It is finally starting to feel like Christmas!  We were all super excited about the snow that fell on Thursday and we have our Classroom Elf that has come to visit us.  We named him Tugboat after a book we read, Memoirs of an Elf.  It is hard to believe the holidays are just around the corner!

Reading/ Writing Workshop-    We will begin our author study on Helen Lester. She is the author of Tacky The Penguin books and the students LOVE these books!  We will focus on her writing style and compare her books to Robert Munsch's books.  In writing, we will work on letter writing.  We will focus on parts of a letter and write letters to our Pen Pals who are second graders in Round Rock.  

Science/ Social Studies-  This week we will focus on maps and globes.  We looked at the continents using Google Earth last week.  The class LOVED this activity.  They used the app and globes to locate the seven continents and countries on those continents. 

Math-   We will  begin our unit on geometry.  We will look at 2-D plane shapes this week. These are shapes that we can hold in our hands because they are flat.   We will focus on vocabulary terms such as :  trapezoid, polygon,quadrilateral, hexagon, pentagon, rhombus, square, rectangle, triangle, side, and vertices. 

Class Celebrations: Last week for the Incredible Shot  I was looking for students who Work Towards Their Best. This was a hard decision to make since I have an incredible group of students. Since it was a tough decision and I really couldn't decide on just one student.. . . I chose three!  Ryan, Khloe, and Tobias were chosen to take the Incredible Shot!  This week I was looking for someone who Listens, raises their hand to share,  and does not interrupt the teacher or peers.  The Incredible student this week was Kaydence! I am super proud of all of them!

Our Star Student this week was Zaiden!  Congratulations!  We can't wait to share your poster!

Thanks for all you do to support our learning!

I hope you had a great week!  It is hard to believe we just have a week and we are off for Thanksgiving break!  I hope you enjoy the extra family time!
Here is our week of learning at a glance:
Reading/ Writing Workshop-    We will begin our author study.  This week we will focus on  Robert Munsch.  We will look at several of his pieces and study what we notice in all of his books. ( his stories are silly and funny, he uses real children he has met in his texts, he uses sound words (onomatopoeia) and he stretches out his words).    In writing, we will try to incorporate Robert Munsch's style in our writing.

Science/ Social Studies-  This week we will begin our unit on rocks.  We will explore and classify rocks based on their properties.  We will also spend a few days this week discussing the First Thanksgiving.
Math-   We will  begin our unit on problem solving.  We will focus on two digit addition and subtraction word problems. This week would be a great week to focus on extra adding and subtracting practice such as 45-24 or 38+15=.

Class Celebrations: This week I was looking for someone to nominate for the Incredible Shot.   The trait I was looking for was someone who  "Owns their own actions." This person takes care of their own actions. belongings, and words.    The person who was Incredible this week was  Cameron!  He will be on K-I-O-T news to earn the chance to make the Incredible Shot!  Zaiden  lost a tooth this week! Congratulations!  
Thanks for all you do to support our learning!

Wow!  What  a week!  Between Halloween, Colonial Market, and our new STEAM rotations, we were really busy this week! We have uploaded several items to SeeSaw this week so make sure you check SeeSaw to see all of our activities.  If you are not connected to SeeSaw, please let me know!  You will want to see all your child is doing !

Just a reminder that report cards went home on Thursday.  Please keep the report card and just return the envelope after signing the envelope.  As I mentioned in an e-mail yesterday, receiving mostly 1's and a few 2's is completely normal this time of year.  If I had a concern, I would have addressed it at our parent teacher conference.

Here is our week of learning at a glance:

Reading Workshop-    We will continue  to work on inferencing. We will use information from the text, plus our background knowledge to infer what the author is saying in fiction texts this week.

Writing Workshop-  We celebrated 5 of our writer's who finished their first piece of published writing!  We have 4 more that have finished and we will share their writing next week.  A few of us are beginning our new story and we are using the iPads to help us think of a new and different topic!

Science/ Social Studies-  This week we will continue  our unit on magnets.   We will explore different magnets and their strengths.  Speaking of magnets......for one of our STEAM rotations we are creating a race track using magnets.  I have searched Way-Mart and Target looking for circle magnets.  If  you are out and about this weekend and find any circle magnets, please send them in or let me know where you found them.  Each child needs 2 circle magnets for this activity. 

