Math Groups

Good evening,

If you are interested in helping with math groups, please click here to sign up!

Thanks! :)

Week 4!

Good evening,

I'm sitting here listening to the rain...what a lovely sound! I hope you all are safely inside your homes right now!

We had fun yesterday -- We played place value "scoot" in math, had our first estimation jar winner (Congrats, Olivia!), played dodge-ball in P.E., and water painted scenes from Charlotte's Web. A special thanks to Hadi and his mom for giving us special treats too! It was a day packed full of fun activities!

We have lots coming up this next week. Special note: There will be Galileo testing on Wednesday and Thursday after lunch, so make sure to pack a hearty lunch and get a good night's sleep the night before! We also have our first school-wide assembly on Friday morning.

Literature: We are continuing Charlotte's Web - we will be drawing cartoons of the exploding egg scene from chapter 10, creating a web of friendship, and coming up with virtuous character spider maps. We will also have our first Flashlight Friday on Friday!! Feel free to send in a flashlight and pillow with your child on Friday. We will be reading independently "in the dark". :)

Reading homework: I will be sending home leveled readers this week! Please have your child fill out one page of their reading log each night and turn the whole log in on Friday with their leveled reader. We will always pass out new books on Monday (or whenever we come back from a weekend if there is a holiday).

Spelling: Spelling Test on Friday! Words:
1. move     11. clean        21. these
2. delay     12. spell         22. those
3. pound    13. poor         23. club
4. behind   14. finish       24. seen
5. around   15. hurt         25. see
6. burn       16. maybe     26. felt
7. camp      17. across     27. full
8. bear        18. tonight    28. fail
9. bare        19. tenth       29. setting
10. clear     20. sir           30. set

Writing: narration, copy work, and dictation exercises from the story "Doctor Doolittle"

Grammar: focus - capitalization

Math: This week we will be working with addition and subtraction of one digit and two digit numbers with no renaming. We are working on mental math (no using fingers!). On Wednesday we will do a practice run of math centers. We will go over how math centers work, basic rules, etc. Math centers will begin on September 9th. I'll be creating a Sign-up Genius and sending it out this week! Math tutoring will begin this week and is by invite only. If you have not heard from me and feel that your child needs math tutoring, please email me and we can chat. :)

History: We are continuing Geography of the Americas but heading south - to South America!

Science: Seasons - Spring and Summer

Poem: We will be reciting Bed in Summer this week! (I will also be sending home the new poem to start looking at: Something Told the Wild Geese by Rachel Lyman Field - to be recited the week of Sept. 28th)

Have a wonderful rest of your weekend! :)

Coffee Shop Conversations

If you would like to join Mr. Gillingham for coffee and conversation about Archway Arete, I invite you to sign up here. :) It will take place Sept. 17th at 8 am. Space is limited so sign up soon!

Week 3

Good evening!

Here's what's happening this week:

Literature: We're continuing Charlotte's Web and working in our literature packet.
Spalding: OPR (oral phonogram review) and WPR (written phonogram review) daily - we're practicing phonograms 37-51 this week. Spelling Test on Friday! 
New words:
1. first          12. wife         21. better
2. sent          13. state         22. water
3. cent          14. July         23. round
4. mile          15. head        24. cost
5. seem         16. story       25. price
6. even          17. open       26. become
7. without     18. short       27. class
8. afternoon   19. lady       28. horse
9. Friday       20. reach      29. care
10. hour                             30. try
11. our

Writing: narration, copy work, and dictation exercises
Grammar: analogies and vocabulary work in our journals
Idiom of the Week: "Back to the drawing board" - When a plan doesn't work out as you thought it would, you need to start over from the beginning.
Poem: Bed in Summer (Stevenson)- continued - work on stanza 3!
Math: Review unit 1- Unit 1 Cumulative Test on Wednesday! Begin next unit - part/whole addition and subtraction
History: We are starting our Geography of the Americas unit!
Science: Seasons continued - this week: Fall/Autumn :)

Quick note: DIBELS testing will occur this week. After this I will have a good indicator of reading levels. We will send home leveled readers next week!

Dear Archway Families,

Click here to read the exciting opportunity that has brought us one step closer to expanding our playground and building an outdoor classroom! We hope you will accept this challenge. Thank you for your contributions toward making our campus a beautiful place for learning and playing.

Appreciatively,

The Archway Arete Team

Week 2

Good afternoon!

Here's what's on the agenda for this week:

Literature: We are continuing Charlotte's Web. We will introduce new vocabulary on Monday and then continue reading chapters 4-6 Tuesday-Thursday. Reading homework is still to read for 20 minutes each night! I will be sending home leveled readers in another week. For now, read something fun at home!

