I apologize for how long it has been since I was last on here. I really am in need of feedback from parents as to whether this is suitable or if you would like a paper newsletter. I don't think it would be weekly.
Anyway, we have been very busy here! We have been practicing our Daily 5 routines and incorporating them into our guided reading. I assessed the students this past week and am pleased with the growth that some of them have made.
I want to thank all of you for making sure your child is dressed for the weather. They are usually bundled up and ready for the cold and snow. I do keep extra hats and gloves in my room that they may borrow so rest assured they are not going out in the cold without them.
A few reminders - The Christmas concert is Monday night at the high school at 7:00.
Our Christmas party will be Wednesday so make sure the gift for the gift exchange is here if they are participating. Wednesday is our last day until after New Year's. Where has the time gone?
Keep practicing on the ixl and xtra math at home. We do xtramath 3 mornings a week in the room. At least once a week we go to the lab to do ixl.
I hope everyone stays warm and has a great weekend.
Mrs. Staker
Friday, December 17, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Wed., Nov. 10
Apologies for letting this slip lately. We have finished up our telling time unit in math and will take the test on Friday. Our next unit will be geometry. I am thinking with Thanksgiving break coming up we may do a little problem solving in there also.
Second grade is changing the way we are doing reading starting next week. Mrs. Gardner and I are going to start a new way of teaching reading (new to us) called the Daily 5. It will still allow us to meet with small groups or individual students and work on the skills they need. The students seem excited about the change, with the little I have told them so far, so I hope it helps them all become better readers and writers!
Second grade is changing the way we are doing reading starting next week. Mrs. Gardner and I are going to start a new way of teaching reading (new to us) called the Daily 5. It will still allow us to meet with small groups or individual students and work on the skills they need. The students seem excited about the change, with the little I have told them so far, so I hope it helps them all become better readers and writers!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Thursday, Oct. 28
First of all, thank you to all the parents who came to conferences. It is so important that we keep communication going between us as the year progresses.
Second, the weather is changing so please make sure your child is dressed appropriately. A sweatshirt for outside recess probably won't be enough anymore. There are days when a hat and gloves are even needed. As soon as we get snow (sorry) we will be requiring snow pants and boots also. Hopefully, that is a ways away!
As your student may have told you, we released our butterflies on Monday afternoon. I would have loved to keep them through conferences but that wouldn't have been fair. Mrs. Gardner's class is still waiting for them to emerge.
I am going to attempt to upload a few pictures this week on my blog so wish me luck. For some reason I have had problems doing that. Remember there is no school tomorrow so enjoy the long weekend!
Second, the weather is changing so please make sure your child is dressed appropriately. A sweatshirt for outside recess probably won't be enough anymore. There are days when a hat and gloves are even needed. As soon as we get snow (sorry) we will be requiring snow pants and boots also. Hopefully, that is a ways away!
As your student may have told you, we released our butterflies on Monday afternoon. I would have loved to keep them through conferences but that wouldn't have been fair. Mrs. Gardner's class is still waiting for them to emerge.
I am going to attempt to upload a few pictures this week on my blog so wish me luck. For some reason I have had problems doing that. Remember there is no school tomorrow so enjoy the long weekend!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Wednesday, Oct. 13
Are we ever excited! Yesterday when we went home we only had one butterfly larva that had made a chrysalis. Today we have 10, and we were lucky enough to watch one actually make it's chrysalis!
We will be discussing why our butterflies are changing faster than Mrs. Gardner's butterflies. Her larvae have not changed as of noon today. There is a reason. Ask your child why that is happening.
We will be discussing why our butterflies are changing faster than Mrs. Gardner's butterflies. Her larvae have not changed as of noon today. There is a reason. Ask your child why that is happening.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Friday, Oct. 8
Love this weather and so do the children!
BUTTERFLIES - Our butterfly larvae showed up on Wednesday afternoon. The class was very excited to check out their larva. Each student has a cup of their own with one in it and there is a class cup with 4 or 5 in it. We did some initial observations about size, shape, color, etc. Then the students described their larva and drew a picture of it. I had them all do predictions as to when they think they will turn into a butterfly. Our predictions ranged from 2 minutes to 8 months. We will see if anyone is close to the date that the first one changes. Today they were amazed to see how much they grew. Below are a few of their observations:
The larva grew overnight almost double.
They are moving more.
Eat a lot of food because there is less food in the cup.
They like to hang from the lid.
We will be finishing up our subtraction chapter next week and plan on the test next Thursday. We will review on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Today the students shared their animal reports with the class. Their reports and dioramas will be on display in the media center during conferences. They did a very nice job on these. We will be studying insects on Monday and Tuesday. We will review animals on Wednesday and then take a test on Thursday. I know it seems like a lot of tests on Thursday but there is no school on Friday.
Mrs. Faircloth will finish her teaching next Thursday. I will be taking over the morning work next week while she finishes up her units in the afternoons. The last week she will spend some time observing some of the other classrooms in our building. She has done a nice job. You should find a homework assignment in your child's Friday folder. Please have this brought back by next Thursday. The students should give them to me, not Mrs. Faircloth. If your child does not have one, it is because they will be working on it here.
Reminders:
Book orders are due back on Mon., Oct. 18th.
No school next Friday.
Please return conference slips next week in case we need to make any changes.
Have a great weekend!
