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Happy New Year!  I hope you all enjoyed the break. The kids came back with lots of stories to share about their vacation and it’s been fun catching up with everyone!

CURRICULUM UPDATE:

• Reader's Workshop – Research Skills: looking for important information and non-fiction features of text in nonfiction stories. Book Reports will be due on February 7^th. Students were asked to choose a non-fiction book about a topic that they were interested in learning more about. The Monkeys will use this organizer to write their first informational piece.
• Writer's Workshop – Students will learn how to write an informational paragraph.
• Math - Subtraction with regrouping into the hundreds place, including subtracting across zeros
• Social Studies - We will learn about the life of Jackie Robinson

 

 

Dear Students and Parents,

The first ever Sope Creek Family Movie Night is coming on January 20, 2012.  It is being sponsored by the Student Council.  We will be showing The Smurfs and National Treasure 2.  Popcorn and drinks will be available for purchase, but you can BYOC (Bring Your Own Candy).  We will be expecting that you bring your parents because this is a family event – no drop offs, please.  So mark your calendar – January 20 7:00-9:00 in the cafeteria and the media center.  Optional donation for Must Ministries gladly accepted.

Thank you,

The Movie Night Committee

Dear Sope Creek Famiy,

We are holding our annual Holiday Bear gift card program and would like you to consider making a gift card donation to help our Sope Creek families during this holiday season. Bears with store and amount designations are posted on the main bulletin board in the school lobby.  Please consider helping by taking a bear and obtaining a gift card.  Gift cards can be returned to your child’s grade level counselor by December 15.  Your generosity will help to make this a brighter holiday for many of our children and their families.  Thank you in advance, and may each of you have a wonderful holiday.

Your Counselors

 

CURRICULUM UPDATE:

• Reader's Workshop: This week we will discuss how to make inferences (using our schema and context clues to define unknown words to make predictions) as a comprehension strategy. We will also read The Oxcart Man and discuss goods and services as well as bartering.
• Writer's Workshop: We will continue to discuss ways to Respond to Literature. This week we will write book reviews.
• Math: We have wrapped up our studies of both time and money. Please continue to practice these skills at home with your child. The Holiday Shopping Season is among us. This is a perfect time to put what we have learned into practice. While shopping encourage your Monkey to count back change. Example- If this toy costs $0.35 and you pay with a one dollar bill, count on from $ .36 to $1.00  to get correct change back. For a fun challenge, ask your child to count back using the fewest number of coins and bills! What time is it? Is this a question that you have heard your Monkey ask? Now it’s your turn! Have your Monkey use an analogue clock to tell you what time it is. This week we will be moving into geometry. We will learn about plane shapes. The Monkeys will classify, sort, and change shapes using their attributes.
• Science: This week we will continue to learn about energy and motion.  We will discuss light, heat, and forces as energy. 

REMINDERS:

• Tuesday, Dec. 6th~Nutcracker Field Trip
• Thursday, Dec. 22nd~End of 2nd 9 weeks
• Friday, Dec. 23rd -Jan. 9th~Winter Holidays         

CURRICULUM UPDATE:

Writer’s Workshop:

~ The Monkeys will learn how to respond to literature this grading period. This week we will focus on summarizing.  For fiction, we will review elements of a story that include characters, problem, important events, and solution.  When reading with your child ask them to summarize what they are reading to build this skill.  For non-fiction or informational text have them remember several facts they have learned about a topic. 

~ We will also work on using vivid or strong verbs in our writing as well.  Ex: jump--- leap.  We will also use transition words to help show the sequential order of the story.

 Math:

~ Please be sure to continue practicing subtraction with regrouping at home as we begin to move into counting back change next week. Regrouping is sometimes difficult unless practiced frequently. The Monkeys have really been working hard on their math facts and it has paid off! A special thank you to parents!!!

 Social Studies:

~ This week we will focus on some of Georgia’s heroes, their positive character traits, and how they contributed to the founding of Georgia. This includes a study on Tomochichi (Creek leader), James Oglethorpe (founder of Savannah), and Mary Musgrove (who spoke English and Creek to help Tomochichi and James Oglethorpe communicate peacefully).

 REMINDERS:

• Please remember that Tuesday is a student holiday due to elections.
• There will be a Thanksgiving Food Drive next week. This drive will provide a traditional Thanksgiving meal for families in need.  Please help us support our community neighbors by donating canned or boxed foods such as stuffing, canned vegetables, sweet potatoes, gravy, soups, dessert mixes, cornbread mix and tin roasting pans.
• Our Thanksgiving play is right around the corner. I hope everyone has been practicing their play parts! Again, if you need ideas or suggestions with regards to costumes, please don’t hesitate to email me. The Monkeys are so excited.  

