Happy Friday!

Happy Friday!

I hope you have all had a wonderful week!  We have been very busy in Room 27!  There is a lot of information in this post, please take the time to read over it.  :)

Chicken BBQ
The Chicken BBQ is just 2 short weeks away.  Our PTA has been working very hard to get everything set up.  If you would like to purchase tickets, please send in the order form (sent home a few weeks ago in Friday folders) with your student and PTA volunteers will return the bag with tickets included.  I will be sending home a list of all the fabulous auction items when I get it.  :)  This is our big fundraiser for PTA and we are very lucky to have such a wonderful and generous PTA at RBE.

Books Read
The students asked me to make a "Books Read" section of the blog, so I created a page and will update it weekly of all the books that have been read aloud to the students.  I love sharing wonderful books with them!  Here is our list so far. If you have fabulous picture books you think I should share with the class, please let me know!

Custodian Day
October 2 is Custodian's Day, so we celebrated today, since the 2nd is on Sunday.  The students each created a key that said something they appreciate that Mr. Jim (our custodian) does around the school.  Then we glued them to a big key and the kids sang a cute song to tell Mr. Jim thank you for all his hard work!

Crayon Day
We were very colorful today for Crayon Day.  One of the kids had the idea to hold their hands up like the top of a crayon.  They are so creative!

Fabulous Front Teeth (or a fabulous gap if they are missing)
As promised, here is our class and Ms. Mottaz's class showing off their pearly whites.  :)

Veteran's Day Assembly
We will have a Veteran's Day assembly on November 9.  I will send out the time once it is finalized.  The students will be performing a song at the assembly.  Please your child wear red, white and blue to school on November 9. Also, there will be a slide show of veterans.  If there is a veteran in your family that you would like recognized in the slide show, please send a picture of teh veteran as well as their name, your child's name and how they are related to Mrs. Sharp.  Her email is esharp@cpsk12.org.

Maker Space
Today in MakerSpace, the students made duct tape bookmarks today.  They made two bookmarks, some students are bringing both home, others are bringing one home and kept one at school.

Book It
In your student's Friday folder is the Book-It note as well as the calendar to keep track of minutes read.  The goal for 2nd grade students is to read 300 minutes during the month.  If they do their normal homework plus 5 minutes a night, they will reach their goal.  They can, of course, read more than 300 minutes a month if they would like.  To receive their pizza for October, they need to have their reading completed in October and have their calendar turned in by November 2.

McTeacher Night
McTeacher Night is Tuesday, October 4 at the Nifong McDonald's.  This is a fundraiser for the schools.  Rock Bridge Faculty and Staff will be there throughout the event which runs from 4 p.m.-8 p.m.  I will be there from 4:30 p.m.-5:00 p.m.  It's a great way to raise money for RBE and then you don't have to cook dinner.  :)


Bird Day
Our Bird Day field trip is October 12. Thank you to everyone who has send in the form about lunch that day.  If you haven't, please send back the form so I can let the cafeteria know how many lunches we will need from them.  It will be a very fun day for the students and they learn a lot about birds from the Audubon Society.

Social Studies
Today, we challenged the kids to define culture, civics, history, geography and economics.  At the meeting I went to on Monday with the Social Studies coordinator for Columbia Public Schools, he discussed the importance of students knowing a common vocabulary in social studies from elementary school all the way through high school  We first showed them the words and they discussed with a partner, then showed them pictures and they discussed, then labeled the pictures with the 5 vocabulary words and they changed their definitions and ultimately came together to create definitions for each word.  I am so impressed with how hard the students words.  They did an awesome job creating these definitions.  As we were discussing geography, we looked at Google Earth.  The students absolutely loved  it, so they may be asking you to get on Google Earth at home.  :)

History: something that happened a long time ago (in the past), items or events that are really old
Culture: things that represent different countries, differences among countries, people of different countries
Geography: study and use of maps, land
Civics: government
Economics: study of money

Next Week's Learning
Math
Next week in math, the students will continue working on money identification and value.  They will work on a project called "T-Shirt Factory" where they apply their knowledge of place value to determine how many boxes are needed to ship t-shirts.  The students are doing a fabulous job with place value and I can't wait to see them apply this knowledge!

