Author: Melissa Morrier-Turk

Dear 2A Families,

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend.  We were so lucky to enjoy a dry day at Carleton Farm for our field trip.  We spent the remainder of the week reflecting on our field trip through many writing projects.  The students wrote about all that we saw at the farm and about their favorite part of the trip.  We also created a “How to Grow a Pumpkin” sequencing book.  In art, students made a pumpkin with various patterns, and finished a leaf art project.  In math, we completed Chapter 3 on subtraction by taking a test and solving word problems with fact families/part-part-whole.  We will continue practicing this concept.  Next week, we will move into place value.  We will practice counting by groups of ten with place value blocks.  This will help to set the foundation for our thinking in a couple of months when we begin to regroup tens and ones.  We will also work on skip counting by 2s and 5s.  Continue practicing addition and subtraction flashcards at home.  In reading, we read a non-fiction text titled Family Farm:  Then and Now.  In small groups, we are working on writing key details and the main idea from the text.  In science, we conducted an experiment on matter as it changes states.  We melted an ice cube and observed its progression from solid to liquid to gas.  We learned the words melts and vaporizes to describe our findings.  In religion, we learned about King David’s Psalms (songs) written to give thanks and praise to God.  We sang a few and read others to become familiar with the phrases in which we can use to give God thanks and praise.  We also learned about two great saints:  St. Theresa of Avila (October 15^th) and St. Ignatius of Antioch (October 17^th).  We will begin to discuss the Ten Commandments and the choices we make that hurt our friendship with God and with others.

Important Dates to Remember:

Friday, October 25^th-Noon Dismissal for Accreditation.  Extension is open.  Students will eat a snack at school.  If your child will go to extension after school, please pack a lunch for them.

Friday, October 25^th-Halloween Carnival.  Please see the school newsletter for more information about this community event!  Halloween costumes are not to be worn to school during the day, but are welcome at the carnival in the evening.  Wristbands are available for purchase through the school office.

Thursday, October 31^st-Halloween/Dia de los Muertos!  Students may bring their costume to school to change into for the afternoon.  No weapons, no face masks, no make-up, no clowns.  Students must be able to independently “do” school in their costume.  We will have a small celebration in the afternoon.  I will send a sign-up invitation if I need any help!  We will also learn about Dia de los Muertos.

Friday, November 1^st-All Saints Day!  Students are encouraged to dress up as a saint.  Saint costume ideas can be found here:

https://www.catholicicing.com/all-saints-day-costume-ideas-for-girls/

https://www.catholicicing.com/all-saints-day-costume-ideas-for-boys/

School rule:  If you dress up for Halloween, you must come dressed as a saint on November 1^st.  Students attend the 11am Mass.  Students not wearing a costume on either day must be in their school uniform.  If you have questions, I am happy to help!

Announcements:

Library is every Thursday.  Please remember to return library books!

P.E. is every Tuesday and Thursday.  Please remember to wear athletic shoes.

I am still in need of a room parent or two.  Contact me if you are interested in learning more about this opportunity.  Thank you!

Have a terrific week!

Blessings,

Mrs. Nicole Martin

2^nd Grade Teacher

Dear 2A Families,

Our week in second grade went very well!  The students worked on the final two MAP tests and did very well.  I am proud of their focus, effort, and energy throughout the process.  We look forward to the week ahead with much more to learn and experience!

Here is a review of our learning from the week:

In reading, students read fiction and non-fiction texts in small reading groups.  We read a Fall poem to practice finding rhyming words.  Mrs. Latta came into our class on Wednesday and worked in small groups on a short vowel /o/ word sort.  It was a great opportunity for us to work together!  In writing, the students worked on adding details to a memory story about their weekend.  We continued thinking about adjectives to help us describe leaves.  The students completed a guided writing poem titled, Autumn Leaves.  In math, students worked on subtraction facts.  Students worked with fact families/number bonds and part-part-whole problems to decide whether to add (+) or subtract (-).  Soon, we will work on place value, skip counting, and patterns.  In science, students learned about liquids and gases.  Next week, we will complete an experiment on the changing states of matter.  In religion, we completed chapter 3 and completed a review.  We learned about the story of the Good Samaritan and our church heroes, the saints!

Important Events and Reminders:

Monday (10/14)-Vision Screening.  Remember to send in your child’s glasses if they have them.

Tuesday (10/15)-Pumpkin Patch Field Trip.  Please send a booster seat with your child (labeled with their name).  Thank you to our parent volunteers, Mr. Dam (Andrew’s dad), Mrs. Keeney (Brandon’s mom), and Mrs. Santiago (Carlos’s mom).  Students may wear farm-appropriate free dress.  Dress in layers, and please bring a weather-appropriate jacket and shoes/boots.  Students may want to pack their boots separately for the trip.  Pack a sack lunch that is healthy and easy to eat!  It is best if students bring a lunch that is disposable.  Please remember to send in your permission slip and $7.00 to the school office.  Thank you!

