Brrrrr!

I guess winter finally decided to arrive this year. It sounds like we're going to be getting some snow this weekend as well. I'm not too excited about this since we are starting to move into our new house. Oh well...

Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately for recesses. Proper clothes need to include snowpants, boots, a warm coat, hat, mittens, etc. Unless the temperature is -0 we will always go out for recess.

Also, our building is usually cold in the winter so it's a good idea to keep an extra sweatshirt or long sleeve shirt at school. Finally, it might be a good idea to send extra clothes to school in case their others get wet: socks, gloves, pants.

Time is Flying!

WOW!!! Where has the time gone?? I can't believe it is already December 1. We only have 14 days until Christmas break and I have A LOT to get accomplished.

During Daily 5 time we have started a new comprehension strategy: making connections. Students learned that if they can connect the book to their life or an experience they have had they can better understand the story and know how the character may be feeling during the story. I have ready several stories to the kids and have told them my connections to the stories. They are just starting to practice this themselves. When your child is reading with you at home encourage him/her to stop and make connections throughout the story.

Please remember to have your child read nightly for 15-20 minutes. I know everyone is busy but it's important that they "show off" their reading skills to you as well.

Your child may have mentioned that we are not doing Word Work this week. It's true!! I didn't get a lesson taught last week due to the short week. We will resume Word Work next week.

I continue to have busy little beavers during writing time. I read to them Thank you Mr. Falker on Monday and demonstrated how writers can write about an important person. Your 2A child did this and did an amazing job!! They now know that they can continue to write about important people in their lives during Writer's Workshop time.

****We have our Mega Party on Tuesday, December 14th and I am in search of volunteers to help out! Second grade has their party with first graders from 12:45-1:50. I would need help from 12:30-2:00.

I believe our newly formed PTO sent out an email asking parents to volunteer to help at this celebration by either monitoring the equipment, making popcorn, or just supervising. If you are interested, please let me know ASAP. You can either email me, call me, or send a note with your child if you are interested. Thank you ahead of time!!!

I hope everyone has a super weekend and I hope you all continue to stay healthy!!

The Important Thing

Now that everyone finally knows the steps that a writer goes through to create a piece of writing we can get back to our ideas trait. Last week I read the kids The Important Book. This is a book that tells important details about ordinary things: a spoon, grass, wind, etc. The purpose was to teach writers to write a main idea sentence and then to write details about that main idea. We made a class writing and wrote the important things about a pencil. They had great ideas!! Next, everyone chose a picture of a classmate. They had to think of 2-4 important details about their friend. They did an amazing job...everyone had amazing things to say about their classmates. Once everyone was done the writer read it to the class and then I hung them up on our door. They have gotten LOTS of compliments about their writing pieces. Way to go 2nd graders!!

Nursing Homes

Yesterday we had a great trip to the nursing home. We sang them some fall and Halloween songs and then read to the residents there. The residents were really happy and excited to see us. 2A kids did a super job of reading to them and talking with them as well. Here are some pictures from our trip. Enjoy!

2 quick things...

I HUGE thank you to all the parents that came to parent-teacher conferences!!! I had great conversations with everyone. Thanks for taking some time out of your busy schedules to chat about your child's education. I am very proud of my students this year and of all the hard work they have been putting forth so far.

Second thing...
I have decided to have the final testing day for addition math facts on Tuesday, November 23. We will have our ice cream party on that day. Just a reminder that students need to have tested all of the "families" with me in order to get the party. It's amazing how good of an incentive ice cream is!!!!!

Goodbye October!!!

Wow! I can't believe it's almost November. That means my least favorite time of the year is almost here...winter!! With the weather the last couple of days it sure seems like it will be here soon. With the changing of the seasons please make sure your child is dressed appropriately. This means having to dig out the winter coats, hats, and mittens. I know I have to get them dug out at my house...hopefully I can find them after our move last weekend :) I did have several students bring winter coats and mittens today so hurray to them!!!

Our Halloween party was a big success this year. Thanks to the 4 parents that volunteered to carve pumpkins and to Lauren's family for donating the pumpkins this year. You all sure made my job a little easier allowing me to help all groups and to take pictures. We ended the party with a veggie tray and Charlie Brown. It's amazing how the Charlie Brown movies are always a hit year after year. Gotta love them!!

Here are a few other reminders:
**Tomorrow are picture retakes. If your child is getting them taken again have them return their old pictures.

**October book-it is due on Friday or Monday. I sure hope everyone was busy reading this past month. I'm excited to see how many reached their own personal goals!! The November calendar will go home on Monday.

**We go to the nursing homes next Wednesday to read and sing to the residents. They have requested that students wear their costumes. So...please don't tuck away the costumes after Sunday. Your child will need it again. Your child doesn't have to bring a costume but it sure would be fun to see everyone dressed up!

**Conferences are this week. I had super conversations with several parents last night and I look forward to meeting with the rest tomorrow night. I am very proud of my 2A students this year: they have been working really hard in the classroom and showing me amazing Cadet Pride! Way to go Cadets! Due to conferences we do not have school this Friday. Enjoy your day off kiddos!!!

I hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween. Stay warm!!!!!!

Read...read...read

I am very proud to say that my 2nd graders have been working VERY hard during literacy time!! Thank you for reading with your child at home as well...they have been making a ton of progress already!

