Recognize these Second Graders?

Welcome Back 3rd Graders!

It's time to start preheating that oven boys and girls. Bust out that apron and get ready to get messy in the kitchen! We will be starting to cook up some real delicious learning soon. The summer sure flew by but it is so exciting starting a new school year. We look forward to having another wonderful year with each and every one of you. Mrs. Tsengas and myself cherish each of your personalities and have missed you all! Enjoy your weekend and get ready to begin a year or risk-taking, hard work, and most of all, a little fun and laughter!

Winding Down

Can you believe the school year is almost over? Where did the time go? Second grade was such a marvelous and exciting year and Mrs. Tsengas and myself are so proud of each student. Hard work, dedication, and perseverance were some of the key qualities this class possesses. Before we unleash the children back to you for the summer, there are a few reminders of upcoming events/house keeping. *tear*tear* *Flag retirement ceremony is Friday. Please wear your Chets Creek t-shirt *Return ALL LIBRARY books from our school and classroom *Pictures must be paid for or returned in order to collect your child's report card. *Our Award Ceremony is on Tues., June 5 at 9:15. Field Day will follow in the afternoon. * The last day in Thurs. and is a half day. Make sure you are aware of your child's transportation arrangement indicated on the "End of Year" sheet. We hope you enjoy the last 2 weeks of second grade. You have made our year wonderfully outstanding already!

Tomie dePaola

This week we have begun studying Tomie dePaola. He is an extremely well known author/illustrator of children's books. He's been publishing books for over 40 years and has written and/or illustrated nearly 250 books! Over 15 million copies of his books have sold all over the world.

During our study, we will be completing an attribute chart on each of his stories. We will keep track of each stories theme, genre, characters, setting, plot, movement through time, and special author's crafts. This is a great way for students to see the connections between stories and learn how to analyze books.
We will also be writing a response to one of Tomie's stories. This response will include a summary, theme, claim, compare/contrast, and connection paragraph. Students will learn how to use specific evidence from the story to support each of their paragraphs.

I can't wait to dive into more of his stories during the next few weeks. Feel free to browse and learn a bit more about Tomie below. Also, check out your local library for some Tomie books!

Tomie Website
Book Summaries

Homophones, homonyms, and homographs...OH MY!

We are not in the land of Oz anymore. Last week we have been talking about common homophones, homonyms, and homographs. Students have learned to use context clues and read after the word to understand which meaning is used. Wait, wait, wait...what is the difference you might ask?

HOMO ("same") + PHONE ("sound")
HOMO ("same") + GRAPH ("writing")

Homophones -Homophones are words that sound alike, but have different meanings and spellings. Examples of common homophones include:
their and there
deer and dear
hear and here
to, too, and two

Homographs- Homographs are words that are spelled the same, but have different meanings and may have different pronunciations.
Examples:
does and does.-He does like to run. Does are female deer.
wind and wind. -She has to wind up her toy. She flew a kite in the wind.

Homonyms-Words that are spelled the same and pronounced the same, but have different meanings.
Example:
Can-Can I help you? Give me the can of beans.

PHEW! That is quite a bit to take in! Now, the fun part......

Pick the WRITE-RIGHT homophone
Homophone quiz
Witch-which word test
Homophone Jeopardy

This site has matching, word building, and memory. Go to homonyms or try old skills!
Games

Report Writing Super Stars

Have you heard there are a bunch of animals running all over the class? Well this is quite true as we have begun doing our animal reports. I'm not 'lion'!We have leaped right back into learning here in our classroom.

We began studying Non-fiction Reading and Writing. First, the students brainstormed possible topics they were interested in. After this, I went to the Media Center to retrieve books for them to research with. However, some books were not long enough to gather enough details to write a report. As a result, we discussed other ways besides reading books to learn information on their topic. One way is to visit the Internet.

Here are some websites I have found that your child can go to and print out information for their animal.

Animal Information

Animal Facts

Animals galore

Also, you can always visit other libraries to find more books. The Pablo Creek Library here in Jacksonville is wonderful. It is right down the road from Walmart on Beach Blvd. You can check out the magazines and books they have to choose from for free!

Happy hunting!

Being the best you can be- Doing the extra practice

This week we have been discussing the importance of responsibility and motivation. As the 3rd grading period is almost half way done, students will soon be off to 3rd grade.In each grade they will continued to be challenged and their minds will be stretched as this is when students make the most discoveries about learning AND themselves. We want students to be proud of themselves, set goals, hold high self-worth, and be self-motivated. This was shown as several students have already gone above and beyond to practice skills at home and by using games on the blog. Students were shown another fabulous site to assist with spelling in class.

Spelling City- You can enter your spelling list, take a test, be taught the word/meaning, or play a game. Print off your practice and earn CLASS BUCKS!

http://www.spellingcity.com/

Destination Succes-Reading, Lang. Arts, and Math practice! The password/username is the same as their student log-on in their planner.

https://success.duvalschools.org/lms

I have been so proud of all the improvements I have seen in class with each student. You all have done an amazing job and have grown so much already this year. Bravo and keep reaching for your goals!

