Writing a Narrative Paragraph

The boys and girls wrote about a time when they did something they were sorry for and struggled with the dilemma of whether or not to tell an adult. This is similar to what happened to Maria, the main character in Too Many Tamales.

I want to tell you about when I made a mistake and I was afraid to tell my mom. First, I made a mistake and left my gloves at my cousin's house and I thought I would get in trouble but I was shocked and I told my mom and she called my dad and told him that my gloves were there. But I was lucky because my grandma bought me some more gloves. That's what I wanted to tell you about when I was scared.

One time when I went to Grandma's I was carrying a plate. Suddenly, I dropped it and on it was chicken, beans, and rice.

Let me tell you about when I was bad. I ate my mom's cake. Then my mom said, "Who ate my cake?"

I would like to tell you about something I did not tell Mommy. I threw my frisbee and it broke a window! I got on garden gloves. I took the pieces. They did not fit together! I had to tell Mommy.

First, I had to take my dog out. Then, my dog threw up. Last, I had to take her out. My dog threw up in the house.

Let me tell you about my mistake. I snuck a pie. I snuck a cooky. I snuck a Starburst.

Let me tell you about three mistakes. First, I wore mom's rings and I almost got in trouble. Then, I took a cooky before dinner. After I took the cooky, my mom didn't notice. Now, I know to make better choices.

I would like to tell you about a mistake. I went to the garage and got a wagon and went inside. I played for a while. Then, I remembered that wagon! So, I went outside. The wagon was gone! Last, the garage door opened. My mom stepped out. She said she put it away. That's the end of the story.

Penny Drive for Tsunami Victims

.
Thank you to the following second graders who generously contributed money to the Betsy Ross Penny Drive:

Kenedy
Hailey
Kya
Zachary
Ariana
Jonah

Spelling Words for Week of January 24, 2005

All but two of this week's words are contractions. Many of them appear in this week's story, Willie's Not the Hugging Kind by Joyce Durham Barrett. The test on words 1-12 will be on Friday, 1/28/05.

1. I'm
2. you're
3. let's
4. don't
5. didn't
6. we're
7. they're
8. can't
9. I've
10. wasn't

Bonus Words:

11. squeezing
12. shrieked

Thanks to Jonah's parents for sharing these great photos!

These are Adelie penguins--the same breed that is featured in Mr. Popper's Penguins!

.

.

.

Jonah's parents visited a tropical bird park in England.

.

.

.

These are Fairy Penguins.

These are penguin pictures from Ms. Prine's trip to Australia...

Spelling Words for the Week of January 1/18/05

This week's words have long /u/ spelled ew, oo, and ou. The test on words 1-15 will be on Friday, January 21, 2005. The story words come from Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto.

1. soon
2. room
3. drew
4. new
5. group
6. you
7. school
8. flew
9. food
10. grew

Story Words

11. few
12. too
13. argue
14. tamales
15. delicious (bonus word)

Spelling Words for the week of 1/9/05

This week's words have the /k/ sound spelled with c, k, and ck. The story words are from The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant. The test on all 14 (+ the bonus word) will be on Friday, January 14, 2005.

1. week
2. book
3. back
4. pick
5. care
6. car
7. took
8. kind
9. black
10. stick

Story Words:

11. came
12. could
13. crawled
14. crackers

Bonus word: January

Our latest read-aloud chapter book is Mr. Popper's Penguins by Florence and Richard Atwater. We're reading this novel in connection with our study of the polar regions and animal adaptations (science and social studies).

I would like to tell you some facts about penguins. Most females lay 1-2 eggs. They can't fly. There are weird names like Macaroni and Gentoo. Those are some facts about penguins. --Zachary

I want to tell you about penguins. Penguins eat squid and fish. Blubber keeps them warm. Eggs hatch in 45 days. That's what I learned about penguins. --Matthew

I want to tell you about penguins. The King penguin is 45 inches. The father penguin makes the nest. Blubber keeps them warm. Penguins spend their time in the water. Their eggs hatch in 45 days. That's what I learned about penguins. --Maria

Let me tell you about penguins. Penguins lay one or two eggs. Penguins eat squid. The biggest penguin is the King Penguin. That's what I know about penguins. --Liana

I want to tell you about penguins. They live in the South Pole. They eat fish. They lose feathers. --Isaiah

Let me tell you about penguins. Penguins can't fly. They build a rookery for their eggs. Male and females guard their eggs. That's what I learned about penguins. --Hailey

I want to tell you about penguins. What I think is cool is penguins go without eating for six weeks. Penguins live in Antartica. Some are huge. The Fairy is the smallest. That is what I know about penguins. --Dorian

Let me tell you about penguins. I thought that penguins have hair on their heads but they have feathers and they live 75% in the water. They learn to swim two or three months after they're (hatched). They have more feathers than any bird. That's what I learned. --Ariana

Spelling Words for the Week for the of 1-3-05

This week's words (1-10) have th, wh, ng; 11-14 are family words from our story "Shoes From Grandpa".

1. king
2. bath
3. song
4. while
5. them
6. math
7. sing
8. rang
9. which
10. bring

Family Words

11. grandpa
12. father
13. uncle
14. grandma