Goodbye November!

Dear 2B Families,

We conducted our class spelling bee this week! All of the scholars worked very hard and should be proud of their participation in this event. We are proud to announce that the winners of our 2B spelling bee are Andrew and Lucia. Andrew will move on to compete in the school spelling bee with his 1st-5th grade peers. Lucia will attend as a runner up. The school spelling bee is on Wednesday, January 9th at 6pm in the MPR. All are welcome to attend this event but only the 1st place winners from each section will perform in the school spelling bee. 

Please reach out to Ms. Modisett (bmodisett@archwayarete.org), Arete's Spelling Bee Coordinator, with any questions or concerns.

Congratulations to our courage virtue award winner this month: Gigi!

We made snowflakes in Art class this week!

Blog Blurbs:

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! Reach out if you have any questions.

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 Words Next Week:
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 are doubling and tripling our efforts this week as we focus on multiples for 2s and 3s. Practice skip counting at home or in the car to help with memorization. On Monday we will be having our Unit 5 test, please refer to the study guide sent last Friday.

History: The China unit continues next week. We will understand how silk is made, and the cultural, economic and geographic importance of silk. Your child will also understand the meaning of Chinese New Year and how it is celebrated. Watch for a study guide coming home this Friday 12/7. The China test will take place on Monday, December 10th.

Science: Our Insects unit continues with insects that have body armor (exoskeleton) and insects that are friends and foes! Your child should know the three parts of an insects body (head, thorax, abdomen) and that they have six legs and antennae. This week we will focus on ways that insects can be helpful or harmful to people.

With Grateful Hearts,

Mrs. D and Miss Monk

Happy Thanksgiving 2B!

Dear 2B,

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all have a restful and wonderful holiday.

We had fun with this writing assignment today! See your child's red folder to read theirs :-)!

Scholar Shout-Outs: Happy Birthday Alex G. 11/24

Next Week in 2B...

Literature: We will read Chapters 10 & 11 of The Boxcar Children. Ask your child to retell you some of the important events in a sequential order. Don't forget to be working on your diorama project at home! The suggested timeline says you should have by now: A. Planned what you want it to look like on the outside and B. by November 30th choose which 5 items you want to include inside that show how they made their boxcar into a home.

Poetry: We are working so hard to memorize one stanza each of The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore.

Grammar: Our grammar experts are adding prepositions, object of the preposition, and prepositional phrases to their question and answer flow.

Writing: The excerpt next week is from Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien.

Spalding Words Next Week:

Monday: died, die, changing, change, few, pleasant, please, picture, pitcher, pitch
Tuesday: money, ready, omit, anyway, eight, breakfast, chance, climb, coffee, color

Wednesday: contains, daily, day, eagle, fancy, fly, forest, freeze, gentle, grow

Math: Division

Science: Your children will continue to study insects next week. We will learn about more social insects, ant and termites, as well as insects that glow and sting! Ask your child to tell you how some insects communicate.

History: The Ancient China unit continues with lessons on the Great Wall of China, Chinese writing, and Chinese inventions. Your children will understand how Chinese language is written and read. Have your child tell you how it is different from English. You can also ask your child to tell you three things the Chinese invented.

Love,

Mrs. D and Miss Monk

Another great week in 2B!

Dear 2B Families,

Your children did a beautiful job at our concert on Wednesday! We hope you enjoyed. Here are some pictures to share:

Homework Survey: In an effort to provide a fruitful homework experience for our scholars, we rely on the feedback of our families. Parents, please share your feedback by completing this homework survey at your earliest convenience.

Next Week in 2B...

Literature: We will read Chapter 9: Fun in the Cherry Orchard from The Boxcar Children. Did you receive the information about The Boxcar Children diorama project? Please reach out if you have questions!

Grammar: Our grammar experts will be adding a new jingle to their list ~ prepositions!

Writing: We will spend some time writing about what we are thankful for!

Spalding Words Next Week: Only 10! We will take a test over these 10 words on Tuesday.
Monday: member, case, while, also, return, office, great, Miss, miss, who

Math: We will be introducing division right before our Thanksgiving Break. Do not fret! We will be reviewing after the holiday break as well. On Tuesday we have a quiz on the concepts of multiplication we have learned thus far. Look for a Quiz B coming home Monday night.

Science: We continue our entomology unit with the study of some social insects that buzz! Can you guess what they are? You got it, bees and wasps! Ask your child to tell you the difference between social and solitary insects.

History: Your child will learn about the importance of ancestors in Ancient Chinese beliefs. Ask your child how the Chinese honor their deceased family members.

With Grateful Hearts,

Mrs. D and Miss Monk

Charlotte's Web Fair was FUN!

