Fantastic Fun Friday

We had a FANTASTIC fun Friday!

Over the last few days, we had a variety of people share different things!

Sophia's dad came in and shared a book about Sophia.  It was super neat to hear Sophia's life story. 

Sophia shared her Mystery Bag & stumped our class - we didn't figure out she had a black & white cat in her bag.

Aidan read us a book from home and the kiddos really enjoyed listening to the story!

Lexi created a book using Google Slides.  The kiddos were super excited about this as a different option of being able to publish their writing!

Google Slides

Several kiddos were interested in using Google Slides to create their own book.  We had a conversation today about what they could do if they would like to make a book.  Each student has a Google Drive login and password (they have been using this in Media).  Lexi talked to the class how she pulled pictures from an internet search engine (example: Google Chrome) and cropped the pictures to match her story.  Adding speech bubbles, changing the font, etc.  I challenged the kiddos to make their own book & share it with me so that they could also share their story with the class.  We talked about how your could write a story based on a series like Lexi did (Piggie & Elephant, Who Would Win, etc.) or create their own book with their own made-up characters!

What's Happening in Room 26?

• Math: Today, we took our post-test on 2 & 3 digit addition.  We will be sharing these tests with your child next week & then be sharing them with you at Parent/Teacher Conferences the following week.  Next week, we will be starting our 2 & 3 digit subtraction unit.  We will be talking about different strategies to solve multi-digit subtraction problems (tens frames, hundreds charts & number lines) next week, and then moving onto solving these problems through the algorithm (stacking).
• Reading: Last week, we were working on identifying the main idea of an article and the main idea of each paragraph.  This week, we focused on identifying the details that support the main idea.  We will continue with identifying the main idea & supporting details as we read next week.
• Spelling: We will have the same spelling words next week as we did last week.  Our spelling words: snapped, dripped, zipped, stirred, chopped, shouted, cheered, spoiled, pointed & chained.
• Writing: We have been working SO hard on our informational writing about an animal of our choice.  This week, we focused on revising & editing our writing to make it even BETTER than it already was.  We have been talking a lot about turning our writing from a thumbs up (doing what is expected) to a double thumbs up (going above and beyond).  We used CUPS (editing) & ARMS (revising) this week during our process.  Ask your child about something that s/he did to make their writing better.  Next week, we will start publishing our first informational writing.  I will have this share with you at conferences. :)
• Science: Last week & this week we have talked about how the force of water impacts/changes our Earth.  We learned about rain/floods last week, and this week we talked about glaciers.  We did a science experiment today with ice cubes, ice cubes with sand and aluminum foil.  The aluminum foil represented the Earth and the ice with sand represented a glacier.  When the plain ice was rubbed on the aluminum foil - nothing happened to aluminum foil, but when the ice with sand was rubbed on the aluminum foil the foil ripped.  We talked about how glacier picked up and moved dirt & other items as it moved along the Earth.  

Maker Space

Today we were inventors in Maker Space using Extraordinaire (here is video of explanation of this activity).  Our person we were inventing for was a tribal girl who lived in nature in a straw hut.  We were supposed to invent a place for her to sit and the kiddos could be as inventive as they wanted.  We had robot chairs, fluffy chairs that turned into beds, etc.  All the kiddos invented their chair in a partnership/trio & then shared what they created.  They were so creative!! :)  Checkout all the pictures!

Read Week

March 6-10 is Read Week.  One of the BEST parts of this week is having the opportunity for family members to be able to come in and read to our class.  We have made a variety of time slots available for you to be able to come in & read to the class.  To help you be able to signup for a time that works best for your schedule we have created a Sign Up Genius.  You will find time slots for Monday-Thursday (March 6-9).  The time slots include 7:45, 8:15, 8:45, 9:15, 10:10, 10:30, 11:45, 12:15, 1:40 & 2:00.  Most of the time slots are 30 minutes but a few are 20 minutes.  Also, as a reminder we have our Munch & Read Lunch on Tuesday, March 7, at 11:00.  This is a time that you can come and have lunch with your kiddo and read with him/her.  If you are wanting to attend Munch & Read - there is spot for you to sign up also (this is not a spot to read to the class, but just to let us know that you plan on eating lunch with your child that day).

Parent/Teacher Conference Date Confirmation
Coming home in your child's Friday Folder today was a yellow sheet with your child's Parent/Teacher Conference date & time.  Please review this and send back the bottom portion of the confirmation sheet with your child next week.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Our Day was Full of 2nds!!