Learning Suffixes

This week students will learn about suffixes. They are a small chunk of letters added to the end of a root word that changes the meaning of the word.

Example:

-ly (doing something in a certain way) ie. sadly (doing something in a sad way)
-less (without) ie. hopeless (without hope) endless, homeless, careless, thoughtless
-ness (being) ie. darkness, kindness, greatness, brightness, happiness
- ful (full of) ie. truthful (full of truth) beautiful, peaceful, careful
-er (someone who does) teacher, driver, boxer, singer,
-est (comparing meaning the most) ie. kindest, softest, loudest, quietest,

However, they also found out there are plenty of new rules to learn as well when using them! Rules for: CVC doubling, Silent E, and words ending with 'y'.

1. CVC-Consonant doubling: If you add a suffix that starts with a vowel, and it is a CVC word, double that last consonant. (run+er=runner)
2. Y RULE-Changing y to i:When the suffix starts with a vowel and there is a consonant before the ‘y’, drop the ‘y’ add i (happy+est=happiest, fly+=flier)
- Vowel+y just add the suffix-play+er=player
3. SILENT E- When a word ends in silent e, take out the silent ‘e’ and add the suffix if it starts with a vowel (er, est, ing) ie. make+ ing=making
-If suffix starts with a consonant,(ness, ful, less) just add suffix.
ie. Hope+ful=hopeful

Here are a few websites to practice!
Suffix Fill in
Pick the correct suffix Millionare Game
Pick the correct Suffix
Matching Game

STOP THE CLOCK!

We LOVE playing this game to help with telling time. Students frequently confused the hour and minute hand when telling time. As we learn how to tell time correctly, we have also learned other ways of saying the time. For example, 6:30 can also be said as half past 6. Keep practicing telling time on a daily basis to make sure your skills stay sharp. Visit the sites below to see just how fast you are getting at telling time. :)

Stop the Clock Game

TONS of Time Games

Sim/ple Syllables

This week we have reviewed how to determine how many syllables are in a word. Breaking up words into syllables allows a child to hear the different vowel sounds. A syllable is the beat of a word. Usually, every vowel SOUND will have its own syllable.

One trick to figuring out how many syllables a word has is to put you hand on the bottom of your jaw and say the word. Then, simply count how many times your jaw dropped in the word and that is how many syllables the word has! Or, you can clap out each part!

Example:
pack/ing bun/ny sci/en/tist com/pu/ter

Let's see what you got! Play some games below. :)

Log Splitting Words
Break it up Game
Syllable Factory Game

Poet Alert!

This just in: Spotted in room 202 were fresh new poets who were alive and ready to unleash their creative minds! Today we started reading and writing poetry. Poetry is a wonderful chance for students to play around with words and break all the rules they have learned on how to write ( GULP!). That's right! Complete sentences?? Nope! Periods?? Not so much!

Poetry is all about expressing feelings and thoughts about a topic. Today, they got a chance to write an acrostic poem all about themselves. There were some extremely creative creations. Students really took advantage of the "Be more Descriptive" poster full of synonyms for boring words such as: 'nice, happy, smart.'

After recess the students came back to discover a mystery person hung poems EVERYWHERE in the room! Poems were on shelves, walls, tables, drawers, Mrs. Tsengas, and cubbies! Ok, Mrs. Tsengas didn't have a poem on her, but they were everywhere. Readers were then asked to investigate and notice the features of each poem. We will continue studying poetry the next few weeks. Below are some neat sites to practice poetry. I can't wait to see what wonderful poems will be created next!

Silly Poems
Poetry for Kids
More Great Poems

Season of Giving Project

Our class is embracing the holiday spirit and helping out our community. We have discussed the importance of giving back to others and the impact of doing good deeds. We want the students to realize the powerful impact their actions can have on another person's life.

As the holiday season is nearing, we had a discussion about what we could do to help Jacksonville. After brainstorming many wonderful projects, we took a vote and the Humane Society was selected to help. This shelter relies mainly on donations to help heat, feed, and provide shelter for many kittens and dogs who need a home. Below is a list of items the shelter is currently in need of. If you can, please send in a item for our class basket. On Friday, the 16th, we will be delivering the basket after school. Please join us to see the gratitude and get a few licks for some thankful poochies! Or, perhaps add a new member of your family. Pets make GREAT holiday gift!

