Weekly Newsflash
Friday, April 12, 2019
Happy Friday!! We had a great week here in 2nd grade. It was a bit of a long week this week with STAAR testing going on and being on a different schedule, but they all did great and handled the changes well.
As I’m sure your child has shared with you, Miss Bednarkski has taken over the teaching in our classroom and has completed the first week of her Total Teach time. She is doing a wonderful job and the students are all enjoying her teaching! I’m not sure they completely understand why I am gone from the classroom, but I explained to them that she needs the full experience of being their teacher without me being around. If I am in the room, they tend to still turn to me and ask questions, which is understandable since we have spent the whole year together. I still pop in and give hugs of encouragement, but overall the teaching is completely hers right now.
In reading we started doing Book Clubs this week. Students are reading and discussing chapter books in groups. They are also responding to their reading as they work their way through the chapters. They are so excited to get to read with other students and to talk about their books!! We will spend about 3 weeks on this book club in reading class.
In writing class, we used our research information to start writing our rainforest book this week. We began with our paragraph/page about what our animal eats. We drafted, edited and published this page and then moved on to where our animal lives. We will spend the next two weeks working on the pages about the adaptations, interesting facts, and enemies of our animals.
In science we learned about food chains and explored food chains among rainforest animals. Next week we will be studying the destruction of the rainforest and ways that we can help save it. We will also begin discussing the products that we can get from the rainforest.
In math we continued our unit on fractions. We started the week off with eighths and went into fractional parts using pattern blocks. We ended the week with a fraction sort using the numeric, word, and picture form of different fractions.
Upcoming Dates:
* April 19- Student holiday
* April 26th Bobcat Bash 5-8 pm Come join the fun!
* Monday, April 29th Rainforest models due
Presentations will take place the whole week of April 29-May 3. More info coming soon.
Have a great weekend!
Friday, March 29, 2019
I hope you had a great spring break with your family! I was so happy to see everyone back on Monday! We also had such a great field trip yesterday to Rodeo Austin. Thank you so much to all of the parents who came out and joined us!!
Thank you also to all of the volunteers that came to help us this week. We had so much fun turning our classroom into the rainforest. The kids are soooo excited about it!!
We also went to the library Monday to research our rain forest animals. With the help of some wonderful parent volunteers, we were able to almost completely fill in our graphic organizers!!! I will check over them and we will fill in any missing gaps next week- but we definitely got a wonderful start. Next week we will start writing our paragraphs for our non-fiction books about our animals.
Landon was our star student today and did a great job of presenting his poster.
In science we continued learning about the layers of the rain forest and what animals live in each layer. I also modeled note taking about the sloth in front of them so that they understood how to take notes on their graphic organizer when we researched. We also started learning about animal adaptations and we specifically discussed camouflage because that is such an important adaptation in the rainforest. We will continue with this next week.
In math we finished our subtraction unit and tested. Their folders will be coming home soon. We will be back in our own rooms for a unit on fractions next week.
In writing we are using some of our figurative language lessons and we are writing our own poems. We have written a biopoem and a poem called Inside My Heart and we will be publishing those next week.
Upcoming Dates:
* Bobcat Bash April 26th 5-8 pm Come join the fun!
* Rainforest models due Monday, April 29th A letter came home before spring break explaining the at-home portion of this unit.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Friday, February 22, 2019
We had a quick 3-day week this week! We have 3 weeks until Spring Break and a lot to accomplish in that time!
We had a visit from a Round Rock Orthodontist, Dr. Paul Gates, this morning since February is Healthy Teeth month. He talked all about how to keep your teeth healthy and which foods aren’t good for your teeth. Very informative and kid friendly.
In Math this week we started a short 2-week unit on money. We are reviewing coins and their value, counting money, problem solving, and even making change! We will continue with this next week as well and then test on Friday. We will also be pretesting for subtraction with regrouping and will start switching classes on Monday, March 4th.
In reading/writing we finished our nonfiction main idea paragraphs about weather. They each came up with a main idea topic sentence and then wrote 3 supporting sentences to go with it. They turned out great and will be hanging in the hallway soon. Next we move into a short narrative story.
In science we finished up our weather unit with a fun culminating activity. Each student chose a city that we had already talked about and wrote a 15-20 second weather report about that city’s weather. They included the hi/low temperature, the weather conditions and what to pack to visit there. We will record these weather reports on Monday and I will send out on SeeSaw.
Next Friday, March 1st, in conjunction with Read Across America- we will be celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday. A note is in the Friday folder today outlining our activities for the day- but in short- they can wear their pajamas, bring a stuffed animal/pillow and can bring in any Dr. Seuss books that they might have at home to share with the class. We will do different fun activities throughout the day and also just enjoy reading some of the wonderful books that Dr. Seuss wrote. It is always a well-loved day by all 2nd grade students!!!
Important Dates:
* Friday, March 1st- Dr. Seuss Day!
* March 18-22nd – Spring Break
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Friday, February 15, 2019
What a great Valentine’s week we had this week!!! Our party was super fun yesterday- thank you so much to all the parents that came to help out! We did a fun heart craft, ate ice cream sundaes, passed out and read our Valentine cards, and then played a fun bingo game where all the students bingo at the same time. It was a fun time for all!!!
Grayson Rankin was our star student this week and did a great job sharing his poster today. Next week we will take a break because it is only a 3-day week.
In reading this week we started learning about fables. We focused on the moral or lesson learned in a fable. We read and listened to different fables and then responded to them about the lesson that was learned. We will move into noticing figurative language in folktales next week.
In science we started learning about the things we see in the day and night sky and then we moved into learning about the phases of the moon. We have been charting the moon for the last 3 weeks at school using Moon Giant and we now started learning about the phases that we have been seeing. We will continue charting until we have seen the moon go all the way through the cycle.
In Math this week we finished switching classes for addition. The students all took their end of unit test over addition, and their packets of work for these past 2 weeks will be coming home soon. Next we will move into a short unit on money.
Important Dates:
* Mon-Tues, February 18-19- Student Holidays/President’s Day
* Spring Break- March 18-22nd
Enjoy this spring like weather!!
Friday, February 08, 2019
Happy Friday! What a great week we had this week! We were the assembly leaders for the school today at our Friday assembly and they did an amazing job! I was so super proud of them and their leadership!
In math we are still switching classes for addition with regrouping. We will finish up and test next Wednesday. Any extra practice at home would be wonderful!
In reading we started talking about folktales and fables. We will continue with this next week. We are focusing on story elements such as characters, setting, problem and solution.
In writing we are finishing our nonfiction paragraphs and will be starting a narrative to go along with our unit on story elements. They will be able to tie those lessons into the story they are writing.
Spelling tests will be next Friday!
In science we have been studying the weather. This week we “packed suitcases” to different cities with different types of weather. The items they put into their suitcases depended on the weather in that city. We went to rainy Seattle and cold/snowy Denver, Colorado. We are going to then pick a city to do a little weather report about next week before moving into studying the phases of the moon.
Important Dates:
* Wed., Feb. 14th- Valentine Party 12:45-1:45 Come join in the fun!
* Mon-Tues, February 18-19- Student Holidays/President’s Day
* Spring Break- March 18-22nd
Stay warm and have a wonderful weekend!
Friday, February 1, 2019
I can hardly believe that January is already over! It seems like we just came back from our Christmas Break! We had a great week this week! Mateo was our star student today and did a great job! Next week it will be Sean’s turn to be our star student.
Today we celebrated the 100th Day of School and being 100 days smarter. We dressed up as if we were 100 years old and did activities with the number 100. I shared some pics on See Saw of our elderly class! It was a great day!
We also used the aging app on our iPads. We printed out an “aged” picture of them and then they wrote about what they think they will be doing when they are 100 years old. So cute!
In math we started switching classes for addition with regrouping. We will be switching classes for 2 weeks. Ask your child about where they are going and what they have been learning.
In science we began learning about the seasons. We talked about what people would be wearing in each season, what the weather would be like, and what activities they would be doing. We also studied the weather, weather tools and have been charting the weather each day. In reading/writing we did a little research on Pebble Go about different types of severe weather and how it occurs and will be writing a nonfiction paragraph about it next week.
One little reminder: If your child does not have earbuds or headphones here at school- please consider sending a pair in for them to use. We use laptops frequently in the classroom and it is really important for them to be able to have headphones for this purpose. I only have a few pairs to loan out- so having their own would be great!
Upcoming dates:
* Wednesday, Feb. 6th- Class and individual pictures. Ours are at 8:30 am. Please send back envelope if you would like to purchase a class picture. Proofs will come home for individual pictures and you can order those at that time.
* Wed., Feb. 14th- Valentine Party 12:45-1:45 Come join in the fun!
* Mon-Tues, February 18-19- Student Holidays/President’s Day
* Spring Break- March 18-22nd
Several items needed for the classroom: (We are completely out)
* Hand sanitizer
* Sandwich and snack baggies
* Any items for our class store
Thank you and have a wonderful weekend!
January 25, 2019
Happy Friday!! We had a great, short week! We have hit the ground running and are ready to make this a successful 2nd half of the year! We talked this week about the expectations and how they are increasing as the year progresses. I explained that what might have been ok work at the beginning of the year may not be good enough now because we should be seeing growth as the year goes on. I am continuing to push them to be the best that they can be and to produce quality work. Any encouragement at home on this topic would be great!
This week in reading we read different books about Martin Luther King Jr. and his life and accomplishments. We did a lesson about the changes that he brought to our world that went with the book Happy Birthday Martin Luther King and the kids loved that. We also read the Scholastic News and answered questions while highlighting where they found their answers. We listened to a clip from his actual "I Have a Dream" speech as well.
In reading and writing we read a story called Super Storms that will tie in with our weather unit in science. Each student then picked a type of weather and wrote questions that they would like answered. We did a little bit of research in the computer lab today and will also look in books. Our end result is to write an organized paragraph with a main idea sentence and supporting details underneath. This will be a great lead in to our main research on the rainforest that will be coming up in March.
In math this week we continued with our place value to 999 unit. This unit has included lots of manipulatives and hands on games while learning how to regroup ones as tens and tens as hundreds. We will finish with this unit next Tuesday and will start switching classes for addition with regrouping.