Math-   We will continue our unit on time.  Our watches have been a big hit!  Five students wear a watch all day and I ask them to tell the time at random times during the day.  I love seeing them check their watches and sharing the time with their friends! They will even come up to me and say," Ms. King, ask me the time?" 

Class Celebrations:    We earned 10 compliments and we will celebrate with extra recess on Monday! Cruz  is our Star of the Week!  Way to go Cruz!   This week I was looking for someone to nominate for the Incredible Shot.   The trait I was looking for was someone who " Honors themselves and others." This person is helpful, respectful, and always uses kind words and actions in our class.  The person who was Incredible this week was  Sophie!  She will be on K-I-O-T news to earn the chance to make the Incredible Shot!

Class News:    We started our STEAM rotations and here are the activities your child will participate in these next 5 weeks:

S-Science- Your child will use magnets to create a race track.

T-Technology- Your child will create a Stop Motion movie using props they created.

E-Engineering- Your child will build a rollercoaster. 

A-Art- Your child will create a painting using marbles.

M- Math- Your child will create a  ramp and measure how far their car will travel.

To help with STEAM, we are always in  need of  toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls, blue tape, and circle magnets for this rotation of STEAM!  Please continue sending those in with your child. 

Have a great weekend!

I  hope you had a great weekend and were able to enjoy the beautiful weather today.  I am hoping the weather stays sunny and cool so we an enjoy our recess time this week.  As Halloween is approaching, please make sure you send healthy snacks to school for your child, even during lunch. The treats they get on Tuesday will make a great dessert after dinner :)  

Here is our week of learning at a glance:

Reading Workshop-    We will begin to work on inferencing. We will use information from the text, plus our background knowledge to infer what the author is saying in nonfiction texts.  

Writing Workshop-  We have taken one piece of writing through the writing process!  My plan is to have the students share their writing this week with the class with an Author Celebration!  

Science/ Social Studies-  This week we will begin our unit on magnets.  

Math-   We will continue our unit on measurement.  Towards the end of the week, we will begin our unit on time! If your child has  an analog watch ( with the minute hand/ hour hand) please allow your child to wear their watch to school. We will practice telling time all throughout the day!

Class Celebrations:    We want to wish Arial a very Happy Birthday! We hope your day was special! Our Star of the Week  is Hudson!  We will share his poster on Monday!  Congratulations to Ella! She lost another tooth!

Class News:  We are in need of more toilet paper rolls and paper towel rolls!  Please continue sending those in with your child. On Friday, we made guitars and we used these for our guitar handles. We can always use duct tape and blue tape as well!  Thanks for all you do to help our STEAM activities!

Have a great week!

I  hope you enjoyed your weekend and were able to go out and enjoy the cooler weather.  It was really great to see so many of you at our bridge presentations. I will upload the video of your child to SeeSaw tomorrow so be on the lookout for that to come through.  

Here is our week of learning at a glance:

Reading Workshop-    We will continue to work on main idea and supporting details.  This can be a tough concept for some students so we will spend a few more days on this.  The Cogat testing will take place during our language arts block so this is a great time to review.  

Writing Workshop-  We will continue our personal narratives.  Many of us are publishing so I am excited to see the finished story!

Science/ Social Studies-  This week we will focus on forms of energy. We will focus on heat, light, and sound energy.  We will make box guitars this week as part of our STEAM! Thanks for  sending in so many boxes!  

Math-   We will begin our unit on measurement. This week we will focus on nonstandard units of measure  and then begin measuring in inches. 

Class Celebrations:    We want to wish Allie a very Happy Birthday! We hope your day was special! Our Star of the Week  is Cameron!  We can't wait to share his poster on Monday!

Class News:  I just wanted to let you know that we are going to take the Cogat this  Tuesday and Wednesday!    Your child can not "study" for this test. Just make sure your child comes to school with a good breakfast and plenty of rest. 

Have a great week!

 I cannot believe it is already October and our first nine weeks is coming to an end! If you have not signed up for a parent/ teacher conference, please do so.  I sent out an e-mail with a Sign-up Genius so there are still spots available.  If October 10 does not work for you, please let me know and we can meet on a different date. 

