Thursday's Thoughts

I cannot believe that the end of October is right around the corner!!!  Fall weather is definitely here!  Please make sure that you are sending your kiddo with a jacket to school - the playground can be really chilly in the morning.

Your child is bringing home a few items today in his/her homework folder:

• Adjective Parade Sheet: Our 2nd Grade Adjective Parade will be next Friday, October 28.  We will actually be parading around the school so all the grade levels can see our amazing, fun, excellent adjectives!  Please help your child think about an adjective that could be shown off by decorating one article of clothing. Please return the bottom portion of the sheet so I know what adjectives will be in our parade!

•  Parent Teacher Conference Request Form:  Parent teacher conference is our right around the corner! Please look over my availability for conferences on the form that came home today. Select your first and second choice for the day and time that you prefer to meet with me.  Return this form with your child by next Wednesday.  I will do my best to schedule everyone's conference for their first choice. Be looking for your scheduled time coming home and Friday Folders next week.  I am looking forward to meeting with everyone in November! 

Fall Harvest Party

Next Friday, October 28, will be our Fall Harvest Party at 1:45.  A few of the moms have a fun party planned but need some assistance with supplying treats, paper products, and for some adults to help with the party/cleanup.  Please take the time to look at the Fall Harvest Party Sign-Up Genius to see what is needed.

Western Day
Tomorrow will be Western Day.  Bring out your cowboy boots, hats and plaid!  I can't wait to see all the Western Wear tomorrow!

As always, please let me know if you have any questions.  Have a wonderful evening!

Terrific Tuesday!

We had a terrific Tuesday!

Writing

We have finished up the rough draft of our small moment stories!  Today we talked about the different types of endings (example: end with a hope or dream, end with advice, circle back to the lead, etc.).  The kiddos tried out 3 different endings for their story.  They then chose the BEST ending to wrap up their small moment story.  Next, we will be working on revising and editing our stories to make them the BEST that they can be!

Math

We have finished up our skip counting books and have practiced counting same coins.  Tomorrow we will be starting to work on counting coins that may not all be alike.  We will also be learning about arrays.  An array is a picture of rows and columns.  There needs to be the same number in each row and the same number in each column.  Below is an example of an array (4 rows of 3).  

Reading

• Reading Skill: Last week, we worked on a summary by using the strategy Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then.  This week we are learning that when you retell a story that you give more details.  We are using transition words of First, Next, Then, After that, and Finally to organize our retell.
• Grammar: Last week, we focused on adjectives (a word that describes a noun).  This week we are learning about verbs (action words).  The kiddos are really understanding the different parts of speech!!!  As a reminder, next Friday (October 28), we will be having our adjective parade.  Please be helping your kiddo choose an adjective and decorate one item of clothing to represent the adjective.
• Word Study:  As a reminder, our words this week are focusing on short & long o.  Short o words: clock, rock, spot, chop, job & Long o words: hope, joke, stove, those and broke.  We will be testing on Friday. :)  Please reinforce these vowel patterns as your child is writing - even if the words have not been tested over (example: drove is a word that should be able to be spelled correctly because it fits the pattern we have learned).

As a reminder, we have early dismissal tomorrow, October 19.  We will be dismissing from school at 12:10.  Please let me know if your child will be going home a different way than normal. :)

Remember to send in your change to support the United Way!!  Each grade level is competing to see who can donate the MOST money for the United Way, and the grade level who does receives an ice cream party!  If you want to learn more about what the United Way does you can checkout their website!

Have a wonderful evening & I hope that you are having a chance to enjoy this beautiful weather!

Happy Beautiful Monday! :)

Happy Monday!

I hope you are getting a chance to enjoy this beautiful weather we are having today!  I'm not ready for fall, so I'm really enjoying these last few days of warm weather!  The kids were happy to go outside without jackets for both recesses today!  

I have a few things to pass along today.  :)

Grade Level Pictures
If you weren't able to make it to the BBQ and would like to order the 2nd grade picture (or any grade level picture), please send in $5 per print with your student tomorrow and I will add them to the list.  Please make sure you send in the money as only prepaid orders will be printed.  

