Hello December!

Welcome Back Second Grade Families!
This newsletter is being sent with hopes that you had a beautiful Thanksgiving and a wonderful 4 day vacation from work and school.  We have now entered the month of December.  The season of Advent is now upon us and we all are greatly anticipating the blessings that Christmas brings.  In the second grade,  the students will be learning about the liturgical calendar, the season of Advent and what it means in our faith, and lessons that are centered around Christ which includes, "The Jesse Tree."  The Jesse Tree assists children in understanding the lineage of Jesus.  Our class will also take the time to enjoy the "wonder and awe" of Christmas which includes our very own Elf on the Shelf!  (Rumor has it that his name is Gabriel.)  The students will also enjoy lessons with a "Christmas Around the World" theme to give them a cultural perspective that Christmas is celebrated in many different ways around the globe.  It's sure to be a fun, exciting, and hectic month!

Please continue reading to discover all that will be taking place both inside our second grade classroom and right here at ACS.

ELA

Essential question that the students will answer:  
How can you communicate in different ways
Target Skills:  Author's Purpose, Biography, Summarize
Writing Focus:  Opinion Writing
Grammar Focus:  Using Proper Nouns
Spelling Focus:  Long o (o, oa, ow)

Review and Challenge Words:  so, grow, swallow,  ocean

Math
This week the students are moving into subtraction concepts utilizing our "Go Math" textbook.

Please know that it's imperative that the students master their basic addition and subtraction facts to 20.  For example, in the area of addition the children need to be able to add all the way up to 20 by rote memorization.  In the area of subtraction, the students will need to be able to subtract beginning at 20 and going down by rote memorization.  As we get further into our basic math fact lessons, I will reach out to you should I observe a need for growth in this area.  If you'd like to enrich your child's math learning at home, please know that the children can practice utilizing our school wide IXL math program.  
Here are some additional ideas to assist your child at home:

• Good old fashioned flash cards
• Download an app to a device to assist your child in memorizing their basic math facts.  There are a few apps that my own children utilized that really helped and they were Splash Math, Sushi Monster, and any app that has your child race against a timer.  
• Education.com has FREE worksheets to help your child practice too!  I am providing a link to you below that will provide an online game through education.com  Please know that this site is a great resource for both educators and parents.  Feel free to navigate the site to best assist your child in any subject area.   https://www.education.com/game/subtraction-skiracer-20/

Science

The students will continue to learn about animals and their habitats.  Please have your child bring in an empty shoe box with their name on the bottom of the box.  Next week, we will begin creating our animal habitats for a "project based learning activity."  By the end of this week, every child will have an animal to research.  Your child will need to find simple items that can fit inside a shoe box to create their animal's habitat.  Every child will also need a super small stuffed animal, or plastic figure to go inside their habitat creation.  Your child's selected animal will be assigned to them based on what small stuffed animal they already have at home.  Also know,  that my daughter has at least 10 little stuffed animals that I will be bringing in should a student say that they do not have one at home.    Please start discussing with your child at home what stuffed animals may work with our in class activity.  Below you will find a few sample images of what our PBL creations will be modeled after.

Religion

The students will be attending our school wide Rosary on Monday, December 2nd at 2:20.

The students will begin learning about the liturgical calendar.

The students will also be learning about the season of Advent and the Jesse Tree.

The students will pray throughout their school day and this includes at daily Pledge/Prayer, before lunch, and prior to dismissal.

The students will attend our school wide Mass on Friday, December 6th at 8:10 am.  This is also the feast day of St. Nicholas!  We will take time in class to learn about St. Nicholas who is also Santa Claus.  In fact, Santa Claus means Saint Nicholas.  Did you know that St. Nicholas was Greek?  Did you also know that St. Nicholas is the patron saint of children?  St. Nicholas died on December 6th, 343.  Yet, here we are celebrating his generous spirit, kind heart, and thoughtfulness exactly 1,676 years later.  Miraculous!!!

Upcoming Events

ACS Spelling Bee Dec 16 2019 at 08:30 AM Christmas Concert Dec 18 2019 at 06:30 PME arly Dismissal at Noon Dec 20 2019 at 12:00 PM Christmas  Break - No School Dec 21 2019 Homework The students are expected to read nightly for 15 to 20 minutes and to complete a simple reading log.         All reading logs are due on Friday.  If a child does not return their homework on Friday, the consequence will be to "clip down" on our behavior chart and forfeit a raffle ticket. Here is the link to "Tumble Books," should you wish to have your child utilize this free site to read nightly.https://www.tumblebooklibrary.com/Home.aspx?categoryID=13 The students will also need to study for their weekly Spelling test that will take place on Friday. Any child that receives a 100% on this week's Spelling Pre-test , will be given a "Challenge" list of words to practice for the week.  The students working on the "Challenge List" will be tested on their list of words this coming Friday.