Here is our week of learning at a glance:

Reading Workshop-  This week will focus on questioning using nonfiction texts.  Today we looked at a sales ad and we asked questions based on the pictures.  For example,when looking at a toy, we asked, " I wonder what ages could play with this toy? " or " I wonder if this toy needs batteries?"  Then we looked to see if we could answer our questions.  ( So don't be surprised if your child wants to go to Wal-Mart tonight! ) We will discuss how good readers ask questions while reading the text .  We will also get to read with a partner this week so we can practice asking good questions.  

Writing Workshop-  We will continue our personal narratives.  We will focus on editing and revising our stories this week.  

Science/ Social Studies-  This week we will continue to  focus on changing  matter.  We started our bridge project today and on Friday for STEAM, we will " create a bridge that can hold an object." Please keep sending in supplies such as toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls, tape, pipe cleaners, straws, craft sticks and any material that will help us create and build! 

Math-   We will continue to work on two digit addition.  We should be able to solve two digit addition problems using the algorithm, adding tens and ones, using a hundreds chart or a number line.  Any of  those strategies are appropriate for second grade. 

Class Celebrations:    Congratulations to Natalie!  She is our Star of the Week!  We also earned 10 compliments!   We will vote for our reward tomorrow!  

Class News:  I just wanted to let you know that we are going to take the Cogat on Tuesday and Wednesday, October 17 and 18.  Your child can not "study" for this test. Just make sure your child comes to school with a good breakfast and plenty of rest. 

Have a great week!

Mrs. King 

HI!

What a great week of learning!   We have earned 7 compliments as a class so to  celebrate when we reached 5, we had 5 minutes of free time! Please keep encouraging this great behavior!  We need 3 more to celebrate with a bigger reward!

October 10 is set aside for parent/ teacher conferences. I will send out a Sign Up Genius soon!  I look forward to meeting with you and discussing all the great things your child is learning!

Here is our week of learning at a glance:

Reading Workshop-This week we will look at nonfiction texts. We will look at features found in nonfiction texts to help us understand new information. 

Writing Workshop-   We will continue to work on how we use writing partners to help us become better writers.  We will also focus on staying on topic. 

Science/ Social Studies-     This week in science we will look at how matter changes when we apply heat or cold.  We will have a couple of demonstrations / experiments this week! 

Math-   We will continue our unit on addition.  We will begin to look at two digit addition this week.   We will focus on strategies that would help us such as using our tens and ones, a hundreds chart, a number line, and even using facts we know to help us solve our math problem. 

Important News:   We started our STAR STUDENT this week!  Every week we will highlight a different student. They will decorate a poster and share with the class on Monday.

This week in STEAM, we learned how we can physically change matter by making paper airplanes!  We took our airplanes outside and we tested to see which airplane "flew" the farthest while carrying "cargo" ( 2 quarters).  Ask your child how their plane flew AND what they would do differently next time. 

Class Celebrations:   We want to wish Natalie and Khloe a very Happy Birthday! We hope your day is special!  

Have a great week!

Hi!   What a great week of learning we had this week!  We have worked hard and our day flies by!  This week in STEAM we made boats that had to float after I put 10 pennies in the boat!   If you haven't checked SeeSaw, you may want to see the fabulous boat your child made today!  Ask them why their group chose the materials they used. 

Here is what we are learning next week:

Reading Workshop-This week we will look at questioning.  We will learn that readers ask questions before reading, while reading, and even after they read!  All of our reading jobs this week will involve questioning strategies. 

Writing Workshop-   We will continue to focus on responding to our reading in our Reader's notebooks and we will begin writing with our  writing partners.  

Science/ Social Studies-      Please have your child bring in a small object from home! This object could be  a special shell, rock,  coin, or trophy. Have fun with it!  We will describe our object using physical properties on Monday!

Math-   We will begin our first unit on addition.  We will begin to look at two digit addition this week. We will focus on different strategies we can use to help us solve problems such as number lines, hundreds chart, part/part/ whole, and counting on.  

