Spelling Words

The spelling words for the week of May 19-23 are:

debt, dried, dry, exhaust, exercise, explosion, grammar, Indian, journey, journal, courage, laid, lay, package, pack, physical, praise, properly, searched, smooth, thirteen

Spelling Words

The spelling words for the week of May 12-16 are:

statement, state, perhaps, their, they, imprison, written, writ, arrange, ankle, appears, bracelet, brace, breathe, breath, calm, circus, consented, continued, continue, dangerous

Spelling Words

There will be no spelling words for the week of May 5-9.  We have our field trip, end-of-the-year testing, an assembly, and all sorts of fun stuff.  We will have regular words May 12-16. 

Spelling Words

The spelling words for the week of April 28-May 2 are:

present, present, action, act, justice, just, gentleman, gentle, enclose, await, suppose, wonderful, forward, backward, toward, although, prompt, attempt, whose, who

*20 words this week

Spelling Words

The spelling words for the week of April 21-25 are:

due, dew, include, allow, position, ledge, claim, primary, result, appoint, information, whom, who, arrest, themselves, self, calves, calf, halves, half, special

Shoe Boxes

If you have shoe boxes, will you send one to school with your child?  We need them for an upcoming project in science.  Please send them by Friday, May 2.  Thanks for your help!

Poems

The poems for the last grading period are below.  Please help your child pick one to memorize.  They will be presented in class on Wednesday, May 21.  

Sing Me a Song of Teapots and Trumpets

Sing me a song

of teapots and trumpets:

trumpots and teapets

and tippets and taps,

trippers and trappers

and jelly bean wrappers

and pigs in pajamas

with zippers and snaps.

Sing me a song

Of sneakers and snoopers:

Snookers and sneapers

And snappers and snacks,

Snorkels and snarkles,

A seagull that gargles,

And gargoyles and gryphons

And other knickknacks.

Sing me a song-

But never you mind it!

I've had enough

Of this nonsense.  Don't cry.

Criers and fliers

And onion ring fryers-

It's more than I want to put up with!

Good-bye!

-by N. M. Bodeker

Mrs. Brownish Beetle

When it was October

and a hard frost came

Mrs. Brownish Beetle

(I don't know her other name)

said:  “Dear me, it's chilly,”

said:  “My coat is thin,”

said:  “Land sakes, I'd better find

A place to cuddle in.”

So, Mrs. Brownish Beetle

After several tries

Found a hole beneath a stone

That was a beetle's size,

And said:  “Oh my, how lucky,”

Said:  “How very nice,”

Said:  “I'll snuggle down away

From wind and snow and ice.

“I'll set my clock at April,”

Mrs. Beetle said,

I'll wind it up and put it here

beside my little bed.”

So Mrs. Brownish Beetle

(I don't know her other name)

nestled down and went to sleep

and slept till April came.

-by Aileen Fisher

The Snail

The snail is very odd and slow.

He has his mind made up to go

The longest way to anywhere

And will not let you steer him there.

Today I met one in the grass

And hadn't time to watch him pass,

But coming back at sunset, I

Discovered him still traveling by.

The grass-blades grew so thick and tall

I asked him why he climbed them all,

And told him I had sometimes found

The shortest way was going 'round.

He was not easy to persuade,

To judge by any sign he made,

And when I lectured him some more

Went in his house and shut the door.

-Grace Hazard Conkling

Spelling Words

The spelling words for the week of April 14-18 are:

crowd, factory, publish, represent, term, section, relative, relate, progress, progress, entire, president, preside, famous, fame, serve, estate, remember, either, effort

*We have only 20 words this week.  For the last grading period, we will have 21 words each week.   

Spelling Words

The spelling words for the week of April 7-11 are:

passengers, remained, retreating, style, subtract, tailor, thumb, trial, voyage, whisper, wrong, sometimes, engage, final, terrible, surprise, period, addition, employ, property, select, connection, connect, firm, region, religion, convict, private, command, debate

Spelling Words

The spelling words for the week of March 24-28 are:

nearly, too, two, to, animal, basin, breeze, button, cabbage, careful, cough, cousin, dollars, excuse, excuse, island, grief, guard, guilty, hungry, language, laughter, laugh, lining, line, ocean, nephew, nineteen, noticed, notice

Spelling Words

The spelling words for the week of March 17-21 are:

clerk, though, o'clock, support, does, do, regard, escape, since, which, length, long, strength, strong, destroy, newspaper, daughter, naughty, caught, taught, answer, reply, sale, sail, cities, city, known, know, several, desire

Read Across America

Our school is participating in Read Across America for the month of March.  Your child should be recording how many minutes s/he reads each night.  Please sign his/her form and send it to school each week.  Thanks for encouraging your child to read at home!

Spelling Words

The spelling words for the week of March 10-14 are:

repair, troubling, trouble, entrance, importance, important, carried, carry, loss, fortune, empire, mayor, wait, degree, prison, engine, visit, guest, guess, department, obtain, family, favor, Mrs., Mr., Miss, husband, amount, human, view

Poems

The poems for this grading period are below.  They will be presented in class on Wednesday, April 9. 


Clouds

It's fun to see the clouds go by

When the wind is low.

Like fat and mournful sheep they pass,

Bumpy and woolly and slow.

It's fun to see them change to lambs

When the wind is high,

And trot across the sky's blue grass,

Hurrying to get by.

Small sheep racing across the sun,

Large sheep, fat and slow,

And the shepherd wind that drives

them on--

I wonder where they go?

