Santa's Stuck!

Santa's Stuck! The students have been trying to figure out ways to get Santa out of the chimney! If Santa were stuck how creative would you be? The ideas were something to give to Santa just in case :) Some scenarios included ingredients like butter and oil, others found tools, and some enlisted other friends to come and add their muscle to the task. All were done keeping Santa's safety in mind...where Santa was released from the chimney in time to finish his journey on Christmas Eve.
All projects were very creative and had their own spin of uniqueness on them! Look for these coming home on Tuesday!

One week to go....

Christmas is right around the corner and the excitement and energy leading up to Mr. Claus' arrival is bursting at the seams. So we will throw a party to help that excitement along :) We have a couple new additions to our party. The students are aware...but I wanted to make sure parents were as well.

Monday is our holiday celebration with fun and games! The students have been jazzed up about this all week! So there well deserved time to celebrate has finally come!

 

We added a couple items to our celebration this week, which is in addition to the Holiday note sent home last Friday. For Monday students may:

Bring a board game (dice, cards, etc.)

Wear (school & weather appropriate) PJ's to school

Bring a medium or smaller sized stuffed animal

Bring a pair of slippers to wear (for classroom only)

*All items are optional

We have discussed a few different times the limitations of what they can and cannot bring to school on Monday. They also need parent permission for what they are taking from their homes.

If you have any additional questions or concerns please let me know. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Antonyms & Synonyms

Coming home tonight are two sheets of homework (front and back). Both are themed around the concepts of antonyms and synonyms. 

This is due back to school on Monday, Dec. 21.

Spelling!

This weeks spelling words are antonyms and synonyms.

Antonyms are words that opposites like hot and cold.

Synonyms are words that are almost the same in meaning.

Students will not only be expected to spell their words this week, but also know their antonyms and synonyms. Which means, for Friday's assessment, I will say what is the antonym for ____ OR what is the synonym for ____ and the students will write the correct word and spelling for the correct word that belongs. 

Example: What is the antonym for over? Students will write down under

What is the synonym for subtract? Students will write down minus.

Please help remind your child that in addition to a spelling test on Friday all word ladders, math pages, fluency/comprehension questions (on the back of the fluency pages) are also due. 

Thank you for your continued support!!

Due to the short week next Monday and Tuesday, students will NOT be coming home with a spelling list and there will NOT be a homework packet.

McNitt Updates

Report Cards
Report cards came home with your child Friday. Please take time to look through each card with your child to talk about their progress so far in second grade. Please also let me know if you have any questions or concerns. They have accomplished a lot! Very proud!
Please make sure to remove all insides from the report card envelope, sign the outside, and return the envelope back to school empty. 
Thank you!

Extras
Inside all report card envelopes were also two extra pieces. A note regarding our holiday celebration and a field trip parent permission form.
Holiday Party
We will be celebration the holidays with fun and games on Monday, Dec. 21, instead of the typical party. Students will be able to bring in a board game of their choice and where PJ's to school! In addition we will have a holiday treat and enjoy some holiday tunes. How fun!

Field Trip

Our classroom, along with other classes in the building, will be heading to West Senior High School on Tuesday, Dec. 22. We have the opportunity to listen and watch WSH students put on a holiday performance. We will be leaving Westwoods after lunch at 1:00 and return back to school at 2:30 just in time for Spanish at 2:30 and our holiday sing along at 3:00. In order for your child to join us, please fill out the bottom portion of the (green) permission slip and send it back to school no later than Friday, Dec. 18. 

Thank you!

Winter in the Woods

Dec. 17 from 5-7

Enjoy some hot coca and cookies, while visiting with Santa and getting a photo. 

Santa's Gift School will also be open to purchase gifts. If you would like to volunteer please sign up.

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0f4daaac2ca5fd0-winter3/

Friends of Westwoods Directory

Here is the link to the working directory:

http://tinyurl.com/friendsofWestwoods

If you would still like to ADD your business to the directory, click here:

http://tinyurl.com/addtoWWfriends

WW Carnival
Classroom Theme: Family Fun!
If you have any items to donate to our classroom basket (Family Fun) for our WW Carnival please send all items in with your child to give to your classroom teacher. Thank you!

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend!

Dividing it all up!

Students are learning how to divide select amounts into equal groups. 

Division is repeated subtraction.

24 / 6 = 

Taking 6 away from 24 until there is nothing left to take away.

24 - 6 - 6 - 6 - 6 = 0

How many sixes were taken away from 24 to get to zero?

4 groups of 6

24 / 6 = 4

We also used visuals to solve. Students are using popsicle sticks, for given division problems. We worked through a few examples for solving division two different ways.

24 / 6 =

1. Divide 24 into 6 equal groups. How many are in each group?

2. Divide 24 with 6 in each group. How many groups are there?

Try this with your child at home. See if they can show you the two different ways of dividing.

