9/25-9/29

Looking Ahead to Next Week:
Memory: Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Spelling: on/ong: on, onto, fond, con, apron, long, song, along, belong, strong
Phonics: Consonant Clusters with an S
Grammar: Action Verbs
Reading: Setting
Math: Test Monday
Science:What is the Earth? We will be focusing on the three layers of earth, where water is found on earth, and that water on earth can be either fresh water or salt water.
Writing: Write to persuade

Important News and Information:
- Grades for Social Studies and Science will be based on a semester model, as opposed to quarterly, for the K-3rd-grade department. Grades in these subjects that have been earned during first quarter will be moved into the second quarter tab in Sycamore before report cards are issued. This will allow you to view your child's progress as the quarter develops in each particular subject. This change will offer students more time to absorb and hopefully master the material in both content areas before a final grade is recorded.

-2nd grade sings at the 5pm service on Saturday at Zion. Please arrive 10 minutes before the service. 

The kids worked in groups to create a skit to act out a certain character trait. The goal was for the class to be able to figure out what character trait was being acted out. 

This group was acting out "naughty." The characters just weren't doing what they were being told to do. 

In math, the kids looked at different shapes and discovered that they can classify shapes by their color, shape, and size

Planning their community projects

In phonics, the kids played "pass the plate," a game similar to hot potato in order to practice their knowledge of words with "r" consonant clusters. 

The kids chose which type of community they would like to create. Then, they worked with their groups to plan out what they would have in their community. Finally, they designed their communities. Every group worked well together! We learned how to compromise!:) 

The finished Urban Community: Star City

The finished Rural Community: Cow Town

The finished Suburban Community: Beach Fun

9/18-9/22

Looking Ahead to Next Week:
Memory: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16
Spelling: ake/er: rake, take, lake, make, shake, her, water, super, person, tower
Grammar: Pronouns
Phonics: Consonant Clusters with the letter R
Reading: Character Traits
Math: We will not have a test next week. We will be studying our +9 facts
Social Studies: Types of Communities
Writing: Write to Persuade

Important News and Information:
-Noon dismissal on Wednesday 9/27
-2nd grade sings at Zion on Sat., 9/30 at 5pm. Please arrive in the upstairs balcony classroom 10 minutes before the service.
-The kids will be designing and creating their own communities next week in social studies. Please send in any used empty boxes (cereal sized or smaller) or clean plastic containers to help provide community making materials. We will begin the project on Tuesday!
-I sent home AR summary reports so you can see how your child is doing on their AR tests and goals. Just a reminder that the last day to take AR tests for this quarter is Thursday, Oct. 12.

With our Scholastic book orders, the company mailed our entire class a free book! 

Working together to brainstorm character traits for a character from a story we read together

Silent Reading time

Looking for polygons in our classroom

We began our keyboarding program this week

The kids worked in groups to act out the story of Moses and the burning bush

To put together what we have learned in math this week about polygons and pictographs, the kids created a design using different polygons. They then created a pictograph of their design, showing how many of each shape they used. 

9/11-9/14

Looking Ahead to Next Week:
Memory: Third Article of the Apostle’s Creed

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Spelling: old/ame: fold, hold, mold, sold, cold, flame, came, fame, same, name

Phonics: long and short u
Grammar: proper nouns
Reading: Character Traits
Math: +2 facts, Test Thursday
Social Studies: What is a community? What are the three types of communities?
Writing: Write a Letter


Important News and Information:
-Parent Education Night at Zion is this coming Thursday, 9/21. Stop on by to learn about what's going on in the classrooms at Zion. Learn also about how to monitor and manage technology usage in your homes.
-Our first noon dismissal day will happen on Wed., Sept. 27th.
-For social studies, we are beginning a unit on communities. As part of this unit, the kids will be working in groups to create their own communities. If you have any small cardboard boxes (empty cereal, cracker, granola bars, oatmeal, etc.), or small plastic containers (yogurt cups, milk jug, etc.) Please send them our way:) We will use them to create some awesome communities in a couple of weeks!

The kids wrote to entertain this week. Their stories were inspired by the story, "Where the Wild Things Are." They first brainstormed a main character and a wild thing, along with a setting and three events that would happen in their story. Next, they wrote their stories and created a picture of their wild thing. Finally, the kids published their stories and shared them with the class. 

