Five weeks...Where did they go?

It is hard to believe that as I post my first blog entry of the year we have already completed 25 days of school. With our daily schedule it seems that time flies, especially since second grade began WIN Time a couple of weeks ago.

Conferences are fast approaching, and reminders will be sent home in the next few days. If you receive a time that will not work for you, please let me know so we can find a time that will. I believe it is important for us to sit down together and discuss how we can best serve your child so they can progress as learners.

I have really appreciated your involvement and willingness to check math home work and sign it each day. As I continue to make changes in our daily schedule it is likely your child will have less time to complete work during class time and will need to do some of it at home. Please continue to check your child's Take Home folder for homework and other information.



 

Sun, Wind, Rain...Field Day!

Walk for Life...and simply to stay warm!

Our Trip to Thomsen's Greenhouse

We Love Jellies!

They don't have eyes. They don't have digestive systems. They don't have skeletons. They don't even have brains. What are they? They are jellyfish.

We recently read a nonfiction selection about jellyfish and had an opportunity to learn a lot of facts about them. We also watched a couple of videos that showed how jellyfish look and move, and even how some sting when something bumps up against them. Did you know the venom of a box jellyfish is more powerful than that of a cobra? For a culminating activity we created crayon resist pictures of jellyfish. We used crayons to draw jellyfish and then painted over them using water color paints. We had a lot of fun creating our pictures!

Math Meets Art!

Mikal making sure his pattern block design is symmetrical.

P Jay and Mason showing off their designs.

Suzie is focused on her work.

Joelle putting some finishing touches on her turkey.

Last Wednesday we took a break from story problems to reintroduce and review symmetry. First we used pattern blocks to create designs that demonstrated line symmetry. Then we created turkeys using pattern block shapes cut from construction paper. It proved to be a productive and fun way to spend the morning!

Math...and Other Matters

This Friday we will be taking our first unit math test of the year, and I wanted to make you aware of the routine I will follow. Each test will be preceded by a unit review. The review will be one of the three test versions provided by our math program. While the test questions will be different, the concepts covered on the review will be the same as those on the unit test. Please go over the review with your child and sign it like any other homework assignment. If your child demonstrates proficiency on the review, they will likely be successful on the test.

On the day of each unit test, we will go over each question on the review. I will also project the unit test on the Activboard before my students take the test, and read through and review the questions so the kids understand what they need to do. I will also be available to read and clarify questions during the test.

We have also begun WIN (What I Need) Time for math each Wednesday afternoon. Your child stays with me for remediation and enrichment in mathematics. I will be using this time to review important math vocabulary and teach the kids new math games. One of the activities we will do each Wednesday is to take a timed addition or subtraction test. Each test will be 100 problems and the students will have eight minutes to successfully complete as many problems as they are able. The goal is to reach 60 percent proficiency by the end of the first trimester. I told my students is I simply want to see improvement with each test. We took our first timed test this afternoon, and I was very pleased with their effort.

As a former fourth grade teacher I can say with confidence that being proficient with basic math facts is essential to being successful in later grades.

I also wanted to share a couple of other items.

We have P.E. with Mr. Weston on Day 1 and Day 4. Please make sure that your child comes to school either wearing tennis shoes or with tennis shoes in their backpack.

We also have book checkout every Day 2. Second graders may check out up to three library books. Library books will be coming home each day in the Kiwi Packs, as per our discussion at Parent Information Night. I am also sending my kids to the Media Center as needed to get new library books.

If you have any questions about the information in this blog entry, please don't hesitate to contact me. I would also welcome any suggestions you might have for future blog entries!