Notes of Encouragement

Seasons Greetings!  This month is flying so quickly that it will be Winter Break before we know it!  Here is a look at what we are up to and what is to come.This week we have made stockings for our class that will be filled with notes of encouragement.  Throughout the month we will be placing a note for each student in the class with a positive message.  During our winter party the kids will have the chance to open up their stockings and see what is inside.

 

On Friday we will be going to see the Nutcracker.  In preparation we are looking into Russian traditions for this time of year.  So far we have compared different versions of The Snow Child.

With Winter Break on the way it is time to gear up for the Winter Party.  I would like to have a Minute to Win It! party.  To do this we will need to have six stations set up for the different challenges.  I would greatly like to have six parent volunteers to come in and help out for these activities.  Please let me know if you would like to come in to help out at this time!

Thanksgiving

Today was such a great day! In the morning we rotated classrooms and the kids had so many great activities.  In Mrs. Smith's room butter was made.   Mrs. Morrett's room houses the experience of writing with a quill.  Mrs. Gillaspy was doing soap carvings and Mrs. Paige had the kids making spirit sticks.  In our classroom we made a Thanksgiving Story Bracelet.

Following rotations we went to library and then began our pumpkin pie adventure.   This was such a fun way to use our reading skills and take part in a tradition in many households across the nation.

Today was such a fun day and I look forward to what the rest of the year will bring.   I am so thankful for having the opportunity to be your child's teacher.   They make it a joy to come to work and each day a new adventure.  Thank you. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin Practice

Today I tested out a no bake pumpkin pie recipe! Just to make sure our cooking on  Wednesday won't be a flop. :) Needless to say it turned out great!  I'm so excited to practice using our reading skills in a real life situation!  What better way to practice strategies than with a yummy end result? With Thanksgiving break right around the corner there will be a few fun activities on Wednesday.  The second grade will be taking a tour around the classrooms to participate in Colonial activities as an extension to our current Social Studies unit.  This week is going to fly by!

Catching Up

 I would like to apologize for taking so long to put up any new posts!  It seems as though the month of October got the best of me and time slipped away.  Can you believe that Thanksgiving break is only a week away?  To start this post I am going to update with some photos that have been taken this past month.

 We got to take a ride on the Fire Truck for Fire Safety Week!  Everyone had a great time riding around the square.

 We had the Volunteer Fire Fighters come to teach us about how to be safe in a fire.  It was a fantastic demonstration and we are so lucky to have these guys take time off work to come present for us.  It is a good idea to talk with your kids about what their address and phone number is in case of an emergency.

 For our fall party we cut open some pumpkins and really dug in.  We counted out how many seeds were in each pumpkin and ways we can tell how many seeds would be in the pumpkin. 

 After cleaning up our pumpkin mess we had some yummy treats and watched a quick video.

Midterms will be sent home this Wednesday the 19th.   Thanksgiving break will kick off on Wednesday the 26th and we won't return to school until the first of December.  This year is flying by but there is much more to do!  Keep warm and enjoy the snow!

Skype with Australia

Here is what it looks like to have two classes invade our room!  Mrs. Kampf's class came to join us on our Skype Adventure!  While everything did not go as smoothly as hoped, we had a fantastic finish! 

Homecoming and Australia

Hey all!  Homecoming was fantastic!  The kiddos had a blast at the carnival and I can't wait to show you all that we did!  As of this moment I have received four permission slips back that will allow me to post pictures of the kids.  I need more slips back so that I can show more of the pictures I took!

Second Grade Teachers Unite!

 The assembly was a great kickoff to the day that flew by so fast!  It was a great experience and I hope the kids had a blast!

This week we have some exciting news, we will be Skyping with a class from Australia!  This is going to be such an amazing experience!  Be talking with your child about what it is about Iowa that makes us special and questions that they may have for our new friends across the pond. :)

Habitat Pictures

Last week we finished up with out habitat unit.  Following are the pictures of the posters that were presented. The kids had a blast making and presenting these.  Our principal Mrs. Cranston even stopped by to check out the hard work!

