Week 26

This is a busy week!  Hopefully we get some great weather, like we did last week!

Thank you to those who contributed to our Spa Basket for the S3 auction!  Keep checking the event website—it’ll be posted before the event!

Grand-Friend's Day!
This Friday is Grand-Friend's Day!  It's also an early dismissal day.  If your child doesn't have a Grand-Friend to spend the day with them, please let me know as soon as possible so we can make arrangements with a substitute grand-friend!

Christian Studies:
This week in Christian Studies we’ll be looking at a couple of Jesus’ miracles.  First, we’ll discuss Jesus healing the ten lepers.  We’ll apply this story to our lives and discuss how we can be thankful and show that gratitude to God.  Then we’ll discuss Jesus healing a blind man and we’ll discuss things that can help us keep our eyes on Jesus.

Math:
This week in math we’ll utilize our fluency in addition and subtraction to work with word problems.  We’ll use drawings to represent addition and subtraction situations, both with one-digit addition and subtraction and two-digit addition and subtraction.

Language Arts:
Our phonics concept this week is /aw/ spelled “au” and “aw.”  We’ll discuss vowel teams and solidify the spelling rules for this sound.

Science:
Last week the second graders chose specific materials to make a hand pollinator.  This week we’ll not only test out our pollinators, but we’ll also compare how well they worked with other pollinators.  Then we’ll discuss different ways seeds move around.

Social Studies:
This week we’ll look at how food was produced and preserved in the past.  We’ll also talk about farmers and how they worked on their farms in the past.

Week 25

We're back for another full week of school!  We have some great learning to do this week!

CHAPEL!
2^nd grade is leading chapel this week!  We’ll be spending some time practicing for chapel Monday and Tuesday in the worship area!

We’ll be sharing the chapel message on Wednesday, February 26.  Chapel starts right after announcements (at about 8:35).  We hope to see you there!

Christian Studies:
This week in Christian Studies we’ll be learning about a couple of Jesus’ miracles.  While we discuss these miracles, we’ll also be discussing how they show that Jesus is God.  We’ll also discuss how they show Jesus’ compassion to those around Him.

Math:
This week in math we’ll finish up our module on fluently adding and subtracting.  We’ll add 3 two-digit numbers, then we’ll add 4 two-digit numbers.  We’ll be focusing on using strategies and properties to help us to do this quickly and fluently.

Language Arts:
This week we’ll jump back into our phonics work with Bossy R-or.  We’ll brainstorm words that are spelled with a Boss R-or combination, and we’ll practice spelling words with this concept.  We’ll also have some new red words to work on, and some to review.

Science:
This week in science we’ll be looking at the results of our experiment we set up last week—we’ll be comparing the radish seeds that were only given light to those only given water to those given both.  We’ll use this data to make a claim about the effects of light and water on plant growth.  We’ll also discuss pollination and what makes an animal a good pollinator.  This will lead us into designing and building our own pollinators.

Week 24

We’re back after a few days off.  I hope everyone got some good rest and spent the time enjoying the snow!

CHAPEL!
2^nd grade is leading chapel next Wednesday (February 26), so we’ll be spending lots of time preparing for that!  We hope you can join us!

Christian Studies:
This week we’re jumping into Jesus’ ministry, focusing on His love and compassion for individual people.  First, we’ll discuss Mary and Martha.  We’ll realize that we oftentimes relate to Martha, and we’ll discuss ways we can strive to be more like Mary (WITHOUT shirking all of our chores!) and keep our eyes on Jesus.  We’ll then discuss Zaccheus and talk about Jesus’ love for him.

Math:
This week in math we’ll start our new module on building addition and subtraction fluency.  We’ll start off by rewriting addition and subtraction problems, practicing lining up the tens and the ones and laying the equation out correctly.  Then we’ll relate addition to subtraction, and we’ll use strategies to add 3 two-digit numbers.

Science:
Since we’ve discussed some factors in a habitat that impacts the growth of plants and their reproduction, we’ll start an investigation on water and light and how radish seeds do with light and water, with light but no water, and with water but no light.  We’ll record our findings.

Social Studies:
We’ll start our new unit on Communities and Resources.  We’ll get a preview of what we’ll be learning by predicting whether some phrases are true or false.  We’ll find the answers as we read throughout our magazine.  Then we’ll discuss natural resources and where we get them.  Then we’ll discuss how we use our resources and ways we can take care of our resources.

 

Week 22

We have a fairly normal week this week, and we’re all looking forward to settling back in to our normal routine!

Next Week:
We have a very short week next week.  Monday and Tuesday are full days of school, and we have a half day on Wednesday (February 12), with dismissal at 11:15 AM.  No school next Thursday and Friday for LEST (February 13-14), or the following Monday for Presidents’ Day (February 1 7).

Christian Studies:
This week in Christian Studies we’re delving in to the start of Jesus’ ministry.  We’ll discuss Jesus calling His 12 disciples, and we’ll talk about how we can be Jesus’ disciples.  We’ll also talk about Jesus healing a man at the pool.

