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!!!

Kael

Kael was our other mystery reader on Friday. He read the book Alligator Baby. He read with excellent expression and the kids thought his book was really funny...they were laughing out loud!! Thanks for reading to us Kael -- you did a super job!!

Hunter

Hunter was one of our mystery readers on Friday. He read the book Wheels and did a super job!! Keep up the good work Hunter!

Mega party volunteers

We have our Mega Party on Wednesday, December 22nd from 12:30-1:50. We have the party with the other 2nd grade sections and all of the 3rd grade sections.

If anyone is interested in volunteering to help us watch kids during that time please contact me. It's helpful to have other adults work at the stations and to help students so the teachers can walk around the gym taking pictures and watching all of the students. If you are able to volunteer please let me know. Thank you in advance for your help!!!

Games

With the recent cold weather we have had several indoor recesses. I have noticed that my games are quite old and are looking a bit worn. So...I didn't know if anyone had any games laying around their houses that weren't really being used and are still in decent shape. It you have anything like that I would gladly take donations!! If you happen to get shopping and see any new games that are reasonable I would gladly accept those as well :)

2nd Trip to the Nursing Homes

We went to the nursing homes again today to deliver our Christmas presents, sing songs, and read to the residents. Everyone did a fabulous job!! I split our class into 2 groups again and one went with me and the other group went with Deb. I took pictures of the students that were in my group.

Thanks to everyone who bought presents for the residents. I appreciate it and the nursing homes appreciate it as well!!!

Libby

Libby read Never Babysit the Hippopotamuses and did an excellent job. She must have practiced a lot because she was very fluent and used good expression. Great job Libby!!

Taree Jo

Some of your children may have mentioned that Taree Jo moved away...this is true. She and her family moved up near Minneapolis to be closer to her mom's family. She moved right before Thanksgiving break and we never got to really say good-bye to her because her mom was also quite sick at the time. A lot of students are really sad that they did not get to say goodbye to her.

On a sad note, you may have also heard that Kim, Taree Jo's mom passed away last Friday. She had been battling cancer for quite a while. We had a class meeting today and discussed what it feels like to lose someone close. I shared a book with the students and I explained that it's OK to be sad and even cry when someone passes away. Students did quite well with this and they knew it would be OK to have special memories and pictures of a lost family member or friend. I did have some students that were upset and sad that Taree Jo's mom had passed away.

I talked with Terry, Taree Jo's dad today and he said they are having a celebration of life for Kim. It will be this Saturday, December 11th, at The Oaks restaurant in Decorah. The celebration ceremony starts at 1:30 and Terry said that will last about an hour. Following the ceremony will be time to visit with the family. Terry said anyone from Taree's Jo's class is welcome to come and see Taree Jo.