MARCH 17-21

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS

Homework packets are due on Thursday!  Please remind your child to put them their homework packet into their backpacks on Wednesday evening.  Remember... no homework packet = no free choice Friday!

There is still snow and plenty of chilly weather during the month of March.  Please remember to send your child to school with the appropriate winter gear.  They will need their jackets, snow pants, boots, hats, and mittens to be able to play in the snow.

Remember to send a healthy snack to school with your child everyday!  We have time for a quick snack in the afternoon to keep us energized!

Conference sign up papers were sent home with Team Blowey last week.   Please sign them and return them with your top three choices for conference times.  Conferences are set up on a first come, first serve basis.  I will do my best to accommodate everyone’s preferred time for conferences.   All conference sign ups are due by Wednesday, March 19th!  If you have any questions, please let me know!   

This week in...

Phonics:  We are studying the /u/ sound with the spelling patterns /oo/ and /ou/.  Here are our focus words:  shook, stood, hook, brook, crook, foot, soot, could, should, would.

Vocabulary:  Our new words are:  conservation, remains, trouble, extinct, and hardest.  We will define these words and build connections to them.  Then, we will search for them in the short stories called Prairie Problem and Be Careful!  We’re Almost Gone!

Comprehension:  This week, we will be paying attention to descriptions.  A description tells what something is like.  When we are reading, we might see clue words or phrases like to begin with or here is how.  

Grammar:  We will be studying irregular words.  That means we won’t be able to add -ed to the end of the word to make it past tense.  Here are some examples of irregular verbs:  go becomes went, does becomes did, goes becomes went, does become did.

Writing:  This week, Team Blowey will be working on creating the final draft elements that will go on their Biography Report posters!  They will have to use the research they did to make complete sentences with their very best handwriting.  We will be proofreading for spelling mistakes, checking to make sure we have capital letters where they belong, and of course making sure we have the correct punctuation.  

Math:  This week, we will begin working with some of the place value strategies that we will be using to add and subtract numbers fluently within 100.  My goal is to send home a sheet explaining these strategies so that you and your child will be able to reference them as your child does their homework, whether it be the worksheet that is sent home or the problems on IXL.  While using these strategies, students will also  practice showing all of their work.  This is to help them check their work in case they make a mistake and also to communicate their thinking to me or their peers.  

In class, we will be working with a 100 chart, drawings of base ten blocks, number lines, and breaking numbers down into tens and ones.  

Scholastic News:  We’ll be able to take a visit to Ireland in this week’s issue!  Team Blowey will be reading about Mia, a little girl from Ireland.  We’ll learn about the country of Ireland, some of Mia’s favorite things, and about St. Patrick’s day.  Then, we’ll use a map to answer some questions about Ireland.

Read Aloud:  We are getting ever so close to finishing the BFG!  The tale is keeping us on the edge of our seats.  Soon, we will find out what Sophie, the BFG, and the Queen of England come up with to stop the other giants!  

St. Patrick’s Day Fun:  Today, we read a story called Clever Tom and the Leprechaun.  In the story, Tom is desperate to find the leprechaun’s gold!  He soon finds out that the leprechaun played a trick on him making it almost impossible for him to find.  After reading the story today, Team Blowey had a chance to think about something more valuable than gold... their loved ones!  We wrote a little bit about a person is is worth more than gold to us.  Then, we shared why they were so important to us.


I hope everyone has a LUCKY week!

March 10-14

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

Team Blowey has finished filling up my heart!  Tomorrow, they may bring in one special stuffed animal from home as a buddy for the day.  If you have any questions,  please let me know!

Spring conferences are coming right up!  I will be sending home a sign-up sheet in totes on Thursday. Conferences will take place Tuesday, March 25 through Thursday, March 27.  Please send your conference sign-up sheet back to me by Wednesday, March 19th!  Once I have scheduled your conference, you will receive a confirmation note and/or email from me.  

Wednesday is an early release day!  Please plan accordingly!

