Happy Fall Harvest Party Day!

Happy Fall Harvest Party Day!  A HUGE thank you to all the parents for putting together an AMAZING party today.  The kiddos completely enjoyed their time.  

Pumpkin Book Reports

• Wow!  The pumpkin book reports were amazing.  Thank you so much for helping your students create such fabulous book character pumpkins!  Pictures were taken of all the kiddos with their pumpkins and they have been posted to Twitter - make sure to check them out!

Book It

• October Book It is due by Wednesday.  Students must read and record at least 2 hours of reading and bring in their reading log.  This is completely optional.  If they did not get a chance to fill it out for October, they can always try to earn their pizza for November.

Homework Bingo

• The kids keep getting Homework Bingos.  
• Once students get 8 activities in a row, they can bring us their Bingo Board and eat with us the following Friday.
• This is not required, but it is a fun way for them to practice skills at home.

Food Drive

• Service Club is having their yearly food drive.  Second grade is collecting smooth peanut butter.  If you would like to donate any peanut butter, you can send it in with your student.  

Conferences

• We will be scheduling next week and be sending home conference times next Friday.
• Our goal is to meet with all parents and we do our best to schedule all conferences during the time you requested.
• The book fair will be open during conferences as well.  This is a great place to get some books for your students to read at home.  The book fair schedule is below.
• Monday 7:30 AM -5:00 PM

Tuesday 7:30 AM - 5:00 PM

Wednesday 7:30 AM - 5:00 PM

Thursday 7:30 AM - 7:00 PM

Friday 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM

• If there is anything specific you want to discuss at conferences, please let us know.

Veteran

• If you know a veteran who would like to come talk with our students about their service (in 2nd grade words), please let us know. 

Next Week's Learning

Math

• Next week, we will focus on different subtraction strategies.  We will be working on counting up to 10 and counting back to 10.  We will also be looking at using doubles strategies to solve subtraction problems.  
• Our plan is to text the week of November 5.  We sent home Home Links this week in Friday folders for Unit 3.

Reading

• We wrapped up our study of theme this week.  This is a difficult concept for students to grasp.  Yesterday, we listened to 4 different songs and the students identifying the theme.  We talked about the lesson the author wanted you to learn and how you could use things from the book to make you a better person.
• Next week, we will start focusing on strategies to use when coming to an unknown word.  It is important for students to identify unknown words instead of just skipping over them because when they skip over them they often do not understand what they have read.  One of the strategies does recommend skipping the word, but then to come back once you have figured out what would make sense in the sentence.

Writing

• We will start our 2nd personal narrative next week.  The students will have a graphic organizer to help them organize their thoughts.  This personal narrative will be more independent than the first, but we will still review what to include in each part.

Science

• We will be working on identifying the purpose of a materials based on its characteristics.
• Students will then classify materials and determine the best use of the material.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday!  Hopefully you have had a wonderful week!  The kids have been working hard this week!

Conference Request

• In your student's Friday folder is a conference request form.  Please look over the times and mark your top 3 choices with a 1, 2, or 3.  We offer additional times as we have more students to meet with.  If you want a back-to-back time with another teacher at RBE, please make sure the time is offered by both teachers.  If you have additional students at RBE, but don't need a back to back time, please let us know that as well.  These forms are due back by October 26 and we will be meeting with other teachers on October 30 to schedule sibling conferences.  Conference times will be sent home on November 2.  

Pumpkin Book Projects

• We got our first Pumpkin Book Project today!  Please remember the pumpkin, book report and a book all need to be finished and  brought to school by Tuesday, October 23.
• We will share the pumpkins on Thursday, October 25.

Book-It

• We have had a few students earn their Book-It Pizza for October.  As a reminder, students must read for at least 2 hours, fill out the form, have it initialed by a parent/guardian and bring it in to their teacher.  We will then give them a coupon for a free personal pan pizza.
• This is not required at all, just a reminder if your student is working towards a free pizza.  

Homework Bingo

• We have had a group for Homework Bingo each Friday so far.  We enjoy eating with the students.  Please encourage your student to earn a bingo so we can eat with them also.  

