Ms. Earner's Blog

We have a busy week, before we leave for Christmas break!

Phonics - we will review compound words and "y" as a vowel. We will look at consonant digraphs as well.

Spelling - unit 16 words have long "o" sounds. The words this week are: old, know, road, cold, grow, hold, low, told, own, coat, picture, next, bring, brought, and read.

Reading - the two stories this week are "Four Clues for Chee" and "Young Cam Jansen." This is the last week to get the accelerated tests completed.

Math - we will continue with telling time. Please practice this at home with your child.

Religion - we will continue in our Making Things Right book.

~ On Thursday, we will see the Kindergarten play in Church.
~ Friday, we will have our Christmas prayer service at 11am. Dismissal will follow at 11:30.
~ I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year! Classes resume on January 5th.

Ms. Earner

Here is what we are doing this week in room 111...

English - continue with the grammar book. We will have a d.o.l. quiz on Friday.

Spelling - unit 15. These words are: my, try, mile, cry, fry, nice, by, sky, fine, dry, best, across, either, toward, and sometimes.

Phonics - unit 5. We will work on one and two syllable words, compound words, "y" as a vowel, and words that end in "le."

Reading - the 2 stories this week are "New Best Friends" and "Wanted: Best Friend." Please be sure to check with your child to see how many stickers they have for December.

Math - we will have our test on money tomorrow (Tuesday) and start chapter 7 - TIME - on Wednesday.

SS - the test will be on Thursday, and the vocab quiz will be on Friday. We will send home a study guide and the book. The test will have: vocab, forms of transportation, needs and wants, service workers, 3 things you can do with your money (earn, spend or save) make a prediction about what might happen next, and how to read a map (N, E, S, W.)

Religion - we will start our "Making Things Right" book this week. This book will help us get ready for the sacrament of Reconciliation.

Have a great week!!!
Ms. Earner

Happy Monday, and Happy December! I can't believe Christmas is right around the corner! I hope you all enjoyed the holiday with family and loved ones! We are back in school mode, and have many things going on...

English - we will continue to work with our grammar book this week.

Phonics - we will have a short quiz tomorrow on initial and final blends. On Wednesday, we will have the end of unit quiz, which will cover hard and soft "g" and "c" plus initial and final blends.

Spelling - unit 14 covers long "e" words. Here is the list of all 15 words: sea, week, eat, beef, neat, need, seat, seem, read, see, children, high, city, room, and place.

Reading - the two stories this week are "The Storykeeper" and "People, People Everywhere." Homework for Wednesday night will be to read "People, People Everywhere." Since we are only in school for 3 weeks in December, the children will have to take and pass 3 accelerated tests for this month.

Math - we will continue the chapter on money. This week, we are using the fewest amount of coins, different ways to make $1.00, and we will retell a math story and draw pictures to go with it. Our end of unit test will be next week Tuesday. Please continue to practice counting money with them.

Social Studies - we are discussing the terms factory, producing, and consuming. Also, we will use a map to follow a route and finally explain choices that people make about earning, saving and spending money. The test will be next Thursday Dec. 11th, and the vocab quiz will be Friday Dec. 12th. Study guides and information will be sent home next week.

Religion - in chaper 9 "We Learn About God's Love" we will discuss God's creations, and how we care for them.

~ Tues: band concert at 7pm
~ Wed: special lunch
~ Thurs: Christmas crafts night at 5:30
~ Fri: NO SCHOOL!

Have a fantastic week!!!
-Ms. Earner

Just a couple quick reminders and notes before we have Thanksgiving break...

*Monday and Tuesday is 11:30 dismissal.

*Monday afternoon / night is parent - teacher conferences. I'm looking forward to meeting with you all!

*Some people have been asking about Reconciliation and Communion dates. So, save the dates February 18th (Reconciliation) and May 2nd (Communion). More details will follow...

*Tomorrow, the 5th graders will lead our prayer service @ 10:45, in church. Please know that all are welcome to attend.

*Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!! Enjoy spending time with family, friends and loved ones!

Ms. Earner

My blog is up and running again! Sorry for any inconvience this may have caused. This week, we will be working on...

English - continue to use our Grammar book. We will be reviewing the 4 types of sentences, and nouns. We will also have a D.O.L. quiz on Friday.

Phonics - this week we will cover final blends "ft" and also review high frequency words.

Spelling - the 10 words this week have long "a" and the 5 extra words are been, friends, show, since, and those. Please check the planner for a list of all these words.