Reading
Next week in reading, we will be working on strategies to use when they come to an unknown word.  I will have a book mark for students to use at home that has all the stratgies on it.  Please encourage your student to use these strategies when reading at home.  It is very important for them to know what to do when they come to an unknown word because if they don't have strategies for unknown words it can cause them to not comprehend what they read.

Writing
We finished our final lead today.  They have created a sound lead, talking lead, question lead and an action lead for their story.  On Monday, they will get with a partner to pick the best lead for their story and then write the beginning.  The beginning of their story should have a lead, introduce characters and the setting.  After they have completed their beginning, we will start our middle.

Science
We will be learnin all about birds next week in science.  We will learn about different adaptations birds have that allow them to survive.  The students will also learn about different types of beaks and what type of food the different birds eat based on their beak.  This will get them ready for bird day!

Intervention
We will start our Reading Intervention next week.  This is a 30 minute block of time each day where all students will be working on reading.  Some will be working independently and some will be working in small groups.  Some students will be in a group with myself and some will be in a group with Ms. Mottaz.  We will be working on decoding strategies (strategies for unknown words), fluency (not reading like a robot and using expression) and comprehension (understanding what they read).

Have a fabulous weekend!

Mrs. Ross

Happy Thursday!

Happy Thursday!

I hope you have had a wonderful week so far!  We have been very productive in Room 27!

We lost more teeth today!  Three kids lost teeth today and the funny thing is two of them are the same ones that lost teeth on Tuesday.  Those tooth fairies must be busy.  :)I meant to get a picture of the entire class so we could compare toothless smiles, but didn't get around to it.  It will be in tomorrow's post.  :)

Spirit Day

Tomorrow is our first Spirit Day.  It is Crayon Day.  If your student would like to participate, they can wear as much of their favorite color as they would like.  :)

If you would like to start planning for other Spirit Days, here is the list for the year.  

Chicken BBQ Tickets

The kids and I talked about Chicken BBQ today.  We talked about the auction items and also buying tickets.  There are three prices for tickets.  Adult tickets are $9 and include half a chicken, youth tickets are $7 and include 1/4 chicken and child tickets are $5 and include chicken legs.  Each meal has green beans, apple sauce, a roll and a piece of pie.  This is our BIG fundraiser for PTA.  They do so much for our school and they have the funding for everything mainly from the Chicken BBQ, so if you're able to come out and support the PTA on October 15, that would be great!  We do have a drive thru available if you're short on time.  :)

The auction has a lot of great items again this year.  When I get a list of the items, I will be sending it home in Friday folders as well as on the blog.  We worked on our Teacher Town auction entries today.  :)  I will finish them next week and will post pictures.  We also discussed the STEAM Bus as part of the auction.  The STEAM Bus is a bus that has a lot of different science, technology, engineering, arts and math activities on it. Craig Adams is the coordinator for the STEAM Bus and he has donated a full day on the STEAM Bus for one class.   The kids and I discussed today that if parents are interested, they can pool their money together (from the same class) and try to win the day on the STEAM Bus for a class.  The winning student's entire class will get the enjoy the bus.  If you would like more information about the bus, you can visit the website here.

Your student should have brought a Ziploc bag home a few weeks ago to purchase tickets, if you don't have the bag, but would still like to order, you can send in a note with how many tickets you would like to purchase and the money for the tickets.  Tickets are also available the day of at the BBQ.

I look forward to seeing everyone there!  I will be working the Drive Thru and then walking around with my family.

Bird Day Forms

Thank you to everyone who has returned the forms about Bird Day.  If you haven't returned the form, please do so.  This will allow me to let the cafeteria know how many lunches are needed that day.  

McTeacher Night

Next Tuesday, October 4, is McTeacher Night at the Nifong McDonald's from 4 p.m.-8 p.m.  McDonald's donates a portion of profits made during this time back to RBE.  RBE faculty and staff will be working in different shifts throughout the night.  I will be working from 4:30-5:00 p.m.  It's a way to raise money for RBE and not make dinner.  :)

Word Study

We discussed "Magic e" yesterday and today and the students have a good understanding that CVC (Consonant, Vowel, Consonant) words (example: mad or rob) make a short vowel sound and CVCe (Consonant, Vowel, Consonant e) words (example: made or robe) make a long vowel sound.  We learned the pattern yesterday, then today we created a list of CVC and CVCe words, then they worked in their word study packets.  As a reminder, the spelling words this week and next focus on short & long a words:  Short a Words: glass, fast, last, snap, and sack. Long a Words: make, page, face, same, and came.

