Happy P/T Conference Week!

We always enjoy Parent/Teacher Conference week!  This is a wonderful opportunity for us to share information with families about what is happening at school and for you to be able to share a different insight/perspective on your child.  It was a special bonus that we didn't have snow day or late start during this week! :)

Student Banners - Due Monday! :)

As a reminder, your child's student banner is due on Monday.  If you hadn't turned in your child's banner by today there is an additional banner in your child's Friday Folder.  We understand that we have several conferences tonight, but we want to make sure that every child is represented!  If you need more information you can click here.

Book Fair Open Today & Tomorrow

Book Fair is open tonight (Thursday) until 7:00 p.m. and then tomorrow (Friday) from 8:00-10:00 a.m.  If you stop by without your child, each student made a wish list that is housed in the Book Fair.

Next Week is RBE Read Week!

This is an opportunity to be able to celebrate the love of reading with our students! 

• Dress Up Days - More information is on the flyer.
• Monday - Hat Day
• Tuesday - Book Character Day
• Wednesday - Scrabble Day
• Thursday - Crazy Socks Day
• Friday - Oh the Places You Will Go! - High School or College shirt
• Drop Everything And Read (DEAR)
• We have some DEAR times throughout the week.  If your child would like to bring a book from home to read s/he can.
• Mystery Readers
• There are still a few slots Mystery Reader slots available.  We just figured out how to Skype and if you can't make it in, but had availability to Skype with us.  Sign up and make sure to send us your email address for Skype.  You can click here to sign.

Upcoming Events

• March 4-8 - Read Week (see above)
• March 6 - Spring Pictures
• March 7 - Field Trip to Daniel Boone Regional Library
• On this field trip, we do not need parent chaperones.  We will depart from school at 8:00 and return by 9:45.  
• A yellow DBRL Library Card Application is in your child's Friday Folder.  If your student does not already have a library card and you would like to sign him/her up for one, please fill out the application and return to school by Friday, February 22.  If your child already has a library card or you are not interested in getting one, then you do not need to return the form.
• Your child will not need a library card for this field trip because we will not be checking out books.  This field trip will be a tour of the library.
• March 7 - Kindergarten Enrollment Night
• If your family has child who will be enrolled in kindergarten next year, or if you know of another family, please come to Kindergarten Enrollment Night!
• This is 4:00-6:00 at RBE.  You can contact the school office for more information.
• March 14 - 2nd Trimester Pizza Party Lunch
• Your child does not need to bring a lunch, but can choose to bring a drink 20 ounce or less - no glass.
• Your child will still need a snack for that morning.  We will be eating lunch a little later than usual (11:45 on this day).
• March 15 - Parents and Principals Forum (noon)
• March 22 - RBE Spirit Day - Sports Day
• Spring Break - March 25-29

Look At All This Learning!

• Math
• We are continuing to learn about measurement.  Previously, we had focused on smaller units (centimeters and inches), and now we have introduced feet, yards and meters.  When estimating about how long something is, we have taught students different personal references (cm - pinky width, in - thumb, foot - arm to elbow & yd/m - length of leg).
• Writing
• We reviewed strong and weak work examples and discussed what we can do as authors to make our writing the best it can be!  The students started working on their body paragraphs.  
• Fundations
• We are continuing to focus on long a vowel patterns and making sure to use our Spelling Option section in our Monster Book (mini-dictionary).
• Reading
• We have been learning how asking questions before we start to read a book, while we are reading, and after we are read.  Asking questions helps us as readers to think deeper about what we are reading.
• Science
• We have learned that the temperature around the equator is hotter than at the North and South Poles because of the Sun.  We will be connecting this to the temperature of water and where water is generally at solid or a liquid.

I hope that you have a wonderful weekend and remember to send in your child's Student Banner! :)

Happy Friday

Happy Friday!  We have had a fun and learning filled three days of school - hoping for four days next week and then a full five days the following week!  Come on Spring!!!

Parent/Teacher Conferences

We are looking forward to meeting with everyone during P/T Conferences!  This is such a valuable communication to be able to show all the growth and learning that your child is making.  When you are waiting - checkout the long bulletin board with the QR codes - that has all the student's book trailers. Also, checkout our first round of opinion writing about Hershey's Kisses!  So much to see in our hall. :)

Yearbook Orders & Six Flags Read to Succeed - due Thursday

At the beginning of February, your child received an order form for a 2018-2019 RBE Yearbook.  If you would like your child to have a yearbook, please return the order form by Thursday, February 28.