The last picture is one of our new tables!  It is much easier to keep things organized and ensure that papers are getting home with tables.  The first few days may take some getting used to but with more space to work I'm sure the kids will learn to love them as I do!

Reminder : picture day is Wednesday.   Please have your students ready to smile big!  :)

Habitats to Homes

Greetings all!  This week we are finishing up our Habitats unit.  We have spent time learning what animals live in which type of environment, as well as what makes these environments come together so that the animals may thrive.  Starting next week we will begin to learn about communities.  This will include where we live, what we need to survive, and much, much, more!

Today we had our naturalist come in.  The kiddos enjoyed learning about some of the trees that are found in our area.  They also were given the chance to make a leaf print! :)

In math we are finishing up with Unit 1.  In this we have been focusing on different counting strategies, as well as problem solving strategies.  It is always a good idea to work on math facts with your kids at home!  We have a good concept of how to tell the hour and up to a half hour on the analog clock at the moment.  Now we are talking about five minute time intervals.  Soon we will start to look at elapsed time. 

Our reading is finally back to a normal schedule!  Expect books to come be coming home much more frequently now.  I try to fit as many as my groups in every day but there are times that I might not be able to get to everyone.  If you do not see a book home on Wednesday do not be alarmed!  This day we have Library and Computers right in the middle of our reading block, which cuts into our group time.

Writers workshop is going very well!  We have some friends in class who are preparing to have a published piece in the near future!

This year is going wonderfully so far and I cannot wait to see what is in store for us next! 

Back in the Swing of Things

Greetings all!  It seems as though these past few weeks have simply flown by!  This week we are starting our MAPS Testing.  This is to give us an idea of where each child currently is in math and reading.  Unfortunately our test times fall at the same time as our guided reading.  What this means for you is that the reading folders may not be coming home this week.  I will be trying to get as many turned out as possible but I do not want to send a book home that we have not spent time reading in our groups.  We will have testing one day next week but hope to have our schedule back to normal as soon as possible.

In case anyone is wondering what is going on with our behavior system here is a chart of what it looks like.

 

Every child starts on green and throughout the day student's clips may move up or down according to the choices they make.  Students who are constantly on task are able to move their clip up.  Students moving up will first hit blue (Good Day) and then move to purple (Great Day).  When a student hits the purple then you will receive a positive note home the following day (I wait until the next day to send the note to ensure that students know their choices for the entire day decide upon their rewards).  If a student gets to pink (outstanding) then I have rewards coupons that they are able to choose from.  Rewards include things such as: wear your hat in class for the day, bring a stuffed animal to school for the day, use the special supplies, bring show and tell (Friday only), or bring a book to read to the class (Friday only).  These rewards are to reinforce the positive choices that they make throughout the day.  If a child is having trouble making positive choices then they may be asked to move their clip down.  If a clip is moved to orange that is the warning to make a better choice.  If the student's clip moves to gold then they will spend time at recess practicing making a better choice.  Should a student continue to struggle throughout the day I will be contacting you so that we can work on a plan to help make the learning environment more productive for all.  With this system there is always room for improvement.  I believe firmly that we all make mistakes and deserve second chances.  A negative choice in the morning does not equal to a terrible day.  Your child has the chance to change the day around and make better choices that will move their clip back up.  If you have any questions about this system please let me know!

On another note we have been hard at work with our writing this year.  The writing process is one that is important for every student and we as a second grade team are working hard to ensure that students are getting the chance to write every day.  In our class we have a writing space (check out the picture :) ) that holds all of our supplies.  For the first term we are working on narratives.  The small moments that happen in every day life can make the best stories!  If you can talk with your child about how the little things in life can sometimes be the most important things!

 

Now that we have gotten back into the swing of things at school the days are just flying by.  In math we have started to look at money (coins) and make the connections of value to the coin.  In our Science unit we are starting our projects on Habitats.  As soon as we finish our projects I will be posting pictures of what they look like! 

The Start of Something

This past week seems to have flown by!  This past week we have begun to dive into our Investigations.  This is a math program designed to work on the thinking behind the solving of problems.  We try out various strategies to solving the same problem to see what one is the just right fit.  We have also started looking at clocks and how to tell the time on both digital and analog clocks.  I will post pictures soon of the math that we have been working on.