Book It

Coming home in Friday Folders is a Book It! form.  Book It! is a reading promotional program through Pizza Hut.  I will be discussing this with the class on Friday, but wanted to go ahead and let you know that we will be participating in the program this year.  The goal that the second grade teachers has set is for each student to read 300 minutes each month at home (they would be able to meet this goal if they read 5 extra minutes each night for homework, or read for 15 minutes 5 nights instead of 4 nights).  Your child's responsibility is to fill in the number of minutes read each night & then add the total minutes for the week.  October's Reading Log is due by November 2nd.  

I will post again tomorrow with what our plan is for next week!

Have a wonderful evening!

Mrs. Ross

Chicken BBQ and Picture Day Fun!

Happy Tuesday!

I hope you are all enjoying this BEAUTIFUL weather today!  I wanted to share some fun pictures we took today.  :)

Picture Day
All students had their pictures taken today.  They all looked so nice.  I love seeing the kids all dressed up for picture day!  If you didn't order and would like to, your student has a blue paper they brought home with directions for ordering.

Also, I have never had kids loose teeth before on picture day and today, we had 2 that lost front teeth.  :)  Definitely will make for a cute 2nd grade school picture.  :)

Chicken BBQ

The Chicken BBQ is right around the corner, which is crazy!  PTA volunteers will be coming around to pick up BBQ ticket orders tomorrow (in addition to many other times between now and the BBQ), so if you would like to purchase tickets, please send in the order form with money and the tickets will be sent home.  In addition to ticket sales, the other large part of the fundraiser is the silent auction.  Our PTA has been working very hard to get donations from local businesses.  In addition, we have a Teacher Town portion of the auction.  This is where classes has items for auction.  I will give you a sneak peak below of our items for the BBQ.  In addition, I will have a pizza party for the winning student and 2 of his/her friends at lunch time.  I will provide pizza, dessert and a drink.  :)  Thank you in advance for your support of RBE and the PTA.  We are very lucky to have such wonderful parents who support the school!

Weather Expectations

I went over the Recess Weather Expectations with the students today.  They know the expectations and we talked about bringing a light jacket as it gets cooler even if they don't end up wearing it at recess.  It's better to be prepared than be cold.  :)

Color Day

On Friday, September 30 is our first spirit day for the year.  If they choose to participate, they can wear as much of their favorite color or as many colors as possible.  :)

Freedoms Poster

We wrapped up our study of the Constitution, symbols and freedom today by creating a poster.  The students did a fabulous job on their posters.  They will be hanging in the hallway.  Come check them out.

Have a wonderful evening!

Mrs. Ross

Happy Monday!

I hope you have had a wonderful start to the week and the kids enjoyed an extra day off.  :)

I went to a meeting about social studies this morning and came back with some fun ideas for activities to use with the students!

I just wanted to send home a few reminders since we had the long weekend.

Picture Day is Tomorrow!

• Tomorrow (Tuesday, September 27) is Picture Day.  Please send in your student's picture packet and/or receipt from online if you are purchasing pictures tomorrow.  All students will have their picture taken even if they aren't ordering pictures.

Spelling Words for the Week (and next)

• Due to the shortened week, we will not be testing over these words until next Friday (October 6).  We are focusing on long a and short a words this week
• Short A: glass, last, fast, snap, sack
• Long A: make, same, came, page, face

Cooler Weather

• Please make sure your student is dressed appropriately for the weather.  We definitely had a cold front come in and the fall temperatures are here.  It can be chilly at our morning recess, so please make sure you student has a jacket.  
• We have Grade Level Weather Rules for what the students need to be wearing at recess.  Please check them out. :)

Enjoy the rest of your evening and I look forward to seeing the kids tomorrow!

Mrs. Ross

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday!

I hope you have had a wonderful week!  The students have worked very hard in the classroom this week.  There is a lot of important information in this post, so please take the time to read it.  :)

No School on Monday, September 26: Teacher Work Day

Pictures
We have Picture Day on Tuesday, September 27.  If you are planning to order pictures, please send in the packets on Tuesday or if you have ordered online, please send in the receipt.

