All Saints- Nov. 3rd-7th

Good afternoon families! I wanted to clarify what happened last week. Two years ago I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. I had a total thyroidectomy and was told I was cancer free in June of the following year. At a doctor's appt. four weeks ago, the doctor recommended that I go again for radiation imaging after seeing something on an ultrasound. This involved traveling to Parker four days last week. As you can imagine, it became exhausting. I told your children that I had a sickness in my throat and the doctors just wanted to make sure that it hadn't come back. I don't have results yet, but because you are all apart of my family, I wanted to ask for prayers that God's will be done. I am so blessed to be able to teach your children and couldn't ask for a better support system. 

Literacy- 

We will be reading a story this week called The Strongest One, we will work on high frequency words and selection words from this story. We will also be working on identifying exclamatory and imperative sentences. This week we will be writing a descriptive paragraph. We will being to work on building more exciting sentences. 


Religion-

   This week we will be talking about the Ten Commandments and Sacraments. 

Math-
  
We began our unit on place value with a project. This week will be working more closely with counting numbers, spelling number words, less than and greater than as well as identifying 10 more and 10 less. 

Social Studies/Science-

 We will be talking about the water cycle this week. 


Spelling-
 This week will focus on the word families eed, eat and ea
The words are as follows- cheat, flea, speed, treat, wheat, I've, run, fell, fire and never.  

I sent home a spelling list with suggestions for practicing spelling words on Friday. 

There is also a website called spellingcity.com that take the spelling words and allows the students to play games with them, all you have to do is enter the spelling words. 

Reminders-

The math reteaching, practice or enrichment sheets are due on Fridays. Your students may keep them in their mailboxes until Friday. They may either be printed or the answers may be written on a piece of paper. This homework is a grade. 

Math homework 5.1, 5.2, 5.3 and 5.4 are the homework sheets for this week. 

Thank you for bringing in all of the goodies and food for the Halloween party, it was a hit!

I will be out of town on Thursday and Friday. This was planned before my medical appointments came about.

If you have questions about anything, please feel free to email me.

All Saints,  pray for us!

St. Simon the Zealot- October 27th- 31st

Hello all! This weekend flew by! Here is what we have to look forward to this week in second grade!

Literacy- 

We will be reading a story this week called The Strongest One, we will work on high frequency words and selection words from this story. We will also be working on identifying exclamatory and imperative sentences. This week we will be writing a descriptive paragraph. We will being to work on building more exciting sentences. 


Religion-

   This week we will be talking about Guardian Angels, the Ten Commandments and Sacraments. 

Math-
  
This past week we worked on repeated addition, we will finish that with a test on Wednesday and begin our unit on place value. 

Social Studies/Science-

Last week we finished up with our unit on Fall. On Friday, we learned a new song about the water cycle. We will be talking about the water cycle this week as well as next. 


Spelling-
 This week will focus on the word families -ain, -ail, and -ay
The words are as follows- brain, faint, snail, strain, tray, from, I'll name, round, together

Just a reminder to practice other words with -ain, -ail and -ay as there will be 5 other words that follow this pattern.
For extra practice, have your kiddos write the high frequency words into sentences and try to incorporate the word family words. 

There is also a website called spellingcity.com that take the spelling words and allows the students to play games with them, all you have to do is enter the spelling words. 

Reminders-

The math reteaching, practice or enrichment sheets are due on Fridays. Your students may keep them in their mailboxes until Friday. They may either be printed or the answers may be written on a piece of paper. This homework is a grade. 

Math homework 4.2, 4.3 and 4.4 are the homework sheets for this week. 

It was so fun to see all of the amazing costumes at Fall Festival! I hope you all had fun!

If you have questions about anything, please feel free to email me.

St. Simon the Zealot, pray for us!

St. Pope John Paul II- October 20th- 24th

Good evening! It was so wonderful to chat with all of you during parent teacher conferences! I hope this weekend was blessed and restful! 

Literacy- 

We will be reading a story this week called A Walk in the Desert, we will work on high frequency words and selection words from this story. We will also be working on identifying declarative and interrogative sentences. This week we will be writing a descriptive paragraph which will introduce adjectives.


Religion-

   This week we will be discussing how we are made in God's image. We will also talk about the Garden of Eden as well as the sacraments.