In January, your child received a reading log for Six Flags Read to Succeed.  After your child has completed the assigned amount of reading and filled out the reading log, please return to school.  This reading log is also due on Thursday, February 28.

Student Banner...SHHHH, It's A Surpise!

Coming home in your child's backpack is the 2nd Trimester Student Banner paper (click here to be able to print the banner off).  We are asking for parents to create a banner for their student.  These banners will be hung up in the classroom.  Please return the banner by Monday, March 4.  If you would like to bring your child's banner with you to your P/T Conference, return it in your child's Friday Folder, or you can send it in an envelope or folder with your child to school.

Upcoming Events

• February 25-28 - P/T Conference Week and Book Fair
• 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
  *Don't forget Special Friends and Family day in specials on Tuesday, February 26th. Families are welcome to come visit the book fair with their child after their specials class.
• February 26 - Special Family & Friend's Day
• You are invited to come and visit your child during specials (1:35-2:25) for Special Family & Friend's Day! 
• Ms. Mottaz students will start in P.E. and then travel to Music.
• Mrs. Ross students will start in Art and then travel to Media. 
• The Book Fair will be open on this day.  If you would like to come early or stay late to take your kiddo this would be a great opportunity.  
• We understand that 2:25 is really close to the end of the day.  If you would like to pick up your child early we understand.  However, if someone, other than parent, will be picking up your child early, you will need to write a note giving permission.
• March 1 - No School (P/T Conference)
• March 4-8 - RBE Read Week - "Long for a Good Book"
• Each day of Read Week, will be a special dress up day.  Checkout the flyer in your child's backpack or below for the details!
• 
• If you would like to read to the class there are still openings available.  Please click here to sign up for a time using SignUp Genius.  
• March 7 - Kindergarten Enrollment Night
• If your family has child who will be enrolled in kindergarten next year, or if you know of another family, please come to Kindergarten Enrollment Night!
• This is 4:00-6:00 at RBE.  You can contact the school office for more information.
• March 14 - 2nd Trimester Pizza Party Lunch
• Your child does not need to bring a lunch, but can choose to bring a drink 20 ounce or less - no glass.
• Your child will still need a snack for that morning.  We will be eating lunch a little later than usual (11:45 on this day).

Look At All This Learning!

• Math
• We started a new math unit this week, which focuses on measurement, addition and data.  This week, we worked on adding four 2-digit numbers together, to figure out if there would be enough seats in a theater for all four classes to go.  
• Next week, we will work on solving 3-digit addition problems and measuring to the nearest yard and nearest meter.
• Writing
• We started our Which is Better writing this week.  We reviewed the rubric and began our lead paragraph.  
• Next week, we will review strong and weak work examples and discuss what we can do as authors to make our writing the best it can be!  We will then work on body paragraphs.  By then end of this writing your child will have created a 10 paragraph book - very impressive for a second grader!
• Fundations
• We have learned that there are four ways to make the long a sound (a, a-e, ai and ay).  This week we focused on spelling words that have ai and ay.  We learned that when the long a comes at the end of the word it is typically ay.  When the long a comes in the middle of the word it can be spelled with either an ai or a-e.  
• We also learned about homophones (two or more words that sound the same, are spelled differently and have different meanings).  Today we talked about main, mane, and Maine. 
• We will keep working on both of these skills next week.
• Reading
• This week, we finished up thinking about sensory details in texts.
• Next week, we are focusing on asking and answering questions while reading.  We will be talking about answering questions before, during and after reading.  As a reader, asking questions helps us to focus on what we are reading and better comprehend the text.
• Science
• Ask your child about the exploration activity that we did with the "Sun" and "Earth" today, and what they discovered about where it is warmest and coldest on Earth.

I hope that you have a wonderful weekend, and please let me know if you have any questions!

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!  A HUGE thank you to the parents who made the Valentine's Day party a success by either sending in items or volunteering.  The kiddos had so much fun and enjoyed lots of yummy and healthy treats!  I will be making a video of the party and posting it on Twitter - so make sure to check it out!

Student Banner...SHHHH, It's A Surpise!

