February Read Aloud

In the beginning of the month in read aloud the students will be learning about Presidents Day. They will learn why we celebrate Presidents Day and why it is an important holiday. We will read books about different presidents, such as George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. 

In the middle of the month we will be starting our author study on Roald Dahl. We will start by reading the book Fantastic Mr. Fox where the students will track the main characters journey and understand the lesson at the end of the book. Then we will read the book The Witches. The students will watch the movie Matilda that was based off of Roald Dahl's book Matilda. At the end of this author study, during the month of March we will end by reading the book Boy, which is an autobiography written by Roald Dahl.

This autobiography describes Roald Dahl's life from birth until leaving school, focusing on living conditions in Britain in the 1920s and 1930s, the public school system at the time, and how his childhood experiences led him to writing as a career. After this book, the students will understand why Roald Dahl wrote his books. They will understand what childhood experiences led him to write each book.

February Word Study

Unit 9
Students will continue learning the r-controlled sounds. 



All three have the same sound. These r-controlled sounds are not difficult to read but they will be difficult to spell.

This is how you mark up an r-controlled word:    


Trick Words: picture, learn, earth 
                     father, brother, mother 
                   

Unit 10 
In this unit, a new syllable type will be introduced. The student will be learning the "D syllable". This syllable type is called d syllable because it contains a double vowel combination. Previously, the students have learned the sounds of the vowel teams. In this unit, we will only be working on 2 vowel teams: ai and ay. 


Now, we will focus on reading and spelling the vowel teams.  


This is you you mark up a d syllable:



Trick Words: great, country, away 
                     America, school, thought 

January Writing 2016

January Writing

2^nd Grade is continuing to work on our nonfiction writing pieces.  We have finished the research stage and have begun to draft our pieces.  Some of the new craft techniques that will be introduced this unit will be:  writing from the 1^st person perspective, speaking to the audience (voice), using comparisons, descriptive language, and bold words.  When the writing portion of the unit is complete, students will begin creating their habitat dioramas.  A notice of the supplies students will need for the project has been sent home.  Please make sure that you send your students with their supplies to complete the project in class as soon as possible.  Please do not do the diorama at home with your child since we will be completing them in class together.

January Word Study 2016

Unit 7

Students will be learning the open syllable. The students will learn how to mark it up. The open syllable has only one vowel and it does not have a consonant after it. Here are some examples:

go                    flu                   we                   I

This is how you mark up an open syllable: 

Open syllables can be combined with other syllables to make longer words:

Students will also be introduced to y as a vowel.

Y has 2 vowel sounds in an open syllable.

In a one-syllable word, y makes the long i sound such as: cry

In multi-syllable words, y makes the long e sound such as: baby 

Also, y can also be a suffix by coming at the end of a word. When y is a suffix, it has the sound of long e.

For example: safely, safety, lumpy

Trick Words:

Week 1: why, large, change

Week 2:  city, every, family

Unit 8

The students will be learning a new syllable type known as r-controlled syllable. When a vowel is next to the letter r, the r changes to sound of the vowel.

For example: bark

 

Trick Words:

Week 1: world, answer, eye

Week 2: carry, something, different