With the 102nd Day of 2nd Grade falling on February 2nd - we were full of 2nds today!  The students have worked so hard and grown so much in the 102 Days that they have been in 2nd grade.  I can't wait to see them continue to grow the rest of the school year!

102nd Day of 2nd Grade

We had fun today celebrating both the 102nd Day in 2nd Grade and Groundhog's Day.  Check out the pictures here.  The students came up with as many ways to represent 102 as possible.  They created number sentences as well as pictures.  It was very impressive all the ways they created.  Ask your student some of the ways they created 102.  They also worked to come up with 102 words related to school.  We used the words to create a Word Cloud about school.

 Groundhogs Day

We also had fun celebrating Groundhogs Day today.  We read some books about groundhogs and then they wrote about what a ground does on its day off.  They are hanging in the hallway, if you're at school, check them out!

Conference Times

Conference times will be in your student's Friday folder tomorrow.  Please make sure to check the time and send back the confirmation sheet.  I will also write the conference time in your student's Friday folder next week.

Wonderful Wednesday!

We had a wonderful Wednesday & I hope you did also! :)  We had a discussion this morning about whether we thought Phil (the groundhog) will see his shadow tomorrow.  3 students thought that he wouldn't see his shadow (spring is around the corner) and 15 students though that he would see his shadow (6 more weeks of winter).  I am hoping for no shadow tomorrow!!!

Tomorrow is the 102nd Day of 2nd Grade!!!  
I cannot wait to celebrate with our class!  Just a few reminders for tomorrow:

• Your child can bring a special snack of 102 items (please no candy).
• Your child can dress up with a special shirt or outfit that shows off 102.
• Also, your child needs to bring in his/her Mystery Bag.  On the sheet it says 102 of the same item, but when I introduced the activity on Monday I had said one item.  We talked yesterday since I misspoke that your child can fill the bag with either 102 items or one item.  Sorry for the confusion!  Please make sure that your child fills out the 3 clues & also includes his/her name on the sheet so that I know who's bag is whose. :)

We started our Mystery Bag share a day early & Lexi stumped us with her clues...a penguin was in her Mystery Bag!

January Book It Reminder

As a reminder, your child's January Book It is due tomorrow.  The goal for your child to receive a FREE personal is to read and log 300 minutes in January.  I forgot to send home February's Book It today but it will be coming home in your child's homework folder tomorrow (with only having 28 days it might take a little more planning to reach 300 minutes this month).

Birthday!
Kaydn's birthday was today & he brought in really cool Pokemon Ball cupcakes!  They were enjoyed by everyone.

Have a wonderful evening!

Happy Monday!

I heard about LOTS of fun that happened over the weekend & I hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend!  I just wanted to send out a quick blog post to tell/remind you a about a few things.

1. Coming home with your child today is his/her 102nd Day in 2nd Grade Mystery Bag.  Your child will need to put items in the bag & then write 3 clues for these items.  Your child can bring in the bag with the items on Thursday (or earlier if s/he would like).  It will take a few days for everyone to be able to share their Mystery Bag. 
2. Your child also received a voucher for the MU wrestling match this Saturday.
3. This week's spelling words are working on past tense.  If a word is a CVC word you must double the last letter & add -ed.  If a word is a VVC or a VCC word then you just add the -ed.  Our words this week are: snapped, dripped, zipped, stirred, chopped, shouted, cheered, spoiled, pointed & chained.

Have a great evening!

A Wonderful Week! :)

We have had a wonderful week!  It has been so nice to have a full week the kiddos!  I can't believe that February starts next week and we have SO much happening next month.  Please read through this blog thoroughly and get all the dates and events on your calendars!

What's Coming Up?

• February 2: It's the 102nd day of 2nd Grade!  It's time to celebrate!! :)  We have LOTS of fun activities planned for Thursday.  
• We will be sending home a 102nd Day in 2nd Grade Mystery Bag on Monday.  We have been working on making inferences, taking evidence (clues) from a book and using schema from our heads to make a conclusion.  These Mystery Bags will provide the kiddos a fun way to put their inferring skills to work.
• If you would like to send your child in with 102 items for snack you can (example: 102 Goldfish crackers, 102 raisins, 102 pretzels, etc.).
• Also, if your child would like to create a 102nd Day of 2nd Grade shirt or outfit, s/he can wear it on Thursday.  Below are a few examples of 100 Day of School shirts that you could adapt to 102nd Day of 2nd Grade shirts.  Please remember that this is completely optional and please make sure that the shirt/outfit isn't a distraction.