As a surprise for the students, for ALL their incredible hard work that they have done during the first & second trimester, we are asking for parents to create a banner for their student.  These banners will be hung up in the classroom.  We are asking for these be returned by Monday, March 4.  If you would like to bring your child's banner with you to your P/T Conference, return it in your child's Friday Folder, or you can send it in an envelope or folder with your child to school.  We will be sending home a hard copy of the banner in Friday Folders next week, but if you would like to get a head start on it you can click here to be able to print the banner off.  Below are a few pictures of what the banners looked like last year.  

Second Trimester Pizza Party

Our second trimester pizza party will be on Thursday, March 14.  As a reminder, we collected money earlier this year, and will be using this money to buy pizza for the class.  Each student will receive 2 slices of pizza, a healthy side and a dessert.  If you child would like to bring a special drink (no more than 20 ounces - no glass) s/he can or we will provide cups for water.  

Upcoming Events

• February 15 - No School (Teacher Work Day)
• February 18 - No School (President's Day)
• February 20 - Fuzzy's RBE Eat Out 5-8 - A flyer will be sent home next week.

• February 20-28 - Moss Team P/T Conference Weeks
• February 26 - Special Family & Friend's Day
• You are invited to come and visit your child during specials (1:35-2:25) for Special Family & Friend's Day! 
• Ms. Mottaz students will start in P.E. and then travel to Music.
• Mrs. Ross students will start in Art and then travel to Media. 
• The Book Fair will be open on this day.  If you would like to come early or stay late to take your kiddo this would be a great opportunity.  
• We understand that 2:25 is really close to the end of the day.  If you would like to pick up your child early we understand.  However, if someone, other than parent, will be picking up your child early, you will need to write a note giving permission.
• March 1 - No School (P/T Conference)
• March 4-8 - RBE Read Week
• March 4-8 is Read Week!  This is a week dedicated to celebrating the love of reading and sharing our love of reading with the students.  We always invite parents, grandparents, family members and family friends to come read to the students.  If you would like to bring in a snack related to your book as well, the students always love snacks.  :)  
• If you would like to read to the class there are still openings available.  Please click here to sign up for a time using SignUp Genius.    
• March 7 - Field Trip to Daniel Boone Regional Library
• On this field trip, we do not need parent chaperones.  We will depart from school at 8:00 and return by 9:45.  
• A yellow DBRL Library Card Application is in your child's Friday Folder.  If your student does not already have a library card and you would like to sign him/her up for one, please fill out the application and return to school by Friday, February 22.  If your child already has a library card or you are not interested in getting one, then you do not need to return the form.
• Your child will not need a library card for this field trip because we will not be checking out books.  This field trip will be a tour of the library.
• March 7 - Kindergarten Enrollment Night
• If your family has child who will be enrolled in kindergarten next year, or if you know of another family, please come to Kindergarten Enrollment Night!
• This is 4:00-7:00 at RBE.  You can contact the school office for more information.
• March 14 - 2nd Trimester Pizza Party Lunch
• Your child does not need to bring a lunch, but can choose to bring a drink 20 ounce or less - no glass.
• Your child will still need a snack for that morning.  We will be eating lunch a little later than usual (11:45 on this day).

Look At All This Learning!

• Math
• We finished up Unit 6 today.  This unit focused on adding 2- and 3-digit numbers.  We will be sharing these with you at conferences.
• On Tuesday, we will be starting Unit 7.  This unit focuses on measurement, addition and data.
• Writing
• We took a little break from informational writing, and did a fun opinion writing activity with taste testing Hershey's Kisses.  We wrote about what our favorite flavor and then turned our writing into a Hershey's Kiss.  When you come to your child's P/T Conference - make sure to check out their writing on the bulletin board!
• We are going to start writing our Which is Better book next week.
• Fundations
• This week, we finished up Unit 9 on r-controlled vowels.  This unit was SUPER tricky because it focused on er. ir, and ur - which there is not a rule of when to use them in words.  We've been practicing on using our Spelling Options section in our Fundations Monster Book (which is like a dictionary of hard to spell words without the definitions).
• Next week, we will are starting Unit 10 which is focusing on vowel teams.  Student have already learned that adding an "e" at the end of a word makes the vowel long.  During this unit, we will start talking about when two vowels are teamed together and the sounds that they will make (example: "ai" and "ee").  We have already learned about vowel teams when reading but now we will focus on writing.
• Reading
• We are focusing on sensory details in writing.  Authors use sensory details for the reader to get a sense of being in the text.  We are examining a variety of texts and looking through the texts through sight, hearing, smelling, tasting and feeling.  We are also talking about how we can add these details to our own writing.
• Social Studies & Science
• In social studies, we have learned about all seven continents and where these are located on a world map.  
• In science, we will start talking about where water is found on the Earth.  We will discussing how the sun effects the temperature of the water (warmer by the equator than by the poles) and if the water will likely be solid or liquid.  We will also be learning about if water will be likely to be salt or fresh water.

