Happy Fri-yay y'all! Each day this week we have traveled to a new country, saw how they celebrate a special holiday, and learned that we are not all that different :) Next week is going to be a blast! We have countries to visit, research projects to start, crafts to create, parties to attend, music to listen to, etc! Please look below at the upcoming dates to be in the loop! *Gingerbread House Decoration: Please bring in your child's items on December 17th :) Each kiddo needs the small carton to build their home around! Thank you all!! The homes will go home the the students on Friday for y'all to enjoy :) **From Booster/Dads Club:Cedar Creek Dads Club Blazer Tag Party – Party is for Students
Wishlist If you are able to provide any of the following items, please email me with which item and quantity, I will update the list. I really appreciate those who are able to help and completely understand those who are unable. The items are used to enhance our learning, I know the students appreciate it also! Magnets (to hang things on our walls!) Upcoming Dates Dec 17: Ms. Jenkins Flashlight Tent Reading Birthday Party (students can bring a sheet & flashlight to school!) Dec 17: Bring Gingerbread House decorations Dec. 18: Library Check Out Dec. 18: Madrigal Performance for whole school Dec. 21: Holiday Party! 9:20-10:30 Parents invited! Dec. 21: Pajama Day! Dec. 21: Early release at 11:50 Jan 8th: Students return! Jan 9th: Walk to School Wednesday (on your own!) Next Week.... Reading: We will be using reading time to research and read about countries and culture. Some day's we will read fun winter stories :) Writing: Students will be working on their research project. One day of writing will be about the ginger house they built! Math: Review week- students will participate in activities that review place value, addition & subtraction, money, and time. Social Studies: Culture Study!!! Students will continue to travel.
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Hello Families! December is my favorite month because we begin my favorite unit of study: cultures! We will begin learning about cultures around the world! If there is a certain holiday that you celebrate that you think we should learn about, let me know! If you want to come and teach us about it, even better! So far, I am hoping to teach the students about American (Kwanza/Christmas), Israel (Hanukah), China (Chinese New Year), India (Diwali), and Egypt (Ramadan). *Money: Please continue practicing counting money at home! What I am noticing is students having difficulty skip counting when starting from a random larger number (like 25, 30, 75) and being able to switch from skip counting by 10's to 5's fluidly. **Gingerbread House Decoration: It is a tradition in Second Grade to create Gingerbread Houses during the holiday time! A note with information on this upcoming event went home yesterday. Please bring in your child's items on December 17th & sign up for icing making :) ***Winter Party: Information will be going out to our Winter Party Volunteers this week. Second Grade's Winter Party will be on Friday, December 21st from 9:20-10:30. We will have four rotations in our classroom for the students to participate in. We invite parents to come and celebrate with us! Wishlist If you are able to provide any of the following items, please email me with which item and quantity, I will update the list. I really appreciate those who are able to help and completely understand those who are unable. The items are used to enhance our learning, I know the students appreciate it also! Nothing at this time, almost all was donated!! Thank you : ) Upcoming Dates Dec 17: Ms. Jenkins Flashlight Tent Reading Birthday Party (students can bring a sheet & flashlight to school!) Dec 17: Bring Gingerbread House decorations Dec. 18: Madrigal Performance for whole school Dec. 21: Holiday Party! 9:20-10:30 Parents invited! Dec. 21: Pajama Day! Dec. 21: Early release at 11:50 Jan 8th: Students return! Next Week.... Reading: As we continue to learn about folktales, students will read fairytales and compare different versions of a fairytale. Writing: Students are working on their own folktale. They are making it into a script and will record their folktale. Math: Telling time to the 15 minutes. This is a hard concept! Students will need to know the terms 'quarter to' and 'quarter past' Social Studies: Culture Study!!! Students will travel the world to learn about different countries with a focus on the holiday's they celebrate. They will learn many facts about each country we visit and then complete their own research project of a country of their choice next week. Welcome back everyone! I heard y'all did some great things over the break :) I am out tomorrow for a socials studies contact meeting, so enjoy the early newsletter! *Book Bags: If your student was given a book bag that was taken home, could you please return those books. I can't not send more books home until all are returned and logged back in. **Rocks: Your student is allowed to bring in their rock collection next week! I have rocks for the kids to look at, but to be honest, the kids always have a more interesting collection. ***Money: We begin studying coin values and money next week. I find it best