Happy Pajama Day!

Today the staff and students celebrated Pajama Day! We read and watched Polar Express in our pajamas. This celebration is part of our Reading Incentive program. We are reading our way to Australia this year. This month we stopped at the Kingman Reef. Next month we will be stopping at Kiritmati Island. The kids had a great day today!

Week of December 3rd - 7th

First Grade

Reading and Language Arts:
New words this week include: want, red, ride, white
Review words include: find, here, jump, look, new, eat, please, up, big, this, two, red, play, help, can, blue, came, is, did, make, for,to, me, in, no, yes, am, it, one, have, are, we, and, on, not, I, see, like, on, go, my, the, cat, at. The boys are continuing to read level 3 and 4 readers. This week we read two stories from our reading anthologies: Zack and his friends and Two Best Friends.

Spelling:
The boys did great on their tests this week.
Words for next week include: up, but, fun, run, us, cut, jump, plum

Math:
We started our new unit on geometry this week. We learned about cubes, cylinders, cones, and spheres. Try to find some examples of these shapes at home.

Second Grade

Reading and Language Arts:
This week we were working on writing friendly letters for our Reading/Writing workshop unit. We wrote letters to friends and Santa. The boys worked really hard on their letters and we hope Santa writes back soon.

Spelling:
The boys worked hard on their spelling words this week. Words for next week include: train, tray, mail, play, trail, pay, sail, hay, nail, rain, they, great, stay, day

Math:
We continued to add two digit numbers with and without regrouping. We will also be looking at patterns when we add.

Announcements
Character Counts pillar for November is Caring
Please wear Red on Fridays!
December 14th – Pajama Day

Week of November 26th - 29th

First Grade

Reading and Language Arts:
New words this week include: find, here, jump, look
Review words include: new, eat, please, up, big, this, two, red, play, help, can, blue, came, is, did, make, for,to, me, in, no, yes, am, it, one, have, are, we, and, on, not, I, see, like, on, go, my, the, cat, at. The boys are continuing to read level 3 readers. This week we read three stories from our reading anthologies: Fluff is Missing, Go Away, Otto!, and Helping at Home.


Spelling:
The boys did great on their tests this week.
Words for next week include: get, men, ten, yes, red, pet, tent, bell


Math:
We will be finishing Chapter 4 on addition and subtraction this week. Please continue to help your children practice addition and subtraction at home. Use strategies such as counting dots with touch math, number lines and counting backwards.

Second Grade

Reading and Language Arts:
This week we started our new theme called Around Town: Neighborhood and Community. We will be reading six different stories about various neighborhoods. The first neighborhood we read about was Chinatown. The boys enjoyed learning about it. We will be working with nouns, digraphs and words with double meanings.

Spelling:
The boys worked hard on their spelling words this week. Words for next week include: of, do, to, what, write, myself, name, time, went, been, too, little


Math:
We will learn to estimate sums and decide when to regroup this week. We will use models to add with two digit numbers.

Week of November 12th - 16th

First Grade

Reading and Language Arts:
New words this week include: new, eat, please
Review words include: up, big, this, two, red, play, help, can, blue, came, is, did, make, for,to, me, in, no, yes, am, it, one, have, are, we, and, on, not, I, see, like, on, go, my, the, cat, at. The boys are continuing to read level 3 readers. This week we read three stories from our reading anthologies: The Trip, At The Aquarium, Why The Sun and Moon Live In The Sky.

Spelling:
The boys did great on their tests this week. We will not having spelling next week due to Thanksgiving. Words for the last week of November include: on, box, not, hot, got, top

Math:
We are still working on addition and subtraction. The children have also been working with touch math.

Second Grade

Reading and Language Arts:
This week we read two stories Owls and Owl Moon. We talked about owls and where they live. We also discussed how they are alike and different. We have completed our Nature Walk theme. The boys really enjoyed the stories we read together.

Spelling:

The boys worked hard on their review words this week. We will not have a spelling test next week due to Thanksgiving.

Math:
This week we worked on making change. Please have your child work on counting change at home. We will be finishing up our chapter on money next week.

Week of November 5th - 9th

First Grade

Reading: New words this week include: up, big, this. Review words include: two, red, play, help, can, blue, came, is, did, make, for,to, me, in, no, yes, am, it, one, have, are, we, and, on, not, I, see, like, on, go, my, the, cat, at. The boys are continuing to read level 2 readers. We will be moving on to level 3 soon. Next week we will be reading three stories: The Trip, At the Aquarium, and Why The Sun And The Moon Live In the Sky.

Spelling: Once again the boys did great on their spelling tests! Words next week include: trip, grab, crab, trap, drip, grin

Math: This week we worked on the basic fact strategies including: counting on, doubles, near doubles and counting back.

Second Grade

Reading: This week we read another nature story called Around the Pond. Vocabulary words included: bank, crater, edge, moss, path and shallow. We also worked with consonant clusters and words that have double consonants. Next week we will be reading two stories about Owls.