Recess Attire :)
I realize this part of the post seems silly with the crazy temperature we have had this week, but the forecast is cooler next week.  :)  We have our morning recess at 9:50 a.m. and it can still be a bit chilly, especially on cloudy days.  Please check the forecast and send a light jacket with your student if it isn't going to be really hot.  It isn't fun at recess if you are cold.

Friday Folder Papers
There are some important papers in the Friday folder, so I just wanted to give you a heads up on some of them.  :)

Flu Clinic
The student flu clinic is October 3.  If you would like your student to participate, please fill out the consent form and return it with your student.  If you have already returned the form for this year's clinic, your student is already on the list.  :)

Peanut Free Classroom
We are now a peanut free classroom.  In the Friday folder is specifics regarding what it means to be a "Peanut Free Classroom."  If you have questions, please let me know and we appreciate your understanding as we want all students to be safe at school.

Bird Day Field Trip
We will be going to the Audubon Bird Park on October 12.  In your student's Friday folder is information about the trip.  We will be eating lunch at the park, so your student will need to bring a sack lunch from home (all disposable containers please) or will need to purchase a sack lunch from school.  If your student needs to purchase a lunch, please indicate this on the form so we can let the cafeteria know how many lunches are needed.

MU Consent Form
We are very lucky to have MU in Columbia and have MU students come into the classroom to help the students.  In the Friday folder is a consent form for the MU students to use work samples (no names) from students.  Please read over the form, check the appropriate statement at the bottom and return the form to school with your student.

Favorite Color Day
Service Club has started planning Spirit Days for the school.  Our first spirit day is next Friday, September 30.  It is Favorite Color Day.  If your student would like to participate, they can wear as much of their favorite color as possible.  :)  We will look like a bag of Skittles in Room 27!

Next Week's Learning
Reading
We focused on identifying the problem in a story this week.  Next week, we will work on identifying the solution in a story.  We will also discuss other possible solutions for the problem.  The students did a nice job identifying multiple problems in the stories we read this week.

The new Otis book, Otis and the Kittens came out this week, so we read it today and identified the problem in this book.  We also compared this Otis book to the other Otis books.  If you haven't read the Otis books, I highly recommend them.  They are about a tractor and his adventures with his friends on the farm.

Writing
This week, we worked on identifying our setting and characters in our story.  Next week, we will continue working on components of our beginning.  We will learn about different types of leads (the first sentence of a story to grab the reader's attention) and they will choose the best one for their stories.  After they have choosen their lead, we will write their beginning which includes the lead, introduces the character and setting.

Math
Next week, we will wrap up place value.  The students have done well representing a number using standard form (just the number), expanded form (writing the number out as a number sentence) and place value blocks.  We will also start talking about money.  It is a smooth transition from place value because pennies are ones, dimes are tens and dollars are hundreds.

Expanded form of 123.


Place value blocks to represent 233.

Social Studies
The students learned about the U.S. Symbols the last two weeks.  Today, we introduced the students to the Constitution.  We discussed the Preamble and used the book We the Kids to explain the meaning of the Preamble.  We also discussed some of the freedoms that citizens of the United States have.  The started a project where they will show their favorite symbols and freedoms of the United States.

Have a wonderful weekend and remember, no school on Monday.

Mrs. Ross

Curriculum Chat Today!

A HUGE thank you to everyone who was able to come to Curriculum Chat today!  I know the kids enjoyed showing their video and sharing their work with you.

Here are some pictures from today.

If you weren't able to come today, your student should have brought their Day in the Life of a 2nd Grader book.  Here is a link to the video the students created.  It was a lot of fun to see the actor/actress side of the students come out!

It was brought to my attention today that some of the spelling words were typed incorrectly on the homework this week.  I apologize for this.  The correct words are word, work, here, how, try, over, month, as, does and able.  The words they have been practicing at school are the correct words.

Thank you again for all your support at home!  I definitely have some lucky to students to have such supportive and involved parents!

Have a wonderful evening!

Mrs. Ross

Curriculum Chat Tomorrow!

Happy Monday!

I hope you have had a wonderful Monday!  We were very busy preparing for Curriculum Chat!

Curriculum Chat

Your student has been working extremely hard on preparing for Curriculum Chat!  As a reminder, 2nd Grade Curriculum Chat is at 7:45 a.m. tomorrow (Tuesday, September 20).  

