November 18, 2016

                                                                        Friday, November 18, 2016

Dear Second Grade Families,

            It was nice to meet everyone and speak with you at conferences.  Please keep in mind that if you ever have any questions or concerns about your child’s progress or about anything happening at school or in the classroom, you can contact me through email, phone call, or a note sent in with your child. It has been a great start to the new second grade classroom, and I am enjoying working with each and every student. They are a great group of kids!

            Please check out my blog under “Elementary Teacher Pages” on the school website. You can email me from that page. Anytime you email me, I will always email you back even if it is just to say that I got the email. Occasionally the emails don’t come through. If you don’t hear back from me, I didn’t get the email. Also, please sign up on the right side of the page to “follow my blog by email.” That way you will get an email every time I update the blog.

            Attached you will find information for our new Language Arts unit that we are beginning on Monday. I am planning on sending this type of information home every time we start a new unit. The units generally last between one and two weeks.

            Please let me know if you have any questions!

                                          Mrs. Kathy Green

Second Grade News:  November 18-December 1, 2016

Here is a peek at the upcoming two weeks.

Reading:  Our genre is narrative non-fiction. This type of text is written in story form, but gives true information about a topic. We will be reading a variety of narrative non-fiction texts about animal habitats.

Spelling:  Words with soft c and soft g. Our next spelling test will be on Thursday, December 1.

trace                 place                 badge                cage                  

space                ice                      bulge                 range

barge                 mice                 mule                  huge                 

out                     wash                 saw

High Frequency Words (sight words):  By the end of the unit, your child should be able to read these words quickly and easily. Please post this letter in a handy spot (on the fridge, etc.) and have your child practice reading through these words a couple of times each day.

almost          buy          food              out                     pull

saw                 sky          straight            under       wash 

Vocabulary: We are learning the meaning of these words. Please use these words in conversation with your child and ask him/her to tell you what they mean.

buried          escape          habitat          journey         

nature          peeks           restless          spies

Math: We continue to work on subtraction facts with differences up to 18. This is a great time to get out the flashcards and help your child review at home. We have also learned several subtraction games that could easily be played at home with a regular deck of cards with the face cards removed. Two good ones are Subtraction Top-It and Salute.

Michigan DNR Turkey Patch Design Contest

Statewide DNR News

Nov. 16, 2016 Contact: Hannah Schauer, 517-284-6218 K-12 students, remember to enter your turkey patch designs in annual contest by Dec. 15 With Thanksgiving right around the corner, November is a great time to talk about wild turkeys. The comeback of the wild turkey is one of the greatest wildlife conservation stories. At one time in Michigan’s history, turkeys were very plentiful, although over time they vanished from every county in the state because of unregulated take and loss of habitat. Many efforts to re-establish the population were made from 1919 through late 1980s. Today, there are over 200,000 wild turkeys in Michigan, and they can be found in parts of every county in the Lower Peninsula as well as areas of the Upper Peninsula. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources works with the National Wild Turkey Federation to share conservation education opportunities with teachers and students. One such opportunity is the annual Michigan Wild Turkey Management Cooperator Patch Design Contest. K-12 students attending public, private or home schools in Michigan are eligible to enter. First-, second- and third-place winners will receive cash awards of $100, $50 and $25, respectively. The winning design will be the basis for the following year's Michigan wild turkey management cooperator patch. In addition, the winner and his/her parents or guardians will be invited to the Michigan National Wild Turkey Federation State Chapter banquet and the Natural Resources Commission meeting when the patch is released to the public. Designs should be simple and unique, and easily reproduced as a patch. The design should include the eastern wild turkey or characteristics of the turkey (such as feathers or tracks). All entries must be submitted on 8.5-inch x 11-inch paper and submitted without mat, glass, frame, or cover sheet (spray chalk with fixative). The following text must be included in the patch design: "Wild Turkey Management Cooperator" "2017" (the year following contest submission) "Michigan Department of Natural Resources" All 2017 entries should be mailed to: Turkey Patch Contest, P.O. Box 8, Orleans, MI 48865, and must be received no later than Dec. 15, 2016. For complete contest rules, visit mi.gov/michiganprojectwild and scroll to the bottom of the page. Teachers can find additional wild turkey information and resources at mi.gov/turkey and at nwtf.org. Find additional DNR education and outreach opportunities and resources at mi.gov/dnreducation. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is committed to the conservation, protection, management, use and enjoyment of the state’s natural and cultural resources for current and future generations. For more information, go to www.michigan.gov/dnr.