When your child is reading at home encourage him/her to use reading strategies to sound out the words. There are the strategies they know:

Chunk the sounds
Go back and reread
Look at the pictures
Cross Checking (Does it look right? Does it sound right? Does it make sense?)
Skip the word...read to the end of the sentences and come back

We have also been working really hard at reading the punctuation. This means that readers need to change their voice for the different type of sentence stoppers. I hope your child is practicing this at home :)

Once again, thanks for reading with your child at home and I hope all of my little readers are working hard to reach their October book-it goal!!!!

Wrapping up Science

We took our first field trip today...hurray!! The students did a fabulous job listening at both Plantpeddler locations! First, we went to the Plantpeddler Young Plants location. We learned that they have more than 350,000 plants in that greenhouse. It was A LOT of plants. A lot of them were poinsettias for Christmas time. We got to watch their machine wash the huge trays that the plants sit on. That was really cool. We learned they water the plants using a machine called a boom. It can move over the plants and people can even ride on it! At the second site (along the highway) we got to try cucumbers and tomatoes. They were delicious!!! The cucumbers were seedless. Finally we got to see three different plants that have unusual plant defenses. One of them was a Venus Fly Trap - we were really excited since we'd just been talking about that type of plant defense!! Ask your child what else they learned...

Attention: Pumpkin Carvers

I am searching for volunteers who would like to help at our Halloween party. I need pumpkin carvers:) The party is on Wednesday, October 27th from 12:30-1:30. If you are able to help, please send a note with your child and I will get back to you.

Also, in the past I have bought pumpkins for students to carve during our party. However, if you would like to donate a pumpkin to the classroom that would be wonderful!!! Once again, please contact me.

Thanks in advance for your support and help!!

Fire Station

What an amazing day for a field trip!!! We couldn't have asked for better weather :)

After lunch/recess we took off walking for the fire station. Since it was fall fitness day it was perfect that we were walking. The kids thought it was a little long, especially on the way back, but they had fun walking through all the leaves and crunching them!!

When we got to the fire station we had 3 stations. For one station, a fireman showed us around the fire station and showed us all the trucks they use. The kids were sure full of lots of questions and were amazed by some of the tools they use during fires!

For another station, a fireman discussed fire safety. It's great for the students to review this every year and they were very interested. One of the main points was that every family needs to know 2 ways out of their house and how to get to the family's meeting area. Please discuss this with your child. The second point was that if someone is on fire they have to STOP DROP and ROLL!! Great review!

The final station was a change from the past several years. Usually I have to dress up in the fireman's clothes and the students all get to spray me. Not this year.... :) This year everyone got a turn to spray one of the fire trucks. Yippee for me!!!!

The students had a super time on the field trip and showed great Cadet Pride!!! Please discuss fire safety with your child at home. Thanks!

Deals on Wheels

Deals on Wheels is coming our way again this year!!! Mrs. Butler's 6th graders will come to our class each Friday to sell us things. If your child wishes to purchase something, please send money to school that day. The profits from the sales go toward the student activity fund and for her students to visit local businesses and the Chamber of Commerce at the end of the school year.

They will sell:

Magnets $0.25
Pencils $0.35
Tattoos $0.50
Pens $0.50
Wristbands $2.00
Seat Cushions $4.00

They hope to add folders and water bottles soon.

This is totally optional. Thanks for your support and for showing Cadet Pride!

Class Parties

Our class will be having a class party for Valentine’s Day, Halloween, and Christmas. We are asking that you please donate $4.00 to go towards the class party fund. From this fund, refreshments and any necessary supplies will be purchased. Please send $4.00 in an envelope to school with your child. Thanks!

Homecoming Week

Next week is homecoming...YIPPEE!!!!!

To show our Crestwood Pride we are having dress up days next week:

Monday: hay day
Tuesday: Wear your favorite sports jersey day
Wednesday: Workout day (wear sweats/track pants)
Thursday: Twin day
Friday: Blue and white day

These days are optional so students do not have to participate. We will have a 3 hour early dismissal on Friday, October 8 for the homecoming parade.

Go Crestwood Cadets!!!

Crestwood's Piggy Bank

Yesterday we kicked off our annual fundraiser here at Crestwood Elementary. Once again, we are doing the Chip Shoppe fundraiser which is what we have done for many years now. The reason for the fundraiser is to fill our schools "piggy bank". We use this money to go on all of our yearly field trips - and we go on some pretty cool ones!!! This is totally optional so please do not feel like your child has to sell items or that you have to buy something.

Here are a few details:
**The fundraiser goes for 2 weeks. Your child can return the order form/money to me when it is over

**If you need another order form we have extras here at school

**If your child sells 25 items he/she gets the pizza party and limo ride

**If you have multiple children the family goal for the limo ride is 50 items

**If we beat our amount sold from last year we get the Mega Party again :)

**The top selling class gets a pizza party

**If a child sells 60 items he/she goes in to the money machine


Once again...this is TOTALLY OPTIONAL. If you choose to participate...Thanks!!

Reading...and..Pizza!!!!!

The beginning of October does NOT mean that Halloween is almost here. It doesn't mean we're in the middle of fall. It doesn't mean winter is getting closer..yikes! WHAT????

October means Book-It is starting!!!!!! This is a reading incentive program sponsored by Pizza Hut. Who doesn't like pizza right? A calendar will be sent home with your child on October 1st stating the monthly reading goal. Your child should record the amount of time he/she reads at home each night and return the calendar to me at the end of each month for their Pizza Hut coupon.

I do not require your child to participate in this program; however, what better reason to read than to earn pizza??? This is a totally optional activity that runs from October to March. The past few years I have had only a few kids choose to participate in this which makes me really sad. I'm hoping for really good results from this year's class :)

So...now here is the extra special incentive for participating in this program!!!! Those students who do participate all six months will celebrate by having a pizza party with me!!!!! I will be supplying the pizza in April for all the students who reach or surpass their reading goal for ALL six months. Those that do not participate, will eat lunch in the cafeteria as usual with a different teacher.