Math*Chapter 5

On to...Multiplication & Division!

Multiplication = repeated addition

Division = repeated subtraction

Multiplication: multiplying the # of items in each group by the # of groups

multiplying the # of groups by the # of items in each group.

Division: Sharing a # of items among a # of groups, divide to find the # of items in each group.

 Divide from a number of items that each group receives, to find the # of equal groups that can be formed.  

Through our new chapter of multiplication and division, students will:

Use equal groups and repeated addition to multiply

Make multiplication stories about pictures

Make multiplication sentences

Solve real world multiplication word problems

Divide to share equally

Divide by repeated subtraction or equal groups

Solve real world division word problems

This is the expectation for the chapter, so we will of course push our thinking to extend our work. :)

Spelling!

Spelling

My apologies on spelling not coming home Monday as usual. With our NWEA reading test going longer than expected, we had to shorten our skills portion of CKLA. Which meant spelling was accidently missed. So...we did a little something different today with our spelling words. We talked about the theme this week, using alternatives:

kn for /n/

wr for /r/

wh for /w/

qu for /qu/

With words having the suffix -ing or -ed

Within our spelling lesson, we read through words, spelled and used each in a sentence, while also defining the meaning. To follow we took a pre-test. This pre-test should help most students narrow down the list to focus on words that need more attention than others. Attached to their spelling word list this week are the students graded pre-tests. Words that are spelled correctly have stars next to them. Words without stars are those words that were mis-pelled and ones students should focus more of their time on.

Hopefully this will help with missing a night and narrowing down the practice. We will still take our test on Friday. Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns. Thank you!

The Ancient Greek Civilization

We wrapped up Ancient China and ventured to a new continent of Europe. We are now learning about the Ancient Greek Civilization. In this unit students will be introduced to a new civilization whose contributions can be seen in many areas of our lives today. They will learn about the gods and goddesses of the ancient Greeks, the city-states of Sparta and Athens, and the philosophers Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. They will learn about the first Olympic Games held in honor of Zeus, the significance of the battles of Marathon and Thermopylae, and the conquests of Alexander the Great. Students will also learn about the Greek contribution of democracy and how those ideas are used today in many governments, including our own.

(The content in this unit is reinforced through the fictional narrative writing genre)

Students brought home on Wednesday a brief overview of our new unit. It includes ideas for students and family to discuss with continued conversation from our listening lessons in the classroom. However, the ideas are strictly suggestions and not homework to be completed and turned in. 

So far this week we have discussed the intro lesson: Ancient Greeks. Followed by two stories about Mount Olympus that encompass the twelve main gods and goddesses.

Students are creating booklets based on each Ancient Greek Civilization they hear. They record with detail what the critical information was from each lesson and what stuck with them from what they heard and what was discussed.They are able to used what they recorded as a quick recall and to share and discuss further with neighbors. We are also using these booklets to develop questioning and to create questions of what more to learn to extend our thinking. 

They are REALLY enjoying this unit so far! Very engaging!

 

Homework & Updates

Homework

Monday, students brought home their weekly homework packets! All due on Friday!

Reading Fluency

Pirate Song

Please help remind your child to take the couple minutes to read through their passage each night (Friday morning is optional). They also have three separate comprehension questions on the back.

In addition, students have a math problem page and a words ladder. 

Spelling

Students have a new list of spelling words with tricky letters g and c. These are review concepts for us, but happy they are back around.

Please help your child to practice spelling words throughout the week. Even if its in the car, playing outside, or while decorating a Christmas tree :) Test will be Friday morning. 

New Books!

Hagerty CARes team members visited all TCAPS elementary schools today to donate the book "Eat My Dust! Henry Ford’s First Race" to all TCAPS 2nd grade students. Our classroom was visited this morning!!

The book offers a taste of history and plenty of action. Colorful artwork, full of exaggeration, movement, and comical detail, catches the fun and excitement of Ford's history-making auto-race defeat of Alexander Winton, which brought in enough cash to allow Ford to start his famouscompany. The story is so involving, especially after the race starts, that kids won't want to stop reading until Ford crosses the finish line. You will see these books coming home throughout the week. Some students have them in their chair pockets reading at school, and some were excited to bring them home to share with their family. Very awesome surprise and gift to our classroom! Many happy faces :) 

NWEA

Next week our classroom will be taking the NWEA Math and Reading tests. Here are our time and dates:

NWEA Reading

Monday, Dec. 7 @ 9:00

NWEA Math

Thursday, Dec. 9 @ 9:00

Carnival
Our classroom carnival basket theme is Family Fun! If you have any items to donate to our classroom basket please have your child bring them into the classroom. I will be collecting all items for our classroom to eventually give to PTO. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you for your continued support!