BUTTERFLIES - Our butterfly larvae showed up on Wednesday afternoon. The class was very excited to check out their larva. Each student has a cup of their own with one in it and there is a class cup with 4 or 5 in it. We did some initial observations about size, shape, color, etc. Then the students described their larva and drew a picture of it. I had them all do predictions as to when they think they will turn into a butterfly. Our predictions ranged from 2 minutes to 8 months. We will see if anyone is close to the date that the first one changes. Today they were amazed to see how much they grew. Below are a few of their observations:
The larva grew overnight almost double.
They are moving more.
Eat a lot of food because there is less food in the cup.
They like to hang from the lid.
We will be finishing up our subtraction chapter next week and plan on the test next Thursday. We will review on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Today the students shared their animal reports with the class. Their reports and dioramas will be on display in the media center during conferences. They did a very nice job on these. We will be studying insects on Monday and Tuesday. We will review animals on Wednesday and then take a test on Thursday. I know it seems like a lot of tests on Thursday but there is no school on Friday.
Mrs. Faircloth will finish her teaching next Thursday. I will be taking over the morning work next week while she finishes up her units in the afternoons. The last week she will spend some time observing some of the other classrooms in our building. She has done a nice job. You should find a homework assignment in your child's Friday folder. Please have this brought back by next Thursday. The students should give them to me, not Mrs. Faircloth. If your child does not have one, it is because they will be working on it here.
Reminders:
Book orders are due back on Mon., Oct. 18th.
No school next Friday.
Please return conference slips next week in case we need to make any changes.
Have a great weekend!
Friday, October 1, 2010
Friday, Oct. 1
Love this weather! The students are certainly excited about Homecoming today! Lots of blue in our classroom. Jocelyn Sieh won the most blue in our room with 20 blue items on today. Congratulations Jocelyn!
The students are starting their dioramas for science. They sketched out a picture of what it will look like and have written a rough draft of their paper. I think these are going to be a great learning activity.
In math they have been working on subtraction. We did the basic count back using a number line which was really just a review. Today they used unifix cubes to work with a partner to make doubles facts.
I was really impressed with the spelling tests we took this week. Thanks to all who helped their child prepare for these tests. You will find the tests in the Friday folder.
Also in the Friday folder are 2 comprehension tests we took this week. I may get the grammar assessment checked today but if not, it will come home next week.
Mrs. Faircloth has one more week of teaching all subject areas. After next week, I will take over reading again. She will continue with science and math.
Next week we will do some fire prevention activities and have an assembly on Thursday with the Reinbeck Fire Department. They always do such a great job with the kids.
Wednesday is an early dismissal for inservice. We will be working on reading with the Gladbrook teachers. Students will be dismissed at 12:45.
The students are starting their dioramas for science. They sketched out a picture of what it will look like and have written a rough draft of their paper. I think these are going to be a great learning activity.
In math they have been working on subtraction. We did the basic count back using a number line which was really just a review. Today they used unifix cubes to work with a partner to make doubles facts.
I was really impressed with the spelling tests we took this week. Thanks to all who helped their child prepare for these tests. You will find the tests in the Friday folder.
Also in the Friday folder are 2 comprehension tests we took this week. I may get the grammar assessment checked today but if not, it will come home next week.
Mrs. Faircloth has one more week of teaching all subject areas. After next week, I will take over reading again. She will continue with science and math.
Next week we will do some fire prevention activities and have an assembly on Thursday with the Reinbeck Fire Department. They always do such a great job with the kids.
Wednesday is an early dismissal for inservice. We will be working on reading with the Gladbrook teachers. Students will be dismissed at 12:45.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Monday, September 27
I apologize for no post this past weekend. Where did the weekend go? We have finished our reading theme for the first 5 stories. We are now having a review week. This week will look differently than previous weeks. The students will be testing quite a bit. Today they will take a sentence dictation pretest. This will be 5 sentences with some spelling words in them. To pass the test every sentence must be spelled correctly and capitalization and punctuation correct. If they pass the pretest they have freetime during spelling on Friday. On Wed. they will take a multiple choice spelling test and Thursday is a 20 word test. That list will come home today. In this way we cover every spelling word we have had this theme. Today we are taking a reading skills test. This includes vocabulary and the story elements we have been working on. The students will also take two tests over comprehension. It is a very busy week as we will still have guided reading during the week.
Hopefully everyone had a chance to look over your child's math test. This week we will start subtraction strategies. Ask your child if they can explain bubble math to you. It is something new we are doing.
We are still studying animals and will be working on our dioramas. Thanks to all who have sent boxes and/or items for their child's diorama.
If your child wants to purchase any of the items the cheerleaders are selling, send it to school with the money in a baggie or envelope. We give them to the cheerleaders and then they will get the items to us on Friday.
Sounds like we are going to have a great week weatherwise so enjoy it.
Hopefully everyone had a chance to look over your child's math test. This week we will start subtraction strategies. Ask your child if they can explain bubble math to you. It is something new we are doing.
We are still studying animals and will be working on our dioramas. Thanks to all who have sent boxes and/or items for their child's diorama.
If your child wants to purchase any of the items the cheerleaders are selling, send it to school with the money in a baggie or envelope. We give them to the cheerleaders and then they will get the items to us on Friday.
Sounds like we are going to have a great week weatherwise so enjoy it.
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