Mrs. Ballnik's Second Grade

Classroom News from Mrs. Ballnik’s Class My email is ballnic@dearbornschools.org
Friday, May 4, 2018
Important Days to Remember
Gym – Tuesday-Please remember to wear tennis shoes and bendable clothes (not jeans or slip on shoes).
FRIDAY SPELLING TESTS
Here are the words for the next spelling test. The spelling pattern will be words with contractions.
The spelling words are;didn’t, they’ve, she’ll, he’s, wouldn’t, can’t, we’ve, we’ll, she’s, couldn’t.
The Dolch words; done, pick, kind, carry, own.
Every Friday there will be a spelling test. Please practice every day with your child so that they will do well on the Friday Spelling test. Corrected tests are sent home on Monday for you to sign and send back to show me that you know the score.
We started to put the 16th word on the spelling test to challenge the students that get the spelling test correct every week. It is just for fun and no one is required to study these extra credit words. They come home in a worksheet each week, that we go over. They are not meant to be second grade level words and we would usually just learn to read them and understand them..
MATH MATH MATH MATH MATH
Can your child add dollars, quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies together? Please make sure that they are not mixing up the nickel and the quarter. We will have a test on money by the end of next week or the beginning of the week after. There will also be place value on the money test.
Science
We are planting and investigating seeds.
We are learning about live science (plants and animals) until the end of the year. Please go on a seed walk and see if you can send in different seeds..
Social Studies- .
Our new social studies unit is History. We discuss what it was like in the past and compare it to the present. Timelines are a way to study the past.
Reading- Read, Read, Read!
Reading Level for second grade is 24 for the third card marking and 28 for the last card marking. Our class is really gaining levels and I am proud of them. If your child is not at grade level, it is really important to stress more reading practice (be sure to ask them to retell stories and answer questions) for these last 2 months. It will help your child enter third grade at grade level or above. It will help them score higher on the NWEA computer tests in May. Of course, it will make their lives enriched and successful!
BOOK BAGS! Please observe how your child does with these books. Every book at level 24 for March (the level for second grade at this time) for example, may not be read easily depending on the words. Please ask your child to write a list of the words that they do not know, so you can work on them.
Please keep them in the bag and count the books, so they do not get lost. I will trade out the books every other week or so. They can also ask me anytime for new books. Students should reread books until they are smooth and fluent when reading. Students record on their log when they read
Have a great weekend with your wonderful child and read, read, read!

Cheryl Ballnik