Week of October 29th

I want to thank you all so very much for arranging your schedules so that we could have such successful conferences. I just LOVED watching your children take initiative and talk to you about their life at school. I also thoroughly enjoyed being able to have some one-on-one time with just you.  If you ever have ANY questions, I'm always happy to help! 
We are a TEAM! 

Also, thanks for another AMAZING birthday celebration! 
Mrs. Leet loved sharing her special day with John!

CHRISTIAN CHARACTER FORMATION PROJECT 

This week we will revisit the virtue of INTEGRITY as we discuss Moses' difficulties with Pharaoh as he worked to follow God's plan. We define integrity as God's power for you to do the right thing. Our "Big Question" is - How can you follow God's instructions when you're pressured to live by someone else's?

PHONICS and GRAMMAR

As students work with words and spelling patterns this week, they'll focus on the long O sound, particularly "o", "oa", "ow", and "oe" spelling patterns. And as usual we will also be reviewing commonly misspelled sight words. 

READING SKILLS and STRATEGIES 

What is alliteration? Simply solicit a second grade student for the solution! While our reading target is still "visualizing", we'll be using poetry (with alliteration) to go beyond the text as we think about what we are reading! 

GRAMMAR and WRITING 

Wasn't it fun to hear your child's "published piece" of writing? Well, this week we are going to learn about writing a paragraph. The paragraphs we write are going to be mailed to a REAL publishing company and turned into a class book! The kiddos are ALREADY excited about this! Stay tuned for information about ordering your own book.

As they write their paragraphs they'll be practicing applying all of their grammar skills, but our focus this week is plural and possessive nouns.


NEWS and NOTES

• OCTOBER READING LOGS are DUE WEDNESDAY - October 31st 
• November 18th - CCLS Sunday at Webster Gardens
• November 19th-23rd - NO SCHOOL Thanksgiving Break

Week of October 22nd

Last week was a super week!
Thanks for a wonderful Harvest Party! I heard amazing things!

And thanks to those of you that were able to join us on our field trip. 

Listening to the beautiful sounds of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra was a treat.

This week's objectives 

CHRISTIAN CHARACTER FORMATION PROJECT 

We will read about how God wanted Moses to save His people. The virtue tied to this lesson is RESPONSIBILITY. We define responsibility as God's power for you to be accountable to Him and others. The "Big Question" is - How can I be ready to trust God and obey Him when He gives me a special job? 

PHONICS and SPELLING

NO SPELLING this week. Enjoy the break (again)!

READING SKILLS and STRATEGIES 

There will be a lot of review next week through an author study with the author/illustrator, Lois Ehlert. She has a very unique style of writing and illustrating. The kiddos are going to love hearing her books and studying her craft! We'll be visualizing with her books, which we practiced last week as well...

GRAMMAR and WRITING 
As you probably guessed we'll be doing some fall writing. As we study Lois Ehlert, we will try illustrating and writing like her. Don't forget to send in "fall items." We will be making our "Leaf Creations" on Tuesday. 

NEWS and NOTES

• This week - Book Fair at Elementary Campus
• Breakfast with a Buddy on Wednesday 
• October 25th Early Dismissal - conferences 
• October 26th NO SCHOOL - conferences
• October Reading Logs DUE October 31st 
• November 18th - CCLS Sunday at Webster Gardens
• November 19th-23rd - NO SCHOOL Thanksgiving Break

Week of October 15th

We're excited for another great week! 

First, here's a quick look back at last week...

Fire Safety Talks with the Webster Fire Department...

Mrs. Sanft's birthday!

Our pumpkin patch...

Come check out all of the unique pumpkins!

This week's objectives:

CHRISTIAN CHARACTER FORMATION PROJECT

This week we will read from Exodus and learn about how God called Moses. The virtue tied to this lesson is self-sacrifice. We define self-sacrifice as God's power for you to give up something to help others. The "Big Question" is - How can you let go of someone or something God has given you, even though it is very difficult? 

PHONICS and SPELLING

This week's spelling rule is "long A" spelling patterns, (specifically "ai" and "ay"). Some students added homophones to their lists as well.

READING SKILLS and STRATEGIES  

For the next few weeks our reading strategy will be VISUALIZING. When we read, we make pictures in our minds to go with the words. It's so fun to see and hear about what mental images the kiddos are creating in their heads.

GRAMMAR and WRITING 

Our specific grammar target this week is learning abbreviations. 

Your second graders worked so hard on publishing their personal narratives. Next we will be doing some "free writing" and writing with prompts as we gear up for our next unit of study. 

NEWS and NOTES

• Box-Top Collection - THIS WEEK 
• October 16th - Field Trip to Powell Symphony Hall
• October 19th - Harvest Party AND Report Cards Released
• October 22nd - 24th - Scholastic Book Fair at the Webster Campus 
• October 25th - Noon Dismissal (Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences)
• October 26th - NO SCHOOL (Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences)
• October 31st - October Reading Log Due

BLESSINGS ON YOUR WEEK!

Week of Octboer 8th

This Friday marks the end of the 1st quarter!

These first eight weeks have gone by SO FAST! 
Your children are learning and working very hard. 
Be proud of their effort!

Here are this week's objectives:

CHRISTIAN CHARACTER FORMATION PROJECT

We will read more from Genesis this week and learn more about how God would use Joseph to save his family and the nation of Israel through an unforgettable act of forgiveness. This week's virtue is INTEGRITY. We define integrity as God's power for you to do the right thing. The "Big Question" is - How can you forgive with a forgiveness that lasts? 

