Last week before break!

Dear 2A, 

We're almost there! It's so hard to believe that we are almost through our 2nd quarter and fast approaching Winter Break. We had a great time celebrating our Boxcar Feast! Thank you so much to our class parents for coming in and helping make it such a great time. :)

We'll spend some time these week cleaning out our desks so they can be deep-cleaned over break. Please send in a sturdy bag to have your child store items from his/her desk. 

Here is what our last week looks like: 

Important Dates/Events:Monday 12/18: Boxcar Projects are dueTuesday 12/19 Half day
Wednesday 12/20 Half day!

Spalding: We will review some challenging words from the past but no formal test will happen next week. There will also be no Spalding homework next week...it's okay if you just breathed a huge sigh of relief :-). We will also review commonly missed phonograms during class. 

Writing and Grammar: Sentence markings will be reviewed and important parts of a friendly letter, too!

Literature: Please make sure your child brings their Boxcar Diorama on Monday. They are also welcome to bring home their copy of The Boxcar Children. Please have them bring The Cricket in Times Square to school on January 8th!

Math: For our last week before break, we are going to review math facts to 20 as well some mental math strategies adding ones or tens to a 2 or 3 digit number.

Science: Due to half days we will not start a new unit in Science. If we have time, we will review our Insect Test. After the break we will begin our unit on The Human Body!

History: Before we go on Winter Break, we will be doing a review of Ancient Greece. The unit will continue when we return in January.

Have a great week!

Warmest,

Mr. High

Almost there!

Dear 2A,

We had a great week in second grade and finally got to see the Alden children meet their grandfather who turned out to be a really amazing man. We've been wrestling with division and multiplication for several weeks now and are going to begin working on our mental math skills again. Please continue working on skip counting by 2's, 3's 4's, 5's and 10's with your child! Here's what this week looks like in 2A: 

Spalding Words:Monday: running, run, rule, carry, chain, death, learn, wonder, pair (two), pear (eat), pare (cut)Tuesday: check, prove, heard, hear, inspect, itself, always, something, expectWednesday: need, thus, woman, women, young, fair, fare (fee), dollar, evening, plan

Literature: Our journey with The Alden Children has come to an end! We will enjoy a Boxcar Feast with our friends and take a final test over our comprehension of this novel. Don't forget about your Boxcar Diorama! These are due on Monday, December 18th.

Grammar/Writing: We will work on friendly letter writing to prepare for our "Secret Student" activity!

Math: We are going to dive into some mental strategies for addition and subtraction! There is an upcoming test on Thursday, so keep an eye out for a study guide coming home on Wednesday.

Science: It will be our last week of learning about insects! We will meet an entomologist who will teach us about how insects can be friends and foes. A study guide will be sent home with your child next Tuesday. Please read it and review so they are ready for their test on Thursday over our creepy, crawly friends (and sometimes foes)!

History: Our Greek scholars will learn about democracy in the city-state of Athens, the first place in the world to have a democratic government. We will also learn about what is was like to grow up in the two most powerful city-state in Ancient Greece: Athens and Sparta. Ask your scholars which they would rather grow up in and why. They are very different places!

Best,

Mr. High

Thank you!

Dear 2A, 

First and foremost, thank you all so much for everything you've generously done to celebrate our wedding. I cannot express with words how lucky and blessed I feel to have such a thoughtful group of parents and children celebrate this new chapter in our lives with us. Thank you for everything you've done! 

Here are a few photos from our trip to Regensburg and one from the wedding!

Important Dates for December:
Dec 4-13: DIBELS Testing for our middle of the year benchmark. I look forward to seeing your child's growth in reading!
Friday: Mr. High will be out working on Quarter 2 Narrative Evaluations! I’m really excited to share some comments about your child's progress for this Q2 Report Card with you.
Fri, Dec 15: Boxcar Feast
Mon, Dec 18: Boxcar Dioramas are due (Examples Below) :)
Tues, Dec 19: Half Day
Wed, Dec 20: Half Day
Thurs, Dec 21-Fri, Jan 5: NO SCHOOL *We will see you back on Monday, January 8th!

Next Week in 2A:

Literature: Our journey with the four Alden children comes to a close next week as we read the LAST two chapters (12 & 13). You may continue working on your Boxcar diorama at home! Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions at all. :)

Poetry: Please practice one part of The Night Before Christmas at home. Your child will only be graded on their recitation of one part of their choice. We will add in the last part to our class recitation next week.

Grammar: Prepositional phrases are being added to our question and answer flow. We will continue to practice this new skill to solidify our understanding.

Writing: Our excerpt next week is "The Young Man and The Cat" from The Crimson Fairy Book by Andrew Lang. We will study the features of this traditional fairy tale.

Spalding:
Monday: holes, hotel, iron, living, live, monkey, myself, noise, pencil, pie
Tuesday: pull, sew (suture), sow (grow), so, steam, thread, thunder, tried, try, vein
Wednesday: except, aunt, ant, capture, else, bridge, offer, suffer, center, front 

Math: We're wrapping up our unit on division and multiplication! We'll have a cumulative test over units 1-6 on Wednesday! We will review the concepts previously covered on Tuesday, but keep a sharp eye out for a study guide that will be coming home on Tuesday night! This will complete our 2A workbook and we will begin working from our 2B workbooks beginning Wednesday.

Science: Insect learning will continue through studying insects that glow and sing (fireflies, grasshoppers, and crickets) and the LARGEST group of insects on earth (beetles)!

History: Students will continue to learn of many of the origins of western culture and influence. We will understand the premise of the Trojan War and learn how Athena is tied to the city of Athens. Ask your child to tell you a fun fact about one of the gods or goddesses and areas of interest in Ancient Greece. 

Happy Friday!

Warmest, 

Mr. High