Follow the Yellow Brick Road!!!!

Dear Second Grade Parents,

Well, tomorrow is the BIG day!  I hope you are able to join us tomorrow at 10:30 in the second grade classroom for our class production of The Wizard of Oz.  The class has been hard at work rehearsing their lines, their cues and their sound effects.  It is really promising to be the most enjoyable 20 minutes you will have in a long time.  We can hardly wait for you to see it.

Please make sure your student has all of their costume requirements with them if they are not already wearing them when they come to school.   We don't want to have any last minute wardrobe mishaps.  Thank you!!

Please be sure to check back on Tuesday for an update on this week's events.

I hope to see you tomorrow!!!!!  Take care and God bless.

Sincerely,
Ms. Eileen Griffin
Your Second Grade Teacher

Dear Second Grade Parents,


It looks like it will be another busy week of activities in second grade as we wrap up the final grading period for the year.  Yikes!  Where has the time gone… I cannot believe we are already in the month of June… Time flies when you are having fun and thanks to you and your children, I have had a fantastic time this year.  I have truly enjoyed being your second grade teacher.  I am going to miss all of you very much!!!  But, enough of that!  We still have a week and a half together and I intend to make that time count.

First off, the second graders are busy getting ready to perform their reader's theater version of ,The Wizard of Oz and it is coming together quite well.  I believe you will enjoy it.  The parent performance will be next Monday, June 10th at 10:30 A.M.  It runs approximately 20 minutes,  give or take a few minutes.  I hope you are all able to join us in the second grade classroom for this fun and lively performance.  I promise, you will not be disappointed.

Here is this week's Curriculum Update.

Religion:  Finish Chapter 21; Complete study guide on Monday and review Tues.-Thurs. for Friday's test

Reading:  Continue reading and discussing the junior novel of The Wizard of Oz; Complete comprehension exercises and activities

Phonics:  French endings -ice, -ile, -ine; The Rule v/v; Assessment on Wednesday; Prefixes bi-, mis-, mono-, pent-, quad-, re-, tri-; Spelling test on Friday

Math:  Labeling and Making an Array; Writing Number Sentences for Arrays; Telling and Showing Time to the Quarter Hour; Fact quiz on Thursday; Assessment on Friday

Social Studies:  Finish unit on The Civil War; Begin unit on Immigration and Citizenship

Science:  Finish unit on Nutrition

Music:  Continue to rehearse for Wizard of Oz Reader's Theater


I hope all of you have a fantastic week and enjoy the sunshine this week brings us.  Take care and God bless!

Sincerely,
Ms. Eileen Griffin
Your Second Grade Teacher

Curriculum Update

Dear Second Grade Parents,


Here is this week's Curriculum Update.  I hope all of you enjoyed your Memorial Day festivities!  Have a fantastic week.

Religion:  Begin Chapter 9:  The Liturgy of the Eucharist; Attending mass and Holy Days of Obligation

Reading:  Continue reading a junior novelization of "The Wizard of Oz".  Discuss elements of the story and complete comprehension activities

Phonics:  Prefixes over-, pre-, under-, dis-, im-, in-, ir-, ur-; French endings -ice, -ile, -ine;  No spelling test this week!

Math:  Identifying intersecting lines and perpendicular lines;  Subtracting 3-digit numbers and money amounts; Dividing a set of objects into equal groups; Multiplying 3 facts; Fact quiz Thursday; Assessment of mixed concepts on Friday

Social Studies:  Continue unit on The Civil War:  The early stages of the war, Antietam and the Emancipation Proclamation

Science:  Continue unit on nutrition:  Healthy eating habits during breakfast, lunch and dinner

Music/Art:  Continue preparing for readers' theater production of "The Wizard of Oz"

Take care and God bless!

Sincerely,
Ms. Eileen Griffin
Your Second Grade Teacher

Dear Second Grade Parents,


I hope you have had a beautiful weekend and have had the opportunity to enjoy this amazing weather.  Happy Mother's Day to all of you moms.  Thank you for all you do for your kiddos and for me.

I am going to make this post a short one.  Here is this week's Curriculum Update:

Religion:  Finish Chapter 18- Complete study guide on Monday and review the Parts of the Mass throughout the week; Chapter 18 Quiz on Friday

Reading/Literature:  Read excerpts from Charlotte's Web;  Read and discuss non-fiction article about the Burmese Python;  Complete comprehension exercises

Phonics:  The Rule v/ccv; Assessment on Tuesday; The Dropping Rule; Long Multi-Syllable Words; Final Stable Syllable -ture;  Sight Words part 10

Math:  Fact Assessment on Monday; Fact Lesson: Multiplying by 5; Assessment on Tuesday;  Representing and writing mixed numbers; Creating and reading a bar graph

Social Studies:  Finish unit on Americans Moving West; Begin unit on The Civil War

Science:  Continue unit on Nutrition

Art:  Lines in motion

I want to thank all of you for making last week a great Teacher Appreciation Week.  The cards and treats were just overwhelming.  I am truly blessed to be doing what I love and having a career that makes me smile each and every day.  Thank you for making me smile and for sharing your child with me and for entrusting me with their Catholic education.  I am honored.

Thank you also to Mrs. McDonough for the yummy cupcakes treats on Friday.  It was a fabulous afternoon surprise for the whole class!  Thank you!

Have a fantastic week.  Take care and God bless.

Sincerely,
Ms. Eileen Griffin
Your Blessed Second Grade Teacher

We All Scream For Ice Cream!!!