Math-
  
Wrapping up our unit on subtraction strategies will lead us into our next unit which will cover building arrays and students will be able to make connections to multiplication.


Social Studies/Science-

We are going to be working this week on the movement of the Earth and why we have seasons. We will specifically focus on Fall. 


Spelling-
 This week will focus on the word families -ake, -oke, -ute, and -ine. 
The words are as follows- broke, choke, cute, flake, vine, hold, much, road, three, father

Just a reminder to practice other words with -ake, -ine, -oke, and -ute as there will be 5 other words that follow this pattern.
Reminders-

As discussed during parent teacher conferences, the math homework sheets will all be due on Friday. The homework this week is 3.6 and 4.1.

Thursday we will be hosting Junior Achievement, this program will encourage your students to think about money, production and community.

The Fall Festival is on Friday from 6pm to 8pm in the gym! See you there!

If you have questions about anything, please feel free to email me.

St. Pope John Paul II, pray for us!

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque- Oct. 13th- Oct. 17th

Good evening! I apologize for not posting last week, sometimes I just get behind. However, I am back! I am so excited to meet with you this week to discuss your child and their progress in class!  

Literacy- 

We will be continuing to build our oral vocabulary as well as recognizing and defining sight words. Your child should be able to identify the subjects and predicates of simple sentences. Your student will also be writing a persuasive paragraph and sensory poem about fall. 

Religion-

   We discussed the Trinity and it is still quite a mystery. We are going to be talking about God our Creator this week. Beginning next week, we will begin to delve into forgiveness and the sacraments with a focus on the sacrament of reconciliation. 

Math-
  
We began our unit on subtraction last week. This week we will be working on subtraction strategies. Just a reminder that beginning next week, your child will be required to turn in math homework on Fridays. I will be reminding your children this week of what I am looking for. 


Social Studies/Science-

We are going to be working this week on the movement of the Earth and why we have seasons. We will specifically focus on Fall. 


Spelling-
Your students have done well with the new spelling program. Due to the shortened week, we are going to have a spelling test from words that we have previously had or that follow spelling patterns that we have worked with. While your student may be excellent at memorizing how to spell one word that follows a specific pattern, the main goal is that they are able to apply the spelling patterns to any word. 

Reminders-

On Wednesday, math homework 3.3 and 3.4 will be due. 

Wednesday is a noon dismissal day and there is no school Thursday or Friday. Parent/Teacher Conferences are on Wednesday and Thursday. Please return the appointment confirmation sent home on Friday.   

If you have questions about anything, please feel free to email me.

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, pray for us!

Sept. 29th- Oct. 3rd, Blessed Trinity, hear us

We have a wonderful week ahead of us! I am excited that we are getting into a routine, and the kids are doing wonderfully with procedures and classroom functions.

Literacy- 

 This week we are going to build our oral vocabulary by learning enormous, meteorite and launch. We will also be reviewing previous amazing words. We are also going to be writing a persuasive paper on fall and identifying main idea and details of a story. 
We will also be learning the phonics pattern VCe as well as consonant digraphs.
As our language skill, we will be focusing on the subject of a sentence.  

Religion-

   We finished our sacrifice beads last week and Fr. Joe is going to come in to bless them. This week we will be focusing on the Blessed Trinity. We will be discussing who God is, who is in the Trinity as well as how the Trinity is a mystery. 

Math-
  
This week we are reviewing addition strategies, we learned how to use doubles on Friday and will continue this week with near doubles, the commutative property and make a 1o to add.  These strategies may not work for your child. Other strategies include counting on fingers, using tallies, using counters, adding up. We will be talking about these other strategies in class, however when you are at home, if the strategy that the lesson is teaching, allow your child to use a different strategy.


Social Studies/Science-

This week we will be finishing up our activity called Me on the Map. We will be also learning how to read a map, answer questions about a map and create a map using direction words. 


Spelling-
This week we will be beginning our new spelling program.