Fall Party

• Our Fall Party is next Friday, October 26 from 1:45-2:30.  Below is a Sign-Up Genius from our head room parent if you would like to sign up to send in supplies for the party.
• https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0b4fa5ac2eab9-fall

Weather

• Welcome to Missouri weather!  Some days when students come to school they are needing a heavy coat, but then by recess the weather has warmed up a little.  Please send a light jacket or a sweatshirt with your child.  Some students are getting warm at recess.  Thanks!

Math

• We started Unit 3 this week.  This unit cover subtraction and subtraction strategies.  This week, the students learned about creating fact families.  This group of students has been rocking math this year and fact families was no different!  They were able to take the numbers and create 2 addition and 2 subtraction problems.  YEAH!  One misconception that can happen, especially if they are in a rush, is when creating the subtraction problem, the problems are not always written correctly.  They will often switch the numbers around as you would with the addition problems which makes the subtraction problem not true.  This is a great skill to practice in the car.  You can give the student 3 numbers that can be turned into addition/subtraction problems (example: 4, 3, 7) and then they give you the 4 problems (3 + 4 = 7; 4 + 3 = 7; 7 - 4 = 3; 7 - 3- = 4).  We also learned about counting up and counting back to solve subtraction problems.  Students learned a new game called Salute that can be played at home to practice basic facts.
• Next week, we will continue working on various subtraction strategies.  Often with addition facts, the students are able to quickly add them without a strategy.  The subtraction strategy definitely are used more often as students do not have their subtraction facts memorized yet.  

Science

• This week, students wrapped up their study of birds and their adaptations by creating their own bird.  Be sure to check them out in the hallway if you are at school.
• They also went back to their student of the properties of matter.  The properties are the characteristics of an object that describe it.  This week the students completed a science lab that had them thinking about the color, flexibility, strength, texture and absorbency of an object/material.  The goal of this unit is for students to be given characteristics and be able to pick out the object based on the characteristics and also be given an object and be able to describe it with specific characteristics or properties.  

Reading

• This week, we learned about the theme of a story.  We started with learning about the moral of a story and how to identify it.  Then we moved more into the theme.  We discussed that the theme is the overall message the author wants you to take away from the story.  The theme is often one or two words.  It is not as much something the author wants you to learn, but a skill you could use to be a better person.  
• Next week, we will continue our study of theme and be looking at songs and having the students identify the theme of the songs.  We will also start to focus more on identifying and supporting the theme of the story or song.  

Writing

• Almost everyone finished publishing their first personal narrative!  There are just a few that are finishing up illustrations.  The students have worked very hard on their first piece of writing.  We can't wait to share it at conferences.  
• Next week, we will jump right into our next personal narrative.  We will still be guiding the students through the process, but it will be more independent so the students have an opportunity to show us what they have learned about writing a personal narrative and the components to include to make it the best personal narrative.
• We will also be using some of our writing time to have the students do some self-reflection over the first trimester of school.  These self-reflections will be shared at conferences.

Fundations

• This week, we continued to work on identifying syllables in multi-syllabic words and marking up the syllables.  The students learned about 4 different ways to identify a work as multi-syllabic.  

• We have also added 10 additional minutes of Fundations practice each day.  During this time, students will be independently practicing either trick words or a skill that way learned the week before.  This week students worked on adding the suffix of s/es.  They also had an opportunity to practice trick words.  Please practice these trick words at home.  Trick words are words that cannot be tapped out and the students simply have to memorize.
• Next week, we will continue learning about multi-syllabic words and other rules that go along with identifying the syllables.

I hope that you have a wonderful weekend!

Chicken BBQ Tomorrow!!!

We have had a wonderful week! Make sure to check out pictures on Twitter or on the right sidebar of the blog! 

Chicken BBQ is TOMORROW!