I hope you encourage your child to participate and HAPPY READING!!!

Germ Free!!

Thank you to everyone who has bought hand sanitizer and clorox wipes. We are going to have the cleanest classroom at Crestwood Elementary :)

Ahhh-chooooo!!

I may have passed my cold on to the students...sorry :(

I think the kids are started to feel the first effects of the fall season: sickness!! Please make sure your child is trying to stay healthy and please DO NOT send them to school if they are not feeling well in the morning or if they have a temperature or have thrown up!!! This will hopefully keep everyone a little healthier.

Also, if you're shopping we could use some hand sanitizer and/or Clorox wipes in the classroom. This way we can prevent the germs from spreading.

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!

Ideas

Writing...singing...picture books

What do these things have in common?? Well, the past couple of weeks I have been introducing the Ideas writing trait to my students. We started with figuring out what ideas meant and then we sang a song about. You may have even heard the song at home:

The Ideas Song
(sung to the tune, "Row, Row, Row Your Boat")

Write, write, write your thoughts
Make your ideas clear
Tell the reader what you know
And what you hold most dear.

Finally, I've been reading the kids LOTS of books. What does this have to do with writing?? Well, when I'm finished we discuss the author's purpose and decide how that could be a writing idea for them as well. We have come up with a really big list of writing ideas that they could write about it in here. They don't have to be fancy ideas as long as they are important to the writer. They must be an "expect" about their writing idea.

So, in order to get started with our writer's workshop in here, I have sent home homework with your child tonight. Please help him/her think of 9 different ideas they could write about in the classroom. Once again, they don't have to be fancy ideas as long as it's important to your child.

I think they are finally getting excited about writing and realizing it won't be so bad after all :)

Busy...Busy...Busy

Happy Tuesday everyone!! I hope you are all enjoying this amazing weather. It sure makes it hard to sit in school all day long :)

My second graders continue to work VERY hard in here. I continue to introduce new things to them and add to know they're already doing.

Last week we continued to work really hard on our Read to Someone and Read to Self stamina. We are up to 25 minutes for Read to Self and 18 minutes for Read to Someone. AMAZING!!!! Last week I also taught them 2 more ways to Read to Someone: Choral Reading and Read 1 book. When you are reading with your child at night chat with them about the ways to Read to Someone. Maybe they can even teach you how to do it :) I also let go of some of my power and turned it over to the kids. It was a little scary for me but they did fabulous job! They learned a quick way to decide whose book tub to choose and they also learned how to choose a partner. Ask them about this...

Within literacy, I just wanted to let you know that I am completing some individual assessments this week and will hopefully be starting guided reading next week sometime. Each day I will also do group mini-lessons to help your child learn various reading strategies. As you can tell, we're very busy each morning during literacy!

On Friday we took a little break from Daily 5 and we discussed September 11th. I showed them a short video clip explaining what happened and then read a book written by students. It was called September 12: We Knew Everyone Would Be All Right. My kiddos has super questions about this day and were very eager to learn about it. I was excited to hear they went home and talked with you about this.

Science...ahhhh...my CRAZY part of the day!!!! As you know, we found seeds in fruits and vegetables and saved those seeds. We have since planted those seeds and some have already started to sprout. We will keep a close eye on those. Yesterday we discussed whether plants need soil to grow. Almost everyone said yes!! We planted 3 different types of seeds 3 different ways...only using water. We will look to see if they sprout.

We continue to review a lot in math and we will be taking a test at the end of the week. The big change was that Homelinks have started coming home. Your child will have one most nights. your child should be able to do them independently but please help out if needed. Try and get it done and return it the next day. I will understand if there wasn't any time and it needs to be done the following night. Have your child return it when it's done. I do keep track of these and will give out prizes if ALL of them are returned!!

I introduced a third part of Daily 5 this week as well: Word Work. Your child may call this word study as well. Basically I introduce a new/review sound to them on Friday and then they self-select words that have that sound. They will work on 6 words each week and we will buddy test on Friday. Your child will bring home his/her words each Tuesday. They will be in a sheet that says Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check at the top. We do work with the words a lot during the week but please feel free to practice with your child at home as well.

As you can tell we've been really busy in here lately. I continue to be impressed with 2A's Cadet Pride!!! Thanks for our support and for working with your child at home.

Continue have your child read each night.

Morning Meeting

Last year I started each day off with a Morning Meeting. It was a HUGE success, so I'm doing it again this year. So far, the students and I are loving it!! Morning meeting is great way for us to build a community in our classroom and to set a positive tone for the day. There are 3 parts to the Morning Meeting that we do: greeting, group activity, and sharing. The morning meeting will last about 15-20 minutes.

These past few weeks we have been working on the greeting and group activity. Greeting allows each child to hear his/her name and to be formally welcomed into the classroom. We’ve done a lot of fun greetings so far! Since we have several new students in our room it's been a great way to learn everyone's names :) We've been working really hard on good eye contact and a good handshake. Thankfully everyone understands these things now!!!

Group activity allows the students to interact with each other and to even laugh a little. They REALLY like this part of the meeting. It's our one opportunity during the day to play a quick game with everyone present. I think it builds excellent classroom relationships!

