Valentine's Day 2014

My dear 2nd graders brought in some thoughtful gifts.  The smiles on their faces when they handed them to me were amazing.  I love my class, and I am always so happy because of what I do everyday.

Thank you!
Ms. Bhopla

FINAL Zebra Assignment

This is your final zebra blog post assignment.  Be sure to finish all of your work, put your packet in the right order, and bring it to school on Monday, February 3, 2014.  Remember to sleep early the night before, and ALWAYS eat a good and healthy breakfast.

Assignment:  Write a paragraph with 5 or more sentences.  The topic:  If you were asked to compete in a one mile race, how would you train.  Use your bucket outline strategy to complete this assignment.  It is only one paragraph long.  Use transition words, be sure to indent, correct spelling and punctuation must be used.  Be neat.

Off Track - Zebra #16

This is a quick write assignment.  Please write non-stop for 10 minutes.  You will need a piece of paper, pencil and a timer.  If you don't have a timer, you can use a watch, or ask someone in your family to watch the clock for you.

The goal of this assignment is to write non-stop.  If you do this, you are practicing putting your brilliant ideas on paper.

Here is the topic…

Imagine that one day, in your city, in your state, in your country, and in your world, there were no numbers.  Everywhere you went, there would be no numbers.  For example, a house would have a word on it, like, "bird" or "paper".  So the address would not have a number in it.  Or, when you went to the store, and you wanted to buy a loaf of bread, the bread would not have an amount for the price.  It would have a picture, like a picture of a pair of glasses.  If you wanted to buy the bread, you would have to give the store your glasses.  So, back to the quick write topic.  If the world became numberless, what would life be like.   Please be creative, and think about different examples of what would happen.

Go!

Off Track - Zebra #15

Just a note… the last blog for Off-Track C will be Tuesday, January 28, 2014.  For the rest of the week, work on finishing you packets.

You are expected to bring all of your work to school on Monday, February 3, 2014.

Continue the great work and dedication!

Here is an assignment giving you practice with synonyms.  Synonyms are words that are spelled differently, but mean the same.  Remember, both words, synonyms and same start with "s".

Here are examples of 2 synonyms:  smile and grin
The child smiled at his mother.
The child grinned at his mother.

Notice that both smile and grin mean making a happy face.  They both can be used in the sentence.

Please give at least 2 synonyms for each of these words.  Write sentences using the synonyms that you came up with.  You may use the dictionary.  Remember to use book dictionaries.

mend
rapidly
task
tore
imaginary
cabin
wail
tilt
grow
dirty

You are great students!  Stay focused and confident in what you know!

Off Track - Zebra #14

Dear Students:  I hope you are having an excellent, nice day!

This assignment will give you practice with comprehension.  Comprehension is understanding what you read.  If you read something, and you don't understand it, then it would be a waste of your precious time.  So let's first think about some strategies for comprehension.

Clap out com-pre-hen-sion: the word has 4 syllables.  For fun, let's learn four strategies.

1)  Very quickly read through the questions before you read the passage.
2)  Read the passage while underlining key words.  Be sure not to underline everything!
3)  Start answering the questions, and be sure to look back at the passage for the answer.
4)  Use context clues to figure out meaning of words (definitions).

There are many other strategies, but the four above will help you get started in becoming a super comprehender!

Here is the passage from Matilda by Roald Dahl.

Chapter Title:  Miss Honey

     Matilda was a little late in starting school.  Most children begin Primary School at five or even just before, but Matilda's parents, who weren't very concerned one way or the other about their daughter's education, had forgotten to make the proper arrangements in advance.  She was five and a half when she entered school for the first time.
     The village school for younger children was a bleak brick building called Crunchem Hall Primary School.  It had about two hundred and fifty pupils ages from five to just under twelve years old.  The head teacher, the boss, the supreme commander of this establishment was a formidable middle-aged lady whose name was Miss Trunchbull.

Comprehension Questions:

1)  Why did Matilda start school so late compared to other children?

2)  The author, Dahl, uses alliteration in the passage.  Alliteration is where many of the words start with the same letter.  Example:  The green glue stuck onto the glass.  g - g- g.  Please find the words in the passage that show alliteration.

3)  What does the word pupil mean in the passage?

4)  Who is Miss Trunchbull, and how is she described in the passage?  List the adjectives.

Go back one more time, and double check to see if you have answered your questions completely.