Important News:   If you have extra earbuds or earphones for your child to use at school, please send them in.  We only have 8 headsets in our class and we have many apps that involve sound. We will keep the earphones in a bag labeled with your child's name.  

Thanks for sending in STEAM supplies.  Please keep the supplies coming since we will do a STEAM every Friday. 

Class Celebrations:    We are one compliment away from another reward! Please continue to encourage great behavior at home. 

Mrs.King

HI!

What a short but busy week of learning we had!  We have  earned 21 compliments so we celebrated with extra recess AND stuffed animal day! Please keep encouraging this great behavior at home. As we are becoming more comfortable with our class "family" I have noticed  more talking between transitions and in the hallway. If your child loses DOJO points for talking, please just reinforce how other classes and friends are still working and need their quiet thinking time.  Other than that, our classroom routines are running smoothly and we even were able to get through all 4 of our math rotations last week!  WOW! 

Here is our week of learning at a glance:

Reading Workshop-This week we will begin looking at character traits using books from Kevin Henkes.  We will learn that character traits describe a character on the inside ( shy, outgoing, nervous, sad) and not their physical description.   We will use what we learned and respond using our Reading Response Notebook.

Writing Workshop-   We will continue to focus on Writer's Workshop expectations and we will begin writing our first story.  Last week we focused on our reader's response so this took up some of our writing time.  

Science/ Social Studies-   This week we will use our iPads to tour a science lab and we will begin working on physical properties of an object.   Please have your child bring in a small object from home! This object could be  a special shell, rock,  coin, or trophy. Have fun with it!  We will describe our object using physical properties.

In social studies, we will begin to look at the importance of our Constitution in honor of Constitution Day on Sunday.  

Math-   We will begin to look at numbers on a hundreds chart and a number line.  We spent all last week working on 4 ways to write a number.  If you have a few minutes,  ask your child to show you how to write numbers ( up to 99) in these four ways.

Standard form:  45

Expanded form: 40+5=45

Word form:  forty-five

Base 10 blocks:  IIII . . . . .  

I will teach the game Guess my Number in math.  This will also be on the homework this week!  Given any number from 10-100, one player picks a number (for example, 35). They write it down on a piece of paper and then they hid it.  Player 2 asks questions which can only be answered with yes or no.   For example:

1. Is your number even?

2.  Does your number have 4 tens?

3.  Is your number less than 50?

4.  Is your number greater than 30?

The player that guesses crosses out numbers on a hundreds chart after asking the questions to narrow down the numbers.  Continue playing until player 2 guesses the correct number.  Then switch roles. 

Important News:    If you have an extra set of earbuds around your house, please send them in with your child for our iPads. I will keep them in  ziplock bag with your child's name on it so they will not get worn by anyone else. I have bought some extra ones just in case as well.  We have a few programs that read books to us or that have videos we can watch so the earbuds will come in handy.  

Class Celebrations:    AJ  lost a tooth this week and we were able to add him name to our tooth graph!  It was nice to see many of you on Grandparent's Day. That day is always special to the kids.  

I hope you have a great week!

Mrs.King

Welcome to Second Grade! I am looking forward to great year of learning!

On Tuesday , August 30, at 6:00 pm, we will have 

Our Second Grade Parent Orientation.  At this meeting, 

I will give you detailed information about our year, 

and answer any questions you may have. 

To help us start the year off, on the first day of school, please have your 

child meet me in the gym.  We will meet in the gym each 

morning after 7:15.  Between 7:30 and 7:35, we will walk 

from the gym to our classroom each day.  The tardy bell rings at 7:40.

Your child will have P.E. on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.  We will also have recess 

every day (weather permitting).   Please have your child wear tennis shoes 

to keep them safe while they are running around.

Beginning on the first day of school, please send a healthy snack, and a  

water bottle to school with your child.

   

I am excited your child is in my class this year and I am looking forward to working with you!

HI!

I hope you are enjoying your first day of summer break!  As I am packing up the room, I can't help but reflect on our great year!   Thank you so much for trusting me with your child each day and supporting all our  fun, educational ideas!  It was truly amazing!  This was the first year I implemented STEAM rotations and thanks to all your donations and help, it went smoothly and the class loved it! I couldn't have done it without you.

