Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Today...
The students have been learning about our solar system. Learning about each of the planets, the stars and the moons. We have been learning how to compare one thing to another and one thing to everything else. We have also been going over distances; what is closer and what is further away from an object.

Today we went over our 10 vocabulary words again and the students did a wonderful job spelling them and using them in a sentence. The words are the following:

• Sun
• moon
• planet
• Earth
• hot
• cold
• spin
• float
• star
• space

The students will have a test on these tomorrow.

Today They were given a worksheet. The worksheet is a story about a visitor from another planet. For homework they are to finish this worksheet (questions 1-11). Bring that sheet in on Thursday. If there are any questions feel free to e-mail me or make an appointment to come in. I look forward to tomorrow, enjoy your afternoon!

Practice questions:

1. What day is today?
2. What is the antonym of large?
3. What is a synonym for mad?
4. What planet do we live on?
5. Is the Sun a star, a planet or a moon?
6. What is the biggest planet in our solar system?
7. What is the smallest planet in our solar system?
8. Which is closer to Earth, Saturn or Venus?
9. Which is further away from Earth, Mercury or Pluto
10. Which is bigger Neptune or Jupiter?

Remember --> Complete sentences and us your worksheet to help!

Answers -->

1. Today is Wednesday.
2. The antonym of large is small.
3. A synonym for mad is angry.
4. We live on planet Earth.
5. The Sun is a star.
6. The biggest planet in our solar system is Jupiter.
7. The smallest planet in our solar system is Mercury.
8. Venus is closer to Earth than Saturn.
9. Pluto is further away from Earth than Mercury.
10. Jupiter is bigger than Neptune.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Today...
Today we had our spelling test. Everyone did a very good job! The students will get their tests on Sunday to bring home! Remember, use the flash cards and study!

Today we also went outside to do our archaeology dig. The students watched me uncover a buried set of "dinosaur bones", then they worked in groups to discover their own artifacts in the ground. The students had a lot of fun and found many interesting things! Next week we are going to start learning about the solar system (all of the planets and stars). I look forward to seeing you all very soon, enjoy the weekend!!!

-Mr. Tim

Week 8 overview + March 21, 2010

This week...

This week we start our themed weeks! The theme for this week is Archaeology, the study of things in the ground from the past. We are going to learn how to be archaeologists, find things in the ground and how to describe where they came from. All week we will learn about the tools we will use, how to describe things in the past tense and how to tell the if one item is older than another.

We also have a new set of vocabulary words this week, aimed at Archaeology. The words this week are:

• dig
• museum
• mummy
• ancient
• fragile
• tools
• burial
• culture
• study
• discover

We will have a test on these words on Thursday.

Today...

Today we read a story about archaeology and the different tools we will use. We learned our archaeology words so that we can use them when we are "out in the field". We are going to need to practice before our major dig so, we are going to have a scavenger hunt and some in class practice with old objects. The things I am gong to bring in are "1,000's of years old" so we are going to have to be very careful. ;)

We went over our vocabulary words today and got a homework assignment that is due tomorrow. The homework is to use the vocabulary words in a sentence (there is a worksheet to help!) Have a great day and I can't wait to see you tomorrow!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Today...
Today went very well with the second grade! We reviewed the weeks lessons, did an amazing job on our spelling test and then had a great time doing a review challenge with the students competing against each other to get the most correct review questions. Next week we will be starting themed weeks! The vocabulary and lessons will all be oriented towards different themes. If you are very good then Mr. Tim might come in dressed up in crazy costumes! If you have any ideas for themes let me know! I would love to hear your ideas! See you on Sunday!

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Today...

Today was a very good day, we had 2 periods of English and got through a lot of our material. We worked on understanding synonyms we got to play Mr. Tim's Synonym Memory Game which the students had a great time with and did very well. We made a lot of progress on our song, the students are getting very good (remember to practice!). We read the Dinosaur Babies story in our text book and worked with understanding the story by looking at the pictures!

Vocabulary Review:

Can you write a sentence using each of our vocabulary words?

Can you match each word with its Synonym from our vocab?

Monday, March 15, 2010

Today...

Today the students and I practiced singing Kryptonite by 3 Doors Down and had a small competetion between the groups. We then picked the best singer (and reader) from each group for the final competition. After our song we study synonyms.

A synonym is a word the means the same as another word.
Example --> Mad is another word for Angry.

------>Can you give me a synonym for each of the following words?

1. Simple ____________
2. Big ______________
3. Toss _____________
4. Chat _____________
5. Enjoy ____________

(The answers are at the bottom - Don't look until you try!)

After learning synonyms we learned about Pronouns and Possessive adjectives!

Pronouns

A pronoun is a word that replaces a noun after it has already been used in a sentence.

Example --> Mr. Tim likes to run, he is very fast!

Run is the pronoun because it replaced the noun "Mr. Tim" and refers back to him.