-by Marchette Gaylord Chute

Barefoot Days

In the morning, very early,

That's the time I love to go

Barefoot where the fern grows curly

And grass is cool between each toe,

On a summer morning-O!

On a summer morning!

That is when the birds go by

Up the sunny slopes of air,

And each rose has a butterfly

Or a golden bee to wear;

And I am glad in every toe--

Such a summer morning-O!

Such a summer morning!

-by Rachel Field

Timid as a Mouse

Who says a mouse is timid?

“Timid as a mouse.”

I think a mouse is brave at night

To venture from his house

And hunt for things to nibble

And grass and twigs to chew,

When eyes are on the watch for him

The whole night through...

Eyes of owls and cats and skunks,

To mention just a few,

Watching for a little mouse

The whole night through.

-by Aileen Fisher

Morning

Will there really be a morning?

Is there such a thing as day?

Could I see it from the mountains

If I were as tall as they?

Has it feet like water-lilies?

Has it feathers like a bird?

Is it brought from famous countries

Of which I have never heard?

Oh, some scholar! Oh, some sailor!

Oh, some wise man from the skies!

Please to tell a little pilgrim

Where the place called morning lies.

--Emily Dickinson

Spelling Words

The spelling words for the week of March 3-7 are:

regular, repeats, sailor, sentence, shining, shine, surface, sweeping, sweeps, thief, waist, waste, waiting, weary, writing, writer, write, spend, enjoy, awful, awe, usual, complaint, auto, vacation, beautiful, beauty, flight, travel, rapid

Spelling Words

The spelling words for the weeks of *February 17-27 are:

Thursday, Saturday, admission, canoe, captain, cautious, caution, cellar, covered, creature, curtain, declared, declare, distance, distant, explain, floated, ghost, holiday, holy, knee, lemon, lying, lie, nails, needle, nobody, oar, palace, penny

*Students will have 5 words a day for the next 2 weeks.  They will write them in cursive for their homework.  Students will not have a spelling test on Friday, February 21.  The test for the 30 words will be on Thursday, February 27. 

Parent Teacher Conferences

Parent Teacher Conferences are coming up on Thursday, February 27 and Friday, February 28.  There is a sign-up sheet outside my classroom.  Please come in to sign up for a time or email me a time that works for you.  I look forward to meeting with you! 

Spelling Words

The spelling words for the week of February 10-14 are:

direction, direct, appear, liberty, enough, fact, board, September, station, attend, public, music, picnic, friends, friend, during, police, until, truly, true, whole, hole, address, request, raise, August, struck, getting, get, don't 
 

Poetry

Poems will be presented in class on Wednesday, February 19. 

Stage Fright

I wanted the role.

The Prince.

THE PRINCE

I got it.

I knew it.

I was totally convinced.

I memorized each line.

I learned them each by heart.

I studied and I studied

My perfect Prince-part.

But-

When I took center stage

            I stammered

            I Stuttered

            I Hemmed and

            I Hawed then

            Suddenly I shuddered.

My heart skipped a beat.

My Face turned bright red.

Until finally the Prince-words

Popped back into my head.

Though I'll always know

My mind simply snapped

I still got a thrill

When I took my last bow

As my classmates

            Stood up

            Shouted

            And

            Clapped.

-by Lee Bennett Hopkins

 First Snowfall

The little mouse

In her knothole house

Where her bed is warm and dry...

Does she get a shock

When it's snow o'clock

And whiteness fills the sky?

She only knows

About grass that grows,

And weed stalks turned to gold.

She never has heard

A single word

About the snow and cold.

On a sudden night

When the world turns white

and green and gold are through,

The little mouse

In her knothole house...

Does she wonder what to do?

--Aileen Fisher 

The Frost-Pane

What's the good of breathing

On the window

Pane

In summer?

You can't make a frost

On the window pane

In summer.

You can't write a

Nalphabet,

You can't draw a

Nelephant:

You can't make a smudge

With your nose

In summer.

Lots of good, breathing

On the window

Pane

In winter.

You can make a frost

On the window pane

In winter.

A white frost, a light frost,

A write-me-out-a-Picture-frost

Across the pane

In winter

-by David McCord

Spelling Words

The spelling words for the week of February 3-7 are:


population, proper, judge, weather, whether, worth, contain, figure, sudden, instead, throw, threw, personal, everything, rate, chief, perfect, second, slide, farther, duty, intend, company, quite, quit, quiet, none, knew, know, remain

Spelling Words

The spelling words for the week of January 27-31 are:

steal, strange, trophy, voices, voice, eight, ate, afraid, uncle, rather, comfort, election, elect, aboard, jail, shed, refuse, district, restrain, royal, objection, object, pleasure, measure, treasure, navy, forty, fourteen, fourth, four

Spelling Words

The spelling words for the week of January 21-24 are:

size, December, dozen, there, tax, number, October, reason, fifth, baking, bake, bowl, cheap, cheerful, chicken, driving, drive, echoes, echo, fairy, knock, leather, linen, mixture, nation, pause, peace, permission, rough, social

Music Concert

Our music concert is Tuesday, January 21 at 7:00.  If Mrs. McKay has sent home a speaking part with your child, please help him/her memorize it.  S/he should feel comfortable reciting it in front of an audience (brave souls!). 

Cursive

At the start of the 4th grading period second graders begin learning cursive.  They will have one page of cursive homework each night for the next few weeks.  At home, please encourage your child to do 5 perfect letters rather than several mediocre letters.  If you have questions, please let me know.