A Marvelous Monday! :)

RBE Showcase! :)
Wow!  Thank you SO much for taking the time out of your very busy days to visit our classroom today for the RBE Showcase the kiddos worked SO hard on researching something of interest to them in either the area of health or dinosaurs.  If you were not able to make it - your child is bringing home their presentation of their published book, poster and their prepared speech - so have them share with you tonight!  Be sure to check out all of our pictures of the students presenting their research!

This Week
This week we are working on identifying the theme of a book during reading.  In math, we are continuing to work on subtraction with regrouping.  In writing, we are finishing up our informational writing unit with a "post test" of researching and writing a book on tulips.  This will be done completely independently.  The students have independently wrote 2 informational books already in this unit.

Homework
Your child's reading response this week is to read a short informational piece about Lead Year and take notes on the article (main idea & 3 details).  Please remember that your child is expected to read for at least 15 minutes  and complete one section of the math homework each night.

Friday Folders & Conferences
Friday Folders will be coming home on Friday.  I did not send them home last week since I was meeting with families for Parent/Teacher Conferences.  I also wanted to thank everyone for making an effort to come to your child's 2nd Trimester conference.  Our class is at 100% - thank you for taking the time & effort to meet with me!

An AWESOME Parent/Teacher Conference Week!

It was wonderful being able to meet with families over the course of this past week!  Thank you for making the effort to attend so that we can be a partnership in your child's education.  I cannot believe that we are down to one trimester left together!

RBE Showcase
Please remember that the RBE Showcase is on Monday (February 29).  The 2nd grade portion is from 10:30-11:00.  The kiddos have worked SO hard on researching either a dinosaur or health topic.  They have published a book, had a chance to make a poster, and have even worked on their speaking skills by making a very short presentation to tell you about what they have researched.  I hope that you are able to come in and see all their hard work!!

Also, the Book Fair will still be set up in the Media Center - so if you have not had a chance to check it out please do so!  The kiddos have all made their wish lists and there are some really great books that need a good home. :)

RBE Reading Week
In a little over a week the 2nd Annual RBE Read Week will be getting started!  The kiddos LOVE when other people come and share a favorite book.  We have some wonderful Guest Readers already signed up.  If you haven't already signed up and would like to, please do so (we have  a lot of openings on Thursday, March 10).
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0445a8ad2fa46-reading

Extra Curricular Sports and Other Things
I always enjoy getting to be able to see the kiddos do some of their favorite things outside of school.  If your child has a basketball game, gymnastic meet, dance recital, etc.  Please let me know the date and time, and I will do my absolute best to come and see them!

It looks like we are lucking out on some wonderful weather again this weekend!  I hope that your family is able to get out and enjoy it!  Have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Sunday!

I hope you have are having a wonderful weekend & had a chance to enjoy the beautiful weather yesterday!!  We have been very busy in Room 26!

Here is what we have been working on and will work on next week!

Reading/Writing
Our reading and writing times for last week all focused on taking notes and then using those notes to write an informational piece.

Last week, we worked on taking notes from an informational article.  The students all took notes about elephants from an article.  They had to identify the main idea of the entire article, then the main idea of each paragraph as well as details.  They also researched about either dinosaurs or health (they decided) and took notes that will be used to create a book for Showcase.

The students then used their notes to create a 5 paragraph informational writing about an elephant.  They learned that you have a lead paragraph, one paragraph for each of your main ideas and then a conclusion paragraph to wrap it all up.  Their elephant writing will be in the hallway this week.  Be sure to check it out when you come for conferences!

This week, we will be writing our books over dinosaurs or health and creating a poster to accompany the books.  These will be displayed at the RBE Showcase which is Monday, February 29 from 10:30-11.  I hope you can come see all their wonderful work!

Math
Last week in math, we started our subtraction unit.  The students learned how to use tens frame and hundreds charts to solve subtraction problems.  They also practiced solving problems that were stacked for subtraction without regrouping.

This week, we will introduce the idea of regrouping with subtraction.  This can be a tricky concept at first, especially since it is a new concept, so we will spend multiple days on this concept.  Please continue practicing basic facts at home because it makes the more challenging concepts easier if they know their math facts "in a snap."

Book Fair
The book fair will be set up in the library again this time for conferences.  Our class will be going down on Monday morning for the students to make their wish lists.  Scholastic gives money back to our school based on the amount of books sold.  We really appreciate all the support!

RBE Reading Week
RBE Reading Week is just a few weeks away!  We have some wonderful Guest Readers signed up.  If you haven't signed up and would like to, please do so!

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0445a8ad2fa46-reading 

RBE Showcase
The RBE Showcase is Monday, February 29.  The 2nd grade portion is from 10:30-11.  The students will be sharing their health or dinosaur projects. I know your student would love to show off their hard work.  :)

Conferences
Parent Teacher Conferences are next week.  I look forward to meeting with everyone!  Due to Parent Teacher Conferences, there is no school next Friday, February 26.

I hope you are enjoying this beautiful weather!  My fingers are crossed that it is here to stay!

Happy President's Day!

First off, I want to thank everyone who helped out with our fabulous party on Thursday.  The kids had a lot of fun! :)

Reminders/Important Upcoming Dates

§ In your child's Friday Folder I sent home a date set sheet for our Parent/Teacher Conference.  Please look over the date and return the confirmation sheet by Wednesday.  As a reminder, our goal is 100% attendance for conferences! :)

§ Coming home tomorrow with your child is the Pre- & Post-Test for the 2 & 3 Digit Addition Unit we just completed.  Please review this test, sign and return the test.  

