Week 17--Last School Week of 2023!

This is our last week of school for 2023, and it’s going to be a full one!

Early Dismissal:
We have an early release on Friday, December 22.  School will be let out at 11:15 AM that day.

Christmas Program:
The K-8 grade Christmas program will be on Thursday, December 21 at 2 PM and 6 PM.  For the evening program, students should arrive at 5:30 PM.  Students should wear standard of dress for the 2 PM program.  For the 6 PM program, they can wear either standard of dress or dressy, Christmas clothes.  Please make sure to follow the free dress guidelines on pages 28-29 of the handbook, and let me know if you have any questions!

The Tale of Despereaux:
We've been reading The Tale of Despereaux over the last trimester, and we're finally finished with it!  We'll be watching the movie on Monday, and we'll have a discussion about things that are the same and things that are different between the book and the movie.

Christian Studies:
This week we’ll talk about the fall of Judah, and we’ll briefly discuss how God used these bad times in the life of His people for good.  We’ll also talk about Esther and learn about how God used her for His purpose.

Math:
We’ll finish up our module on dollar amounts and solving problems involving money this week.  We’ll finish up our lesson on solving problems using money, then we’ll have a practice test, and we’ll take our test on Wednesday.

Language Arts:
We will have no spelling concept this week.  Instead, we’ll be diving into Alexander, Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday and we’ll analyze the characters.  We’ll also start a new story called A Chair for My Mother.  We’ll discuss the story structure and talk about why the author may have laid the story out the way she did.

Social Studies:
We’ll start a new Social Studies unit on community and resources.  We’ll discuss what resources are and how we can take care of them.  We’ll talk about where these resources come from, and we’ll talk about how farming has changed from long ago to today.

Week 16

We're in for a week of gloomy, cloudy, wet weather!  I've been encouraging the second graders to come prepared with warm, waterproof clothes.

Christmas Program:
The K-8 grade Christmas program is on Thursday, December 21 at both 2 PM and 6 PM.  For the 2 PM program, students should wear standard of dress.  For the 6 PM program, students can either wear standard of dress, or dressy clothes (no jeans).  Please remember that their dressy clothes should follow the free dress guidelines in the handbook (i.e., no tank tops, nothing shorter than 4 inches above the knee, no stains/holes, etc.).  They should also arrive at school at 5:30 PM for the evening performance.  Please let me know if you have any questions!

Christian Studies:
This week we'll learn about Naaman, who was healed of leprosy with God's power.  It's a great opportunity for us to talk about the impact we can have on those who don't know Jesus by telling them about Him.  It's also really neat for us to make connections between Naaman and our baptism.  We'll also learn about Hoshea and the fall of Israel--it's been fun to teach the 2nd graders about the history of Israel (both the good and the bad), and to see a general thread of God being faithful, regardless of the decisions the Israelites made.

Math:
This week in math we'll finish our module on identifying and counting coins.  We'll start our next module, which will focus on solving problems with money and using dollar amounts.

Language Arts:
This week we'll learn about adding suffixes to words that end in y.  We'll change the y to an i before adding our suffix if there's a consonant before the y, or if we're adding ing.

We'll also take a closer look at our book Alexander, Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday.  We'll glean some information from the illustrations and use the pictures in conjunction with the text to help us better understand the story.

Social Studies:
We'll take our unit test on North America, and the students will show what they have learned about the continent on which we live.

We'll also have some Christmas activities and we'll have some Christmas program practices!

Week 15

It's going to be a wet, but warmer, week this week!  

Christian Studies:
This week in Christian Studies we'll discuss God's faithfulness, despite our sin, as we talk about Solomon falling away from God.  We'll also talk about God speaking to Elijah in a small, quiet whisper, and we'll discuss that God is always with us and guiding us, even when we don't see it or feel it.

Math:
This week in math, we'll be identifying and counting coins. We'll also compare coin combinations and will show amounts in different ways.  Note: This would be a good couple of weeks to switch it up and have your second grader count coins for their 5 minutes of flash cards!

Language Arts:
This week we'll be learning the second of the "Three Great Rules."  This week we'll be talking about dropping the e when adding "ed" or "ing" suffixes.  Look for the letter in your child's folder on Monday for more information!

In reading we'll be reading a new story called Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday by Judith Voist.  We'll talk about the story structure, and we'll use the illustrations to help us gain more information about the characters and the story.

Social Studies:
This week we'll continue our unit on North America.  This week we'll be talking about seasons and climates in North America, plant regions in North America, and then the fact that the world can be broken up into regions, as well.