100th Day of School!

Dear 2B Families,

We had a great four day week! I cannot believe today was the 100th Day of School! Time flies!

Scholar Shout-Outs:

Happy Birthday to Nikolai (1/22)!

Great Hearts Day...A Day for Friendship - Thursday, February 14th is Great Hearts Day! We have reserved this special day to focus on the virtue of friendship and celebrate the traits that make a great-hearted student. Teachers are planning interactive and fun activities centered around these topics, and time will be set aside for students to create hand-made Great Hearts Day cards for their classmates. Archway Arete strives to cultivate a rich, academic environment rooted in the classical tradition. This many times requires popular culture to be left at the door. On that note, students will not be permitted to bring store-bought valentines, candy, or gifts to school. Thank you for partnering with us.

Next Week in 2B...

Literature: We are continuing to follow the adventures of Mario, Chester Cricket, Tucker Mouse, and their friends through reading chapters 6-8 of The Cricket in Times Square. We are going to read about an adult who does something special for Mario! We will discuss adults in our own life who have done something special for us.

Writing and Grammar: We will be revising and editing paragraphs about our two favorite colors. We will also continue working on writing direct quotations.

Spalding Words Next Week:
Monday: election, elect, aboard, jail, shed, refuse, district, restrain, royal, objection, object
Tuesday: pleasure, please, measure, treasure, navy, forty, fourteen, fourth, four
Wednesday: population, proper, judge, weather, whether, worth, contain, figure, sudden, instead

Math: We are continuing our adventure back into multiplication with concentration on 4s and 5s. Practice with your child at home to further strengthen their confidence with their facts.
Weekly Quiz: Thursday

Science: We had a lot of fun learning about the digestive and excretory systems last week! This week we are learning how to keep our bodies healthy. Ask your scholar how to create a well-balanced meal. What foods would they include in their meal? Ask your child to tell you other ways they can keep their bodies healthy.

History: We are learning about three influential thinkers and philosophers this week: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Ask your scholar to tell you similarities and differences between the three scholars. We are also learning about Alexander the Great next week! Ask your child who was Alexander the Great's teacher (Aristotle).

With Grateful Hearts,

Mrs. D and Miss Monk

Important Field Day Info 2019

Dear 2B Families,

Happy Friday! We had an awesome special presenter today: Miss Monk! No, not our Miss Monk, but her sister! She lives in Mozambique and shared so many fun facts with us about this country in Africa.

Happy Birthday Andrew ~ 1/13!

Here is some important information about Field Day on Friday, February 1st.

Athletic Field Day

Athletic Field Day is Friday, February 1st from 8:30-11:00 for K-2 classes and from 12:00-2:30 for grades 3-5! Each year classes are assigned a Greek City State for their team.

Athletic Field Day Attire:

This year, your child’s team is Thebes, and our team color is YELLOW. Students may decorate their shirts with their team name and/or symbol of their Greek City State. Students should wear athletic clothing free of pop culture references. Sports team and brand logos are acceptable on clothing. Students may wear athletic bottoms. Athletic shoes are mandatory (any color). Hats and sunglasses may be worn. Sunscreen must be applied at home. Please see pg. 52 in the family handbook for more detailed information.

There will be no school lunch offered on Athletic Field Day. Please send your child to school with a lunch.

Volunteers for Athletic Field Day:

In order to have Athletic Field Day run smoothly, we need your help! Coach Gethings & Coach Warren need volunteers setting up and running the event. Please sign up at: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/508084aacaf28a4fd0-field to help with the events.

We need a few volunteers for class to help with: *Please e-mail Mrs. D if you can help!

• Bringing a cooler for snacks (we will return your cooler to you!)
• Snacks for snack time during Field Day (nut free)
• A couple volunteers to remain with our class throughout the Field Day festivities

Coming Up Next Week...

Literature: We will read chapters 4-5 of The Cricket in Times Square, answering comprehension questions after each chapter. We will also learn how to use context clues to figure out meanings of unknown vocabulary words.

Writing and Grammar: We are starting paragraph writing next week! The first type we will learn about is called explanatory. We will write a paragraph about our two favorite colors. We will also read an excerpt from a story called Five Children and It by Edith Nesbit.

Spalding Words Next Week: (Only 20 due to no school on Monday)
Tuesday: mixture, nation, pause, peace, permission, rough, social, society, steal (weak), steel
Wednesday: strange, trophy, voices, voice, eight, ate, afraid, uncle, rather, comfort

Math: We will be wrapping up Unit 7 with plenty of review this week! After our cumulative test Thursday, we will be introducing Multiplying by 4! Keep up those multiplication tables 1-3 in the meantime. Weekly Tests: Tuesday (as a class), Thursday

Science: We are learning about the digestive and excretory systems next week. Talk to your child about how these systems work together to digest our food and get rid of waste. We will also be doing a gross, but educational experiment next week! Be sure to ask about it towards the end of the week!