We did not have a star student this week because it was a short week. Next week it will be Mateo’s turn to be our star student.
Friday, Feb. 1st is the 100th day of school!!! We will plan to do fun, but educational activities working with the number 100 on this day. We also like to do something really fun each year in 2nd grade- which is to have the students dress up as if they are 100 years old on this day. They can wear "old person" clothes, spray their hair gray/white, bring a cane, etc.- whatever they can think of to be creative and look old. We will then be drawing a picture of what they think they will look like when they are 100 and writing about what it would feel like to be 100. Should be a fun day!
Upcoming dates:
* Feb. 14th- Valentine’s Day party 12:45-1:45 Please join us!
* Feb. 18-19- Student holidays (Teacher professional development days)
* March 18-22 Spring Break
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Sorry this is late- I was out sick with a stomach bug unexpectedly on Friday. Much better today! I had the Newsflash ready to go- I just wasn’t here to send it!
Friday, January 11, 2019
Happy New Year!
I hope you all had a restful and enjoyable winter break. I know that I certainly did, and I am now ready to get started on the 2nd half of our year. We slowly but surely got back in the swing of things this week, but they really seemed excited to be back. I certainly missed seeing their sweet faces each day!
We did not have a star student this week with it being the first week after the holiday, but next week it will be Walker's turn to be the star student.
With it being a new year, we talked this week about what New Year's resolutions are. We discussed that they are promises for something that you want to change or do in the new year- whether it be something personal, at school, or with your family. We then made a 2019 flip book about some of our own resolutions for the new year. We also read about and discussed what New Year’s looks like in different countries and how different cultures celebrate.
In math we are working on 3 digit place value up to 999. We are using manipulatives and building numbers and then writing them in standard and expanded form.
In science we are learning about natural resources and how they are different from man made resources. We are also discussing was to conserve these resources.
New spelling words are in their backpacks today- test will be Friday, January 25th. Also- I sent a hard copy of a reading log because many students are not completing it in our Google Classroom. Either way is fine with me!
Have a wonderful weekend!!
Friday, December 21, 2018
We had a wonderful 3 quick days together this week. Thank you so much to everyone that came to our Grinch party on Wednesday. I think we had more parents than we did kids- so that was amazing! I really think the kids had fun and enjoyed all of the stations at the party!
I am attaching my last week’s Newsflash as well this week so you can see what topics we have covered. It did not go through for some reason last week.
We spent some time this week making our fun parent gifts- I hope you enjoy them! We also had a “how-to” on wrapping presents! We read books and learned about Hanukkah, we made a menorah and played the Dreidel game. We finished our geometry unit with area and completed a fun Cheez-It activity with square units. We also had our book exchange and the kids were all so kind and thankful for the book they received.
Thank you so much for all of the wonderful gifts that you honored me with this week! I did not get a chance to write thank you notes before they left, but will include them in the Tuesday folder when they return. I really appreciate all of your thoughtfulness!!
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday break and a Merry Christmas!
Friday, December 14, 2018
Whew- it’s cold out there today! What a great week we had this week! The kids worked very hard this week so that we can relax and do some fun things the 3 days next week. They also have earned 10 class stars so they voted on a hot chocolate party. We will do this one day next week. And….we earned the Golden Gnome this week for our great behavior in the library. It’s our first time this year so they were very excited!
This week in reading we spent some time learning about holidays all around the world. We started by talking about Christmas and showing kindness at the holidays. We then started a Kindness bingo- they can do it if they wish. It should be in their backpacks. Then we moved into Hanukkah and read the book The Trees of the Dancing Goats. We created our own goat and hung them on a tree in the hallway. Next week we will continue with this topic.
In science we talked about fresh water vs salt water and what those look like around the state of Texas. We also looked at actual water samples and wrote about and drew what we saw in them. Then we discussed that only 1% of the water on our earth is fresh water that can be used for drinking water, 97% is salt water and 2% is water trapped in glaciers or underground.
In math we continued with our geometry unit. We made shapes on geoboards on the iPads and put our pictures on SeeSaw. We also used Osmos and iPads to create Tangram pictures. Yesterday we started learning about area and did some area stations with color tiles. We will finish this unit next week.
Important dates:
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Stay warm!
Friday, December 07, 2018
Happy Friday! We were very busy this week trying to accomplish all that we can before the winter break is upon us. Phoebe was our wonderful star student this week and did a super job sharing her poster with the class.
In reading we are focusing on reading comprehension right now. We have been reading our Scholastic News magazines and then answering questions about the material that we read. We are also using our highlighters to go back into the reading to prove where we found our answers. This is a great skill to practice to get ready for some of the reading testing they will do next year.
In math this week continued our geometry unit. We did a fun tangram lesson with the story Grandfather Tang. We then moved into 3D shapes and learned vocabulary such as faces, edges, vertices, and angles. We will continue with this next week and also move into learning about area.
In science we spent this week observing our rocks. We classified them by their properties- color, size, shape, texture and luster. We also compared them to other rocks, and then played a game with them called “Who Am I?” After everyone had written a description of 1 of their rocks we sat in a circle with all of the rocks in the middle and they read their description and the kids tried to guess which rock it was. They had a lot of fun with it! Rocks are coming back home in their backpacks today.
Last spelling test before the new year will be next Thursday morning.
* Please send me about 5 pictures that we can use in a surprise gift project here at school. They should have your child in them and can include pets, siblings, friends, family- etc. I would love to have them sent in by Monday, Dec. 10th please!!!
Important dates:
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Friday, November 30, 2018
Happy Friday! Vivienne was our star student today and did a great job sharing her poster with the class. Next week it will be Phoebe’s turn.
In reading this week we continued our author study of Patricia Polacco. We are reading her books and comparing characters and storylines across her books. She is one of my favorite authors and the kids are loving her books!
In writing this week we worked on a fall/winter poem incorporating nouns, verbs and adjectives. Each student chose 5 nouns that had to do with fall or winter- whichever they chose. They then picked a verb that went with each noun and 2 adjectives that would describe that noun. An example would be noun- pumpkins, verb for that could be glowing and 2 adjectives to describe pumpkins could be fat and round. So that phrase would be Fall is... fat, round pumpkins glowing. It was a great culminating activity to wrap up our study of those 3 parts of speech. We were also able to go to the computer lab to publish them this week. Next week we will finish adding pictures into our typed document.
We also started learning cursive handwriting this week which they are super excited about! We will learn 4 letters a week until they are all learned and then will work to put all of the letters together as words. Research shows that cursive is really good for the brain- it connects everything together so I am hoping that I can have these kids writing fluently by the end of the year!
In Math we continued our geometry unit. We began with a review of 2 dimensional shapes and an activity with making robots out of pattern blocks to go with that. We also read the book The Greedy Triangle and then built 2D shapes out of marshmallows and toothpicks.
In science we finished up our unit on force and motion with a variety of different hands on activities. We started the week with a kinesthetic movement activity that you probably saw on SeeSaw. They had to make a video of themselves sliding, spinning, and rolling. We then moved into using Beebots and Ozobots which they loved! And finally today we built race tracks with the goal of having their car travel in as many different patterns of movement without getting stuck or falling off the track. We used Hot Wheels Kits to build them and then tested each of them out and videoed as we did our test. Those videos should be uploaded tonight. Lots of fun motion activities! Next week we will move into studying about rocks. There is a note in their backpacks today about gathering a rock collection to bring to school on Monday.
There was a note in the Tuesday folder this week addressing these next 2 items:
* Please send me about 5 pictures that we can use in a surprise gift project here at school. They should have your child in them and can include pets, siblings, friends, family- etc. I would love to have them sent in by Monday, Dec. 10th please!!!
We will be having a book exchange this year in 2nd grade. We will be exchanging books (boys with boys and girls with girls) on the morning of the last day of school. Please send your child with a wrapped book by Tuesday, Dec. 18th if they wish to participate- no more than $5.00 please. There was a book order in the Tuesday folder as well if you wish to purchase your book exchange book through Scholastic. Book orders are due by Wednesday, Dec. 6th by 8:00 am.
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Friday, November 02, 2018
Happy November! We survived the crazy Halloween week! We embraced Halloween and we were able to do many fun Halloween learning activities this week. Ask your child about all the fun activities we did! They included a candy corn science experiment, candy corn structures, and a fun Dracula teeth cookie craft with our reading buddies! It was a great fun-filled week of creative learning!
We also got to enjoy our first field trip of the year on Halloween. The weather was great, and the kids had so much fun and were so well behaved! Our tour guide was amazing and they were able to learn so much about the cave! Thank you to all of our parents that were able to go with us!
In writing this week we finished writing our insect research books and began a fun Proper Noun pumpkin story. We will finish those up next week and begin a fall poem.
In science we are learning about energy such as heat, light and sound. We did a s’mores lab this week where we observed the graham cracker, the marshmallow, and the chocolate before adding heat. Next we wrapped it in foil and put the packets on a griddle and let the heat do its work. Then we opened them and observed what each component looked like after heat was added- and of course ate them! J
In math we started our measurement unit by learning about centimeters. We will move into meters and then inches, feet and yards next week.
Book Fair next week!!! Here are the times:
November 6 from 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. open for sales
November 7 from 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. open for sales
November 8 from 8:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. open for sales
November 9 from 8:00 a.m. - noon open for sales
Upcoming Dates:
November 15th –Thanksgiving Lunch/ Science Night
November 19 - 23rd THANKSGIVING BREAK
Have a wonderful weekend! Enjoy this beautiful weather!
Friday, October 26, 2018
Happy Friday! What a beautiful day it was today!
Owen was our fabulous star student today. He shared his poster and his really cool robot he brought from home and the students all wrote letters to him. Next week it will be Gwendolyn's turn to be our star.
In reading this week we started a little reader's theater play. We are doing The Little Old Lady who Wasn't Afraid of Anything. Each child has a part that they chose! Next week we will practice our parts and work on reading with emphasis and expression. We will perform them for our reading buddies next Friday.
In writing we finished publishing our 5 finger stories! Soon they will be hanging in the hallway. They have worked really hard on this writing piece and are super excited to see their published product! It was not a piece that we took all the way through the process- we will only do that for certain writing pieces this year. Next we will be moving into writing our insect books and procedural (How-To) writing.