Items Needed:

Blankets
A/C window units
Kiddie pools
Puppy Milk Replacement (Esbilac)
Kitten Milk Replacement (KMR) in Powder form
Dog Crates (Medium & Large)
Kuranda Dog Beds (40x25) (Click the link to donate directly from Kuranda)
Cat Carriers (Small & Medium)
Dog Treats (Pupperoni & Beggin Strips)
Cat Treats/ Toys
Stainless Steel Food & Water Bowls (small & large)
Towels
Blankets (no stuffing) (please no sheets or pillows)
Paper Towels
Clorox Bleach
Laundry Detergent
Playtex Rubber Gloves
Tug-a-Jug Interactive Dog Toys
Hard Rubber Dog Toys (Kong)
Walmart gift cards
PetSmart gift cards
Heating Pad (must have washable cover and auto shut-off)

Jacksonville Humane Society

Origami Creations

We have been working on procedural reading and writing in class recently. We have learned through mini-lessons that when you read a procedure, you read it much differently than a fiction or chapter book. We have discussed that when you read a How-To you: read slowly, reread, self-talk, do a step at a time, check pictures, and read a section at a time. We gave this a try in creating a simple origami dog today. The students learned the importance of all of these strategies while they were creating their dog. This activity was a fabulous way for them to understand the importance of reading carefully and following exactly what the directions tell them. Below are a few links if you'd like to create other origami! The children LOVED making their dogs today and this is great practice for their reading skills. Enjoy!

Origami for Kids
Origami with video instructions

Halloween Slideshow

Halloween in 202!

We had a fabulous day in the classroom learning, while still having a bit of fun for Halloween. We read, "Say Boo" a precious story of a young ghost who could not say Boo. The children practiced using vivid vocabulary words to describe his feelings. We no longer say, "sad" or "bad". The character is now frustrated or gloomy. Please encourage your child to use more descriptive traits and feelings at home.

Then, we did some famous Miss Evanko word unscrambles. It was great to see that some of you really had a knack for figuring out the mixed up Halloween words. These can be quite challenging and your wheels were turning! Here are a few for fun. :)

nadyrnocc chitw talochoec tobocer

Finally, it was time for some goodies and crafts. We had a nice little snack with homemade rice crispies. The students created some spooky q-tip skeletons, worked on a word search and did a picture hunt. Below is a slideshow of the exciting day. I hope you all had a safe and wonderful Halloween. Sleep off that sugar!

Contraction Courage!

Have no fear! Contractions are here! We have been practicing how to combine two words to create a smaller word. This is an important skill as many children confuse plurals with contractions. We even learned a catchy song to sing about contractions! Contractions make our lives much easier when we write. Just pick up a book and start reading and you will see just how often you read a contraction. Below are some games and activities for contraction practice. See you next week super heroes!

Contraction matching and fill-in
Write the contraction
Quiz me!

Our Literacy Pumpkin!

As an annual event at Chets Creek, each classroom decides on a pumpkin to decorate based off of a book. Our class chose, "Boom Chica Rock." This story is very similar to Chica Chica Boom Boom but instead of letters, it involves numbers. The students worked very hard on painting, cutting,and creating the pumpkins. Thank you to the three mothers who came in to assist our kids in the process. Also, thank you parents who donated supplies and pumpkins. They turned out FABULOUS!

In an Inference read for lots of clues!

This week we have been discussing inferences. Inferencing is when a reader has to make an educated guess based off the clues in the text and their background knowledge. This is a deeper and more complex reading skill as the answers are not there for us. Readers have to think about their lives and their experiences to help.

story clues+ what we know=INFERENCE

For example, if a character got back their test and sunk deep in their seat and frowned, we would make an inference that they did poorly.

Here are a few sites that explain this skill and allow you to practice. You'd be amazed on how much you infer in your daily lives! Most of us make inferences without even realizing it.

Inference Riddles
What can you Infer?
Story with Inference Questions
Inference About Characters

We've got Worms!!!

No no, don't call the doctor, we are studying dirt and soil in science! Students have been learning about the importance of worms on the Earth. As good scientists practice observing, we have been observing a worms behavior in the habitat we built in class. So far, we have studied their appearance, seen them create burrows in the dirt, nest under the leaves and dig far into the soil. We have used our Science Notebook to record our hypothesis and findings.

Today in class we visited an amazing worm website that taught us more about the worm. Did you know that worms have 5 hearts? Who knew they were so loving! We learned new science vocabulary words and heard an interview from a worm himself! Pretty neat! Take a peek..... Worm Website

Here is another great informative site .. Worm Facts From a Worm

Maybe next time it rains go out searching for this amazing creature and ask your child some facts they have learned. :)

The Power of the Red Pen: Editing-Revising

As my wonderful skilled Writers finish up their narratives, we discussed the power of editing and revising. This step in the Writing Process is so important as they polish off their stories.

During this process, the students were taught basic editing marks. Then, they were reminded of the types of errors to look for: punctuation, spelling, and selecting the most precise word choice. They were also reminded to look for ways to improve the story by adding adjectives and similes. Students were put in pairs to practice fixing a pretend story with many errors! Here are a few samples of the mistakes they were able to find and correct.

They knew the beginning of
sentences and titles start with capital letters, 'i' should ALWAYS be capitalized, sentences don't start with 'and, but, or so', use different transition words, you begin a new paragraph when the setting changes or a new speaker talks, and also added adjectives and similes. What a difference editing and revising makes! Great job Writers! Now, we begin the final step: Publishing our hard work. :)