Friday, December 11, 2009

Greetings from 2nd grade!! Time is flying by and Christmas break will be here before you know it. I hope you stayed warm this past week!! We are all glad that we were freed from our classroom on Tuesday! We are getting a new door, so hopefully that won’t happen again. J Here are a few reminders!

No spelling or memory this week!!!

Our Advent service is on Wednesday, December 16th. There is a service at 10:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Your child is expected to be at both services. If they cannot attend Mrs. Bell will need a note. Please have them in our classroom by 6:45 p.m. for the evening service!

We will be having a social studies test this Friday, December 18th. We will take it before our Christmas party. I know it seems mean J, but I didn’t want to wait until after Christmas break. Chances are kids would forget a lot of the information and then we would have to take a week or two to review in January. Now it will be out of the way and you won’t have to worry about studying over break. The study guide is attached.

On Friday, December 18th we have an early release at 11:30 a.m. We will also be having our class Christmas party. We will be having a gift exchange. I am asking that each girl bring a gift for a girl and each boy bring a gift for a boy. We will just have a $5.00 spending limit. Your child can bring in their gift at anytime. We will draw numbers for gifts. Remember, if your child does not bring a gift, they will not be able to participate in the exchange. If you need help buying a gift please let me know. I would be more than happy to help. At the party we will do a craft, read a book, watch a movie, exchange gifts, and eat a treat. If anyone is interested in providing the drinks or snacks please let me know. I would really appreciate it! Thank you to those who sent in plates, napkins, cups etc. Now we just need something to go on/in them.

Here’s what we have been up to this week:

Religion: This week in religion, we talked about the first Christmas and the visit from the wise men. Many times at Christmas we spend so much time focusing on the gifts that we are getting for others or thinking about the gifts that we might get. Giving gifts is a wonderful reminder of the greatest gift we received on that first Christmas…..Jesus. The gifts we give and receive many times will wear out, get broke, or get lost. The gifts that we receive from God will last not only a lifetime but also for eternity. In addition to Jesus, we receive forgiveness, life, salvation, peace, joy, love, and faith. These gifts are the reason Jesus came to this earth and was born at Christmas. Jesus came so that He could purchase these gifts for us with His “holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death.” We want to share the gift of Jesus with all. It is the best gift we can give. The wise men followed the star to find the Savior. Once they found the baby they worshipped Jesus. The word star can remind us of ways to worship our Lord.
Sing
Thank
Adore
Rejoice
We want to do all these thing today to worship Jesus, who came to save all people of all nations.

Math: In math this week we practiced subtracting 10 from a 2-digit number, drawing/measuring line segments, and ordering 3-digit numbers. In addition, we are practicing subtracting by 2’s. Even though we are subtracting, we still want the kids to practice addition as well.
Reading: We started off the week by reading our new story entitled, “What Kind of Babysitter is This?” The class reviewed the following vocabulary words: wish, sneaked, crawled, boy, while, angry, through, heard, and miss. We also tested our comprehension and worked with the vowel pairs oa and ow. Finally, we applied some things from the story to our lives.

Science/SS: In science this week we talked about how people can harm natural resources. We discussed pollution and how people are wasting our natural resources. Soon, we will talk about what we can do to protect our natural resources. In social studies, we practiced using directions to find locations on a map. In addition, we took our continents and oceans quiz. Remember our social studies test is next Friday, December 18th.

Language Arts: In language arts this week, we put sentences in logical order so that the paragraph would make sense. We also started our explanatory writings. The kids are using time order words and space order words to explain how to do something. We are working on our rough drafts.

Spelling/Phonics: Our spelling unit this week focused on the two digraphs “th” and “wh.” In phonics we reviewed our blends and talked about how the letter “y” can make the long “i” and long “e” sounds.

God’s blessing on the week ahead!! Remember that Jesus is the greatest gift all!! Share the gift of Jesus with someone this Christmas.

