2F

February has arrived and Valentines Day can't be far away. Valentine Day class list will be sent home early this week (Feb. 2-10). Each student may address a valentine for each person in the class. The second graders can distribute their valentines on the morning of Feb. 14. We will take some time at the end of the day to open our cards. There is no Valentine Day party.

The students had a great time with all the activities that went on during Catholic Schools' Week. Pajama Day, Talent Show, Spirit Day, Bingo with 5th grade buddies are just a few of the festivities that we enjoyed. Hopefully things will get back to normal this week. We have finished learning the lower case cursive alphabet and will continue to practice fine tuning our skills. In a few weeks, we will begin to learn the capital letters. It won't be long and we will be doing some of our daily work in cursive. We will work on independent work habits, thinking problems through, and planning different strategies to help us complete assignments. The students will focus even more on checking over work and improving self checking skills. Please check this website often to see what we've been doing, what we're going to be doing, and dates for long term assignments and major tests.

Bingo with our 5th grade buddies was a lot of fun.

Just Notes

Please make sure all sweatshirts, sweaters, and jackets have names clearly marked. We always seem one or two left over at the end of the day.

January's Insect Day was quite the success. Ethan's mom and dad did a fantastic job giving a presentation on everybody's favorite?? insect--the cockroach. We learned so much about this insect and had a great time showing off our knowledge with a true/false quiz. The lesson was concluded with everyone making a cockroach with pipe cleaners, paper, and a lot of a creativity. Thank you so much.

No one has yet signed up for the February Insect Day. If you'd like to visit the classroom and give a lesson, please let me know. The students really appreciate and enjoy these days.

A brief summary of what we will be covering or have recently covered is listed below.

Religion

In our religion classes, we have started to discuss and develop an understanding of the Eucharist. This past week we discussed the Bible story of how Jesus fed the crowd and related it to how Jesus feeds us today with the Holy Eucharist. We also discussed the Last Supper and how the Mass celebrates this meal each time.

We will continue to spend a few moments at the end of our school day reflecting on the day and the choices that we made. We will continue to pray the Act of Contrition on a daily basis.

Math

We are working on chapter 12 in our math books. In this chapter we learn to subtract 2 digit numbers with and without regrouping (borrowing). It is absolutely necessary for your child to know his/her facts to master these skills. Knowing the facts not only insures accuracy, but helps the child get his/her work done in a timely manner. Thanks for your assistance!

Using base ten blocks with the understanding of regrouping.

Math Practice sheets will be coming home just for the students who seem to need the extra practice. If the student receives a 34 or higher on his/her timed test, he/she will not have a practice sheet to complete at home. Any scores lower than 34 a signed practice sheet will still be required. These sheets are to be signed by the parent and the student stating that he/she has practiced the facts for at least 10 minutes at a time. They are then to be returned by the due date. The students may practice their math facts with flash cards, games, computer websites, or any other way that helps them. Practice sheets are due on February 14.

Timed test 12 (Addition-14) 4 minutes February 14

Timed test 13 (Subtraction-13) 4 minutes February 29

Reading

This week in class we will begin "At Play: Long Ago and Today". This selection is non fiction and students read about what it was like in the past and compare it to today's activities and lifestyles. In this story we continue to discuss "author's purpose" and to recognize different kinds of writing. The students will be practicing the story's skills by completing the literacy centers and additional class work. We will focus on the the long e sound spelled with a "y" or "ey" . We will continue to work on a new set of vocabulary words. Reading test on this story will be Thursday, February 9.

Writing

This week we will begin our next writing project. The students will be writing non fiction paragraph about a place in which he/she is interested. In this project, students will need to think of a specific place, find some facts, and construct a paragraph. The students will self evaluate their own writing to help them become more aware of what good writers do. Most of our writing projects will follow the 5 steps of the writing process--pre write, first draft, revising, editing, and publishing. Parents will be asked to help their child with his/her revising and editing. All other steps will be completed in class.

Spelling

Each week we will have 15 words. The first 5 words are phonics based, the next 5 are content words, and the last 5 are words that the students use in their everyday writing. The students will also have 5 sentences to learn each week. Unit 20 words were given to the students on Friday, February 3. The test will be Friday, February 10.

Each of the fifteen spelling words are worth 4 points and all other words, capital letters, and punctuation are worth 2 points. All tests are then based on 100 points.

Social Studies

The students have begun a unit in social studies about the earth. In this unit we study several different topics. We begin by learning about the United States. Each student was given a specific state last week to learn about. The paper was given to them in class, and needs to be completed by Tuesday, January 31. As a follow up activity, everyone will draw a picture about his/her state. These pictures will be completed in class and compiled into a class book. Everyone will get a turn to bring home the book to share with his/her family.

Health

We are working on chapter 2. In this health chapter, we are discussing our bodies and how we grow and change throughout our lives. As previously stated, we will have a health test on chapter 1 and 2 when we complete this chapter.

Hit Counter

My name is Mrs. Karen Feller and I live in Milford with my husband, Paul. We enjoy traveling, gardening, and visiting with family that live from Iowa to New York. I have a BS degree in Elementary Education from Kent State University and have taken many graduate classes to continue to be current with the latest teaching ideas and theories. I'm very happy to be your child's teacher this year. I've been teaching here at Immaculate Heart of Mary for many years--all of them in the second grade. I truly enjoy the second graders' enthusiasm, energy, and eagerness to learn. I believe that every child has many talents that need to be encouraged and developed through a wide range of activities, projects, and discussions.

Math Practice Valentines Game

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Food Chain

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Pictures of State Symbols