Happy Holidays! :)

I hope that your family has a happy holiday and during Winter Break you get to have a lot of quality time as a family!

We had a wonderful week!  On Monday, we had Maker Space.  Our classroom was painted on Tuesday (if you were here at the party I hope you had a chance to check out the blue & gray walls!).  We enjoyed a wonderful Grinch Day yesterday, and an amazing sing along & party today!  Check out the pictures here. :)

We are on Winter Break starting tomorrow & school will resume on January 4.

What's Going to Be Happening in 2nd Grade in 2018!

• Math: When we come back from break we will be starting Unit 5.  In Unit 5, we will talking about money, using open number lines to solve problems, and learning various strategies to solve number stories (word problems).
• Writing: This week we finished up our rough draft of our first informational writing piece.  When we get back from break we will completing our rough draft, and talking about what nonfiction text features work best for each part of our writing.
• Reading: We will be practicing getting back into the routine of reading.  Also, focus on our reading stamina.
• Word Study: Due to it being a shorted week when we return, we will not start a new spelling pattern.
• Social Studies: We will be finishing up our Colonial Unit during the first two weeks of January.  Our big culmination even at the end of our unit is Colonial Day on January 12 from 8:00-10:30 am.  When we get back from break, the students will be making a few objects to help prepare for Colonial Day.  Below are some ways that you can help us prepare for our Colonial Day!
• Volunteer or Donate Items: 
• If you would like to volunteer to come in and help for Colonial Day that would be AMAZING.  We would love for at least 4 other adults to help run our different colonial stations (making butter, playing Colonial games, making corn meal dough, making a paper quilt square to make a class quilt, and making a silhouette picture).  You can sign up to volunteer on the SignUp Genius (link below).
• There are some items that we need to make our Colonial Day a success.  Please check out the SignUp Genius to see what items are needed.
• SignUp Genius Link
• Dress Up: We would love for students to dress up for Colonial Day.  Below are some ideas of what your child could wear.
• Boys 
• Loose white shirt or blouse (ruffles at neck and sleeves are great, but not necessary) 
• Dark knickers (sweats pulled up to the knee will work) 
• Vest (optional)
• Dark colored shoes—you may attach a foil covered buckle 
• Long, plain socks
• Three-cornered hat—we’ll make this at school :)
• Girls 
• Long dress or skirt, pale colors or small prints 
• White socks or tights 
• White blouse that covers elbows-peasant style is best 
• Dark colored shoes 
• White apron 
• Mop cap—we’ll make this at school

Upcoming Dates

• December 22-January 3: No school due to Winter Break
• January 4: School Resumes
• January 12: Colonial Day
• January 15: No School - MLK Jr. Day

I hope that you have wonderful holidays and I look forward to seeing everyone in 2018!

Last Full Week Before Winter Break

I cannot believe that we just finished up our last full week before Winter Break!  This semester has just flown by!  The students looked so festive in their ugly sweaters today! :)

We are smiling in our Ugly Sweaters.

Here we are with our "ugly" faces!

Next week, will be a very untypical week...so make sure that you read and take special note of what will be happening (a reminder note is also coming home in your child's Friday Folder - to be stuck to the refrigerator or in a special place to help you remember).

Next Week

• Monday: Typical Day - YAY! :)
• Tuesday: Paint Day - Our class will be in Room 19 for the day.  Due to the small quarters for the day, we are asking that your child to NOT bring a backpack on Tuesday.  Please do send your child with a small blanket to be cozy with on Tuesday, a snack & a lunch (if not purchasing a school lunch).  
• Wednesday: Grinch Day - We will enjoy a variety of "grinchy" activities throughout the day. Your child can dress up as a character from How the Grinch Stole Christmas or wear a Grinch shirt, etc. to help celebrate the day (please no masks or painted faces)
• Thursday: Winter Holiday Party Day - Our classroom party will be from 1:45-2:30.  Parents are more than welcome to attend!  We hope to see you next week at the party.
• Friday: 1st Day of Winter Break (December 22 - January 3) *School resumes on January 4*

Due to next week being a shortened week, your child will NOT have homework.  We will also not be sending home a Friday Folder on Thursday.