But now…it’s time to start sharing!! Let me tell you, the students are very excited about this! I have assigned each student a sharing day. On their assigned day, your child will need to bring something in or tell us something. When the sharer is finished the audience will have a chance to ask good questions or to comment on what they heard. I would like everyone to participate on their sharing day. Some students have already asked to bring in a pet. If your child would like to do this, and it’s OK with you, please send a note to school so we can set up a time that will work.

Teamwork

On Thursday we got 100 tickets! Andy
We built our stamina. Carter
I liked it when we got to 100 tickets. Lilly
We did math. Gunnar
We did clay projects. Jasmine
School is really fun so far. Hunter
I like that we do fun stuff in science. Haylee
I like school. Trystin
We built our stamina for Read to Someone. Makayla
We are working with telling time. Rylan
Read to Self is fun. Connor
We build our stamina to 18 minutes for Read to Self. Andy
We work hard on word work. Leah
We did our Daily 5. Christian
I like science because it's fun. Dameon
We like playing games with other friends. Gunnar

REWARD!!!

WE DID IT!!! WE DID IT!!!

2A has earned 100 tickets!!!!!!! My kiddos have worked soooooo hard at their Cadet Pride and I couldn't be prouder of them :) As their reward they will have an ice cream party AND a reward recess on Tuesday....yippee!!!

Then, we have to set a new class goal for September and hopefully we will get that amount of tickets. If we meet that goal we will get a new reward. I don't know what it is so it's a surprise for all.

Keep up the good work 2A!!!

Sorting Seeds

We started out first unit in science last week: plants. However, it's been a little slow getting it started since we keep having early outs on Mondays...that's one of our few science days :( The first day we discussed the 3 main differences between plants and animals. Then we also labeled the 3 main plant parts. Yesterday we learned all about seeds. We cut into 8 foods and examined their seeds: cucumber, tomato, squash, lemon, orange, grapefruit, melon, and green pepper. The students pretended they were detectives and they investigated the various seeds. They learned that tomatoes have VERY small seeds. Melons have a LOT of seeds. Oranges, lemons, and grapefruits don't many seeds. In fact, I had several students dig FOREVER and never find an orange or grapefruit seed. How is that possible????? We saved all the seeds for a later project. More to come on seeds and other plant parts...

Laffy Taffy

As some of you may know, I have a bit of a weakness for Laffy Taffy. :( If I treat myself and buy a bag of them...well let's just say they won't last very long!!!! I'm eating them right now as I blog :) I can eat one after another! NOT the banana ones though.

So, since I'm not sharing my bag of candy with you, I thought I would at least share the jokes! I have added a section to the side of the blog and I will post various jokes that I have found funny, or not so funny!! Enjoy!!!!!!!

The Daily 5

As some of you may have heard, we don't do centers in second grade. I think the kids were a little shocked and upset to hear this...but they've gotten over it!!!!

So far your child has been learning about and practicing 2 parts of the Daily 5: Read to Self and Read to Someone. Hopefully your child has told you about them :) We have made 2 I-charts (I for independence) and listed what the students need to do and what the teacher needs to do also. I had students show us the right way and wrong way to Read to Self. They thought it was really funny to see kids reading the wrong way!

We have been practicing Read to Self for 8 days and have built our stamina up to 21 minutes, hurray!! That is amazing!!!!!!! That means that everyone is able to read quietly and in one place for 21 minutes without any disruptions. What an accomplishment! We plan to continue to work on our stamina and our goal is to make it eventually about 30 minutes.

We just started Read to Someone two days ago. There are MANY ways to Read to Someone that I will be teaching them. The first one is to Check for Understanding. For this, a partner reads a page and the other person has to say what happened on the page and who it was about. Then they switch jobs. This is to make sure that the child is understanding the story. Since we just started we have only built up our stamina to 4 minutes. We'll keep practicing and hopefully we'll get this up to 30 minutes as well.

Here are some pictures of just a few kids that were doing Read to Self this morning.
Keep up the great work 2A!

Writing...with Clay

Today students had a rare opportunity to work with clay in our classroom. They each had 3 different colors to work with. I gave them very vague instructions; they had to create something using the clay. They sure had a lot of comments and questions!! I gave them about 10 minutes to create their piece. After that they had to add something, take something away, and make a change to their piece. Next they had give their creation a title. Finally we discussed compliments and how to give a GOOD and meaningful compliment. Students had the opportunity to go around the room and compliment each other's creations.

Some of you might be asking why we did this. Well...I tied it to writing in 2nd grade. Yesterday we read a book about what the steps that authors have to go through when they create a books. We will go through similar steps here in 2A. We discussed that good authors are not happy with their first copy. They need to change, add, and take away things from their writing pieces. So, hopefully as my second graders are grumbling at me and saying they don't want to make changes to their writing pieces they will think about their clay project. Hopefully they will remember that all good authors make changes before they publish their final writing piece.

Here are some pictures of the students creating their pieces and of the final product.

Happy writing 2nd graders!!

Birthdays

Soon enough we will start having birthdays here in 2A so I thought I would give you a heads up and/or a quick reminder about our birthday policy here at Howard-Winn.

If a child's birthday is during the school year we will celebrate it on the actual day. If you would like to send treats your are welcome to do that. Please make sure they are store bought -- sorry, no homemade food allowed:( Also, with our new Wellness Policy we're asking that if at all possible you try and make the treat healthy. If your child's birthday is in the summer we will celebrate their half birthday. Once again, you may send treats if you wish.

Students may bring invitations to school and pass them out for parties. However, if a boy is having a party and brings the invitations to school, he must invite all the boys. This is the same for girls -- girls need to invite all the girls. Otherwise there will be hurt feelings. If you want to have a smaller party, please mail the invitations from your home. Thanks!