Dear Second Grade Parents,

I must start this week's blog post with a BIG thank you to Mrs. Lisa Martin.  Last Friday she helped to make one of my crazy ideas a reality.  I have always wanted to try making ice cream in a ziplock bag as an edible science activity with one of my classes and gracious mom that she is, Mrs. Martin jumped in and led the ice cream brigade.  Thank you Mrs. Martin!!!  It was a terrific activity and I know the class learned so much while they enjoyed eating the ice cream.  

Just a few simple ingredients…

A little shaking…

And voila… You have yummy, home-made vanilla ice cream!

I am sure many of you heard all about this fun activity and were even encouraged to try doing this at home.  I will be sure to send home the instructions this week.  It would be a great family activity to keep you and the kids busy throughout the summer.

Here is this week's Curriculum Update:

Religion:  Chapter 17 Quiz on Monday (I switched it to make certain everyone had ample study time after last week's two-day Shakespeare's Festival); Begin chapter 18

Reading/Literature:  Read and discuss Grand Tour Storybook 12; Continue Tall Tales Unit: Read and discuss the tales of John Henry and Paul Bunyan.  Due to last week's daytime performances of  Shakespeare's Festival, poor John Henry was pushed back a week.

Math:  Identifying activities that take 1 hour, 1 minute and 1 second to complete; Counting pennies, nickels,dimes, and quarters; Identifying parallel line segments; Adding 3-digit numbers and money amounts;  Review of facts throughout the week; Fact quiz on Friday

Phonics:  Digraphs ei and ie;  Quadrigraph eigh; The Rule v/ccv; Assessment of Mixed concepts on Thursday; Spelling test Friday

Social Studies:  Continue unit on Americans Settling the West- specifically the Trail of Tears

Science:  Continue unit on Nutrition in class and during computer time

Music:  Continue study of musicals- specifically "The Wizard of Oz"

I hope all of you have a fantastic week!  Stay dry and safe as I understand we are in for a few rainy days.  Take care and God bless!

Sincerely,

Ms. Eileen Griffin

Your Second Grade Teacher  

Dear Second Grade Parents,

It was great to see so many of you at this year's SHA Art Show.  I am so pleased and impressed by the artistic ability of our class.  I wish I had half of their artistic talent.  Here is the quick highlight of the second grade display.

The Birds are part of the Core Knowledge Second Grade Curriculum.  They cover the standard of animals in nature.  I think the class did an amazing job.

The Robots are a study of lines and lines in motion, another Core Knowledge Curriculum Standard for Second Grade.

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Of course, I had to put these creations in the show because they just turned out so well.  This assignment was created using watercolors and oil pastels.  They are titled, The Princess, or The Prince and the Pea.

Thank you to all the parents who helped set up for the Art Show.  You truly helped to make it a success!

This week will be another busy week of learning.  Please check the Curriculum Update below.

Religion:  Finish Chapter 17: Welcoming Jesus to the Table;  Chapter 17 Quiz on Friday

*Reading/Literature:  Finish James and the Giant Peach read aloud; Begin reading aloud excerpts from Charlotte's Web;  Read Tour Storybook 13 together and complete comprehension exercises.

Phonics: Final Stable Syllables -cious, tious; sight words part 9; Assessment of mixed concepts on Wednesday; Final Stable Syllables the begin with ci, si, ti; Digraphs ei and ie

Math: Multiplying 1 & 100; Finding Perimeter; Fact Assessment Thursday; Assessment of Mixed Concepts on Friday

**Social Studies:  Continue unit of Americas Settling the West- specifically the California Gold Rush and The Pony Express; Tall Tales- Pecos Bill and John Henry

**Science:  Finish unit on insects- specifically helpful and harmful insects; Begin unit on nutrition

**Art:  Continue study of lines in motion- specifically in the ocean

**Music:  Continue to study the words and music of "The Wizard of Oz"

I hope everyone has a fantastic week.  Take care and God bless!

Sincerely,

Ms. Eileen Griffin

Your Second Grade Teacher

Dear Second Grade Parents,

This week is going to be another busy week as the class and I prepare to host this coming Sunday's All School Family Mass at Sacred Heart Church.  I know the students will do an excellent job.  Thank you for taking the time to practice the readings with your child this weekend.  It is truly appreciated.

Although the mass is at 11:00, please make certain your child is at the church by 10:45 to ensure they are seated in the correct place.  Thank you!

In other news, look below to see this week's Curriculum Update.

Religion:  Finish Chapter 16; Create chapter study guide; practice for Sunday mass; Chapter 16 quiz on Friday!

Reading:  Continue read-aloud novel, James and the Giant Peach;  Continue reading groups story, It's All Greek to Me; Discuss and complete comprehension exercises for both novels

Phonics:  Assessment of mixed concepts on Monday; Digraph "ey"; Suffix -es; Digraph "ue";
Suffix -ous; Spelling test on Friday!

Math:  Assessment of mixed concepts on Monday; Finding 1/2 of a set with an even number of objects;  Finding 1/2 of a set with an odd number of objects; Estimating a sum; Measuring using inches and feet.

Social Studies:  Finish Greek Myths

Science:  Continue insects unit with a few Earth Day activities to be included

Music:  Finish "Sound of Music" and possibly begin the music of "The Wizard of Oz"

As you can see, the second graders are working hard to finish the year on a high note.  I am so very proud of them and all they have accomplished over the last few months.  Go Second Graders!!!

Please be sure to return signed report cards to me by this Wednesday!!

Have a marvelous week!  Take care and God bless.

Sincerely,
Ms. Eileen Griffin
Your Proud Second Grade Teacher