Wear Red Day!

Wear Read Day!! Thank you to all students who participated in the fun and wore red! It was a sea of red in our classroom. There were some super creative and awesome ideas to show support!

Congrats to Mikaylee, Nora and Kate for wearing the MOST red!!

Valentines Celebration!

The Gym

Today a story called The Gym went home in all student communicators. This is a story from our CKLA The Job Hunt reader. All students have already read this story silently to themselves and with their reading partner. We have also had a meaningful discussion in regards to comprehending what the story was about, how it aligns with the story line of The Job Hunt, and also how it has connected thus far to the other stories we have read previously in The Job Hunt.

Now they are bringing home The Gym to share. In addition, students have a comprehension page to do using complete sentences when they answer each question. 

This is not due until Friday, or even Monday if necessary.

 

McNitt Updates

National Wear Red Day

Friday, February 5

All of Westwoods will celebrate Wear Red Day!The mission is to fight heart disease and learn about the heart! Students will jump rope and collect money for the American Heart Association during the month of February if they are interested. 

Parent/Teacher conferences

Please make sure you have signed up for parent/teacher conferences if you have not already.

The dates of conferences are 

February 16

February 18

February 24

All from 5-8
Here is the link
https://ptcfast.com/schools/Westwoods_Elementary

Homework Packets

All students brought home this weeks homework packet on Monday. Please help remind your child to read and continue their fluency practice each night. All other homework is due on Friday!

Spelling

A new list of spelling words came home on Monday. This week we are focusing the ow which can have two different sounds
/oe/ like bow
/ow/ like cow
Throughout the week we are engaged in different activities and conversations related to the different sound spellings of ow. On the back side of their word list there is an "I Spy" game to play with another person. Just another fun way to get students practicing their words.
Spelling test is on Friday, Feb. 5.

 

Field Trip
We will be going on a field trip to Lars Hockstad Auditorium on Thursday, February 18th. All of second grade will be going to see Charlotte's Web.
We will be leaving school at 12 and returning around 2. Lunch times will be changed, however, students can still do their normal routine for lunch at school.
More information will be coming home with more details, a permission slip and a small donation request. Thank you!

Measuring on a curve!

We have moved from measuring with meters (m) to measuring centimeters (cm) and inches (in). We have also discussed the uses of using a measuring tape to measure such things as a round ball or a persons head. Alternatively a string can be used, and a ruler or measuring tape can then be used to measure the length of the string. We practiced this exercise by measuring different curves assigned. Students took a longer piece of string to wind around different curves to then line up on a ruler to get an exact measurement. We were able to also estimate what we thought the lengths would be before measuring, then compare lengths of the actual. It was interesting to hear the variety of assumptions before using the string. However, it also added to a very purposeful closing conversation on measuring different lengths with different shapes and sizes. 

Spelling is back!

Spelling

At this point, students have learned one way to write every sound in English except for the very rare /zh/ as in treasure. They also know a number of spelling alternatives for both vowel and consonant sounds. 

Spelling achievement will generally trail reading achievement, First, students need to be introduced to the spelling alternatives and learn to decode them while reading. Then, after many exposures to the spellings in written words, students will begin to write the correct spelling independently. Some students move fairly rapidly from seeing spelling alternatives to print. Others take longer to master conventional spelling. It is not unusual for this to take a long time and it is not surprising given the complicated nature of the sounds-spelling correspondence system of the English language.  

While mastery is developing, plausible spelling in work is acceptable, however correcting during revisions is also encouraged, particularly when the word is made up of spellings we have already learned in the classroom.
Here is our spelling list for this week! Please help to remind your child to practice their words each night for a short period. We will test on Friday!

McNitt Updates

Carnival

Please remember our carnival basket is going to be collected this week. If you have any donations you would like to add to our FAMILY FUN themed basket please get those into your child's classroom teacher as soon as you can. We have only one item in our basket at the moment, so any and all donations related to FAMILY FUN are welcome! Thank you for your continued support!

Silent Auction

Go to 'view auction' to see the lots.  Then register an account and place bids at http://westwoodspto2016.eflea.ca/view. 

Payment can be made by cash or check at the Westwoods office. 

Parent/Teacher Conferences

Conferences are approaching quickly! I am very excited to meet with you all once again to discuss your child's experience and growth in second grade! Sign up is available for you to choose an available time and date that works best. As we get closer to conferences, I will have to put you in one of my open slots if you have not signed up yet. I want to make sure I am able to see everyone and also give your adequate time to plan and attend your scheduled conference time and date. Slots fill up fast! Childcare will also be provided. 

Here is the link

https://ptcfast.com/schools/Westwoods_Elementary

Box Tops Contest

Please look for Box Top labels on some of your household items and food and clip them to send into our classroom. There will be a school wide contest Feb. 8 - Feb. 12. Thank you!

Chapter 7: Metric Measurement of Length

We are moving away from multiplication and division for the meantime (still using during math review) and moving into the Metric System! In this chapter students will learn to estimate and measure medium and short lengths using the standard metric units of meters (m) and centimeters (cm). Students are also going to see that standard units of measure provide a basis for the comparison of lengths (finding the difference). To further reinforce their understanding of length, children will be taught to draw lines of specific lengths, while also applying what they learned through addition and subtraction to solve real-world problems involving metric length.

Students are looking forward to trying a new chapter and learning more about measuring!

New Unit in CKLA!

Last week we began our next unit in CKLA! Unit 4 is devoted to introducing more spelling alternatives for vowel sounds and tricky spellings. Vowel sounds and their spellings are the most challenging part of the English writing system! Different areas we will be covering include:

Tricky Spelling

'e' can be pronounced /e/ (pet) or /ee/ (me)

'i' can be pronounced /i/ (it) or /ie/ (biting)

'y' can be pronounced /ee/ (funny), /i/ (myth), /ie/ (try), or /y/ (yes)

Tricky Words

Words like people, walk, grownup, building and statue are introduced and pre-taught during lessons before seeing them in their reader. These are words that are not necessarily challenging, but do not follow the rules of English.

Multi-Syllable Words & Chunking

Decoding words

Syllable division

Reader

The Job Hunt: This is a fictional book.
Kim, a college student, hunts for a job. Her younger brother, Kurt, follows along as she goes from place to place in search. Kim and Kurt will visit many places in New York City as they ride the subway and walk to each location. 

Grammar

Singular & plural nouns

Common & proper nouns
Irregular plurals

Action Verbs & verb tenses

Reviewing: synonyms, antonyms, contractions, and quotations

Writing

We will begin to learn about persuasive writing, specifically how to incorporate persuasive writing as part of a friendly letter.

Spelling

Controlled vowels
'ow''
Four different ways we have learned to spell the sound /ee/

 

 

 

Homework

On Monday all students were sent home with one page of homework to do for Thursday. We did the other side in class, which has already been checked. We read the story How to Skip a Rock in class. Now they have a story to write of their own in connection to the informational text read. They need to fill in the "W" questions, that we have also discussed in class (used with our personal narratives). 

This is due by Thursday, January 21st 

Thank you!