Mrs. Barlow’s Class Please view our daily blog for information on student learning and upcoming events. 

Reading – We will learn to sort fiction and non-fiction texts.
We will compare/contrast stories.

Writing – We will learn to write fiction stories with non-fiction facts included.   We will learn to write an ad for a haunted house.  The students will learn to use describing words to attract potential spooky tenants for their house for sale.

Math – We will continue learning how to solve a problem with a missing addend.

Phonics – long i words
igh, y, i-e, ie

Spelling:

New Words:  made, over, did, down, only

Phonics Words:  eat, really, see, complete, light

Review Words:  there, many, could, than, first, its, my, I, to, we, each, said, at, the, will

Extra Words:  These will be written on the board.
want, help, friends, need, breakfast, day, teacher, story, park

Homework –
Read each night for at least 15 minutes and get your log signed.
Math – two pages due by Friday
Fluency poem – read each night and get it signed.  Turn it in on Friday.
Each time homework is done your child will receive a ticket.
Thank you for your support!

FYI
Early Release on October 16, 2015 for the Homecoming Pep Rally.  The cars will be released at 1:15 pm and the buses at 1:30 pm.  The pep rally will begin at 2:30 at the stadium.
October 16, 2015 is the end of the 1st 9 weeks.

Reading:  We will continue to read non-fiction books and compare and contrast the differences between fiction and non-fiction genres.

Writing:  We will complete our non-fiction bat story.  The students will be independently researching and writing their own non-fiction pieces.

Spelling:

New Words:  made, over, did, down, only

Phonics Words:  eat, really, see, complete

Review Words:  there, many, could, than, first, its, my, I, to, we, each, said, at, the, will

Extra Words:  These will be written on the board.
want, help, friends, need, breakfast, day, teacher, story, park

Phonics:  long e
/ee/ like in see, /ea/ like in eat, /e-e/ complete, /y/ like in really

Math:  We will be learning how to solve for a missing addend.
ex. 8 + ? = 16

Science:  We will be learning how to complete KWL charts.

FYI
Early Release on October 7 at 11:30 am for Staff Development!

Reading:  We will focus on learning non-fiction genre. We will compare and contrast fiction and non-fiction genres.  We will be reading Stellaluna and noticing how the author wrote a fiction story, but added non-fiction information.

Writing:  We will work on writing non-fiction pieces after researching.  We will adapt a story like Stellaluna by adding in non-fiction information into a fiction story.

Phonics:  We will focus on long /a/ sounds to help us decode in reading and spell better in writing.  (ay, eigh, vce (a), and ai)

Spelling:  New Words:  its, who, now, people, my
Phonics Words:  stay, eight, late, rain (We will have them spell these using the patterns we have learned during the week.  They will also underline the spelling part.)
Review Words:  there, their (the i reminds us of ownership), said, then, some, than, first, I, have, in, do, not, for, your, to, the, it, will
Extra words in the sentences not shown here will be written on the board for a resource to use during the spelling review.

Math:  We will discuss tens and ones place value and learn how to understand an odd or even number.

Social Studies:  We will discuss information we learn when reading non-fiction books over bats.  We will compare and contrast bats and birds using a graphic organizer.

FYI!
Progress reports will go out this week.
Picture Day on Wednesday, September 30, 2015.  Each child will have their picture taken even if you don’t want to purchase any.  This picture will go in the yearbook.
Book Order will go home Monday and will need to be returned or ordered online by Friday.  Please read note on how to order online.

Reading:  Sequencing a story!

Writing:  Learning how to write our own stories and use good transition words to sequence a story.

Phonics:  Blends – beginning, middle, end

Spelling:
New Words:  no, make, than, fast, been
Phonics Words:  blend, first, friend
Review Words:  would, like, have, one, two, of, or them, I, to, be, will, a, to, in, you, are
Extra Words:  sounds, together, make, word, line, want, my (These words will be written on the board as a resource, it helps if they can read it and recognize it.)

Math:  Number Strings!  4+3+2=

Science:  Matter! The three states of matter are solid, liquid, gas.

Homework:
Math and Fluency Poem due by Friday.
Read each night and sign log.
Practice at least one NEW spelling word a night.  Test will be each Friday at 8:15 am.

Writing:  Writing Process!  Practice learning the steps to writing a good piece of writing.  Plan, Write, Revise, Edit, and Publish!

Reading:  Organize Stories – Use good sequencing with details to write a story with a beginning, middle, and end.  Retelling Rope!

Spelling:

Phonics:  blends – two consonant letters together that blend
ex.  bl like in blue, cr like in crab, dr like in drink

Math:  Counting a Mixture of Coins.

Social Studies:  Community Helpers

Homework:
Reading:  Read each night for 15 minutes and have your reading log initialed by your parents.
Fluency:  Read the poem each night for fluency practice.  Due Friday.
Math:  Coin math sheets – due by Friday.
Spelling:  Practice a word each night.  The spelling test will be on Friday.

Important Information:  We will have a Parent/Teacher Orientation tomorrow, Tuesday, September 15, 2015 from 6:00pm to 7:00pm.  Please attend to see some of your student’s work and hear about what they will be learning this year.  I look forward to seeing you tomorrow!