This week, students will be given 10 words. 5 words that follow a spelling pattern and 5 sight words. On Friday, however, they will be given 18 spelling words. 10 words that follow the spelling pattern and 8 high frequency words, 5 from the beginning of the week and 3 from the previous week. 
This week we are working with the consonant digraphs sh, th, ph and ch. 
All students will have the same 10 words given to them on Monday. On Friday, triangles and squares will have differentiated lists. 
Here are the words for Monday:
our, sister, watch, fun, hill- sight words
chat, graph, chug, trash, ship- consonant digraphs

On Friday your child's spelling test will look similar to this:
1. chat
2. graph
3. chug
4. trash
5. ship
6. new consonant blend word
7. new consonant blend word
8. new consonant blend word
9. new consonant blend word
10. new consonant blend word
11. our
12. sister
13. watch
14. fun
15. hill
16. old sight word
17. old sight word
18. old sight word

Reminders-

On Friday, math homework 2.3, 2.4, 2.5 and 2.6 will be due. Until October conferences, I ask that you and your student just get used to getting online and taking the quiz. After October conferences, students will be required to turn in all homework sheets on Fridays. 


Friday is a noon dismissal day. 

If you have questions about anything, please feel free to email me.

Blessed Trinity, hear us!

Sept. 22nd- Sept. 26th St. Therese of Lisieux cont.

Thank you for the support of your student and for me. I love developing relationships with your children and I look forward to helping them grow this year. 

Please read below for information regarding a change in the spelling program as well as information about the upcoming week.
Literacy- 
 After our literacy tests last week, I now know your child's AR level and parent letters will be coming home this week so that you are about to help them find appropriate leveled books at home. 
We are going to be working on alphabetizing words as our word work for the week. We will also be building our oral vocabulary with the words ascend, descend, orbit, universe, enormous, journey, launch and meteorite.
As we are reading our text for the week, we will be looking at character and setting as well as identifying plot and main idea. 
We are also going to continue talking about how we speak and listen appropriately. 
Religion-

   Unfortunately, we weren't able to get to everything that was planned for the week so we are going to continue talking about the Bible, we will also be making sacrifice beads after talking about St. Therese of Lisieux. 

Math-
  
As you may have noticed, the mad minutes have been coming home this week for your child to practice. Please help your child practice by timing them while they complete their mad minute. Tuesday we will have a math test on topic 1. Topic 2 takes a closer look at addition strategies. Not all strategies are going to work for your child. We are reviewing them just as an option for them to use. 


Social Studies/Science-

Over the past week we have been working with continents and oceans and identifying them. Your students have learned two different songs and I have included them. We also played a game that your child might enjoy playing at home. You can find that game here. 

This week will will be continuing to study our world. We are going to be cartographers and create a map. We will be talking about the hemispheres and equator as well as studying where we are on the map. Your child should have a sense that we are part of a big city, state, country, continent and world. 

Continents

(To the tune of: "Its a Small World")

It's a small world after all!
It's a small world after all!
It's a small world after all!
It's a small, small world!

North and South America, 
Europe, Asia, Africa, 
Australia and Antarctica, 
It's a small, small world!



The Oceans

(To the tune of "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean")

The earth is all covered with ocean, 
The earth is all covered with sea, 
The earth is all covered with ocean,
More water than land, don't you see?

(Chorus)
Water, water, there's water all over the world, the world,
water, water, there's water all over the world.

So salty and cold is the ocean, 
So salty and cold is the sea, 
So salty and cold is the ocean, 
Too cold and too salty for me.

Chorus

Atlantic, Pacific, the Arctic, 
Southern and Indian, too. 
These oceans all cover our planet, 
I named all of them, now can you?

Chorus




*These songs were not created by me. They were created by Bruce Frazee, Chris Garcia-Prats, Jenny Tasian, Amy Yang Hawthorne Elementary /Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas* 


Spelling-
Our spelling program is going to be looking a bit different beginning next week. However this week we will be focusing on sight words. These words are "no excuse" words and will not only go onto our word wall, but be required in all writing to be spelled correctly. 

Students know if they are triangles or squares. 
Square words:                     Triangle words:
small                                     was
have                                       have
into                                        into
then                                        then
ask                                         ask
outside                                  he
now                                       now
of                                            of
thank                                     and
where                                    has

Beginning next week, students will be given 10 words. 5 words that follow a spelling pattern and 5 sight words. On Friday, however, they will be given 18 spelling words. 10 words that follow the spelling pattern and 8 high frequency words, 5 from the beginning of the week and 3 from the previous week. For example, if the spelling pattern were short vowels you may see the following:

Pattern: Short vowels
1.pot
2. man
3. dog
4. hum
5. pit

High-frequency words:
6. me
7. you
8.I
9. be
10. we

The spelling test would then come home with 18 words. 10 pattern words and 8 high- frequency words. This will all be explained in class next week to your child. 


