Happy Friday!

Happy Friday!

I hope you have all had a wonderful week!  The weekend looks like it will have some beautiful weather.  I hope you are able to go out and enjoy it with your kids!  Here is what we have planned for next week and some important things coming up!

Reading
This week, we worked on inferences.  We will continue to hit on this throughout the rest of the year.   The students did a really nice job being able to identify what schema they had about a topic,  what clues came from the text, and then use that information to make an inference.

Next week, we will be working on characters, reviewing character traits and looking at how characters change throughout a book.  This is something you can practice at home if you watch movies.  The students can see how the characters changed from the beginning of the movie to the end.

Writing
We will continue to work on informational writing next week.  The students worked on identifying the main idea of a short video this week.  Next week, we will work on identifying the main idea and details in an article.  We have introduced the idea of close reading which is reading an article or piece of writing more than once looking for different things each time.  They get to be text detectives as they research.  :)

Math
We are about ready to wrap up our unit over addition with regrouping.  The plan is to test over this unit on Wednesday.  Please continue practicing facts at home with your student.

Between our addition and subtraction units, we will be reviewing everything we have learned in math this year.  This way they don't forget anything.  :)

Science
We will continue to learn about the body next week.  This week, we learned about the digestive system.  We did a fun activity this week using a bag, crackers and water to demonstrate how the digestive system works. Next week, we will work on the nervous system.  If you get a chance, we have body posters hung up outside the room showing the lungs, heart, stomach, small and large intestines.  Check them out!

Valentine’s Day Party

Our V-Day Party is February 11^th from 1:45-2:30.  We will be decorating bags during the day to put student Valentine’s (if your child would like to decorate a Valentine’s Day Box to bring in to the classroom s/he may).  When bringing  in Valentine’s to share please bring enough for the entire class – we have 24 students in our class.  It is a lot easier when passing out Valentine’s to fill in the “From” but to leave the “To” blank so that we are not having to search for the correct bag – this can be really time consuming!

RBE Showcase

The RBE Showcase is being held February 29 from 10:30-11:00.  This will be a chance for your child to showcase something that s/he has been learning about.  More information will be coming but mark your calendars!!

Reading Week

Reading Week is March 7-11.  If you would like to be a mystery reader, let me know.  I will be sending out a Sign Up Genius next week with available times so you can sign up if you would like.  Also, Friday, March 11 will be Book Character Day, so start planning their outfits now.  :)  Remember, the costumes need to be school appropriate.

Parent Teacher Conferences Forms

If you haven't returned the parent teacher conference request form, please do so next week.  We will be scheduling conferences soon and I want to make sure everyone can attend.  Our goal is 100%!

Miss Rottjakob

If you haven't returned the form for Miss Rottjakob to give permission (or not give permission) for her to use your student's work for her projects, please do so next week.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Mrs. Ross and Miss Rottjakob

Happy Friday! (1/15)

Happy Friday!

I hope you have had a wonderful week!  We have had a lot of fun this week.  Check out the Making Fossils pictures.  The students had so much fun today being paleontologists.

Here is what we will be working on next week!

Reading

• We will be working on inferences for the next two weeks.  Inferences are made by taking clues from the text and your schema (or background knowledge) to think about how the characters are feeling or how they may respond in a situation.  This can be a difficult skill for students to grasp at first, especially when asked to provide evidence or reasons from the text to support their inference.  
• We will be doing activities to make inferences to help them grasp the concept and then we will move into making inferences in stories that we are reading.

Writing

• We are continuing to work on our informational writing unit.  We will continue working on our autobiographies next week.  If you haven't talked with your student about a funny story from their younger years (that they probably won't remember), please do so.  We will be using these stories as they start to create their auto biography.
• We are starting to focus more on grammar and word work (synonyms, antonyms, etc.) in the second half of the year.  We are teaching them in mini lessons and then practicing them at centers during reading.  

Math

• We will continue to work on 2-digit addition next week.  The idea of regrouping was introduced this week and we will continue to practice it next week.  The students have been taught the traditional algorithm for 2-digit addition, but have also been taught the break apart method.  This method has the students break the number into tens and ones, then add each, then put the total together.  This is easier for some students because it is more concrete and doesn't require them to regroup (even though they really are).  I teach both methods so the students can choose which method works best for them.
• Please continue to practice math facts at home.  It makes the 2-digit addition easier for them if they know the math facts "in a snap."

Science

• This week we learned about the respiratory system in health.  The students learned about the lungs and trachea, both the location and their "job."  They created a model of a lung and a diagram.  
• Next week, we will be learning about the circulatory system.
• Grandma Jane, our foster grandparent, had her respiratory nurse some talk with the kids this week, if you have anyone who would like to come talk with the students about a system of the body, please let me know.  They love having guest speakers.  :)
• We will continue to learn about fossils and dinosaurs on Fridays.  The students have taken a huge interest in the topic.  We are tying the dinosaurs/fossils into our informational writing unit also.  