Homework packets are due on THURSDAY!  Please remind your child to put their homework packet in their backpack on Wednesday evening.  Remember, no homework packet = no free choice Friday!

This Thursday, we will be taking our spring pictures!  

On Friday,  we will have an assembly with Dr. Harvey!  More information to come.

We still have more spaces for mystery readers!  If you or someone you know would like to sign up, please let me know!

THIS WEEK IN...

Phonics:  We are working with r-controlled vowels with the spelling patterns /er/, /ir/, and /ur/.  Here are our focus words:  churn, hurt, burst, turn, skirt, stir, sir, clerk, term, and herd.

Vocabulary:  Our new words are:  wider, saddest, balance, deserted, freezes, and imagine.  We'll define these words and build connections to them.  Then, we'll search for them in the short story called Bill Helps Geese Survive by Anthony Estes.  

Comprehension:  We will focus on cause and effect.  The effect is what happened in the story and the cause is why something happened in the story.  For example. the main character used an umbrella (effect) because it was raining (cause).  We'll practice this skill while we read Goose's Story by Cari Best.  

Grammar:  This week, we'll work with helping verbs.  Has and have are helping verbs.  These are words that help to show an action.  We use has when the subject is singular.  We use have when the subject is plural, I, or you.  For example:

My sister has learned a lot about camels.

Camels have lived in the desert for a long time.

Writing:  Team Blowey has already decided who they will be studying for our biography projects!  This week will be focused on gathering information from multiple stories.  We are searching for when our famous person is born, when they died (if applicable), what they are famous for, three important facts from their life, and one really interesting book. 

Math:  Beginning at the end of last week, we started a very cool project that ties in reading, social studies, and place value.  As a group, we read the story called Listen to the Wind by Greg Mortensen.  Some of you might be familiar with the adult version of the story, Three Cups of Tea.  In the story, Dr. Greg tries to climb the mountains of Pakistan, but ends up getting very sick.  He wanders into the village of Korphe, were the people there help to take care of him.  In return, Dr. Greg promises to help them build a school.  It was this promise that started the Pennies for Peace Organization.  This organization gathers pennies to help build schools in countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan.  Team Blowey was very interested to read about and see how our school compared to the schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan.  We had some differences, but we also had a lot of similarities.  To check out more about this organization, head to their website!   Here is the address:  www.penniesforpeace.org.  

Our project takes what we learned from the book, the Pennies for Peace Organization, our money unit, and our place value unit and puts it all together.  We are creating a book that will tell about Dr. Greg and the village of Korphe, but also a book that helps to teach key place value concepts.  Team Blowey is using the number of pennies collected by another school to teach these concepts.  Using the number 527, we will show that we know how to write the number in standard form, expanded form, and in words.  Team Blowey will also show that we understand the hundreds, tens, and ones place as well as skip counting by fives, tens, and hundreds.  When the book is complete, we'll be able to use it to teach others about Korphe, money, and place value!

Scholastic News:  This week's issue will be about a bird called the cassowary.  We'll learn all kinds of facts about this interesting bird.  Then, we'll use a graphic of the cassowary's life cycle to answer questions.

Read Aloud:  We are almost done with our adventure with the Big Friendly Giant!  We took a short break today to read A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon to help us review how to identify story elements.  We talked about the title, characters, setting, plot, problem, solution, and the moral of the story.  We loved this interesting story!  Ask your child about it today!

March 3-7

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS!

Thank you SO much for all of your support!  My heart was bursting with all of the joy I was feeling on Friday and Saturday.  Team Blowey and their parents truly went above and beyond in an effort to show their support for me during the Dancing with the Staff event.  I loved all of the shirts, posters, gifts, cheering, hugs, and sweet notes that you all have sent my way!  Go Team Blowey!  You truly are the BEST TEAM EVER!

Homework packets are due on Thursday!  Be sure to turn them in in order to get free choice Friday!

On Friday, we will be watching a play that will be put on by UNH!  We are so excited to see fluency in action!

We still have openings for mystery readers!  If you are someone you know is interested in being a mystery reader, please get in touch with me!  I'd be happy to set up a day for you to come to our classroom.  Let me know if you have any questions!  