Reading - we took our unit 2 test last week. Those have been corrected, and will be returned at parent - teacher conferences. The 2 stories this week are "How I Beat the Giants" and "Play Ball." Homework Wednesday night is to read "Play Ball." Also, we only have 7 school days left for November. Most of the children have their 4 stickers for accelerated reading. Please check with your child to see how many they have.

Math - Friday we took our test on chapter 5. Overall the children did very well! Today we will start our chapter on money. If you have an opportunity, please practice counting change with them (up to 99 cents).

SS - we are continuing chapter 3. We will look at services and workers in our community, Florence Nightingale, and a diagram of a fire engine.

Religion - we will continue to discuss "We Say We Are Sorry" and also talk about penance.

MISC...
~ If you have not turned in the report card envelope, or blue sheet, please do so asap.
~A pink 1/2 sheet of paper will be going home today with your schedule for conferences. I'm looking forward to meeting with you all on Monday, November 24th!
~Finally, Friday will be an out of uniform day for one dollar. The money collected will go to local charities.

Have a great week!
Ms. Earner

Can you believe that it's already November? The time sure did go fast! Here is what we will be working on this week:

English: we have been making up our own narrative stories. We will finish those up this week and go to the computer lab to type our final copies. Our 4th d.o.l. quiz will be Friday.

Phonics: we took our quiz on chapter 3 Friday. We will start chapter 4 and work on varient consonant sounds and blends, hard and soft g and "l" blends.

Spelling: the words this week have vowel consonant e patterns. The 5 extra words are call, enough, full, heard and until.

Reading: our 2 stories are "Spiders Up Close" and "Anansi and the Talking Melon." Thanks to all who have encouraged your child to read! All of our kids had passed 4 accelerated tests for the month. We are now working on stickers for November.

Math: we will start chapter 5 this week and work on place value and patterns to 100, reading and writing numbers to 100, and extending skip counting patterns. Please continue to work on flashcards with your children. Some of the mistakes that are being made on tests and quizzes are addition and subtraction facts that they already know!

SS: chapter 3 is "Working Together." We will discuss the vocab for the unit, basic principles of economics, and making decisions about our money.

Religion: "We Think About our Choices" is chapter 7. The 10 Commandments, mortal sin, and venial sin are some things we will be going over.

***MISC***
~Today, we will have a presidential debate.
~Tuesday is election day! The students here at SJF will be voting in our Conference Room for the next president! (Last week, we registered to vote!)
~Wednesday is special lunch - Barraco's.
~Friday is the last day of the trimester! Report cards will be handed out next Friday.

I hope you all have a wonderful week. Enjoy the nice weather!!!

Ms. Earner

Halloween is Friday! The kids can come in with their costume and may bring in candy for the class. We have 24 kids in our class. This week:

English: we are starting Chapter 4 - Writing a paragraph

Phonics: this week will be our end of unit quiz on long vowel sounds. The quiz will be on Thursday.

Spelling: unit 10 words have short vowel sounds. The extra 5 words are why, animal, before, between and know.

Reading: our 2 stories are "The Old Gollywampus" and "Snakes." Please read "Snakes" on Wednesday for homework. Also, a reminder that Friday is the last day of October, which means that your child must have passed 4 accelerated reading tests for this month. (70% or higher) Check with your child to see how many stickers they have. If 4 tests are not passed, their reading grade will be lowered.

Math: this week, we will look at strategies to add 3 numbers, what is the rule in a table of given numbers, and solving multiple step problems with addition and subtraction.

SS: the test for unit 2 will be on Wednesday. (The vocab quiz will be on Thursday.) Things to study are the vocab words on p. 52 - 53, cause and effect p. 54 - 55, how to read a map p. 60 - 61, natural resources p. 76 - 77, how to read a bar graph p. 80 - 81, and know at lease 2 ways to show conservation p. 82 - 83. We will make a study guide in class and study together. The books will be going home tonight, and tomorrow.

Religion: we will finish Chapter 6 and discuss the parts of Reconciliation, Jesus forgives, and ways to reconcile with others.

Have a safe and Happy Halloween!!!
Ms. Earner

This week, we are very busy!!!

English - test on unit 3 NOUNS. Today, the children did a practice test which should help them for the test Tuesday and Wednesday. Pages 76, 77, 80, and 81 will also be a great study guide for them.

Phonics - this week, we are looking at mostly a review of long vowel sounds. Our chapter 3 quiz will be sometime next week on long vowels.

Spelling - the 10 words end with nk, or ng. The extra 5 words are almost, another, around, under and food.

Reading - "Furry Mouse" and "Two Mice" are the stories this week. We will learn how to activate prior knowledge to make predictions about these stories.