if students practice counting money with real money instead of the fake plastic coins we have. If you are able to, please send in your student with 12 of each type of coin on Monday. This will make learning about money more authentic and real. Please put the coins in a bag or container with their name on it. We will study money more than once this year, so the coins will stay in our classroom until the end of the year, they will be sent back home during the 4th 9 weeks. Also, coins go missing sometimes, so I apologize if you do not get all the coins back! I promise I do not take them home to by own piggy bank! Thank you for helping with real world learning experiences. ****Bulletin Board: Any crafty parents out there?? If you would like to come decorate our hallway bulletin board, send me an email! You don't really need to be that crafty, just able to work scissors :) Wishlist If you are able to provide any of the following items, please email me with which item and quantity, I will update the list. I really appreciate those who are able to help and completely understand those who are unable. The items are used to enhance our learning, I know the students appreciate it also! 1 inch binders (creating a math review opportunity) 6 Sheet Protectors (for students to solve on and erase #savethetrees) 3 packets 1 Bag of Cotton balls (science) DONATED! 1 can of shaving cream (science) DONATED! Clorox wipes (no flu in room 42!) DONATED! Upcoming Dates Nov. 30: Ms. Jenkins Absent (Social Studies district meeting) Dec. 4: Library Check Out Dec. 5: Walk to School Wednesday! (Serene's House 3415 Cactus Wren Way) Dec. 7: Pajama Day!! Dec. 21: Early release at 11:50 Next Week.... Reading: We will learn all about folktales this week and next. They will read different types of folktales (legends, tall tells, fairytales, fables, etc.) and determine the theme/lesson. Writing: Continuing our fiction unit, students will be creating their own folktales! Math: Money, money, money, MOONNNNAY! We will learn about our 4 main coins, their value, how to skip count, and how to trade in coins to have the least amount of coins in our pockets. Please look above for a request about bringing in coins next week. Science: As students continue learning about natural resources, we will dig into rocks. They will focus on describing physical characteristics of rocks and sorting them. We will also discuss how we use rocks, what makes rocks a resource to us. Bring in your rocks kiddos! That was a fun week! I hope each and every one of you enjoy your ENTIRE WEEK off of school! I am SO thankful that you all trust your kiddos with me every day and allow me to be apart of their lives. I love them all and am thankful for their personalities making each day different and fun. *Math Practice: The kids have an entire week off from school! I sent home a math practice packet that you can complete if you wish. This is optional. The packet practices addition & subtraction. Our subtraction test will be the week after break! **Peace Park: So much fun! We hiked around the park looking at different types of fossils and chose 1 to keep, viewing erosion in action, catching geckos, digging up fossils and donating to Mrs. Mary, seeing layers of sediment, etc. ***Thank you for donating to our classroom from the wishlist! This not only helps me but makes the learning in the classroom more engaging and safe. *One more thank you to our wonderful volunteers for taking time from their schedules to help herd the children! **I have a voicemail on my phone, if it was you please call again! I tried listening this morning and seem to have forgotten the code to get in the message system.... :) ***From Dr. Leonard: "Don’t let technology get in the way of your family bonding time this year. Make it a priority for everyone to have a “digital detox” and put the attention back on together-time." Challenge your kids to put the technology away and go outside! WOAH! We were one of the top classes that raised money for the EFF!!! You guys are awesome, thank you for donating. :-) Wishlist If you are able to provide any of the following items, please email me with which item and quantity, I will update the list. I really appreciate those who are able to help and completely understand those who are unable. The items are used to enhance our learning, I know the students appreciate it also! 1 inch binders (creating a math review opportunity) 6 Sheet Protectors (for students to solve on and erase #savethetrees) 3 packets 1 Bag of Cotton balls (science) DONATED! 