Spalding: We will begin Spelling words this week! If not do not have your pink Spalding book at school yet, please bring it in tomorrow!! (The school is also selling them in the front office until they run out!) We will introduce 10 words each day (Monday-Wednesday), and then practice all 30 of them on Thursday. These will be tested on Friday. I also like to give bonus words that are related to what we are studying in history or science. Another component of my spelling tests is a dictation part, where I will give 1 or 2 sentences using several of the spelling words from the week. For this first week, I will only do 1 sentence, but they need to include all of the components of a sentence: capitalization, proper spacing, and punctuation!

Words for the week:
1. became            11. glass              21. would    (hint: "oh you lucky duck" for order)
2. brother             12. party              22. could
3. rain                  13. upon              23. should
4. keep                 14. two                24. any
5. start                  15. twin               25. many
6. mail                  16. twice             26. city
7. male                 17. twelve           27. only
8. female              18. twenty           28. where
9. eye                    19. between        29. week
10. I                      20. they               30. weak

WWE (Writing With Ease): narration exercises, copy work, and dictation

Grammar: We will begin a new curriculum, Shurley English, this week! We will be learning about what makes up a good sentence and learning the differences between antonyms and synonyms.

Touch Pebbles: Our first experience with Touch Pebbles was a good one! On Friday we sat in a circle and learned how a Socratic seminar works. We set up some ground rules for running the discussion (ie. not interrupting), and it went pretty well! Our next Touch Pebbles text is called "The Judge," a tale from West Africa.

Idiom of the Week: "Don't judge a book by its cover!" (continued)

Poem: Bed in Summer (continued - this week: memorize stanza 2)

Math: We are working on place value with hundreds and comparing numbers within 1000. We will be reviewing the terms "greater than" and "less than". We have a little Math Test on Tuesday! The "Test 1B" will be sent home as homework on Monday as practice and to study.

History: We will finish up our continent/ocean posters from Friday. Then we will discuss the differences between maps and globes and talk about when one might be more useful than another. We will also learn about landforms and how they are represented on maps!

Science: We are beginning a unit on seasons!

NOTE: We have CURRICULUM NIGHT this week! This will be an opportunity to learn more about our curriculum we have in place (Shurley Grammar, Bauer's Writing With Ease, Core Knowledge, Spalding, Singapore, etc.). For K-2, it will take place this Thursday, August 20th. However, it is a parents only event. Below is the schedule:

Curriculum Night Schedule

6:00-6:25	Welcome and opening remarks by Mr. Gillingham and Ms. Pantalena
	A-L	M-Z
6:30-7:10	Homeroom	Specials in MPR
7:15-7:55	Specials in MPR	Homeroom

Hope to see you all there!

Have a wonderful week!! :)

Woo! We made it through our first week!

Dear Families of 2A,

Congratulations! We made it through our first week! Despite rain and heat advisory days, we powered on! We are enjoying getting to know one another and had a great first week back in school. :) I'm writing to you today in search of classroom parents. See below if you are interested... (Check back tomorrow for information for the upcoming week!)

We are seeking two parents to fill the “Classroom Parent” position! This is a yearlong commitment that includes tasks such as organizing class events, working directly with the Parent Service Organization, and being a liaison between the classroom teachers and families. If you are interested, please email me directly by Friday, August 24th. Remember, this will not be your only opportunity to serve our class! Volunteer opportunities will be presented regularly throughout the school year.

Many thanks,

Mrs. Ellingson and Ms. Carnahan

Week 1

Good evening! Tomorrow's the day! We have a lot of exciting things planned:

Literature: We will be starting Charlotte's Web this week, so please bring in your books as soon as possible! I will place my book under the document camera for students to follow along for this first week. :)

Spalding: We are reviewing proper pencil grip, letter formation, and phonograms this week. There will be no spelling words, so there is no spelling test this week. However, please practice all phonograms at home!

Writing with Ease: narration exercises from The Owl and the Grasshopper and The Fox and the Stork

Touch Pebbles: In second grade, we begin "Touch Pebbles," where we listen to a story and then have a short Socratic discussion over it. These will take place every Friday. This Friday we will have our first one, and the text title is called "A Different Kind of Class".

Idiom/Proverb: You can't judge a book by its cover.

Poem: Bed in Summer by Robert Louis Stevenson
Students will memorize one stanza each week and will recite the poem during the week of August 31st. This poem will go home tomorrow (it's on a blue piece of paper). Please work on memorizing a little bit of it each night!

Math: We will begin with a Singapore pretest tomorrow and Tuesday. Starting on Wednesday we will review addition and subtraction facts within 10, read and write two digit numbers, relate two-digit numbers to place value, and group objects in tens and ones. We will also practice counting on, backwards, and skip counting.

History: In History we are starting our unit on maps. We will be discussing where we live - address, city, state, country, continent, planet - and sorting according to size. We will also start studying continents and oceans and work in small groups on a collage.

Science: In Science we are reviewing the scientific method and applying it to an experiment!

One last note: Please pack a healthy snack and water bottle each day, and make sure that backpacks and lunch boxes are free of pop culture! Thank you! Looking forward to a wonderful year!! :)

Welcome!

Welcome to 2A!

Check back soon for more information! :)