In science we have started looking into habitats.  Today the kids were given the choice of what type of habitat they would like to study.  Tomorrow we will start using our books to look at the different types of habitats in more detail!  As Wednesday is our time in the computer lab we will be getting on National Geographic Kids to check out some more animals that live in these habitats.

Also, don't forget to check out the Book Orders that were sent home!  Every book you order earns points and free books for our class! :)

Food for thought

I didn't plan on posting this much but there was a comment today in class that I can't help but share.  We have been reading Chrysanthemum, a wonderful story all about names and the way our words make people feel.  Two key words for this story are wilted and bloomed.  Today two questions were asked.   What makes you wilt?  What makes you bloom?  We took time to fill out a sheet with our answers and a picture to match.  The activity turned out beautifully and was the first addition to our class bulletin boards.

As I said there was one comment that just made me happy and feel the need to share.

"I bloom when I laugh"

Could there be a better saying than that?  Don't we all feel good when we laugh?  It made me stop and think how we should always find joy in our day, even in the smallest things. 

Now that you have seen some of our work today I want to ask you a question, have you laughed today? :)

First Day Jitters

Hello all!  I hope your kiddos enjoyed their first day of school!  I know I sure did.  Today was fast paced with to much to do and not enough time, but we have gotten off to a great start!  Our day started with an all school assembly where our wonderful new principal, Mrs. Cranston, welcomed in the new school year with a Charger Clap!  Soon after we were busy learning the rules and routines of our classroom along with starting work on our stamina.  What is stamina you may ask?  Well ask your child! :) We are working on setting up the Daily 5 in our classroom.  A large portion of this is for our students to be able to work independently for periods of time.  Don't worry!  This won't happen in a day.  We will be working hard to build up our stamina to become the best readers (and writers) that we can be!

After our hard work this morning we took a little time to check out what our math manipulatives are.  We will be using math tools a lot through Investigations.  Today the kids had time to check them out and think about how we might use them in math.  Here are a few of the designs that were created.  Can you guess the name of the tools? :)

In case you can't tell we had quite the robot theme going by the end of the day!  I hope your children enjoyed the first day and will continue to enjoy many more as the year goes on!

Back To School Night

Hello families!  A big thanks goes out to everyone who was able to attend!  It was great getting a chance to meet everyone and put some faces to the names on the desks.  :)  As I said I plan on updating this blog as often as possible, my goal is once a week (most likely on Friday's).  Tomorrow is our last work day before the fun begins.  Class begins Monday and we will be kicking of a great year!

The amount of parent volunteer forms fantastic!  I will be sorting through my papers tomorrow and plan on sending out some time frames for you to come in to the classroom within the next two weeks.

Tomorrow I will bring my camera in and take a few pictures of the room for you to check out and to show the difference of the bulletin boards once the kids work starts going up.

Have a great weekend before the new school year starts.

It's almost here!

I am currently sitting down looking through what different papers I need printed out, what other ideas I can come up with for the bulletin boards, and thinking on if I can can a few more beans before the school year starts up.  Then it hit me!  It's almost here!  It is so exciting and I am more than ready to begin.  There are a few more touch ups that need done in the classroom and then I will be putting pictures up! :) I am also ready for back to school night in the next two weeks.  We will be having back to school night on Thursday, August 14th from 5:00-6:30 at Columbus.  It is going to be a fantastic evening and I just simply cannot wait to meet all of my parents and kiddo's!  Here's to the next few weeks flying by and me managing to get my entire to-do list done by that time!

Welcome!

Hello all!  This is my first attempt at a blog that I shall keep up with. (I promise!) The upcoming school year marks my first classroom and the level of excitement cannot be measured.  Throughout the year I plan on updating at least once a month, if not more.  My goal is to share what is going on with our class so that parents will be able to see what is going on in our classroom, along with what our schedule looks like and any special events coming up.  The first day of school is August 18th, with teachers going back the 11th.  Wow!  Talk about a fast summer!  The next few weeks are going to fly by but I hope to have pictures up of the room as I discover where the just right spot is for everything.  I hope everyone has a fantastic finish to the summer!