1 can of shaving cream (science) DONATED! Clorox wipes (no flu in room 42!) DONATED! Upcoming Dates Nov. 19-25: Thanksgiving Break! Please keep reading and practicing math at home :) Nov. 30: Ms. Jenkins Absent (Social Studies district meeting) Dec. 5: Walk to School Wednesday! (Serene's House 3415 Cactus Wren Way) Next Week.... (Nov. 26-30) Reading: Students will practice asking questions about their reading. We will focus on realistic fiction stories and jotting down our unanswered questions. Writing: While reading realistic fiction books this week, students will practice writing their own realistic fiction story. Writing samples will go home at the end of the week which include imaginative and realistic fiction. Math: Last week of our subtraction study! We will focus on missing number word problems and finding the difference between two numbers. Our subtraction test will be on Thursday. Science: Students will begin learning about natural resources. We will start with a week about water and the differences between salt and freshwater. We had a great week! During morning meanings we learned how to be assertive- how to get what we want or need in a respectful way. I'm sure this skill can be used at home! We talked about how to use respectful words instead of throwing fits to get what we want and why a person would more likely give you want you want if you used those respectful words. I've been using the language "how can you say that again while being assertive?" Good luck! :-) Next week is filled with all sorts of fun things- turkey projects, Eagle Dash, WHS play, and our first field trip! Read below for more information. *Field Trip: Our first field trip will be on Thursday, November 15th to Pease Park. Thank you, volunteers, for signing up, I will reach out to you directly. Students will need a NUT FREE lunch to eat in the classroom as we will not be back in time for lunch in the cafeteria. We will enjoy lunch when we return in our classroom. Please pack a morning snack for students to enjoy before departure. **Eagle Dash: Students will go to a few stations to learn about health and exercise. This will be a fun filled day! There is no fundraising this year for the Eagle Dash- just healthy living learning. ***WHS Performance: First and Second graders have been invited to WHS to see the Black Box Theatre perform "Alexander and the Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day." The seating is minimal for this performance so we will not need parent chaperones for this trip. Students will depart CCE at 12:30 pm and return by 2:30 pm by bus. If you are checking your child out early, please have them signed out before 12:30 pm. Thank you so much for your understanding. ****Turkey Project: A paper went home on Thursday explaining this fun craft. Students will use supplies that are brought and what I have here to disguise their turkey. Always a fun project! Some did this in 1st grade as a homework project, now they get to take it up a notch and be creative! Addition Assessment went home on Thursday! Please review and keep practicing these skills WishlistIf you are able to provide any of the following items, please email me with which item and quantity, I will update the list. I really appreciate those who are able to help and understand those who are unable. The items are used to enhance our learning, I know the students appreciate it also! 1 inch binders (creating a math review opportunity) 6 Sheet Protectors (for students to solve on and erase #savethetrees) 3 packets 1 Bag of Cotton balls (science) DONATED! 1 can of shaving cream (science) DONATED! Clorox wipes (no flu in room 42!) DONATED! Upcoming DatesNov. 12: Veteran's Day Assembly @ 8am Nov. 13: Library Check Out Day Nov. 13: Author Visit Nov. 15: Field Trip! Nov. 16: Eagle Dash (just for fun, not a fundraiser) Nov. 16: Westlake High School play Nov. 19-25: Thanksgiving Break! Please keep reading and practicing math at home :) Next Week....Reading: Students will work on inferencing. We will use the sentence stem "I infer _____ because ______." This is a hard concept! You can infer what happens next, how a character is feeling or what they are thinking, you can infer what the book will be about based on the cover and title, infer the meaning of unknown words, etc. Writing: Students will choose a fiction story that they have drafted and take it through the writing process of editing, revising, and publishing! Science: Students will use their knowledge of weather and apply it to this weeks concept- the water cycle! Each day we have a fun experiment all about the water cycle. Please view the wishlist for some science supplies if you are able to supply :) Math: Week 2 of our subtraction study! We've had a great week in room 42! Students have become meteorologists and started studying the weather of Austin and of a city of their choice. We even had district come check out the way we use our iPads to learn about weather! We practiced and practiced 2 digit addition! Please continuing practicing this skill at home. We will move on to 3 digits in upcoming units. *Our first field trip will be on Thursday, November 15th to Pease Park. Please check your child's Thursday folder for more details and information! **Math notebooks went home today so you can check out the things we glue in like word problems! Feel free to use the next clean page to write an encouraging message to your kiddo :) PLEASE return on Monday so we can continue learning! ***Want to be a mystery reader for our classroom? Sign up HERE!! Upcoming DatesNov. 2nd: Western Wear Day!!! Nov. 6th: Early Release @ 11:50 Nov. 7th: Walk to School Wednesday (Meet up at Luke's House! 