Ms. Jessica’s Blog - Grade 2B

Dear Parents,
We have begun learning about multiplication in math class and the students need extra practice at home. All students have made or are making flashcards for multiplication. These flashcards should be brought home and returned to school every day to help students practice. The students must know the following multiplication facts – 0, 1, 2, 5, 10. They will be tested orally and must be able to answer within a few seconds. Any help you can provide at home is greatly appreciated!

Dear Parents,         

The end of the school year is coming closer, but it is still important for students to bring all of their school supplies to class everyday.  I have been noticing many students do not have what they need for class.  So, just as a reminder please check the list below.

• 2 - Pencils (sharpened before class)
• 2 - Erasers/Rubbers
• 1 - Pair of scissors
• 1 - 30cm ruler
• 1 - box of crayons or colored pencils
• 1 - glue stick (solid, no liquid glue)
• 1 – children’s dictionary (optional)

This month we are sending a new catalog for Scholastic Books called Virtues.  There are some great books offered in all of the catalogs about science, spelling/vocabulary, trying your best, caring, respect, and other character building topics.  These are all things we have been working on this year and will continue to work on in the future.  If you are interested I have listed some of my favorite titles below. 

Virtues:

• #35 – Learning to Get Along Bundle
• #12 – Chicken Soup for the Little Souls: The Greatest Gift of All
• #56 – Scholastic Guides: Building Your Vocabulary
• #9 – Can You Feel the Force?
• #47 – Now I Know Nutrition and Fitness Pack

SeeSaw:

• #30 – Hooked on Spelling Kit
• #29 – Hooked on Phonics Second Grade Reading Program

Lucky:

• #43 – The Magic School Bus Animal Chapter Book Pack
• #74 – The Ultimate Spelling and Vocabulary Reference

I hope you all have a fabulous Songkran holiday!  I hear many of you are going on wonderful vacations!  Take care and have fun!

Science:

We have been looking deeper into matter and how matter can be changed.  Each student brought in their favorite fruit and we created a fruit salad mixture.  Students were given a plate of fruit salad and were asked to divide it into groups.  Some chose to separate it by color, size, shape, etc.  After talking about the different reversible and irreversible changes that were made students were able to eat the healthy snack they helped to create.

Language Arts:

We have been working hard on developing interesting stories.  Each student was given some dialogue and had to create a story around that dialogue.  This week we are finishing up the rough drafts and beginning to edit them.  Next week we will be turning the stories into books!

Math:

We are wrapping up 2-digit addition and subtraction and moving into 3-digit addition and subtraction.  We are using manipulatives to demonstate the steps on our work mats before using pencil and paper.  Students seem to be understanding and picking up the steps very quickly.

We had such a fun day at the National Science Museum last Friday!  First, we headed straight to the top floor to look at items from the past in Thailand.  This had a great connection to social studies for the students.  They pointed out jobs, artifacts, and buildings they recognized from the past.  Next, we moved to look at what homes may look like in the future.  We saw lots of impressive technology such as robots to take care of us.  The next part showed us inside the human body and how closely we are related to different animals.

There were many hands on experiments for the children to try like rockets, echo tubes, height measuring, tornado machines, sand designs, bubble tubes, and many more.

One of the highlights of the day was going to see the science show.  Students learned about eggs and all of their amazing qualities.  One student, Jayant, even stood on a set of eggs without breaking them.  Wow!  We also learned how to cook an egg without heat.  Ask your child if they remember how.

 I hope your child told you about out fantastic day.  I was very proud of all our students.  They were very respectful and polite the entire day!  Way to go!!

In science class we have been studing the environment and how pollution can change the environment.  The students learned about things they can do to help stop pollution and make our world a better place.  One of the things they learned about was recycling, taking something old and making something new.  We put this knowledge to use and made our own paper!  First the students brought in old newspapers.  They ripped them into small pieces and added a bunch of water.  This was mixed together very well - this mixture is called a “slurry.”  The slurry was placed onto fine screens and the children pressed out all of the water.  We left these to dry for several days. 

While waiting for the paper to completely dry the students wrote their own poem about recycling.  When the paper was finally ready they wrote the poem on to the paper and decorated it. 

They look lovely and we saved some trees!!

Welcome back to school!  I hope everyone had a wonderful break.  The students have been sharing stories about their exciting holiday adventures with one another.

In the classroom we are beginning some new subjects and continuing with some old.  