Please keep your child reading over the summer. I also sent an e-mail with a link to the library websites they can access at home.  Among those are BookFlixs and Tumblebooks.   The class loved these!  In their summer packet, you will find their passwords for web-based programs we used at school.  

I gave each child a piece of class stationary and an addressed envelope so they could write me this summer.  I will look forward to receiving and writing letters this summer.  If your child is tech savvy, (which I hope they are), they can also write me an e-mail through their google account. Tell them to log on, go to their apps, select gmail and send me an e-mail.  I will write them back!  

Once again, thank you for everything!  Have a great summer and I will see you in the fall!

HI!

Thank you so much for the toy donations!  We already have things we can "buy" but most of us are saving our money!  It was  a great day for math and learning.  We started our checkbook register so ask your child how much money they "deposited" today! They were super excited!    This money system will replace Dojo points for the next few days. They were able to add in their Dojo points ( We gave our Dojo points cash value.  For example, if they had 59 Dojo points, they were able to add that to the total they  earned today.)  We will take a picture of our register and upload it  to SeeSaw so you can keep track of their behavior at home.

Here is our week of learning at a glance:

Reading Workshop-  This week we will focus on Reader's Theatre.  This is one of my favorite units.  We take "Fractured Fairy Tales" and we act them out.  It is tons of fun but we are working on reading fluency and intonation.  We even make a background setting and props to go along with our plays.  We will perform these on the last day of school.  It will be a part of our class party.  If you cannot make it, I will definitely record our plays and upload your child's play to SeeSaw.  

Writing Workshop-    This week we will use our writing time to work on on Reader's Theatre.  We will also keep a little journal about our "acting experience". We will also begin our very last book, The Best Part of Me.     

Science/ Social Studies-  We are still playing catch up on our animals and then we will begin our unit on goods and services.    

Math-    We will begin our unit on financial literacy.  This is a great unit that incorporates real life skills such as saving, spending, deposits, withdrawals, goods, services, producers, and consumers.  Please continue to send in toys for our store!  

Important News:      Our end of the year party will be the last day of school.  It will be from 1:30-2:30.  I will begin the plays at 1:00 and then once we finish, we will have treats and do a craft.

Class Brighteners-     Sydney is our V.I.P! She has worked really hard on listening and being heard!  Congratulations Sydney! Robbie is our Star of the Week!  He will get to share his poster with the class!  

Looking forward to another great week of learning!

Mrs. King

Wow!! How can it already be May!! I am amazed how fast this year flew by but I am super proud of the progress each and every child has made!  We took our math benchmark test this week and I will share your child's progress with you during conferences.  They worked super hard showing their strategies and doing their best work.  I have shared the test with your child because I believe they need feedback on how they did.  Overall, I am pleased with their scores and know they worked really hard!  

Next week we will take our reading and writing benchmark on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Please make sure your child eats a healthy breakfast and packs a healthy snack.  It is also important for your child to get plenty of rest so they will have the stamina to read and write. 

Our field trip was a huge success!  Thanks to those parents who were willing ( and brave) to volunteer and take a group around the zoo.  I appreciate all your help!  

Here is our week of learning at a glance:

Reading Workshop-  This week we will review for the reading benchmark and we will focus on reading a variety of texts and responding to our reading.  We will make sure we are answering in complete sentences and using correct punctuation. 

Writing Workshop-    This week we will take our end of the year writing sample through the entire writing process. 

Science/ Social Studies-  We will begin our unit on insects.  We have caterpillars and I believe they are already starting to form chrysalises !!!! We were so caught up on our animal projects we have not had time to observe them as I would have wanted!!

Math-    We will begin our unit on multiplication!  We focus on multiplication being just like using repeated addition!  We will learn how to use arrays to help us multiply and we will create an array robot!  

Important News:    Our reading and writing district assessments will be on May 2-3. If you have any supplies you could donate for STEAM, our class would be forever thankful.  We are still in need of tape, tape, and more tape! We also need  modeling clay, empty 1/2 gallon milk jugs, small empty water bottles, and pie pans.  I will send out our next rotations so you will know how we are using the supplies.  