3607 Peregrine Falcon Drive) Nov. 12th: Veteran's Day Assembly Nov. 13th: Library Check Out Day Nov 15th: Second Grade Field Trip! Nov. 19th-23rd: Thanksgiving Break! Next Week...Reading: Students will compare similar stories that have common themes. Writing: Students will write their own imaginative fiction story without teacher prompting! Science: For our second week of weather, students will continue to track daily weather and learn about weather tools. They will study clouds and the seasons. Math: We begin our 2 digit subtraction unit. This is a hard concept for second graders! They will add more tools to their tool belt to be able to solve problems. The tricky part now is determining from a word problem if it is subtraction or addition...! I have enjoyed meeting with you during our conferences! I look forward to those I still have a meeting with. Thank you for coming to the conferences positive and supporting what we do in the classroom! Want to be a mystery reader for our classroom? Sign up HERE!! *Costumes: Students are NOT to wear costumes on Halloween day. This was decided by a panel of parents and staff. HOWEVER, I will be dressing up in costume :) I will be the story character Cruella De Vil! If your student would like to wear a white clothes with black spots... they can be the dalmatians! No face paint, ears, or tails though, still have to follow the school rule of no costume! **Pumpkins go home on Wednesday the 31st. You may come pick it up for your kiddo or have them take it home themselves. ***Fall Treat: On Halloween day, we have some fun activities for students to do that involve content and at the end of the day they get to have a delicious treat. There is no party for this holiday. Thank you room mama and holiday volunteers for working on the treat for us!! ****Math Practice: We have a 2 digit math assessment next Friday. I sent home a practice page in their daily folders. Completion is Optional! Some concepts that are not on the practice page that you can do at home are; Upcoming DatesOct. 27th: Fall Fun Fest! Oct. 29th: New student vision screening Oct. 29th: Pumpkins go home Oct. 30th: Library Check Out Day Oct. 31th: Author Visit from Mrs. Ingram's classroom Nov. 2nd: Western Wear Day!!! Nov. 6th: Early Release @ 11:50 Nov. 12th: Veteran's Day Assembly Nest Week...Reading: Students will continue to focus on fiction story elements like characters, setting, BME, problem & solution, and theme of a story. Writing: Halloween week is the start of our fiction writing unit! This week students will be given a spooky prompt to turn into a story. They will focus on creating characters, describing the setting, and making sure to have a BME in their story. Math: This will be our 3rd week of 2 digit addition. Students will continue to practice different strategies that we've learned (open number line, base 10 blocks, algorithm, decomposing, doubles, counting on....) Students will practice solving word problems and creating their own word problems. We will wrap the week up with a test on Friday. Science: Weather!! Students will become meteorologists for the next 3 weeks as we learn about weather, tools that measure weather, and how weather can impact us. I hope you all enjoyed our publishing party for those who could make it! If you were unable to, do not worry, I took many pictures for you below :) A orange parent letter went home on Thursday, and there were a few mistakes! We didn't want to re-print #savethetrees. I'm here to break it down for you! 1. Students should bring their favorite fiction story AND the decorated pumpkin based on that story with them on Monday the 22nd. 2. They will present their reports on Monday the 29th to the class. 3. All 2nd grade pumpkins will be displayed in the commons on the 29th, 30th, and 31st if you feel like stopping by :) They will be sent home on Halloween! **Want to be a mystery reader for our classroom? Sign up HERE!! ***Early Release on the 24th, 25th, 26th. Please make sure your student knows how to get home at 11:50. Remember, no lunch is served at school! ****Writing Folders went home today! Please clear them out and return on Monday so we can fill them up again! Inside you will find drafts of stories, editing pages, letters, and some beginning of the year riddles. Enjoy! Upcoming DatesOctober 22, Monday: Bring fiction book & decorated pumpkin about the character October 24, 25, 26: Half Days! No lunch served. School out at 11:50. Teacher Conferences! October 27, Saturday: Fall Fun Fest! October 30, Tuesday: Library Check Out Oct. 29-Nov. 2: Book Fair! November 6: Early Release November 7: Walk To School Wednesday (Luke's House! 3607 Peregrine Falcon Drive) Next WeekReading: Students will focus on story elements for the next two weeks. They should get in some good reading time this week! Our top stamina so far is 15 min. 20 is the goal! Writing: Writing will mirror reading, and students will create a pumpkin book report on their favorite fiction story. They will use their own words to describe all the elements of a story- setting, characters, climax, plot, problem & solution. Math: Continuing our 3 week study of addition, student will learn how to solve addition problems using the traditional algorithm. This is hard for students who are just learning this! I suggest practicing a few problems at home each day. We will learn to add numbers up to 99 that involve regrouping the ones into tens. HERE is a video to show you how we learn it so you can mirror at home. Yes, we will draw the blocks as we initially learn to show them WHY we carry that one over when