This is a gentle reminder that Team Blowey's spelling tests include being able to spell the words correctly, but also being able to use them correctly in a sentence!  For homework, please help your child practice ways to use their spelling words correctly. If you have any questions about the words on your child's spelling list, please let me know!

This week in...

Phonics:   We are working with r-controlled vowels this week!  We will study the -ar and the -or spelling patterns.  Here are our focus words:  part, sort, start, storm, park, short, farm, for, dark, and horse.

Vocabulary:  Our new words are itches, puddles, preen, beasts, handy, and nibble.  We'll define these words and build connections to them.  Then, we listen for them in the short story called Animals Need to Eat by Patty Serrano.

Comprehension:  This week we will be focusing on making comparisons.  When we make comparisons we are identifying how things are alike and how they are different.  We'll do this while we read Splish! Splash!  Animal Baths by April Pulley Sayre.  We'll compare pigs, birds, and big fish.  

Grammar:  Our focus will be on linking verbs.  "Be" is a linking verb and it has many forms.  If the subject is "I" we will use am.  If the subject is singular such as he or she, we will use is.  If the subject is "you", "we", or "they" we will use are.  Examples:

Ostriches are the largest birds of all.
I am at the zoo.
My whole class is here with me.

Writing:  We have begun our highly anticipating biography projects!  This week, Team Blowey will have the chance to explore many books about famous people from history.  On Wednesday, they will decide who they would like to study.  Then, we'll learn some strategies to help us read for information.  We'll read our books and keep track of the important information.  That information will be used for our biography reports.

Math:  This week, we will finish our flexible groups for place value.  I will be unpacking our next learning progression and essential standard.  In our next math unit, students will be learning how to add and subtract fluently within 100 using strategies from place value.  They will then use these skills and strategies to help them solve one and two step word problems.  We will also be introduced to adding and subtracting within 1,000 using strategies!   This unit is HUGE!  It is definitely going to be a fun challenge for us!

Scholastic News:  This week, we will be reading about Dr. Seuss!  In this article, we will learn 5 new things about Dr. Seuss.  Then, we'll practice writing the titles of some of his books in alphabetical order.

Read Across America Day:  This morning, we watched to first graders parade in the hallway in their fabulous Dr. Seuss costumes.  Then, we joined the rest of the school and listened to two of his books!  In our classroom, we used a program called "Switch Zoo" to create some very interesting animals!  This image was used in correlation with Dr. Seuss's book Oh the Thinks You Can Think!  We'll write about our interesting animals and then put them on display in the hallway.

We were also visited by the Cat in the Hat and Thing 2!  (Many of us were convinced that they were Mrs. Noyes and Mrs. Paul!)

In the afternoon, everyone was able to participate in the book swap!  Make sure you ask your child about their new book!

I hope you have a fabulous week!

February 24-28

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

Welcome back!  I hope everyone had a lovely vacation!

I think I was a little overzealous when I decided to have all of the winter olympics papers due by today.  Instead, I will extend the deadline for those papers to be turned in to THURSDAY!  I will move the medal ceremony to Friday.  Also, winter break homework packets will also be due on Thursday!

Mrs. Sylvester’s class is collecting books for a book swap for Read Across America Day!  Please send in a gently used book with your child by Friday!  This book will be added to the book swap.  It should be a book that another second grader will be interested in.  On Monday, March 3, students will have the chance to pick out a new book in place of the one that they gave.  You are more than welcome to donate more books if you would like, however, students will only be getting one book at the book swap.  Contact me with any questions!

This Saturday is Dancing with the Staff!  I can’t believe it’s here already.  I will be performing with Mrs. Russell, Ms. Cott, and Miss Walsh!  Buy your tickets today!  

I would love to have all of you there for support during dancing with the staff.  I’m asking that any students who go to wear black and maybe sunglasses to show their support!  Our theme is “under cover”.  Feel free to make posters so I have something to concentrate on instead of my stage fright, ha!  Tickets tend to go fast so buy them soon!  $10 for adults, $5 for students.  