• If you are bringing your child to school, please remember that the tardy bell rings at 7:40 - so your child needs to be here by then (even though Curriculum Chat starts at 7:45).
• We will be having a typical Morning Work before 7:45.  If you are here early you can sit with your child completing his/her Morning Work activities.  
• We have a video that the students put together that we will watch first altogether.  Then, when the video is finished, your child has a checklist to show you everything that s/he has worked on during the first month of school.
• I completely understand that some people might not be able to make it tomorrow.  I will be posting the link to the video after Curriculum Chat.  If you are able to come and see a child without a visitor, please have him/her join your group - so they have an opportunity to share also.

I am looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow at 7:45!!

Texas Roadhouse Dine-Out Fundraiser

As a reminder, tonight & tomorrow night is the RBE PTA fundraiser at Texas Roadhouse.  You will need to mention or present the flyer that was sent home in your child's Friday Folder this past weekend.  10% of your food purchase will be donated to RBE.  It's a great way to earn a little extra money for RBE and not have to cook dinner.  :)

Homework and Spelling

Your child is bringing home his/her homework tonight.  We added a section to the homework that lists the Spelling Words for the week.  Please remember that practicing spelling words is not a requirement on homework, but it is recommended to practice nightly.  Next week, the spelling words will no longer be "trick words" but we will start talking about vowel patterns.

Have a wonderful evening and I look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow morning!

Mrs. Ross

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday!

I hope you had a wonderful week.  We definitely had a fun filled week in Room 27!  Here is some of the fun activities from this week and then what we will be working on next week.  :)

Curriculum Chat
Curriculum Chat is Tuesday, September 20 from 7:45-8:15 a.m.  The students have created a video and a book to share with you about their day.  It will be a very fun way for you to learn about what they are learning in 2nd grade.  I hope you can join us!

Celebrations
The students earned their 25th star as a class yesterday, so today we had our celebration.  They had 30 minutes to play on the iPads today.  Some of them played games, some did ST Math, some played with the Quiver app from yesterday.

MakerSpace

Today in MakerSpace, the students played with Makey Makey which allows them to create circuits using fruits, vegetables, playdoh and even themselves.  :)  They were able to start and stop videos by giving each other high fives.

Spelling Words

Our spelling words for next week are word, work, here, how, try, over, month, does, and able.  The words will also be on next week's homework.  They aren't a required part of homework, but it is recommended to study them nightly.  

Chicken BBQ Tickets

The RBE Chicken BBQ is less than a month away.  It is October 15, 2016.  The ticket packets went home in Friday folders today.  It is a long running tradition at RBE. This is our PTA fundraiser for the year.  PTA uses the money to provide the students, teachers and school as a whole different items.  They provide funding for field trips, classroom supplies, iPads, to just mention a few.  I hope that you can all attend.  For those who haven't come before, it is a lot of fun, with an awesome auction as well as amazing chicken!  If your student sells tickets, they can send the money in as they sell them and PTA members collect the money and send home the tickets.

Restaurant Fundraisers

On Monday and Tuesday, if you eat at Texas Roadhouse, they will give a percentage of the total bill back to RBE.  There is a sheet in your student's Friday folder with specific information.

McTeacher Night is October 4.  McDonald's will give a percentage of the total sales back to RBE.  

Both a great ways for RBE to earn some money, and you don't have to cook dinner.  :)

Homework

Thank you for helping your student get their homework completed each night and helping them remember to bring it back daily.  As an added incentive for homework completion and good behavior, I will be starting the Good Citizenship Club.  Students who have completed all their homework (and had it signed) for 2 weeks and have had no think sheets or office referrals can eat lunch in the classroom with me on Friday.  This will start over every 2 weeks, so even if the students miss it one week, there will be multiple opportunities. 

Reading

Next week, we will continue to work on story elements.  We will focus on problem and solution next week.  We will identify what went wrong in the story and how the character fixed the problem.  We will also discuss goals that characters have in a story because sometimes there isn't a specific problem in the story, but a character is working towards a goal.  The students have been working hard on their bookmarks and are doing some great reading in class.  We will be starting reading groups in the next few weeks.

Math

Next week, we will continue to work on place value.  We will be working on expanded form.  The students will learn to go from standard form (94) to expanded form (90+4=94) and vice versa.  They will also work on drawing place value blocks to represent a number.  The students learned how to play digit place this week.  This is a game they can play for homework if they would like.  There are directions on the blog under homework if they forget how to play.

