Mrs. Bell’s December News
Teacher’s Note
I hope everyone had a relaxing,
enjoyable Thanksgiving Break!! It is
hard to believe December is here
already, and there are only three weeks
of school until Christmas break.
December is always a very busy but
exciting time of year!
Conferences
It was very nice meeting with so
many of you during conferences. If you
have any questions or concerns
between now and the next conference
period in February, please don’t hesitate
to contact me by phone at 465-0060,
through e-mail at jbell@wlstigers.org, or
through the assignment books.
Canned Foods
Instead of having a gift exchange this
year, the second grade teachers have
decided to hold a canned food drive.
Several of the local food pantries are in
need of food, and since
Christmas is a time of giving
we felt this would be an
appropriate replacement for the gift
exchange.
We would like each student to donate
one canned food item, but if students
would like to donate more we will
certainly accept it. Students can bring
their canned food in anytime between
now and Christmas break.
Santa Shoppe
The Santa Shoppe will be open next
week, December 7-11. The envelopes
were already sent home. Our class will
be visiting the Santa Shoppe on
Tuesday and Thursday of next week.
Students may purchase gifts on either
day.
Subjects
Math We are currently studying a
chapter over 2-digit addition. We will be
working on this chapter for the next few
weeks, and I am planning on giving the
test during the week of December 14. I
will let you know the exact date closer to
the time. Our next chapter will be over
2-digit subtraction. We will start the
chapter before Christmas break and
finish in January.
We will continue to have the addition
and subtraction timed tests at the end of
each month, so please keep practicing
the facts at home. With the holiday
season upon us, flashcards would make
an excellent stocking stuffer 
Science and Social Studies We are
still working on our unit over map skills.
We should finish before Christmas
break. We will then move on to a
science unit about the adaptations polar
animals make to survive in the extreme
cold.
Reading We are finishing our second
reading unit this week. Students are
taking their Unit 2 Reading Test today
and tomorrow (December 2-3).
Students completed the writing and
extended response parts of the test
today, and they will do the rest of the
comprehension and grammar parts on
Thursday.
Next week we will start Unit 3 by
reading a story out of the reading book,
and the week before Christmas break
we will be reading some Christmas
books.
During the third reading we will be
learning more about dictionaries and
thesauruses, and we will work on using
calendars and illustrations to find
information.
Grammar During this last unit, we have
talked about common nouns, proper
nouns, plural nouns, possessive nouns,
antonyms, and using commas in a list in
preparation for the Unit 2 Reading test.
During our next reading unit, we will
focus on verbs. The class will learn
about action verbs, present tense verbs,
past tense verbs, linking verbs, and
subject-verb agreement during the unit.
We will also talk about abbreviations
and book titles briefly before the next
unit reading test in January.
Writing Next week we will be starting a
unit on writing friendly letters. Students
will learn about the different
parts of a letter, the position of
the different letter parts, and the
correct punctuation that is used when
writing a friendly letter.
Handwriting We have just started
learning the lowercase cursive letters.
We will not be learning the letters in
order of the alphabet, but instead we will
learn letters together that are made
similarly. For instance, we started with
the letters i, t, and u because they all
use the same basic letter formation.
Please encourage your child to practice
the letters at home as we learn them in
class.
Spelling Following this week, we will
have two more spelling lists before
Christmas break. Next week’s spelling
list will be from the reading series, as
usual. The final week before Christmas
break there will be a list of Christmas
words, and the class will help choose
the words for the spelling list.
Upcoming Events
Now until Christmas Break-Students
can bring in canned foods
December 2-3 Unit 2 Reading and
Writing test
December 8-12 Santa Shoppe
Our class will be visiting on Tuesday
and Thursday (Dec. 8 and 10)
December 9 1 hour delay, staff
development
Week of December 14 Unit 4 Math
Test, exact date to be determined
December 23-January 1
No School, Christmas Break
January 4 School Resumes
I hope you all have a
wonderful Christmas break
and a very happy New Year!