Friends

Earlier this week I gave each student a puzzle piece. They needed to decorate it with pictures about them. I collected all the puzzle pieces and on Tuesday they had a chance to put the puzzle together. I told them they would have to use teamwork to put it together and that I would not help them. I set them loose and...they didn't get very far!! They were using good teamwork but they couldn't get it figured out! So, I found more time today and they finally got it together. It's a good thing some of them did some detective work and looked at 2A's website...I think that helped them out :) Needless to say, they finally put all the pieces together and discovered they were spelling the word friends.

They used super teamwork and got the puzzle put together -- great job 2A!!!!!

Cadet Pride

This last week we've been working on setting up a lot of routines here in 2A. The biggest change this year has been our PBIS behavior plan. This is new this year and its purpose is so that every student learns that same expected behaviors in school: hallway, restroom, lunchroom, playground, arrival and dismissal. EVERY teacher K-8 has been busy teaching these the last week. We have been practicing our Cadet Pride a lot these last few days. Students are working on 4 behavior traits with this PBIS plan: Be Caring, Be Responsible, Be Respectful, and Be Trustworthy. I must say...my kids are doing an amazing job!! YEA! The really good news for kids is that there's an added bonus for them. If they are "caught" showing the correct behavior in school a teacher will give them a ticket. They put this in their classroom bucket and once we reach 100 tickets in the classroom we earn a prize!! I LOVE prizes!!!!!!! Keep up the good work 2A!

What happened to Summer???

Ahhhhh...I can't believe summer is almost over and that I will be seeing your children in almost a week!!! I must admit I'm a little sad that I need to wake up earlier, bring my own kids to daycare, and enter the working world again!! :( However, I'm really excited to have a new bunch of kids this year. I absolutely LOVE getting to know them and forming bonds with everyone throughout the school year.

I hope everyone had a wonderful and relaxing summer. Please try and get your child ready for "school mode" again. It's going to be a transition for everyone...including me!! I look forward to meeting all of you and your children on August 18th for back to school night.

Reminders

Wow...I can't believe next week is our last week of school!! It has been an amazing school year and we have had a lot of fun times together! Since next week is our last week we have some special activities planned.

Tuesday:
We are going to the Fitness Center to swim in the afternoon. I have most of the permission slips returned. Thank you! Please remember to send your child's suit and and towel to school by Tuesday. Put them in a plastic bag or other type of bag. You can send them on Monday or Tuesday.

We are visiting the book fair on Tuesday. If you want to send money with your child you may. We will take time to look at all the books and then students may make purchases if they want. You are also welcome to come to the book fair with your child at a different time as well. It will be set up in the Elementary Library. Teachers will have a wish list posted by the book fair. Please don't feel like you need to make a purchase for the classroom.

Wednesday:
We are going to East Park for lunch and to play. You need to send a sack lunch and drink to school with your child. The school is not providing a lunch! We will walk to the park, eat our lunches, and then the students will have time to play. Please make sure your child wears tennis shoes that day since we will be walking there. Also, please send a sweatshirt or jacket in case it is cool out.

Friday:
This is our last day of school!!!! We will have a 3 hour early dismissal. We will also have our track and field day in the morning. Please make sure our child wears tennis shoes since we will be running and doing activities.

If you have any questions please let me know.

Effigy Mounds

Yesterday we had amazing time on our field trip!!!!! Our guide at Effigy Mounds did a super job with the kids and they learned a lot. If they answered a question correctly they got an orange bracelet...nothing like a little incentive to listen:) Ask your child how many mounds they saw and what they meant. We even saw a mound in the shape of bear! Here are our pictures from yesterday.

End of the year = crazy schedules

With the end of the school year near we have a lot of special days coming up in the next few weeks. Here are reminders about each of those days:

• Wednesday, May 12th – We go to the nursing homes for our final visit. This day is also a 3 hour early out.

• Thursday, May 13th and Friday, May 14th – We perform our Amelia Bedelia plays at 2:30. You are welcome to take your child afterwards if it works for you. If not, they can go home at the usual time.

• Friday, May 14th – The reward book-it pizza party. For those that turned in their reading calendar every month I will buy them pizza for lunch. Your child may bring a drink: pop, juice, etc. They may also get milk from the lunchroom.

• Thursday, May 20th – Our field trip to Effigy Mounds. The school will provide a sack lunch. More information about this will be sent home later.

• Tuesday, May 25th – Swimming at the Fitness Center. Permission slips, diving board permission slips, and other information will be sent home at a later date.

• Wednesday, May 26th – Lunch at East Park. You will need to send a lunch to school with your child. The school will not provide one!

• Friday, May 28th – Last day of school and track and field day. We will dismiss 3 hours early.

Beginnings and Endings

We welcomed a new student to our class on Monday. Her name is Erika and she came to us from Decorah. She has done a super job adjusting to 2A!! Just as I assumed, the students did a wonderful job at welcoming her and making her feel at "home" her in our classroom. Thanks 2A...for reminding me why I love coming to work every day:)

On an ending note, the final day to test subtraction facts will be Friday, May 7. It seems like we have been testing these FOREVER and I'm ready to be finished!! I will still test on that Friday and then we will have the party the following week. I haven't decided on the party date yet. Thanks for helping your child practice these facts. I can definitely tell and it makes math class go a bit faster. Your help and support is greatly appreciated!!!

What are we studying??

We've been really busy in 2A lately...I'm trying to keep their mind off the nice weather!!! It's kind of working:) So what have we been doing...