Reading:  We will be learning how to infer meaning from a text.  We will also be discussing character traits and use what we know about inferring to help us understand how and why a character acts or feels a certain way.  Background knowledge + clues from the text = inferencing.

Spelling:
New words:  has, her, into, more, two
Review words:  to, they, there, many, other, in, it, are, had, how, then, she, many
Extra words:  apples, basket, five, four, now, put

Writing:  Verbs – action words
We need to add awesome actions words to our sentences and stories to make them interesting.

Math:  Counting a mixture of coins to a $1.

Social Studies:  American Symbols

Homework:  Practice a spelling word each night.
Read a book for at least 15 minutes.

This week we will be learning about the following concepts:

Writing: nouns

Spelling:  review words from 1st grade

Reading: story elements

Math: coins

Upcoming events:  We will have a Parent Orientation on Tuesday, September 15, 2015 from 6pm to 7pm.

FYI

If your child’s Recycling Project was chosen, please remember to be at City Hall by 5:00pm on Tuesday, May 12, 2015 to represent your 2nd grade class.  All students are welcome to come support their classmates!  It will begin at 5:30 pm.  We feel that you should be done by 6:00 pm.

Class Pictures will be on Wednesday.  If you want to purchase a class picture you will need to send $10 on Wednesday.

Our class will perform with Pre-K on Friday at the Champs Assembly. Please have your child here no later than 8:00 am to be ready to perform our Confidence skit.

Reading ~ We will read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and complete comprehension activities!

Writing ~ We will begin writing our “Roughneck Matters” writing piece.

Math ~ We will be continuing multiplication and division situations.  We will learn a fun game to help understand multiplication and area.  We will also be reviewing spiraled skills from all year.  The students will have a benchmark test the following Tuesday.

Science ~ The students will trade games and play the science games that their friends created over various science concepts that they researched.

Homework:  Review skills needed from quick checks and tutorials.  Math pages are due Friday.
Read each night and get your reading log signed.
Reading assessments next week.
Reading passage for comprehension assessment on Thursday.
Math problem solving and skill test over measurement on Friday

Reading ~ We will be presenting our PBL Recycling Project tomorrow to one of our administrators. Mrs. Neely will be here to see us discuss recycling and what it means to us. Please dress nice. We will also be working in small book club groups to talk about books we are reading. They will be using all comprehension skills taught to dive deep into the books for a better understanding.

Writing ~ We are preparing for Mother’s Day!  I know you will enjoy your special gift!

Math ~ We are reviewing inches and feet in measuring.  We are also learning to measure in centimeters.  We are comparing the two types of measuring and also learning to estimate before finding the correct measurement using the standard unit.  The students are also working on problem solving and quick computation of simple addition.

Science ~ We are completing our research of the science topic we chose and playing our games we created.  We are also learning about plants and their parts.

Homework:  We will have a addition mixed page of computation and problem solving.  We are working on helping our students become fluent in simple math computation.  We will be having timed tests in the next couple of weeks to see how quick they can recall basic facts in addition.  We will then move onto subtraction.
Reading Homework:  Please have them continue to read each night.  Their reading will help them have better book talks in stations each day.

Assessments:  We will have a reading passage assessment on Thursday and a Math assessment over measurement and problem solving on Friday.

Thank you for all of your continued support in helping your child grow and learn at school!

Reading, Writing, and Science ~  My students have all worked so hard this year learning to be such great readers and writers!  We will now use our knowledge to research and publish our learning.

The students will research various areas of their choice in science.  They will then decide on ways to teach the other students about what they have learned.  They will be able to choose to write a book, create a poster, construct a game, publish an imovie, etc.  Please discuss the information they are researching with them.  This will keep them thinking and discussing the topic.

Topics to research will include the following:  weather, magnets, plants, animals, insects, fresh water, salt water, water cycle, rocks, moon, seasons, and food chain.  They will ask questions and answer questions they have using KWL charts to guide their learning.

Writing ~ Thank You letters for Earth Day/Park Day!

Reading ~ Continue to read each night!  This will ensure they keep their fluency, reading strategies, and comprehension skills progressing.  We will continue to have reading groups and book clubs.  They should be reading their books and/or a chapter each night in order to have good discussions about their books each day.

Phonics and Spelling ~ We will not be having anymore Spelling Reviews.   We will have spelling words each week to practice phonics spelling skills that our class needs.  I will be looking for them to apply these skills in their writing each day.

Math ~ We will begin our measuring unit this week.  The students will begin to understand the need to understand standard units of measurements and how it helps them in their own lives.

Homework ~
Math due each Friday.
Read each night.
Spelling practice of phonics patterns we are reviewing.  Locate them in your reading and write a sentence each night using the spelling pattern.

Assessments ~ Thursday we will have a reading passage and question assessment.
Friday we will have a math assessment over the problem solving and measurement skill we are learning.

We will have very busy weeks to come and I hope the students feel engaged in their learning with the new routine we will be a part of while using our station time and writing time to research and publish our learning.  Please discuss how important it will be to stay on task and work in cooperative groups!  The students are ready to be life long learners and be in charge of their learning.  I am so excited to see where their thinking takes them!  Thanks for all of your support!