Math - we will continue with fact families, and also look at how to solve problems by drawing pictures, and we will use fact families to find missing addends.

SS - we are almost finished with Unit 2. Our test will be next week. I'm not too sure what day yet, maybe Wednesday? We will finish by reading about natural resources and how do we conserve them. Also, we will look at a bar graph and answer questions about it.

Religion - the children have been discussing making good choices. We will explore the concept of Reconciliation and describe its parts.

MISC -
*Tuesday is the last day for our magazine drive. If you have not turned those in, this is the last day to do so.
*Wednesday is our field trip to Navy Pier. Children may wear play clothes and bring a brown bag lunch.

Have a wonderful week!
Ms. Earner

Another short, 4 day week ahead! I hope you all enjoyed the long weekend! Here is what we will be covering...

English: we will finish up our unit in nouns this week. We will look at compound words in our final lesson. We will start to review at the end of the week, and also make a study guide. The tests will be on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. Also, we will have a d.o.l. quiz this Friday.

Phonics: the worksheets this week will cover long "u" and long "e" words. The end of unit quiz on long vowels will be the week of October 27th.

Spelling: our unit 8 words have consonant clusters. The 5 extra words are: because, don't, carry, whole, and goes. Homework for Tuesday night will be 4 x each. Please check the planner for a list of all the words.

Reading: the stories this week are "Eye Spy" and "Seeing." Thank you for encouraging your child to read everyday! It really does make a big difference. Also, we are half way through October. Check with your child to see how many stickers they have for this month. We require 4 passing tests each month.

Math: we will finish chapter 3 this week and take a test on Wednesday. There will be a homework paper sent home on Tuesday which will be very similar to the test they will take. Chapter 4 is Using Addition and Subtraction. We will begin with fact families.

Social Studies: this week, we will read about Native Americans, orchards, and Cesar Chavez. I'm thinking the test will be the week of October 27th. More details will follow...

Religion: we will continue to discuss "Our Forgiving Father" and how to make decisions between right and wrong.

***Don't forget our trip to Navy Pier is Wednesday, October 22nd. If you have not turned in the form or money, please do so. It is due Tuesday the 14th. We will pick chaperones out of a hat this week also. Thanks to all who are willing to join us, but I can only take 5 volunteers with.

Have a great week!!!

Ms. Earner

We had a very busy week so we didn't cover everything I had hoped we would. Three special assemblies took place this week. First, we saw a performance of Aladdin on Wednesday. They did an amazing job, and the kids loved it. On Thursday, we had a couple people from the City of Chicago come in to talk with the 2nd grade about how we should be safe when crossing streets, and always have a walking buddy! Finally, today we kicked off our magazine drive. A packet when home with your child today, please consider helping out with this fundraiser. If you have any questions, please let me know. Monday - Thursday...

Eng: contiue unit 3 on nouns. We have learned all about nouns and special nouns. We will look at nouns that name days, months and holidays, plural nouns (when to add "s" or "es") and irregular and plural nouns. Also, they took their 2nd d.o.l. quiz today.

Phonics: we are still working on chapter 3 - long vowel sounds. This week we will cover long "o" words.

Spelling: in unit 7, we will look at words that have the vowel sound in "ball." The extra 5 words are keep, mother, new, warm and myself. Since the there is no school on Friday, our test will be Thursday.

Reading: we just finished our unit 1 test today. I have graded most of them, but not all. So, I will have them returned on Monday. Please take a look at the test, sign, and return to school on Tuesday. Our 2 stories this week are "Ugly Duckling" and "Duck."

Math: this week we will look at using doubles to find related subtraction facts, use addition facts to find differences, solve related addition and subtraction facts, and identify parts of a bar graph. Thank you for continuing to working with your child on flashcards. I can see how they have improved!

SS and Rel: we will play catch up and look at landforms, bodies of water, comparing families in communities, offer prayers of petition, recognize heroes, and identify saints. I was hoping to have already covered these things, but didn't get to it...

***Misc***
~ There will be NO SCHOOL on Friday (10th) or Monday (13th)! We have a meeting Friday, and Monday is Columbus Day.
~ Thanks for all who brought in poptarts and soap for the troops! Sr. Jean said it was a huge success!
~ Finally, we have been talking in class about how we need to make sure to ask questions when we don't understand things, check and double check your work, use nice neat handwriting always, and taking your time when doing assignments, quizzes or tests. Overall, we have been having trouble with this. A friendly reminder daily doesn't hurt!

Have a nice weekend!!!
Ms. Earner