Wednesday (10/16)-We attend Mass this week!

Friday (10/18)-Scarecrow Book Report is due

Have a wonderful week!

Blessings,

Mrs. Nicole Martin

2^nd Grade Teacher

Dear 2A Families,

Happy October!  The second graders had a terrific week and we are excited for the many events that this month brings.  The cool, crisp fall air is definitely here so make sure to pack a weather-appropriate jacket each day.

Here is an update of our learning this week:

In reading groups, we worked on fluency-reading smoothly with good phrasing and expression.  We worked on noticing quotation marks and how they help us sound like strong performers as we are reading.  Mo Willems, a favorite author, taught us how to pay attention to how words are printed on the page.  Many of the students enjoyed learning from this talented author and illustrator.

In writing, we wrote an acrosstick poem using the word “apple.”  It was a great activity for students to understand the rhythm and phrasing of a poem.  Their poems are well-written, creative, and beautiful!  Come and take a look in our hallway the next time you visit the school.

In math, we began our review of basic subtraction facts (0-20).  We worked to apply our understanding of addition as it relates to subtraction.  Ask your child to tell you about our fact family mix up activity!  We are using the term fact family (Papa bear, Mama bear, and Baby bear) interchangeably with number bonds.

In science, we took our test on the physical properties of matter.  The students did a great job on the review and the assessment.  Thanks for supporting your child!  Next week, we will learn about two other states of matter, liquid and gas with some hands-on experiments.  We will learn new vocabulary for the physical properties of liquids and gases.

In religion, we learned about two favorite saints, St. Therese of Lisieux (Oct.1^st) and St. Francis of Assisi (Oct. 4^th).  We learned in our religion book that saints are heroes in heaven who help us along our journey.  We made a spiritual bouquet of little ways that we can show love to God and others through our prayers and acts of service.  We also went to Mass and celebrated the feast of the Guardian Angels.  We are all really holy this week, thanks be to God!

Important Reminders:

We will finish our MAP testing on Monday 10/7 (Math) and Wednesday (10/9) Reading.  Remember to eat a good breakfast, pack a healthy snack/lunch, and get a good night sleep.

Pumpkin Patch Field Trip-Our trip to Carleton Farm is Tuesday, October 15^th.  I will be emailing parent chaperones soon.  I am still waiting for a few permission slips.  Please turn these in as soon as possible.  The cost for the trip is $7 per student (cash or check made out to SMM).  Please send this in to the office labeled with your child’s first and last name and grade (2A).  If you have any questions about payment, please contact the office.

Fun Run Update-The final numbers for our Boosterthon Fun Run show that our class has earned another incentive/prize.  Congratulations!  Students can wear their favorite athletic team hat/socks/jersey on Tuesday, October 8^th.

Vision Screening-Our annual vision screening will take place on Monday, October 14^th.  See the attached letter for more information.  If your child typically wears glasses, please make sure they have them at school on our vision screening day.

Have a great week!

Blessings,

Mrs. Nicole Martin

2^nd Grade Teacher

Dear 2A Families,

We have had a great week learning about apples!  We worked in reading groups to learn facts about apples, read apple poems, and completed word work and writing activities with our apple theme.  The students loved our applesauce tasting while enjoying an educational video about Johnny Appleseed.  Our apple theme will continue next week as we write apple adjectives connected to our five senses.  In science, we continued learning about physical properties of matter.  We learned the words hardness, flexibility, buoyancy, mass, and gram.  In math, we wrapped up our understanding of basic addition facts (0-20) and will take a test on Monday.  Next week, we will begin a review of basic subtraction facts and learn more about number bonds (fact families). In religion, we will talk about the Trinity-God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit and connect to three parts of an apple.

Field Trip
We also have an exciting field trip coming up!  We will be going to Carleton Farm on Tuesday, October 15^th.  The cost is $7.00 per student.  Please send cash or check made out to SMM to the school office.  Permission slips are coming home today.  We also need about four drivers as chaperones for our trip.  Please fill out the sheet attached to the permission slip to let me know if you are able to join us for the trip.  All students will need a booster seat to ride in a vehicle.

Homework/Spelling Update
Your child will either bring home a blue or green sheet from now on with their spelling words.  They will receive the same list on Thursday on a white sheet to complete as a practice test.  The white page should be returned on Friday with the homework packet.