United Way

This week we are raising money for United Way by collecting change.  The campaign is call "It Makes Cents To Give to United Way."  If you have any spare change that you would like to donate, we would greatly appreciate it.  A friendly competition has been set up between grade levels and the grade level that collects the most change (money) will receive an ice cream social.  We are only collecting through this Friday.  Any donations are greatly appreciated!

Spelling Words
We are working on short o and long o vowel words this week.  This week's spelling words are: 

• short o (CVC): clock, rock, spot, chop, job
• long o (CVCe): hope, joke, stove, broke, those

Spirit Day

Our next spirit day is this Friday.  It is "Western Day."  If your student would like to participate, they can wear plaid, boots, cowboy hats anything "Western."  It's always fun to see the kids showing their school spirit!

Early Release

As a reminder, we have early release on Wednesday.  We will dismiss at 12:10.  If your student is going home a different way than normal, please let the office and myself know in the morning on Wednesday. 

Emily Arrow

In your student's Friday folder was information about a family literacy event for RBE families on December 7.  Emily Arrow will be performing at the literacy event.  It will be at 6:00 p.m. on December 7 at Woodcrest Church.  Due to space limitations, this event is for RBE families only.  Emily Arrow will still be coming to RBE on December 9.  On the sheet that came home was also an order form if you would like to order an autographed copy of her CD.  These are due back by November 18.  

Today we read Strickly No Elephants by Lisa Mantchev and listened to Emily Arrow's song.  Her newest song is Hannah & Sugar, which we also watched today.  The kids are really enjoying all the Emily Arrow songs!

Chicken BBQ

WOW!!!!  Thank you to everyone who came to the BBQ or volunteered, donated items.  It was a HUGE success!  I worked the drive thru from 4-6 and we were busy the entire time.  We don't have final numbers on the ticket sales.  At this point, Teacher Town raised $1,625 and the Silent Auction raised $14,679...that is amazing!!  We have such wonderful families who support our PTA and our school.  Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!

Have a wonderful day!

Happy Friday

Happy Friday!

I hope you have all had a wonderful week.  The students have worked very hard this week and we are all very excited about the BBQ.  :)  There is a lot of information in this post, so please take the time to read it!

Chicken BBQ is TOMORROW!

Here is the auction list.  It came home yesterday, but now you have an electronic copy also.  :)  The auction is over at 6:30 p.m.  As a reminder, we have a class picture and a pizza party in the Teacher Town section of the BBQ.  Also, the Day on the STEAM Bus will be up for auction also.  This is going to be a fabulous opportunity for whichever class has the winning student in it.  :)

The Chicken BBQ is tomorrow!  The RBE PTA has put in a lot of work for a fabulous BBQ tomorrow.  I will be working the Drive Thru from 3:30-6:00and then will be walking around to the games afterwards.  I look forward to seeing everyone there!

Next Week's Learning

Math

Next week, we will be working on counting coins.  We had planned to get to that this week, but they were working so hard on their T-Shirt factory posters (presented yesterday), that we pushed it back to next week.  We will also start working on arrays.  These are ways to group numbers.  It will be a very basic introduction into multiplication, but knowing that connection between repeated addition, grouping and multiplication will be very helpful to them in 3rd grade.

Please continue practicing math facts at home.  We have some kids that are very close to becoming Math Wizards!

Writing

The students created a bird this week and wrote a description.  We decided to do this because we weren't able to go to Bird Day as planned.  They created some very fun birds and did a nice job describing them as well.  Next week, we will be writing our middles and endings of our personal narrative.  The goal is by the end of next week to be reading to edit.  We have a fun acronym for editing and revising.  It is CUPS and ARMS.  We have very briefly introduced this to the kids and will go more in depth once we are ready to edit and review our stories.

Reading

The students did a fabulous job with summaries this week using the strategy of Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then.  Next week, we will learn about retells and the differences between summaries and retells.  The main difference is in a retell, you give a lot more details than in a summary.

Social Studies

Today, the students enjoyed 3 books about presidents, Grace for President, Duck for President and So You Want to Be President.  Then they wrote about what they think they would be a good president.  Next week, we will be revisiting what they would do as president and discuss the importance of it being what is best for the entire country.

Spelling Words

We will continue to work on CVC and CVCe words next week.  We will be focusing on long and short o words next week.