Writing

Next week, we will revisit our personal narrative.  It was on the back burner the last few weeks as we worked on our book and video for curriculum chat.  We will work on creating a descriptive setting.  The students have identified the settings in multiple books and we have identified what helps us as a reader to understand the setting and will be using that information when they write their own setting.

Social Studies 

We will continue to work on the U.S. Symbols next week.  The students have learned about the American Flag, Bald Eagle, Pledge of Allegiance, the Statue of Liberty and the Liberty Bell.  We will also learn about the Constitution next week since Constitution Day is September 17.  

It has been a wonderful week!  A huge thank you to everyone for all your support at home!  

Have a wonderful weekend and let's hope for a win for MU tomorrow!

Mrs. Ross

Happy Dot Day!

We had an AMAZING Dot Day!  

A huge thank you to everyone who sent in things to make our STEAM Dot Day a success!!!!  You definitely need to ask your kiddo about everything that we did today. :)

We started the day off with singing along to Emily Arrow's The Dot song (video - super cute).  We then had a discussion about what it means to make a "Make a Mark" and who has made a mark in our society and who has made a mark on the students.  

Then, the kids decorated a dot to put on our thank you banner for the fire fighters.  After the kiddos finished up their thank you dot they then got to design a ColAr dot.  These two items were the art portion of our STEAM Dot Day.  

When the kiddos finished up their ColAr dot they were able to make their dot 3-D using the Quiver app.  This app is super cool and free.  Your child is bringing home their dot that they designed today, and you can find the dot paper to make new dots here.  Make sure to check out the video of the technology portion of the day!

The kids also made their own Trail Mix Dot Snack which they got to enjoy while listening to read aloud today.  Of course, we had to read The Dot book by Peter H. Reynolds. :)

The next activity was decorating cookies for the firefighters and  each student got to decorate their own cookie to enjoy at the end of the day. :)

After lunch, we had a combination of science, math and engineering for our STEAM Dot Day.  

For science, we did an experiment with putting dots of food coloring in milk and then adding a Q-Tip with Dawn dish soap.  The dish soap separates the fat in the milk which then disperses the food coloring in different ways throughout the milk.  After knowing why this happened in milk (which has 8 grams of fat) we made a hypothesis that the same thing would not happen in Sprite (which has 0 grams of fat).  This is a really inexpensive experiment that your child can do at home.

During the math portion of STEAM Dot Day, we talked about estimation and that estimation is like making a hypothesis or a guess in math.  We estimated how many Dot candies were in a jar.  The discussion grew from talking about strategic ways to estimate to a discussion of how to solve 2 digit repeated addition problem.  A student suggested that we should count how many Dot candies was in one row in the jar, and then count how many rows there were in the jar.  We counted 17 Dot candies on the bottom row of the jar and then counted 8 rows in the jar.  So our repeated addition sentence was 17 + 17 + 17 + 17 + 17 + 17 + 17 + 17.  We then brainstormed ways to figure out this answer.  We grouped two 17's together and used tally marks to figure out that the answer was 34.  We then used base 10 blocks (tens rods and one cubes) to figure out that 34 + 34 = 68, and briefly introduces 2 digit stacking with regrouping to come up with the estimate of 136.

The kiddos had so much fun during the engineering portion of STEAM Dot Day!!!  Their challenge was to build the tallest fire tower that could hold a paper firefighter (nicknamed Firefighter Bob) using only the materials of toothpicks, marshmallows and Dot candy.  Make sure to checkout the all the engineering pictures - their first engineering project turned out awesome!

Lastly, we had a visit from Station 7 ladder truck.  We presented them with the banner we made and a plate of cookies in honor of them making their mark daily in our community.  They talked to the kiddos about fire safety and then showed them the different parts of the truck.  We definitely appreciated Greg, Paul and Tony coming out to RBE!  They did have to cut their visit short because they got a call; however, we got to wave them off as they left with their lights and sirens on!

We had an AMAZING Dot Day.  Make sure to checkout all the pictures and videos from today!!!

Have a wonderful evening!

Mrs. Ross

Happy Tuesday

Happy Tuesday!

I hope you have all had a wonderful day!  We have had a great first two days!  I just had a few reminders for you.  :)

Curriculum Chat

• Our Curriculum Chat is next Tuesday, September 20 from 7:45-8:15 a.m.  The students have been working very hard on a book and a video to share with you at Curriculum Chat.  I hope you can all come to see the wonderful things they have been doing so far in 2nd grade!