Important Dates
Monday, 9/30-SMM Roller Skating Party-Everett Skate Deck 6:00-8:00 pm
Friday, 10/4-Blessing of the Animals
MAP Testing-10/7 and 10/9

Have a terrific weekend!
Mrs. Nicole Martin

Dear 2A Families,

Thank you so much for supporting our Fun Run on Friday (9/20).  The students had a wonderful experience and they ran with great energy and enthusiasm.  We are so blessed by our community and each other!

This week, we worked in our reading groups to review character and setting.  Each small reading group learned important vocabulary for the story.  We will work on reading fluently with good phrasing and expression.  Our focus this coming week will be to retell the story using words and pictures.

In writing and language, we learned about nouns and adjectives.  We used our adjectives to create a writing organizer about a friend.

In math, we continued working with addition concepts.  Students practiced finding the missing addend and applied different strategies to add.  Next week, we will take our first chapter test and begin our review of basic subtraction facts.

In science, we learned about several physical properties of matter (materials, color, luster, texture) and the three states of matter.  This week we will learn about flexibility and buoyancy of solids.

In religion, the students attended their first mass in the parish hall.  They did really well staying focused and following the line for communion.  It was a prayerful Mass with few distractions in a unique setting.  We will attend Mass every other week.  Thank you for remembering to have your child wear their sweater vest on Mass days.

We also learned about the Sacrament of Baptism as a welcome sign to the Church and God’s family.  Students shared stories of their own baptism and said a prayer of thanksgiving for their parents, godparents, and faith journey.

Students attended P.E., Library, Music, and Advisory (with Mrs. Framel, school counselor) this week as well.  Ask your child what they are learning in each of these specials!  Library books are due each Thursday.

Reminders

Tuesday 9/24-Peace Day and Assembly!  We will have our first Peace Day Assembly at 2:15 pm in the parish hall.  We will talk about ways we can be peace makers in our community.  If your child has a blue peace t-shirt/sweatshirt from last year, they are encouraged to wear it for this special day (or full dress uniform).  If you would like to purchase a peace shirt, please use the following link:

https://stmarym.org/2019/09/19/2328/

The order window will close soon and it is the only order for this school year.

Wednesday 9/25-It’s Apple Week!  We will be making applesauce as a class and writing the directions for How To Make Applesauce.  Send an apple with your child today so that we can make our applesauce!

Friday 9/27-Today is a Noon dismissal due to a teacher in-service day for Accreditation preparation.  This is a series of several half days (about one per month).  Extension is open for after school care.  Please remind your child to turn in the homework packet and white spelling practice test each Friday!

MAP testing begins this week.  Second graders will take the Language test on Wednesday (9/25), the Math test on Monday (10/7) and the Reading test on Wednesday (10/9).  A good night sleep and a healthy breakfast are ways the best ways to support your child.  Remind them to try their best!

I hope you all had a terrific weekend.  Happy Fall!

Blessings,

Mrs. Nicole Martin

2^nd Grade Teacher

Dear 2A Families,

I enjoyed meeting several of you this week at Curriculum Night. Thank you for taking the time to listen and ask questions about your child’s learning this year. We had a great week of learning and having fun. Our Boosterthon Fun Run fundraiser kicked off this week and we are so excited for our Fun Run on Friday, September 20th. More details to come!

Below is an update on our learning this week:
In reading and spelling, we learned short vowel /a/ and learned how to encode and decode based on the vowel sound. We also listened to a few of our favorite Frog and Toad stories and focused on character and setting. Next week we will learn short vowel /i/ and read in our small reading groups.

Good-Fit Reading Level
Attached to your child’s homework packet is a “Parent Pipeline” for the Check for Understanding reading strategy. I wrote your child’s good-fit reading level at the top of that sheet. Mrs. Latta’s students can find their good-fit level by looking at the books in their reading folder. You may use this information to guide your selection of books at the library. Updated reading level information will be sent home with every trimester report card.

In math, students used number sense to identify number placement on the number line. We are also applying our knowledge of basic addition facts in our Math Journals each Friday.

In science, we learned that matter is everything we can see! We continued our nature walk activity by sorting living and non-living matter, matter that is human-made or natural, and matter that is made of different material (wood, cloth, paper, plastic, rubber, metal, etc).

In religion, we continue to learn that God loves us and the Church is our family of God. We shared examples of how we show care for members in our community.

In writing, the students published their favorite place piece modeled from the text All the Places to Love. If you have a chance to stop by our hallway, take a look at these pieces of writing! The students did a wonderful job describing their favorite place.

In art, we are working on drawing and painting one of my favorite flowers (dahlia). We will use warm and cool colors to paint the flowers as they look in the fall.

Parent Volunteers Needed
We are in need of a room parent(s) and an art docent. Please let me know if you are interested in helping out in these positions.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Blessings,

Mrs. Nicole Martin
2nd Grade Teacher