In Christ,
Miss Rempfer

Friday, December 04, 2009

Greetings from 2nd grade! We have a lot to get accomplished before Christmas and the kids are working hard. I hope you all enjoyed Thanksgiving break. Here are some reminders.

It is that time again!! Our class has earned another marble party. Way to go second grade! We will be having our marble party on Monday afternoon. Keep us the good work!!

Streets of Bethlehem is this Friday from 6:00-8:30 and Saturday from 5:00-8:30. You are all invited to come and bring a friend to see the Christmas story come to life. We would love to see you there!

On Friday, December 11th we will be having our continents and oceans quiz. The attached map is the exact test, so have your child take it as a practice quiz. Your child will be given a list of the continents and oceans. They are not expected to know how to spell them. The names of the continents should be written in the boxes and then cut out and pasted on the correct continent. The oceans are simply to be written in the correct location.

Our Advent service is on Wednesday, December 16th. There is a service at 10:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Your child is expected to be at both services. If they cannot attend Mrs. Bell will need a note.

I sent out December calendars for Book-It on this past Tuesday. Keep up your reading routines!! I am proud that so many kids are meeting their goals.

On Friday, December 18th we have an early release at 11:30 a.m. We will also be having our class Christmas party. We will be having a gift exchange. I am asking that each girl bring a gift for a girl and each boy bring a gift for a boy. We will just have a $5.00 spending limit. Your child can bring in their gift at anytime. We will draw numbers for gifts. At the party we will do a craft, read a book, watch a movie, exchange gifts, and eat a treat. If anyone is interested in providing the drink or snacks, plates, cups, napkins, etc. please let me know. I would really appreciate it!

Here’s what we have been up to this week!

Religion: In religion this week, we talked about the birth of John. God promised He would send someone before Jesus who would get thing ready for the Savior. That person was John. So his birth meant the time for the Savior to be born was near. God’s promise to love us, to always be with us, and to save us eternally through Jesus may sound “too good to be true.” But we can be certain of what God says. God is able to keep his promises because he is perfect and almighty. We also talked about the angel visiting Mary. Mary didn’t know it, but a cross is the picture of what God’s promise would be when it was completed. Jesus, the Savior, would die on the cross. Mary’s own baby would save her from sin, death and the devil. Her baby would grow up to save the whole world, including you and me.
Math: In math this week we differentiated between AM and PM. In addition we talked about dozen and half dozen and identified items that are associated with each. Adding three 2-digit numbers and reading a thermometer to the nearest 2 degrees were also topics we touched upon. We had our first subtraction fact test and continued with our 100 problem addition test.

Reading: This week we focused on comprehension. We reviewed the following high frequency words: round, still, best, don’t, and blue. We are continuing to work on our dictionary skills. Finally, we talked about how authors use pronouns to substitute for nouns so their writing isn’t repetitive.

Science/SS: In science this week we talked about fossils and how they are formed. We did discuss that many scientists believe the world and fossils are millions of years old, but the Bible says the earth is only thousands of years old. We also discussed why some animals are endangered or extinct. In social studies, we practiced reading information from a table. In addition, we talked about world regions and identified the hemispheres, poles, and equator. Finally, we reviewed for the continents and oceans quiz. Don’t forget to practice at home.

Language Arts: In language arts, we reviewed subject-verb agreement, map skills, and introduced prefixes. We will be starting another writing soon. The class also has been locating and correcting mistakes in sentences.

Spelling/Phonics: In spelling this week we worked with the digraphs “sh”and “ch.” In phonics we discussed “s” blends and final blends (blends that appear at the end of a word).

God’s blessings on the week ahead! Remember, God always keeps His promises.

In Christ,
Miss Rempfer


Spelling List: teeth, when, then, wheel, with, what, than while, then, which, white, bath
Challenge Words: mouth, whistle

Extra List: buyer, won, covering, cities, month, yourself, worn, rainbow, replace, smile, dated, rolls, trick, pride
Challenge Words: studying, growth

Memory: Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11