Dear Parents,

I would like to welcome you to my first weekly blog entry of the 2011/2012 school year!

You will find what has been taught in the class, upcoming test dates as well as other classroom related news in this blog.  It is updated every Friday so you can check it over the weekend. 

This year we have 11 students from 4 different countries!  The first week has flown by so quickly and we have got a lot done already.  This week, much of the time was spent on setting up the class routine.  I gave each student a job to do around the classroom.  Collaboratively they can all contribute to make sure that the class runs smoothly.  It is important that the students know their responsibilities and always complete their job before going home. 

We have also been looking at the various subjects for the year.  In Math, we reviewed concepts learned in the first grade and started Chapter One in the book on Number Concepts.  In Science, we talked about what a scientist does and how we can act like them to make self-discoveries.  We also started Chapter One of "Plants are Living Things" where we took a walkabout around the school collecting seeds, learned how to categorize them and finally planted them to track their growth.  In Reading and English class, we read our first class story and looked at how to recognize the story setting, characters and main idea. 

In Spelling I will give a spelling quiz on 10 words every Monday.  For the first 6 weeks the words will be from the Second Grade Dolch Sight List.  These words are commonly used words that students should know how to spell, use and recognize at the second grade level.  Not only should the students know how to spell them but also use them properly in sentences and easily recognize them when reading stories. 

We can discuss more about the class routine and various study subjects at the Parent-Teacher Meeting on the evening of September 15.  However if you have specific questions please email me (jamesanderson.his@gmail.com) or drop by before or after class to chat.

Quizzes and test for the week of September 5-9

Monday Spelling quiz on the following words: always, around, because, been, before, best, both, buy, call, cold.     

Thursday Math quiz on Chapter 1 (Number Concepts)

Congratulations to Ee Heng for being the most respectful student this week!

I hope you and your child are as excited about the school year as I am.  It's going to be full of self-discovery, fun and learning!

Have a great week,

James Anderson