History: The Ancient Greece unit continues with two lessons on Ancient Athens. We will take a tour of Athens, learning about the buildings and culture of the golden age, the time when Athens was at its highest. During this time, Athenians often went to parties called symposiums. Ask your child about what happened at a symposium. It may be unlike any party they've ever been to!

Love,

Mrs. D and Miss Monk

Week One of 2019 Done!

Dear 2B Families,

Happy Friday! Thank you for reading our new blog post.

Scholar Shout-Outs:

Happy Birthday Daniella 1/3
Happy Birthday Nicholas 1/7
Happy 1/2 Birthday Miss Monk 1/7
Happy Birthday Jillian 1/11

Clubs: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18DwPk4-JICmHZG_1ECNFz_ObqUlNc4rkamFSJ_a30t0/edit?usp=sharing

MAP Testing on Monday 1/14: Please help your children arrive to school on time, well rested, with a good breakfast so they are ready to do their best on their test!

Homework Change: We're moving from leveled readers to book reports! We will be sending chapter books home next week with your child. They will have 3 weeks to finish, reading 20 minutes each night. Thank you for your help with this and please reach out if you have questions.

Spalding Words:
Monday: yesterday, among, question, quest, doctor, size, December, dozen, there (not here), their (they), they're (they are)
Tuesday: tax, number, October, reason, fifth, baking, bake, bowl, cheap (eat)

Wednesday: cheerful (keep), chicken, driving, drive, echoes, echo, fairy, knock, leather, linen

Literature: We will be reading from our new book, The Cricket in Times Square. If you have not already please send the book in with your child. We will discuss what it is like to move from one place to another. We will also have a group discussion about a time we wanted something really badly and our parents wouldn’t let us have it. We will ask the kids if they were able to talk their parents into it, or if they realized why their parents told them no. We will read chapters 1-3 in the book and discuss characters.

Grammar: We're reviewing parts of speech and jumping back in with marking and editing sentences to help us prepare us for writing paragraphs!

Math: We will be continuing our mental math unit with subtraction! Keep on practicing those simple math facts at home to help. We also start math groups! We look forward to seeing our volunteers. :)
Weekly Quiz: Tuesday

Science: We are continuing our Human Body unit by learning that all living things are made up of microscopic cells. We will also learn that cells make tissue, tissue makes organs, and organs build body systems. Ask you child to explain the relationship of cells, tissues, organs, and systems.

History: Next week in the Ancient Greece unit, we will be comparing the lives of children in Athens versus Sparta. Ask your child which city-state they would rather live in and why. We will also learn about the Ancient Greek Olympics! Lastly, the students will learn about the very exciting Persian Wars. Though the Greeks were outnumbered, they won the war against the Persians. Ask your child to tell you why people today run marathons and where they came from.

With Grateful Hearts,

Mrs. D and Miss Monk

Happy New Year 2B! 2019!

Dear 2B Parents,

Happy New Year! I hope you had a restful break! We are excited to see your children on Monday.

Here is what we will be learning and focusing on:

Homework Survey:
Thank you for taking the time to complete the latest homework survey. We looked carefully at the numeric data and anonymous comments and had good conversation as a team. Every child is unique and homework experiences vary widely, but there are occasional patterns in these surveys that help us to adjust our homework assignments. With this in mind, we are going to make a few adjustments in the third quarter that will hopefully make the homework experience more joyful without sacrificing good learning. We will continue to discuss as a team and will send another survey near the end of third quarter. Beginning January 7th, parents and students can look forward to the following changes:

1. Spalding words will only need to be written once (in your child's best handwriting), without the markings. As always it is crucial that parents read the words aloud to their child. If your child misspells the word on the first try, we encourage them to write only the misspelled words 2 more times.
2. Students will begin book reports in the second week of Quarter 3. For the first week, students can read from a book of their choice at home or parents can read a book of their choice aloud to their children.

Starting Strong: We are looking forward to starting the year strong! We will spend some time goal setting and reviewing classroom procedures.

Poetry: We will be learning a new poem: Smart by Shel Silverstein.

Grammar: Your children will be introduced to linking verbs through reading a story called The Three Billy Goats Gruff. We will also review parts of speech through singing our jingles from last semester and classifying sentences.

Writing: We will read a story called The Pied Piper of Hamelin by Robert Browning.

Literature: We will start discovering the setting of our next book: The Cricket in Times Square! Students will learn about Connecticut and New York, as well as plot points on a map! Please send your child to school with their copy of this novel.

Spalding Words:
Monday: broke, feel, sure, sugar, least, sorry, press, God, god, teacher
Tuesday: November, subject, April, history, study, himself, matter, use, thought, person
Wednesday: nor, or, January, mean, vote, court, copy, act, been, be

Math: We are jumping right in with our next unit: Addition and Subtraction. We will be tackling larger numbers and looking at different strategies to help us solve the values of word problems. It will be very beneficial to practice basic addition and subtraction facts with your child this week as a review. Weekly Quiz- Thursday (1/10)

History: We are jumping right back into our Ancient Greece Unit and learning all about Athens! Your children will learn that the city got its name because the goddess Athena gave the people an olive tree and all the benefits that came with it. We will also study Athenian democracy and the lives of children in Athens. Ask your child to tell you similarities and difference between American and Athenian children.