The kids worked in their guided reading groups from the week to create a poster of their story's main character

Louis and his fishing pole

Anna and her weather changing magic coat

Ryan and his growing pile of homework

Bonk and his loose tooth

We made clay landforms to demonstrate what we've learned

Going on a noun scavenger hunt. Nouns are everywhere!

Looking at physical maps

To cumulate our unit on maps and landforms, the kids made a barefoot island. First, they traced their foot to create their island. Then, they added a key, compass, and a title to create a map. 

9/5-9/8

Looking Ahead to Next Week:
Memory: Second Article (part two)

"He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead."

Spelling: ate/ish: ate, rate, fate, late, date, fish, dish, wish, finish, swish

Phonics: Long and Short I
Grammar: Nouns (person, place, thing)
Reading: Characters
Math: Test on Tuesday
Social Studies/Science: Landforms
Writing: Write to Entertain

Important News and Information:
-The kids took a STAR test today. You can look in their homework folders with their updated reading zones.
-In music class this coming week, the kids will be making musical instruments. Mrs. Crumrine is asking that each student bring in one empty box/container (cereal, kleenex, oatmeal, etc.) with which to make their musical instrument.
-Scholastic Book Flyers went home on Friday. If you would like to purchase any books, I would ask that you do so through the scholastic website. You can use the scholastic link on this blog to get to our class page. Our class code is: N98GL
I will place book orders next Wed. 9/13 after school, so please have anything ordered by then!
-No School on Friday, 9/15. Teachers will be having a professional development conference. Enjoy the extra long weekend!
-Zion has early dismissals on Wednesdays 4 times throughout this school year (to allow for teachers to have professional development time). If you would like to have half day care for your child, you will need to complete the yellow form in homework folders and return to school.
-Trunk or Treat is coming up on Friday, Oct. 6th. Information is in homework folders today.

In social studies, I asked the kids, "What is geography?" They had all sorts of guesses. I was impressed with some of them making a connection to the National Geographic Magazine and TV Channel. After finding out what everyone thought, we learned just what geography was: the study of the earth's land. We have since been learning a lot about different types of landforms. 

As part of our reading lessons for the past couple of weeks, we've been learning about the 3 types of author's purposes. We are learning how to write in each style. This week, we wrote to persuade. Their goal was to persuade you guys (their parents!) to get them something they really wanted. They were pretty good at persuasion, so be prepared:)

Working on think Thursday morning work activities

On Thursday, we participated in a virtual field trip through Discovery Education. This field trip took us to a U.S. naval base in Florida. We learned about the U.S. navy and about how STEM is incorporated into their daily jobs. 

The kids then built a boat out of aluminum foil. The goal was to build a boat that could hold the most airplanes, just like a real U.S. naval boat!

These four tied for first place. Each of their boats held 70 airplanes!

8/28-9/1

Looking Ahead to Next Week:
Memory: Second Article of the Apostle’s Creed (part one)

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. 

Spelling: ick: sick, pick, tick, stick, lick, trick, click, brick, kick, flick
Phonics: Long and Short O
Grammar: Subjects and Predicates
Reading: Author's Purpose
Math: No test next week
Social Studies/Science: What is geography? What is a landform?
Writing: Write to Persuade

Important News and Information:
-No School on Monday, Sept. 4th for Labor Day
-Reminder that we have started AR. Please make sure your child is doing their reading homework at least 4 nights each week. 
-an informational flyer about the upcoming Parent Technology Night on Sept. 21st is in homework folders

This week we had our first faith family activity.  Our devotion was about being Living Stones.  Each of us is a living stone alive in the Lord and together we make a spiritual house dedicated to the worship of our Lord.  We spent time decorating a stone to be used as an outdoor art reminder that we are living stones and we stand on Christ.  We then returned to chapel to celebrate Baptismal Remembrance for July, August, and September.   

We continued to learn about maps this week. The kids loved finding their houses and school on Google Earth!

For our map assessment, the kids drew a map of our playground, complete with a compass rose, a key, and a title for their maps

Practicing with three different types of sentences

Designing more maps

We worked in small groups to act out our shared reading story for this week

In literacy centers, the kids found examples of each type of sentence in books of their choice

They also practiced their long and short a vowel sounds

And had more practice with maps