Next week is a very short week due to the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. Students have school on Monday and Tuesday. There is panther club available on Wednesday if you need it. Have a nice break.
This week in reading the students started a short unit on pets. They will read various stories about different kinds of pets over the next few weeks. The first story was Arthur's Pet Business. They wrote about a business they would like to start as a kid in their journals. They also learned pets are big responsibilities.
In math the students began using regrouping (borrowing) in subtraction. They did a nice job learning the concept. They will continue to work with regrouping and will work on subtraction word problems over the next couple of weeks.
Please check out the e-comm communication from Mrs. Greeley this week. One of the highlights was the second grade friendship project. She posted a lot of nice pictures of the projects, too.
On Thursday I sent home a letter about the second grade holiday giving project. If you did not receive the green letter please let me know. If you are unable to participate please let me know as soon as possible. If you are participating please contact the other parents in your group so gifts are not repeated. Thanks for your help in this second grade community service project.
Room 112 still needs lots of old catalogs or magazines for our upcoming noun project. Send them in at anytime. Also, if someone is interested in collating the noun books for the project drop me a line or give me a call. Thanks!
There will be no frog logs due next week. Keep them until December 5th.
There will be no spelling list next week.
Upcoming guest readers
December 5th- Jeff Rozinka
December 12th- Amy DuMond
Mrs. Baier
The Charlotte's Web field trip on Friday was a great success. The students did a good job on their first second grade field trip. They really enjoyed the play and the outing. Thank you to Mr. Cotner and Mr. Offstein for being our field trip chaperones. We will continue to read and do activities relating to Charlotte's Web in class.
In reading we have finished the book The Hundred Dresses. The students did a nice job reading the book as a class and seem to have learned a lot about friendship. The end of the book signifies the end of our friendship unit in reading. Next week the students will start a short reading unit about pets.
In math we have moved on to subtraction. The students are doing two-digit subtraction without regrouping and learning to check their answers in subtraction. Next week they will move on to two-digit subtraction with regrouping and subtraction word problems.
Next week the students will start to study nouns. They will be doing a project soon where they will need access to suitable catalogs and magazines for cutting things out. If you have any extra catalogs or magazines around the house please send them to school with your child. Thanks! Also, if anyone is interested in putting together some little construction paper books for our noun project please let me know.
Snack reminder- Please make sure your child does not bring chips, cookies or doughnuts for snack. We have had a rash of students trying to trade snacks due to these things coming in as snack. We really encourage students to bring a healthy snack to school for snack time. Thanks!
-Next week is Lower School Sports Week. See the letter from Mrs. Greeley for details.
-The Middle School Play- Night of the Wild Things is this weekend.
-November 21st- guest reader Lance DuMond
Mrs. Baier
What a wonderful Halloween Parade this year! A good time was had by all. The students in room 112 had some really creative costumes. I hope everyone had a wonderful evening and enjoyed the rest of the weekend. Remember any extra Halloween candy can be donated to the lower school office for inclusion in the monthly birthday boxes for the homeless shelter.
This week the students continued to read and study the book The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes. They seem to be enjoying their study of the book. It is a challenging book as it was written quite a long time ago and some of the words are "old fashioned" which can be quite difficult to sound out. It is, however, fun to discuss the meanings of these words and add them to our vocabulary.
In science the students have been studying the Earth's moon. They learned about the phases of the moon. They also did a fun experiment of making craters just like on the moon this week. Next week they will learn about Mars.
-There is no school on Friday due to the ISACS teacher conference in St. Paul. There is panther club available.
Mrs. Baier
Grandparents/Special Friends Day was a huge success at Mounds Park Academy. The students in Room 112 were fabulous tour guides. They taught their guests a lot about second grade. The drama sharing time was, as always, quite entertaining. I hope everyone enjoyed the fall break days afterward.
Language Arts
The students have started reading a book together called The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes. It is a great book to teach about friendship and will be the culminating book in our friendship unit.
The friendship projects turned out wonderfully. Students did a good job presenting their projects to the rest of the class. They worked on speaking loudly and clearly when they were describing their days with their character "friends." The things they made to represent their characters were quite creative.
Math
The students were introduced to a set of words that will signal them they will need to add when they are trying to solve a word problem. They were also given a chance to make their own addition word problems. See if your child can remember those six key words.
• No School on Monday, October 27th. Panther Club is available.
• The Lower School Halloween Parade is on Friday, October 31st starting at 2:25. If you would like to help the students change into their costumes stop by the second grade rooms at 2:00.
• Guest Reader next Thursday, October 30th: Karen P.
Mrs. Baier
What a busy week for the second graders in room 112. They have been getting ready for Grandparents/Special Friends Day on Wednesday of this week and learning many new things.
Language Arts:
All of the students have finished their first published writing piece based on their friendship pictures. Those pieces are posted on their lockers for all to see.
The students finished their Watch Out Ronald Morgan story and all related activities. They also read a George and Martha book to continue learning and talking about friendship. Next they will start a whole class book called One Hundred Dresses.
Math:
Work with two-digit addition has and will continue. Last week the students learned about regrouping or carrying in addition. They will keep working on two-digit addition next week in different forms.
Science:
Second grade classes have studied Earth's "evil" twin a.k.a. Venus. They learned about its poisonous atmosphere, crushing atmospheric pressure and acid rain. Next they will begin to study Earth and its moon.
