The Second Grade Ranch

  Hello Second Grade Families, This is the final countdown to our much anticipated Christmas Break!   Please know that your child will not have any homework this week!  May you all enjoy some extra downtime as a family.  Also, we will not be working in our regular Journey's series.  Instead, your children will be working on creating a writing sample on "How to Decorate a Christmas Tree."  The children will also be enjoying daily Christmas themed stories with a wide variety of language arts activities that coincide with the texts.   ELA The students will create a formal writing sample on "How to Decorate a Christmas Tree." The students will listen and will comprehend selected Christmas themed stories.   The students will also be required to complete the corresponding language arts activities that coincide with each story that is our language based lesson for the day. Math The students will continue to practice the skill of double digit subtraction....

  Hello Second Grade Families, Welcome to the second week of Advent!  During Advent we focus on preparing our hearts, minds, and souls for the gift of the arrival of Jesus.  There are four candles on an Advent wreath and a candle is lit each Sunday for a total of 4 weeks.  On the first Sunday of Advent, the candle of hope is lit.  On the second Sunday of Advent, the peace candle is lit.  Next Sunday, the pink candle will be lit and it represents the gift of joy.  On the final Sunday of Advent, the candle of love will be lit.  In the center of an Advent wreath a white candle is often found.  This candle is known as the Christ candle and it's white to signify the pure love that Jesus Christ has for each one of us.  Your children have been learning all about the meaning of Advent and the purpose of the Advent wreath.  Ask your child what the four candles represent and perhaps you can also ask your children why the liturgical color...

  Welcome back Second Grade Families and happy December! The month where we enter the season of Advent in order to prepare our hearts for the gift of Jesus!  It's also the month when your "children will be nestled snug in their beds while visions of sugar plums will be dancing in their heads."   It's such a beautiful time of the year, so let's enter it with our hearts wide open and ready to spread much needed joy and cheer. Please continue reading this newsletter to stay up to date on all that will be taking place both inside the second grade classroom and right here at ACS. ELA Essential question that the students will answer:   How are some schools different from each other? Target Skills:  Main Idea and Details, Text and Graphic Features, Analyze/Evaluate Writing Focus:  Opinion Writing  Grammar Focus: Quotation Marks Spelling Focus:  Vowel Digraphs, ee, ea Bonus Words for this week's Spelling List:   eat,  read,  between, ...

  Happy Thanksgiving Second Grade Families, May this week bring you all the blessing of good food, a happy home,  the gift of faith, and surrounded by those you hold dear.  This week, I am thankful for the blessing of our second graders and for all of the support of their families.  Thank you for a tremendously wonderful 4 months of school!  It's a short 3 day week, but it's going to be full of fun Thanksgiving themed learning activities.   Please continue reading this newsletter to discover what will be taking place this week at ACS. ELA This week, your children will be stepping outside of their Journey's Reading series.  The second graders will be working on a formal persuasive writing piece.  Your child will be creating a writing sample where he/she is required to pretend that they are a Thanksgiving turkey and their job is to convince Farmer Brown not to make them the main course for this year's Thanksgiving feast!  They are each hoping t...

Hello Second Grade Families, Well, it has been a whirlwind these last few months and we are now only 11 days away from Thanksgiving!  Then, we'll be heading towards the most wonderful time of the year...Christmas!  Sometimes, as the holidays arrive, our children can get run down, overly tired, and this can lead to poor decision making.  However, there are things adults can do to help them!   Here are some simple ways to keep your child behaviorally on track: First of all, keep a consistent nightly routine which includes having your child going to bed at an appropriate time.  Pediatric research indicates that children in the second grade developmentally need 9 to 11 hours of sleep each night. Secondly, assist your child in packing their snacks and lunches to make sure that they are eating a well balanced diet.  During the holidays, particularly after Halloween, children will sneak candy into their backpacks and/or lunch boxes which can create ...

  Hello Second Grade Families, Finally...colder weather is here and there is a wonderful chill of Fall in the air!  We all have arrived in the month of November.  The month where we celebrate All Saint's Day,  Our Veteran's, and Thanksgiving.  The month where we take a little time to embrace an attitude of gratitude for all of the blessings we each have been given.  Here's to the month where we give thanks for all that we have so graciously received. Please continue reading to discover what will be taking place in the second grade classroom this week and right here at ACS. ELA Essential question that the students will answer:   How can people and animals help each other? Target Skills:  Conclusions, Author's Word Choice, Infer/Predict Writing Focus:  Opinion Writing (How to write Instructions) Grammar Focus: Compound Sentences Spelling Focus:  Base Words and Endings -s,  -es Bonus Words for this week's Spelling List:   jets, fr...

  Hello Second Grade Families! I hope that you had a fun filled Halloween and a very blessed All Saint's Day!  This week, your children will be learning all about the lives of a wide variety of saints.  Thanks to Mrs. Pacheco, your children will also be learning about how to utilize "Sacrifice beads."  A tradition that began with St. Therese of Lisieux. St. Therese believed in making simple sacrifices to honor our Lord.  This is also why St. Therese is known as "The Little Flower."  St. Therese believed in following "the way" with loving acts of simplicity and practicality.  She also believed that we should bloom where we are planted.  St. Therese is certainly a beautiful saint whose life we can admire and work towards modeling for others today! Please continue reading to discover everything that will be transpiring this week in the second grade classroom and right here at ACS. ELA Essential question that the students will answer:   What is s...