I hope that your child has a wonderful four day weekend.  Please let me know if you have any questions!

Another Crazy Week!

Wow!  This Missouri weather has made it super difficult to get a full week of school in. 

Yesterday, teachers were supposed to meet after school to schedule sibling conferences.  Since yesterday was a snow/ice day, this did not happen until this afternoon.  Mrs. Ross is emailing families about a conference time, and we will also be sending home a hard copy of the date/time on Monday.

There have been some situations about students becoming annoyed with peers and not using respectful tones to express their feelings.  Today, we had a class meeting of remembering the importance of being kind to all students.  Mr. Smith, our counselor at RBE, helped lead this class meeting.

Upcoming Events

• February 14 - Valentine's Day Party at 1:45
• There are few slots still open on the party SignUp Genius...so if you haven't had a chance to sign up you are in luck! Click here to sign up.
• February 15 - No School (Teacher Work Day)
• February 18 - No School (President's Day)
• February 20 - Fuzzy's RBE Eat Out 5-8

• February 20-28 - Moss Team P/T Conference Weeks
• February 26 - Special Family & Friend's Day
• You are invited to come and visit your child during specials (1:35-2:25) for Special Family & Friend's Day! 
• Ms. Mottaz students will start in P.E. and then travel to Music.
• Mrs. Ross students will start in Art and then travel to Media. 
• The Book Fair will be open on this day.  If you would like to come early or stay late to take your kiddo this would be a great opportunity.  
• We understand that 2:25 is really close to the end of the day.  If you would like to pick up your child early we understand.  However, if someone, other than parent, will be picking up your child early, you will need to write a note giving permission.
• March 1 - No School (P/T Conference)
• March 4-8 - RBE Read Week
• March 4-8 is Read Week!  This is a week dedicated to celebrating the love of reading and sharing our love of reading with the students.  We always invite parents, grandparents, family members and family friends to come read to the students.  If you would like to bring in a snack related to your book as well, the students always love snacks.  :)  
• If you would like to read to the class there are still openings available.  Please click here to sign up for a time using SignUp Genius.    
• March 7 - Field Trip to Daniel Boone Regional Library
• On this field trip, we do not need parent chaperones.  We will depart from school at 8:00 and return by 9:45.  
• A yellow DBRL Library Card Application is in your child's Friday Folder.  If your student does not already have a library card and you would like to sign him/her up for one, please fill out the application and return to school by Friday, February 22.  If your child already has a library card or you are not interested in getting one, then you do not need to return the form
• March 7 - Kindergarten Enrollment Night
• If your family has child who will be enrolled in kindergarten next year, or if you know of another family, please come to Kindergarten Enrollment Night!
• This is 4:00-7:00 at RBE.  You can contact the school office for more information.

Lots of Learning is Happening

• Math
• We are finishing up unit 6 next week.  We have learned about different ways to collect and represent data, and being able to add 3-digit plus 3-digit numbers.  One of the strategies that we teach the students is using partial sums.  You can checkout the picture below to see the two ways we have taught partial sums.

• Writing
• We have been working really hard on researching two topics for our Which is Better project.  Last weekend, your child should have told you what two topics s/he was researching.  This weekend, have your child share some facts that they learned about their topic.
• Next week, we will start talking about opinion writing.  Our first opinion writing will be with Hershey Kisses.  We will taste test Hershey Kisses and then write about which flavor is our favorite.  Yum! Yum!
• Fundations
• We are continuing to work on spelling words with er, ir & ur in it.  We will be testing over this unit next week.
• Reading
• This week, we finished up comparing texts.  We did this through fractured fairy tales.  The students compared characters, setting and events between the different stories.
• Next week, we are starting an author study on Steve Jenkins.  We will be finding and describing sensory details in the text.  As a reader, understanding these sensory details is important and we will talk about how to incorporate these details into our Which is Better project writing.
• Social Studies
• We are continuing to be cartographers and learning about the continents on the world map.  We have discovered where Africa, Europe and Asia are on the map and learned about a few different famous destinations on each continent.  
• Next week, we will be continuing to learn about the other four continents and adding these to our personal world map.
• Nutrition
• We started our Nutrition Class through the University of Missouri Extension.  Mrs. Zapata will be coming out for the next five Wednesdays to teach us about nutrition.  This week we learned about the importance of cleaning both food and our hands while cooking, keeping food separate, making sure to cook food to the correct temperature, and remember to chill food by putting it back in the refrigerator when finished.  We also reviewed My Plate and the importance of eating a variety of healthy food.

