Thursday, December 17, 2015

12/14-12/18

We had quite the busy week in 2B. We had our Advent Service...I was so proud of how well the kids did with memorizing their lines and the many songs they sang. They did a great job sharing the Good News of Jesus' birth with those in the congregation. On Thursday, we paid a visit to the North Pole via the Polar Express. It was a fun filled day filled with all things Polar Express...and lots of pajamas!
Our assembly line made an extremely long chain

All Aboard!

All Aboard!

Polar Express Surveys

Polar Express Surveys



Enjoying Snacks

Tic Tac Toe

Drawing Christmas Trees

Illustrating the Polar Express



















Looking Ahead to After Break:
Memory:He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Romans 8:32
Spelling:
ee:
see, free, deer, peel, tree, weep, beep, need, freedom, wheel
Phonics: -er and -est comparisons
Grammar: noun, verb, adjective differentiation and distinction
Reading: Fiction v. Nonfiction
Math: Addition with and without regrouping, TEST Friday
Science: Chapter 10- Matter Changes. Test over Lesson 1 Friday, study guide will be sent home on Wednesday.
Writing: Third quarter begins official grading of students' writing. We will spend the week working on 5 paragraph essays, then I will conference with each student and together we will come up with a goal for the quarter on how to become a better writer.

Important News and Information:

  • School will resume on Monday Jan. 4th. 2nd Quarter grade cards will be sent home that Friday, 1/8.
  • Zion will be offering several services to celebrate Christmas.  Christmas Eve services will be at 1:00, 3:00, 5:00, and 11:00pm, and the Christmas Day service will be at 9:00am.

Friday, December 11, 2015

12/7-12/11

This week was busy, busy, busy! We began practicing for our Advent service next Wednesday. We also wrote a persuasive letter from the perspective of an elf looking to be hired for a job at the North Pole. In Reading, we began reading The True Gift, a really sweet Christmastime novel about a brother and sister who find out the meaning of a true gift. Then, in Social Studies, we learned about how goods are made and brought to us. We started our unit through a factory simulation in our classroom. Half of the class worked in an assembly line to produce bags of snack mix, four kids worked by themselves to produce bags of snack mix, and the other students acted as the factory inspectors, truck drivers, and store owners. We quickly learned that an assembly line is much more efficient that someone working by themselves! The unit was finished with a project where the kids were to design a factory to produce a product. They did a great job!


Building our vocabulary with words from The True Gift!




One individual doing all the work in a factory doesn't work too well

The successful assembly line!

Lots of Snack Mix was made

Looking Ahead to Next Week
Due to our crazy schedule next week with advent, polar express day, and a half day on Friday, our usual school routine will be a little different. We will have a math test on Wednesday. We will not have memory or spelling next week. In reading, we will finish up reading The True Gift, and we will hopefully (if time allows) participate in a Reader's Theatre. In social studies we will learn about Christmas Traditions around the world.

Important News and Information
-Advent: For the morning service your child should just wear the school uniform, no 'fancy' clothes please. For the evening service please have your child in the church basement at 6:50.  Please keep your child's coat.  Please don't drop your child off early.  There will be no adult supervision till 6:50.
For the evening service your child may wear a Christmas outfit, other Church clothes, or school uniform.  Please no jeans. After the service your child will be waiting for you in the Welcome Center.
We have been working hard on this service.  We each have our individual part and our songs ready.  We are excited to share the message of Jesus' birth.
-Polar Express Day will take place on Thursday. Polar Express Day is a fun filled day--students may wear their pajamas and bring a stuffed animal to school. We will spend the day doing various polar express themed activities, and will even get to have some North Pole Treats such as donuts and hot chocolate!
-Next Friday is a half day beginning with an Advent Service led by 8th grade, and ending with our class Christmas party. Our class Christmas Party will provide a Little Caesar's Pizza Lunch. School will resume on Monday, Jan. 4th.

Friday, December 4, 2015

11/30-12/4

This week in 2B we were busy writing five paragraph essays about their Thanksgiving breaks. This writing tied perfectly into our two week long focus on main idea. We learned how good writers include a topic sentence to start out their paragraphs, and how this is kind of like the main idea of the paragraph. Then, the rest of the sentences in the paragraph are the details. I was super impressed with how well they all did!
In math this week, we learned about symmetry. We tied this into art on Friday by making symme-trees. We also had fun in math on Thursday when we went outside to measure objects using our feet and comparing that same distance with a ruler's measurements. The kids figured out why rulers are so important...because everyone's feet are different sizes. If there was no universal measurement tool, there would be big problems!
Measuring the Volume of Liquids


Measuring Distances with Feet

Measuring Distances with a Ruler

Measuirng Distances with Feet

I was impressed with their creativity and acrobatic work to measure the playground equipment:)
Looking Ahead to Next Week: 
Memory: Advent Parts (Check homework folders for their part)
Spelling: Chunk -all: hall, ball, call, stall, wall, mall, overall, rainfall, fallen, baseball
Grammar/Phonics: Adjectives
Reading: The True Gift Book Study
Math: No Test next week
Social Studies: How Goods are Made and Brought to Us
Writing: Persuasive Writing

Important Information:

  • 1st and 2nd Grade Advent Service will be on Wednesday, Dec. 16th at 10am and 7pm in the church sanctuary. 
  • I will place the last scholastic book order of the semester next Tuesday, Dec. 8th. If you would like for me to hold any books behind for Christmas presents for your kids, let me know:)
  • As part of our class service project for the Christmas Season, we are joining with Mrs. Smith's class to collect books the Ready Readers Program (through UMSL). Ready Readers is a volunteer nonprofit organization that places over 500 volunteers to read weekly to preschool children from low-income communities in the St. Louis area. 
    They are in need of preschool aged picture and board books. They are also accepting cash donations so that they can purchase books.