NEWSLETTER - NOVEMBER 20TH

HI, everyone! Happy Friday! It's been a terrific week here at NCS in second grade! Thanksgiving on the Lawn was the highlight of the week! It was really great to see so many of you there. I enjoyed listening to the sweet children sing, eating the yummy food, and, most of all, giving thanks to the Lord for all of the blessings in my life! The kiddos did a FANTASTIC job filling the shoeboxes for our Operation Christmas Child project. What a wonderful thing it is to be a blessing to someone else!

Some other things we did included:

• Reading - We began a new unit called "Look Again!" about animals that use camoflage. We practised asking questions and summarizing while reading.




• Writing - We learned what expository writing is and wrote a few expository pieces, including how to make Thanksgiving dinner!




• Math - We spent lots of time practicing coin counting.




• Language Arts - We talked about base words and reviewed capitalization & punctuation.




• Science - We began a unit on outer space, focusing on how the Earth moves, how the sun seems to move (but doesn't really), and how our shadows change as the sun's position changes in the sky.




• Social Studies - We continued to learn about the Pilgrims and the Indians.

Here are some important reminders:

• NOVEMBER 23-27
  No school! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!




• TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8TH
  Field trip to Mahaffey Theater to see Santa’s Holiday Revue. Please send in $6.00 to pay for this trip ASAP because we have to pay the theater. Thanks! Your child may wear a Santa hat, Christmas headband, or Christmas pin that day! I have heard from one person who wants to chaperone...so there's room for one more! Just let me know in your child's agenda, and I'll let you know if there's still a spot available!




• THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10TH
  Christmas program at Northside Baptist Church




• FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11TH
  Our second grade chapel! We are acting out the Christmas Story…so be sure to have your child practice his/her lines at home. Remember to send your child to school that morning dressed like his/her character. Narrators and “regular people” should be dressed like someone from Bible times.




• THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17TH – CLASS CHRISTMAS PARTY!
  We will be having a DOLLAR STORE GIFT EXCHANGE! Please, please, please shop at the dollar store so that everyone gets something worth the same amount. Thank you! If your child is a boy then buy something for a boy, and if your child is a girl buy something for a girl. Please send it in wrapped. On the tag, write either “To a boy” or “To a girl” and have your child sign his/her name. We will have a celebration breakfast starting at 8:30 that day. One of our room moms will contact you and let you know if you need to bring anything. THANKS! You may join us for the fun if you’d like!
  This day is also an early release day!




• DECEMBER 18th-JANUARY 1ST - CHRISTMAS BREAK! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JESUS! (School resumes on Monday, January 3rd.)

This week, I've been thinking a lot about being thankful. Sometimes, I focus on the things I don't have and forget about all the blessings God has given me. I think about my little tiny house...about how I don't have enough money to buy my little guy the Lego Death Star for Christmas...about how I can't go to McDonald's anytime I want...and I feel sorry for myself. But then I remember that I am a child of God! The Maker of the Universe loves ME! And He has given me what He knows that I need to be the best I can be...for HIM! I am so very thankful for His love...and for all the gifts He has blessed me with---my wonderful family, my amazing friends, this special job, a home, clothes, food...the list just goes on and on!

This week, be sure to count your blessings and remember to thank God for each and every one of them!

In Christ's Name,

:) Mrs. Corsino and Mrs. Lupia

PS After Thanksgiving Break, Mrs. Corsino's Star Student will be JACE.

Mrs. Lupia's will be Jayce.

SECRET WORD: GRATEFULNESS

Newsletter November 13th

Hi, Everyone! It's been another wonderful week of fun and learning here at NCS! Veteran's Day was the highlight of our week! We talked about what this holiday means and shared our Flag Projects with one another. They were soooooo creative! We wrote about the meaning of this holiday, too, and today at chapel we brought our flags for the whole school to see!

Here are some other things we did and learned:

• We practiced singing the song that we will be performing during our Thanksgiving on the Lawn Celebration next Thursday, November 19th.
• We practiced the play we will be performing on the morning of December 11th.
• We learned what a fairy tale is.
• We read "Cinderella" and used the reading strategies asking questions, visualizing, and monitoring & clarifying while reading to help us understand the story.
• We wrote fairy tales with our turkeys as main characters. These are so funny!!!
• We reviewed quotation marks and comma usage.
• We learned about finding the nearest ten, comparing numbers, ordinal numbers, and odd/even numbers. We practiced counting coins and telling time, too!

