NEWSLETTER - JANUARY 8TH

HI, EVERYBODY!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

We have had a FANTASTIC first week of January here in second grade! We kicked off the year by discussing some fun things we did over Christmas vacation while eating Happy New Year cookies! YUM! We read a fun New Year story and took some cute New Year pictures, too! Here are some highlights of other things we did this week:

• Science - We started a unit on weather. We read a fun poem called "Sunflakes" and started graphing the high and low temperatures each day. It sure has been a cold week!!! We discussed some instruments that can be used to measure weather, and we talked about different types of precipitation, too!
• Math - We started a unit on time, focusing on time to the 5 minutes and on elapsed time, too! The children practiced on our mini clocks, which was fun!
• Reading - We continued our unit on animals that use camouflage by reading a selection called "How Guinea Fowl Got Her Spots." We reviewed the elements of folktales and practiced the following reading strategies: asking questions, making connections, and making predictions. We practiced drawing conclusions, too!
• Bible - We talked about obedience and discussed the story of Joshua and Jericho.
• Writing - Mrs. Corsino's class reviewed the format for writing 5 paragraph essays, and we wrote about our goals for the coming year. (We talked about the word "resolution" and what it means. We also talked about how, as Christians, we are new creations in Christ!) Mrs. Ludwig's class wrote their very own folktales! How cute!!!
• Language Arts - We talked about subject-verb agreement and reviewed the 1-1-1 rule! We also reviewed compound words.
• We started cursive handwriting, too! What fun!!!

Here are a few other announcements:

• Mrs. Ludwig's class hat lots of fun getting to know her! It's going to be a great second semester for them!
• Next week is WHEELS WEEK during PR time! Your child may bring in anything with wheels that DOES NOT have a motor! Bikes, scooters, and roller skates will be great! Be sure to send in a helmet, too! They will have fun with these on their PE time next week!
• NO SCHOOL MONDAY, JANUARY 18TH---MATIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY!!!
• As we are studying weather, we are planning a trip to the Science Center. It is tentatively scheduled for WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27TH AT 10:00, pending approval from our field trip committee. I will let you know as soon as it gets approved. If approval is granted, the cost will be $4.50 per child. We will leave school that day around 9:40 and return around noon, so if we do go, your child will need to bring a lunch that day. We will eat around 12:15 when we get back!
• The 5th grade is collecting used books for the used book sale, so feel free to clean out your closets and send some in! The sale will take place in a few weeks...be watching the newsletter for specific dates!
• Many of the children are in need of supplies! Please send in new crayons, markers, pencils and glue sticks. Some of the children need Author's Notebooks, too!
• In addition to our regular homework, we will be adding one more assignment per week in second grade! Each child will need to practice his/her spelling words at home and turn in one of the following:

*Spelling words written 2 times each

*Spelling word pyramids (The children know what this is!) OR...

*Rainbow words (The children know what this is, too!)

THANKS SOOOOOO MUCH FOR HELPING US HELP YOUR CHILD PREPARE FOR

THIRD GRADE!!! :)

As it's a brand new year, I've been thinking a lot about 2 Corinthians 5:17 which says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" Each January, so many people make resolutions to try to better themselves. Those of us who are part of Jesus' family, though, start each day with a clean slate. The Lord loves us, and He separates our sin from us "...as far as the east is from the west..."(Psalm 103:12).

Have a FABULOUS weekend!

In Christ's Name,

Mrs. Corsino and Mrs. Ludwig

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

Mrs. Ludwig's will be EMA.

SECRET WORD: FREEZING!!!