September 28th - October 2nd

Another amazing week! 
First, thank you all so very much for helping me celebrate my birthday. I feel so blessed by all of you. Thank you for making me feel so loved and special!
I absolutely loved reading through the journal you gave me, and reading everyone's favorite Bible verses. What a treat!

Also, there was so much learning going on last week!

Did anyone hear that Moses came to school?

Students got to experience the 10 plagues...

 We also made Oobleck in science.

Is it a solid, or is it a liquid?

 More fun with apples... 

Baking and making apple sauce. Yum!

 Learning new spelling words and vowel rules

in silly ways...

 Practicing force and motion with marshmallow shooters!

 Math with iPads!

 Grammar with partners!

Last week was so amazing.
Here is what is in store for this week...

RELIGION

This week we will read about the complaining people of Israel as they journey from Egypt to their new home. We will read about their disobedience, idolatry, and temptations. But God's love will shine through in these stories. The forgiving and giving hand of God will lead the people of Israel on, give them rules, provide for their every need, and defeat their enemies. 

MEMORY WORK

Part of this study is the 10 commandments. This week we will focus on learning the first five commandments. The first five commandments will be your child's memory work for the week. Next week will be the final five. Here is the list of all ten. I will also give the option this week for the children to write their memory work though a "fill in the blank" paper, or simply say it. Whichever fits their learning best.

1. You shall have no other Gods. 

2. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.

3. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.

4. Honor your father and your mother. 

5. You shall not murder.

6. You shall not commit adultery. 

7. You shall not steal. 

8. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. 

9. You shall not covet your neighbor's house.

10. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. 

NO spelling or grammar this week!! 

This week is an "assessment week" in our reading series. 

Enjoy the break!

Next week I will offer TWO different spelling lists. If your child knows and can spell every word on the first list easily, it can be your family's choice to have your child master and be tested on the second list. I will give you more information next week. 

WRITING

This week in writing we will be finishing up our personal narratives. Students will work on revising and editing their stories by themselves and with partners. Once they are finished, we will celebrate everyone's published piece! 

SCIENCE 

In science we will explore simple machines and magnets. Your children will learn examples of simple machines and understand how they change effort, and explain ways they make work easier. They will also learn about how objects may be moved by pushing or pulling with magnets. We will explore what types of objects attract magnets and what repels. Depending on how the week goes, we will most likely have a quiz on force and motion, and magnets on Friday.

News and Notes

• Please remind your child to return his or her library book every TUESDAY.
• "U help fix a boo-boo for CCLS-U" - Friday October 9th 
• casual for a cause clothing
• CCLS Sunday @ Concordia October 11th 
• October 16th - End of first Quarter
• CCLS Carnival October 16-17th
• Book Fair @ the Elementary building - October 25th -29th  
• EARLY DISMISSAL October 29th (Student lead conferences)
• NO SCHOOL October 30th - (Student lead conferences) 

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

September 21st - 25th

Although last week was a short week, there was a lot of learning going on!
Practice with "short i' and "long i"...

 Acting out Moses and the fiery bush...

 "Published" writing

 Studying apples...

 Taking notes on Matter...

 

 Matter Centers... So much fun while learning!

And of course, our field trip filled with so many memories!

RELIGION

The Bible is filled with so many "impossible" situations that appear to have no solution. This week we will explore more on Moses and the Israelites during some "hopeless situations," such as being slaves in Egypt for more than 400 years. We will discuss the 10 plagues, and the crossing of the Red Sea.  Through all this bleakness, we will celebrate how God worked in mighty ways! 

Memory Work

The Lord is my strength and my song. He has become my salvation. Exodus 15:2 

SPELLING
This week in spelling we will review the "short o" and "long o" sounds. For "long o," we will focus on the o/consonant/silent e rule, as you notice in the spelling words.

box	fox	dog	lock	pot
cone	hope	rose	poke	rope

BONUS word - favorite

Keep your eyes peeled for some changes with spelling words... Starting the week of October 5th I will be offering two lists of words. It will be up to YOU and your child to decide which list of words to know for the spelling tests. List one is "on level" words, and list two is "above level" words.