We continued our telling time unit Monday-Thursday and will test for this on Monday. We will then be back in our own classrooms next week for our measurement unit.
In science we finished up our physical changes to matter unit with Golf Ball Movers. They could use 4 sheets of either newspaper or tissue paper and 15 cm of tape to create something that would move a golf ball from one desk to another. They were not allowed to touch the desk or the golf ball with their hands. It was fun to see their minds working and them being creative. Next week we will be moving into energy- heat, light, and sound.
Please remember that our At Home Learning is in Google Classroom. There is a weekly math problem and that is where they can record their reading minutes daily. They should know how to log in to Google Classroom but I also sent home directions and an orange card a while back to help at home. Please let me know if you need this information again.
There will be no spelling this week. With our upcoming field trip and other things happening next week, we will take a break and I will send new words home next Friday. There is a field trip letter in their backpacks today with details about our trip Wednesday.
Upcoming Dates:
October 29th - Tag Referral Info Morning 7:25 am
October 30th - Tag Referral Info Night: 5:30 - 6:30 pm
October 31st- Field Trip to Inner Space Caverns/San Gabriel Park
November 2- Report cards home
November 5th - 9th Book Fair
November 15th –Thanksgiving Lunch/ Science Night
November 19 - 23rd THANKSGIVING BREAK
I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Friday, October 19, 2018
Wow- what a week! Rainy weather every day, switching classes for math, Cogat testing over 3 days…whew! But we survived and they actually have been really great! Hoping for some sunny weather next week!!
Needless to say- with all of the testing this week we will be carrying some lessons over to next week. Spelling took a backseat this week so I will hit it hard next week and we will still test next Friday.
In reading and writing we continued with our insect research and will start writing our little research books on Monday. This will not be a writing piece that we take all the way through the process- just research and writing facts about it.
In math we started switching classes for telling time. Ask your child to share with you what teacher they are going to and what they have been learning in that class. Any practice you can do with having them read an analog clock at home would be great! We will spend about 10 days on this unit.
In science this week we did a really fun experiment. We have been talking about physical properties of matter and how you can use that information to help you build things. We read a book called 21 Elephants and Still Standing about PT Barnum in 1884 and how he walked 21 elephants across the Brooklyn Bridge to prove it was strong enough to drive on. We also looked at some famous bridges around the world and how they were built. Then the students got in groups and began designing a bridge using popsicle sticks, duct tape and rubber bands. They had certain rules they had to follow such as it had to be 6 inches off the ground, had to be 12 inches long, and had to be strong enough to hold some weight. We are using snap cubes in place of elephants and they had to see how many their bridge could hold. We then tested them to see if they met all of the requirements and how much weight they would hold. Look for our videos on SeeSaw coming soon! They are really enjoying our building projects so far! You may see your child wanting to gather supplies to try some of them at home!
Upcoming Dates:
* Literacy Night- Spooky Story Night Oct 25th from 6:00-7:30
* Field Trip to Inner Space Caverns- Oct. 31st (Note coming home in backpacks today with details)
I hope you have a wonderful weekend!! Stay dry!
Friday, October 12, 2018
Happy Friday!! It’s been a fantastic, short week here in 2nd grade! Thank you to all of the parents that joined me for conferences this past Tuesday.
We really enjoyed our board game time today as well as having our stuffed animal watch us learn all day. It made for an enjoyable Friday!
Ali was our fabulous star student this week. He shared his poster he brought from home and the students all wrote letters to him. The calendar for star student is on my website if you ever want to check which week it will be your child's turn. I will also send a note home in the Tuesday folder a week or 2 ahead.
In writing we finished drafting our stories and then met with a partner to partner edit. Next week we will publish the stories into a picture book.
In reading we started a mini research unit on insects and began collecting facts on Pebble Go in the computer lab this week. We will continue with this next week and will start writing our little research booklets.
In math we finished our addition and subtraction strategies and took a pretest over telling time. Today the 2nd grade teachers met to group the students according to their pretests. We will start switching classes across the grade level for telling time next Tuesday. This unit should last about 2 weeks.
In science this week we began using our knowledge we have learned about the different physical properties of matter to see what would happen when we change or combine different types of matter. We started this week by creating tower structures out of either dried spaghetti or pipe cleaners. They were supposed to try and build the tallest tower that they could, that could stand on its own and hold up 1 large cotton ball. Next week we will move into building bridges. Lots of fun, hands on science!!
Reminder: 2nd grade will be taking the Cogat (Cognitive Abilities Test) next week. Our actual days are Wednesday and Friday. Please try to be sure your child is here for this between 10:00-11:30 on these days. Thank you!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Friday, October 05, 2018
What a great time we had at Field Day today! Thank you so much to all of the parents that came and helped us, cheered us on, or ate lunch with us! We were so thankful for such beautiful weather!
In math this week we took our knowledge we learned about addition strategies and applied that to subtraction. We will continue with this our 3 days next week and then will be moving into telling time. We will pretest and switch classes for the unit on telling time so that we can meet the needs of all students and their varying levels of understanding.
In reading/writing workshop we continued work on taking our 5 finger stories through the writing process. After drafting, they are doing some self-editing and partner editing before meeting to conference with me for final editing.
In the computer lab we went into our Google classroom assignment for our Math At Home Learning and reviewed that. We plan to do this most weeks that we are in the computer lab. We also got to explore insects in Pebble Go so that we are ready to pick insects and begin a mini research project next week.
In science we got to do our test for our Save the Ice Pop project. We put the frozen ice pop inside their insulator inventions and looked at it and took notes on it every 20 minutes for 1 hour. All groups had some degree of success- they all had some ice left in their ice pops at the end of 1 hour. We discussed what they could have done differently and what they would change for next time. We also began learning about physical changes to matter- folding, cutting, sanding, etc. We will apply these skills to some other fun science experiments coming up soon.
Upcoming Dates:
* If you replied yes to having a conference next Tuesday- you should have received a sign up email from me. Please choose a time on the Google Document and I will see you Tuesday.
* Spelling test on list 2 will be next Friday, Oct. 12th.
Have a great long weekend!!
Friday, Sept. 28, 2018
Happy Friday!! It’s been a fantastic week here in 2nd grade!
Delaney was our star student this week and did a great job presenting today. Next week it will be Ali’s turn to be star student.
In reading we began our study of non-fiction features. We compared fiction and nonfiction and discussed the differences between them. We read a nonfiction book about Sharks and looked at all of the different features in that book. We then read the fiction book Nugget and Fang (where a shark is the main character) and discussed the differences between the two types of books. We will continue with this study next week and then move into a little mini research on insects.
In math we continued our unit on addition strategies. We learned about adding on a 100 chart, using expanded form to add, using place value, using an open number line, and using the regular algorithm which we call the “up and down strategy”. Today we took a little mini assessment over these to see who still needs some additional work with these. Next week we will move into subtraction strategies.
In writing we started our 5 finger stories. These are completely fictional stories using their imagination. I have modeled my plan and started drafting my story. Then they planned out their stories and started drafting their first paragraph. We talked about grabbing your reader so that someone will want to read what you are writing and cannot put it down. Next week we will continue drafting our stories.
In science we did a super fun “Project Lead the Way” engineering activity this week called Save the Ice Pop. We learned all about the steps in the engineering design process and also about insulators and conductors. Then in groups of 3 they took that knowledge and designed their own “coat” or insulator for a frozen ice pop. Their goal was to keep it frozen for an hour using different materials such as Styrofoam, felt, towels, cardboard, plastic wrap, tinfoil, etc. After they finished designing it, they actually got to build it. On Monday we will do our evaluation and test to see which ones will successfully “Save the Ice Pop!” I will upload pictures on See Saw when we are finished.
***In the red Friday folder today are some very important things!! I have officially finished all of my beginning of the year testing! Please look for your child’s data sheet that will have all of your child’s beginning of the year scores on it as well as some goals that I will have in place for your child this year. Please mark if you would like to have a conference on Oct. 9th and sign one copy of the form and send it back to school. The other copy is yours to keep. I will begin setting up conference times once I have the forms back, so please return ASAP.
* Next Friday is Field Day! It is a luau theme this year. 2nd grade's time is from 9:15-11:30. I hope that you can join us as we move through the stations. You should have received an email from our homeroom moms about ways that you can help our class. On field day our class will not eat until 12:35- we are the last lunch on this day- so there will be a break from 11:30-12:30 that we will be back in the classroom. You are welcome to join us for our picnic lunch on the front porch- just know that we will be eating over an hour after field day ends. We will have a snack and have reading workshop during this time period. Please send a hearty snack with your child on this day as they will be very hungry eating that much later than normal. They will also need a change of clothes in case they get wet, muddy or dirty at field day. It is not fun to spend the rest of the day uncomfortable. We will be watching a movie in the afternoon.
* Our blue 2nd grade class shirts came in and are in the backpacks today. Please have your child wear it Friday for field day.
A note from Math Pentathalon: It is a great addition to the math program for each grade level and helps kid practice math while playing table games, away from screens and in a fun and non-competitive setting. They don't need to be gurus or have advanced math knowledge or skills.
Good attitude and desire to learn something new and spend time and have some fun with friends is all it takes! Please consider signing up!
A note from Mrs. Mercer:
Dear Parents/Guardian:
All students in 2nd grade will be taking an assessment activity called the COGAT during the week of October 15-19.
Although the name CogAT means Cognitive Ability Aptitude Test, it is not a pass fail test. It is a tool to drive best practice in instruction and screen for potential placement in special programs such as gifted services. The data available helps identify strengths and also areas for growth.
The COGAT will be given on the computer. Each student will need earbuds or headphones. While we have headphones for students to use, if they do not already have a set at school, they might feel more comfortable bringing a pair of their own.
There is no studying or preparation they need for this assessment. We will spend approximately 45 minutes for two days on this assessment with breaks embedded.
Please email me if you have any additional questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Mercer
Important dates:
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!
Friday, Sept. 21, 2018
Happy Friday! It was a great week here in 2nd grade!
Arjun was our star student this week and did a great job sharing his poster with the class today. Next week it will be Delaney’s turn to be our star!
