Communion picture
I have a really nice picture of all the kids before Communion. (Thanks to Mrs. Alvarez for sending it 
If you would like me to forward it, just send me an email!
Week of April 30th
What a beautiful day Saturday was!!! Congratulations to all the second graders who made their Communion. I’m so proud of them, and all the hard work they put into making that day so special! We only have about 5 weeks of school left. We are on our last chapter in many things! We continue to work with adverbs in english this week. The 15 spelling words this week are shine, rush, shoe, cash, short, dash, bush, shore, wash, shout, above, few, kept, number & sound. 4 x each is homework. We are almost at the end with phonics too. This week, we are working on prefixes, syllables, synonyms & antonyms. There will be a short quiz on Wednesday on prefixes. The two reading stories are “The Clubhouse” and “Lemonade for Sale.” Children will read the second story for homework on Wednesday night. Today is the last day for April AR stickers. They will need to get 4 stickers for May…and then we are done!!! In math, we continue to work on fractions. There will be a quiz on Wednesday on fractions. This week in social studies, we’ll discuss Ellen Ochoa and explain how customs & celebrations reflect an American love of individulism, inventiveness and freedom. We have finished our Joy, Joy books in Religion. Those will go home today. We will go back to our other book today discussing prayer. Friday is May Crowning! Children will have a half day, so they won’t need a lunch. And finally, we have our date set for our second field trip. It is on Tuesday, May 29th. I will not be picking chaperones for a little while, but per school policy, please know that you’ll need to have 4 parts completed for VIRTUS if you would like to attend. You can check with Mrs. Jane Zelek if you have any questions. Have a great week!!
Mrs. Kellam
Week of April 23rd
Happy Monday! I can’t believe that Communion is almost here! The kids are really excited. They are doing such a great job in practices. I know it’ll be even better Saturday.
In English we will begin the final chapter on adverbs and have a dol quiz on Friday. In phonics we will have a short quiz tomorrow on suffixes, and then begin prefixes. The 10 spelling words are: for, more, corn, or, door, fork, horse, torn, store, & born. We will not have reading stories this week because of the unit test. Also, students need to have 3 stickers for the month of April. Please check with me or your child if you aren’t sure how many tests they’ve passed. In Math we will begin working on fractions. As you all know, we are BUSY working on Mathletics. Several notes & emails have been sent to you about this. If you have any questions, just let me know. The money & t shirt orders are due by Monday. I think that is it for now Looking forward to seeing everyone on Saturday!!!!
Week of April 16th
I hope everyone had a nice Easter! Back to work here in 216. This week we are busy preparing for Communion, and the kids are really excited about it! We’ve been practicing our singing in church & the classroom. Besides Communion, we have 15 spelling words this week…bark, rich, gown, mew, jar, chat, whip, howl, card, wheels, along, front, probably, right & someday. 4 x each is homework. In phonics, we will work on suffixes, prefixes, synonyms, antonyms, and homonyms. Our two reading stories this week are “Tex and the T. Rex” and “Let’s Go Dinosaur Tracking” Because of Easter break, the students are required only 3 stickers this month. In Math we are continuing the chapter on geometry. For social studies we are discussing family history, immigrants, Ellis Island & why people came to America.
The Mathathon kicks off this week! If you have money that is ready to be returned, you can send it in. Please wrtie SUM FUN on the envelope. Also, Friday is an out of uniform day for $1. Just a reminder that the Communion banners & the $30 fee are both due tomorrow. This was in the letter sent home last month. If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Chermak.
Finally, thanks for thinking of me on my birthday! I received a very generous class gift today Mr. Kellam brought juice & treats in for the kids today too!!! Nice way to start a Monday, huh? Hope you all have a great week!