Here are some announcements and reminders of upcoming events:

• Next THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19TH we will have our Thanksgiving on the Lawn Celebration. The orders were due this past Monday. If you did not place an order for your child to eat Boston Market, please be sure to pack your child a lunch that day. I hope that many of you can join us for this wonderful time of giving thanks. Our second graders will be singing a song! The festivities begin at 10:00!
• Be sure to send in your items for Operation Christmas Child ASAP! We will be assembling the boxes on Thursday. Thanks so much to those of you who have already sent in your items!
• Remember, it costs $7.00 to ship each box, so we're hoping that each family can contribute $14.00 so that we can ship your child's 2 boxes. You may make the check out to Samaritan's Purse. We are also in need of some plastic shoebox containers. Thanks!
• We will be taking another field trip to the Mahaffey Theater to see Santa's Holiday Revue on TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8TH. Please send in $6.00 ASAP so that we can pay for this wonderful trip. Thanks so much! If you were unable to chaperone last time and would like to this time, we are able to take only 2 chaperones per class...so the first 2 I hear from will be able to join us! It should be fun!
• Our Christmas Program at Northside Baptist Church will be on Thursday, December 10th.
• Our second grade chapel will be on Friday, December 11th around 8:15 AM. Be sure to send your child to school dressed in costume that day!
• We would like to make some Christmas crafts with the children and are asking any family that is able to send in a $5.00 donation to help pay for the craft supplies. Thanks soooo much!
• Please also send in your Entertainment Books if you haven't done so yet!

For my personal devotion time this week, I have been reading in the Book of Philippians. The verse that really impacted me was Chapter 2 verses 3-4 which says, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." We all need to put others before ourselves...that is what the Lord wants us to do. This time of year, it can be easy to focus on our own needs and desires. There are so many things to do to get ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas. But this time of year, we should be giving thanks for all that we have and thinking of ways that we can be a blessing to one another. Thanks so much for always being such a blessing to me!!!

In Christ's Name,

:) Mrs. Corsino and Mrs. Lupia

PS Mrs. Corsino's Star Student next week will be SARAH.

Mrs. Lupia's will be PATRICK.

SECRET WORD: Gobble, gobble!

NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 6TH

Hi! HAPPY NOVEMBER! Can you believe it's already almost Thanksgiving?!?!? Where is the year going?!?!?!

We've had a terrific week here in second grade! We spent some time discussing what we're thankful for...Mrs. Corsino's class wrote 5 paragraph essays to tell what they're thankful for, and Mrs. Lupia's class wrote some fun acrostic poems! We hung up the ADORABLE turkeys that your children made at home, and next week we'll be writing make-believe stories with them as main characters. I can hardly wait to see what the children come up with!!!

We had a great time at our field trip to the Mahaffey Theater, too! It's such fun to learn about science! I was so impressed with how the theater taught such advanced science concepts as Newton's Laws of Motion and made it really silly and fun!!!

Here are some other things we learned:

• Social Studies - We talked about the history and symbolism of the American Flag.
• Science - We discussed reducing, reusing, and recycling.
• Math - We practiced telling what numbers come before, between, and after other numbers; we learned how to find the nearest ten; and we compared numbers.
• Reading - We read "The Story of Three Whales," and while reading we practiced asking questions, monitoring & clarifying, and summarizing. We also talked about Main Idea and Details.
• Language Arts - We reviewed comma usage.
• Bible - We learned about trusting God in all things.

Here are a few important announcements/reminders:

• Flag Project Due - Wednesday, November 11th
• Please send in your Operation Christmas Shoe Items starting next week! Remember...we are also in need of plastic shoebox containers and funds to mail the boxes. ($7 per box)
• Thanksgiving on the Lawn - Thursday, November 19th - Be sure to send in your money and order ASAP!
• Christmas Program - December 10th at Northside Baptist Church
• Our Second Grade Chapel - Friday, December 11th - Your child's part is in his/her Friday Folder. Be sure to practice each night! On the morning of the 11th, have your child come to school dressed to look like his/her part. It's going to be SOOOOO CUTE!!!
• If you'd like to have a conference, there is a sign-up sheet for Mrs. Lupia on her door. For Mrs. Corsino, please write a note in your child's agenda. (Mrs. Corsino is available on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons after 3:30 or Monday or Thursday mornings at 7:30.)
• We are also in need of items to make some fall wreaths by next Friday...so if you have any scraps in your craft drawer---cloth leaves, berries, material...anything you can think of that we can glue onto our wreaths, that would be great!
• We would like to do some Christmas crafts with the children. If you would like to donate $5.00 cash or a gift card to Wal-Mart or Michael's, we would really appreciate it!!!

During my personal devotion time this week, I've been reading in the Book of Ephesians. One verse that really got me thinking was Chapter 2 verses 8-10 which says, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Our salvation is a free gift...there is nothing we need to do to "earn" it...we get it just by being a part of God's family when we accept Jesus as our Savior. But when we are a part of his family, we should do good works to share the love of the Lord with the world! Good works don't get us "saved," but they do make Jesus smile!

Enjoy your weekend!

In Christ's Name,

Mrs. Corsino and Mrs. Lupia

PS Mrs. Corsino's Star Student next week will be MITCHELL.

Mrs. Lupia's will be AUSTIN.

SECRET WORD: freedom