In science this week we completed our unit on changes in matter with a really fun experiment- we made Jello! We observed the powder as a solid, added boiling water and watched the steam (gas), observed it as a liquid and then put it in the refrigerator. On Thursday, we then observed it again as a solid. And of course- we got to enjoy using our sense of taste to eat it- the best part of the experiment!!! Our matter unit was really a fun one. We have covered the 3 states of matter, the properties of matter and ways that matter can change with heat or cold. We learned about reversible changes and irreversible changes as well as physical and chemical changes.
In reading/writing we took our 5 finger retelling and started turning it into writing summaries about different books. We are using the words Somebody, Wanted, But, Then, So to help us form a complete summary. Next week we will be moving into making connections to the books that we are reading as well as looking at fiction vs. nonfiction.
In math we began exploring different addition strategies to help us in our problem solving. We learned about using a 100's chart to add, using an open number line, and using base 10 blocks. They have done really well trying all of the different ways. We are learning them so that they can apply the one that fits the problem best and the one that is the most comfortable for them in the long run. We will continue to practice these strategies next week.
We started our first Words Their Way spelling sort this week. A paper copy should have come home in the behavior folder last Friday for them to be practicing at home. Our test will be next Friday.
A note from Mrs. Mercer:
Dear Parents/Guardian:
All students in 2nd grade will be taking an assessment activity called the COGAT during the week of October 15-19.
Although the name CogAT means Cognitive Ability Aptitude Test, it is not a pass fail test. It is a tool to drive best practice in instruction and screen for potential placement in special programs such as gifted services. The data available helps identify strengths and also areas for growth.
The COGAT will be given on the computer. Each student will need earbuds or headphones. While we have headphones for students to use, if they do not already have a set at school, they might feel more comfortable bringing a pair of their own.
There is no studying or preparation they need for this assessment. We will spend approximately 45 minutes for two days on this assessment with breaks embedded.
Please email me if you have any additional questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Mercer
Important dates:
Have a great weekend!
Friday, September 14, 2018
Happy Friday!! It’s been a great week here in 2nd grade! We won the Golden Spoon again today so either they forgot we already won it, or my class is doing a really awesome job in the cafeteria!! J
Thank you so much to all of the parents that were able to attend our Academic Night last night! If you were not able to be there- our presentation is at the bottom of the email as well as on my website. Feel free to look at it at your convenience and let me know if you have any questions.
Amelia was our first star student this week! Today she shared her poster and then the class wrote letters for her to take home in her star student book. Great job Amelia!!! Next week it will be Arjun’s turn to be our star student.
In math we started our unit on graphing. We have learned how to make and interpret picture graphs and bar graphs. Each student got to survey the class on a topic of their choice and then create a picture graph and a bar graph based on the data in their survey. We also learned about pictographs and how to use a key or a special rule to help us interpret the graph.
Their first actual spelling list/sort is coming home in their behavior folder today. We will not be sorting these words in class until Monday so it is okay if they don't work with them at home until then as well. However, if they wish to get a jump start on things they are welcome to go ahead and cut them apart and see if they can figure out how to sort them. I am sending the exact same sort home as they have here at school. My hope is if they sort at school daily and at home daily- they will be very familiar with these words after 2 weeks. I do not think just memorizing a word is very beneficial for children- they usually forget how to spell it by the time they use it in their writing. So we are focusing instead on spelling rules and patterns and how to apply these rules to any word they encounter. For the test they will need to not only know how to spell the word but also which category the word should be sorted into. The first 2 weeks will be a practice unit until they get the hang of spelling and sorting for the test since this is a new skill for them this year. For the beginning of the year we will have a new list every 2 weeks, but later in the year we will move to each week.
In reading we started discussing retelling a story using the 5 finger method. We read different books together as a class and then practiced retelling the main ideas using our 5 fingers as a guide- the thumb is the beginning, the 3 fingers the middle, and the pinkie is the end or conclusion. We practiced this all orally whole class and with partners. Next week we will practice reading and then writing down the story elements in our reader’s notebook.
In writing we will be moving into taking a personal narrative through the steps of the writing process. We are going to apply our 5 finger strategy to writing and write a 5 finger story that has a clear beginning, middle, and end.
We have had lots of fun this week in science. We learned all about how adding heat and taking it away changes matter. We did a fun experiment with adding heat to candles, chocolate, crayons, ice and butter. We predicted and then observed which ones melted the fastest. We also got to look at our fungus for the last time before it went in the trash can. It had gotten quite disgusting over the last 2 weeks in our cabinet! They used their senses to observe the changes and then they looked back at their predictions to see if they had predicted correctly. Fun unit!
A quick request- if you have not sent in headphones or earbuds, please do so as soon as possible. Some of the sites we use require sound and it can get a little loud when all laptops are going at once! It can just be a cheapy pair- I think the Dollar Store even has some. Make sure they are marked with their name please. Thank you!!
Important dates:
Academic Night presentation:
https://prezi.com/view/e3VqmgIRIqi5Gc2M0sRy/
I hope that you have a wonderful weekend!!!
Friday, Sept. 7, 2018
What a super week we had this week! The students all worked hard and we covered a lot! I was so happy to meet so many grandparents today at lunch!!
This week in math we finished up our place value and number sense unit. We learned about comparing numbers using the greater than/less than sign. We also learned to order numbers from least to greatest and this took us into learning about number lines. We did some problem solving using number lines as well as skip counting. We also practiced solving number riddles using a hundreds chart.
Today I shared my star student poster with the students. I then modeled what our star student letters will look like this year. Each student will get a week that they are star student and then the class will write letters to the student about their presentation. They will get to make a book out of the letters and take it home at the end of their star student week. Today they practiced writing their first letter to me and we created a class book filled with their letters. They did a great job! I have posted our star student calendar for the year on my website if you would like to see which week your child is going to have. Please know this is subject to change – I will always send a packet home with your child at least a week before they are assigned to be the star student.
We did our first Scholastic News of the year all about friendship. Look for it in next week’s Tuesday folder. We also went to the computer lab this week and got on Raz-Kids and Reflex Math. They are welcome to use both at home as well. My class name is tpettit for both websites. There isn’t a password for Raz-kids- just my name and then their name. They can read books at their level, listen to the book and answer comprehension questions about the book. Reflex math will help them practice their addition and subtraction facts.
In science we are looking at the properties and states of matter and next week will be moving into changes in matter when heat or cold is added to it. We have also been observing our fungus that is growing on our bread.
Important Dates and Reminders:
* Please join 2nd grade for our Academic Night at 5:30 located in the library. We will be giving you information about our year and our curriculum.
* October 8-9 Student holidays- However Oct. 9th is set aside as a parent/teacher conference day. More information will be coming soon.
* Please have your child wear tennis shoes M,W,F as those are our PE days.
* Book orders are due by Monday at noon
* I sent out quite a few different pictures/videos on SeeSaw so look for them if you haven’t seen them.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Friday, August 24, 2018
Happy Friday!!!
Whew! We made it through our first full week and they did a great job! I know they are tired and the days seem long to them right now- but they have really pushed through and shown perseverance! I am really enjoying getting to know each of them and their individual personalities!
Some things we covered this week:
* We set up our science notebooks with a table of contents, title page, and a safety sense contract.
* We discussed reading and writing workshop and set up our reader’s notebook. We discussed that strong readers read every day and then sketched out where we would like to read at home.
* We went to the library and checked out books. Our weekly library time is Friday at 11:00. Please help remind your child to bring their books every Friday.
* We went to the computer lab and learned how to login and played some fun math strategy games. We will soon begin using Reflex Math and Raz-kids which they can also use at home.
* In writing we wrote our beginning of the year writing sample. We also made a list of things we could write about this year.
* We discussed ways to be a good friend and how to keep friends. We read many wonderful books about friendship and why we need to be good friends to each other. We then published a class friendship book with each child having a page in it about friendship. We can now read it all year long in our classroom.
* To go along with our friendship unit, today we did a cooperative group activity with the book Big Al. Big Al is a large, scary fish that has a hard time making friends until he is able to help a group of smaller fish escape from a net. We read the book without seeing the pictures and then in a group they had to create what they thought Big Al would look like. After sharing out their projects, we then read the book again- getting to see the pictures this time! They had a lot of fun and did a great job! Look for our finished projects hanging outside our classroom as well as coming on SeeSaw.
* We also began talking about Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset this week. I am of course discussing this in kid friendly language so that they understand it, but they really seemed to love it this week! We talked about our brain being like a muscle that can get bigger and stronger if you work it out. We also learned that our brain won’t grow if we just do things that are easy for us and never challenge ourselves. We explored the word “YET” and talked about that we may not be able to do something yet, but will be able to do it in the future. We then each decorated a word YET and hung them around the classroom to remind us that if we aren’t able to do it yet, that’s ok; it’s something that we can work towards.
* * We got to "shop" in the class store this Friday during Fun Friday! They used their tickets that they have been earning for good behavior. They really enjoyed it! I would love any possible donations to our class store- so if you come across anything at home or in the dollar store that you think would be good for our class store- please send it my way!
I am sending home our red Friday folder today. In it I included a note with a request for 5 pictures to use for a writing project. These can be actual photos or ones printed out on paper. I would love to have those by Tuesday so we can start writing. Here is a blurb from the letter: We are going to be working on a writing assignment next week called, "My Beautiful Book." We are encouraging students to bring in 5 photos from home of special family members, vacations, special events, etc. Each photo will help them with a short writing activity.
**Bright yellow parent permission slips for apps and software went home in Tuesday folders. They are due August 31st.
Important Dates and Announcements:
* Monday, Sept. 3rd is a holiday for Labor Day
* Thursday, Sept. 13th will be 2nd grade Parent Academic Night in my classroom from 5:30-6:30.
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!
Happy Friday!! We had a great week here in 2nd grade. It was a bit of a long week this week with STAAR testing going on and being on a different schedule, but they all did great and handled the changes well.
As I’m sure your child has shared with you, Miss Bednarkski has taken over the teaching in our classroom and has completed the first week of her Total Teach time. She is doing a wonderful job and the students are all enjoying her teaching! I’m not sure they completely understand why I am gone from the classroom, but I explained to them that she needs the full experience of being their teacher without me being around. If I am in the room, they tend to still turn to me and ask questions, which is understandable since we have spent the whole year together. I still pop in and give hugs of encouragement, but overall the teaching is completely hers right now.