Mrs. Kellam
Week of March 26th
It is our last full week before Easter break! Even though we only have 8 school days left until break, we still have plenty to do! In English we continue working on pronouns. There will be a homework page in the grammar book tomorrow night. The test will be next Tuesday & Wednesday. Our 15 spelling words are far, farm, art, park, car, part, dark, star, hard, arm, cold, grow, most, & move. We will review high frequency words in phonics, and have a test on inflectional endings. (s, es, ing, ed.) Remember to keep in mind the rules we’ve gone over: doubling the final consonant, changing the y to i, or dropping the final e, and adding the ending. The two reading stories are “Splash” and “The Jellyfish.” Please sign the planner after “Jellyfish” has been read. The kids are doing such an amazing job with the Accelerated Reading. Because there are so many more tests, our classroom library has really become popular. Friday is the end of March though, and each child will still need to have 4 stickers for the month. Speaking of books…our class will be going to the Book Fair tomorrow from 12:30 – 1:00. Please have their money in a sealed envelope with their name on it, so it doesn’t get lost. In math, we will be discussing temperature in fahrenheit & celcius. We will not be taking a test on this chapter. We will begin geometry & fractions this week as well. Don’t forget about Mathletics!!! We should still be getting 1,000 points each week. You can find their scores in the planner. In social studies we will discuss our vocabulary words and recall and retell information in a logical sequence. Finally, we continue to work in our “Joy, Joy” book for Religion. The Lenten Alms boxes can be turned in next week. Have a great week!
Mrs. Kellam
Week of March 12th
Here’s a look at the week ahead…In English, we will begin discussing pronouns. There will also be a d.o.l. quiz on Friday. The 15 spelling words are how, new, cow, clown, blew, town, flew, now, grew, down, behind, only, sure, upon, & word. We continue to discuss word endings in phonics (s, es, ed, ing). There will be a test next week sometime. The 2 reading stories are “Two , Lunches at the Mill” and “Going to Town.” Also, there is some exciting news from the library. Mrs. Funk has added over 100,000 new tests onto Accelerated Reading. There is a new format on the program as well. This will take some getting used to. Please ask Mrs. Funk if you have any questions. (I’m learning, just like the kids : ) In math, we will begin measuring. The math tests will be going home tomorrow. I still have some kids absent & I’m waiting for them to take the test. Finally, we are working in our new book “Joy, Joy, the Mass” in preparation for Communion. I think that is all for now. Enjoy the beautiful weather this week!!!
Mrs. Kellam
Week of March 5th
Good morning! Here is what we are working on this week…the 15 spelling words are put, want, many, out, saw, who, off, any, from, her, began, Earth, ever, remember, & try. In phonics, we are learning about inflectional endings. The two reading stories this week are “Space Dreams” and “Man on the Moon.” We’ll read “Man on the Moon” Wednesday night for homework. We will finish our chapter in math this week & test on Thursday. The test will include adding and subtracting 3 digit numbers with & without regrouping, write how many hundreds, tens, and ones, greater than, less than, equal to, and writing numbers before, after, and between. In social studies, we are continuing to discuss the expansion of our country and how our country has changed. In religion we are learning about how Jesus shows love. Finally, Wednesday is special lunch! Have a great week
Mrs. Kellam
Week of February 27th
Hope you all had a nice weekend! As February ends, so does our 2nd trimester!!! Can you believe it? Time has flown by this year. We have another busy week in second grade. Here’s what we’re working on: In phonics, we will review contractions, abbreviations and plurals (s, es). There will be a quiz Friday on plurals. We have our English test on adjectives Thursday and Friday. A study guide will be going home before hand. We’ll also have a d.o.l. quiz Friday. We only have 10 spelling words this week. They are: hook, looked, days, sly, hood, being, weeks, frame, graze & stoop. As always, 4 x each is the homework. In math we are working on adding and subtracting 3 digit numbers this week. The kids are doing very well with this. We should be ready for a test sometime next week. We are discussing the expansion of our country & “moving west” in social studies. In religion, we continue with the Lenten theme. We will talk about reasons why we give up things we want, and how Jesus gave us His life for us. I think that is it for now! Have a wonderful week!!!