Mrs. Thibodeau will be coming to our classroom on Thursday to talk to us about friendship!  Something we definitely enjoy celebrating in the month of February.

Please remember that second grade tries to go outside for a morning recess every morning (depending on the weather).  In order to help your child get the most out of their recess, please send them already dressed to play outside!  They will need their snow pants, jackets, hats, boots, and mittens!

This week in...

Phonics:  We are working with spr-, str-, and scr-.  Our focus words for the week are screen, scream, crape, stripe, struck, strict, sprain, spring, spruce, and strap.

Vocabulary:  Our new words are sincerely, impatient, furious, demand, emergency, and snoop.  We’ll define these words and build connections to them.   Then, we’ll search for them in the short story Izzy Pig Saves the Day!  by Kevin Tormino.

Comprehension:  This week we will be focusing on cause and effect again.  The cause is why something happened and the effect is the event that happened.  We’ll use the connecting word “because” to help us with our thoughts.  We’ll practice this strategy while we read Click, Clack, Moo:  Cows that Type.  

Grammar:  We will work on combining sentences.  If two sentences have words that are the same, we can combine the sentences using the word “and”.  For example, we can take these two sentences:

Mom picked the apples.  Mom baked a pie.

We can connect these sentences with the word and so that they will read as:

Mom picked the apples and baked a pie.  

Writing:  This week, we will finish up our autobiography books and begin our buddy biographies!  Students will be partnered and they will interview each other to gather information about their partner’s life events.  Then, they will create a book about each other!

Math:  We will continue our flexible groups for place value.  Please see previous blog posts for specifics on what your child is working towards to meet our second grade place value standard.

Science:  We will replant some of the seeds that we were able to harvest from our brassica plants and see if we can start the plant life cycle all over again!  

We’ll also introduce our weather topic!  This week, we’ll start by reading some weather books and collecting different weather words that we hear.

Read Aloud:  We are still on an adventure with the fabulous BFG!

Scholastic News:  We will read about Harriet Tubman and how she helped so many slaves escape to freedom!  We’ll also learn a little bit about the Underground Railroad.

February 10-14

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

Tomorrow is our sledding day!  Mrs. Boyce will be taking Team Blowey over to the sledding hill for tons of fun at recess tomorrow!  Please make sure that your child comes to school with snow pants, jacket, hat, mittens, and boots so that they can join in with the fun!

Remember, Team Blowey’s Winter Olympics started on Friday!  Be sure to help your child fill in that recording sheet!  Please contact me if you have any questions.

In your child’s mailbox today is a questionnaire for you to do with your child.  You will be asked to write down some memories with your child so that they can incorporate them into an autobiography.  You will be reminiscing about memories as a baby, in kindergarten, first grade, second grade, summer memories, and other fun memories.  I am asking that this questionnaire be returned by Wednesday, February 12!  If it is easier for you to email the memories to me, you are more than welcome to do that as well!

This Wednesday is an early release day!  Please plan accordingly!

This Friday is Valentine’s Day!  Last week, students were given an OPTIONAL homework assignment to build a box for valentine’s day cards.  If you are not able to build a box at home, do not worry!  We’ll have a chance to make something here at school.

If your child plans to bring in valentines on Friday, please make sure they are bringing one for everyone in the class.  Also, please do not send in any candy with your valentines.  We’ll celebrate by playing some Valentine’s Day themed minute to win it games!

Homework packets will be due on Thursday!  Please remind your child to put it in their backpack on Wednesday evening.  This Thursdays homework packet will be a little bit different.  It will be a vacation homework packet instead!  If you have questions once you receive it, please let me know!

This week in...

ELA:  

We will be introducing autobiographies!  An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person!  With some help from you at home, Team Blowey will begin writing stories about their life to share with the rest of the team.  Then, we will have the chance to write buddy biographies!  We will interview a partner, and write a short story about their life.  This will be the introduction to our second grade biography projects where Team Blowey will be researching a famous person from history and writing a report about them.  