• Our HUGE PTA Fundraiser is tomorrow, October 13 from 4 p.m.-8 p.m.!
• PTA provides the school with so many amazing opportunities for the school.  This is their main fundraiser for the year.
• Come by to have a yummy chicken dinner, do some shopping at the silent auction (the list came home yesterday) and play some games!
• Game tickets and meal tickets are available for purchase tomorrow if you weren't able to pre-order.
• If you're short on time, we have a drive thru that is very efficient.  
• Mrs. Ross and I will be working at the drive thru from 4-6, so be sure to stop by and say hi.

Pumpkin Book Project

• We sent home information this week about our pumpkin book project. Please be talking with your student to identify a  book character they want to create using a pumpkin.  Next week, we will be sending home a paper where students will tell us the title of the book for their character and the name of their character.  We will also be asking if they have a pumpkin.  Please help them fill this out when it comes home next week.

Veteran's Day Pictures

• Our Veteran's Day assembly is next month.  Mrs. Sharp is collecting pictures of veterans that are family members of RBE faculty, staff and students.  If you would like to send in a picture of a veteran for the veteran's wall, then I will send home the information sheet for you to fill out to go with the picture.  

Early Dismissal: October 16 at 12:10

• Please let us know if your student is getting home a different way than normal.

Runge Field Date Change: May 10

• Due to Truman Day, we had to reschedule our Runge Field Trip.  Our new date is Friday, May 10.  Parents are welcome on this trip, so we want to get the date to you as early as possible so you can take off work if needed.  

Math Test

• Your student's Unit 2 Math Test came home on Wednesday.  If you haven't done so already, please review the test with your student, then sign and return it to school.

Friday Folders

Family Eat Out

• Our next Family Eat Out Night is at Jersey Mike's on October 16-17.  This is a great excuse to not make dinner while supporting RBE at the same time.  
• 30% of the profits will come back to RBE!

Dental Screening

• Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and RBE are offering dental screenings again this year.  If you would like your student to participate, please fill out the form and return it to school.  

Unit 3 Parent Letter

• We started Unit 3 in math today.  Unit 3 covers subtraction strategies.  We will teach the students a variety of strategies to use and then they can use the strategies that work best for them.  
• Please continue practicing basic facts at home with students.  Students are learning strategies for addition and subtraction facts, but it is important as students progress in math for them to know the facts in a snap.  

Unit 5 Fundations

• We started Unit 5 in Fundations today.  It focuses on multi-syllabic words.  We will be learning about different ways to identify where the syllable break occurs as well as how to mark up multi-syllabic words.
• Please continue to practice trick words with your students at home.  If you need another copy of trick words, please let us know.  Trick words are words that do not follow a pattern and students are expected to be able to read and write.  

Next Week's Learning

Math

• We will be learning how to use addition sentences to help solve subtraction problems as well as the counting up and counting back.  We will also be learning about different type of subtraction problems.  We will be building fact families which is creating 2 addition and 2 subtraction problems with the same 4 numbers (4+5=9; 5+4=9; 9-5=4; 9-4=5).  

Reading

• Next week, we will be learning about the theme of a book.  We will talk about what the author wants us to take away from the book.  Students at Hickman High School wrote children's books in their creative writing class and we will be using these to discuss the theme.  This can be a more difficult concept for students so we will be working on theme for the next two weeks. 

Writing

• We are on the tail end of publishing our first personal narrative.  Yeah!!!  Next week, we will finish it up and then start our second personal narrative piece.  Our goal is to have the second one finished by parent teacher conferences so we can share both with you at conferences.
• We worked on editing and revising this week.  We talked about the importance of capital letters and punctuation on our sentences.  The students have a lot of good ideas, but often write them as one giant sentence.  We are talking about finding the nature breaks and making them separate sentences.  

Science

• This week, we continued to talk about birds and their adaptations.  Today, the students were able to create their own bird, but had to justify their choices by telling how their adaptation choices would impact what their bird eats, what their bird does, and where their bird lives.
• Building a Bird: http://projectbeak.org/adaptations/build.htm
• We showed this website to students today.  They started to design a bird today from their imagination.  If they wanted to play with this website over the weekend or next week to build their own bird, they enjoyed doing it today as a whole group and some students played around on this website during inside recess.
• Next week, we will go back to learning about properties of materials.  Your child should already be able to describe the three states of matter.  We will now be diving deeper into properties and the students will be describing different materials (metal, plastic, wood, ceramic) by their properties (color, texture, hardness, flexibility, strength, absorbency and shininess).

