with their "sack" on Tuesday, August 18th. I can't wait to learn more about each student and see what special items come to school! Through reading these stories we will discuss feelings, problems and solutions, and some really great vocabulary words.

News and NOTES

• Library starts September 1st
• CCLS Day at Busch Stadium September 7th
• First field trip September 17th - Apple picking
• No school September 18th (Professional development day for teachers
• Carnival October 16-17th
• Please take some time to see how you can volunteer at CCLS by looking at our teammates website... http://www.ccls-stlouis.org/#/get-involved/teammates

I'm so excited for this school year!

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have questions or concerns.

My e-mail is rklug@ccls-stlouis.org.

BLESSINGS ON YOUR WEEK!