SPELLING 

There is NO SPELLING this week. Yes, your children cried when they heard the news.

READING SKILLS and STRATEGIES

Last week we read The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf, and this week we will read The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig. After reading both of these folktales we will be able to make text to text connections by comparing and contrasting the two stories.

Everyone is still working hard on independently reading "just right" books AND writing their thinking in their "reader's notebooks"...

GRAMMAR and WRITING

Our mentor sentence this week comes from the book, Dear Deer by Gene Barretta. This very silly book will help us learn about homophones. We will also be reviewing commas and plural nouns. Also, as students finish publishing their stories, they will be focusing on EVERYTHING they know about good sentence structure. We'll be having a personal narrative publishing party this week! 

NEWS and NOTES

• October 12th - End of 1st Quarter 
• October 19th - Harvest Party AND Report Cards Released
• October 22nd - 24th - Scholastic Book Fair at the Webster Campus 
• October 25th - Noon Dismissal (Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences)
• October 26th - NO SCHOOL (Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences)
• October 31st - October Reading Log Due

Week of October 1st

Thank you SO very much for all the wonderful birthday wishes! I truly had the BEST day! Thank you for showering me with so many treats! 

I feel so blessed by this crew! 

Here are this week's objectives: 

CHRISTIAN CHARACTER FORMATION PROJECT
Abraham had Isaac, Isaac had Jacob, and Jacob had twelve sons who would create the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph was one of the twelve sons of Jacob. This week we will read from Genesis 37 and learn about how Joseph was rejected by his own brothers – abandoned, sold into slavery, and betrayed because his brothers were intensely jealous of him. The virtue of the week is RESPONSIBILITY. We define responsibility as God’s power for you to be accountable to Him and others. The “Big Question” is – How can you stay responsible when circumstances seem unfair?

PHONICS and SPELLING
This week we will read, review, and sort words with beginning consonant blends.

READING SKILLS and STRATEGIES 
We will read the story The Three Little Pigs and practice retelling - focusing on noticing the problem and solution.  Also, I hope you heard about "reading buddy" time with our preschool friends!

GRAMMAR and WRITING
Our mentor sentence come from a book called Smelly Socks by Robert Munsch. The kiddos will focus on commas and plural nouns this week. 

There was excitement in the air last week when the class heard it was time to pick one of their favorite personal narratives to polish into a published piece of writing. We'll be reviewing the writing process and begin publishing this week. 

NEWS and NOTES

• September Reading Logs Due TODAY 
• October 8th is Mrs. Sanft's birthday. The 2nd grade teachers are putting together a basket of snacks/treats for her. If you would like to contribute something, please send it in any day this week. THANKS! 
• October 12th - End of 1st Quarter 
• October 19th - Harvest Party AND Report Cards Released
• October 22nd - 24th Scholastic Book Fair at the Webster Campus 
• October 25th - Noon Dismissal (Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences)
• October 26th - NO SCHOOL (Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences)
• October 31st - October Reading Log Due

Week of September 24th

Fall is in the air in second grade!

Click the link to see a slide show of our trip.
Apple Picking
Thanks to everyone who was able to join us! It was a beautiful day! 

Here are this week's objectives: 

CHRISTIAN CHARACTER FORMATION PROJECT 

As we continue to read from Genesis, we will learn about when Jacob wrestles God, and discuss the virtue of COURAGE. We define courage as God's power for you to overcome fear. The "Big Question" is, How does trusting God give you the courage to face the fears with which you are wrestling? 

SPELLING and PHONICS 

This week's spelling rule is "short u" and "long u" (specifically the u-consonant-e pattern). 

READING SKILLS and STRATEGIES 

Our target for the next few weeks will be understanding story elements and retelling a story. When retelling, students will learn to describe the beginning, middle and end of what they read, while using details about the characters, the setting, the problem and the solution. We'll be reading the book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day.

GRAMMAR 
Our mentor sentence this week comes from the book Bad Apple be Edward Hemingway. The focus will be on different ways to use a comma. 

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

• September 28th - September Reading Logs Due
• September 28th and 29th - Carnival at LHSS
• October 12th - End of 1st Quarter 
• October 19th - Harvest Party AND Report Cards Released
• October 22nd - 24th Scholastic Book Fair at the Webster Campus 
• October 25th - Noon Dismissal (Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences)
• October 26th - NO SCHOOL (Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences)

BLESSINGS ON YOUR WEEK!

Week of September 17th

Another short but wonderful week!

Here's a look back on last week... 

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

And the students have been LOVING learning about

how to use their chrome books...

This week's objectives:

CHRISTIAN CHARACTER FORMATION PROJECT

We continue to read from Genesis - this week we will study about the sacrifice of Isaac. As we read about how God asked Abraham to give up his only son, we will discuss Self-Sacrifice. We define Self-Sacrifice as God's power for you to give up something to help others. This week's "Big Question" is, How can you give to God what matters most to you? 

PHONICS and SPELLING

This week we will 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. 

**A Note About Spelling Homework**

It would be helpful for you and your child to 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 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 

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

• September 21st - Casual for a Cause CCLS-Uganda 
• September 21st - Field Trip to Eckert's Apple Farm 
• September 28th - September Reading Logs due
• September 28th and 29th - Carnival at LHSS 
• October 11th - CCLS University Night 
• October 12th - End of 1st Quarter 

BLESSINGS ON YOUR WEEK!