Mrs. Kellam
Week of February 21st
Here’s what is going on in room 216 this week…We will finish up our unit on adjectives and test next week, March 1st. In phonics, we continue working on contractions. We will have a quiz Thursday on contractions. The 15 spelling words this week are: wood, took, too, noon, good, root, book, boot, wool, food, family, finally, morning, paper & really. 4 x each is homework. Our reading stories this week are “Yawning Dawn” and “Missing: One Stuffed Rabbit.” Please sign your child’s planner after they have read “Missing” tomorrow night. Also, just a reminder that Friday is the last turn in for Mrs. Funk’s reading competition. Tally up the page numbers and send in the sheet Friday. We are moving right along in math! This week, we will order numbers to 1,000 (least to greatest, greatest to least), work in a group to solve problems, and have a quiz (Thursday or Friday.) The quiz will be on how many hundreds, tens, ones, greater than >, less than <, and equal to =. Also there will be questions on counting money, reading a chart and subtracting two digit numbers. Keep up the good work with Mathletics! The children are doing a great job! In social studies, we will discuss Paul Revere, Lewis & Clark, Sacagewea, and read a timeline. Finally, tomorrow begins LENT!!! We will attend mass at 10:00 & receive ashes. Please also keep your eye out for a special Lenten box & a calendar. We will be discussing the season of Lent this week. Hope you all enjoy the week! Spring is just around the corner…
Mrs. Kellam
January – February Archive
Week of February 13th
By Meghan Kellam on February 13, 2012 1:38 PM | No TrackBacks
Happy Monday! Here what we are working on this week…In english we are working on adjectives. The 15 spelling words are walked, looking, planted, asked, jumping, filling, talking, needed, spelling, played, able, early, own, story, & thought. We will have a test tomorrow in phonics on diphthongs ow, ow, oi, oy & ew. The 2 reading stories this week are “Paul Goes to the Ball” & “The Rooster Who Went to His Uncle’s Wedding.” The “Rooster” is homework on Wednesday. If your child is planning on earning their free ticket to Six Flags, those sheets are due on THURSDAY. No late forms will be accepted. We are having a math test tomorrow on: subtracting with or without regrouping, write an addition problem to check a subtraction problem, cross out information that is not needed & solve, telling time, use a chart to answer questions, 2 digit addition, and estimating. There is a homework paper going home tonight that will help. In social studies, we will be discuss Native American clothing, we will read a history map, and learn about our Independence from England. For Religion, we will talk about how we act of God’s love.
I’m sure you have not forgotten, but tomorrow is Valentine’s Day!!! Children may bring in cards & treats if they’d like. Also, there is an optional dress down day for $1. (Red and pink are encouraged.) Also, there is no school Monday in honor of President’s Day!
I think that is all for now. Hope you have a great week
Mrs. Kellam
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Week of February 6th
By Meghan Kellam on February 6, 2012 1:38 PM | No TrackBacks
Happy Monday! Hope you enjoyed watching the Super Bowl yesterday. It was a pretty exciting game, huh? Back to work today though! In english, we will be having our 9th d.o.l. quiz Friday. The 15 spelling words are birds, boxes, eggs, glasses, boats, dishes, boys, foxes, girls, wishes, large, wash, ready, says & today. In phonics, we will discuss ou, ow, oi, oy & ew sounds. There will be a quiz Friday on high frequency words. In math, we are continuing with 2 digit subtraction. The kids seem to be picking this up quickly, but a couple extra practice problems at home won’t hurt Practice makes perfect! Tomorrow we will have a short quiz on: subtraction, solving a two step problem, telling time, adding, subtracting, write a number sentence, and 2 digit addition with or without regrouping. We will also begin chapter 5 in social studies. We will go over our vocabulary words, sequence information and discuss different Native American groups. In religion, we will read about God’s word in scripture reading.
For Valentine’s Day next Tuesday, children can bring in a treat & a card if they’d like. And finally, the Girl Scouts are collecting shoes for “Share Your Soles.” If you have any shoes in good condition to donate, please bring them to school. Thanks! Have a nice week!!!
Mrs. Kellam
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Week of January 30th
By Meghan Kellam on January 30, 2012 11:27 AM | No TrackBacks
Happy Catholic School’s Week! It was so nice seeing so many of you yesterday at church & in our room! We’ve been working really hard. I appreciate you stopping in. Because it is Catholic School’s Week, we have so many fun & exciting activities planned. (Along with school work, of course!) The 15 spelling words are: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, about, different, father, important, & told. 4x each is homework. In phonics, we will discuss au & aw words today, and there will be a quiz tomorrow on vowel digraphs: aw, oo, ea, au. The 2 reading stories this week are “Birthday Joy” and “The Best Older Sister.” The second story will be homework on Thursday night. Also, tomorrow is the last day of January. Almost all the kids are done with their accelerated reading, but I still have a couple that need to finish. Also, don’t forget to turn in the reading sheets for Mrs. Funk’s winter reading competition. Those should be turned in on Friday. We will have a social studies test on Thursday, February 2nd. The hard cover book along with a study guide will be going home tomorrow. The vocab. quiz will be on Friday. Some of the events for this week include:
Monday ~ crazy sock day & St. Rita band concert
Tuesday ~ backwards day (SJF uniforms) & partner reading in the afternoon
Wednesday ~ special lunch, jersey day (over SJF uniforms) & game day – students can bring in their favorite game to play
Thursday ~ crazy hat day & Jessie White tumblers
Friday ~ special performers coming in the afternoon for us
I think that is all!!! Stay tuned for updates, if need be. Sorry if I have forgotten anything. I can tell it’s going to be a crazy week. Have a good one!
