Language Arts
This week we concluded our unit 2 with a study of author’s purpose and a good beginning in writing pieces. Student wrote in their daily diary (with much excitement!) and even drafted a letter.
We took our second big language arts exam of the year. These tests are great practice for the students. Some of the questions are multiple choice while others are short answer with one big essay at the end. The students all did a great job showing ‘what they know’ in regards to vocabulary, grammar, spelling, language use, comprehension, oral fluency, and writing of an expository piece.
The spelling test and sentences for this week were phenomenal! Great job!! The next spelling test will be on Tuesday, January 26th – in Spanish.
Math
This week we worked a lot on our division.
- Students used related multiplication facts to divide. They apply inverse relationship of multiplication and division to write division statements.
- Students learned that in division there is always a quotient / cociente and possibly a remainder / residuo.
- Students learned the steps of vertical division to divide with or without regrouping or a remainder.
Students should be working on completing their multiplication and division section on their ALEKS pie.
Social Studies
Our Viking journey continued this week with a lesson on sagas and the making of swords. We finished our Time Warp Trio book in class this week and decided to start one on Thor. We also had a lesson where we learned about the knarr, a Norse cargo ship, what they were used for and how they were different from the Longships. On Friday 
everyone had fun making their own knarr in class.
Science
We are rapping up our Light and Sound domain this week. We read about Alexander Graham Bell and how re related to the science of sound. We discussed how he took the idea of the telegraph and invented the telephone. We defined the prefix tele (to or at a distance) to better understand the these words. Most everyone has been working on their science reports in class this week. The students signed up for their day and time slot. Please see the list below and let me know if this time won’t work for your schedule.
Tuesday: 10:50- Spencer 11:00 – Jack 11:10 – Evan 11:20 – Hazel
Thursday: 10:40 – Tamra 10:50 – Rafa 11:00 – Nathaniel 11:10 – Maddie
Friday: 10:40 – Luke 10:50 – Sophie 11:00 – Juliette 11:10 – Lucy 11:20 – Lily
English Spelling/Writing
The class continued to work on our sorts from last week. We had our first spelling test of the new year and most of the class did super. I added a few new activities to our list in order to give everyone a little variety. Starting next week I have lowered the points to 15 for weekly activities.
We reviewed compound words during our morning work. We did some seat work with compounds and we kept our ears and eyes open for them in our reading and writing.
Besides having free choice and bucket journal writing (picking a prompt idea out of our bucket), the class also used a T chart to compare and contrast two of the cousins, Toli and Bjorn, from our Social Studies read a loud. They then wrote about these two characters in their journal.
Art
The 2nd3rd graders continued working hard on their weaving project this week. We looked at photos of different weavings from around the world and then the students used different colors of yarn to weave a bookmark. They are learning how to be careful with the “overunder” pattern and to not pull the weft threads too tight! We’ll need one more week to finish this project.
Music
African American songs we worked on today, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday, included Follow the Drinking Gourd, John Henry, Go Down, Moses, and Old Dan Tucker.