I hope that you have a wonderful weekend and stay warm!

Fingers Crossed For Good February Weather!

January has been a whirlwind of snow days, late starts, and an early release thrown in there too.  We have our fingers crossed for good February Weather so that we can start to get back into the routine of things!

Upcoming Events

• February 4 - Parent/Teacher Conference Request form due
• If you have not already sent back in your request for the best times for your P/T Conference please do so on Monday.  We will be scheduling conferences & sending home dates in your child's Friday Folder next week.
• February 8 - Decades Day
• February 14 - Valentine's Day Party at 1:45
• February 15 - No School (Teacher Work Day)
• February 18 - No School (President's Day)
• February 20 - Fuzzy's RBE Eat Out 5-8

• February 20-28 - Moss Team P/T Conference Weeks
• February 26 - Special Family & Friend's Day
• You are invited to come and visit your child during specials (1:35-2:25) for Special Family & Friend's Day!  The Book Fair will be open on this day.  If you would like to come early or stay late to take your kiddo this would be a great opportunity.  We understand that 2:25 is really close to the end of the day.  If you would like to pick up your child early we understand.  However, if someone, other than parent, will be picking up your child early, you will need to write a note giving permission.
• More information will be coming out closer, but we wanted to make sure that you had the date! :)
• March 1 - No School (P/T Conference)
• March 4-8 - RBE Read Week
• March 4-8 is Read Week!  This is a week dedicated to celebrating the love of reading and sharing our love of reading with the students.  We always invite parents, grandparents, family members and family friends to come read to the students.  If you would like to bring in a snack related to your book as well, the students always love snacks.  :)  
• If you would like to read to the class, please click here to sign up for a time using SignUpGenius.  
• In the past, we have heard some childhood favorites from our readers or stories that are near and dear to their heart.  

What's Happening in Moss World

• Math
• We are continuing to work on solving word problems.  Our goal is to be able to solve 2-step word problems.  This week we learned about making ballpark estimates when solving 2- and 3-digit addition problems.  Coming up with an estimate allows us to check to make sure that our actual answer makes sense.  When solving the problem, we also practiced a strategy called partial sums.  Ask your child how they can use partial sums to solve the problem 54 + 29 or 389 + 462.
• Writing
• This week, the students had an opportunity to do some fun writing about "Our Teachers Are Missing" and also "What Will You Do When You Are 102".  The students had fun with these writing assignments.
• We also continued to finish publishing our informational book on the animal we researched and write a speech for our book trailer that we are making.  Next week, we will start recording our book trailer.  As I have been listening to their speeches, I have been super impressed with their expression that they are using.  They have been working INCREDIBLY hard with making sure that their speech has their voice in and they are succeeding!
• Next week,
• Fundations
• We are continuing to talk about r-control vowels.  We are now focusing on er, ir, and ur.  These are tricky because they each make the same sound.  We have learned that it is okay to try our each pattern to see which looks familiar, and we also have a section in our Fundations's Monster Book that has different "Spelling Options."  The students are doing a great job utilizing this resource in their writing!
• Reading
• We are continuing to work on comparing fiction texts.  We will be reading fractured fairy tales and comparing those stories to the original fairy tale.  The fairy tales we will be focusing on are "The Three Little Pigs" and " Goldilocks and the Three Bears".  
• Social Studies
• We started to introduce maps this week.  Students learned that a cartographer is a person who draws and studies maps.  We have learned that there are seven continents on Earth.  We introduced Africa last week and located it on a world map.  
• Next week, we will talk about Asia, Australia and Antarctica. 

I am looking forward to enjoying the beautiful weather this weekend...only in Missouri can we go from a polar vortex on Wednesday to 64 degrees on Sunday!  Enjoy your weekend and we are all looking forward to a 5 day school week next week!