Fun Friday

I am always tickled to watch the kids on Fun Friday. They each have their favorite area. Cleaning Daisy's cage is still number 1 choice...go figure! Playing teacher, at teacher whiteboard, is a close second. Here are some pictures of the kids enjoying their time.

Adrionna creating a crown in art area.

Jayla and Gracey playing with Daisy after cleaning her cage!

Ellie and Iliza at teacher whiteboard.

Piper feeling proud of her block structure!

Easton, Charlotte and Kaylee making Christmas cookies with playdough.

Lucas and Gradey at legos.

The Holidays are Here

I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving. The holiday season is here and I am prepared for the daily question (multiple times) of "How many days until Christmas?". So with that in mind, I try to make December a time of fun but am still holding strong to our classroom routine. The kids rely on a routine and get CRAZY when it is changed. Just a few reminders: 1. Please remember to send a small snack daily for your child. When they don't have one, they think they will starve before lunch :). 2. We go out in cold weather so always send gloves, hats, etc. 3. Keep practicing those math facts, at home. The kids are already showing improvement with their fluency.

Doubles

An important skill for adding fluently is memorizing the double number facts. Once the kids have the doubles memorized, they can use the knowledge to figure out double plus one and minus one. For example: if they know 8+8 is 16 then it's easy to figure out 8+9. A great way to practice doubles, at home, is to flip over playing cards and quickly say the double. When your child gets good at this, have him/her flip over the card and name the doubles +1 fact or doubles +2. Here is a fun video we watched about doubles.

Project Lead the Way

We are fortunate to be a school that has implemented Project Lead the Way. It is STEM education: Integrating Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Our first unit is Matter and we have just recently jumped into it. Here was a video I showed that does an excellent job of describing matter. I promised the kids I would put it on the blog so they could view it at home! After watching it, encourage your child to make write 2 cool things they learned from the video and bring their writing to school to share.

Spelling

I am sending home a new spelling list this week. With the list are sentences that help the students with reading fluency. Please have your child read the sentences, each night, and record their time. It's always exciting for them to see their improvement in time!

Digging Deeper

Second grade readers are mastering the art of decoding text and really being asked to reflect about what they read. I emphasize, daily, that reading without comprehension is not the goal we are working towards. Many of the books we read require the kiddos to dig back through the book for the response. I can tell you it is not one of their favorite things. But, as adults, think of how often we need to revisit a text to get the information we need.

When you read with your student, at home, talk about the story elements. Who are the characters? What is the setting? What are the important events of the story?  Here's a fun video to watch with your child to emphasize story elements:


Here's an at-home challenge: After reading a story, have your child draw a picture about the story and list the characters, setting and 2 important detail. Have them bring it in to share during morning meeting.

Fun Friday

Teacher Whiteboard

Playdough

Wooden Blocks

Legos

Art

     We have officially started Fun Friday and it's a hit! The kids get to "cash in" their golden tickets for a fun area of play. As long as they have 1 ticket and their work done they are able to choose something. The kids with the most tickets get to choose their area first and the favorite areas fill fast!

Daisy is always the first area to fill. The amazing thing is it's not just to play with Daisy. They actually are in charge of CLEANING her cage!!

Wooden Blocks

     Just a reminder, we are still in need of LOTS of items for our fall carnival basket. A big thanks to Charlotte and Ellie for getting it started. Our theme is "As Seen on TV". Look for the logo:

Settling In

     This was our first week of what seemed like a "normal routine". The kiddos went to reading and writing choices successfully and I was able to work with small reading groups. We even started walk to math groups. It is so important to work into routines slowly and teach procedures but it sure does feel great when we get there.
   
     Spelling words always seem to create some anxiety in students. I sometimes thinks it's that word "test" that freaks them out. Obviously working towards a goal on a spelling test is important but more importantly I want my students to retain the words and be able to use them. Spelling lists have common patterns in them, such as blends, word families, vowel patterns. I want my students to really focus on these so that they can use the information in both reading and writing, not just for the test.
Here is a fun list of activities that can help with spelling at home. Making it fun is important and a few minutes of practice each night goes a long way!

     Thank you to Charlotte's family for bringing items for our basket. Remember out theme is "As Seen on Tv". It should be a fun basket with lots of diverse items.... Just look for the label. 

Hot Buttered Toast

We enjoyed some hot buttered toast on Friday. Our class is reading the Mercy Watson book series. The main character is a pig, named Mercy, who enjoys a great deal of butter on her toast. Here are some pictures of second graders enjoying a great deal of butter as well...

Mercy even has her own website that gives some fun details about the Mercy Watson  books. Visit the website: http://www.mercywatson.com/.  After visiting the site, have your child draw their favorite Mercy character and write 3 describing words about that character. Have your student bring it to school to share with classmates!

The fall carnival is quickly approaching and we are working on our classroom basket. The theme is "As Seen on TV". We are going to fill a basket with "As Seen on TV" items. Most of the stores have a section of these items. If you are able, please purchase and send an item to school. You may also send cash that can be used to purchase items for the basket. Here is a small picture of what we would like the basket to look like:

Building A Classroom Community

Building a positive classroom community is so important to establish a learning environment that students feel safe in. We are working hard to get to know each other and establishing classroom expectations. We talk about that fact that all learners are unique and add something special to our room. The kids are already learning many things about their peers and getting more comfortable with each other. Here are some pictures of the kids painting their self-portraits that will be up all year long. The portraits turned out great and are proudly on display!

Welcome

I am so excited for a new school year. I know it might be hard to believe but teachers get just as excited for back to school as you do! I love getting the classroom ready for my new students and always try to make it special for your first day.

Over the next few weeks, we will be spending a lot of time learning about classroom procedures as well as getting acquainted with one another. I want to share some pictures with you of my family and some of my favorite things. Happy New School Year!!!

Mr. King and I

My four kiddos- Lizzy, Spencer, Macy and Madelyn

Most days I need one of these!!!!

My great niece Imari who lives with us and attends Meadowlark

My sweet dog Charlie!