Mrs. Kellam
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Week of January 23rd
By Meghan Kellam on January 23, 2012 9:43 AM | No TrackBacks
Good morning! We survived our first measurable snow fall this weekend. Hope your commute home wasn’t too bad. This week in English we will be testing on verbs. The book & a study guide went home over the weekend. Many of the children said they had a chance to look it over before the test tomorrow. The book will be going home tonight as well. We’ll also have a d.o.l. quiz on Friday. In phonics, we will test on r-controlled vowels, and begin learning about vowel digraphs ea, oo, au & aw. The 15 spelling words this week are fly, clean, sleep, free, grade, drive, train, please, slow, ago, better, head, idea & still. 4 x each is homework. The reading stories this week are: “Hear the Cheers” and “Great Ball Game.” The “Great Ball Game” is the homework story on Wednesday night. The winter reading competition for Mrs. Funk has begun. Turn in those tally sheets each Friday. We are moving right along in math. Today we will add money. There will be a quiz tomorrow on adding 2 digit numbers & rounding to the nearest 10. There will also be a homework paper going home tomorrow as well. Wednesday we will add 3 numbers with or without regrouping, Thursday we will solve problems by guessing & checking, and Friday we will have a test! The test will cover: adding 2 digit numbers with & without regrouping, solve by guessing & checking, adding 3 numbers together, drawing coins to make a certain amount, round to the nearest 10 & solve, and use a chart to answer questions. Also, don’t forget about the Mathletics! The kids are doing such a great job!!! In social studies, we will identify functions of government, talk about Thurgood Marshall, discuss how to vote for leaders, and obtain information from visual sources. Wednesday is the big day!!!! We are very excited for our Reconciliation! We’ll be going over last minute details this week. Our time slot is 6:30. Please arrive a couple minutes early & wear your Sunday best! Finally, Sunday is Open House & 10am Mass. I hope to see you all there!!! Have a nice week!
Mrs. Kellam
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Winter Reading Competition
By Meghan Kellam on January 23, 2012 7:40 AM | No TrackBacks
“We Love Reading” Winter reading competition has begun! Parents should keep track of the pages your child has read or that someone reads to them. Each Friday I will tally the pages. Only those who bring their sheets back will count towards the total.
The teams are:
Preschool and 8th gr.
Kdg. and 7th gr.
1st and 4th gr.
2nd and 6th gr.
3rd and 5th gr.
The contest will end on Friday, February 24th.
Which Reading Team will win this year?
Thanks for your help with this
Mrs. Kellam
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Week of January 17th
By Meghan Kellam on January 17, 2012 10:15 AM | No TrackBacks
Happy Tuesday! I hope you all enjoyed the long weekend. We have a lot going on this week. In English, we are finishing the chapter on verbs. The test will be next Tuesday & Wednesday. More details will follow. The 15 spelling words are: boat, sheet, sack, spy, tea, ray, mask, lime, gold, jail, beautiful, become, even, great, & together. 4 x each is the homework tonight. We continue working with r-controlled vowels in phonics. (ir, er, ur) There will be a quiz Friday on high frequency words. For reading this week, we will have two stories & our unit skills test. The two stories are “A Good Laugh for Cookie” and “Moonbear’s Pet.” Moonbear’s Pet will be the homework story tomorrow night. In math, we are continuing with 2 digit addition with & without regrouping. Please practice with your child at home. This can be very confusing for them. We’ll have a quiz tomorrow on adding a multiple of 10 to a 2 digit number, read a table, addition / subtraction, even & odd numbers, and ordinal numbers. (1st, 2nd, 3rd …) Don’t forget about our Mathletics requirements. The quiz grade for the previous week will be written in your child’s planner each Monday. Since we didn’t have school yesterday, I wrote it today. So far, so good!!! We will discuss functions of a government this week in social studies. We are getting closer & closer to Reconciliation!!! We will finish Making Things Right before the big day. This week, we will also begin cursive writing! This is very exciting for the kids! Finally, we are still collecting Sunny D labels for books. If you have any, can you send them in with your child? Thanks so much! Have a great week.
