28 November, 2022

“Education is the best weapon for peace.” -Dr. Maria Montessori

Dear 2nd grade parents,

Advent is upon us! Today the 2nd graders updated our prayer corner to reflect the change in seasons: after a small procession, we placed our wreath and four candles on our prayer table. Advent is a “purple time” in the church: a time of preparation. We must prepare our hearts and our places–our homes, our classroom, our church–for the coming of the Christ Child.

The 2nd graders this year are also doing an Advent Angel exchange. Students will draw a name, and say a prayer for that person every day, as well as buying a small gift for them ($5-$10 range, though I also recommend dollar store finds). On December 21st, when we have our Christmas party, we will exchange gifts. We are drawing names on Tuesday, November 29.

The Celebration of Wonder is next week, on December 7th. 2nd grade students are performing two poems: “I Can Be a Tiger” and “I Hear the Master Speak”. “I Hear the Master Speak” is the poem for this week.

Here is a link to the songs students are learning for the Christmas Concert: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18pWQVk1mD58T0jvmU2P-eY4MNk84k5RowM_azKgdBVM/edit?usp=sharing

As the concert is approaching–December 15!–please make sure your child is practicing their songs at home.

A few technical notes about this week:

Reminders:

• Student planners and green homework folders are to go home with students every day, and be brought back to school every morning, along with any school books that were taken home.
• Please check the green folders daily and sign student planners daily. Students should be practicing their spelling list and the poem of the week at home for 5-10 minutes every day.
• Please make sure students bring a water bottle to class daily. These can be refilled at school from the school water fountains.
• Wednesday is Library Day for 2nd Grade. Any library books students have checked out must be returned on Wednesday. Otherwise, they will not be able to take out a new book! Students are allowed to renew a book if they want to keep it for an additional week, but it must be returned after 2 weeks.

Virtue for the school year: Devotion

Virtue for the St. Nicholas Term: Studiousness

This week in 2nd grade:

Grammar/Phonics: This week we continue learning suffixes: small endings added to the end of a root word that change the meaning. Students are learning “-ing”, “-ed”, and the basic rules of “-s” and “-es” for plurals. We also are also getting more familiar with prepositions, conjunctions, and articles, and strengthening our concept of “dress-ups”: words like adjectives and adverbs, that make a sentence more interesting. Finally, we are learning more “special sounds”, unique sounds like “igh in night” that are frequently found in words. There is a test on Tuesday, November 28.

Religion: This week we are discussing the meaning of justice and mercy, then looking at them in context of the Fall, original sin, and the plan for a Redeemer.

Writing: We are continuing to develop the ability to write paragraphs. We are also working to incorporate “dress-ups”, descriptive language, into our writing.

Spelling: This week our list is Spelling List 12.

Reading: We are finishing our time with Beatrix Potter with The Tale of Johnny-Town Mouse, a retelling of Aesop’s fable The Country Mouse and The City Mouse.

Math: This week we are finishing our unit on weight, with a test on Thursday.

History: In history are are looking at the consequences of Martin Luther, and the resulting splitting of the Christian Faith. Our key figures are Henry VIII, John Calvin, Mary, Queen of Scots, Queen Mary of England, and the virgin Queen Elizabeth I.

Science: In science we are have been observing volcanic rocks, river rocks, and this week are looking at schoolyard rocks we have been collecting all term. We will be sorting them by their various properties–such as texture, size, color, shape–to help us learn about the differences between rocks as as well as what they hold in common.