We will also be reviewing some reading strategies that help us become better readers.  As a whole group, in small groups, and as individuals, we will review story elements.  We will talk about what they are and how to identify them in the stories we read.  We’ll talk about title, characters, setting, problem, and solution.  

To go along with the Winter Olympics, we will also be creating Teamwork mini books and writing a Teamwork acrostic poem.  In our books, we’ll write about how we can be team players, a good partner, and the kinds of words we might use when talking to our teammates.  

Math:

We will continue our flexible math groups for place value.  Students will be working towards reading and writing three digit numbers in standard form, word form, and expanded form.  They will understand the ones, tens, and hundreds place being able to identify what digit is in each place and the value of that digit.  They will also be working with groups of 1, 10, and 100 in a three digit number.  Students will work on skip counting by 5s, 10s, and 100s up to 1,000.  The power standard is being able to compare two three digit numbers using <, >, and =.

Scholastic News:  

Team Blowey will be reading Road to Gold, an article about Evan Lysacek.  We will learn about his road to winning a gold medal at the Winter Olympics!  Then, we will use a map to answer questions about the different countries the Winter Olympics have been held in the past.

Science:  

We are nearing the end of our plant life cycle.  Soon, we should be seeing some seed pods and begin to harvest the seeds.  Once we have some new seeds, we will try to replant them and see if we can begin the plant life cycle again!  

Early Release Day Project!

This project is one that is very near and dear to my heart!  Since Valentine’s Day and the 100th day of school fall on the same day this year, we will be working like a team to create 100 valentines to be sent to the elderly who are living in an assisted living facility.  Something small that can really brighten up someone’s day!  The valentines will be delivered just in time for our older friends to enjoy reading at dinnertime!  To kick off the project, we will read the story Cranberry Valentine by Wende Devlin.  This is a sweet story about Maggie and her grandmother who sent secret valentines to Mr. Whiskers, a grumpy man who has never before received a valentine!

100th day activities!

Can you believe Valentine's Day and the 100th day of school fall on the same day?  It's crazy!  To celebrate the 100th day of school we will load up our morning with some fun activities!  First, we’ll make a picture of what we think we will look like when we are 100 years old using some torn paper.  Then, we’ll challenge ourselves to try and build a 100 cup structure!  finally, we’ll use the number 100 to make an interesting picture.  Some might form the number 100 to look like glasses, some might form the number to look like a car!

I hope everyone has a lovely week!

February 3-7

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

Homework packets are due on Thursday!  Please remind your child to put it in their backpack on Wednesday evening.  Remember... no homework packet = no free choice Friday!

Starting on February 7, Team Blowey will be participating in their own Winter Olympics.  Be on the look out for more information coming home this week!

Please remember to send in a healthy snack for your child each and every day!  Please make sure all snacks do not contain any strawberries, pineapples, or peanuts!  Also, water is the only drink allowed in the classroom.  Please save all juices for a lunch drink or an at-home drink.

This Friday, Mr. Sparks from Sparks Ark will be coming to visit.  He is a wildlife expert and has many animals to share!

THIS WEEK IN...

Phonics:  We will be working with consonant digraphs again.  This time, we’ll be working with the /th/, /sh/, /ch/ and /tch/ spelling patterns.  These are our focus words:  each, teaching, teeth, wishbone, matching, which, path, fishing, watch, and dish.

Vocabulary:  Here are our new words:  students, effort perform, mood, remember, and proud.  We’ll define these words and build connections to them.  Then, we’ll search for them in the short story called A Little Symphony by Lani Perlin.

Comprehension:  We will continue to work on summarizing a story.  When we summarize, we retell the story using only the most important parts of the story.  We’ll practice this skill while we read The Alvin Ailey Kids:  Dancing as a Team.

Writing:  This week, students will finish their writing check-ins, where they are writing to show me their very best.  This will help guide our goals moving forward in the year.  We’ll also begin a writing project that aligns with the upcoming Winter Olympics.  As a team, we’ll identify qualities we think a person needs to have in order to “go for gold!”  Then, we’ll write about what qualities we have inside us that would help us “go for gold” too!

