Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!
This week a conference form went home with your child. Please confirm your conference time and return the form to school as soon as you are able. If for some reason you are not able to attend your conference time, please let me know and we can look at rescheduling. You should also see coming home a pink pre-conference form. If you could take a few moments to fill this form out, it will let me know what specific things you would like to discuss at your child’s conference. Return this form to school by November 3rd.
This week we have been celebrating red ribbon week! Friday is the last day as we say “boo” to drugs. Tuesday we were the audience for the sixth grade music program, dress rehearsal
Curriculum information-
Writing- This week we have continued our unit on descriptive paragraphs. Monday each child was given a paper bag with an object inside. Using descriptive writing each child took turns trying to get their friends to guess their mystery object! Last week we used apples as our inspiration. First we collected information using our five senses as we “experienced” an apple. Step by step we took this information through the writing process. The end result was a descriptive paragraph about apples. This week we used another fall favorite to inspire our writing… pumpkins!
Math- Last week we wrapped up our unit on story problems. Our focus now shifts to telling time. Wednesday we had a “mix it up” day. In efforts to focus instruction to our students needs, we grouped our second graders for additional practice in telling time, using the clock, and other time skills.
Animated literacy- We continue to work on parts of speech and are practicing contractions.
Science- We are studying about the 6 body systems in science. So far we have learned about the skeletal, muscular, digestive, and respiratory system. We even made our own skeletons… Thursday we will decorate them for Halloween! Next week we will take a look at the last two systems and will take our end of unit test.

Friday is the big Halloween class party. Just a reminder that we will begin putting on costumes around 2:10pm and to refrain from blood and weapons on costumes. I am looking forward to seeing all the fun costumes! It sounds like the room moms have a fun party planned.

Have a safe and fun weekend!

Beautiful Autumn Day!

I hope autumn is treating everyone well and that you and your 2nd graders are finding time to enjoy the beautiful weather! This week we made stain glass pumpkins to hang by our window… and spooky bats to hang from the ceiling.

Curriculum for the next few weeks is as follows:

Math - In the third unit of Math Expressions, students continue looking at different types of story problems. I am really impressed with the progress they are making in showing their thought processes for various types of problems! We continue to look at examples of change plus, change minus, comparison, and collection story problems. This week, we have examined story problems that have either too much information or not enough information as well as solve story problem with multiple steps. Thank you for your continued support with math homework!

Writing - Students have been working on different paragraph writing activities. We touched on descriptive paragraphs about autumn (be sure to check out the 2nd grade display in the pod!) and are currently working on paragraphs about memories. They are wrapping up these paragraphs about their memory boxes!

Spelling - As spelling lists and pattern sorts become more challenging, it is so important that students continue to practice at home. Please help your child remember that some sort of spelling homework is due at least once a week...this can be anything from an art project using spelling words to words written out on a sheet of paper to a sticky note from you saying he or she wrote words with sidewalk chalk. It is also important to spend time studying the meaning of these words.

Health - This afternoon, students were assessed on our unit on taking care of the body, eyes, and ears. Next week, we will begin to study the different body systems, starting with the skeletal system and the muscular system. Thanks to those of you who have sent in books, X-Rays, and models...a big thank you to Mrs. Knapp for coming in to share the spine and heart with our class!

Reading - Students continue to work hard in their guided reading groups! Don't forget that reading group books that come home can be used on daily reading logs! Our author of the month is Mem Fox; we continue to read many of her best loved stories from Australia.

There will be no school next Friday, October 22.
There are sixth graders at school raising money for the oil spill in the gulf. This will continue through October. If you would like to send a check make it payable to: National Wildlife Federation.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Autumn Has Arrived!

It sure feels like autumn has finally arrived. We have been enjoying this cooler weather at recess. We are waiting patiently for our Monarch butterflies to emerge… many of our chrysalises are turning transparent. Hopefully by next week we will have 11 beautiful butterflies!
Last week each student performed their reader’s theatres for the kindergarten classes. They did such a fantastic job showcasing their reading fluency.
This Wednesday we wrapped up our study of butterflies and moths. The class did a really great job on their tests! This week we will begin our next science unit about the body. We will first take a look at hair, skin, and nails… followed by a study of the eye and ear. We will be looking at models of the eye and ear to study how each of them help us and how they work. Next week we will be visited by an ophthalmologist who will speak to us about proper eye care. There are a few health links on our blog to check out!
In writing our class has been working on using good word choice. They have been participating in fun class activities to help us “spice up” our writing and even got to use a thesaurus. Next week we will put our sentence writing skills to the test as we begin paragraph writing. Now that all of the memory boxes have been shared, each child will select their favorite item they brought in and will write their first published paragraph!
Tuesday our Boys and Girls Club leader Miss Laura came to show us a presentation on internet safety. I have added a link to Netsmartz on our blog. This is a safe site that teaches about internet safety in a fun way.
Our class earned their first marble party Wednesday and celebrated with pjs, stuffed animals, and a short movie! This was a fun reward for all of their hard work and super behavior!
Next week we will begin our new author study featuring Mem Fox. She is the author of the book our memory box project was based on Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge.
Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the weekend!

Our Caterpillars are Growing!

