January 17th-20th

Happy Chinese New Year!

     Well, not really.  Chinese New Year is this coming Sunday (January 22nd) but we are learning about this tradition all week as part of our Language Arts integration with Social Studies.  Today in class we read Lion Dancer:  Ernie Wan's Chinese New Year.  Please ask your child what this non-fiction book was about.  We will continue to research this topic over the course of the week.  These leads me to our first "webquest" of the year which is completely optional.  In an effort to motivate and excite your student I will be posting webquests at least twice a month through the blog (The webquests will of course still be available to students who do not check the blog but will require them going to the bookmark).  Have your student click on this link:  http://www.infoplease.com/spot/chinesenewyear1.html and read about Chinese year.  Once they have read about Chinese New Year (and taken the quiz at the bottom if they like;) then please have your student go to https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGtGRlVGOTVfUVlkWVBZR3p2MVU4U1E6MQ and complete four questions about the Webquest.  As this is the first one of the year and I am trying to familiarize myself with google.docs please be patient with it being "rough around the edges."  Hopefully, in a few weeks in will be very engaging.
     Aside from this new development, the rest of this short week will be action packed with our brand new electives, 2nd Quarter Math Assessments, Running Record Literacy Assessments, and Weather Science Experiments.  Don't forget that next Wednesday we will be having a celebrity Meteorogist visit the 2nd grade to talk to your child about weather. 
     The word of the week is illusory which means deceptive, based on an illusion.  Please encourage your child to use this word as well as last weeks word "emulate" to drum up their language skills.  In a related note, Noah Anderson made it to the 9th round of the School Wide Spelling Bee!  All of the Heroes are especially proud of this young man so be sure to give him a high-five if you see him in the hallways! 

Other important things:

     *The PTA Book Exchange is this Friday.  Please have any books that you wish to donate turned in by tomorrow.  So far I have recieved about 8 books.  Remember that any gently used books that you wish to donate will be welcomed regardless of difficulty level!
     *There is No School on Monday, January 23rd as it is a Teacher Workday
     *Readathon begins on Tuesday, January 24th.
     *One Hunter Family Night is Friday, January 27th starting at 4pm for the students and 5 pm for the parents.
     *Yearbook orders can be sent in by February 15th for the early bird price of $14, after that the price goes up to $17 (an extra $3, which as we all know can be used toward a CookOut Milkshake:)