In reading we started doing Book Clubs this week. Students are reading and discussing chapter books in groups. They are also responding to their reading as they work their way through the chapters. They are so excited to get to read with other students and to talk about their books!! We will spend about 3 weeks on this book club in reading class.
In writing class, we used our research information to start writing our rainforest book this week. We began with our paragraph/page about what our animal eats. We drafted, edited and published this page and then moved on to where our animal lives. We will spend the next two weeks working on the pages about the adaptations, interesting facts, and enemies of our animals.
In science we learned about food chains and explored food chains among rainforest animals. Next week we will be studying the destruction of the rainforest and ways that we can help save it. We will also begin discussing the products that we can get from the rainforest.
In math we continued our unit on fractions. We started the week off with eighths and went into fractional parts using pattern blocks. We ended the week with a fraction sort using the numeric, word, and picture form of different fractions.
Upcoming Dates:
* April 19- Student holiday
* April 26th Bobcat Bash 5-8 pm Come join the fun!
* Monday, April 29th Rainforest models due
Presentations will take place the whole week of April 29-May 3. More info coming soon.
Have a great weekend!
Friday, March 29, 2019
I hope you had a great spring break with your family! I was so happy to see everyone back on Monday! We also had such a great field trip yesterday to Rodeo Austin. Thank you so much to all of the parents who came out and joined us!!
Thank you also to all of the volunteers that came to help us this week. We had so much fun turning our classroom into the rainforest. The kids are soooo excited about it!!
We also went to the library Monday to research our rain forest animals. With the help of some wonderful parent volunteers, we were able to almost completely fill in our graphic organizers!!! I will check over them and we will fill in any missing gaps next week- but we definitely got a wonderful start. Next week we will start writing our paragraphs for our non-fiction books about our animals.
Landon was our star student today and did a great job of presenting his poster.
In science we continued learning about the layers of the rain forest and what animals live in each layer. I also modeled note taking about the sloth in front of them so that they understood how to take notes on their graphic organizer when we researched. We also started learning about animal adaptations and we specifically discussed camouflage because that is such an important adaptation in the rainforest. We will continue with this next week.
In math we finished our subtraction unit and tested. Their folders will be coming home soon. We will be back in our own rooms for a unit on fractions next week.
In writing we are using some of our figurative language lessons and we are writing our own poems. We have written a biopoem and a poem called Inside My Heart and we will be publishing those next week.
Upcoming Dates:
* Bobcat Bash April 26th 5-8 pm Come join the fun!
* Rainforest models due Monday, April 29th A letter came home before spring break explaining the at-home portion of this unit.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Friday, February 22, 2019
We had a quick 3-day week this week! We have 3 weeks until Spring Break and a lot to accomplish in that time!
We had a visit from a Round Rock Orthodontist, Dr. Paul Gates, this morning since February is Healthy Teeth month. He talked all about how to keep your teeth healthy and which foods aren’t good for your teeth. Very informative and kid friendly.
In Math this week we started a short 2-week unit on money. We are reviewing coins and their value, counting money, problem solving, and even making change! We will continue with this next week as well and then test on Friday. We will also be pretesting for subtraction with regrouping and will start switching classes on Monday, March 4th.
In reading/writing we finished our nonfiction main idea paragraphs about weather. They each came up with a main idea topic sentence and then wrote 3 supporting sentences to go with it. They turned out great and will be hanging in the hallway soon. Next we move into a short narrative story.
In science we finished up our weather unit with a fun culminating activity. Each student chose a city that we had already talked about and wrote a 15-20 second weather report about that city’s weather. They included the hi/low temperature, the weather conditions and what to pack to visit there. We will record these weather reports on Monday and I will send out on SeeSaw.
Next Friday, March 1st, in conjunction with Read Across America- we will be celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday. A note is in the Friday folder today outlining our activities for the day- but in short- they can wear their pajamas, bring a stuffed animal/pillow and can bring in any Dr. Seuss books that they might have at home to share with the class. We will do different fun activities throughout the day and also just enjoy reading some of the wonderful books that Dr. Seuss wrote. It is always a well-loved day by all 2nd grade students!!!
Important Dates:
* Friday, March 1st- Dr. Seuss Day!
* March 18-22nd – Spring Break
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Friday, February 15, 2019
What a great Valentine’s week we had this week!!! Our party was super fun yesterday- thank you so much to all the parents that came to help out! We did a fun heart craft, ate ice cream sundaes, passed out and read our Valentine cards, and then played a fun bingo game where all the students bingo at the same time. It was a fun time for all!!!
Grayson Rankin was our star student this week and did a great job sharing his poster today. Next week we will take a break because it is only a 3-day week.
In reading this week we started learning about fables. We focused on the moral or lesson learned in a fable. We read and listened to different fables and then responded to them about the lesson that was learned. We will move into noticing figurative language in folktales next week.
In science we started learning about the things we see in the day and night sky and then we moved into learning about the phases of the moon. We have been charting the moon for the last 3 weeks at school using Moon Giant and we now started learning about the phases that we have been seeing. We will continue charting until we have seen the moon go all the way through the cycle.
In Math this week we finished switching classes for addition. The students all took their end of unit test over addition, and their packets of work for these past 2 weeks will be coming home soon. Next we will move into a short unit on money.
Important Dates:
* Mon-Tues, February 18-19- Student Holidays/President’s Day
* Spring Break- March 18-22nd
Enjoy this spring like weather!!
Friday, February 08, 2019
Happy Friday! What a great week we had this week! We were the assembly leaders for the school today at our Friday assembly and they did an amazing job! I was so super proud of them and their leadership!
In math we are still switching classes for addition with regrouping. We will finish up and test next Wednesday. Any extra practice at home would be wonderful!
In reading we started talking about folktales and fables. We will continue with this next week. We are focusing on story elements such as characters, setting, problem and solution.
In writing we are finishing our nonfiction paragraphs and will be starting a narrative to go along with our unit on story elements. They will be able to tie those lessons into the story they are writing.
Spelling tests will be next Friday!
In science we have been studying the weather. This week we “packed suitcases” to different cities with different types of weather. The items they put into their suitcases depended on the weather in that city. We went to rainy Seattle and cold/snowy Denver, Colorado. We are going to then pick a city to do a little weather report about next week before moving into studying the phases of the moon.
Important Dates:
* Wed., Feb. 14th- Valentine Party 12:45-1:45 Come join in the fun!
* Mon-Tues, February 18-19- Student Holidays/President’s Day
* Spring Break- March 18-22nd
Stay warm and have a wonderful weekend!
Friday, February 1, 2019
I can hardly believe that January is already over! It seems like we just came back from our Christmas Break! We had a great week this week! Mateo was our star student today and did a great job! Next week it will be Sean’s turn to be our star student.
Today we celebrated the 100th Day of School and being 100 days smarter. We dressed up as if we were 100 years old and did activities with the number 100. I shared some pics on See Saw of our elderly class! It was a great day!
We also used the aging app on our iPads. We printed out an “aged” picture of them and then they wrote about what they think they will be doing when they are 100 years old. So cute!
In math we started switching classes for addition with regrouping. We will be switching classes for 2 weeks. Ask your child about where they are going and what they have been learning.
In science we began learning about the seasons. We talked about what people would be wearing in each season, what the weather would be like, and what activities they would be doing. We also studied the weather, weather tools and have been charting the weather each day. In reading/writing we did a little research on Pebble Go about different types of severe weather and how it occurs and will be writing a nonfiction paragraph about it next week.
One little reminder: If your child does not have earbuds or headphones here at school- please consider sending a pair in for them to use. We use laptops frequently in the classroom and it is really important for them to be able to have headphones for this purpose. I only have a few pairs to loan out- so having their own would be great!
Upcoming dates:
* Wednesday, Feb. 6th- Class and individual pictures. Ours are at 8:30 am. Please send back envelope if you would like to purchase a class picture. Proofs will come home for individual pictures and you can order those at that time.
* Wed., Feb. 14th- Valentine Party 12:45-1:45 Come join in the fun!
* Mon-Tues, February 18-19- Student Holidays/President’s Day
* Spring Break- March 18-22nd
Several items needed for the classroom: (We are completely out)
* Hand sanitizer
* Sandwich and snack baggies
* Any items for our class store
Thank you and have a wonderful weekend!
January 25, 2019
Happy Friday!! We had a great, short week! We have hit the ground running and are ready to make this a successful 2nd half of the year! We talked this week about the expectations and how they are increasing as the year progresses. I explained that what might have been ok work at the beginning of the year may not be good enough now because we should be seeing growth as the year goes on. I am continuing to push them to be the best that they can be and to produce quality work. Any encouragement at home on this topic would be great!
This week in reading we read different books about Martin Luther King Jr. and his life and accomplishments. We did a lesson about the changes that he brought to our world that went with the book Happy Birthday Martin Luther King and the kids loved that. We also read the Scholastic News and answered questions while highlighting where they found their answers. We listened to a clip from his actual "I Have a Dream" speech as well.
In reading and writing we read a story called Super Storms that will tie in with our weather unit in science. Each student then picked a type of weather and wrote questions that they would like answered. We did a little bit of research in the computer lab today and will also look in books. Our end result is to write an organized paragraph with a main idea sentence and supporting details underneath. This will be a great lead in to our main research on the rainforest that will be coming up in March.
In math this week we continued with our place value to 999 unit. This unit has included lots of manipulatives and hands on games while learning how to regroup ones as tens and tens as hundreds. We will finish with this unit next Tuesday and will start switching classes for addition with regrouping.
We did not have a star student this week because it was a short week. Next week it will be Mateo’s turn to be our star student.
Friday, Feb. 1st is the 100th day of school!!! We will plan to do fun, but educational activities working with the number 100 on this day. We also like to do something really fun each year in 2nd grade- which is to have the students dress up as if they are 100 years old on this day. They can wear "old person" clothes, spray their hair gray/white, bring a cane, etc.- whatever they can think of to be creative and look old. We will then be drawing a picture of what they think they will look like when they are 100 and writing about what it would feel like to be 100. Should be a fun day!
Upcoming dates:
* Feb. 14th- Valentine’s Day party 12:45-1:45 Please join us!