We have had a very busy week this week in second grade! Our larvae continue to munch away and are growing by the day! We continue to make written and picture observations of their growth. In science we are studying the stages of the life cycle and even made a life cycle using various types of pasta! The second important thing that we have been studying is the difference between butterflies and moths.
Good News!... Reading groups will begin Monday the 20th! We are very excited to begin and start getting into routine. I want to stress the importance of the reading group folder. The night your child brings this home they are to read it and return it the very next day. Our first and second grade policy about folders is that if they are not ready and returned on that next day, your child will be asked to turn a card.
In writer’s workshop we have been writing our first published personal narratives! The true stories about our lives have been fun to read and fun to write! This writing requires we put our sentence writing skills to work! This week we have also begun to finally plan and write our letters! This planning, writing, editing, making a clean copy, and addressing of envelopes will take us into next week. It is fun to hear the class talk about how fun it is to write and “snail mail” letters!
In math we have been super busy! We have been talking about equations and how “partner” numbers are interchangeable in what we call a fact family. This week each table brainstormed together all types of combinations of numbers that would equal a number given to them. After all of their brainstorming… each table worked together to write all of the equations on strips; those were then connected to make “equation chains”. This week we met a new math friend named Bob… Bob is an alligator who is helping us to understand greater than and less than. We have been working on place value to order numbers.
Just a small thank you for helping your child to complete and send back math homework! Each child gets an opportunity to share their strategies used on math homework, we call this math talk, each day with many different classmates using a cooperative learning strategy called Mix, Pair, and Share!

*If you have not contacted our room moms with your child’s contact information and would like to be a part of the class directory, please contact Amanda Elo at ajaveyard@yahoo.com. They are putting together a resource that can be beneficial for play dates, parties, and other get togethers.

Coming up… this weekend there is a butterfly tagging even 9/18 at the Baker Wetlands. The even will be from 7:30-11:30 am. This event is open to the public!

Enjoy the holiday!

Just a quick note to check in about our week…

This week we began practicing for our first reader’s theatre puppet shows! Hopefully we will have these ready to perform for an audience next week. This is our final project with our Jolly Postman/fairy tale unit.
Next week we will begin applying our sentence skills as we start writing personal narratives. These stories about our lives are sure to be fun!
Although the testing continues for reading group placement… we will begin reading skill groups in the mean time beginning next Tuesday. We will be working with various reading strategies and comprehension activities.
In science we continue to study about butterflies and moths. Our Monarch larvae is scheduled to arrive next Monday! We can’t wait to begin our observations!
Our first research project will begin on Tuesday. Each child has been partnered up and assigned a specific butterfly or moth to begin gathering information. The final project will be called a “report in a can” and will be displayed in the library. (If you have any clean soup/vegetable cans to send in… we will need 13 total.)

Some important dates coming up:
September 10th- Grandparent day 3:00pm
September 13th- Picture day


If a family would like to be included in a class, please contact Amanda Elo at ajaveyard@yahoo.com or 785-856-0570 with your information. Participation is optional, but if you would like to be included, please contact Amanda by Friday, 9/10. The following information should be provided:
Child's name
Parent's names
Siblings names (and grades is applicable)
Address
Phone number to use to contact the family

Email address to use to contact the family


Enjoy your long weekend!

In Full Swing!

Well... it looks like our school year is in full swing and keeping very busy! We have been keeping our agenda full. In writing we have been working on our sentence writing skills. We have been studying the various components of what makes a complete sentence. We put our skills to work writing friendly letters to our new principal Mrs. Mickel, our author study Kevin Henkes, and many fairy tale creatures.
Our journey with the Jolly Postman is coming to a close with the many versions of The Three Little Pigs. Along the way we have been practicing our sequencing skills and story components. Friday we will begin an activity called goal mapping, with a book called The Three Little Javalinas.
Our librarian Mrs. Fredrickson, has spent the last few weeks helping us to pick "just right" books. We used the acronym CAN IT Be good? to guide our discussions. C-cover, A-author, N-number of pages, I-illustrator, T-title, and B-blurb.
In science we began our study of different animal life cycles and the basic parts of insects. This understanding will lead in to our unit on butterflies! Our caterpillars arrive September 7th! We are looking forward to learning the parts of the caterpillars, components of the butterfly life cycle, and all there is to know about these amazing insects!
If you have any questions about parent night, or the information sent home, please do not hesitate to ask. Thank you for your support with reading at home and math homework. Just a reminder that math homework will be going home on most evenings. As a good rule of thumb, if your child is spending more than 20/30 min on this work, please let me know. Also, one spelling homework is due every Tuesday. If your child's practice isn't something easily turned in, a note that your child practiced is plenty!
Friday we will get a chance to meet our fifth grade book buddies. Next week we will get to spend more time reading and getting to know them!

Have a wonderful and safe weekend!

Beginning a New School Year!

I am so excited to be starting a new school year! It has been great getting to know your 2nd graders the past few days. Rather than sending home a paper newsletter this year, I will be posting important class information on this blog. When there is an update, I will send out an e-mail. I plan to update at least every other week. I encourage you to check in often. To the right, there are several links that will be helpful to you and your 2nd grade student this year! These links will change periodically to tie in with our curriculum.
We have been busy these first few days of school with many fun and engaging activities. One of the big introductory units we have started is called the Jolly Postman. We are visiting many familiar fairy tales and have been practicing our sequencing activities.

Don't forget that the 2nd grade curriculum night is tomorrow, Thursday, August 19, at 6:00 in our classroom. I hope to see all of you then!

Mrs. Amber Crooker