Mrs. Kellam
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Week of January 9th
By Meghan Kellam on January 9, 2012 11:09 AM | No TrackBacks
HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope you all had a nice holiday, and are back in the swing of things. Here’s what we are working on the first full week back…in english, we will finish our unit on verbs. The test will be on January 24th & 25th. More details to follow. We’ll also have a d.o.l. quiz on Friday. The 15 spelling words are cook, sick, cave, kiss, rock, cake, kick, lock, look, luck, bring, brought, next, picture & read. 4 x each is the homework tonight. There will be a quiz on consonant digraphs, and silent letters in phonics, and we will begin discussing r-controlled vowels. Our 2 stories for reading this week are “Four Clues For Chee” and “Young Cam Jansen and the Dinosaur Game.” The homework story Wednesday night is Young Cam Jansen. Remember, we have begun a new month, which means 4 stickers for accelerated reading. Please see Mrs. Funk before or after school if you are having trouble finding books. We will have our math test tomorrow on chapter 7. The test will include telling time, reading a calendar, use a graph to answer questions, and addition & subtraction problems. We will begin 2 digit addition on Wednesday. Don’t forget about the Mathletics! The kids have been doing such a great job! Starting next week, a weekly quiz grade will be assigned based on how many points they’ve earned. In social studies, we begin chapter 4. We will discuss main idea, details, identify functions of government, describe how governments establish order, and read a table. We continue working in our Making Things Right book in Religion. Also, our time for Reconciliation is at 6:30p on January 25th. A note went home Friday with specifics. Also, it’s posted on my blog.
** Special lunch is Wednesday
** NO SCHOOL Monday for MLK
** Because we are about ½ way through the year, many children are saying they are running low on supplies: pencils, erasers, journals, crayons…please check with your child to see if you need to “re-stock” their inventory!
Have a wonderful week!!!
Mrs. Kellam
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Reconciliation
By Meghan Kellam on January 9, 2012 8:20 AM | No TrackBacks
Dear First Reconciliation Parent,
Your child’s First Reconciliation has been scheduled for Wednesday, January 25, 2012. We will have two sessions, at 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., for the second graders in our school and the Children’s Faith Formation program. The first session will include Mrs. Kellam’s and Mrs. Paluch’s homerooms The second session will have the students in Mrs. Nitsche’s homeroom and Mrs. McGlinchey’s C.F.F. class.
Parents and children should come to church a few minutes early and sit close to the front. We will begin with a short prayer service led by our parish priests. Next the children will have the opportunity to receive the sacrament individually. We will conclude the prayer service with a final prayer and blessing.
We strongly urge that you make this a special night for you and your child receiving the sacrament by leaving younger or older brothers and sisters at home. It is also a nice idea to celebrate afterwards by going out for ice cream, or planning a little dessert treat at home for a family celebration.
We hope this is a moment of special graces and blessings for your family as your child takes this next step in his or her faith development on Wednesday, January 25th.
Sincerely,
Sister Jean Ms. Chermak Mrs. Kellam Mrs. McGlinchey
Mrs. Nitsche Mrs. Paluch
Schedule, Wednesday, January 25, 2012:
6:30 p.m. – Children in Mrs. Kellam’s and Mrs. Paluch’s homerooms *
7:30 p.m. – Children in Mrs. Nitsche’s homeroom and Mrs. McGlinchey’s C.F.F. class*
If you have any questions, please call Ms. Chermak at (773)238-1851 or e-mail at echermak@sjfschool.net.
P.S. Please respect the solemnity of this event by not photographing your child as he or she is making his or her first confession.
* Parents with two or three second graders may choose the session to attend if their children are assigned to different homeroom times.