       RED RIBBON Week at the Creek~ October 24th-28th

Monday	Wear a Team Jersey as we Team up against drugs.
Tuesday	Wear your favorite pair of Jeans and be a “Jeanius”
Wednesday	Wear RED Clothing as we stop and think before making decisions. Say NO to Drugs!!!
Thursday	Smarties for smarties! Make smart decisions and wear your Red Ribbon Bracelet. You will be given a Smarties treat during lunch if you are wearing your bracelet.
Friday	Hat Day – Use your head, don’t use drugs. Wear your favorite or craziest hat and you may win a prize.

                                                                                         

Chief Sawgrass Visits the Second Grade!

  

Please join us for our monthly Chick-fil-A Spirit Night on Tuesday, 10/18, any time between 5pm and 8pm!

While we dine and socialize, we will also be working on writing letters to service men and women as a part of The Bert Show's Big Thank You!  We will have paper and pencils available, and you will leave the letters with us.  We will make sure the letters get delivered.  More information on The Big Thank You, click here. 

Our goal is to have Sope Creek submit at least 1,100 letters!!!  If you would like to write letters at home, you are welcome to have your child bring them to the front office before October 26th.  They must be hand-written on 8.5 x 11'' paper and contain no political messages.

Thank you for supporting our school (a percentage of all proceeds help to fund field trips and staff development) and for supporting our troops!

READING ~ Last week we talked about sequencing events and comparing and contrasting characters in a story. Next week will talk about using our prior knowledge as a strategy in reading. Activating your prior knowledge means using what you already know to help you understand something new. It’s like putting on your thinking cap and pulling out thoughts that can help you understand what you’re reading. 

MATH ~ This week we wrapped-up the first grading period with our study of time. Next week we will revisit all skills learned this 9 weeks in preparation for our Benchmark test that will be given on Wednesday. The Monkeys will review 2-digit addition, problem solving strategies, place value, money, and graphing. Please continue to practice your math facts.

Place Value/Number Sense

http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/games/numbersense/index.html

http://www.learningbox.com/Base10/BaseTen.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/starship/maths/placethepenguin.shtml

http://www.ictgames.com/sharknumbers.html

http://www.ictgames.com/sharkNumbers_v2.html

Addition

http://www.fun4thebrain.com/addition.html

http://www.funbrain.com/math/index.html

Subtraction

http://www.fun4thebrain.com/subtraction.html

http://www.funbrain.com/math/index.html

Counting Money

err=569&engine=http://www.primarygames.com/Spending%20Spree/start.htm

http://www.quia.com/mc/65704.html

http://www.lizardpoint.com/fun/java/buyit/BuyIt.html

SCIENCE ~ Last week we began our unit on matter. We identified solids, liquids, and gases and their properties. This week we will look at how matter can change.

Matter- Properties and Characteristics

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/7_8/characteristics_materials.shtml

Matter - Changes in States

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/9_10/changing_state.shtml

 

REMINDERS:

• We will have a "Being There Experience" on Tuesday. Chief Sawgrass will be here. Be sure to ask your Monkey all about his visit!
• A special thanks to everyone for returning their conference letters so quickly. I'm looking forward to meeting with you the week of October 24th! Don't forget that week will be early dismissal.
• Don’t forget to visit www.scholastic.com and place your book order for the month of October. If you have misplaced the login information please just let me know and I will send you the information.

 

Curriculum Update:

Reader's Workshop ~ This week we will talk about character traits. We will continue learning about what good readers do. For example, making predictions, making connections, and identifying the main idea! Please make sure that if a reading group book is sent home, it is returned the following school day.

Writer's Workshop ~  Our class has been working on personal narratives (stories about our own experiences.) Last week the Monkeys wrote about a special memory. This week we are focusing on what it means to stay on topic while writing! We will continue to examine how stories have a beginning, middle, and end.

Math ~ We have started our unit on money. Students must be able to use decimal notation and the cent symbol to represent a collection of coins and currency. We will practice counting out different values as well as take a look at equivalent amounts.

Social Studies ~ Last week we began discussing the major rivers of Georgia and how people used the rivers long ago and still today. This week students will explore the Creek and Cherokee Native American tribes. These tribes were some of Georgia's earliest people.