Weekly Update 09/28/12

Important Announcements:

*Happy Birthday to Jeremy Bourque!  Jeremy will celebrate his birthday on Monday, October 1^st. 

*Casey the Fire Dog will be here presenting to grades K-2 on Tuesday, October 2^nd at 9:00 a.m. in the cafeteria. 

*End of the First Nine Weeks is Friday, October 5, 2012.  Report cards will be available online starting Friday, October 12^th. 

*Yankee Candle order forms with money are due back on Monday, October 8^th.  Money raised during the Yankee Candle Sale goes back into the classroom through grants. 

*Parent / Teacher conferences are fast approaching.  They will take place on Wednesday, October 10^th from 4:30 – 8:00 p.m. and Thursday, October 11^th from 4:30 – 8:00 p.m.  I will be sending home a reminder letter with your scheduled day and time on Monday, October 1^st. 

*Information about a class list was sent home this week.  If you are interested in sharing your contact information with the other parents in the class so that play dates can be set up, or homework questions can be answered, or for any other reason, please make sure to send the paper back by Monday, October 1^st.  Thanks! 

*Donations needed!  We love using our fluency phones in class, and we need to keep them clean and germ free!  We are in need of Clorox or Lysol wipes so we can clean and sanitize them.  If you would be willing to donate some, I would greatly appreciate it!  Thanks! 

*We had a special guest come to our school today – Dr. Tony Bennett, our State Superintendent of Public Instruction, surprised us by announcing that Ms. Suzanne Whitton, DT’s visual arts teacher, has been named the 2013 Indiana Teacher of the Year!  Congratulations, Ms. Whitton! 

*Mrs. Kraus will be in our room on Friday, October 12^th at 9:00 a.m.  She will be doing another character education lesson with us! 

A Look at Next Week:

Science/ Health
Weather

Spelling

Abbreviations

Reading

Story:  Mr. Putter and Tabby Fly the Plane

Skill: predicting outcomes

Daily Five: Read to someone; build stamina; listen to reading

Math

Time of Day, What’s My Rule with Base-10 Blocks, Pockets Bar Graph

Social Studies

Government unit

English

Irregular Plural nouns

Writing

Procedures; building stamina

Weekly Update 09/21/12

Important Announcements:

*Our very own Ben Sylva broke the mile record for second grade boys in gym this week.  Congratulations, Ben! 

*Smile!  Picture Day has been scheduled for Thursday, September 27^th.  Order forms were sent home on Thursday, September 20^th. 

*Your child received a packet with information about the Brownsburg Education Foundation (BEF) Yankee Candle Sale.  The sale begins tonight and order forms with money are due back on Monday, October 8^th.  Money raised during the Yankee Candle Sale goes back into the classroom through grants. 

*Next week we are reading a story called Helping Out.  As part of your child’s homework next week, he/she will have to help out at home every night.  There will be a sheet sent home on Monday for your child to record how he/she helped out.  This will be due on Friday, September 28^th! 

*Our Unit 2 math test will take place on Tuesday, September 25^th.  We will review for it on Monday. 

*Next week is College Go! Week.  College Go! Week is a statewide initiative to get kids thinking about going to college and introduce them to what they need to know to get there.  During the week we will have announcements each morning related to going to college.  The classroom door has been decorated with the University of Indianapolis since it is one of my alma maters.  I would like to say a huge THANK YOU to Mrs. Cookerly for decorating the door for us.  It looks awesome!  Friday, September 28^th  will be a College Spirit Day.  Wear your favorite college gear!

*Parent / Teacher conferences are fast approaching.  They will take place on Wednesday, October 10^th from 4:30 – 8:00 p.m. and Thursday, October 11^th from 4:30 – 8:00 p.m.  I will be sending home a reminder letter with your scheduled day and time soon. 

*I started taking a fluency grade this week.  This grade is based on a never seen before reading passage on the second grade level.  Your child reads the passage and is scored on how many words are read correctly in one minute.  This week’s goal was 62 words.  Each week the goal will increase by one word.  At the end of the year, your child should be able to read 89 words in one minute.  I will enter the grade as Fluency with the goal for that week.  This week’s will be entered as Fluency 62.  Let me know if you have any questions.