• February 6: No School (Teacher Work Day)
• February 13-16: Parent/Teacher Conference Week (be looking for conference time confirmation slips coming home in Friday Folders next week).  Progress Reports (report cards) will be coming home this week, and also the Book Fair will be open daily in the Media Center.  
  
• February 13: Special Friends and Family Day with Specialist  Students may bring a special friends, neighbor, grandparent, or other family to visit them during our daily special times.  Our special times are 12:45-1:35.  Visitors will get to visit P.E. first and then transition to Music.  The book fair will be open all day - so if you would like to bring your child to book fair after specials you can.
• February 14: Valentine's Day Party  Our last party of the school year starts is from 1:45-2:30.  Your child can bring Valentines to school.  We have 18 students.  Please have your child fill out the "From" but leave the "To" blank to help with the passing out process.  If your child would like to bring in a Valentine's Day box to collect his/her Valentines that is fine, but this is optional. :)  More specific information about the party will be coming out later.
• February 17 & 20: No School (Parent/Teacher Conference & President's Day)
• February 24: School Spirt Pajama Day

Year Book Order Forms

Coming home in your child's Friday Folder is a RBE Yearbook order form.  If you would like to order a yearbook, please return the order form and money (yearbooks cost $7) to school by February 28.

Six Flags Read to Succeed

A Student Reading Log went home with your child at the beginning of January for the Six Flags Read to Succeed program.  Your child must log 6 hours (360 minutes) and return the form to Mrs. McKinzie by February 28.

Read Week! 

This year's Read Week will be March 6-10.  Read Week is always one of my favorite weeks of school.  During this week, the whole school is focusing on the love of reading.  We will have Celebrity Readers coming to our school on Friday, March 10, who will read to us, and then Guest/Mystery Readers coming our classroom throughout the week.  We will be sending out a Sign-Up Genius soon with time slots so that you, family, friends, etc. can sign-up to come in & read to us.  Also, we will have a special Munch & Read Lunch on Tuesday, March 7.  You can come to school to eat lunch and read with your child.  Munch & Read Lunch will be from 11:00-11:45.  I hope that you can make it! :)


We have worked so hard this week!  Check out everything that we have done & what we will be up to next week!

Math

• This week, we continued working on 2 and 3-digit addition problems.  The students learned how to break apart a 3-digit addition problem.  They also have learned how to regroup with 2 and 3-digit addition problems, then check the 2-digit problems on a hundreds chart.

• Next week, they will review 2 and 3-digit addition, then use these skills to solve word problems.  The current plan is to have our post-test next Friday, February 3.

Spelling

• This week, we worked on identifying the sound made by -ed at the end of the word.  It can make a /d/, /t/ or /id/ sound.  

• Next week, we will continue working on adding -ed to the end of a word.  We will focus on CVVC words and CVC words and identifying whether they simply add -ed or double the final consonant and add -ed.  Next week's words are snapped, dripped, zipped, stirred, chopped, shouted, cheered, spoiled, pointed, chained.

Reading

• This week, the students worked to identify the main idea of an article, as well as the main idea of a paragraph.  We discussed that the main idea is what the article or paragraph is mostly about or what the author is mostly talking about.  The students used a tyrannosaurus-rex and an elephant article to identify main idea.

• Next week, we will be using the same articles and identifying details to support each main idea.  I always tell the kids the details are the legs to a table and the main idea is the table top.  Your details support your main idea, like the legs support table.

Writing

• This week, the students worked all their main idea paragraphs.  Almost all the students are finished with their rough drafts!  :)  We talked about making our writing "double thumbs up" writing which means they included all the necessary parts of their paragraph, but then added a little extra to make it more enjoyable for the reader.  The students worked very hard on their writing, I can wait to share it at conferences.

• Next week, the students will edit and revise their writing using CUPS and ARMS.  CUPS is used for editing and ARMS is used for revising.  Once they have edited and revised, they will start publishing.  

Science

• This week, students read a book called Forces of Water and we did a mini experiment to show how water poured on soil at a faster rate could cause a flood, but over time, that water will absorb into the soil.  We also talked about the different effects of floods.