• Friendship presentations start on Monday. Please see the previously posted schedule for your child's presentation date.
• Early dismissal on Wednesday at 11:30 (directly after Grandparents/Special Friends Day).
• No Classes October 16th or 17th. Have a nice long weekend!
• Mrs. Wright is in need of more people to help with decorating and taking down the decorations in the cafeteria for Halloween. Decorations will be put up on Friday, Oct. 31 at 8:30am in the cafeteria. Decorations will be taken down on Fri., Oct. 31 at 12:30 after lunch. If you are available to help please contact Mrs. Wright at rwright@moundsparkacademy.org or call the lower school office.
• The Best of MPA is on Friday, October 24th at 7:00 pm at the Midland Hills Country Club. Hope to see many of you there.
• Poinsettia orders are due on Monday, October 20th.
• Picture retake day is on Thursday, October 23rd.
• Guest reader- Kathi P. on Friday, October 24th at 2:45
There will be no blog update at the end of this week due to the short week of school.
Here is the promised list of Friendship Project Presentation dates. A paper copy was sent home on Monday.
Friendship Project Presentation Dates
Monday, October 20th
Ethan
Julia
Aneesh
Tuesday, October 21st
Phillip
Stella
Karan
Tommy
Wednesday, October 22nd
Matthew
Alex
Abby
Thursday, October 23rd
Jules
Libby
Parker
Friday, October 24th
Myracle
Kaela
Connor
Lauren
The second grade/eighth grade pairing assembly was a huge hit on Friday afternoon. The students took some time to get to know their buddies and then spent a bit of time playing their games. It is fun to see the second graders so excited about spending time with the older students. It is such a nice benefit for students attending MPA.
This week the student started their math facts quizzes and began their number scrolls. They are taking the math facts quizzes quite seriously. It may take a few tests to get some of the students in the right spot as far as their level goes. Some are very good at their addition facts but those subtraction facts really stump them. The number scrolls are a hit. A third grade student (Jackson P.) brought in his number scroll from last year so the second graders could see how long their scrolls can get. It is important students know how to write their numbers through the hundreds and thousands in second grade. The number scrolls also call attention to those dreaded number reversals some of the second graders are working to correct. Ask your child about his or her number scroll.
An introduction to 2-digit addition also occurred last week. Many students did well with the concept. They will continue 2-digit addition next week.
The students are reading a story called Watch Out Ronald Morgan. It is a story about a boy who discovers he needs eyeglasses. It is a nice friendship story that models good empathy skills. They will continue the story next week.
The letter about the upcoming friendship project was sent home last Monday. If you did not receive your copy let me know and I will send home another. At this time students should be reading books about friendship. They can record their reading on their frog logs. (A frog log is due from each child on the last day of the school week and new ones are sent home on that day. There were many students without frog logs last Friday.) On Monday, the students will sign up for friendship project presentation dates. I will post the dates on this blog and send home a list of the dates.
Last week the science classes learned about Mercury. They learned Mercury has no atmosphere and how important the Earth's atmosphere is. They learned many other facts about Mercury. Ask your child what he or she remembers.
On Monday, I will send home another Scholastic book order. The book orders will be due on Friday, October 10th.
Mrs. Baier
Thank you to everyone who attended parent/teacher conferences last week. It was so nice to sit down with you and learn more about your child. Thank you for sharing information and for sharing your child with me each day. Goal sheets will come home soon. If you have any questions or comments about them please let me know.
Language Arts
The students continue their study of friendship in language arts. They continued their study of the story Ruby the Copycat this week and read a short George and Martha story. They are working on their friendship pictures stories. Some of them have started their final copies, which will hang on their lockers when they are done.
Math
Next week the students will start their math facts quizzes. They will also begin a unit on word problems. They will start with addition work problems. The goal is to teach them the different words they may see in a word problem that tells them they will need to add to get the answer.
Science
Last week the students talked about stars and constellations. You may have seen some constellation drawings come home with some of them in their folders on Thursday. Next week they will start to learn about the planet Mercury.
• Friday is the first MPA pairing assembly. Second grade students are paired with eighth grade students for the pairing assemblies. They will do a getting to know you activity with their "buddies." After that they will play games. Each second grader needs to bring a card/board game to school by Friday to play during the assembly with their eighth grade buddies.
• Guest reader this week: Wendy or John Hinz on Wednesday, October 1st
Mrs. Baier
Next week is parent/teacher conference week. I look forward to meeting with everyone and setting goals for your child. If you are unsure of your conference time please let me know.
Highlights from the week
Language Arts
The students have finished their study of Frog and Toad Are Friends. They will take a slight break from Frog and Toad as we start a great story from our reading book called Ruby the Copycat.
Next week the students will start some work with the dictionary. They will learn some dictionary skills and become more comfortable using a dictionary.
Math
This week the main concept was using doubles to add and subtract. The students are also learning to explain how they do mathematical operations. It is a difficult thing for second graders to do. They know how to do the operation but have trouble putting it into words.
• Guest Reader: Wednesday, September 24th- Kim Rozinka
• The class could still use more empty cardboard paper towel rolls.
• MPA Night at the Dome is on Friday, September 26th.
• Final magazine drive order turn in day is Thursday, September 25th.
Mrs. Baier