* Feb. 18-19- Student holidays (Teacher professional development days)
* March 18-22 Spring Break
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Sorry this is late- I was out sick with a stomach bug unexpectedly on Friday. Much better today! I had the Newsflash ready to go- I just wasn’t here to send it!
Friday, January 11, 2019
Happy New Year!
I hope you all had a restful and enjoyable winter break. I know that I certainly did, and I am now ready to get started on the 2nd half of our year. We slowly but surely got back in the swing of things this week, but they really seemed excited to be back. I certainly missed seeing their sweet faces each day!
We did not have a star student this week with it being the first week after the holiday, but next week it will be Walker's turn to be the star student.
With it being a new year, we talked this week about what New Year's resolutions are. We discussed that they are promises for something that you want to change or do in the new year- whether it be something personal, at school, or with your family. We then made a 2019 flip book about some of our own resolutions for the new year. We also read about and discussed what New Year’s looks like in different countries and how different cultures celebrate.
In math we are working on 3 digit place value up to 999. We are using manipulatives and building numbers and then writing them in standard and expanded form.
In science we are learning about natural resources and how they are different from man made resources. We are also discussing was to conserve these resources.
New spelling words are in their backpacks today- test will be Friday, January 25th. Also- I sent a hard copy of a reading log because many students are not completing it in our Google Classroom. Either way is fine with me!
Have a wonderful weekend!!
Friday, December 21, 2018
We had a wonderful 3 quick days together this week. Thank you so much to everyone that came to our Grinch party on Wednesday. I think we had more parents than we did kids- so that was amazing! I really think the kids had fun and enjoyed all of the stations at the party!
I am attaching my last week’s Newsflash as well this week so you can see what topics we have covered. It did not go through for some reason last week.
We spent some time this week making our fun parent gifts- I hope you enjoy them! We also had a “how-to” on wrapping presents! We read books and learned about Hanukkah, we made a menorah and played the Dreidel game. We finished our geometry unit with area and completed a fun Cheez-It activity with square units. We also had our book exchange and the kids were all so kind and thankful for the book they received.
Thank you so much for all of the wonderful gifts that you honored me with this week! I did not get a chance to write thank you notes before they left, but will include them in the Tuesday folder when they return. I really appreciate all of your thoughtfulness!!
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday break and a Merry Christmas!
Friday, December 14, 2018
Whew- it’s cold out there today! What a great week we had this week! The kids worked very hard this week so that we can relax and do some fun things the 3 days next week. They also have earned 10 class stars so they voted on a hot chocolate party. We will do this one day next week. And….we earned the Golden Gnome this week for our great behavior in the library. It’s our first time this year so they were very excited!
This week in reading we spent some time learning about holidays all around the world. We started by talking about Christmas and showing kindness at the holidays. We then started a Kindness bingo- they can do it if they wish. It should be in their backpacks. Then we moved into Hanukkah and read the book The Trees of the Dancing Goats. We created our own goat and hung them on a tree in the hallway. Next week we will continue with this topic.
In science we talked about fresh water vs salt water and what those look like around the state of Texas. We also looked at actual water samples and wrote about and drew what we saw in them. Then we discussed that only 1% of the water on our earth is fresh water that can be used for drinking water, 97% is salt water and 2% is water trapped in glaciers or underground.
In math we continued with our geometry unit. We made shapes on geoboards on the iPads and put our pictures on SeeSaw. We also used Osmos and iPads to create Tangram pictures. Yesterday we started learning about area and did some area stations with color tiles. We will finish this unit next week.
Important dates:
- Tuesday, Dec. 18th- Wrapped books due for the book exchange
- Wednesday, Dec. 19th - Book exchange in the morning and holiday party from 12:45-1:45. Please come help out and join in the Grinch fun!
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Stay warm!
Friday, December 07, 2018
Happy Friday! We were very busy this week trying to accomplish all that we can before the winter break is upon us. Phoebe was our wonderful star student this week and did a super job sharing her poster with the class.
In reading we are focusing on reading comprehension right now. We have been reading our Scholastic News magazines and then answering questions about the material that we read. We are also using our highlighters to go back into the reading to prove where we found our answers. This is a great skill to practice to get ready for some of the reading testing they will do next year.
In math this week continued our geometry unit. We did a fun tangram lesson with the story Grandfather Tang. We then moved into 3D shapes and learned vocabulary such as faces, edges, vertices, and angles. We will continue with this next week and also move into learning about area.
In science we spent this week observing our rocks. We classified them by their properties- color, size, shape, texture and luster. We also compared them to other rocks, and then played a game with them called “Who Am I?” After everyone had written a description of 1 of their rocks we sat in a circle with all of the rocks in the middle and they read their description and the kids tried to guess which rock it was. They had a lot of fun with it! Rocks are coming back home in their backpacks today.
Last spelling test before the new year will be next Thursday morning.
* Please send me about 5 pictures that we can use in a surprise gift project here at school. They should have your child in them and can include pets, siblings, friends, family- etc. I would love to have them sent in by Monday, Dec. 10th please!!!
Important dates:
- Monday, Dec. 10th – pictures due to me
- Tuesday, Dec. 18th- Wrapped books due for the book exchange
- Wednesday, Dec. 19th - Book exchange in the morning and holiday party from 12:45-1:45. Please come help out and join in the Grinch fun!
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Friday, November 30, 2018
Happy Friday! Vivienne was our star student today and did a great job sharing her poster with the class. Next week it will be Phoebe’s turn.
In reading this week we continued our author study of Patricia Polacco. We are reading her books and comparing characters and storylines across her books. She is one of my favorite authors and the kids are loving her books!
In writing this week we worked on a fall/winter poem incorporating nouns, verbs and adjectives. Each student chose 5 nouns that had to do with fall or winter- whichever they chose. They then picked a verb that went with each noun and 2 adjectives that would describe that noun. An example would be noun- pumpkins, verb for that could be glowing and 2 adjectives to describe pumpkins could be fat and round. So that phrase would be Fall is... fat, round pumpkins glowing. It was a great culminating activity to wrap up our study of those 3 parts of speech. We were also able to go to the computer lab to publish them this week. Next week we will finish adding pictures into our typed document.
We also started learning cursive handwriting this week which they are super excited about! We will learn 4 letters a week until they are all learned and then will work to put all of the letters together as words. Research shows that cursive is really good for the brain- it connects everything together so I am hoping that I can have these kids writing fluently by the end of the year!
In Math we continued our geometry unit. We began with a review of 2 dimensional shapes and an activity with making robots out of pattern blocks to go with that. We also read the book The Greedy Triangle and then built 2D shapes out of marshmallows and toothpicks.
In science we finished up our unit on force and motion with a variety of different hands on activities. We started the week with a kinesthetic movement activity that you probably saw on SeeSaw. They had to make a video of themselves sliding, spinning, and rolling. We then moved into using Beebots and Ozobots which they loved! And finally today we built race tracks with the goal of having their car travel in as many different patterns of movement without getting stuck or falling off the track. We used Hot Wheels Kits to build them and then tested each of them out and videoed as we did our test. Those videos should be uploaded tonight. Lots of fun motion activities! Next week we will move into studying about rocks. There is a note in their backpacks today about gathering a rock collection to bring to school on Monday.
There was a note in the Tuesday folder this week addressing these next 2 items:
* Please send me about 5 pictures that we can use in a surprise gift project here at school. They should have your child in them and can include pets, siblings, friends, family- etc. I would love to have them sent in by Monday, Dec. 10th please!!!
We will be having a book exchange this year in 2nd grade. We will be exchanging books (boys with boys and girls with girls) on the morning of the last day of school. Please send your child with a wrapped book by Tuesday, Dec. 18th if they wish to participate- no more than $5.00 please. There was a book order in the Tuesday folder as well if you wish to purchase your book exchange book through Scholastic. Book orders are due by Wednesday, Dec. 6th by 8:00 am.
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Friday, November 02, 2018
Happy November! We survived the crazy Halloween week! We embraced Halloween and we were able to do many fun Halloween learning activities this week. Ask your child about all the fun activities we did! They included a candy corn science experiment, candy corn structures, and a fun Dracula teeth cookie craft with our reading buddies! It was a great fun-filled week of creative learning!
We also got to enjoy our first field trip of the year on Halloween. The weather was great, and the kids had so much fun and were so well behaved! Our tour guide was amazing and they were able to learn so much about the cave! Thank you to all of our parents that were able to go with us!
In writing this week we finished writing our insect research books and began a fun Proper Noun pumpkin story. We will finish those up next week and begin a fall poem.
In science we are learning about energy such as heat, light and sound. We did a s’mores lab this week where we observed the graham cracker, the marshmallow, and the chocolate before adding heat. Next we wrapped it in foil and put the packets on a griddle and let the heat do its work. Then we opened them and observed what each component looked like after heat was added- and of course ate them! J
In math we started our measurement unit by learning about centimeters. We will move into meters and then inches, feet and yards next week.
Book Fair next week!!! Here are the times:
November 6 from 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. open for sales
November 7 from 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. open for sales
November 8 from 8:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. open for sales
November 9 from 8:00 a.m. - noon open for sales
Upcoming Dates:
November 15th –Thanksgiving Lunch/ Science Night
November 19 - 23rd THANKSGIVING BREAK
Have a wonderful weekend! Enjoy this beautiful weather!
Friday, October 26, 2018
Happy Friday! What a beautiful day it was today!
Owen was our fabulous star student today. He shared his poster and his really cool robot he brought from home and the students all wrote letters to him. Next week it will be Gwendolyn's turn to be our star.
In reading this week we started a little reader's theater play. We are doing The Little Old Lady who Wasn't Afraid of Anything. Each child has a part that they chose! Next week we will practice our parts and work on reading with emphasis and expression. We will perform them for our reading buddies next Friday.
In writing we finished publishing our 5 finger stories! Soon they will be hanging in the hallway. They have worked really hard on this writing piece and are super excited to see their published product! It was not a piece that we took all the way through the process- we will only do that for certain writing pieces this year. Next we will be moving into writing our insect books and procedural (How-To) writing.
We continued our telling time unit Monday-Thursday and will test for this on Monday. We will then be back in our own classrooms next week for our measurement unit.
