Greetings from 2nd grade!! We had such a fun week!! Thank you to all those who participated in some of the dress up days. It was great to see your school spirit. Zion Lutheran School has been such a great place to grow over the past 100+ years. I am so thankful to be able to teach here!! Your children are truly a blessing to me and to this school! Please take note of the following reminders!
· Today was the end of 3rd quarter. Report cards will go out on Wednesday, March 17th.
· If you have not turned in your form to schedule a teacher’s conference please bring it in on Monday. Conferences will begin after school on Thursday the 18th. There is no school on Friday the 19th due to conferences. The teachers will meet Monday after school to try and coordinate conference times.
· The teachers will be attending the Nurturing the Faith conference on Tuesday the 16th. There will be no school that day!
· Today is the last day to fill out the on-line survey. We would really appreciate your feedback. It only takes about ten minutes of your time!
· Our 2nd grade class will be doing chapel on Wednesday, April 7th at 12:45 p.m. In your child’s folder they have a copy of our chapel service. Their lines are highlighted. Please read over this with them. They should feel comfortable and confident with their lines. They do not have to memorize their lines unless I indicated that on the paper. We will be practicing the week before our break. Please keep the paper in your child’s folder so that it is handy when we need to practice.
· There will be no spelling words or memory work next week! With two days off it will be hard to get it all in!
· On Thursday the teachers beat the 8th grade in the volleyball match. It was so much fun! Thank you to all the kids for cheering on their favorite team. A special thank you to Rod Clark for doing the introductions and the music!! It was fantastic!

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

Religion: In religion this week we talked about Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus went to the garden to pray and he took Peter, James, and John with him because He wanted His friends near Him. Jesus was overwhelmed with sadness. Jesus knew He needed help to be strong, so He prayed to His heavenly Father. Jesus prayed three times and said, “Your will be done.” It was not easy for Jesus to save us. He knew it would be painful, lonely, and that He would die. But Jesus trusted the will of the heavenly Father. Jesus wanted to do whatever was best to save us from sin and death. We also talked about Jesus’ trials. We discussed how unfairly Jesus was treated. Jesus was arrested and treated like a criminal. He was accused of blasphemy, saying He was the Son of God. Pilate let the people decide whether to free Barabas, a criminal, or crucify Jesus. Jesus was not treated fairly, but He endured it all because He loves us. He took all the punishment in our place, for our sins and the sins of the whole world. It was unfair to Jesus, but it was a miracle of love for us!

Math: This week in math we began adding three digit numbers, including money amounts. The kids didn’t seem to have a problem with it. Just remind them to use the $ symbol and the decimal point. We tested over subtraction by 9’s and began multiplication by 5’s. The kids were very excited to start multiplication. Finally, we started learning how to represent/write mixed numbers….for example 2 ¼.

Reading: In reading this week we reviewed the –s and –es endings. In addition, we talked about irregular verbs. From time to time the kids will see the verb but say the past tense wrong. We started a new story entitled “What Happened to Patrick’s Dinosaurs?” After reading the story we differentiated between what was real and what was fantasy.

Science/SS: In science this week we began talking about matter. Matter can come in three different forms: solid, liquid, or gas. All matter has mass and takes up space. We focused on solids this week. We practiced listing the properties of specific solids (properties include size, shape, color, texture). We also learned that all solids have shape, while liquids and gases take the shape of the space or container they are in. In social studies we continued to talk about culture. We compared the culture of a boy that was Jewish American and a girl that was Mexican American. Our culture can be part of what makes us unique.

Language Arts: In language arts this week we continue to talk about contractions and possessive pronouns. This was a bit tricky (they’re or their, you’re or your, it’s or its). We practiced reading it splitting the contraction into the two smaller words. If that made sense then we would use that contraction, if not then we would use the other form of the word. We will need some more practice on this. The kids are really required to slow down and check, sometimes our problem in simply slowing down.

Spelling/Phonics: In spelling this week we worked on compound words. Next week there will be NO spelling or memory work. In phonics, we continued to change the “y” to the “i” and add –es. We also tested over the unit.

Remember to pray “Your will be done Lord.” He has a plan for you and knows what is best for you!! He always hears your prayers!!

In Him,

Miss Rempfer