Reading Week

• Reading Week will be March 7-11 (I know a ways off, but just giving you a heads up). 
• We will have dress up days for each day.  Friday, March 11, will be Book Character Day.  I will send home the other days closer to Reading Week, but I always like to give a heads up on the more "elaborate" dress up days.  :)
• On Friday of Reading Week (March 11), we will have Reading with the Stars on Friday of that week.  Mrs. McKinzie has set up some local celebrities to read to the students.  
• If you would like to come in and read to the class, please let me know, I will be sending out a Sign Up Genius closer to Reading Week.  

Have a fabulous weekend!  Remember, no school on Monday due to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!

Mrs. Ross

Happy Friday!

We made it through the first week back!  :)  The students had a great week.  The came back ready to get in the routine of school and to be learners!

I have put the newsletter under the Newsletter tab.  Please read over it so you know all the fun things we have going on in the classroom!

We will be having Reading Week again this year.  It will be March 7-11.  I know that is still 2 months away, but I will be sending out a Sign Up Genius closer to that time for guest readers, so I wanted to give everyone plenty of time to plan accordingly if you would like to be a guest reader in the classroom.  The kids always think it is fun to have their family or family friends come in and read.  If you have any connections to "local celebrities" that would like to come read to the class, we would lave that also!  Last year, one of my students had their uncle record themselves reading and then send us the video.  This way they could be a guest reader even though they couldn't travel to Missouri.  I will be sending more information out as this week gets closer.

There are differing forecasts for this weekend and who knows if any of them will be right :), but please make sure you read over the email that was sent earlier this week about weather preparations related to school.  The email had information regarding where to find out if school is canceled or if there is a late start related to the weather.  Again, who knows if this forecast will be correct or if it will even affect school on Monday, but it's always good to know the information.  :)

Also, a slight change to homework.  Since we are in the second half of 2nd grade, I want the students to do a bit more reading.  Each night I would like them to read for 15 minutes instead of 10 minutes.  This will help them ease into more reading each night.  Next year in 3rd grade, they will be expected to read more each night.

Have a wonderful weekend and stay warm!

Mrs. Ross

Welcome Back! A day late :)

Happy 2016!  I hope you all had a wonderful break with friends and family and were able to get your batteries recharged.  :)

We had a wonderful day yesterday!  I could tell the students were a bit on the tired side, but they came back and got right back into the routine of school.

Here is our plan for the next week or so.  :)

Reading

• In reading this week, we will be discussing connections.  We will look at text-to-self connections, text-to-text connections and text-to-world connections.  These will allow the students to look at things they notice in books that remind them of things in their life, other books or things going on in the world.  It is important for students to focus on "deeper" connections in the books.  Many times they will have a connection that the main character is a boy and so are they, but we want to look deeper into the book and make connections based on how the characters are feeling or situations the characters are in.  We will be using The Berenstain Bears books to look at connections because the main characters are kids (even if they are bears) and many of the situations they experience are ones that the students have experienced also.  

Writing

• We have looked at New Year's Resolutions and discussed setting goals.  We talked about how it is important when setting goals for it to be something that you can achieve, but they you will need to work towards as well.
• We also will be starting our next writing unit which is our informational writing.  The students will learn to research and take notes (using graphic organizers) about a topic and then using that information to write a book about their topic.  We will start with short informational pieces all about the same topic to learn the process and then we will move on to each student researching a topic of their choice and creating a presentation.

Math

• We are starting our next unit of math this week.  This is a topic that students haven't been taught at school yet.  We will be learning 2-digit addition.  We will start with simply setting up the problems without regrouping, but then we will move to regrouping and carrying numbers.  Students aren't taught regrouping in first grade, so this will be a new topic.  
• Please continue to practice the basic facts at home.  It will make the 2-digit addition much easier if they know their basic facts "in a snap." :)

Health

• We have started our health unit over the body systems.  The students will learn about the circulatory, respiratory, digestive, muscular, skeletal and nervous systems.  We will spend one week on each system.  We have books to read, experiments and activities for the students to do as they learn about each system.  
• They will be learning a lot of fun and interesting facts about their body.  Be sure to ask them what they have learned.  

Homework

• Just a reminder about homework, your student is to read for at least 10 minutes each night and have a parent write down the time and initial the reading.  They have a reading response that is due on Friday each week, they may complete it early if they would like.  They will need to do only 1 night of math each night.  Please have them only complete one of the squares on the sheet, this helps them in the routine of having nightly homework which will help as they go further in school.  

Winter Weather

• Please check the weather and make sure your student is dressed appropriately each day.  We will go outside if at all possible and it is important that your student has a winter coat, hat and gloves.  Our playground can get windy which can cause it it feel much colder than the actual air temperature.  
• If you need assistance getting your student a coat, hat or gloves, please let me know.

Have a wonderful day (and stay warm)!