Class Brighteners-     Robbie is our V.I.P! He earned the title for "Working Towards His Best!"  Robbie has really given 100% and I am super proud of him!  Our Star Students are Mason and Rachel! Congratulations to both of them and we can't wait to share their posters.

Enjoy your weekend!

It was great to be back at school and hear all the fun the kids at the carnival. Our PTA does such a fabulous job and it is such a great fundraiser for our school.  Chloe won our auction item BUT I did print a few extra copies of our picture.   I put them in our deluxe treasure box! This is a very special treasure box and the cost of the items are 150 Dojo points!  I have some students who earn quite a bit of points for good behavior  and they save up for the bigger rewards.  If your child wanted  copy of the picture, encourage them to save up and earn more points :) 

Our field trip is this THURSDAY!   Just make sure your child is dressed appropriately for the weather.  I recommend putting sunblock on at home, even if it is cloudy. Your child must wear closed shoes, tennis shoes are definitely recommended.  I look forward to a great day!

Here is our week of learning at  glance:

Reading Workshop-  This week we will continue our animal research and begin creating our final project.  Your child will choose which project they will complete at the end of their research.    Their choices will  be a google  power point, a google document, a newspaper, or a diorama of the animal in its habitat. 

Writing Workshop-    This week we will  focus on taking notes for our research project and typing our information.   

Science/ Social Studies-  We will continue our unit on animals.  We will look at reptiles and mammals this week.  

Math-    On April 25-April 26 we will take our Second Grade End of the Year District Math Assessment.  We have reviewed the past week so I am confident your child will do just fine.  You can help by making sure your child gets plenty of rest the night before and eats a healthy breakfast.  Also, pack your child a healthy snack on those days.  

Important News:  Our field trip is April 27. See the attached flyer for more information.   Our math district assessment is April 25-26.  Our reading and writing district assessments will be on May 2-3. 

Class Brighteners-     Alex is our V.I.P! He earned the title for "Working Towards His Best!"  Way to go Alex!! 

I hope you are enjoying your extra day with family and friends!  It was nice to have an extra day to work in the yard and enjoy the spring weather but our week of learning is going to start full speed ahead!

First of all, thank you so much for helping with our poetry video. We were quite a sight with our caps, beads, and microphones.  I think the video is going to come out great!!! Our campus technician, Ms. Erickson , is helping us put it together.  I can't wait to share the final copy. 

Secondly, the school carnival is THIS FRIDAY! It is such a great time, I hope you can make plans to attend.  Our class is going to auction off a copy of our Poetry Rap in CD form so make sure you come see our item.  I will also upload a copy to SeeSaw so you can see it, even if you do not get the CD version.  On that note, I will not be at the carnival .  My oldest daughter, Veronica, made it to Level 8 Regionals for gymnastics and it is in Colorado!  I hope you have a great time if you attend!
Here is our week of learning at  glance:

Reading Workshop-  Last wee, we finished our poetry unit so this week we will  begin our animal research project.  This goes  along with our Project Based Learning.  We will research the animal of our choice and become an "expert" on that animal.  At the end of our research, we will create a powerpoint, a google document, a newspaper, or a diorama of our animal in its habitat. We will work on our research and projects the next two weeks.

Writing Workshop-    This week we will  focus on taking notes for our research project.

Science/ Social Studies-  We will begin our unit on animals.  We will look at reptiles and amphibians this week.

Math-  This week we will review all of our math skills and concepts from the beginning of the year.  On April 25-April 26 we will take our Second Grade End of the Year District Math Assessment.  We will spend a few days reviewing but these are concepts and skills we have worked on all year. You can help at home by making sure your child gets plenty of rest and eats a healthy breakfast on those mornings. 

Important News:  Our field trip is April 27. I will send more details as the date gets closer.  Our math district assessment is April 25-26.  Our reading and writing district assessments will be on May 2-3. 

Class Brighteners-     Zoe is our V.I.P! Zoe earned the title for " Listening and being heard!"  I am super proud of Zoe!  Marley is  our Star of the Week!  We can't wait to share her poster!  We want to wish Tori a very happy birthday!

Thank you so much for returning the field trip form. Since we all turned them in by Tuesday, we earned our extra recess and received our extra DoJo points!  

