Hi, everyone!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
It's been a FANTASTIC first week back to school here in second grade! We started the week by sharing about some of the special things that happened over the holidays! We made some fun Happy New Year hats, we talked about what it means to be starting a "new" year, we discussed what the word "resolution" means, and the children wrote about ways that they can be more and more like Jesus in 2010! Today, we made snowmen to celebrate winter! FUN! Here are some other things we learned this week:
*Science - We began a new Science unit about landforms.
*Math - We focused a lot on multiplication this week, and we also practiced telling time, counting change, counting backwards by 2's, reading graphs, and adding & subtracting.
*Language Arts - We reviewed compound words and contractions.
*Reading - We talked about the different reading genres, and we reviewed what it means to pick a "Just Right" book and practiced. I held individual reading conferences with the children to see how well they're using the strategies we've been learning. They're doing great!
*Writing - We wrote our "New Year" pieces, and we also wrote descriptive pieces about hot chocolate. We drank some hot chocolate while we wrote...YUM!
*Social Studies - We learned about the different Native American tribes, and we began learning about the colonists and their way of life.
*Bible - We talked about how GREAT AND AWESOME our God is, and we learned a special hymn...How Great Thou Art. The link is at the top of this webpage if you'd like to listen and sing along with your child! We also talked about the life of Jesus.
*Spelling/phonics - We reviewed the 1-1-1 rule: Anytime a BASE WORD has one syllable, one vowel, and one consonant after the vowel, you have to double the final consonant before adding a word ending. We also practiced using the sounds "ch says /k/ in chorus" and "ph says /f/ in phone, and we practiced spelling some fun winter words, too!
Here are a few announcements:
*There will be NO SCHOOL on Monday, January 17th in remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
*The 100th day of Second Grade will be on THURSDAY, JANUARY 27TH. There is a note in this week's Friday Folder to let you know what your child will need to bring to school that day!
*At the beginning of March, we will be celebrating Dr. Seuss! Your child will have the opportunity to come to school dressed to look like a character from a Dr. Seuss book. I just wanted to give you a "Heads-up" so that you can be on the look-out for costumes!!!
*I am in the process of planning a field trip to the Science Center. I will let you know more details when the trip is officially approved! There is no limit on how many chaperones can come with us on this trip, so if you'd like to come, we'd love to have you!!!
At home over the holidays, I read a FANTASTIC book by Immaculee Ilibagiza called Left to Tell about a young women who lived through the Rwandan holocaust. This woman went through unspeakable things, yet her faith in God did not falter. My favorite quote in the book was on pg. 101. Immaculee was dreaming, and in in her dream Jesus spoke to her. He said, "Mountains are moved with faith, Immaculee, but if faith were easy, all the mountains would be gone. Trust in me, and know that I will never leave you." This reminded me of part of Matthwe 17:20 which says, "...I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." I started thinking of how I haven't moved any mountains lately. This made me think of the account in Mark Chapter 9. A man's son was possessed, and the man wanted Jesus to heal him. The man said to Jesus, "But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us." Jesus replied, "If you can?...Everything is possible for him who believes." Immediately the man responded, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief." Jesus DID help him, and Jesus healed the boy. I just love that!!! God knows that faith isn't easy...but if we'll just ask Him to help us have faith in all circumstances, He will!
Have a faith-filled weekend!
In Christ's Name,
Jen Corsino
PS Instead of STAR STUDENT this semester, we will begin something new called STAR AUTHOR. Whoever the STAR AUTHOR is will fill out a STAR AUTHOR form and write something over the weekend instead of doing the "regular" homework. It can be an essay, a poem, a true story, or a fictional story. On Monday, he/she may bring in the following:
*The form
*A picture of himself/herself reading
*His/her favorite book
Then, on Friday, he/she will have the chance to share the story he/she wrote at home with the class. In addition, he/she will be able to sit in the STAR AUTHOR chair and publish something to our STAR AUTHOR website. The link is at the top of this blog.
NEXT WEEK'S STAR AUTHOR WILL BE JORDAN!!!
SECRET WORD: 2011
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