For the past couple of weeks we've been learning about fractions in math. I quickly learned these are REALLY difficult for my 2A kids!! Oh boy... One thing they must know is that the bottom number tells them the number of equal groups. The top number tells them the number of groups we need to count. I think we have that under control! I encourage them to use counters so they can be dividing out the equal groups. Unfortunately, when we were finally understanding equal groups I had to teach them equivalent fractions. This added some confusion!! We are getting toward the end of the unit so we''ll have the test next week. A lot of the skills were beginning/developing so please keep this in mind when your child brings the test home.

In science we've been studying butterflies/moths. We got our "friends" a couple of weeks ago in the larva stage. The butterfly larvae quickly changed to the pupa stage. They are hanging in the butterfly net and we are anxiously awaiting Painted Lady Butterflies. They have been in the pupa stage for about a week so the 'big change' should happen fairly quickly. During Daily 5 time students are researching a butterfly of their choice. They need to find 3 facts about their butterfly and then think about where in nature it would best camouflage itself and explain how camouflage helps. Then they need to make their own paper butterfly just like the real one. They need to hang it in the classroom so it is camouflaged.

This is the site we used to research them:
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/butterfly/

During Daily 5 we started visualizations...what??? This is when kids make pictures in their minds as they read books. They don't really do this much when they're a beginning reader since all the books have pictures. However, now that many are reading chapter books it's important that they are thinking about the words and imagining what's happening. We just started this today so we will continue to practice for a couple of weeks.

Finally, in writing we've been learning all about word choice. We've practiced using a thesaurus to look up fancier words and we acted out energetic verbs yesterday. They started a writing project where they need to make a descriptive riddle about an animal. They must use good word choice so I can imagine the animal in my mind.

That's our past couple of weeks in a nutshell. I have about 5 full weeks left with the kids so the push is on. I have a lot to get accomplished so I hope Spring Fever stays away!!!

2A Presents...Amelia Bedelia

As you may have heard we've been practicing a play: Teach Us, Amelia Bedelia. The kids are REALLY excited about this!!!! We will be sending home invitations but just as a heads up performance dates will be Thursday, May 13 at 2:30 and Friday, May 14th at 2:30. I have several kids that are really concerned that no one will be able to come.

I have some parts that were double cast: Amelia Bedelia, Mr. Rogers, and Mrs. Rogers. Madison, Kailyn, Alex, and the rest of the class will perform on Thursday. Libby, Angelina, Austin, and the rest of the class will perform on Friday. If you have any questions please let me know!

State Fun Facts

Friday afternoon my kids were extremely TIRED!! So...I decided to let them do some learning and exploring on their own. Your child was with a partner and they had to explore Iowa and find out many facts about it. If they got that finished with Iowa they were able to explore another state. Here is the site incase your child wants to do some exploring at home:

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/usa/states/

Ridgeway and Cresco Fun

We had a SUPER time meeting our new Ridgeway friends on Friday!!! The games were fun, the weather was perfect, and the food was delicious. Everyone seemed to have a wonderful time and I had several students make some new friends! Everyone was really tired by the time it was all over...I guess that means the day was a success!

2A Sings...

The past week we've been doing some singing in 2A! Good thing the kids are good singers because I'm NOT!!!!! We continued with figurative language this week and they learned about onomatopoeia. What??? It means that a sound and the name for the sound have the same name: oink, vroom, quack, splash. Authors put these words in to make the book more interesting and they're definitely more fun to read! We practiced reading Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? When I started teaching about it this week I couldn't spell the word:) If I can't spell it...the kids definitely can't spell it, right? Amazingly I found a song on the Internet and now I can spell it!

O-n-o-m-a-t-o-p-o-e-i-a
(Sung to the tune of “Old McDonald”

O-n-o-m-a-t-o-p-o-e-i-a… with a
‘ruff-ruff’ here and a ‘baa baa’ there…
here a ‘vroom,’ there a ‘buzz,’
everywhere a ‘splat! splat!’
O-n-o-m-a-t-o-p-o-e-i-a!

Secondly, we've been 'Exploring Earth' in social studies. As you may have seen we've been labeling states, continents, and oceans. The kids really seem to like this and they know these pretty well. I found a song about the 7 continents:

The Continent Song
(Sung to the tune of “Are You Sleeping?”

North America, South America
Antarctica, Antarctica.
Europe, Asia, Africa.
Europe, Asia, Africa.
Australia.

Finally...we started the Word Choice trait in writing. I've read Fancy Nancy books the last two days and they've started using some of her words. Their favorite so far is merci (thank you). Here is our word choice song:

The Word Choice Song
(Sung to the tune of "Ring Around the Rosie")

Writing with your best words
Finding lots of new words
Sparkle! Dazzle!
The words stand out!

Similes

This week we have had some fun with similes. Students learned that they are an example of figurative language -- they thought that was hard to remember! Basically they know that a simile must include the words "like" or "as" and that they have to compare two things. We discussed that authors use similes so that readers can form pictures in their heads while they are reading. We will learn other examples of figurative language in the next couple of weeks: personification and onomonopeia. Here are some of 2A's similes...enjoy!

The room is as quiet as a lamb.
I am as calm as a kitten. (Jenna)
I am as tall as a dinsaur. (Kael)
I am as loud as a lion. (Emma)
My brother is loud like a dinosaur. (Austin)
I am as rough as a dog. (Alex)
I am as fast as a cheetah. (Donavyn)
I as tough as a rhino. (Bryer)
I am fast like a dog. (Dylan)
The clouds are white like snow.
I am as caring as kitten. (Kailyn)
The lollipop is sweet like honey.
My brother is like a bossy r. (Kael)
The waves are as calm as flowers.
My sister is as nice as a kitten.
Fires are as wild as a shark.
I am as smart as a teacher. (Angelina)
Rock stars are as wild as chimpanzees.