• Next week, we will do an experiment that shows how glaciers can cause the land to change. 

Guest Readers/Presenters
We had a few guest readers/presenters today!  This morning, Olivia showed off her art binder this morning & a few kiddos today wanted to try out her art techniques during our morning recess.  Lexi and Hazel both read their own books based on one of their favorite books.  Lexi wrote a book based on Piggie & Elephant and Hazel wrote a book based on Winter According to Humphrey.  Lexi's grandparents were also visiting for the weekend and so her grandmother read to us an I Wonder book and a few poems.

  

We definitely had a great and busy week.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend & try to stay warm!! :)

Thursday's Thoughts

Wow!! We have had a great week so far & I am completely looking forward to a fantastic Friday!  I have a few reminders below.

Peggy Jean Fundraiser
 It has been super cold day and a warm & delicious pie will make it better!  Even better is that RBE will receive 20% of each pie purchase.  Remember to present the flyer below when you purchase your pie!

Winter Attire

Brrrr!!!!  Yesterday & today  definitely showed us that it is still winter.  A wind chill of 19 degrees during our morning recess.  Please make sure that you are sending a winter coat, gloves, hats, scarves, etc. with your child to school.  It is too cold to not have the appropriate winter attire when playing outside at recess.

Valentine's Day Party

A few questions have come up about Valentines Day.  I will be passing along more information about the party at a later date, but here are the answers to a few questions that have been asked:

• Yes, we will be exchanging Valentines.  We will have 18 students in our class in February (we  have a new student starting next week!).  It is easier when passing out Valentines to NOT fill out the To: and only fill out the From:.  This allows the students to quickly pass out Valentines & not have to read names, find the appropriate Valentine box/bag & then put the Valentine inside.
• In class, we will be decorating a bag to collect our Valentines in.  If your child would like to make a Valentine's Day box, bag, etc. at home s/he is more than welcome to bring it in to collect Valentines, but please know that this is optional.
• Our Valentine's Day Party is February 14 (1:45-2:30).  Parents are more than welcome to come!

Parent Teacher Conference Request Form

I have recieved almost every family's request form for Parent/Teacher Conferences.  If your child has not returned his/her form to me I sent home another copy with your child.  You can also find the form here.  Please fill out & return tomorrow (or send me an email) because I have our conference scheduling meeting next week.  Thank you!

Happy Tuesday

Happy Tuesday!  We had a wonderful day today and had a special raptor presentation - checkout below what we learned.  Keep reading to find out some other important information & a few reminders! :)

Raptors

• Missouri Department of Conservation came today and gave a presentation on raptors.  The students loved it!  The students learned the difference between diurnal and nocturnal animals.  Some of the raptors are diurnal and others were nocturnal.  Ask your kiddo what diurnal means or which raptors are diurnal!  There are 19 different species of raptors in Missouri.  They learned about the different reasons birds weigh so little.  The main reasons are they have hollow bones and the feathers have very little weight to them.  A hawk weighs about 2 1/2 pounds and can actually only life half its body weight.  They also told the kids that it is illegal to have any bird parts (feathers, bones, etc) without a proper permit.  They brought in 3 different raptors for the students to see.  Havoc was a juvenile red tailed hawk.  Autumn was an adult red tailed hawk.  Mr. Tiggs was a 2 year old kestral.  There are a few pictures below and the rest can be found here.

  

Havoc

Autumn

Mr. Tiggs

Parent/Teacher Conference Request Form

•  If you have not returned your child's Parent/Teacher Conference Request form, please do so by Friday.  We will be scheduling conferences next week and will try to give everyone a time that fits in their schedule.

Permission Slip for Ms. Hackmann

•  In your student's homework folder is a permission slip from Ms. Hackmann.  The permission slip allows her to use student samples without your name.  Please fill out the form with the correct box checked at the bottom (I DO or I DO NOT give permission) and return them to school.  On the permission slip it asks for her name and Education Preparation Program and State.  It is listed below
• Student Teacher's Name: Brittany Hackmann
• Student Teacher's Educator Preparation Program and State: University of Missouri-Columbia; Missouri

Decade Day

 

Friday is Decade Day at school.  If your student would like to participate, they can dress as their favorite decade.  Please remember, their outfit needs to not be distracting and also appropriate for school.  It's always fun to see all the school spirit!

Have a fabulous day!