Math: We continued to work with money. We compared sets of coins and showed amounts equivalent to a half a dollar. We will also explore the value of a dollar and learn to show it in many different ways.

Spelling: Next week will be a review week for spelling. Words include: these, use, swim, glad, club, all, bone, cute, next, brave, add, mess, egg, hope, trip, stone, lost, off, grass, hill

Announcements
Character Counts pillar for November is Caring
Please wear Red on Fridays!

Happy Halloween!

Mrs. Tran's Class News
Week of October 29 – November 2nd

First Grade

Reading: New words this week include: two, red, play. Review words include: help, can, blue, came, is, did, make, for,to, me, in, no, yes, am, it, one, have, are, we, and, on, not, I, see, like, on, go, my, the, cat, at. The boys are continuing to read level 2 readers. Next week we will be reading four stories: Pearl's First Prize Plant, Ham and Eggs, Miss Jill's Ice Cream Shop and Making Ice Cream.

Spelling: The boys worked really hard on their spelling words this week! Words next week include: big, in, did, it, him, sit

Math: This week we continued to work on different ways to subtract. We will also start working on basic fact strategies such as: counting on, doubles, near doubles and counting back.

Second Grade

Reading: We had a short week in Reading due to Halloween parties and the field trip to the Shedd Aquarium. In the two days we were together we focused on Fables. We learned the characteristics of a fable and shared several favorites. Next week we will be reading another nature story called, Around the Pond.

Math: The boys did very well on their Chapter 3 math test. We started Chapter 4 on Wednesday. We are now working with money. This week we started with exploring the value of coins and counting change with pennies, nickels and dimes.

Spelling: Word for next week include: bell, off, all, mess, add, hill, well, egg, will, grass, shell, kiss, across, skill

Announcements
Tuesday, November 6th - 1st grade trip to Robert Crown Center
Friday, November 9th – Pirate Day at Ide
Character Counts pillar for November is Caring
Please wear Red on Fridays!

Welcome Lizzy and Cutie Pie

We have two new additions to our classroom. Lizzy and Cutie Pie are our new classroom pets. They are leopard geckos. The boys have been learning a lot about them. We even got to watch them eat lunch today.

2nd grade spelling words for next week include: bone, robe, use, these, rope, note, cute, close, hope, those, one, goes, home, nose, drove, mule

Have a great weekend!

Thank You Darien Rotary Club!

Our class has wonderful news! Last year I applied for a Grant-in-aid from the Darien Rotary Club and I recently found out that we won. We have won $400 for our classroom. I will be purchasing new books for our bookshelf, teacher guides, prizes for the treasure chest, games and a classroom pet. The boys are very excited about the news. Make sure to look on my blog next week and I will post pictures of our new pet.

2nd grade spelling words include: pal, skip, dime, just, tape, bump, wipe, yet, wide, pile, gave, like, huge

Fall Is Here

The boys have been making excellent progress! The first graders have been working on

their sight words. So far we have learned: we, go, my, the, and, at, cat, on, not, I, see, like, am. Keep working on these words at home!

Spelling words next week for 2nd graders include: am, hide, made, his, nut, dig, job, size, fox, sat, fun, late, hug, wet, mop, went, leg, bite, ran, ate

Thank you for the contributions to my classroom to purchase books. I was able to buy five new books for my classroom. The boys were very excited about the new additions to our boo

kshelf.

Our Third Week

We had another busy but fun week together. I enjoyed seeing many of you at Curriculum Night. Next week the children are looking forward to the Magazine Drive Assembly and the Book Fair held on Wednesday the 19th.
Spelling words for 2nd graders include: fox, wet, nut, job, leg, fun, went, mop, hug, from, any, of, red, up. I am so proud of how hard all of my students have been working. They have been doing very well.

Our Second Week

Spelling words for 2nd graders include:

the, will, it, have, as, my, was, you, they, said, off, any

Some fun ways to study at home include:

Using alphabet cereal

Writing letters in sand, sugar, or shaving cream

Use pipe cleaners to make letters

Paint, markers, chalk or crayons

Spell words on their backs and see if they can guess the word

Magnetic letters on the fridge

I will be attending the Curriculum Night for 2nd graders on Wednesday the 12th. Feel free to stop by and find me if you have any questions.

Our First Week

My students had a great first week! I am so happy to be working with them again this year. The second grade students will have their first spelling test next Friday. Their spelling words are: bag, win, is, am, his, has, ran, if, dig, sat, was, I, big, an.
Have a wonderful holiday weekend!

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

Our new playground is officially open! Here are a few pictures from our ribbon cutting ceremony. The kids are very happy to have such a wonderful playground to enjoy.

Welcome Back

Welcome to the first and second grade resource room. I am very excited to be back at Elizabeth Ide. This will be a great year!