Weekly Update 10/28/11

Important Announcements:

*This week we were able to sample our pumpkin seeds from last week’s activity. Thanks to Mrs. Meiners for preparing those for us! We also worked on our skill of following directions by making corn bread on Thursday.

*Ms. Whitton assigned art homework to your child. He/she needs to write a story about their artwork. It needs to be typed or written neatly. It will be due Monday when we go to art. Also, please return the “Art to Remember” packets by Monday as well.

*We will begin the Book-It reading program on Tuesday, November 1^st. Your child will bring home a reading calendar on this day. Use the calendar to track the number of minutes your child reads. If he/she reads for fifteen minutes, he/she can color in the date on the calendar. In order to earn the free personal pan pizza coupon from Pizza Hut, your child will need to read for fifteen minutes, four times a week. The calendar is due back on December 1^st. The program will continue through March.

*Tuesday, November 1^st will be a Colts PRIDE visit with Blue the Indianapolis Colt’s mascot. The program starts at 9:15 a.m. It will be a Colts Spirit Day.

*Our music program is fast approaching! The second graders will be performing on Monday, November 7^th at 6:30 p.m. See you there!

*Friday, November 11^th we will have a Veteran’s Day Convocation at 9:15. Please wear red, white, and blue in honor of our veterans.

A Look at Next Week:

Science/ Health
Forces and Motion

Spelling

Words with –ar and -arm

Reading
Story: Lemonade for Sale

Skill: cause and effect; compare and contrast

Daily Five: building stamina for read to self and read to someone; coaching –vs.- time; individual conferences

Math

Change Number Stories, Parts-and-Total Number Stories, Reading a Thermometer, and Temperature

Social Studies

A Look at Earth

English

Action Verbs

Writing

Writing/drawing with details

Weekly Update 10/19/11

Important Announcements:

*Happy Birthday to Jackson! He celebrated his birthday today!

*Thank you so much for meeting with me during parent / teacher conferences. I really enjoyed talking with each of you about your child’s progress this school year. I will continue to keep you updated, and as always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to ask!

*The kids LOVED our pumpkin activity today. I would like to thank the Matthews Family, the Meiners Family, and the Newberry Family for donating our pumpkins for this special activity. I would also like to thank Mrs. Fought, Mr. Matthews, Mrs. Meiners, and Mrs. Wright-Angle for volunteering during this activity.

*We will be having our Unit 3 math test on Friday, October 28^th.

*Have a fun-filled Fall Break!

A Look at Next Week:

Science/ Health
Forces and Motion

Spelling

Words with -our

Reading
Story: Hedgehog Bakes a Cake

Skill: Problem and Solution; following directions

Daily Five: building stamina for read to self and read to someone / Miss Whisman will conference with individual students to ensure good fit books are being selected to read.

Math

Frames-and-Arrows Problems, Change at a Garage Sale, Counting Up to Make Change, review, Unit 3 test

Social Studies

A Look at Earth

English

Review nouns

Writing

Writing/drawing with details

Weekly Update 10/14/11

Important Announcements:

*Wow! The kids did a great job with their reader’s theater plays today. They have been so excited about them, and I am proud of their first performances. Thank you so much to those of you that attended the performances. The kids were so excited to have an audience, and I know it meant a lot to them.

*Report cards are available online starting today. The computer labs will be open during parent / teacher conferences for you to view your child’s report card if necessary.

*Parent teacher conferences are scheduled for the evenings of Monday, October 17^th and Tuesday, October 18^th. I will be sending you an e-mail confirming your date and time. It is imperative that you are on time for your conference. If you need to reschedule your conference, please contact me immediately. I am looking forward to meeting with each of you to talk about your child’s progress!

*Next week is Red Ribbon Week. We will be having special spirit days to celebrate.

Monday - Wear College Gear

Tuesday - Crazy Sock Day

Wednesday - Wear RED

*We are doing a special pumpkin activity on Wednesday, October 19^th. I would like to thank the Matthews Family, the Meiners Family, and the Newberry Family for donating our pumpkins for this special activity. I already have several parent volunteers that are helping us with our activity on the 19^th. I could use one more parent volunteer. If you are available on the 19^th from 12:30 – 1:30, and would like to help, please let me know!

*Book orders were sent home today. If you would like to order, the order form and money are due back to school on Wednesday, October 19^th. If you would like to order online, our special online activation code is: GVCWL. Let me know if you have any questions!

*There will be no school Thursday and Friday of next week. Have a happy and safe Fall Break!

A Look at Next Week:

Science/ Health
Germs

Spelling

None! Enjoy your week off! (The next words will be sent home on Wednesday, October 19^th.)

Reading
Story: Pumpkin books

Skill: fluency and expression

Daily Five: building stamina for read to self and read to someone / Miss Whisman will conference with individual students to ensure good fit books are being selected to read.

Math

Place Value with Base 10 blocks, Pocket Data Day

Social Studies

Map skills and TFK

English

common nouns

Writing

Writing/drawing with details

Weekly Update 10/07/11

Important Announcements:

*The students did a great job on Thursday while have a guest teacher, a guest writing teacher, and all of the second grade teachers in the district in our classroom for a writing mini-lesson. I was so proud of them!

*Angela Buchman came today to talk to our students about meteorology. We were very excited she was able to come!

*We are taking a break from the reading book and spelling next week. Instead, we will be doing reader’s theater plays. Your child will be given a part in a play, and he/she will be allowed to take it home to practice with you. If your child wants to put together a costume for his/her role, he/she can. However, it is NOT a requirement. Would you like to see our first performance with reader’s theater plays this year? If so, join us in a special presentation in the classroom on Friday, October 14^th at 10:45 a.m. It should only last approximately 30 minutes.

*Parent teacher conferences are scheduled for the evenings of Monday, October 17^th and Tuesday, October 18^th. I will be sending you an e-mail confirming your date and time. It is imperative that you are on time for your conference. If you need to reschedule your conference, please contact me immediately. I am looking forward to meeting with each of you to talk about your child’s progress!

*We are doing a special pumpkin activity on Monday, October 17^th. Donations needed! We will need five medium to large pumpkins (the kind you can carve). If you are willing to donate one, please contact me so that I can coordinate the donations. Thanks!

*The Yankee Candle sale continues. The proceeds of this sale benefit the Brownsburg Education Foundation. The BEF helps with scholarships for graduating seniors and funds grants that benefit our classroom. The order deadline is Monday, October 10^th.

*Are you interested in helping out with class parties and other classroom events? Please contact Shon Angle at wrightangle@sbcglobal.net.

A Look at Next Week:

Science/ Health
Finish solids, liquids, and gases; start Health unit on germs

Spelling

None! Enjoy your week off!

Reading
Story: No story; reader’s theater plays

Skill: fluency and expression

Daily Five: building stamina for read to self and read to someone / Miss Whisman will conference with individual students to ensure good fit books are being selected to read.

Math

Place value, How Much Does It Cost?, Times of Day

Social Studies

Columbus Day; Hold mock snack election; complete state t-shirt; Time for Kids; map skills

English

Proper nouns

Writing

Writing/drawing with details; star student of the week writing