Reminders-

On Friday, math homework 1.7, 2.1 and 2.2 will be due. Until October conferences, I ask that you and your student just get used to getting online and taking the quiz. After October conferences, students will be required to turn in all homework sheets on Fridays. 

Picture day is coming up on Thursday. Students wear mass uniforms for both Wednesday and Thursday this week. Students are allowed to bring tennis shoes for gym on Thursday. 

If you have questions about anything, please feel free to email me.

St. Therese of Lisieux, pray for us! 

Sept. 15th- 19th- St. Therese of Lisieux

Good evening! I hope your weekend was blessed! I know this entry is a bit lengthy, but there is important information regarding homework and spelling. Please make sure that you read through and email me if you have questions. 
I have also input grades from this week. If your child is missing an assignment, I will talk to them on Monday about it. 

Thank you for letting me teach your child. I am truly blessed to be where I am and I already love your little ones! 

Literacy- 
This week we will be taking two literacy tests. One on comprehension and the other to find out your child's reading level. This will help to determine the books they read in class as well as grouping for centers among other things. 
We have been working on writing an informative paragraph about Johnny Appleseed and will finish it up this week. 
Your student will be learning how to determine the plot of a story. We also are learning what a complete sentence is.  As a student it is important to be able to speak and listen, so we are going to discuss and show what that looks like. 

Religion-

    Our first topic in religion is God our Father. We are talking about our souls and heaven. We will continue by talking about how our souls separate us from the rest of creation. We will be talking about the Bible. The saint of the week will be St. Therese of Lisieux. On Friday we will be making sacrifice beads. 

Math-
  
As part of being good mathematicians, we have been reviewing addition and subtraction. We have been writing number sentences as well working with word problems. This week we are going to talk about fact families and the commutative property. 
Homework online will be 1.4, 1.5 and 1.6. Please see information regarding homework in the reminders section below.

Social Studies/Science-

Over the past week we have been working with continents and oceans and identifying them. Your students have learned two different songs and I have included them. We also played a game that your child might enjoy playing at home. You can find that game here. 

This week will will be continuing to study our world. We are going to be cartographers and create a map. We will also be studying where we are on the map. Your child should have a sense that we are part of a big city, state, country, continent and world. 

Continents

(To the tune of: "Its a Small World")

It's a small world after all!
It's a small world after all!
It's a small world after all!
It's a small, small world!

North and South America, 
Europe, Asia, Africa, 
Australia and Antarctica, 
It's a small, small world!



The Oceans

(To the tune of "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean")

The earth is all covered with ocean, 
The earth is all covered with sea, 
The earth is all covered with ocean,
More water than land, don't you see?

(Chorus)
Water, water, there's water all over the world, the world,
water, water, there's water all over the world.

So salty and cold is the ocean, 
So salty and cold is the sea, 
So salty and cold is the ocean, 
Too cold and too salty for me.

Chorus

Atlantic, Pacific, the Arctic, 
Southern and Indian, too. 
These oceans all cover our planet, 
I named all of them, now can you?

Chorus




*These songs were not created by me. They were created by Bruce Frazee, Chris Garcia-Prats, Jenny Tasian, Amy Yang Hawthorne Elementary /Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas* 


Spelling-
We will have our first spelling test this week. On Monday, we will take a pretest in the planner.  After this first week, we will have differentiated spelling lists. 

The spelling words for this week are as follows:
rock
job
sack
mess
list
sad
tag
dust
desk
chop
rib
drum

Please help your child practice their spelling words by using the Spellers Choice Menu sent home Monday. (These will not be required to turn in.)

Reminders-

On Friday, math homework 1.4, 1.5 and 1.6 will be due. Until October conferences, I ask that you and your student just get used to getting online and taking the quiz. After October conferences, students will be required to turn in all homework sheets on Fridays. 

Our annual Jog-a-thon will also be taking place on Friday. Please have your permission slips back to me by Wednesday or your child may not be able to participate. 

If you have questions about anything, please feel free to email me.

St. Therese of Lisieux, pray for us!