This will be our last rotation of our Fairy Tale STEAM activities.  Our next activities will cover animals to go along with our language arts and science units! I will send an e-mail for supplies we will need.  We will still need toilet  paper rolls so send those in if you can!

Reading Workshop-This week we will begin our animal research project.  This goes  along with our Project Based Learning.  We will research the animal of our choice and become an "expert" on that animal.  At the end of our research, we will create a powerpoint, a google document, a newspaper, or a diorama of our animal in its habitat. We will work on our research and projects the next two weeks. 

Writing Workshop-    This week we will continue any poetry writing we have not completed and we will focus on taking notes for our research project. 

Science/ Social Studies-  We will begin our unit on animals.  We will look at reptiles and amphibians this week. 

Math-  This week we will begin our unit on multiplication.  We focus on the fact that multiplication is simply repeated addition.  For example, if we want to multiply 2 x 4 , we can think of 2+2+2+2.  

Important News:  Our field trip is April 27. I will send more details as the date gets closer.  We do not have school on Friday so enjoy your extra day with family. 

Class Brighteners-     Hana is our V.I.P!  I am super proud of Hana and how she always treats her classmates and friends respectfully!  Chloe is  our Star of the Week!  Way to go Chloe!  

We had a great week of learning! Your child took home the plant seed they planted last week.  They were amazed by how fast their seeds grew. They also documented the growth in their science journals.  Our sprout houses are starting to sprout ( fingers crossed).  We can see the seeds are changing colors so we are hoping we have sprouts on Monday.  

Your child took home a field trip form today.  Please fill out the front and the back of then form, which is the district form. We are heading to the Austin Zoo on April 27.  This field trip will celebrate our PBL project on animals!  We will leave Forest Creek at 9:15 and return at 1:45.  If you would like to volunteer, please mark that on your child's sheet.  School funds will pay for the students but  parents will need to provide their own entrance fee and transportation. 

Please let me know if you want the cafeteria to pack a sack lunch for your child or if you are providing lunch.  I told the class if everyone returns their form by Tuesday, we will earn extra recess AND extra points!

Reading Workshop-This week we will continue our unit on poetry.   We will focus on personification and  onomatopoeia.   

Writing Workshop-    This week we will work on publishing our haiku poems and we will write a poem using our five senses.   We will also write poems using onomatopoeia.     

Science/ Social Studies-  We will continue our units on plants.   We will look at leaves and flowers this week and discuss plant adaptations. 

Math-  This week we will begin our unit on fractions. We will discuss equal and unequal parts this week.  

Important News:  Please make sure you sign and return the field trip form.  Wednesday is early release. Dismissal is at 12:00. 

Class Brighteners-     Zachary  is our V.I.P and our Star of the Week!  Way to go Zachary!  Zachary earned V.I.P for his quality of work this week!   Zoe lost another  tooth this week!  Congratulations Zoe!

I hope you enjoyed this beautiful weekend!  This weather just makes us want to be outside and play, play, play but  we still have so much learning to do! On that note, here is our week of learning at a glance:

Reading Workshop-This week we will continue our unit on poetry.   Last week we worked on alliteration and posted our alliteration sentence on SeeSaw.  This week we will focus on visualization, personification, haiku, and acrostic poems. 

Writing Workshop-    This week we will work on publishing various types of poetry such as haiku and acrostic poems.   

Science/ Social Studies-  We will continue our units on plants.  We will create our sprout houses and look at each plant part and their functions.  

Math-  This week we will focus on problem solving using three digit addition and subtraction with and without regrouping.  Please check your child's yellow folder each night.  If they miss more than half of their math seat work, I have been sending it home for them to correct.   Three digit addition and subtraction is a hard  concept for  second graders but a very important one! 

Important News:   I have started a new folder in SeeSaw called Exit Tickets.  Your child will post a sentence, take  or draw a picture of something they learned that day.  I am hoping this helps with conversations when you ask, " What did you learn today?" and they can give you a better response than just ,"  I forgot" or " Nothing" 

Class Brighteners-     Lila is our V.I.P!   Lila always sets a great example for her friends!  Congratulations Lila!   Zoe, Chloe, and Lila all lost a tooth this week!  Congratulations!

HI!