List of Pronouns

• I
• He
• She
• It
• You
• They
• We

The possessive adjectives are words that describe who owns something.

Example --> The bike is mine. --> I want to go to your house. --> This is our class.

Mine -- Your -- Our --> these are the possessive adjectives for the sentences above, because they tell us who owns something.

List of Possessive Adjectives

• My
• Your
• Our
• His
• Her
• Their
• Its

After learning about Pronouns and Possessive Adjectives we began talking about what a Country is.

A country is bigger than a city. If the city you live in is Nablus than your country is Palestine.

-------> Can you tell me what country:

1. Mr. Tim is from ____________?
2. Mr. Curtis is from ___________?
3. Mr. Sean is from ____________?
4. Miss Kaitlin is from __________?
5. Ameed is from _____________?
6. YOU are from _____________?

(Answers are at the bottom - Don't look until you try!)

After talking about what a country is I had the students begin their homework in class. They are to think of a name for our class, so that we can make our own country. Write the name down on a blank piece of paper and then draw a picture to put on our money. The picture can be of anything you want. We will all choose which picture and name we like best and put it on our money!

Have a great day and I will see you tomorrow!

Answers: Easy - Huge - Throw - Talk - Like --> America - America - America - America - Jordan - ???????

Week 7 - March 14, 2010

Hello! Last week the students went on a field trip to Jericho and had a great time! They got to see several different kinds of animals, go on rides and play in a water area! Overall the trip was very fun and HOT! They were going to have a spelling test that day, but instead we took it a day early and the students did fantastic! I returned the tests today with grades and corections and told them to bring the papers home and show their parents, so keep an eye out for them!

This week we will be lerning about Synonyms, We will be making our class into it's own "Country" and we have a new set of 10 vocabulary and spelling words. We will be incorporating work on Possessive Adjectves (My, Mine, ours, theirs) and Present continuous tense. The Spelling quiz will be on Thursday. The song for this week is still Kryptonite by 3 Doors Down.

SYNONYMS

1. A synonym is a word that means the same as another word

For Example: Mad is another word for Angry.

Can you think of a synonym for the words below?

1. Big
2. Tardy
3. Simple
4. Ill
5. Seat
6. Hop
7. Skinny
8. Toss
9. Enjoy
10. Stone

Country Making

We will be learning what a Country is and the things that make up the culture of a country. We will create our own flag, our own anthem, a name for our country and our own currency.

The students will be creating their own pictures to display on the walls of our country.

Vocabulary

This week we have 10 words (several are repeated from last week to solidify their understanding of the words and how they can be used.) that focus on synonyms. Each word has a partner word that is the synonym of it.

• Big
• Large
• Nice
• Kind
• Small
• Tiny
• Mean
• Angry
• Good
• Great

The students were given a packet with practice worksheets and flash cards. We will be going over them everyday but I expect the students to be practicing at home!! I want to see A++ on every paper! =)

Possessive Adjectives

A Possessive adjective is a word that refers to an individual and their ownership of something.

For example --> This is our blog. --> Our refers to you and I and shows that both of us own this blog.

We will be doing in class work and I will be sending a worksheet home with them this week.

Present Continuous Tense

We will also be reviewing the use of present continuous tense in stories. Focusing on describing what the subhect of the story is doing at any specific moment.

I am --> verb+ing

He is --> verb+ing

They are --> verb+ing

Today...

Today went very well. The students did a great job getting into their seats and starting their work. They were able to answer several difficult questions and were animated and interested in learning the new vocabulary and learning about synonyms!

We started with our warm up questions and then sang our song together (don't forget to practice with the song on the blog!!). After our song we learned our new vocabulary words (practice, practice, practice!) and then learned all about synonyms! The students were very quick to learn what a synonym is started on their homework early. They need to complete the rest of the worksheet for homework!

I am excited for tomorrow and hope everyone has a great day!

Week 6

This week the 2A class is working on Antonyms, the days of the week and the months of the year. The class also has 10 vocabulary words that they will be quizzed on at the end of the week. The words for this week are:

• Happy


• Sad


• Big


• Small


• Nice


• Mean


• Quiet


• Loud


• Good


• Bad

The quiz will be this Thursday and will test the students on memorizing the words and being able to spell them. They have a set of flash cards to help them practice. These words are also pairs of antonyms.

An antonym is a word that is the opposite of another.

Example --> Good is the antonym (opposite) of Bad

--> Big is the antonym (opposite) of Small

Days and Months: (remember to capitalize!)

Days of the week

• Monday


• Tuesday


• Wednesday


• Thursday


• Friday


• Saturday
• Sunday

Months of the year

• (1)January (2)February
• (3)March (4)April
• (5)May (6)June
• (7)July (8)August
• (9)September (10)October
• (11)November (12)December

Our song for this week is Kryptonite by the band 3 Doors Down.