*Mrs. Hopkins and Mrs. Fowler asked the second grade teachers to put something in our newsletters about lunch.  The children are very busy socializing and are not eating as much of their lunch as they should.  A lot of food is being wasted.  Mrs. Hopkins and Mrs. Fowler have been encouraging the children to eat, but they are concerned about the amount of wasted food. 

A Look at Next Week:

Science/ Health
Weather

Spelling

Works with –ear

Reading

Story:  Helping Out

Skill: main ideas and details

Daily Five: Read to someone; build stamina; listen to reading

Math

Review for Unit 2 Test; Unit 2 Test; Place Value; How Much Does It Cost?

Social Studies

Geography unit will be completed on Monday; Begin Government unit

English

Plural nouns

Writing

Procedures; building stamina

Weekly Update 09/14/12

Important Announcements:

*We currently do not have a lead parent to organize our classroom parties.  If you are interested in this responsibility, please contact me or the Vice-President of the PTSG Chrissy Nelson at chrissy@dicklentz.com.

*Dog Jog took place today.  We had a fun time while earning money for our school! 

*Delaware Trail has a partnership with Connection Pointe Christian Church.  This week we had volunteers from Connection Pointe come in and begin working with each of our classes.  I have a volunteer Tuesday for an hour and Wednesday for half an hour.  These volunteers work with a few students at a time in the area of reading.  I am very excited about this partnership! 

*We will be taking a test over our Geography unit in social studies on Wednesday, September 19^th

*Next week the class will be doing the mile run during P.E.  This will take place on Thursday, September 20^th. 

*The first PTSG meeting of the year will be held on Thursday, September 20^th at 6:30 in our cafeteria. 

*Mrs. Kraus will be in our classroom on Friday, September 21^st.  She will be teaching a character education lesson. 

*Homecoming is Friday, September 21^st!

*Smile!  Picture Day has been scheduled for Thursday, September 27^th.  Order forms will be sent home soon. 

A Look at Next Week:

Science/ Health
Weather

Spelling

Works with ack and ock

Reading

Story: The Enormous Turnip

Skill: sequence

Daily Five: Read to someone; build stamina; conferences for good-fit books

Math

Frames-and-Arrows Problems, “What’s My Rule?”, Subtraction Facts, Addition/Subtraction Facts

Social Studies

Geography; send Miss Whisman pictures of your child around town

English

Nouns

Writing

Procedures; building stamina

Weekly Update 09/07/12

Important Announcements:

*We currently do not have a lead parent to organize our classroom parties.  If you are interested in this responsibility, please contact me or the Vice-President of the PTSG Chrissy Nelson at chrissy@dicklentz.com.

*I sent home book orders today.  If you want to order books, please indicate which books and send in the money by next Friday, September 14^th.  You can send in cash or write a check made payable to Scholastic Book Orders.  If you would like to order online and pay with your credit card, you can!  Click on the link under useful websites or use: www.scholastic.com/bookclubs.  You will need this activation code: GVCWL. 

*We had our Dog Jog Convocation today.  Packets were sent home with your child today.  We will participate in Dog Jog on Friday, September 14^th during our specials time (2:10 – 2:55). 

*The first PTSG meeting of the year will be held on Thursday, September 20^th at 6:30 in our cafeteria. 

*Mrs. Kraus will be in our classroom on Friday, September 21^st.  She will be teaching a character education lesson. 

*Homecoming is Friday, September 21^st!

*Smile!  Picture Day has been scheduled for Thursday, September 27^th.  Order forms will be sent home soon. 

A Look at Next Week:

Science/ Health
Life Cycles

Spelling

Words with –at and –ate

Reading

Story: Wilson Sat Alone

Skill: problem-solution; narrative elements

Daily Five: Read to self; build stamina; finding a good fit book

Math

Domino Facts; Weighing Things; Fact Triangles; Name Collection Boxes

Social Studies

Geography; send Miss Whisman pictures of your child around town

English

Predicates

Writing

Gathering topics to write about