Dot Day

• I want to start by saying THANK YOU to everyone who signed up to send in supplies for our Dot Day activities.  Dot Day is Thursday, September 15.  We have some fun STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) activities planned as well as a yummy snack.
• If your student would like to wear polka dots or clothing with circles on it that day, they may do so.  :)
• Dot Day is to remind everyone to make their own positive mark on the world.  

Math Wizard

• We will have our Math Wizard test tomorrow.  If you get a few extra minutes tonight, be sure to study some math facts.  :)

Library Check Out

• We have library check out tomorrow.  Please help your student remember to bring their library books back tomorrow so they can check out new books.

Snack

• As a reminder, we have an individual snack each morning.  If your student wants a snack in the morning, please make sure they have one in their lunch box or backpack.  If you need assistance getting snacks for your student, please let me know.

Spelling Words

• Please remember to help your student study their spelling words each night.  It is important for them to be able to read the words as well as spell them correctly. 

Have a wonderful evening!

Mrs. Ross

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday!

I hope you have had a fabulous week!  We have had a wonderful week in Room 27!  Lots of information in this post, so please read over it all.  :)

Friday Folders
There is a lot of papers coming home in the Friday folder today.  There are math tests, spelling test and math wizard tests.  Please look over these with your students.  There is a form for flu shots and fluoride varnish if you are interested, please fill out the forms and return them with your student on Monday.  As are reminder, please initial on the front of the checklist form each week.

Spelling Words
Our spelling words for next week are have, of, get, what, when, each, first, on, one and into.  The students practice these words in class using different activities, but please practice them at home.  It's not the most exciting way to practice, but having them write the words a few times each night will help.  Studies have shown that students (and really everyone) remembers things better if they write it down.

Social Studies
Next week, we will be starting our next social studies topic.  The students will be learning about different U.S. Symbols.  They will learn about the Pledge of Allegiance, The American Flag, Bald Eagle, Statue of Liberty, The Liberty Bell, The Great Seal, The White House and Mount Rushmore.

Math
In math next week, we will continue to work on place value and word problems.  We will discuss using place value to help compare two numbers to determine which is larger.  The students will also learn a new game called "Digit Place."  Once they have learned this game, they can play this game for homework also.  When working on word problems, the students will be focusing on how to determine if it is addition or subtraction and then making sure they include all parts of an answer to word problem.  They need to include a complete number sentence (this includes the answer), a qualifier (the units or what their answer represents) and a strategy.

Writing
We will continue working on our Day in the Life of a 2nd Grader books next week and working to turn them into a video.  The students will also be revisiting their Personal Narrative story and we will work on writing a very descriptive setting to help their reader get a picture in their head when reading the story.

Reading
Next week, we will continue working on identifying the characters and setting of a story.  The students will apply their knowledge of characters and setting to their own books next week.  They will be identifying the characters (with character traits) and the setting (both when and where) of the books they are reading independently.  The have be doing a nice job with identifying characters, character traits and setting with our read aloud book, How to Eat Fried Worms.

Fun Friday
Let me start by saying a huge thank you to Ms. Mottaz and Mrs. Farmer for helping the students with the experiment today and sending pictures since I was at a meeting.  :)
The students did an experiment to determine how to prevent an apple from turning brown when exposed to air.  Our science experiment today was for the kiddos to figure out how for my apples that I eat for breakfast to not turn brown.  We made our hypothesis.  Then we set up our experiment.  We put apples into different liquids (milk, vinegar, soap, Sprite, and water).  Then a student suggested that we test out if different temperatures of water also - so of course we had to try! :)  Our control apple was the apple that we didn't add anything to it.  This is the apple that we compared all the other apples to.  Then we let the apples sit for a couple of hours.

 

 

After lunch, we checked out our apples!  We discovered that the Sprite kept the apple looking the most like an apple and not turn brown.  It was interesting the milk actually made the apple white!  We made our observations and then compared our observations to our hypothesis.

 

We learned that...

 Apples Turn Brown Because…

There is something in apples called PPO (polyphenol oxidase), which is an enzyme. Enzymes are things that do all the work to make sure cells can live their life. Once you cut into an apple you are opening up some of the cells inside it. The PPO enzyme reacts to the oxygen in the air and starts to turn the apple brown.