Look What's Been Happening in 2nd Grade!

• Math: We finished up Unit 4.  During this unit, we learned about time, measurement and place value.  Your child took the Unit 4 math test yesterday.  Your child will have an opportunity to look over this assessment on Monday, but we will not be sending home this test until after break.  Next week, we will be reviewing money, time and word problems next week.
• Writing: We started writing our first informational piece about the animal we researched last week.  We compared informational writing to personal narratives, and discovered that both start with a lead and have transition words.  However, how an informational writing piece is set up is a lot different than a personal narrative.  We wrote our lead paragraph (lead, topic sentence, telling the five headings, and conclusion sentence).  We also wrote four of our five heading paragraphs!  We used a writer's checklist to organize our writing, and you will be SUPER impressed with your child's informational writing!  Next week, we will be finishing up our rough draft and we will have a few fun prompts to write about!
• Reading: We finished up learning about how different text features help us as readers.  There are SO many nonfiction text features.  This week, we learned about cut-aways, close-ups, maps, charts/tables, index and glossary.  Each student finished up his/her "Nonfiction Text Feature Notebook," and we will be using it to help us incorporate some of these text features into our own informational writing pieces. 
• Word Study: We continued working with long vowel patterns, but moved on from long a to long o patterns.  We focused on CVCe words and "oa" words.  Your child's spelling test is coming home in his/her Friday Folder today, and overall there was much improvement on scores from last week to this week.  We also expecting to be using these spelling patterns directly in their writing.  Please keep working with your child on the spelling patterns each week when we return from Winter Break.
• Social Studies: We continued learning about the culture of people living in Colonial times.  This week, we focused on the Native Americans and compared how they lived to the first settlers.  When we come back from break, we will have one more full week in our Colonial Unit with the culmination of our unit being our Colonial Day on January 12.  During this week, the students will be making a few objects to help prepare for Colonial Day.  We would love for students to dress up for Colonial Day.  Below are some ideas of what your child could wear.


• Boys 
• Loose white shirt or blouse (ruffles at neck and sleeves are great, but not necessary) 
• Dark knickers (sweats pulled up to the knee will work) 
• Vest (optional)
• Dark colored shoes—you may attach a foil covered buckle 
• Long, plain socks
• Three-cornered hat—we’ll make this at school :)
• Girls 
• Long dress or skirt, pale colors or small prints 
• White socks or tights 
• White blouse that covers elbows-peasant style is best 
• Dark colored shoes 
• White apron 
• Mop cap—we’ll make this at school

Pond Observation

Yesterday, the cold did not deter us from going outside and learning at the pond.  The pond is a part of our Outdoor Classroom at RBE.  We observed evidence of animals living in the pond and learned more about the pond.  We also learned of how the Native Americans used cattails - ask your kiddo and you will be amazed at what they know!  As of yesterday, the pond was not deep enough to sustain fish.  After school on Thursday, the pond began and a one-year transformation process.  During the transformation, the cattails will be removed, the pond will be made deeper in one section, and different plants will be added.   We will have an opportunity to observe the pond throughout the transformation throughout the rest of the school year.  

Reindeer Games Breakout!

Today, we had to work as a team to figure out the clues to "breakout" of the Media Center.  Mrs. McKinzie put together a fun breakout activity where the students had to use the clues to discover which reindeer was missing.  They had a lot fun trying to figure out the clues!

Upcoming Dates:

• December 19: Classroom Painted
• December 20: Grinch Day 
• December 21: Winter Party
• December 22-January 3: No school due to Winter Break
• January 4: School Resumes
• January 12: Colonial Day
• January 15: No School - MLK Jr. Day

We understand that the holidays are coming up.  If your child will be missing school, please let the school know by emailing Angela  (school attendance secretary) and myself  or calling the school office (214-3290).

I hope that you have a wonderful weekend and I am looking forward to fun-filled week with your kiddo next week!