Dear 2B Families,

What a FUN morning we had with the Charlotte's Web Fair! Thank you to all of our parents for your time, talent, and treasure to make this such a memorable event for our kiddos. Here are some photos to share (including the pie eating contest):

Information from our 2B Friend Trinity:

Trinity and her mom are becoming “PJ Captains” for a local non-profit (“ASA Now”, a 501 c3) that provides training, support, resources and fun events for children in the foster care system. They are hosting a “Cookies with Santa” event this holiday season. Trinity and her mom signed up to be in charge of collecting enough new pajamas to outfit each and every kiddo in attendance. They are in need of PJs in all sizes to fit all ages (infant through 17 yrs). Holiday themed is preferred. While gently used items are often helpful (and they can certainly help you find a place to donate these too as well), for this event they are asking for brand new pajamas to make it fun and fair for all the kids in attendance. They will be collecting through Thanksgiving. Trinity and her mom are happy to meet to pickup any donated PJs. For those who prefer online shopping or giving monetary donations instead, they can coordinate delivery to their address or a gift card to local retailer and they are happy to shop for you.

This is a link for the organization itself for those who may want more information on who they’re supporting: http://www.asanow.org/

And here is a link for the Facebook “event” that Trinity's mom created with details and her contact information: https://www.facebook.com/events/177983706479675/?ti=ia

Thanks in advance for any help with this cause you’re able to provide!

 

Next Week in 2B...

Poetry: Our next poem is a LONG one! It's "The Night Before Christmas" by Clement C. Moore. Your child will be able to choose one stanza for recitation the week of December 17th. Please see their folder on Monday for a copy of this poem.

Literature: We will continue to follow the Alden children on their journey through reading chapters 7 & 8 of The Boxcar Children. Ask your child to retell you some of the important events we've read about so far. We also sent home information about our next project this past Monday: The Boxcar Children Diorama! Please see your child's folder for a copy of the directions, a suggested timeline, and rubric. Thank you for helping them at home!

Writing: The Mouse and the Motorcycle is our story excerpt for next week. We're focusing on action verbs and contractions.

Grammar: At the end of next week we will take a test over our knowledge of sentence markings including our new skill check.

Spalding Words: (Only 10 due to No School Monday and Winter Concert)

Monday: No School
Tuesday: both, heart, month, children, child, build, built, understand, follow, charge
Wednesday: None (Winter Concert)

Math: We are mushrooming our math skills with our next unit: Multiplication! This week as an introduction we will be concentrating on really fine tuning those math skills. Encourage your child to continue practicing their math facts, as it will help them as they embark this new unit!

Science: The little entomologists will continue their study of insects. Ask your child about the parts of an insect (head, abdomen, thorax) and the difference between complete and incomplete metamorphosis. 

History: We begin the next unit on Ancient China. Your child will learn about the two important rivers in China, the Yangtze and the Yellow rivers, and other land features. They will also learn about Confucius and his teachings. You can ask them what Confucius says about being a good son or daughter (*wink wink*). 

With Grateful Hearts,

Mrs. D and Miss Monk

Welcome November + Read-a-Thon Success!

Dear 2B Families,

It's November already?! Have you loved this cooler weather?

Thank you for a fun week! Thank you to all of our moms for planning and helping with such a fun celebration! Here are some pictures from Read-A-Thon Day and our Library Grand Opening:

Next up: Charlotte's Web Fair! Friday, November 9th

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mypiEvBrrVQu50wt_MsX6P6dpcpAb5bJ/view?usp=sharing

Please check your child's red folder for important information about our Spelling Bee! We will conduct a class spelling bee the week of November 26th. The winner and first runner-up will compete in the school-wide spelling bee.

Next Week in 2B...

Poetry: We will recite Merry Autumn Days in class next week. Please help your child practice at home this weekend.

Literature: We will read Chapters 5 & 6 of The Boxcar Children and have a nice discussion about what treasure means to us. We are also working on reading the scripts from each chapter which has been a lot fun! The kids love being actors :-).

Writing: Students are practicing how to answer questions in a complete sentence, restating the question in their answer. We will read and narrate (with complete sentences) an excerpt from The Borrowers by Mary Norton.

Grammar: Be sure to ask your child about our SKILL CHECK! "Period, statement, declarative sentence" and "Go back to the verb - divide - the complete subject from the complete predicate" What does it mean? - we hope they can share their new grammar knowledge with you. Next week we will continue classifying sentences by using our Question and Answer Flow and we will review singular and plural nouns. We will learn how to revise our builder sentences, too.

Spalding Words:
Monday: paid, laid, said, enter, railroad, unable, ticket, account, driven, real
Tuesday: recover, mountain, speak, past, might, contract, deal, almost, all, brought, bring
Wednesday: less, event, off, of, true, truth, took, again, inform

Math: We are finishing up our weight unit by introducing pounds and ounces! If you have measuring cups at home, or maybe bread, that is a great way to make a connection at home with your child! Our Cumulative Test will take place on Thursday, we will be reviewing Units 1-4 prior, so please look for a similar study guide Wednesday night!

History: Next week, we are wrapping up our unit on Ancient India. Please look for the study guide coming home on Wednesday. The test will be on Friday. Have your child tell you about how Siddhartha became Buddha using the words: first, next, then, and last.

Science: The Water Cycle is finishing up with a test on Tuesday. Be sure to help your child study for it over the weekend. Our next unit will begin on Thursday with and introduction to creepy, crawly insects!

With Grateful Hearts,

Mrs. Dombrowski & Miss Monk