News From Room 254           October 30, 2009

 

Monday – This begins Red Ribbon and Character Counts Week.  The children received a Red Ribbon to wear all week to remind them about healthy choices they need to make.  We focused on the Pillar of trustworthiness.  We attended an all-school Mass.  We went over our new Spelling words.  This unit is a bit more difficult as the children need to identify all five short vowel sounds.  As we finish our review of consonant sounds, we listened for the beginning and ending sounds of the consonants j, g, and f.  To prepare for our last anthology story, The Rope Tug, we discussed the format of a play.  We wrote a poem about a pumpkin and made jack-o-lanterns.  In math, we explored the concept of subtraction as an action of separation.  We practiced writing subtraction number sentences for a total of six or less.

Tuesday – We reviewed our Spelling words as we completed sentences using our words.  In Phonics, we listened for the consonant sounds beginning or ending in l, d, and n.  We re-read The Rope Tug.  We re-told the story by answering the questions used in summarizing a story.  We completed a comprehension check and worked with our story words.  In math, we identified the difference when subtracting from six or less.  Ms. Emily Gerdts(who 3 years ago was crowned Miss Iowa) spoke to the children about the importance of making good decisions and why it really counts to have good character.  We had the opportunity of being an audience for Mrs. Singsank’s second graders as they prepare for their Halloween Program they are presenting to their parents.  We sure enjoyed their plays, poems, and songs.

Wednesday – We completed a reading test.  It was a check on skills the children have been exposed to in their second reading theme…Surprise.  In addition, the children had to read and complete a check on comprehension.  We illustrated our Spelling words.  We completed our Witch stories that we had begun the day before.  We continue to identify beginning and ending consonant sounds in Phonics.  In math, we added and subtracted with zero.  Mrs. Barr also invited us to be an audience for her second graders as they too prepare for their Halloween Program.  We enjoyed their plays, poems, and songs too.  We were a really good audience.

Thursday – We read “Counting on the Woods” in our Big Book.  We liked all the photographs included as this poem was read.  We learned about the dictionary and how we can use this book to locate and get the meaning of words.  This tied in quite nicely with the introduction of ABC Order.  We started by doing two words at a time and we’ll gradually increase the number of words.  We will do this weekly as another way to practice our Spelling words.  In Phonics, we worked on listening for the middle consonant sound in words such as ladder, wagon, and lemon.  Our writing activity had us completing “If I were a ghost, I would…”  In math, we drilled subtraction facts from 8 and under.  We then completed our math lesson subtracting from 7 and 8 in horizontal and vertical form.  During Religion, we discussed what we do at Mass and what do we remember at Mass.

Friday – The day began with our Halloween Parade.  We took our Spelling test and completed several Halloween type activities.  We saw both our massmates and 3^rd grade buddies who were in costume too.  We completed a Science activity on how a tongue tastes flavors.  We drew a diagram of a tongue and indicated where sweet, sour, bitter and salty would be picked up by our taste buds.  We sure enjoyed our Hallowen Party planned by Mrs. Jensen and all our special moms who helped out on this event.  What a day!  Thank you so much!

 

Spelling words: flag  clap  flip  club  stop  stem

Bonus word:  saints  Challenge word:  harvest

Words to be mastered for Seasons:  animal  bird  cold  fall  flower  full  look  of  see  fat  nap  cap  sacks  pack

 

Reminders:

·         First anthology was brought home in a special book tote.  Book and tote should be returned by November 6^th.

·         Saints information should be turned in now.  Information on finding this can be found on http://saints.catholic.org/index.shtml.

·         A small, favorite keepsake of your child’s for a special Jingle Jubilee project is due on Tuesday, Nov. 3^rd.

·         Conference forms due back by Wednesday, Nov. 4^th.

·         Continue to have your child read to you and start practicing subtraction facts from twelve and under.

 

Mrs. Stehling