§ Friday, February 19: PJ Day

§ Week of February 22: Parent Teacher Conferences and Book Fair

§ Monday, February 29: RBE Showcase from 10:30-11:00

Reading Week
If you haven't signed up to be a Mystery Reader (remember family, friends, coaches, etc. can sign up also) in the classroom and would like to, the link to the Sign Up Genius is below.

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0445a8ad2fa46-reading

Here is some information about Reading Week.

Reading
Last week we worked on character development, the students did a wonderful job this week explaining how and why the character changed throughout the course of a book or a story.

This week, we will start focusing more on nonfiction books and comparing the information from different books on the same topic.  This will also be helpful as we continue researching for our informational writing.

Writing
We are continuing to work on our informational writing unit.  Last week, the students learned how to take notes from an article and also chose a topic for the RBE Showcase.

This week ,the students will start to research for the RBE Showcase.  The students decided to study either health or dinosaurs.  After we do some research, the students will start to write an informational book about their topic.

If your student has any resources at home (books, magazines, etc) they would like to bring in to use for their research, they can definitely bring them in.  :)

Math
Last week in math, we reviewed concepts that we have learned throughout the year.  We worked on arrays, word problems and different addition and subtraction strategies.

This week, we will start our unit over subtraction.  This will be a new concept for students, especially as we introduce regrouping.

Please continue to practice facts at home.  It makes it so much easier for the students if they know them "in a snap."

Health
Last week, we finished up learning about Nervous System.  We had a guest speaker, Katherine Bellesheim, a graduate student from MU, come and talk to us about the brain.  The kiddos were able to show off how much they learned and were excited to learn so much more!

I hope that you are enjoying  your 4 day weekend and again thank you for our wonderful party!

Reading Week - March 7-11

We are super excited about reading week.  Each day of the week has a theme...please check out the details on this flyer!  Our classroom Sign Up Genius is now active for volunteers to come in and read to our class. If you or someone you know would like to come in and read, please sign-up!  It can be extended family members, family friends, coaches, etc.  The kiddos LOVE having books read to them and it is especially fun to have guest readers!  I look forward to as many people as possible coming in and making Reading Week special!  

 www.SignUpGenius.com/go/10C0445A8AD2FA46-reading

Happy Friday!

I hope you have had a wonderful week!  We have had a lot of fun learning occurring this week. 

Health

This week in health, we learned about the nervous system.  We learned that the main organs are the brain, spinal cord and nerves.  They also learned the main parts of the brain.  Below is a picture of them wearing their "brain caps" that we made today.

Next week, we will learn about the muscular/skeletal systems.  This will wrap up our health unit.  Some of the students will be studying more about the body systems for the RBE Showcase on Monday, February 29.

Reading

This week in reading, we learned about characters and how they changed throughout the story.  We will continue working on this next week.  The students have been doing a nice job identifying the changes in the characters as well as the reasons why the characters have changed.  

Math

We wrapped up our addition unit today and the students overall rocked the test!  I am so proud of how hard the students worked throughout this unit.  I will be sending this test home next week to be signed.  

Next week, we will do some reviewing of concepts we have covered thus far this year.  The following week, we will start our 2 and 3-digit subtraction unit.

Writing

We continued to learn how to research this week.  We used a strategy called close reading to read over articles and identify the main idea and then details through repeated readings.  We discussed looking at the articles through different lens each time you read it.

Next week, the students will choose their topic to research for the RBE Showcase.  They will be researching dinosaurs or body systems.  They all seemed very excited this afternoon when we were discussing the topics.  

Next Week's Homework

Next week's homework will look a little different.  For reading, there will be a passage and response for Monday.  The passage is 3 pages and the students will need to identify how the characters (the parents specifically) changed throughout the story.  Their response will be due on Tuesday next week.  Tuesday and Wednesday night will have normal reading (15 minutes or more).  The math homework will be just like normal homework.

Valentine's Day Party

Our Valentine's Day Party is scheduled for Thursday, February 11 at 1:45 p.m.  We will pass out Valentines at the party.  Please have your child write who the valentines are from, but leave the to line blank.  This makes passing out the valentines faster which means more time to have fun at our party!  We will decorate bags at school for our Valentines, but if your child would like to make a box at home they can and then bring it in on Thursday.

Reading Week 2016

Reading Week is schedule for March 7-March 11.  This will be a week to enjoy and encourage our students to read!  

I will be working on setting up a Sign Up Genius so that parents, grandparents, family members, etc. can sign up to come in and read to our class.  This was so much fun last year and the kiddos LOVED being able to hear lots of different people read their favorite stories.

We will have dress up days during Reading Week also.  

Monday: "Hats off to Reading", students can wear hats.

Tuesday: "Reading Rainbow", students can wear as many colors as possible.

Wednesday: "Relaxing with a Good Book", students can wear their PJ's.

Thursday: "Lasso a Good Book", students can wear Western wear.

Friday: "Book Character Day", dress as your favorite book character. 

RBE Showcase

RBE Showcase is scheduled for Monday, February 29.  The 2nd grade Showcase is from 10:30-11.  The students will be creating invitations as we get closer to the date.  This is an opportunity for the students to show you all their hard work they have done creating their informational writing pieces. 

Maker Space

Today, we went to Maker Space and got to play with some fun robots.  Check out the pictures!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Welcome to My Blog!!!

I hope that this blog is helpful to you.  Please signup to follow our classroom blog on the right side of the page.  You will need to confirm your email address before you will start receiving email updates!