I'm back...and reminders

Wow...I have really gotten out of the habit of blogging. I apologize!!! It's been a little hectic lately...family life, my vacation, kids' sicknesses, school...I'm sure everyone is there with me. I had a wonderful time is Las Vegas, however, I don't know if it's harder planning the trip or coming back!!! Regardless, it's nice to get back to "normal".

I guess spring decided to visit us this last week...what a nice surprise! I hope the sunshine sticks around for a while longer. With the warmer weather the kids think they can start dressing for summer. It's not quite that warm here yet! The building is still quite cool inside and with the length of recess time it does get chilly outside. The mornings are especially chilly and many students spend a good amount of time outside before school starts. Please remind your child of this in the morning when they are trying to leave without a coat! It is also still muddy on the playground so we are still asking students to wear their boots. I also reminded students that the weather is supposed to change by Friday and that there is snow in the forecast. So...please don't put away the winter clothes just yet. Silly weather!!!!!

Another important reminder is that we have Tech Night this Friday. The purpose of this is to share with and thank you and the community for the technology that we now have in our classrooms. We will hold an open house from 5-7 this Friday night. All classrooms will be open for students to visit and to use the technology. In here I will have students showing you how to use the Smartboard and there will also be computer games to use. There is also a free will donation soup supper: potato soup, chili, cinnamon rolls and beverages. Thanks for your support and I hope to see EVERYONE on Friday night!!!!!

Finally, I feel I need to mention that I have had to give many reminders lately about 2nd grade responsibilities. It seems that students have gotten Spring Fever! Yesterday we had a big discussion about this during literacy. We actually had to build our stamina again for Daily 5 because they seemed to have forgotten how to read quietly and correctly and to not talk. I was not very happy about this! I reminded them that we still have 2 1/2 months left of school and that I expect even more from them since we are at the end of 2nd grade. I also reminded them that 3rd grade will be even more difficult with more expectations; I am trying to get them ready for this. Also, a reminder that your child still needs to be completing homelinks almost nightly and reading 15-20 minutes each night. Please chat with your child about this...I appreciate it.

I hope you have a great rest of the week and I hope to see you on Friday. Don't get lost in the fog:)

Readers

Thank you so much to our 2 readers that volunteered last week. The kids really enjoy listening to stories...especially when someone besides me is reading them:) As you may have heard, one of our guests was Les Askelson from KVIK radio station. He asked us to record the pledge and then he would play it once in a while on the station. The kids were very excited about this!!!!! We recorded it the next day and Les played it last Friday. He said he would play it more than once so when I hear of the next time I'll let you and your child know.

If last week didn't work for you to come and read and you would still like to, please let me know. Please send a note or contact me with a day and time that works for you and we'll make that work in our schedule. The note I sent does list the times that work best for us -- they do not include specials, recess, and lunch. Thanks again!

Bryer

Bryer read Alexander, Who's Not (Do You Hear Me? I Mean It!) Not Going to Move. These are some of our favorite books and the kids really enjoyed listening to him. I could tell that he practiced a lot because he was very fluent and read with super expression. Great job Bryer!

Dylan

Dylan was our mystery reader last week. He did a fantastic job!! He read the book There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat. He read with great expression and the kids really enjoyed his reading. Good job Dylan!!

SNACKS

Our snacks have run low and we need some again. If you wouldn't mind, please send a box of crackers or something healthy to school with child. Thanks!! Your child's tummies thank you also:)

Subtraction Incentive

Last week I sent home flashcards to start our subtraction incentive. I do not care what order your child practices the facts as long as they are practicing at home!! For each "family" they test correctly students will earn an ingredient for party mix. Once again, please practice at least 3 nights with your child before s/he comes to school to test with me. I realize the easier facts won't take as much practice! This should not take much time out of your busy schedules. Please spend a few minutes each night with your child practicing these facts.

***I will not have the sub test facts next week. I will be back on Friday so I will try my best to test on that day!

Emma

Emma was our mystery reader a couple of weeks ago...sorry Emma!!! She did a fabulous job reading and used super expression. The students and I really enjoyed her story. Thanks Emma!

Valentine's Day

We managed to squeeze in a short Valentine's Day party before our early out. The kids opened their valentines and managed to eat a lot of candy!!!

Mega Party

Students had a LOT of fun at the mega party!! I had a lot of fun watching them:) I was able to go on the limo ride again this year and to Pizza Hut for lunch. It's amazing how much pizza some kids can eat! Thank goodness we have a limit here at school on how much they can eat or else some would go crazy!! Then, in the afternoon was our mega party. Students were able to play on all the different bouncy things and have a good time with their friends. There were some dance contests and 2A had a lot of participants in those as well. Enjoy the pictures of your children!

100s Day

We FINALLY had our 100th day of school!!! It was pushed back so much with snow days that we really didn't do a lot of celebrating. We tried to keep the day as "normal" as possible since we've already missed so many days.

However, I can't have a hundreds day without at least acknowledging it so I gave each set of partners 100 marshmallows and 100 toothpicks. They had to use teamwork and create something together. Here are their creations.

HELP!

As you may know, we have our Mega Party and limo rides this Friday. I need a parent to volunteer to help me watch all the kids. All classrooms are asked to find a parent volunteer so we can be mobile and walk around the gym to watch all our students.