Grammar:  We will be working with the verb “have”.  Have comes in two forms:  has and have in the present tense.  We use “has” when the subject is singular and “have” when the subject is plural or I or you.

Math:  We are continuing our flexible groups for place value.  Please refer to previous posts to find out exactly what your child will need to demonstrate in order to meet the standard.  

Read Aloud:  We are still on a marvelous adventure with Roald Dahl.  We are currently reading The BFG and loving every second of the adventure!

Scholastic News:  This week’s issue is all about dental health, in the past and today!  We will be practicing our comparison skills while we read the article.  Then, we will read and interpret a chart to answer questions about how to keep our teeth healthy!

Science:  Our plant life cycle continues!  This week, we are starting to see some flowers!  We will use our scientist eyes to help us write and keep track of exactly what we see.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

January 27-31

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

Homework packets are due on Thursday!  Please remind your child to put their homework packet in their backpacks on Wednesday evening.  Remember, no homework = no free choice Friday!

On Monday, January 27, Team Blowey will be participating in Healthy Choice Week during P.E. class.  Ms. Croteau and Mrs. Thibodeau along with other volunteers will be leading students through different stations and teaching them about some healthy choices they can make for their lives.  Be sure to ask your child what they learned about when you see them!

SNACK REMINDER!   Please remember all strawberry, pineapple, and peanut snacks need to be kept as an at-home snack.  Please be sure to check the labels of any snack items you send in for you child.  Snacks should be healthy to keep us energized!  Also, in the classroom, only water is allowed as a drink.  Please keep all juice for lunch or home.  Students are more than welcome to keep a water bottle on their desk to help them stay hydrated throughout the day.  

All winter clothes should be sent to school everyday!  They will need their snow pants, jackets, hats, boots, and mittens for recess.  Extra mittens can be helpful as they tend to get wet and don't really have enough time to dry between recesses.  

THIS WEEK IN...

Phonics:  This week we are working with consonant digraphs.  We will work with the spelling patterns th, sh, wh, and ch.  Here are our focus words:  chest, chill, chase, shape, sheep, thing, think, white, while, and wheat.

Vocabulary:  Our new words are:  ancient, hopeful, unable, confirm, and valid.  We will define these words and build connections to them.  Then, we'll search for them in A Very Old Fish and  Boy Finds Fossils!

Comprehension:  This week, we will practice summarizing.  When we summarize, we retell the story using only the most important details.  A summary is usually a short statement.  We'll practice this skill while we read Meet the Super Croc.  

Grammar:  This week, we will talk about past-tense verbs.  A past-tense verb is an action that took place in the past.  For the most part, we add -ed to the end of a verb to make it past-tense.  For example, cook becomes cooked or paint becomes painted.

Writing:  This week, Team Blowey will finish their final draft of their persuasive letters.  We will also open up our Team Blowey mailing system where students will be able to write letters to each other and to other students and teachers in Russell School.  

Scholastic News:  This week, we'll read an article called Lion School where we will learn all about Chinese New Year!  We'll focus on finding how reasons support specific points the author makes in a text.  Then, we'll talk about how to ask and answer questions such as who, what, when, where, why, and how to show our understanding of key points in the text.

Science:  We are still continuing to observe our brassica plants through their life cycle.  Many of us have plants that have sprouted and soon we will be seeing buds!  We are still working on how to write like scientists, writing about only what we see and not using any opinion words.  We'll also begin some pre-teaching for our upcoming weather unit by talking about weather words.  We'll brainstorm words we already know that connect to weather and then read some various weather books to find some more!

Math:  We are still continuing our flexible groups for place value.  Please refer to last week's post to see exactly what your child will be learning to do in order to meet the standard.  When we are not switching for place value, we will be working on our year-long goals for time, money, and math facts.  We will also have some time to go back and review previous standards that we've worked on.  This week, we will go back and review our graphing standard.