Friday, December 13, 2013

What a "Grinch-y" filled week!

Some things to talk with your child about this week--

Writing:
Our writing focus this week was descriptive writing. The students chose a weather topic and wrote a descriptive paragraph.

We are also really working on capital letters at the 
beginning of sentences and end marks at the end! A great way to practice this at home is to have your child write their spelling words in sentences and then check through for correct capitals and punctuation.

Reading:
During our literacy block we learned about analogies using like and as. We used the Grinch as our topic for analogies, it was fun to see what the kids came up with!

The Grinch is as green as a tree.
The Grinch'e heart is as small as a mouse.

The Grinch's heart is blooming like a flower
(What a great description for how his heart grows a the end!)


We also discussed antonyms and the students sorted antonyms and wrote sentences using them.

A big part of our literacy block was spent researching weather topics. The students have each chosen a severe weather topic to study and write a question/answer book about. Ask your child if what they are learning about and have them share some facts with you!

The kids have also been working through book club books. 
We finished this week, ask your child about the book they read!


Writers desk-- doing seasons words

Research notes


Text to self connections for The Grinch

Researching on pajama day!


Reading a difficult to read article. We talked about circling words and important ideas and re-reading for understanding.

Researching severe weather





Math:
We finished up Unit 6 this week in math. I sent home the homelinks for this unit and those are great practice at home for families that want to help their child keep working on math topics. 

A major part of unit 6 was learning how to do 2-digit subtraction with regrouping! We are really hitting that hard with different games and lots of practice activities. The students even made how-to posters with a partner.  Since this is a big idea to grasp we will continue with work on it next week.

Writing a 2-digit subtraction with regrouping poster



Extras:
This week we wrapped up our food drive for Westwood. Our class brought in over 90 cans of food!! Thank you so much for all you did to help with that food drive!

Bullying posters for the district



Next week we start the fundraiser for our winter party. 2nd grade is in charge of crackers. Once we meet our class goal of 20 boxes of crackers we earn a gum party.

Our winter party will be next Friday at 1:30. If you are able to come we'd love to see you!

Friday, December 6, 2013

Chillin out in December

I assigned 2 iPad blog photographers this week so I have many more pictures than when I was in charge of the photos!



Our spelling words for the week. :)

Ask your child about the reindeer research we did this week!  The students researched using books and internet sites to learn new information about reindeer.  









  
Your student also chose their inquiry question for our weather unit. Ask them about thick/thin questions and if they remember the question that they come up with to research over the next week.













In math we started 2 digit subtraction with regrouping (or trading). This is a tricky concept so you may want to practice with your child at home. Ask them to solve 52-37 and 74-28.

 Since we have been working on question/answer structures AND using question marks or periods at the ends of our thoughts the students created some question/answer reindeer.







We have been working on homophones the past 2 weeks. This week the words there, their, and they're were part of our spelling words. The kids made flip books for each type of there/their/they're. We are still looking for more homophones to add to our list, to help your child find them in books they are reading at home!















They're playing ice hockey over there.
That is their sleigh and Rudolph's sleigh.
They're playing snowball fights.


 Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who sent in canned goods for Westwood's food drive! Our class filled in our bingo board so we got a certificate and our name called over the announcements! :) :) :)

We brought 55 cans this week, so our goal is to bring 55 more next week.