Our party is is from 12:30-1:50 Friday afternoon. If you are able to help please let me know!!
Thanks for your help!

Literacy Changes

As I promised after the new year, I have made some changes to our Daily 5 routine. So far the students seem to be enjoying them!! Hopefully they keep up the enthusiasm.

Each student has an assigned day when they need to do Raz-Kids during Listen to Reading. This is an online program that we are fortunate to have access to. I have entered each student into the computer and also entered their reading level. When it's their turn they need to go online and find their name. They have a list of books they need to complete, in any order. They need to listen to the book and follow along, read the book aloud, and then take a quiz over the book. The best part is...they get to earn points for each part completed!! These points go towards their spaceship!!

Secondly, students are recording a weekly podcast using Garageband. They need to practice 1 book in their reading tub for a week. They are supposed to use expression and be accurate. They are supposed to practice the book daily so they are well prepared to record. Each student records on his/her sharing day. Austin, Jenna, and Kael recorded on Friday. I am in the process of putting these on our 2A website. Hopefully I will have this done by tomorrow!

Thank you for reading with your child at home. I really appreciate your support. I am really proud of my 2A readers!!

Madison

Madison was our other mystery reader on Friday. She read Owen which is one of our class favorites. She had wonderful fluency and I could tell she practiced. She liked the book so much she kept it in her book tub! Great job Madison!!

Marshall

Marshall read on Friday and did an awesome job!! He was so excited throughout the week he could hardly contain himself. It was quite comical to watch him keep the secretl!! How wonderful to see a student so excited about reading:) Great job Marshall!

Kailyn

Kailyn was our mystery reader 2 weeks ago. I though I posted this but obviously I didn't...sorry Kailyn!!! The snow days must have thrown me off:) Kailyn read Me First and read with wonderful expression! The students really enjoyed the book. Great job!!

What a Week!

Wow!!!!! I am definitely ready for winter to leave and for nicer days to come our way. It sure was nice to get a full day in today and we actually got a lot accomplished! I hope winter weather stays away from us for next week. We sure have a lot to do before conferences in a couple of weeks!!

Last week Miss Dralle had adjusted quite well to our classroom and the students had really warmed up to her. This week she was hardly here at all; she wasn't here today since Decorah did not have school. So...I can honestly say she didn't see much teaching at all this week:( However, she did find out that sometimes school schedules are chaotic and that teachers need to make adjustments!! Her last day is next Thursday so she will be observing us for only a couple more days.

During literacy last week I started DIBELS assessments and today I was able to finish them. Last week I also spent a lot of time reviewing the Daily 5 and its components. We're trying to get rid of the cobwebs that formed over Christmas break and our extended winter break!!

During our writing block I introduced paragraphs to the students. They learned that a good paragraph is made up of about 5 sentences and that they all need to be about the same topic. They write 5 sentences on 3 different strips of paper: green for the beginning sentence, yellow for the 3 details, and red for the closing sentence. They used those strips to write their paragraph on paper. They had to indent their first sentence!! I expect that they use paragraphs during writer's workshop from now on. Hopefully they remember!!

We started new units in math and science. Yep...we're back to science again! We are learning about the states of matter; so far we've only had time to learn about solids and liquids. Hopefully next week we can get a bit farther in science. In math we're learning about different polygons, lines segments, and parallel lines. The students really seem to enjoy that.

As I said before I really hope the weather turns around. We REALLY need to get back into a routine in 2A. I think the kids even need a routine again! Please remember to return your child's flouride sheet if you haven't done so already.

I hope everyone has a great weekend and gooooooo VIKINGS!!!!!!! :)

Angelina

Angelina was our second mystery reader today. She did a super job reading If you Give a Moose a Muffin. The kids loved her expression!! Super job Angelina!

Austin

Austin was our first mystery reader for the day. He did really well!! He was very fluent and read with great expression. I could tell he was really proud of himself. Way to go Austin!!

Welcome Back!!

Wow! I can't believe it's already January...where did the time go? I hope everyone had a fun and relaxing Christmas Break. I know I sure did!! It was WONDERFUL to see all my students again this morning...I really did miss them:) Everyone seemed very excited to be back at school. They also had a lot to share. It sounds like Santa was very good to the students in 2A!

Your child may have mentioned we have another teacher/helper in our classroom. She is in the process of writing a note about herself and your child will bring it home within the next couple of days. We are very excited to have her in our classroom and the students were very welcoming towards her.

Well, since we're back I guess it's time to put our noses to the grindstone and get right back at it!! We are going to spend the first couple of days review the Daily 5 and our reading strategies. I hope to do more individual reading with your child and to do reading conferences with them. I have another goal and that is for your child to do some podcasting. I introduced this before Christmas, but to be honest, I didn't really follow through with it. The kids have called me out on this (thanks kids!!) so I hope to be better at this. My goal is for students to practice a book during Daily 5 time -improve fluency- and then record it using Garageband. I will post those on the website. I will let you know when that is started -- give me a couple of weeks!

*****Other information********
I sent home their math tests today from before Christmas. I was VERY pleased with them!! Those are yours to keep.

Mrs. Sovereign is trying to reschedule our Mega Party. Our fundraiser organizers are quite busy so it sounds like it won't be until February. I will let your child know as soon as I find out!!

Report cards will come home on Monday with your child.

Cross your fingers that the snow stays away and we make it school. I really don't want too many more make-up days. Although, as I write this, it is snowing out!! Brrrrr...I hate cold weather!!!