Fantastic Friday

We had a great week and a fantastic Friday!  This week had been a little chatty and today we really focused on making good choices and following our classroom expectations.  I know that winter break is right around the corner and the excitement is in the air, but it is still really important to follow the expectations that have been established.

What's Been Happening in 2nd Grade?

• Math: We finished working on place value this week and started with measurement.  We learned that a centimeter is a smaller unit of measurement than an inch.  We also talked about that there are 12 inches in a foot.  When measuring an item it is important to use the appropriate measurement tool - a ruler for something smaller and a measuring tape from something bigger.  Next week, we will be finishing up Unit 4 and taking our end of unit assessment.  Coming home in your child's Friday Folder are the HomeLinks that you can use with your child to help them review for the test.  Also, coming home is the letter to let you know about Unit 5 in math.  

Math Talk!  Here we are during a turn and talk discussing different math strategies!

• Writing: We learned about how to research using an online source of PebbleGo.  We practiced reading a paragraph two or three times, minimizing the paragraph and writing about what we learned.  It is important as researchers to not just copy another person's words but to put the information into our own words.  Next week, we will be starting to write our rough draft of our first informational writing!
• Reading: We continued to work on identifying different text features in nonfiction books.  Text features are incredibly important in nonfiction books because they give the reader more information than just the printed word.  We learned about a diagram with labels, different types of print, framed text and comparisons.  Next week, we will finish up learning about text features.  As we are publishing our informational writing the students will be applying their knowledge of text features into their books.
• Word Study: Our focus has been on long vowel patterns, and this week we finished up our study of long a patterns (ai, ei, ay and CVCe).  Next week, we will moving on to long o vowel patterns.  We will focus on CVCe (o_e) and CVVC (oa) words.  The spelling words for next week are: drove, note, stone, joke, chose, soap, coat, toast, boat, float.  Coming home in your child's Friday Folder is a spelling test over this week's words.  I spoke with each child about their spelling test - so they know their score.  We talked about the importance of practicing the spelling words and learning the spelling patterns because that will help them as writers and readers.  Please help your child practice his/her spelling words each week.  As a challenge, you can give him/her additional words that fit the spelling pattern (example: goat could be a challenge word because it fits the "oa" pattern).
• Social Studies: We continued our study of colonial life and learned more about what life was like on the Mayflower, during the first winter and daily life for a child and an adult.  All the kiddos realized how good they have it compared to colonial children.  Throughout the week, we worked on a Colonial Journal and each student pretended to write journal entries as if they were a colonial child.  We also talked about popular colonial names and some kiddos renamed themselves in their journal.  Make sure to ask your kiddo what s/he learned about colonial life!  Next week, we will focus on learning about the Native American culture and comparing and contrasting it to what we already learned about life in the colonies.  As a conclusion to our Colonial Unit, we will be having a Colonial Day on January 12.  We would love for additional volunteers to be present to help us run some of our stations.  More information about this day will be coming out soon!  If you are interested in volunteering please let us know.

2nd and 7th Foundation Readers

On Tuesday, we had special readers in classroom!  We had three MU baseball players that read The Hog Mollies and the Great Golden Gizmo.  The book reinforced the importance of being kind to one another.  After the athletes finished the book, the athletes asked some questions about the book, and then the kiddos had a chance to ask the athlete questions.  Each student received this book from the 2nd and 7th Foundation - your child should have come home with this book on Tuesday

We are getting our new books!!!

Upcoming Special Dates:

• December 15: RBE Spirit Day - Ugly Christmas Sweater Day - I can't wait to see all the "ugliness!" :)
• December 20: Classroom Painted - You may or may not have heard that RBE's classrooms are getting painted this winter.  On December 20, our classroom will be painted.  On this day, we are asking for you to NOT send your child with his/her backpack.  We will be relocated to another classroom for the day and there is limited space, so we are trying to cut down on the extra "stuff."
• December 20: Grinch Day - We will have a fun day of "Grinchy" activities.  If you would like to dress your child in a Grinch shirt or as a character from the story you can (please no masks or painted faces).  More information to come on this next week!
• December 21: Winter Party - Our classroom party will be from 1:45-2:30 - if you are able to come, we would love to have you!
• December 22-January 3: No school due to Winter Break
• January 4: School Resumes
• January 12: Colonial Day - Let us know if you are interested in helping out - more information to come!

