Happy Chinese New Year!

We were listening to some Chinese children sing about the new year. The boys in our class were certain they could do the dance moves that these girls were doing (and sing in Chinese!!) I think they did a great job! They were pretty entertaining too.

Here are our new words:which, where, until, never, should, could, would, when, show, throw, crow, snow, high, night, light, flight. Bonus: Valentine, Cupid, frightening, lightning Look for your new Math Homework and an important note on Friday.

Welcome Back Mrs. Beckstrand!

We love doing music with Mrs. Beckstrand! She started teaching us about some of our favorite composers this week! Tuesday is music day.

Our new spelling words are:done, two, back, some, I'll, girl, knew, pretty, grunt, hunt, blunt, stunt, foxy, oxen, boxing, toxic, Bonus:Chinese, Happy New Year, bamboo, oxygen

Yea! We love this time of year!!

This is a great time for some real in-depth learning! We are working on double-digit math, main ideas and supporting details, different types of writing (transactional, narrative, persuasive etc.) and continuing our love of reading. Next week we will have another oral reading assessment by our district personnel. This checks rate (speed) and accuracy of oral reading for your student on a second grade level probe. Some ways you can help improve fluency include, having your student read with you as you read at a fairly brisk pace, read with a book on tape (check out from the library) or time them to see how many words they can read in 2 minutes. We work on this in class every day!!!

New Spelling words this week: smart, park, yard, hard, party, farm, carpet, are, loop. oops, scoop, snoop, seal, meal, heal, real Bonus: hula-hoop, squeal, freedom, hibernation.

A Short Week!

Despite only having 3 school days next week we are working on some commonly missed spelling words to help us become more proficient. Here are this week's words: things, today, here, walk, down, paint, funny, picture, found, bound, around, hound, snow, blow, mow, arrow. Bonus: blizzard, snowstorm, winter and the tricky one...precipitation! Thanks for all you do to support your student's progress.

Welcome 2012!!

It is good to be back in the swing of things! We had fun on "Toy Share" day telling about a favorite toy. One of our students commented, "Wow, that Santa Claus sure is a nice guy isn't he?" These children are so sweet!

Remember to write down your reading minutes and practice math and spelling every day.

New Spelling Words:clean, eat, mean, please, feel, tree, steep, people, mint, into, winter, sprint, trout, pout, scout, shout. Bonus:resolution, environment, outnumbered, outrage

A Busy Week!

Hi Everyone!

This is going to be a busy and exciting week in Second Grade. We will be performing on Thursday with the Tanner Dance teachers at 10:00. Please have your student wear dark-colored pants, (no tights) and we will provide a T-shirt for them to change in to. We will be singing to each other in our annual "Sing-a-long" on Friday morning. In between we are trying to finish up our holiday writing and craft projects. We will have an abbreviated spelling list this week of important words in our math unit. They are:penny, nickel, dime, quarter, half-dollar, dollar, cents, money, greater and less.

Reminder: We are counting, and adding money in math. Many of our students are still struggling with recognition of coins and the amount they are worth. It is easy (and important) practice for them to take a handful of change and sort, then add the money. We always start adding from greatest to least. Thanks.

Merry Christmas from my family to yours! (My parents, my husband and 5 of my grandchildren in Durango, Colorado)

So Sorry for the Late Blog!

Oh my goodness, I apologize for the late posting this week. I moved to my new house last weekend (no internet service yet...) and I feel fortunate that I have matching shoes!!

We do have a spelling test tomorrow and here are the words:town, house, sour, frown, cow, clown, found, around, bind, find, kind, mind, attack. smack, black, track. Bonus: Christmas, celebrate, reindeer, ornament. I gave paper copies to the students who were not here Friday. We have been practicing in class as well.

**Upcoming events: Tanner Dance program (parents and family members invited) next Thursday, December 15th at 10:00 a.m. It will be only the second grade so it will not be as long as in the past.