Long o words: joke, stove, broke, hope, those

Short o words: clock, chop, rock, job, spot

Adjective Parade

Please be thinking about what adjective your student would like to represent for our Adjective Parade on October 28. They can create one article of clothing (hat, shirt, etc) to represent their adjective.  Their article of clothing should be created at home.  If you need assistance getting it created, please let me know.  It should be a fun day to show everything they have learned about adjectives!

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the BBQ tomorrow!

Have a great weekend!

Happy Wednesday! :)

Math Posters

The students finished up "working for" the T-Shirt factory by creating a poster to show how they added up the total number of t-shirts.  We had a discussion that they haven't learned how to stack and regroup when adding, so they had to use another strategy.  Some groups used place value blocks, while other groups grouped the hundreds, tens and ones and then added.  The pictures below show them presenting their posters.  

Adjectives

We have been working on adjectives last week and this week.  The students have learned that adjectives describe a noun.  The students identified adjectives of items in the classroom and then created a Word Cloud (http://www.abcya.com/word_clouds.htm) with all the adjectives that describe the items.  In a Word Cloud, words that are used more often appear larger.  We then created a large poster with the Word Clouds and pictures of the items.  The poster is hanging in the hallway so if you're in the building, check it out!

Summaries

We have continued to work on summaries this week using the strategy of Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then.  After your student reads at night, I encourage you to have them summarize what they read.  They may not have all parts depending on how long they read, but they should be able to identify what their character wanted and a problem the character had in the book.  Today, they wrote a summary independently about Three Hens and a Peacock which is a very funny book.  :)  It was interesting to read the different summaries because some students wrote about the Peacock and others wrote about the three hens. 

Picnic Lunch

Even though we were not able to go on our field trip today, our Picnic Lunch was a success!!!

The Weather is Changing!!

Today there was a shift in temperature throughout the day.  Please make sure that your child is coming to school with appropriate outerwear.  If the windchill is under 60 degrees your child will need a sweatshirt or a jacket.

Emily Arrow

We are so excited that Emily Arrow will be coming to RBE in December!!  We will have an assembly with her on December 9th.  On Wednesday, December 7th at 6:00 we will be having a RBE Literacy Family event at Woodcrest Church.  Due to seating capacity, this event is for RBE Families only.  As I receive more details I will send them out.  To get to know some of Emily Arrow's music checkout her website!

Chicken BBQ

The Chicken BBQ is coming up this Saturday!!  If you still need to order BBQ tickets please send in your child's BBQ baggie back with money ($9.00- adult meal; $7.00 - youth meal; $5.00 - child meal)

Teacher Town at the BBQ

There will be LOTS of really neat stuff at Teacher Town (Silent Auction at the BBQ).  You can purchase:

• Our class picture with everyone's signature
• Mrs. Ross & our class picture with everyone's
• Pizza Lunch Party for your child & 2 friends
• STEAM Bus: Craig Adams has graciously donated a Day on the STEAM Bus for the auction at the RBE Chicken BBQ.  The winning student’s entire class will get to spend a day on the STEAM Bus doing fun activities.  If parents in your student’s class would like to pool their money together so they have more to bid, this is completely fine. Here is the website for the STEAM Bus if you would like to learn more about it.  http://www.cpsk12.org/steambus
• Grade Level Picture: If you would like to order a grade level picture and aren’t able to come to the BBQ or weren’t able to get your name added to the list at the Chicken BBQ, please have your child bring $5 (per print) to Mrs. Ross’ classroom by Tuesday, October 18 and you will be added to the order.  The order will be placed Tuesday afternoon, so we can’t accept any late orders.  Prints will be sent home in Friday folders once they have been printed.  This is a great memento to add to your student’s memory box.  Thank you for your support!

Happy Friday!

We have had an amazing week!!

Learning About Birds
This week we have been completing research about birds and their adaptations (ways that birds are special to help them survive).  We have practiced reading nonfiction books and taking notes.  Today the kiddos participated in an science experiment where they pretended to be birds and have to use different "beaks" (tweezers, tongs, slotted spoons, and straws) to pick up different "foods" (water, grass in water, rocks in water, sunflower seeds, rice in an egg carton).  We also watched a movie about birds and all their adaptations.

