January 25, 2024

 LANGUAGE ARTS:  This week we read and discussed Weather Through the Seasons and Wild WeatherWeather Through the Seasons is an informational text while Wild Weather is a narrative nonfiction selection.  We worked on skills such as decoding words with the suffixes "y," "ly," "er," and "est," identifying subject pronouns (I, he, she, we, it, you, they) and object pronouns (me, him, her, us, them, you, it) in sentences, identifying and using reflexive pronouns (myself and ourselves) in sentences, identifying and explaining the meanings of homophones in sentences, spelling words with inflected endings "s" and "es,"  using story vocabulary in context, and learning ten new high-frequency words.

GUIDANCE:  On January 26 we will discuss lesson 2 in guidance class.  Lesson 2 is called "Rules and Choices."  In this lesson we will explain how good rules keep people safe.  We will also identify reasons for good rules.

FIRST EUCHARIST:  There is a parent/student meeting following the 9:00 A.M. Mass on Sunday, February 4 for those who are Catholic and will be making their First Eucharist in May.

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK:  Catholic Schools Week is January 28-February 2.  Many wonderful activities have been planned for this special week.  Please note the following:

SUNDAY, JANUARY 28:  Today is the opening of Catholic Schools Week with a Eucharist Celebration at 9:00 a.m. at Holy Spirit Church.  

 MONDAY, JANUARY 29:  This day is “Blue and Gold Day.”  Students can show their spirit for St. Malachy by wearing the St. Malachy colors of blue and/or gold.  If your child has a St. Malachy sweat shirt or T-shirt, today would be the perfect day to wear it!  STUDENTS ARE TO BRING A SACK LUNCH TO SCHOOL.  They will be eating with their Advent Angels.  Milk will be provided, so you do not need to send a drink.  Please note that refrigeration will not be provided, so plan accordingly.

 TUESDAY, JANUARY 30:  This day is “Dress as Someone from the Bible or Dress as Your Favorite Saint Day.”  Students can come to school as Moses (holding the Ten Commandments,) Mary, St. Joseph (carpenter,) Jonah (holding a stuffed whale,) St. Peter or St. Andrew (fishermen,) the shepherds or Wise Men who came to see Jesus, etc. 

 WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31:  This day is “Career Day.”  Students may come to school dressed as a grown-up does for their job/career.  For example, a students could come dressed as a doctor, teacher, nurse, musician, astronaut, construction worker, farmer, business person, etc.

 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1:  This day is “Socks, Crocs, and Birkenstocks Day.”  Students may come to school wearing crocs or sandals that show off their favorite "fun" socks!

 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2:  This day is “Grandparent or Special Guest Day/Dress Up Day.”  Students are encouraged to wear their “Sunday best” to school since it is such a special day.  Please have your child’s grandparent or special guest pick your child up at the school by 1:00 and go to Holy Spirit Church by 1:25 since Mass begins at 1:30.   If students need to ride the bus or trolley home after the Mass, there will be a trolley and bus waiting at the church to take students where they need to go.

January 18, 2024

LANGUAGE ARTS:  This week we read an informational text called Who Are Government's Leaders and watched/discussed a video called Thomas Edison and the Light Bulb.  We worked on skills such as identifying homophones (words that sound the same, but they're not spelled the same and do not mean the same such as "sea" and "see,") decoding words with the suffixes "ful" and "less," writing abbreviations for months, days, places, and titles for people correctly, identifying nouns that name people, using story vocabulary in context, and learning ten new high-frequency words.

GUIDANCE:  Tomorrow, January 19, second graders will begin lesson one in guidance class.  Guidance goes along with our religion series and focuses on family, friendships, and God's love.  There are ten lessons in the guidance book.  We will discuss a new lesson each Friday.

MATH:  This week we solved problems with dollar bills and coins.  Students also found different ways to make the same total value when counting coins.

FIELD TRIP:  Since we have been learning about money in math class, second graders will be taking a field trip to Iowa State Savings Bank to learn more about financial literacy.  Please look in today's take home folder for the permission slip to fill out so your child may attend.

HANDWRITING:  Second graders are beginning cursive handwriting! Before learning how to write our lowercase cursive letters, students have been learning the strokes used in cursive handwriting (undercurve, downcurve, overcurve, slant, and checkstroke.)  We have also discussed keys to legibility such as the shape, size, spacing, and slant of our cursive letters.

SPIRIT DAY:  Tomorrow, January 19 is a Spirit Day at St. Malachy.  Students can pay $1.00 to wear sweat pants to school if they wish.  The money raised will help those in need in our local community.