Math:

The triangle group is finishing up chapters 9 and 10 - Time and Calendar.  I have found that many students did not practice time over the holiday and have forgotten.  Please help them study and practice at home.  The test over these chapters will be on Monday, January 21.

The circle group is beginning 2-digit addition this semester.  So far they are doing quite well.  It seems we may get through this unit quickly and begin multiplication!

Science:

We are continuing the unit Homes for Living Things.  We will be focusing on changes that occur in different habitats.  These changes may be caused by weather, pollution, or people. 

Language Arts:

Our focus at the moment is on verbs - action words.  We are having fun learning new verbs (plod and scuttle) and acting verbs out in games of charades. 

Social Studies:

Please visit Ms. Nancy’s blog page at:  wells-blog.com/nancy

There are lots of exciting new concepts to work on this semester.  We will be busy and learning tons!!

Dear Parents,

            I know your schedule must be busy with the holidays just around the corner.  However, we have one last event to plan.  The last full day of school before break, Thursday, December 20, will be a fun day for us.  We are going to have our class Christmas party this afternoon.  I have planned for games, crafts, and gifts, but I need a little of your help.

            We are going to have a gift exchange.  Each child will provide a gift for one other student.  Please keep gifts around 100 Baht.  Be sure to wrap and label (example:  To: Kirtana, From: Pearl) the gift.  Oh!  By the way, this is a secret.  Don’t tell anyone who you are buying a gift for.

            We would love to have some great snacks for our party.  If you can provide any food on this day please let me know.  Remember, there are 22 students and two adults in the classroom.  Maybe you are a whiz in the kitchen and want to bake up some home cooked goods or you just want to swing by the 7/11 on the way to school.  We appreciate any offer!

            The Christmas show is next week too!  I have the costumes for the students and will bring them to the show.  This way you do not have to worry about it.  The students will be able to take them home afterward.  A few extras for the costumes are needed.  All students need to wear a white (or mostly white) sleeveless shirt under their costume, white socks, and black (or mostly black) shoes they can dance in.  We have talked about this in class and the kids should know what is acceptable and what is not.  If you have any questions, please, do not hesitate to ask.

            I think that is everything.  I am looking forward to seeing you all at the Christmas Show!  The kids have been working really hard!  It should be a great show!

Happy Holidays!

Ms. Jessica Stoltz

I am sorry for the delay, but I finally got some Demo Day pictures for everyone.  All of the students did such a wonderful job.

Now, we are preparing for the Christmas show.  The students are working incredibly hard to have their dance ready.  I cannot believe the show is in less than two weeks! 

I hope you have your calendar marked.  If not, do so now. 

What:    Christmas Show

Where:    Wells International School (85 campus)

When:    Wednesday, December 19

Time:    6:00  (students MUST arrive at 5:00 to prepare)

I will see you there!!

We are moving on to a new unit in math this week and it is one of the toughest units we will learn this year.  It is the unit on time.  Many students tend to struggle with this area of mathematics.  I am telling you all now in hopes that you will be able to spend some extra time with your child working on this area.  Every student will be making their own clock to practice with in and outside of class.  The clocks should be brought home every day and return to school with the child every morning.  It would be very helpful for the students to review what they learned every day and practice telling time whenever possible.  

Below are some websites they can also use to practice.

•  http://www.apples4theteacher.com/clocks.html

•  http://www.blackdog.net/games/clock/time/

•  http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/BangOnTime/clockwordres.html

Thank you for the help!  This extra practice will make this unit SO much easier!!

It was wonderful to see so many parents last Friday.  I really appreciate you all taking the time to discuss your child’s education.  If you did not get the chance to come in feel free to make an appointment with the office. 

During conferences several parents mentioned that they would like some extra math activities.  I am posting some math websites for everyone to check out. 

• www.primarygames.com/math2.htm

              Try these games and more:

                 -  add ‘em up

                 -  take it away

• www.surfnetkids.com/games/add_it_up.htm
• www.playkidsgames.com/mathGames.htm
• www.gamequarium.com/math.htm
• www.aplusmath.com/games
• www.coolmath4kids.com

                                         This site has great games and printable flashcards.

• www.kidskonnect.com/content/view/295/27/
• www.aplusmath.com/games/matho/AddMatho.html
• www.funbrain.com/math/
• math.rice.edu/%7Elanius/Lessons/
• http://www.learn4good.com/games/index.htm