Bird Day Field Trip

All of our learning is to help us prepare for our Bird Day Field Trip on Wednesday, October 12.  For the field trip:

• Please send your child to school is comfortable clothes that will be appropriate for the weather.  At this point, the forecast for Wednesday is 66 degrees and rainy. We are hoping that there is no rain. :)  However, we will arrive at Audubon Park around mid-morning and it will only be 56 degrees. A jacket will probably be a good idea and shoes that allow for easy & comfortable walking.
• Please remember to send your child with a lunch (unless you marked on the slip for a sack school lunch).  The lunch and all containers need to be able to be thrown away.  Please mark your child's Ziploc bag clearly with his/her name.  We will not have coolers for this field trip - so please take that into account when planning your child's lunch.

Nouns & Adjectives

We introduced grammar to the kiddos yesterday by talking about nouns and adjectives.  Today the kiddos chose a noun to share with the class.  Then we had the kiddos complete a noun gallery walk to look at all the nouns.  As they were doing their gallery walk the kiddos wrote down adjectives to describe the nouns.  After they were finished we turned all their adjectives into a word cloud.  Next week, we will be continuing talk about nouns and adjectives at one of our Literacy Stations.

To help bring adjectives to life, we will be having an Adjective Parade at the end of the month.  On October 28 your child can dress up as an adjective.  This is NOT a Halloween costume.  Your child is able to decorate one piece of clothing (hat,  shirt, pants, shoes, dress, etc) as an adjective.  

Costume Rules:

• No masks
• No make-up
• Must be school appropriate
• Student will wear their word during the day

Information came home with your child today in his/her Friday Folder.  Here is a copy of the letter.  Below are some examples! :)

     

Books We Have Read This Year

On Mrs. Ross's blog she has made a tab of all the books that we have read so far this year.  If you would like to check it you can go here!  The kiddos are really into historical fiction books.  If your family has a great book that fits into this category that you wouldn't mind sharing with us that would be great!  We have started to make a Historical Fiction Timeline of all the great books we have read.

Also, I have gotten out my Halloween books and they have been a hit!!!  I love to see how excited the kiddos get about reading!! :)

Junior Achievement

Junior Achievement (JA) is a program where community members come into the classroom to teach 5 lessons on economics.  If you want to learn more you can check out their website!  Mr. McGowin is our JA teachers.  Today was our first day!!  We talked about different jobs that our in community.  We also talked about the difference between a want and a need.  Mr. McGowin has 4 more lessons that he will be teaching us.  Next week the kiddos will be bakers! :)

Next Week:

We have LOTS going on next week!! :)

• Math: We will be continuing to work on skip counting and counting coins
• Reading: We will be working on summarizing books that we have read.  To help kiddos summarize we use a strategy called Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then.  Using this strategies helps the kiddos to include the important information but not TOO many details.

• Grammar: We will be continuing to work on identifying nouns and using a variety of adjectives to describe them.
• Word Study: Our words next week will be continuing to look at the pattern CVC & CVCe but next week our words will be looking at short and long i.
• Short i Words: stick, gift, thin, swim, rich
• Long i Words: five, life, nine, drive, prize
• Writing: Yay!!! We finished up the beginnings to our small moment story.  We have also identified the 3 BIG events that will happen in our story.  These events will be our middle.  Next week, we will be talking about the importance of adding details to these events as we write the middle to our small moment story.
• Social Studies: We will be continuing our government conversation, by looking at how presidents and other government officials are chosen.  We will be reading two books (Gloria for President and Duck for President) and comparing these books.

Recess Attire

It was definitely CHILLY outside this morning!!  Please remember to send your child in appropriate recess attire for weather.  I know that in Missouri one day it will be hot & the next day it can be cold, so please be checking the weather forecast each day!  With it being fall, it would probably be a good idea for you to send a jacket with your child everyday.  As a reminder, here are what our requirements are for how your child needs to be dressed to go out to recess.

Chicken BBQ

The Chicken BBQ is next weekend!!!  A flyer came home with a sneak peak of some of the items for the Silent Auction.  Please remember to send in your child's baggie to buy BBQ tickets.  A drawing is held every day for kiddos who buy tickets to earn free game tickets.  On Thursday, Vivian was the winner of some game tickets!! 

Have a wonderful weekend!! :)