I hope you had a great week!  I just wanted to remind you that we have two  important events this week.  First, on March 2, second graders are able to come to school dressed as their favorite chapter book character!  For example, Junie B. Jones, Katie Kazoo, Nate the Great, Jack from the Magic Treehouse series and any other favorite character!   Second, our hoedown is FRIDAY!  It will begin promptly at 8:35.  It adds to the fun and excitement when your child dresses in western gear.... . . . .yeehaw!

Here is our week of learning at a glance:

 

Reading Workshop-This week we will continue our unit on folktales.  We will spend another day on legends and then read a few tall tales!  

 

Writing Workshop-    We will continue to work on writing our own fairy tale. A few of us are editing and working on our published copy!  I hope to finish these stories up next week. 

Science/ Social Studies-  This week we will focus on the stars and the sun.   This is a fun unit and the students have enjoyed charting the moon phases this week!

Math-  This week we will focus on three digit addition using base 10 blocks (hundreds, tens, and ones) and adding using a number line.  

Important News:  Dress as your favorite chapter book character on Thursday.  The hoedown is Friday at 8:35.   

Class Brighteners-  Lorena is our Star Student this week! Way to go Lorena!    Madison is our V.I.P!  I am super proud of Madison!  She is a great helper and a great friend to everyone in our classroom!  Next week our V.I.P. will be someone who listens to others without interrupting. Many of our friends have great ideas to share but others often interrupt our lessons and discussions by blurting out.  Remind your child what we are looking for so they can be the next Very Important Person! 

Have a great weekend!

HI!

I hope you had a great long weekend!  It was nice to have an extra day to sleep in especially with those storms last night.  Thank you so much to everyone who donated and volunteered for our class party on Tuesday!  The kids were excited but having volunteers at each station helped make things manageable. 

Here is our week of learning at a glance:

 

Reading Workshop-This week we will continue our unit on fairy tales.  We will look at myths and legends this week. 

 

Writing Workshop-    We will continue to work on writing our own fairy tale.  I am excited to see how their stories will end!

Science/ Social Studies- We will continue our unit on weather and then we will begin to look at objects in the sky ( moon, stars, sun).  

Math-   We will review three digit place value looking at hundreds, tens, and ones. We will use this to help transition to adding and subtracting three digit numbers!   

Important News:  School pictures are Wednesday!  This is the time we take our group picture so you will need to pre-order if you want a group picture.  You can either turn in your money to me in the picture envelope or make your purchase online. 

Class Brighteners-  Sydney is our Star Student this week!  We can't wait to learn more about Sydney!    I want to congratulate Stephen for earning the title of V.I.P! This week we were looking for friends who follow directions the first time they are given! Congratulations to Stephen!   

Have a great week!

HI!

 Our first rotation of our STEAM activities was a huge success!  The class was super excited to begin these rotations. We had  some help from 5th grade friends and it went really well.  Don't forget to ask your child how it went!

Here is our week of learning at a glance:

 

Reading Workshop-This week we will continue our unit on fairy tales.  We will look at elements of fairy tales and compare and contrast different versions of various fairy tales.  

 

Writing Workshop-    We will work on writing our very own fairy tale this week!  We are going to take this piece of writing through the writing process so we will work on this for the next couple of weeks. 

Science/ Social Studies- We will continue our unit on weather.  After today's STEAM  rotations, we are in need of shaving cream (some of our clouds were QUITE LARGE), blue food coloring, and water color paint sets. THANKS for your help.    

Math-   We will begin our unit on time.  We will focus on time to the hour and half hour next week.  If your child has an analog watch at home, please have them wear it as much as possible.  You could ask them the time randomly during the day so they can become experts on telling time.  

Important News:  Our Valentine's Day Party will be Tuesday, February 14 at 1:30.  You will not need to purchase any boxes or containers.  We will make bags in class. 

Class Brighteners-  Chelsea is our Star Student this week!  Congratulations Chelsea!   I want to congratulate  Tori for earning the title of V.I.P! This week we were looking for friends who "Honor themselves and others"!  Way to go Tori!  We also want to wish Madison a very Happy Birthday!   We hope your day was special!  Congratulations to Evin  who lost a tooth this week!

Have a great weekend!