In science we finished up our physical changes to matter unit with Golf Ball Movers. They could use 4 sheets of either newspaper or tissue paper and 15 cm of tape to create something that would move a golf ball from one desk to another. They were not allowed to touch the desk or the golf ball with their hands. It was fun to see their minds working and them being creative. Next week we will be moving into energy- heat, light, and sound.
Please remember that our At Home Learning is in Google Classroom. There is a weekly math problem and that is where they can record their reading minutes daily. They should know how to log in to Google Classroom but I also sent home directions and an orange card a while back to help at home. Please let me know if you need this information again.
There will be no spelling this week. With our upcoming field trip and other things happening next week, we will take a break and I will send new words home next Friday. There is a field trip letter in their backpacks today with details about our trip Wednesday.
Upcoming Dates:
October 29th - Tag Referral Info Morning 7:25 am
October 30th - Tag Referral Info Night: 5:30 - 6:30 pm
October 31st- Field Trip to Inner Space Caverns/San Gabriel Park
November 2- Report cards home
November 5th - 9th Book Fair
November 15th –Thanksgiving Lunch/ Science Night
November 19 - 23rd THANKSGIVING BREAK
I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Friday, October 19, 2018
Wow- what a week! Rainy weather every day, switching classes for math, Cogat testing over 3 days…whew! But we survived and they actually have been really great! Hoping for some sunny weather next week!!
Needless to say- with all of the testing this week we will be carrying some lessons over to next week. Spelling took a backseat this week so I will hit it hard next week and we will still test next Friday.
In reading and writing we continued with our insect research and will start writing our little research books on Monday. This will not be a writing piece that we take all the way through the process- just research and writing facts about it.
In math we started switching classes for telling time. Ask your child to share with you what teacher they are going to and what they have been learning in that class. Any practice you can do with having them read an analog clock at home would be great! We will spend about 10 days on this unit.
In science this week we did a really fun experiment. We have been talking about physical properties of matter and how you can use that information to help you build things. We read a book called 21 Elephants and Still Standing about PT Barnum in 1884 and how he walked 21 elephants across the Brooklyn Bridge to prove it was strong enough to drive on. We also looked at some famous bridges around the world and how they were built. Then the students got in groups and began designing a bridge using popsicle sticks, duct tape and rubber bands. They had certain rules they had to follow such as it had to be 6 inches off the ground, had to be 12 inches long, and had to be strong enough to hold some weight. We are using snap cubes in place of elephants and they had to see how many their bridge could hold. We then tested them to see if they met all of the requirements and how much weight they would hold. Look for our videos on SeeSaw coming soon! They are really enjoying our building projects so far! You may see your child wanting to gather supplies to try some of them at home!
Upcoming Dates:
* Literacy Night- Spooky Story Night Oct 25th from 6:00-7:30
* Field Trip to Inner Space Caverns- Oct. 31st (Note coming home in backpacks today with details)
I hope you have a wonderful weekend!! Stay dry!
Friday, October 12, 2018
Happy Friday!! It’s been a fantastic, short week here in 2nd grade! Thank you to all of the parents that joined me for conferences this past Tuesday.
We really enjoyed our board game time today as well as having our stuffed animal watch us learn all day. It made for an enjoyable Friday!
Ali was our fabulous star student this week. He shared his poster he brought from home and the students all wrote letters to him. The calendar for star student is on my website if you ever want to check which week it will be your child's turn. I will also send a note home in the Tuesday folder a week or 2 ahead.
In writing we finished drafting our stories and then met with a partner to partner edit. Next week we will publish the stories into a picture book.
In reading we started a mini research unit on insects and began collecting facts on Pebble Go in the computer lab this week. We will continue with this next week and will start writing our little research booklets.
In math we finished our addition and subtraction strategies and took a pretest over telling time. Today the 2nd grade teachers met to group the students according to their pretests. We will start switching classes across the grade level for telling time next Tuesday. This unit should last about 2 weeks.
In science this week we began using our knowledge we have learned about the different physical properties of matter to see what would happen when we change or combine different types of matter. We started this week by creating tower structures out of either dried spaghetti or pipe cleaners. They were supposed to try and build the tallest tower that they could, that could stand on its own and hold up 1 large cotton ball. Next week we will move into building bridges. Lots of fun, hands on science!!
Reminder: 2nd grade will be taking the Cogat (Cognitive Abilities Test) next week. Our actual days are Wednesday and Friday. Please try to be sure your child is here for this between 10:00-11:30 on these days. Thank you!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Friday, October 05, 2018
What a great time we had at Field Day today! Thank you so much to all of the parents that came and helped us, cheered us on, or ate lunch with us! We were so thankful for such beautiful weather!
In math this week we took our knowledge we learned about addition strategies and applied that to subtraction. We will continue with this our 3 days next week and then will be moving into telling time. We will pretest and switch classes for the unit on telling time so that we can meet the needs of all students and their varying levels of understanding.
In reading/writing workshop we continued work on taking our 5 finger stories through the writing process. After drafting, they are doing some self-editing and partner editing before meeting to conference with me for final editing.
In the computer lab we went into our Google classroom assignment for our Math At Home Learning and reviewed that. We plan to do this most weeks that we are in the computer lab. We also got to explore insects in Pebble Go so that we are ready to pick insects and begin a mini research project next week.
In science we got to do our test for our Save the Ice Pop project. We put the frozen ice pop inside their insulator inventions and looked at it and took notes on it every 20 minutes for 1 hour. All groups had some degree of success- they all had some ice left in their ice pops at the end of 1 hour. We discussed what they could have done differently and what they would change for next time. We also began learning about physical changes to matter- folding, cutting, sanding, etc. We will apply these skills to some other fun science experiments coming up soon.
Upcoming Dates:
- Mon-Tues, October 8-9th- Student holidays
- Wednesday, Oct. 31st- Field Trip to Inner Space Caverns (more details coming soon)
* If you replied yes to having a conference next Tuesday- you should have received a sign up email from me. Please choose a time on the Google Document and I will see you Tuesday.
* Spelling test on list 2 will be next Friday, Oct. 12th.
Have a great long weekend!!
Friday, Sept. 28, 2018
Happy Friday!! It’s been a fantastic week here in 2nd grade!
Delaney was our star student this week and did a great job presenting today. Next week it will be Ali’s turn to be star student.
In reading we began our study of non-fiction features. We compared fiction and nonfiction and discussed the differences between them. We read a nonfiction book about Sharks and looked at all of the different features in that book. We then read the fiction book Nugget and Fang (where a shark is the main character) and discussed the differences between the two types of books. We will continue with this study next week and then move into a little mini research on insects.
In math we continued our unit on addition strategies. We learned about adding on a 100 chart, using expanded form to add, using place value, using an open number line, and using the regular algorithm which we call the “up and down strategy”. Today we took a little mini assessment over these to see who still needs some additional work with these. Next week we will move into subtraction strategies.
In writing we started our 5 finger stories. These are completely fictional stories using their imagination. I have modeled my plan and started drafting my story. Then they planned out their stories and started drafting their first paragraph. We talked about grabbing your reader so that someone will want to read what you are writing and cannot put it down. Next week we will continue drafting our stories.
In science we did a super fun “Project Lead the Way” engineering activity this week called Save the Ice Pop. We learned all about the steps in the engineering design process and also about insulators and conductors. Then in groups of 3 they took that knowledge and designed their own “coat” or insulator for a frozen ice pop. Their goal was to keep it frozen for an hour using different materials such as Styrofoam, felt, towels, cardboard, plastic wrap, tinfoil, etc. After they finished designing it, they actually got to build it. On Monday we will do our evaluation and test to see which ones will successfully “Save the Ice Pop!” I will upload pictures on See Saw when we are finished.
***In the red Friday folder today are some very important things!! I have officially finished all of my beginning of the year testing! Please look for your child’s data sheet that will have all of your child’s beginning of the year scores on it as well as some goals that I will have in place for your child this year. Please mark if you would like to have a conference on Oct. 9th and sign one copy of the form and send it back to school. The other copy is yours to keep. I will begin setting up conference times once I have the forms back, so please return ASAP.
* Next Friday is Field Day! It is a luau theme this year. 2nd grade's time is from 9:15-11:30. I hope that you can join us as we move through the stations. You should have received an email from our homeroom moms about ways that you can help our class. On field day our class will not eat until 12:35- we are the last lunch on this day- so there will be a break from 11:30-12:30 that we will be back in the classroom. You are welcome to join us for our picnic lunch on the front porch- just know that we will be eating over an hour after field day ends. We will have a snack and have reading workshop during this time period. Please send a hearty snack with your child on this day as they will be very hungry eating that much later than normal. They will also need a change of clothes in case they get wet, muddy or dirty at field day. It is not fun to spend the rest of the day uncomfortable. We will be watching a movie in the afternoon.
* Our blue 2nd grade class shirts came in and are in the backpacks today. Please have your child wear it Friday for field day.
A note from Math Pentathalon: It is a great addition to the math program for each grade level and helps kid practice math while playing table games, away from screens and in a fun and non-competitive setting. They don't need to be gurus or have advanced math knowledge or skills.
Good attitude and desire to learn something new and spend time and have some fun with friends is all it takes! Please consider signing up!
A note from Mrs. Mercer:
Dear Parents/Guardian:
All students in 2nd grade will be taking an assessment activity called the COGAT during the week of October 15-19.
Although the name CogAT means Cognitive Ability Aptitude Test, it is not a pass fail test. It is a tool to drive best practice in instruction and screen for potential placement in special programs such as gifted services. The data available helps identify strengths and also areas for growth.
The COGAT will be given on the computer. Each student will need earbuds or headphones. While we have headphones for students to use, if they do not already have a set at school, they might feel more comfortable bringing a pair of their own.
There is no studying or preparation they need for this assessment. We will spend approximately 45 minutes for two days on this assessment with breaks embedded.
Please email me if you have any additional questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Mercer
Important dates:
- Friday, Oct. 5th- Field Day
- Mon-Tues, October 8-9th- Student holidays
- Wednesday, Oct. 31st- Field Trip to Inner Space Caverns (more details coming soon)
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!
Friday, Sept. 21, 2018
Happy Friday! It was a great week here in 2nd grade!
