Mrs. Spencer's Classroom Blog

Our spelling pattern is _eer, _ere, _ear

Pattern words – near, fear, steer, deer, where, there, gear, rear, peer, cheer 

Sight words – read, better, little, give, gave

Bonus words – observation, describing, comparing, predicting, identifying 

We will be taking the NWEA reading and math test this week. The reading test is Tuesday and the math test is Thursday. Please see that your child gets enough rest and eats a good breakfast for test days. Scores will be sent home when available.

Thank you for your support!

Last week, we did some research with a partner on our school Chromebooks. We were working to find information about animals for our animal reports. We used a safe search engine called Kiddle where we could “safely” search for information.

This week we have been learning how to measure area. We had fun using Cheese-its to accomplish this task.

Weekly Spelling Words

Pattern – __are, __air

stare, share, dare, care, rare, bare, chair, pair, fair, hair

Other – brother, sister, mother, father, family

Bonus – income, opportunity cost, economics, resources, services

We are continuing our new units of  plants in Science, economics in Social Studies, and measurement and are in Math.

Please remind your child to read  and to  practice their spelling words everyday.

Field trip notes are coming home today for the Jiffy Mix Factory on Monday, May 2. The cost is $5.00 to cover the bus. If you would like to chaperon, you need to have a volunteer form on file in the office.

We are in the home stretch with  new units in science and social studies,  NWEA in a couple of weeks, and Spring fairy tale plays.

We are starting our plant unit in science. We will study the parts of the plants, the needs of plants, and plan some experiments. It should be fun!

It is all about economics in social studies. Our field trip in May to the Jiffy Mix factory should tie in nicely to this unit.

This weeks spelling words have endings of ge, dge, rge, nge, and lge.

Pattern words – cage, rage, indulge, bulge, range, hinge, pledge, bridge, large, charge

Sight words – was, with, sitting, went, running

Bonus words – comprehension, accuracy, fluency, vocabulary, information

We had a special treat for second grade only. We were visited by a flute player from the Dearborn Symphony. He played the flute while one of our district music teachers read the story The Flute Player. It was a wonderful experience for the children!

The Peter Cotton Tail play at the Marquis Theater was a lot of fun! It was great to see a live performance with singing and dancing! Here are a couple of pictures of our exciting trip.

When we returned to school after the play we had a talent show. The kids had a good time singing with their friends on our stage.

I am looking forward to a very productive spring!

Before I share the exciting stuff, I will share this week’s spelling words with hard and soft c and g.

Pattern – cent, nice, center, city, cave, camp, gym, page, girl, wagon

Since we have completed the sight word list, I am giving  words that are misspelled in the children’s writing   –  person, chair, able, food, quiet.

We had a Reading Assembly on Thursday with our favorite magician Mr. Doug. Here is a picture of our own Kamel helping Mr. Doug with a trick.

The Dearborn Historical Museum was an exciting trip. We spent some time in a one room school house and did reading lessons from a McGuffey Reader. We also used a slate and chalk for a math and spelling lesson. We learned about how the pioneers came to our area by boat through the Erie Canal or by walking.

We then split up into three groups. One group went to the Gardner House, the oldest house in Dearborn,  to learn about how people lived in the past.

Another group went into the “shed” to plant some seeds with Mr. Mo. The children learned about how the Native Americans would plant the “three sisters” , corn, pumpkins, and beans. The children had the opportunity to choose which seed they wanted to plant.

The third activity was many of the student’s favorite activity. They were able to churn butter with a very old butter churn. Then they were able to taste the butter on a cracker. Delicious!

We had a terrific time at the Dearborn Historical Museum!

Here are two of our students helping to keep our school clean during recess time which is important since we are a Green School.

Thanks kids!

We have a short week this week. There is no school on Friday which is the start of our spring break. We will be back to school on Monday, April 4th.  Happy Spring!

