Fantastic Friday! :)

We had a fantastic Friday! :)  All the kiddos looked so SUPER cute in their western wear!!!

This morning we had Lexi's mom come in and read to us!  

She read us 3 really fun books!!  2 of the books were in a sequel of...

  and 

the kiddos LOVED these books!  She even brought mustaches in for us to have! :)

United Way Penny War
I am SO proud of our class and their wanting to help out the United Way.  With Mrs. Ross's class the kiddos have donated $142.25!!!!  WOW!!!  That is absolutely amazing!! :)  At this point, 2nd grade is in first place among all the other grade levels.  Our Penny War has been extended until next Friday.  So keep sending in your coins - it really does add up!!

Today in math we worked on counting all the money that was brought in today.  We talked about the importance of sorting all the coins so that we can count them easier.  We practiced skip counting by 5's when we counted the nickels and skip counting by 10's when we counted the dimes.  We also talked about making stacks of 4 quarters because 4 quarters equals $1 and stacking the pennies into stacks of 10.  Below are some pictures of our quarters and pennies.  We formed the stacks into an array so that we could easily skip count to figure out how much money we had!

Junior Achievement
Mr. McGowen was back again to teach Junior Achievement this afternoon.  Today we learned about why a community needs to have lots of different businesses.  The kiddos are bringing home a map of our  Junior Achievement community.  They enjoyed putting the stickers on! :)

We learned about why we have to pay taxes: pay salaries to government workers (police, firefighters, teachers, librarians etc.) and keep up roads, bridges and public building.  Today the kiddos got "paid" for their work from last week of making donuts.  They were paid $5...which made them happy!

However, we had some not-so-happy-campers when they had to pay their taxes of $2.  Your kiddo is coming home with their money today.

Picture Retakes
Picture Retake day is Wednesday (October 26). If you ordered school pictures these will be coming home next week.

Next Friday!
October 28 is going to be a fun-filled day!

• Adjective Parade: Please continue to think about what adjective your child will be on Friday.  Remember that you are to decorate one clothing items to show what your child's adjective is.  We will be parading around the school right after morning announcements.  Please fill out the adjective form that came home yesterday, so that I know what adjectives we will have.  Also, please send in your child's adjective article of clothing on Thursday, October 27.  We will be making adjective signs to wear.  If you are having trouble with this activity PLEASE let me know - I want everyone to be able to participate, so I will help ANY way that I can!
• Fall Harvest Party: We do NOT dress up in Halloween costumes for our party.  If you have not already had a chance to look at our classrooms Fall Harvest Party Sign-Up please do so.  There are a few slots that still need to be filled up: fruit for treats & a couple of more adults to help with making the party a success!  Thank you in advance for your help with this - parties are always something that the kiddos remember.

Parent/Teacher Conference Request Forms
WOW!  Thank you so much for the great turnout of returning your child's Parent/Teacher Conference Request form from yesterday!  I had wrote Friday Folder comments last night so please ignore my comment about returning the forms if you returned them today.  If you haven't had a chance to fill out the form, please do so and return by Wednesday.  I will send home a scheduled date/time for your child's conference in Friday Folders next week.

No School
Monday, October 31, is a Teacher Work Day to complete progress reports and get ready for conferences, so the kiddos do not come to school.  I hope that you have a chance to enjoy Trunk-or-Treats on Sunday, and get an early start on trick-or-treating on Monday, so that the kiddos are ready for learning on Tuesday! :)

Fall Weather is Here!!
Please make sure that you child is coming to school in appropriate clothing/jacket/coats for the weather.  Our 2nd grade expectations for what to wear outside is below.  This morning when we went to recess it was 44 degrees but the wind chill was 39 - that is really chilly (especially on our playground)!!!

Homework
Please make sure that your child is using pencil when completing the 2 sections of math.  This will be an expectation throughout your child's math education.  It is easy to make a mistake in math & using a pencil allows for easy erasing.  Thank you for helping your child with this.  If you need a pencil at your house for homework please let me know & I can give your child one to be kept in his/her Homework Folder.

A Note From Mrs. Sharp:

Dear Parents,

       Each day in music, classes can earn one beat of rhythm for their positive behavior. When 8 beats are completed, the class earns a celebration. I’m happy to report that Ms. Mottaz’s class has completed their song!

     On Monday, October 24^th, the students may bring an individual snack and a stuffed animal that fits in their backpack, to music. We will have a short extra recess at the beginning of music. Then we will watch a video and enjoy their snacks. Please allow them to bring a snack and small stuffed animal to school on Monday, the 24th. Thank you! Mrs. Sharp

Next Week's Learning

• Math: We will be continuing to work with counting coins and arrays.  Next week we will be starting to draw arrays and also learning how to figure out how many objects are in an array by       using repeated addition.
• Reading: We will be looking at story elements: characters, setting, problem/solution, and the main events of the story.  We have a fun project that we will be doing with this next week.
• Spelling Words: Next week our spelling words are short and long u.  Short u words: plus, shut, cut Long u words: June, rude, tune, flute, huge, cute and we have an oddball word this week (a word that doesn't fit our pattern): put.
• Science: We will completing bat research during Reading Stations and be turning our research into a project at the end of the week.
• Writing: We are going to be working on editing our small moment story on Monday - CUPS and then on Tuesday we will be working on revising our writing - ARMS.

Have a wonderful weekend.  Stay warm at Homecoming House Decoration tonight and the parade tomorrow if you are going! :)