Hello Everyone!

We have started new units in both literacy and math!  In literacy, our unit is called Community Life.  We have been working on the following comprehension skills:  asking and answering questions and identifying cause and effect.  We have also been working on r controlled vowels, reviewing the ar sound, and the following digraphs:  sh, th, ch, and tch.  Our Cadet Time last week focused on sentence writing and expanding sentences as well as sentence parts.  We talked a lot about subject and predicate and making sure that our sentences start with a capital letter, make sense, and end with the appropriate punctuation.  This week we will be working on new vocabulary, synonyms, plural verb endings, and identifying realism and fantasy in literature.  We also spend some time identifying the plot in stories.

Here are some pictures of using the questioning strategy:

I LOVE IT WHEN I CATCH STUDENTS ENGROSSED IN A BOOK!  The best present a teacher could ask for!

In math, we have started a unit 5, which is on 3-D and 2-D shapes.  Last week we learned about polygons, parallel lines, points and line segments and attributes of shapes.  Here are some pictures of using geoboards to make shapes.

On Tuesday, Adam Schmidt will be reading the story of the Grinch to all second grade students.  This should be a fun experience since Adam has memorized the book and reads it with great expression.

REMINDERS:

There will be a 3-hour early dismissal on Wednesday!

Our Christmas program is on Thursday at the high school.  Students will need to be taken to room #10 in the high school by 6:30 p.m.  This is where you will also pick your child up after the concert.  The concert begins at 7:00 p.m. and should be wonderful!

I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO A GREAT WEEK OF LEARNING!

Mrs. Tuchek 

Hello 2A Followers!

We had a great week of learning last week and look forward to another one this week.  We are on the second week of unit 2 in literacy.  Our theme question for unit 2 is "How is science a part of our community?"  Within the unit, we have read about how communities are built, how people in the community use tools and technology, how nature is a part of science and our community, and how science helps us get around in our community.   We have been working on determining important information, descriptive language, plural and proper nouns, and long vowels.

In math, we have been working on change to more problems and part, part, total problems.  We have also worked on reading temperatures and reviewing money.

We have been working hard on learning about the writing process.  The chart below shows you the different steps of the writing process.  They begin writing by brainstorming for ideas, then begin their first draft; next they begin editing by deciding what they want to add or change.   The next step is having a teacher or peer conference to help with editing and then they move on to revising.  Their last step is to decide how they want to publish their writing.

2A is THANKFUL with  Grateful Hearts!  

This will be the theme of our doorway, proudly showing off these very creative turkeys!

Our spelling test will be on Friday, November 14.  Your child knows what group they are in.

Group 1 SPELLING LIST:

GROUP 2 SPELLING LIST:

REMINDERS:

There will be a 3-hour early dismissal on WEDNESDAY!

PLEASE SIGN UP FOR CONFERENCES ONLINE OR CALL THE SCHOOL IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY DONE SO.  The school phone number is 547-2340

The link to the online scheduler is:  http://207.28.11.249/ceptc2006/index.asp

Mrs. Tuchek

Hello Everyone!

We finished our Unit 1 LEAD 21 inquiry projects and finished sharing them yesterday.   The students had to learn how to use the Keynote app on their ipads to create a presentation that included what their roles at home, school, and in the community are, and also what they think their roles might be in the future.  Before creating the presentation, the students had to search for images on the Internet to put in their keynote.  The second graders learned how to use Kidsearch, which is a safe search engine for kids.  After they found the images and saved them to their photo library, they then began working on their keynote, by adding pictures and text.  They all now seem to be experts on the Keynote app!  It's amazing how quickly they learn!  Technology does not scare them!  Here are some pictures of the students sharing their projects with each other.

In math, we will be having a unit 3 test at the end of the week.  This week we have been working on making change, which is a very hard concept for second graders.

REPORT CARDS WILL BE COMING HOME TOMORROW!  Parent/Teacher conferences will be on November 17 & 20.  You will be able to schedule conferences in the near future!

SPELLING TEST IS ON FRIDAY!

Mrs. Tuchek

Hello 2A Followers!

We had a great week in second grade!  We are coming to the end of our LEAD 21 Literacy     unit 1.  We have continued to discuss the roles we have at home, school, and in our community and have also been discussing the roles we want to have in our future!  The second graders are working on stories about what they want to be when they grow up on the My Story app on their ipads!  Some of the future roles they want to be are:  vets, teachers, construction workers, teacher associates, truck drivers, coaches, football players, astronauts, dirt bike racers, professors, tow truck drivers, and engineers.  It looks like a great list to me!   We have also been focusing on reviewing skills in literacy such as:  contractions, long vowels, silent letters in words, word endings, and grammar skills such as commas and exclamation points.

We had a great lesson last week on learning about the Writing Process!  We used play-doh to help us understand the writing process. Students were given 2 minutes to brainstorm an idea for what to create with their play-doh (Prewriting). Next they spent 10 minutes making something with their jar of play-doh (First Draft). Then they were given 2 minutes to add something to their object (Editing). From there, they were given 2 minutes to remove something from their object (Editing). Next they had 2 more minutes to change something (Revising). Next, they shared the final product with their peers. (Publishing). When they shared the students were able to write comments about what they liked or give suggestions on what might make their creation better.  The second graders did a great job with this activity!  Here are some pictures to enjoy!

In math we have been working on time review, money review, and number problems with two rules.  The second graders took their unit 2 math test and did very well on it!  I will be sharing the math tests with you at conferences in November.

We have had more butterflies and moths hatch this week!  Very Exciting!

The Food and Fitness kids from the high school came and taught the second graders all about melons this week!  Our Food and Fitness crew are:  Michael Millage, Kim Weigel, Katie Huhe, Amber Mast, and Emily Jurgensen.

Tomorrow begins Character Counts week!  The kids are free to dress up according to the days listed on the letter!  There is also a food challenge going on as well! Please have your child bring non-perishable food items to school this week!

Our SPELLING list for next week is the soft g sounds along with a couple of review words and names of months.

I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO ANOTHER GREAT WEEK IN 2A!

Mrs. Tuchek