Have a wonderful weekend and I hope to see you at the RBE Chicken BBQ tomorrow!

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday!

Important Upcoming Events

Bird Day: October 10

• Please check the weather so students are dressed appropriately.  They can wear boots or tennis shoes.  Please have them wear older tennis shoes as the forecast for the next week has a chance of rain each day.  They will also want a jacket or sweatshirt so they don't get chilly.
• If they are bringing a lunch from home, it needs to all be in disposable containers/bags.  We will not be bringing anything back to RBE with us.  Please put their lunch in a gallon size Ziploc bag labeled with their name.  

Western Day: October 12

• In celebration of the Chicken BBQ on October 13, October 12 is Western Day.  Students can dress up and participate if they would like. Please remember even though weapons were used in the Old West, weapons of any kind are not permitted at school.  

Chicken BBQ: October 13

• We are still looking for volunteers and need some more pies.  If you are able to volunteer or donate pies, please use the links below to sign up.
• Volunteers: www.signupgenius.com/go/rbechicken
• Pies: www.signupgenius.com/go/pielist
• You can still order ticket next week if you want them in advance.  Tickets are also available for purchase at the BBQ.
• If you're unable to stay for long at the BBQ, you can always use the drive thru to get dinner on the go.  Team Moss will be working the drive thru.  Ms. Mottaz will be taking orders and Mrs. Ross will be delivering food to the cars.

October 16: Early Dismiss at 12:10

• If your student is going home a different way, please let us know either the day before or early on the morning of October 16.  

October 17: Picture Retakes

• Pictures are coming home in Friday Folders.  If you would like your student to retake pictures, please send back in the original package on October 17.  

November 5: Teacher Work Day (No School)

November 6: Election Day (No School)

Cooler Weather

• Please make sure your student has a light jacket with them each day at school.  Even though we still have some warmer days in the forecast, fall is definitely on its way.  It can be chilly at morning recess.  If the "feels like" temperature is below 60, the students need to have a sweatshirt or light jacket.  

Next Week's Learning

Math

• This week, we continued working on addition strategies.  This week, the students learned how to "name" numbers.  This means they find multiple ways to represent a number. 

• Next week, students will test over Unit 2.  Homelinks were sent home on Monday if students wanted additional practice.  We will also start Unit 3 next week.  This unit is over subtraction strategies.  The goal of both unit 2 and 3 is to introduce students to multiple strategies to use to solve a problem.  

Science

• Next week, we will wrap up our study of birds.  They will get to use what they know and their creativity to make their own bird that includes all the necessary components of a bird and then explain the diet of the bird based on its beak.  They will also consider the appearance of the bird and how it relates to the habitat of the bird.  
• We also have Bird Day next week.  We are excited about this, the kids always have a lot of fun on this field trip!

Reading

• This week, students worked to identify character traits in books as well as character traits that describe them.  Next week, we will continue to work on identifying more specific character traits through our independent reading as well as read aloud books.

Writing

• The students worked so hard this week rewriting and adding.  Next week, we will edit and revise using CUPS and ARMS.  Then we will start publishing.  We will keep these to share with you at parent teacher conferences next month. 

• After we finish our first personal narrative, we will start a second one that will be done more independently and students can use what they have learned throughout our first personal narrative.  We will still be reviewing each section before students write.  We also have a graphic organizer for them to use which will help them keep their writing organized.  

Fundations

• This week in Fundations, students worked on adding suffixes.  We talked about about adding -ed to the end of words and how it can make the /d/, /id/ or /t/ sound but it is always spelled -ed.  It has been awesome to see the students adding suffixes to the end of words in writing.  They are using the suffix cards from Fundations as a resource.
• Next week, we will learn new vowel teams.  At this point, the students are expected to be able to read with the vowel teams, but not use them in spelling.  We will start unit 5 next week.  This unit teaches about identifying syllables in words.  

Have a fabulous weekend!