GRAMMAR

Now that we have become experts on the subjects and predicates, this week we are going to learn about combining two sentences that have the same subject or predicate using the word "and". The children will also start learning how to use quotation marks in dialogue.

WRITING

In writing we will begin "personal narratives". We will start the writing process by brainstorming our stores, and then turning our thoughts and ideas into stories with problems and solutions. Students will of course be encouraged to use everything they know about grammar in their writing!

SCIENCE

We will be wrapping up our study of MATTER with a quiz on Tuesday. Your children really worked hard in class last week, but I might encourage you to review the matter section of the science book with your child.

Later this week we will also begin studying forces and motion, and simple machines. It's going to be a busy week!

News and Notes

• Please remind your child to return his or her library book every TUESDAY.
• School pictures September 21st and 22nd - this week!
• CCLS Sunday @ Concordia October 11th
• CCLS Carnival October 16-17th

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

Matter Websites

Hi second graders!
Here are a few fun videos about Matter to watch during your center time.

Enjoy!

Bill Nye the Science Guy - Matter! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1WUMIDOA8s


What's Matter?   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELchwUIlWa8


Changes in Matter Rap Song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj1IdOdmOjY

September 14th-17th

Looking back at last week...

We had more authors in our "Author's Chair" 

as the students finished up their first narratives...

 We "liked" CCLS...

 We really enjoyed learning about our CCLS-U friends. 

We found where they are on the map, and wrote them a letter...

 And we also got to explore with our 2nd grade iPad's!

RELIGION
This week in religion we will be discussing Joseph. Your children will learn about the difficulty of forgiveness as we read and study how Joseph's brothers really hurt him. Joseph chose to help and forgive them instead of seeking revenge. This is an important lesson for us as we sin and ask for forgiveness daily! We will also jump ahead and read about Moses. We will become familiar with how God spoke directly to Moses. Although we might sometimes wish that God would speak to us, we need to be encouraged by his Word. I challenge you this week to read God's Word with your child. Whether it be these particular stories, or anything on your mind.

Also, ask your second grader about the "WITH" prayer we'll be working on in class. It's an acronym that helps us pray specific prayers to God...
W- worship ("God, you are so awesome because...")
I - "I'm sorry..."
T - "thank you..."
H - "please help..."

Memory verse
Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go. Genesis 28:12
** Your child will be asked to say this week's memory verse before we leave on our field trip on Thursday morning.***

SPELLING
The goal in spelling this week is to focus on short and long "i" sounds. Your children will identify spelling patterns and build words with short and long "i" sounds. I strongly urge you to look over your child's spelling homework every week. There is usually a spot on the last page to write a few sentences. This would be a good time to practice "stretching out" unfamiliar words your child wants to use in writing, which will in turn help with the dictation portion of the spelling tests. Getting your child to think about what they know about words and asking the questions like, "Does that look right?" or "Where have you seen that word before?" or even thinking of rhyming words with the same word family are all ways to help!

SPELLING WORDS
** The spelling test will still be on Thursday before our field trip.**hike    pipe    side    five    nine 
did      rip       fin      pick    mix
BONUS word - because

GRAMMAR
In grammar, we will continue to work on forming complete sentences with subjects and predicates. We will also be discussing the appropriate use of a comma in a friendly letter, between the day and year in a date, and between the names of a city and a state.

SCIENCE
Your kiddos will be so excited to learn about the properties matter this week! We will be exploring the three different states of matter, and how matter can be changed through various activities and hands on experiences.

 News and Notes

• Please remind your child to return his or her library book every TUESDAY.
• Our first field trip is this Thursday, September 17th - Apple picking!
• No school September 18th (Professional development day for teachers)
• Elementary School pictures September 21st and 22nd  
• CCLS Sunday @ Concordia October 11th
• CCLS 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