September 30th News

                                                                                                                        September 30, 2011

Parents,

Here is a peek at what we will be working on next week.

Reading:  Our new vocabulary words will be:

            should           their              through                    very               would

            eagle             helmet          signals                       steep             trail

            gravel            giggled          everywhere             soared           gully

            climb             crept              spray

Please hang this letter in a handy spot and have your child practice reading through these words a couple of times each day.

Our new comprehension skill is setting.  We will learn that the setting is the time and place of a story.  Settings can be real or imaginary.  Our new phonics skill is the sound of long e made by the vowel combinations of ee and ea.

Spelling:  The boys and girls are doing a great job with the spelling lists.  Encourage your child to keep practicing the words at home.  The new list for next week is stapled to this letter.

Math:  We will work on comparing numbers with greater than or less than.  We are learning to put numbers in order on a number line, and we are reviewing counting coins and telling time to the half-hour.

Home Links:  Our new math program has a homework component called Home Links.  In your child’s mail is an explanation of the Home Links along with the first homework assignment.  Please help your child complete the homework and return it on Monday.  Thanks.

Field Trip:  We have a field trip to Klackle on October 20.  The field trip information is also in your child’s mail.

Reminders:   Title 1 Reading and Math night is on Thursday, October 6.  Please RSVP by Tuesday, October 4 if you can make it.  I hope to see you there.

Library:  We return to the library on Thursday.  Please make sure all books are returned so that more may be checked out. Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Wimmler

Second Grade News

                                                                                                September 23, 2011

Parents,

Here is a peek at what we will be working on next week.

Reading:  Our new reading skill is author’s purpose.  We will learn that sometimes authors write to teach readers facts about real things.  Sometimes they write books to tell a good story, and sometimes they want to convince us that something is important.  As we read our stories this week, we will be determining the author’s purpose. 

Our new vocabulary words are:

            clean              many             use                 work              world             easier

            farm               fix                   tools              write             pound            ready

            sign                phone            computer     everything

Please put this letter in a handy spot and have your child practice reading through the word list a couple of times a day.

Our new phonics skill is the silent e.  We will learn that when an e is added to the end of a short vowel word the vowel makes its long sound.  For example, pin + e = pine, tap + e = tape, etc.

Math:  Next week in math we will be working on place value.  We will be using a 100’s chart to find values which are 10 more or 10 less, 5 more or five less, 2 more or 2, less, 3 more or 3 less, etc. than a given number.  We will also be comparing numbers to determine greater than or less than values.  We also continue to practice our addition facts up to 10+10.   This is a great time to make some flashcards for review at home.

Science:  We will study plant needs (air, nutrients, water, sunlight, and space to grow).

Spelling:  The boys and girls have been doing a great job on the spelling tests.  They tell me that they are practicing at home.  Thanks so much for helping your child with this.  It is making a wonderful difference.  Our new spelling words for this week are:  child, chin, chip, shape, ship, shut, use, world, grade, and write.

I AM A BLOGGER!  If you go to www.mcbain.org, and then click on Elementary Teacher Pages, and then click on my name, you can read my blog.  I put on our important classroom news and reminders.  Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Wimmler

Classroom News

                                                                             September 16, 2011

Parents,

Here is a peek at our upcoming work for next week.

READING:  Our new reading vocabulary words are:

live                       made                    people                  taste           your

hundred               knocked               outside                 tears           sick

longer                  empty                   popcorn               pretzels      

nowhere               wobbly

An easy way to help your child review is to put this paper on the refrigerator and have your child read through the list of words a couple of times each day. 

             

 Our comprehension skill is identifying the main character(s) in a story and determining what the character is like by looking at what he/she says or does.

MATH:  We continue to review counting to 100 by 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s.  We are also practicing mixed counting.  (For example, we might count up to 40 by 10’s and then switch to 5’s and continue counting up to 100.) 

We are also learning to fill in the missing numbers in a number sequence.  An example of our work would be similar to this:  138, ___, ___, 141, ____,

Please take a few minutes each night to practice counting and make up some sample number sequence problems as a way to help your child practice.  This is also a good time to get out the addition flashcards as we are reviewing our addition facts every day.

SCIENCE:  We are studying the life cycle of a plant.  Our science vocabulary words are: seed, seed coat, germinate, seedling, and adult plant.

SPELLING:  Our spelling words for this week are:  sand, land, send, desk, lost, last, taste, people, pencil, and stop.  Your child has the new list in his/her folder.

LIBRARY:  We will return to the library on Thursday.  Please make sure all books are returned so that more may be checked out.

REMINDER:  We have Johnny Appleseed Day during the afternoon on Friday, September 23.

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Wimmler    

Second Grade News September 9th, 2011

                            September 9, 2011

Parents,

We have had a wonderful start to our school year. I am enjoying getting to know my class. What a nice group of students!

SKILLS FOR THIS WEEK

MATH: We have been spending time reviewing skills from first grade. This week we reviewed counting by 2's, 5's and 10's. Next week, we will review telling time to the half-hour, addition and subtraction fact families, and counting combinations of coins.

READING: As we read we are learning to make predictions about what will happen next in the story, and we are learning to identify the main characters in a story. In phonics we are reviewing words with short vowel sounds and words with th, sh, ch, and wh.

Our reading vocabulary words for next week are: could, have, need, then, was, always, apartment, elephant, pianos, dolphin, python, window, and quiet. I would appreciate it if you could help your child practice reading these words at home. Making a set of flashcards for the words of the week is a great idea to review.

SPELLING: The spelling words for this week are attached to this letter. Please help your child learn to spell these words as we will have our first spelling test next Friday.

SCIENCE: Next week we will begin studying the parts of a plant (roots, stem, leaves, fruit, and seeds).

DELAYED START ON MONDAY: School will begin at 10:00.

SCHOOL PICTURES: Pictures will be taken next Tuesday.

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Wimmler