Posted by Mrs. Oczkewecz on April 2nd, 2008
2B NEWS MARCH 31, 2008
Dear Parents,
Happy Easter Everyone! Christ is risen. Alleluia!
A few notes…
• Congratulations to Cade Harris who was received into the church at the Easter Vigil with the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist!
• FYI: In addition to this newsletter, you should find a Pioneer Farms Field Trip Form and a Mass Response Memorization Sheet in your child’s folder today.
• Please sign and return Report Card Envelopes
A peek at our week…
Math – We will have a chance to start our candy colors graphing project this week. This 3-day activity is designed to give the children a chance to develop place value understanding in the context of statistical investigation. The first part of this activity involves making some predictions and then actually finding the frequency with which certain colors occur in bags of candies. We’ll work on the skill of creating, labeling and a reading bar graph. We’ll explore the idea of a graph as a “picture of the numbers,” and how it’s really easier to analyze data when it is shown on a graph rather than in list form. We’ll also have a chance to compare data and create number sentences involving symbols for “equals,” “more than,” and “less than.”
Reading/Language Arts - This week our anthology stories are called “Treasure Pie” and “Bruno the Baker.” We will work on the target skill of distinguishing between realism and fantasy. April is National Poetry Month, and a perfect time to review that poetry is a type of writing that lets people express, or show, their emotions! The poets in 2B will write a free verse, Easter poem and create an illustration to celebrate Jesus’ Resurrection! Our class poem this week is called Easter is Really for Jesus.
Spelling Notes: We will continue learning about adding vowel and consonant suffixes to root words. We’ll remember that consonant suffixes are relatively easy, “harmless little stickers,” so the root stays the same (see below for “Diva Y exceptions), but when adding vowel suffixes; we need to be on alert!
When adding vowel suffixes we should always ask: Do I need to double the consonant to protect the baby short vowel (hop – hopping) or a crazy r (star – starring)? Or Do I need to drop an e (hope – hoping)? We’ll also remember our “vowel clinging” trick to break apart words by sound so we can check the vowel after adding a suffix (i.e., hop + ing = hoping? If I vowel cling this new word, I get ho ping, which opens up the first syllable, and I realize I need to double the p: hop ping, to protect the baby short vowel sound and correctly spell, hopping).
We will also take some time to carefully look at our friend “Diva Y.” We have to be on alert again with Y at the end of words. Her story will help us remember when to change the Y to i when adding vowel or consonant suffixes. Diva Y loves to be at the end of words, preferably alone like in happy or candy. So when a consonant or vowel suffix tries to take her spot at the end of a word, she will stomp off in a huff and let i take her place. The suffix –ing is the only exception; she stays in the root because she has a bit of a crush on i (crying, flying). But when Diva Y is part of a vowel sound like in toy or play, she will begrudgingly remain in the root doing her vowel thing when a suffix is added like in toying, played or playful.
Spelling Test: The children will be required to add suffixes to the 11 root words listed below. They will also be asked to “apply the rule” with 10 additional root words and suffixes and write one dictation sentence.
Spelling Words:
bike, star, hop, cry, spray – add suffix -ing
hope, harm – add suffix –ful
kind, close – add suffix –ness
lucky, merry – add suffix –est
Challenge Words: resurrection, environment, appropriate
Social Studies – We begin a new unit this week titled, “How Do People Use the Environment?” We’ll start off by identifying natural resources used to produce common products, and distinguishing between things that are from nature and those made by humans.
Religion – We will learn how Easter last 50 days and ends on May 11th, Pentecost, the day Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to unify and strengthen his followers! We will begin our formal preparation for 1st Communion with a new unit this week called “Celebrating the Eucharist.” We start with a chapter titled Gather to Worship. We will ask, what is the mass? We will focus on how we praise God at mass and on how we can be active participants at mass. As a class, we will begin working on the memorization of the Mass responses. I will begin testing memorization at the end of April. Please keep the response sheet sent home today in a safe place so you can practice a bit each night.
We’ll focus on being active participants in Mass as we prepare for 1st Communion by reviewing appropriate Mass behavior:
We’ll remember to refrain from…
• Snacking or drinking
• Coloring or “doodling”
• Taking multiple visits to the bathroom
• Playing with siblings
• Lying on the pews or on a parent’s lap
We’ll do our best to…
• Keep a positive attitude
• Participate in the Mass responses
• Listen well
HOMEWORK
REVIEW MASS RESPONSES EACH NIGHT!
Monday Reading – At home read aloud (at least 20 minutes)
Tuesday Language Arts – Weekly Reader, “Be a Poet” – Read and complete page 4 as well as additional two-sided worksheet
Wednesday Math – Home Connection #21
Thursday Spelling – Adding consonant and vowel suffixes. Test tomorrow!
Math - Leftover Math Facts. Timed test tomorrow!
Have a wonderful week,
Brenda Oczkewecz