We understand that the holidays are coming up.  If your child will be missing school, please let the school know by emailing Angela  (school attendance secretary) and myself  or calling the school office (214-3290).

Brrr....It Got Cold Quick!

Yesterday and today was incredibly cold!  The windchill yesterday was below 10 degrees.  Please make sure that your child is bringing his/her winter coat, gloves, hats, scarves, etc. every day to school.  We try our very best to go outside for recess everyday and theses are important articles of clothing to keep your child warm and safe from the cold temperatures.  If the windchill is 10 or below we will not go outside for recess, but winter attire is important even on the short distance in and out of the building.

I hope that you stay warm this weekend and I am looking forward to wonderful week next week!

A Fantastic Week Back From Break!

The kiddos have worked so incredibly hard this week and we have had a fantastic week back from break!

Winter Holiday Party

It seems like we just had the Fall Harvest Party, but the Winter Party is right around the corner.  The Winter Party will be on Thursday, December 21 at 1:45.  A Sign Up Genius has been created for the Moss Winter Party - so check it out if you would like to volunteer to send in something or volunteer to attend!

Remember It Really Is Winter

I know that the weather has been warm and then cold, warm and then cold.  Please make sure that you are checking the weather before sending your child to school.  We have our morning recess at 9:50 and it really is still cold in the morning - even when the high is warmer in the afternoon.  So, your child might need a winter coat in the morning and sweatshirt/jacket for lunch recess.  

What's Been Happening in 2nd Grade?

• Math: This week we started focused on place value.  We learned that a number's worth depends on the place that the number is in (example: the 3 in 305 is worth 300 versus the 3 in 530 is worth 30).  The students learned that expanded notation is stretching out the number by making a number model with the values of each of the digits (example: 289 in expanded notation is 200+80+9).  On Wednesday, we showed the students how to draw the place value blocks in short hand, and today they had a conversation during our re-engagement lesson about how to trade (or regroup) 10 ones cubes for a ten long or 10 longs for a 100 flat (example below). Next week, we we will continue to work on place value and then move on to measurement.

• Writing: We have started our second writing unit, informational writing.  On Monday, the students had an opportunity to look through nonfiction texts and mark places where they liked what the author did.  We had an AMAZING discussion about text features and fun ways that the author included information, and we made a list of these to be used as a resource when we become informational writers.  Our first informational writing research project will be on an animal and we will be using PebbleGo (an online resource as one of the ways we research).  On Tuesday, the students had an opportunity to explore the different animals and on Wednesday, they chose their animal.  I am really excited to learn from them because many of the students selected animals that have not been done before!  Next week, we will start learning about how to take notes from an online resource.
• Reading: Just as we started learning about how to write informational books in writing, we are learning about all the important nonfiction text features that books have that help us as readers.  Each student has a "Nonfiction Text Feature Notebook" that they are using to collect their information.  Students have learned about many different nonfiction text features this week, including the Table of Contents, headings, photographs/captions, and tables.  Next week, we will continue to focus on learning about more text features.
• Word Study: We continued to focus on long vowel patterns this week.  This week we learned that "ai" pattern typically appears in the middle of a word (CVVC) and that "ay" typically appears at the end of the word (CVV).  Next week, we will look at four different spelling patterns for the long a sound.  The CVCe, CVV, and CVVC (-ai and -ei).  Next week's words are: plate, rate, drain, paint, weigh, weight, freight, stray, gray and May.
• Social Studies: We continued learning about colonial times by looking at colonial clothing and colonial jobs.  We made venn diagram comparing and contrasting colonial people to people today.  The students did a great job participating in this conversation and learning about colonial times.  Next week, we will learn about one of the first European settlers in America.  Students will have an opportunity to pretend that they live in colonial times and write in a diary about the life on the boat as they travel, life during the first winter, life of a child, life of an adult and interesting facts that they found out so far during our unit.

I hope that you have a wonderful weekend!