Announcements

Week of 2/8/10 - 2/12/10

We will leave for the field trip on Wednesday at 11:00 and return at 3:00.  
Please send a sack lunch and a drink for your child.

As we draw to a close on our studies of China we have been creating some 
projects that go along with the unit.  Stop by our class to see our Chinese 
lanterns.  We will also be making paper dragons and firecracker poetry to 
celebrate the new year!   These will be displayed outside of Mrs. Frantal's 
Classroom in the Second Grade China Display.  There are also projects from 
art class there.  The study guide for China went home on Friday.  The quiz 
will be on Friday February 12th.  All the information needed is in the study 
guide.  We can also send home our China resource books if you would like to 
learn about this fascinating country with your child.  

This week we have added more new words to our "Good Words List"  Please feel 
free to use some of them when you talk with your child so that they can be 
reinforced.  Some of the words are miserable, comfortable, exhausted, sorrow, 
edible, responsibility, malicious and scrumptious.  They reason we do this is 
so that students will begin to notice and use "good words" and thus increase 
their vocabulary list.  When students find a good word as they read we 
discuss it and then add it to the list.   

Please make sure your child arrives at school before 8:25 every day.  We 
begin each day with "BELLWORK."  These warm up exercises are an important 
part that we have recently added to our second grade curriculum.  They 
involve language arts skills that will be used throughout life.  These 
exercises are also important because they help teach students how to handle 
various standardized testing formats.  Since we have such a student centered 
environment at FRA, these activities are an important view into the world of 
testing that students will encounter as they mature.  We strive to create 
well rounded students through a balanced variety of activities.  Having your 
child to school on time helps them prepare for the day and experience all 
that we offer every moment at our fine school.  

We are waiting for a reply to our pen pal letters to our partner school in 
Arizona.  It is located on a Native American reservation.  How interesting it 
was to speak with children from another state!  Most of them haven't ever 
seen snow!  We can't wait to hear from them.  They had some interesting 
questions for us.  

The FRA Science Class website can be located at the following link: 
http://teacherweb.com/IN/ForestRidgeAcademy/MrsVelazquez/h0.aspx