adding! Social Studies: With only 2 days of social studies this week due to the 1/2 days, we will dig deeper on government, our nation, symbols, and taxes. Hi families! I hope you all enjoyed the long weekend. In class, we've been practicing the skill of ignoring distractions and staying focused. We know that it is hard sometimes and we will have to practice this even as adults! We had more visitors in our room checking out the different ways we use technology in the classroom! They were impressed with all the good things happening in room 42! *Publishing Party: Come enjoy your students best published personal narrative! We will be ready to read starting at 8:00 AM in our classroom. There will be notes on each students desk for adults to write encouraging compliments on. If you have the time, stop by multiple students desks to hear their story. We will end our party at 8:20, short and sweet! **Conference Sign up: I have 14 parents signed up! HERE is the link for those who still need it. ***Thank you so much to all the parents who volunteered to help copy, laminate, and cut for us! I know it isn't the most fun thing in the world, so thank you for taking time out of your day to help me! You are helping students be more successful! ****Special Treat: Today, a student brought everyone a special treat! It is a delicious cookie and should be in a baggie in their backpack. Because of school rules and all, we could not enjoy it here, so feel free to eat at home! AND another student sent home some Spanish words for students to learn and practice :) Upcoming DatesTuesday, 10/16: Library Check Out Thursday, 10/18: Ms. Jenkins Absent 1/2 day Friday, 10/19: Publishing Party- Parents invited to come read students stories at 8:00 AM Wednesday-Friday, 10/24-10/26: Early Release @ 11:50 (parent conference days!) Wednesday, 10/31: Halloween! Details to come.... Next Week...Reading: Students will study fictional characters and their external/internal characteristics. Writing: Students will continue writing their best personal fiction yet! They will publish their books on Thursday. Join us for our publishing party on Friday, Oct. 19th at 8:00 AM in our classroom. Math: We will begin learning different strategies to add numbers. Please use the Math sheet sent home for at home practice and language. Social Studies: Students will discover who our elected government officials are and what their job entails. They will learn about taxes and where that money is used. Wish ListIs your attic filled with decorations you no longer use? Bring your fall/winter decorations to school! I'd love to decorate our classroom with fall items to make it feel even more homey. If you have fall themed things collecting dust that you no longer use, feel free to drop them off for us! Hi families! We had a great week learning about movement and creating our own rollercoasters, writing our first personal narrative, making DEEP connections to our books, and experimenting with sounds. This week we focused on respect during our morning meetings and even created some videos! The kids loved it so we will definitely be doing it again. Check it all out below :) *Parents! You have some writing homework in their Daily Folders to complete and return on Tuesday. Do not worry- it's only brainstorming ideas/details! **Be on the lookout for an email to sign up for Beginning of the Year Conferences from skyward/myself. The email will be sent around 4:00 on the 9th. ***If your kiddo would like me to come watch a sporting event/dance recital, please let me know their schedule! I will try to make some. I love getting to know the kids outside our classroom. Building that relationship! Upcoming DatesMonday, 10/8: No School! Wednesday, 10/10: Fall Picture Re-takes Thursday, 10/18: Ms. Jenkins Absent 1/2 day Wednesday-Friday, 10/24-10/26: Early Release @ 11:50 (parent conference days!) Next Week.....Reading: We will focus on the PLOT of a story. That is the beginning, middle, end, problem & solution in a book. They will determine what they think the most important parts of a book are and create PLOT maps in their Reading Response Journals. We have a special makers space visit with the librarian on Friday! Writing: We will use their brainstorming homework that y'all worked on over the long weekend and create our BEST story from it using lots of details. We are continuing with personal narratives. They will learn about 'hook' beginnings' and exciting endings. Students will add details to their writing throughout the week. Social Studies: We dive into our 2 week unit on government. This week, students will learn about laws and how to create a law, national symbols, and about the Bill of Rights. Math: Students will start practicing different ways to add! Students will learn many strategies in the upcoming weeks to help them solve mental math up to 20 quickly. We teach many strategies so that students have a bank of resources to choose from. One strategy might be perfect for one student and another strategy matches with another! On Monday, an addition At Home page will go home with some vocabulary words and games you could use at home. |
To come...Each Friday I will update this tab with upcoming dates, reflections of the week, upcoming learning activities, pictures, etc. |