Arjun was our star student this week and did a great job sharing his poster with the class today. Next week it will be Delaney’s turn to be our star!
In science this week we completed our unit on changes in matter with a really fun experiment- we made Jello! We observed the powder as a solid, added boiling water and watched the steam (gas), observed it as a liquid and then put it in the refrigerator. On Thursday, we then observed it again as a solid. And of course- we got to enjoy using our sense of taste to eat it- the best part of the experiment!!! Our matter unit was really a fun one. We have covered the 3 states of matter, the properties of matter and ways that matter can change with heat or cold. We learned about reversible changes and irreversible changes as well as physical and chemical changes.
In reading/writing we took our 5 finger retelling and started turning it into writing summaries about different books. We are using the words Somebody, Wanted, But, Then, So to help us form a complete summary. Next week we will be moving into making connections to the books that we are reading as well as looking at fiction vs. nonfiction.
In math we began exploring different addition strategies to help us in our problem solving. We learned about using a 100's chart to add, using an open number line, and using base 10 blocks. They have done really well trying all of the different ways. We are learning them so that they can apply the one that fits the problem best and the one that is the most comfortable for them in the long run. We will continue to practice these strategies next week.
We started our first Words Their Way spelling sort this week. A paper copy should have come home in the behavior folder last Friday for them to be practicing at home. Our test will be next Friday.
A note from Mrs. Mercer:
Dear Parents/Guardian:
All students in 2nd grade will be taking an assessment activity called the COGAT during the week of October 15-19.
Although the name CogAT means Cognitive Ability Aptitude Test, it is not a pass fail test. It is a tool to drive best practice in instruction and screen for potential placement in special programs such as gifted services. The data available helps identify strengths and also areas for growth.
The COGAT will be given on the computer. Each student will need earbuds or headphones. While we have headphones for students to use, if they do not already have a set at school, they might feel more comfortable bringing a pair of their own.
There is no studying or preparation they need for this assessment. We will spend approximately 45 minutes for two days on this assessment with breaks embedded.
Please email me if you have any additional questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Mercer
Important dates:
- Friday, Oct. 5th- Field Day
- Mon-Tues, October 8-9th- Student holidays
- Wednesday, Oct. 31st- Field Trip to Inner Space Caverns (more details coming soon)
Have a great weekend!
Friday, September 14, 2018
Happy Friday!! It’s been a great week here in 2nd grade! We won the Golden Spoon again today so either they forgot we already won it, or my class is doing a really awesome job in the cafeteria!! J
Thank you so much to all of the parents that were able to attend our Academic Night last night! If you were not able to be there- our presentation is at the bottom of the email as well as on my website. Feel free to look at it at your convenience and let me know if you have any questions.
Amelia was our first star student this week! Today she shared her poster and then the class wrote letters for her to take home in her star student book. Great job Amelia!!! Next week it will be Arjun’s turn to be our star student.
In math we started our unit on graphing. We have learned how to make and interpret picture graphs and bar graphs. Each student got to survey the class on a topic of their choice and then create a picture graph and a bar graph based on the data in their survey. We also learned about pictographs and how to use a key or a special rule to help us interpret the graph.
Their first actual spelling list/sort is coming home in their behavior folder today. We will not be sorting these words in class until Monday so it is okay if they don't work with them at home until then as well. However, if they wish to get a jump start on things they are welcome to go ahead and cut them apart and see if they can figure out how to sort them. I am sending the exact same sort home as they have here at school. My hope is if they sort at school daily and at home daily- they will be very familiar with these words after 2 weeks. I do not think just memorizing a word is very beneficial for children- they usually forget how to spell it by the time they use it in their writing. So we are focusing instead on spelling rules and patterns and how to apply these rules to any word they encounter. For the test they will need to not only know how to spell the word but also which category the word should be sorted into. The first 2 weeks will be a practice unit until they get the hang of spelling and sorting for the test since this is a new skill for them this year. For the beginning of the year we will have a new list every 2 weeks, but later in the year we will move to each week.
In reading we started discussing retelling a story using the 5 finger method. We read different books together as a class and then practiced retelling the main ideas using our 5 fingers as a guide- the thumb is the beginning, the 3 fingers the middle, and the pinkie is the end or conclusion. We practiced this all orally whole class and with partners. Next week we will practice reading and then writing down the story elements in our reader’s notebook.
In writing we will be moving into taking a personal narrative through the steps of the writing process. We are going to apply our 5 finger strategy to writing and write a 5 finger story that has a clear beginning, middle, and end.
We have had lots of fun this week in science. We learned all about how adding heat and taking it away changes matter. We did a fun experiment with adding heat to candles, chocolate, crayons, ice and butter. We predicted and then observed which ones melted the fastest. We also got to look at our fungus for the last time before it went in the trash can. It had gotten quite disgusting over the last 2 weeks in our cabinet! They used their senses to observe the changes and then they looked back at their predictions to see if they had predicted correctly. Fun unit!
A quick request- if you have not sent in headphones or earbuds, please do so as soon as possible. Some of the sites we use require sound and it can get a little loud when all laptops are going at once! It can just be a cheapy pair- I think the Dollar Store even has some. Make sure they are marked with their name please. Thank you!!
Important dates:
- Friday, Oct. 5th- Field Day
- Mon-Tues, October 8-9th- Student holidays
- Wednesday, Oct. 31st- Field Trip to Inner Space Caverns (more details coming soon)
Academic Night presentation:
https://prezi.com/view/e3VqmgIRIqi5Gc2M0sRy/
I hope that you have a wonderful weekend!!!
Friday, Sept. 7, 2018
What a super week we had this week! The students all worked hard and we covered a lot! I was so happy to meet so many grandparents today at lunch!!
This week in math we finished up our place value and number sense unit. We learned about comparing numbers using the greater than/less than sign. We also learned to order numbers from least to greatest and this took us into learning about number lines. We did some problem solving using number lines as well as skip counting. We also practiced solving number riddles using a hundreds chart.
Today I shared my star student poster with the students. I then modeled what our star student letters will look like this year. Each student will get a week that they are star student and then the class will write letters to the student about their presentation. They will get to make a book out of the letters and take it home at the end of their star student week. Today they practiced writing their first letter to me and we created a class book filled with their letters. They did a great job! I have posted our star student calendar for the year on my website if you would like to see which week your child is going to have. Please know this is subject to change – I will always send a packet home with your child at least a week before they are assigned to be the star student.
We did our first Scholastic News of the year all about friendship. Look for it in next week’s Tuesday folder. We also went to the computer lab this week and got on Raz-Kids and Reflex Math. They are welcome to use both at home as well. My class name is tpettit for both websites. There isn’t a password for Raz-kids- just my name and then their name. They can read books at their level, listen to the book and answer comprehension questions about the book. Reflex math will help them practice their addition and subtraction facts.
In science we are looking at the properties and states of matter and next week will be moving into changes in matter when heat or cold is added to it. We have also been observing our fungus that is growing on our bread.
Important Dates and Reminders:
* Please join 2nd grade for our Academic Night at 5:30 located in the library. We will be giving you information about our year and our curriculum.
* October 8-9 Student holidays- However Oct. 9th is set aside as a parent/teacher conference day. More information will be coming soon.
* Please have your child wear tennis shoes M,W,F as those are our PE days.
* Book orders are due by Monday at noon
* I sent out quite a few different pictures/videos on SeeSaw so look for them if you haven’t seen them.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Friday, August 24, 2018
Happy Friday!!!
Whew! We made it through our first full week and they did a great job! I know they are tired and the days seem long to them right now- but they have really pushed through and shown perseverance! I am really enjoying getting to know each of them and their individual personalities!
Some things we covered this week:
* We set up our science notebooks with a table of contents, title page, and a safety sense contract.
* We discussed reading and writing workshop and set up our reader’s notebook. We discussed that strong readers read every day and then sketched out where we would like to read at home.
* We went to the library and checked out books. Our weekly library time is Friday at 11:00. Please help remind your child to bring their books every Friday.
* We went to the computer lab and learned how to login and played some fun math strategy games. We will soon begin using Reflex Math and Raz-kids which they can also use at home.
* In writing we wrote our beginning of the year writing sample. We also made a list of things we could write about this year.
* We discussed ways to be a good friend and how to keep friends. We read many wonderful books about friendship and why we need to be good friends to each other. We then published a class friendship book with each child having a page in it about friendship. We can now read it all year long in our classroom.
* To go along with our friendship unit, today we did a cooperative group activity with the book Big Al. Big Al is a large, scary fish that has a hard time making friends until he is able to help a group of smaller fish escape from a net. We read the book without seeing the pictures and then in a group they had to create what they thought Big Al would look like. After sharing out their projects, we then read the book again- getting to see the pictures this time! They had a lot of fun and did a great job! Look for our finished projects hanging outside our classroom as well as coming on SeeSaw.
* We also began talking about Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset this week. I am of course discussing this in kid friendly language so that they understand it, but they really seemed to love it this week! We talked about our brain being like a muscle that can get bigger and stronger if you work it out. We also learned that our brain won’t grow if we just do things that are easy for us and never challenge ourselves. We explored the word “YET” and talked about that we may not be able to do something yet, but will be able to do it in the future. We then each decorated a word YET and hung them around the classroom to remind us that if we aren’t able to do it yet, that’s ok; it’s something that we can work towards.
* * We got to "shop" in the class store this Friday during Fun Friday! They used their tickets that they have been earning for good behavior. They really enjoyed it! I would love any possible donations to our class store- so if you come across anything at home or in the dollar store that you think would be good for our class store- please send it my way!
I am sending home our red Friday folder today. In it I included a note with a request for 5 pictures to use for a writing project. These can be actual photos or ones printed out on paper. I would love to have those by Tuesday so we can start writing. Here is a blurb from the letter: We are going to be working on a writing assignment next week called, "My Beautiful Book." We are encouraging students to bring in 5 photos from home of special family members, vacations, special events, etc. Each photo will help them with a short writing activity.
**Bright yellow parent permission slips for apps and software went home in Tuesday folders. They are due August 31st.
Important Dates and Announcements:
* Monday, Sept. 3rd is a holiday for Labor Day
* Thursday, Sept. 13th will be 2nd grade Parent Academic Night in my classroom from 5:30-6:30.
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!