Math:
We’ll finish off our module on adding and subtracting 2-digit numbers.  We’ll have lots of extra practice with our adding and subtracting steps, but I’ll put them below, in case they need to revisit them at home:

Addition:
1. Add the ones.
2. Regroup, if needed (10 or more)
3. Add the tens

Subtraction:
1. Look at the ones.
2. Regroup, if needed (if top number is less than the bottom number)
3. Subtract the ones.
4. Subtract the tens.

Language Arts:
This week’s phonics concept is another Bossy R combination: ar.  We’ll practice words with “ar” and will review prior red words.

Science:
We’ll be learning about plant parts, and we’ll discuss the importance of animals in the pollination process.

Week 21

This week is National Lutheran Schools Week and we have lots of fun things to do to celebrate!

Indoor Olympics:
Indoor Olympics is this Friday!  Friday is an early dismissal day, and school will be out at 11:15 AM.

Dress Up Days:

·       Monday:  Marathon Monday—dress like you would to run a race (like Fall Fest).

·       Tuesday:  Take Me Out to the Ballgame Tuesday—dress in your favorite sports gear (doesn’t have to be baseball).

·       Wednesday:  World Traveler Wednesday—dress like a tourist

·       Thursday:  Throwback Thursday—to celebrate the 40^th anniversary of Indoor Olympics, dress in ‘80s fashion/clothes, the era Indoor Olympics was started.

·       Friday:  Indoor Olympics!  Dress wacky with your team colors!  Remember, you have to be able to run and move in your outfit.

Fine Arts Family Night—Thursday, January 30 from 6-7 PM
BL will turn into an art gallery on Thursday night!  Join us for an open house and our family fun fine arts night!

Christian Studies:
This week in Christian Studies we’ll be talking about some events in Jesus’ life leading up to His ministry.  We’ll be talking about Jesus being presented in the temple as a baby.  This shows that Mary and Joseph were Jews who followed the law that was given to Moses.  Then we’ll talk about John baptizing Jesus and we’ll discuss John’s proclamation of who Jesus is.

Math:
This week in math we’ll begin using equations to add and subtract two-digit numbers.  We’ll walk through the steps of adding and subtracting, and we’ll be practicing regrouping (when I was growing up, we called regrouping “carrying the one” or “borrowing”).

Language Arts:
This week our phonics concept is “Kind Old Words.”  We’ll look at words with a few specific endings that have a long vowel sound.  The endings are: -ind, -ild, -old, -olt, -ost.

Social Studies:
We’ll continue learning about North America by learning about three major plant regions in North America.  We’ll also connect that to different regions around the world.

 

Week 20

I hope everyone had a great long weekend and had a chance for some good rest and rejuvenation!

Midterm Reports:
Midterm reports for 2nd trimester are coming home this week.  Take some time to check it out with your 2nd grader and come up with a plan for the rest of the trimester!

Christian Studies:
This week in Christian Studies we’re continuing to move through the New Testament.  We’ll be looking at the birth of Jesus, as well as the visit of the wise men.  We’ll discuss God always keeping His promises and how Jesus came for ALL people!

Math:
This week in math we’ll finish up our module on decomposing numbers.  This module has given us some mental math strategies to help us add and subtract more accurately and quickly.  We’ll then begin adding and subtracting with regrouping (the vocabulary you probably learned growing up is “borrowing” for subtraction and “carrying the one” for adding). 

Language Arts:
We started our phonics concept of Consonant-le endings last week, so we’ll continue practicing words with those endings.  We’ll learn that these endings have a schwa and the “e” is there because very syllable needs a vowel. 

Social Studies:
This week in Social Studies we’ll continue to learn about North America.  We’ll use a landform map to identify the location of physical features in North America.  We’ll also look at North America from space, and we’ll discuss seasons and climate in North America.

Science:
As we continue on with our unit about plants, we’ll start off by discussing the word “habitat” and analyzing the different components of a habitat that might impact a plant’s growth.  We’ll then use that information to ask questions about the grand spider orchid and why its population has been dwindling.

Week 19

This week has started off pretty differently, but we’re settling in now that I’m back!  Here’s what we’re doing this week:

Christian Studies:
This week in Christian Studies we’ll be learning about some of the prophesies of Jesus and God’s promise of a savior.  We’ll also learn about John the Baptist and how he prepared the way for Jesus.

Math:
This week in math we’re taking apart numbers (“decomposing”) in order to add and subtract more easily.  We’ll be using what we know about adding and subtracting, as well as tens and ones, to solidify these mental math strategies and help us add and subtract quickly and accurately.

Language Arts:
With me being gone the first two days of the week, we’ll be postponing our phonics concept until next week.  We will be looking at informational text and reading it closely to pick out details and clues that help us better understand the text.  We’ll also be writing about our reading.

Social Studies:
We started our unit on North America this week.  We began by looking at the countries in North America, as well as the types of water and landforms in North America.

Science:
We’ll start off our science unit about finding the best place for a plant to grow by reviewing science safety and decorating our workbook covers.  We’ll do a pre-assessment to find out what the students already know about plants and what they need to grow, then we’ll build off of that information as we go through the unit.