Science: As we begin our Human Body unit, your children will identify the five senses and associated body parts
 as well as identify the skeletal, muscular, circulatory, nervous, digestive, and excretory systems as important systems in the human body. Students will also study and describe the significant contributions of Anton van Leeuwenhoek.

With Happy Hearts,

Mrs. D & Miss Monk

Happy Winter Break 2B!

Dear 2B Families,

We made it to break! Whew! Thank you for everything you did to make this time of year so very special and memorable! I cannot believe that I forgot to take pictures during the Boxcar Feast! #EpicTeacherFail! It was a joy watching the movie and enjoying blueberries, bread, butter, and milk! Thank you so much to the parents who donated items for us to enjoy. Much appreciated! We also had a great book exchange! Your children did an amazing job reciting The Night Before Christmas and hopefully they will recite it for your family at home!

Shout Out to Miss Monk! Did you know our very own Miss Monk was featured on GCU News? Check it out! https://news.gcu.edu/2018/12/teaching-graduates-realized-dreams-at-gcu/

Building Hula Hoop Houses in P.E. ~ Teamwork!

December (and June) Birthday Lunch with the Teacher!

Congratulations Miss Monk! We love you!

Have an amazing break 2B!!! Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!!!

Love,

Mrs. Dombrowski & Miss Monk

P.S. Happy Holidays from Mr. D, Mrs. D, Paisley and Piper!

Congratulations Miss Monk!

Dear 2B Families,

Today is Miss Monk's GRADUATION DAY! We are so proud of her! LOPES UP!

Scholar Shout-Outs:

• Happy Birthday to Jax on Sunday (12/16)!

December Birthday Lunch on Monday for: Jax, Connor, Gigi and Alex F.!

Homework Survey: We have read the results of the homework survey. Thank you to those who took time to complete it.

Please send your child with a sturdy bag on Monday to store items in from their desk. Desks will be deep cleaned over the break.

Boxcar Projects are due on Monday!

Half days on Tuesday and Wednesday (11:45 release for K-2)!

Next Week in 2B...

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 7th!

Poetry: Your child will recite the stanza of their choice from The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore.

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!

Math: We are wrapping up our Division and Multiplication by 2s and 3s Unit this week. A Cumulative Test B will be sent home Monday and our last Unit test for the year will be on Tuesday. Keep on practicing those multiplication facts during break! It will come in handy for the new year.

History: We have one lesson about the story of Troy. Have your child retell the story to you using "first, next, then, and last." Be sure they include telling about the trick of the Trojan Horse!

Science: None next week

With Grateful Hearts,

Mrs. D & Miss Monk

Welcome December!

Dear 2B Families,

Happy December! I hope you are enjoying the cooler weather and the beginning of holiday festivities. 

   

Our Archway Arete library has officially launched, and we are looking for volunteers to help students check out books. Sign up here to serve! Our class will visit the library on: 12/13, 1/25, 3/1, 3/29, 4/26, 5/17.

Scholar Shout-Outs ~ Happy Birthday in December to...
Happy 1/2 Birthday Connor (12/9)!
Happy Graduation Day Miss Monk (12/14)!
Happy Birthday Jax (12/16)!
Happy 1/2 Birthday Gigi (12/17)!
Happy 1/2 Birthday Alex F. (12/20)!

Boxcar Feast Sign Up: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f084aada822a0f94-boxcar

Book Exchange: We would LOVE for the children to participate in a holiday book exchange. Please bring a book (new or gently used) wrapped in your favorite wrapping paper by Monday, December 17th. Please make sure it's a book that both boys and girls will enjoy. If you need assistance getting a book, please let me know!

Next Week in 2B...

Poetry: We will begin recitations of The Night Before Christmas. Please make sure your child has chosen one stanza/part for recitation!

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, expect
Wednesday: 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 take a final test over our comprehension of this novel. Don't forget about your Boxcar Diorama! These are due on Monday, December 17th. We will enjoy a Boxcar Feast and share our dioramas the week of December 17th.

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

Math: We are continuing our journey through dividing by 2s and 3s now that we are familiar with multiplying these factors. Be on the lookout for a Quiz coming towards the end of the week!

Science: We are wrapping up the unit on Insects this week. Look out for a study guide coming home on Tuesday for the test on Thursday. Please help your child study for this final science test of 2018!

History: The Ancient China study guide is coming home today, December 7. Please study over the weekend for the test on Monday. The next unit we are diving right into is Ancient Greece! Before winter break starts, we will study a map of ancient Greece and learn about several gods and goddesses. Ask your child to tell you all about their favorite god or goddess. 

With Grateful Hearts,

Mrs. D & Miss Monk