Ms. Belfi Grade 2
Welcome February!
This month the children will learn about the history of Groundhog
Day along with the history of our countries two great presidents,
Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. Last month we read two
biographies about Martin Luther King Jr. and Fredrick Douglas.
Ask your child what we learned about these two great men.
If you'd like to come into the room to be a part of our
"Spotlight On" program which involves completing a craft, reading
a book, or talking about your career please let me know by
writing a note in your child's assignment book. I will then send
home a form for you to fill out. Try to let me know a week or two
in advance.
Our Book in the Bag program will continue during the month of
January. The students will get a new book each week. Please
follow the directions inside of the zip locked bag for activities
to be followed Tuesday through Friday. The questionnaire sheets
can be put directly back into the zip locked bag with the book at
the end of each week. Please do not return the book the very next
day.
In reading, we've been working on comprehension strategies and
techniques, like mental imaging and making connections with the
text, in order to help improve the children's abilities to recall
details and to better understand the overall meaning or messages
being conveyed in various stories. Just before Christmas the
students completed Book 1 - Unit 2 Magazine Test. We are
currently working on the beginning of Book 1 - Unit 3. We will be
working on the following skills: fantasy and reality, cause and
effect, context clues, synonyms, antonyms, using the dictionary,
and reading the encyclopedia. We will also continue to work on
summarizing, main idea/details, and making inferences.
Please remember to read with your child at home whenever
possible. If your child is demonstrating difficulty with specific
reading skills, you may wish to use the techniques and strategies
described in the pamphlets that I gave to you on "Back to School
Night". Any help you can give at home will make a difference!!
New spelling lists come home every Monday and tests are usually
given every Friday. Please be sure to identify the vowel pattern
for that week. I usually sort each word into a particular group
depending upon that word's vowel pattern. Studying the words this
way should help the students to be more successful on their
weekly tests. Please help your child study on a daily basis.
In grammar we will continue to review writing complete sentences,
as well as, identifying differences between statements, commands,
questions, and exclamations. The children will continue to
practice applying correct capitalization and punctuation in their
daily writing assignments. Please continue to reinforce these
skills at home, especially when the children are writing weekly
spelling sentences. We are now currently working on action verbs,
present-tense verbs, past tense verbs, the verb have, and
sentence combining. The children have completed a persuasive
writing piece. Our next writing piece will involve explanatory
writing. The children will write about how to do or make
something that interests them.
In math we are working on numbers and number patterns up to
1,000. The children also receive daily review sheets on skills
we've previously learned for practice and to help with the
retention of these skills. Next we will be adding and subtracting
three digit numbers with and without regrouping. We will also
continue working on learning and memorizing our basic
addition/subtraction facts through games, worksheets, web sites,
and daily lessons. Please help assist your child in memorizing
his/her facts this year by spending some time with them at home.
It does make a difference!!
Parents, please continue to check and sign your child's
assignment book Mon. through Thur. Graded papers are sent home
weekly. Please look them over and review any skills that you
might notice your child is having difficulty with. Also, continue
to read nightly, use math flash cards along with the homework,
and study daily for spelling tests. You may also use the
educational websites listed at the bottom of this page.
Congratulations to, Tori, our Citizen of the Month for
January!
If you need to contact me you may use your child's assignment
book, call the main office, write notes, or use e-mail. I will
get back to you ASAP.
Specials are scheduled on the following days:
Day 1 - Library
Day 2 - Art
Day 3 - Spanish
Day 4 - Gym
Day 5 - Music
February 2 Ground Hog's Day February 10 Report Cards February 13 100th Day February 14 Valentine's Day February 15 Evening Conferences at Request February 16-20 School Closed-President's Day Other Places to go:
