Passover

I love sharing stories from God's Word, the Bible, with my students. We've been walking through Jesus' last week and his death during our Bible story time. One of the special traditions we have as a second grade at Rose Park is to celebrate an abbreviated version of the Passover feast. We enjoyed this special time this afternoon with a number of parents joining us. 

We ate matzah and drank grape juice, we retold the story of the ten plagues and the first Passover, and we blessed God for the gifts He's given us. Most of all, we saw that many parts of this festival point to Jesus as the True Passover Lamb, who was sacrificed to set us free from the power of sin. We tasted the bitterness of sin (horseradish) as well as the sweetness that comes with God's grace and forgiveness (haroset - a mixture of chopped apples, cinnamon and honey). It was a fun afternoon, experiencing the love of God for His people and the fellowship of our second grade family at Rose Park. I pray that these children will know the great love God has for them.

Author Visit

We are excited to announce that children’s author Nancy Shaw will visit our school on April 15. Ms. Shaw is most renown for seven humorous rhyming books in the “Sheep” series: Sheep in a Jeep, Sheep in a Shop, Sheep on a Ship, Sheep Blast Off, Sheep Out to Eat, Sheep Take a Hike, and Sheep Trick or Treat . She has also written Raccoon Tune, and a picture book for middle grades, Elena’s Story. Parents are invited to join us for this author visit onWednesday April 15.

3^rd-4^th: 8:25-9:10

K-2^nd: 9:20-10:05

Book order forms are attached—you may order Nancy Shaw’s books at discounted prices! Paid orders received by March 31 will be autographed by the author on April 15. Orders will also be accepted through April 15, but author day delivery is not assured for orders received after March 31.

Many Seconds in Second

Math: 

Until spring vacation, we will be working on subtraction strategies for solving two-digit problems. Also, small groups will meet to learn and practice telling time to the nearest minute.  Math homework is due every Friday.

Reading:

This past week be began Book Clubs!  This is an exciting time for the children.  They will be finding big ideas in their books while they read and flagging them with post-it notes.  Then, there will be time to share within your child’s book club their findings of new information. 

We will be having our Idita-Read celebration Tuesday, March 31. 

March is Reading month!  The green recording sheets are due on Monday.  If your child completes his/her reading and returns this paper he/she will receive a small prize. 

Writing:

We will begin our second round of ‘All About’ books.  Your child will be picking another topic they are experts at.  They will begin to develop a table of contents, then learn how to write different chapters within the book using non-fiction language and text features.

Bible:

We will continue to learn about the Easter story. This week will see how Jesus’ close friend betrayed him, while others denied him, and the rest ran away.  Everyone rejected and abandoned Jesus.  Through these circumstances God fulfilled his own purpose-for Jesus was not a victim.  He freely gave himself.  He steadfastly walked to the cross, remaining obedient to the Father!

Could you please have your child bring in a small/medium size basket for an Easter project. We will be retelling the Easter story using plastic eggs.  This basket is due Monday, March 16!!!

 Important Dates and Information:

Conference Sign up times:

(**Second grade students will be leading these conferences.  Please be sure to sign up for a time when your child can come WITH you to the conference.**)

Sign ups begin next Thursday, March 19 at 8:00 AM and will be open through Saturday, March 28 at 11:00 PM.

Conference Dates and Times are as follows:

Monday, March 30, 2015 --- 5:00 PM - 8:30 PM

Tuesday, March 31, 2015 --- 5:00 PM - 8:30 PM

Wednesday, April 01, 2015 --- 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Swimming starts Monday-Thursday this week (no Friday this week).  Your child will be at the pool from 9:35a.m-10:20a.m. Feel free to stop by and watch! Lessons will be at the Holland Aquatics Center.

Important Dates and Information

Other Important Dates and Information:

-Needed:  Could you please have your child bring in a small/medium basket for an Eastern project.  We will be retelling the Easter story using plastic eggs.  This basket is due Monday, March 16.  (Giving another week :))

- Every year the second graders celebrate the Passover.  We invite you to this celebration on March 26 from 2:10-3:15.  More information to come.

-Idita-Read Celebration for those who have completed the race will be April 1.

-March is Reading Month-if your child is reading daily at home be sure to fill out the green recording sheet. If your child hands in this green paper each Monday they will receive a reading prize.

-Swimming Lessons will start the week of March 16. This is a two week program.  We will be getting on the bus at 9:20 am.  Our swimming time is from 9:35-10:20.  We should arrive back to school by 10:40 am.

-If you haven’t done so already, please fill out and sign the swimming permission slip.  This paper was sent out on Monday.

-Spring Conferences will be March 30, 31, and April 1 **Note:  These are student-led in second grade, so make sure your sign up for a time your child can come with you.

What a Day!

This week had many new and old experiences! Thursday we had a local Musher come to school with his racing dogs.  We learned about race dogs, the trails, and reviewed our knowledge of the Iditarod Race.  Take a look at our fabulous morning!

Ms. Scott on racing with the dogs!

Learning how to train a racing dog.

Yay! We even got to pet the dogs!

We are ready to watch.

March is Reading Month

Hi Parents,

Information on March is Reading Month went home on Friday. I forgot to put the attached paper in your child's mail box on Friday. They are going home with this green recording sheet today.  For every twenty minutes your child reads, they may color in a dog (for our in class reading incentive) AND color in an object on the March is Reading Month green recording sheet (school wide reading incentive).  Each Monday, the green paper is due. Your child will earn a small prize if they read and return this paper.

Many Seconds in Second

This coming week we will be learning and growing in many ways.  Take a look at this coming week’s highlights.

Math:

We will continue to master two-digit addition. This takes lots of practice, practice, practice.

Homework will be due on Thursday due to a shortened school week for the children.

Reading:

When we read non-fiction books we come across many new words that we may not know the meaning to.  We will learn how to tackle these words and figure out the meaning of these tricky words.  Some strategies include: Read ahead and think what other word would fit, use the pictures, check the glossary, and look at the root word.

Continue to have your child hand in any Idita-Read recording sheets.  For every 100 minutes of reading your child moves a dog along the Iditarod racetrack. Congratulations to our early finishers-Alex, Hudson, Anika, and Jack!

We will be making Iditarod dog sleds on Monday morning.  Is anyone available to help in gluing these with the kids at 9:30 am to 10:15 am. Please email me if it works with your schedule. 

“March is Reading Month” starts this coming week.  Please know your child’s minutes can be recorded on both papers. J

Spelling Test Thursday.

Writing:

We continue to learn how to write non-fiction ‘All About’ books.  This coming week your child will learn how to write facts that are descriptive and specific using numbers and names.  They will also learn how to use language like an author of a non-fiction book.

Bible:

 We completed the study of the Parables of Jesus.  On Thursday, you should have received an email from me of a project your child completed of one of the parables.  Take a look at one of our classmate’s projects.  This is Colin retelling the story of the Lost Son and the Loving Father.  Through this story we learned even when we make mistakes Jesus forgives and continues to love us!  His love is unconditional!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqoRpFEmdCQ

These coming weeks we will be preparing our hearts for the death and resurrection of Jesus.  We will begin our study of the Easter story.

Could you please have your child bring in a small/medium basket for a Easter project. We will be retelling the Easter story using plastic eggs.  This basket is due Monday, March 9.

See the side panel for Bible Memory.

Other Important Dates and Information:

-By March 9 your child needs to bring in a basket for a Bible project.

- Every year the second graders celebrate the Passover.  We invite you to this celebration on March 26 from 2:10-3:15.  More information to come.

-Idita-Read Celebration for those who have completed the race will be April 1.

-Swimming Lessons will start the week of March 16. This is a two week program.  We will be getting on the bus at 9:20 am.  Our swimming time is from 9:35-10:20.  We should arrive back to school by 10:40 am.

-If you haven’t done so already, please fill out and sign the swimming permission slip.  This paper was sent out on Monday.

- MARKET DAY is next week Thursday, March 5.  The fourth graders are preparing quite a sale! Your child is welcome to bring $3-4 dollars to "shop" with along with a small shopping bag to store their purchases in.  Our time to go to Market Day is 12:45-1:00.

-No school on Friday, March 6-Professional Development day for teachers.