Pilgrim Play

Today we performed a pilgrim play for Mrs. Cuvelier's class. It was called A Native American Welcome. They did a super job considering we only practiced it about 4 times!! Here are some pictures our the cast members and also the performance. Enjoy!!

I hope everyone has a fun and relaxing Thanksgiving!

Whole Class

Pilgrims

Indians

Click Clack Moo

On Monday, November 30, K-2 students are going to UNI to see the play Click Clack Moo. We will be leaving Crestwood Elementary propmptly at 9:30 and be returning at 3:15. Please make a note of this and make sure your child is to school by that time!

Once we arrive in Cedar Falls we will go to the UNI dome to eat our sack lunches. Sack lunches will be provided by the school so please do not send any food/drink to school with your child that day. We are also providing a snack for the ride back to school.

We will bring movies to watch on the bus so please do not send any mp3 players or other toys to school with your child.

Thanks!!

Pilgrims

The past week we've been talking a lot about Pilgrims. We learned that the pilgrims left from England on September 6th and it took 65 days to get to America. They rode on the Mayflower and there were 102 passengers. Those passengers stayed on the 'tween decks. There wasn't a lot of space and they had to limit what they brought along on the boat. We've also been discussing the differences between life as a pilgrim child and life today. What a difference!!!

Today students worked with a partner and explored pilgrims on the computer. They loved it!! It's just amazing to me how much there is out there on the Internet. Students were SO into learning about pilgrims for about 45 minutes this afternoon. They were reading, laughing, and calling me over to tell me exciting facts they learned . Simply amazing!!! Ask them what they learned. Here is the site and pictures from today: Pilgrim webquest.

Taree Jo

Taree Jo was our 2nd mystery reader and she did a super job!! Even though it's a short week we will still have a mystery reader. He/she will read on Wednesday.

Random Info

How about that fog?? I sure wasn't expecting that this morning. I sure am getting a lot accomplished at school this morning though:)

Just a quick reminder to have your child continue reading for book-it minutes. November's reading goal is 220 minutes. I hope your child is getting close or has already met that goal. Continue to record the minutes and have your child return the calendar at the VERY end of the month. With Thanksgiving quickly upon us, I know that everyone will be busy. If you are traveling, please encourage your child to bring some books along on the trip. I will send a new calendar home on December 1st.

I am also sending home book orders tonight. There are a lot of great books to choose from. Remember...books make excellent gifts!!! If you would like to order a book for a gift please let me know. That way I won't send the book home with your child when it comes in!! The book orders will be due next Wednesday, November 25th.

The ice cream sundae party will next next Wednesday. Thank you for practicing with your child at home. They've really improved!!! If your child has earned the sundae please continue to practice.

Our snack supply is running low. If you wouldn't mind, please send a box of crackers to school with your child. You child and their tummy thank you!!

1st Mystery Reader

Our first mystery reader was.....Donavyn!!! He did a super job reading and the kids gave him lots of compliments. Great job Donavyn!

Sharing

Next week students have an assigned sharing topic. I have asked each student to bring in their favorite book. This can be a favorite book from when they were a baby or a favorite book now. I want them to share why it is so important to them and what special memories they have about the book. They could also share their favorite part of the book.

Funraiser Delivery

A blue note is coming home today regarding the fundraiser. Thank you to everyone who participated our fundraiser this year!!! We continue to have great success with this year after year. Your selling allows the school to fill our "piggy bank" which allows our students to go on field trips and to participate in fun activities throughout the school year. Great job!!

As the note states we earned our mega party again...yea!!! We will have it on Tuesday, December 22nd. Limo rides will also be on that day. Winners of those have not yet been announced -- I will let you know more about that when I get that information. Thanks again for all your hard work!

Parent-Teacher Conferences

THANK YOU to everyone who attended conferences!! I appreciated everyone taking time out of your busy lives to meet with me. I enjoyed meeting with all of you and I had great discussions with all of you! If you ever have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me. I truly enjoy working with your child and look forward to what we'll do together the rest of this school year!!

Mystery Readers

In order to improve our reading even more, we've started something new in 2A...Mystery Readers!! Each Friday, I will assign a new mystery reader. Only that student and I will know who the reader is. The reader will bring home a book in a manilla envelope. Please have your child read the book each night. For the first time you may want to read the book to your child. This way he/she can hear your expression!! Have your child read with expression and a strong voice. Practicing each night will improve fluency and accuracy as well.

On Friday the book needs to come back to school. After the 10:00 recess I will give clues to the class and they will try and guess the reader. Then...your child will read the book to the class!!!

It is important that your child practices each night. I do not want them to stumble on words or not know the story on Friday.

Thanks for helping with this!

Math sites

I showed the kids 2 websites that have math games today. They LOVED them and I told them I would put the sites on the blog. Here they are....

Funbrain arcade
Funschool

Ice Cream Sundaes

I continue to be impressed with the results of our ice cream sundae incentive. The students are really learning their math fact!! I can tell they have been working hard on these at home because they certainly know their facts better during our math time. Please continue to practice the facts with your each each night, as time allows. Also, don't forget to practice the facts your child has checked off. This will still be a good review.

I have decided on a final date for the reward party. The last day for students to test is Wednesday, November 25th. We will have our party on that day!! This is the final day before Thanksgiving vacation. So...your child has 3 more weeks to get all of his/her facts checked off with me.

Good luck and happy adding!!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

We had a SUPER and fun party today. The students were in groups and they got to carve a pumpkin along with a parent volunteer....thanks parents!!!!! Along with carving, students had to guess how much their pumpkin weighed and how many seeds were inside it. Then they had to find out how much it really weighed and how many seeds were actually in it. It was easy to check the weight....not as easy to count seeds. Some of the pumpkins had A LOT of seeds!!! At least the students were counting:) Here are a bunch of pics from the party. Enjoy!

"Book-It" and Conferences

Wow!! What a busy and exciting week! The student sure were fired about about Halloween! I hope everyone is safe and has fun tomorrow. Don't eat too much candy!!!

Today a blue calendar went home. This is our new reading incentive. In the past, you might remember we've done Book-It. Well, Pizza Hut wasn't able to do it this year so we found a new reading incentive. Reading must go on!!! Please have your child read each night, or as often as possible. Record those minutes on the calendar. If your child brings home books from me, Mrs. Surface, or Mrs. Foster those reading minutes can go onto the calendar. At the end of the month sign the calendar and return it to school with your child. If your child meets the reading goal for the month he/she will earn a free slice of pizza from Casey's. If your child returns EVERY month's calendar and meets all the reading goals I will give those students a pizza party for lunch!!!!! I will be sending home reading calendars home through March. Happy reading!

Another reminder...parent-teacher conferences are next week. I cannot wait to meet with each of you! Report cards were sent home on Thursday so I will discuss those with you as well as your child's results from MAPs testing and DIBELS. If you are unable to make your conferences time, please let me know or let the school know. Hopefully everyone can stay healthy we we are able to meet next Tuesday and Thursday.

Nursing Homes

We went to the nursing homes today and the kids were super!! I took half of the class and Deb took the other half. While there we sang Halloween songs to them and read stories. It looked like the residents enjoyed our visit and I know the 2nd graders had a fun time as well. They really liked wearing their costumes as well!!!

Here is a slideshow of the students before we left for the nursing homes. I also took a few pictures of students reading to the residents. I didn't get everyone since I was only with half the class. Enjoy!!