Week of February 6th

     We are starting off the year with a BANG!!!  We just finished mid-year benchmark testing, MAP reading and math and fluency testing.  You will get your child's results as soon as the information is compiled and downloaded by the district.  We finished the first reading book before Christmas and the students have begun the 2nd reading book, Banner Days.  As you notice the stories become more complex and longer.  This is expected as the students become more confident readers the level of expectation increases. We are encouraging more independent higher order thinking skills, and problem solving as we prepare for the transition to 3rd grade.

     The Slam Dunk AR challenge is under way and right now Mrs. Williams' Book Crushers are in the lead with 124 points, Ms. Wells' Word Warriors are in 2nd place with 93 points and Mrs. Babb's S.C. Frogs have 82 points.  Right now Jonah P. is leading the pack with the most books read in all of 2nd Grade. Continue to read and score those points!

     Community service Projects:  Last week you received the donation envelope for Jump Rope for Heart and a collection box for Pennies for Pasta.  These are both school wide service projects with all money collected going to the American Heart Association and The Leukemia Foundation.  Whatever you can to do to help these worthwhile organizations will be greatly appreciated.  Students will be participating in Jump Rope For Heart on February 14th. Please make sure to turn in all Jump Rope for Heart donations on or before the 14th. If you need more information please see Mrs. Pond or Mrs. Knight.

 What We're Learning    

We will begin the reader's theater play "The Pine Park Mystery." Our focus comprehension skills will be cause/effect and we will introduce personification.  Personification is when we give an inanimate object qualities like a person example:  The stars danced across the sky.

Spelling we are introducing the long e sound made with the patterns ee and ea. 

In math we are continuing time to the 5 minutes.  We are introducing a.m. and p.m., as well as, vocabulary quarter to and quarter after.  We will continue to review solving addition and subtraction with regrouping and review counting money: coins and bills.

Our focus in science will be "Changes."  We will begin with studying the 3 states of matter: solids, liquids, and gases.  We will explore the properties of each and record our results in our science notebook.

We will be back with Geography Week 11 and the quiz on Friday.

Homework Week of February 6, 2012

Spelling Unit 20: Long e spelled with ee or ea example: stream, sneeze, wheel, jeans

sight words this week: been and each (you must memorize these words)

Please continue to review all the sight words from previous lessons below

Sight words we have covered so far:  friend, does, done, any, write, have, want, family, you, one, twice, become, goes, gone, won, son, sure, chef, door, four, more, north, and your, first, girl, third, were, and word

Monday: Read "Pine Park Mystery."  Write a fiction or nonfiction story with at least 5 sentences about a time you lost something and how you found it.  You can include an illustration if you like.

Tuesday: Personification sheet and Time Math Sheet

Wednesday: Read an AR book.  Write at least 2 cause/effect examples from your story.

Thursday: Practice Spelling using www.spellingcity.com and review Geography Week 11.

**Please have your child in class before the bell rings at 7:45.