We are looking forward to our field trip to the Dearborn Historical Museum on Friday morning. We will be gone from 9:00 until 11:30. Students will eat lunch at school at the regular time. However, we are used to having a snack at 10:00 and we won’t have that on Friday. Please remind your child to eat a good breakfast so they won’t be hungry at the museum.

Our next field trip is to the Marqui Theater in Northville to see the play Peter Cottontail on Thursday, March 24. We will leave school around 9:30 and return to eat lunch at our regular time. I will be able to take only 5 chaperons on this trip. Thank you to Dr. Moughni for paying for our tickets. The kids will really enjoy seeing this live performance.

Our last field trip will be in May to the Jiffy Mix Factory in Chelsea. This is an all day trip and will tie in nicely with our next social studies unit.

Weekly Spelling Words kn, wr, mb, bt, gn

Pattern – knee, knot, gnaw, gnat, write, wrap, climb, thumb, doubt, debt

Sight words – better, take, hold, show, small

Bonus – fractions, partition, equal, halves, fourths

A word about spelling – if I notice many students spelling words wrong in their writing, I may put the word on the spelling list again.

LATE START  Wednesday, March 16. School will begin at 9:40.

We will enjoy a Reading Assembly on Thursday morning as part of March is Reading Month.

Friday morning  is our field trip to the Dearborn Historical Museum. Thank you to those parents who volunteered to go with us. A few parents volunteer forms are expired and a new one will need to be filled out. You will not be able to go with us on this trip if your form is out of date. We have two more field trips coming up soon. I will send a note to the parents who are able to attend. Thanks again.

2ND GRADE MUSIC CONCERT – FRIDAY , MARCH 18TH at 3:00. Please allow your child to wear their pajamas or comfortable clothing (like they wear to gym) to school on Friday for the concert. It is OK for the children to wear their pajamas on the field trip. The children have been practicing and sound wonderful! Hope to see you there!

The end of the 3rd quarter is here already. Report cards will come home next week!

We will attend the school book fair on Tuesday, March 8 after lunch.

Please return the Dearborn HIstorical Museum field trip permission slip and $5.00 as soon as possible. Thank you!

Weekly Spelling List  – the schwa a sound

ago, alone, agree, away, alike, above, along, awake, asleep, afraid

Frequently misspelled words are on our list this week.     team, cousin, store, friend, really

Bonus words – favorite, enough, thought, though, everybody

We will have our social studies test, How do communities change?,  on Friday afternoon. Check your child’s folder for a study guide. Please read through and discuss the guide with your child. You can also share  the changes in the Dearborn community over the years. An example would be how the Dearborn City Hall use to be on Michigan Avenue across from the Arab American Museum. Now it is located on Michigan Avenue not far from the police station.

In math, we have been practicing counting change.  Please allow your child to count change at home to strengthen their skills. Students also need to continue to practice their number patterns, counting by 5’s, 10’s, and 100’s from any number to 1,000.

If your child cannot tie their shoes, please give them some practice time at home. This skill should be mastered by the end of second grade.

March is READING Month – we are having a reading contest on myon.com. The class that reads the most will get a pizza party. KEEP READING!!

Parent Meeting with Dr. Moughni – Monday, February 29, 9:00. 

Weekly spelling pattern –   oi and oy

Pattern words – oil, hoist, joy, loyal, join

Sight words – work, upon, our, black, pick

Bonus words – earthquake, erosion, landslide, downhill, observations

We have a busy week ahead!

We had to reschedule our WIDA writing test because of the snow day so it will be on Thursday, March 3.

Our “READING IS OUT OF THIS WORLD” Literacy Night  is this Thursday, March 3 from 5:00 – 6:30.

All the planets are aligned for an exciting evening! We will have many space themed  literacy activities for our students to enjoy! Stop by our classroom and join us for some spacey Reader’s Theater.

We hope you can make it!

The Henry Ford food drive for families in need will begin Monday, February 29 and will end on Friday, March 18th. If possible, please send in a canned or boxed food to help families in our community.

Thank you for your continued  support!