This enzyme is common in plants, and is also the reason that potatoes, pears, and bananas turn brown once they are cut and exposed to the air too.

Can You Stop Apples from Turning Brown?

There are a number of ways to stop your apples from turning brown.

·         Keep them covered in water – this stops the oxygen getting to the PPO enzyme inside.

·         If they are going into a dish like a fruit salad, then you can dip apple pieces in lemon juice – there is citric acid in lemon juice that works as an anti-oxidant to stop the browning. Pineapple and lime juice can be used in the same way.

·         Cook them – this makes the PPO enzyme inactive.

Dot Day

International Dot Day is Thursday, September 15.  The purpose of Dot Day is to encourage people to make their mark on the world in a positive way.  We will discuss with the students ways they, as children, can leave their mark on the world.  We have fun STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, math) activities planned for the day.  Thank you to those who have already signed up to send in items!  We still need a few more.  If you are able to donate items for Dot Day, please check out the Dot Day Sign Up Genius to see what other items we need.  Also, if your student would like to wear clothing with dots or circles that day, that would be great also!

Homework
Thank you parents for encouraging and helping your students get their homework completed this week.  It went very smoothly.  I know our homework is set up differently than others, so thanks for helping your student get it completed.  As a reminder, students are to read 15 minutes or more per night and get it initialed nightly, complete one section of math and get it initialed if needed.  They should bring the homework back each day to have it checked for nightly completion and it will be collected on Friday to be graded.  If you have questions, please let me know.

Library Check Out
As a reminder, our library check out day is Wednesday.  Please help remind your student to bring their books back so they can check out new books.

Picture Day
Picture Day is September 27.  The picture form went home last week in Friday folders.  You can send in the form once you get it filled out.  There is an option to pay online (I need a printed receipt if you do this) or to enclose a check with the order form.  All students will have their picture taken, but are not required to order.

PE
We will have PE on Tuesday next week.  Please make sure your student wears tennis shoes on PE days

Light Jackets for recess
As fall is slowly (yes I know it was almost 100 degrees a few days this week :) ) approaches, please check the forecast to see if your child needs a light jacket.  We have recess at 9:50 a.m., so it can still be chilly and I don't want them cold at recess.  Also, we have a strong wind on the playground some days, so it can seem a lot cooler than it is.

Sick Day
I heard the students had a wonderful sick day.  I wasn't able to participate because I was at a meeting, but I am very proud of them for earning their 25 Stars with Ms. Mottaz's class.  We are very close to earning our class reward as well.  We have earned 21 Stars, only 4 more to go.  So proud of my safe, respectful learners!

 They started with all smiles.  :)

Then pretended to be sick.  :(

Have a wonderful weekend!

Mrs. Ross

Happy Thursday!

Happy Rainy Thursday!

We have been working SO super hard since the beginning of school.  We have earned 25 stars with Ms. Mottaz's class!  Yesterday, the kiddos voted on having a "Sick Day."  What your student needs to be "sick":

• Wear his/her pajamas to school (they can bring slippers to change into at school if they would like)
• Bring a stuffed animal to cuddle with.  Please help your child choose one that can easily fit into a regular-sized backpack due to limited storage space.
• Bring crackers to nibble on
• Bring Sprite/7-Up or Gatorade (off brand ok) to sip on (no larger than 20 ounces and no glass please)

The rain didn't keep us from having fun at recess!  Lots of fun was had by all!!!

Next Thursday, September 15, is Dot Day!  International Dot Day is to encourage people of all ages to be creative and make a mark in society.  The inspiration behind this day is the children's book The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds.  We are so super excited about our inaugural Dot Day!!! We have several fun activities planned for next Thursday.  Our activities focus around Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math (STEAM), a fun "dot" snack, and making cookies and a banner to honor a fire station.  We are needing help with all the items that we need for our Dot Day.  Please look through the list of items on our Dot Day Sign-Up Genius.  If your student would like to wear polka-dots, clothing with dots or circles on it for Dot Day, that would be great!  :)

Please let me know if you have any questions!

Mrs. Ross

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday!

I hope you are all looking forward to the three day weekend!  The kids shared a lot of fun things they had planned for the weekend!  Here is what our plan is for next week and some pictures from today.  :)

Reading
Next week in reading, we will be working on identifying the setting of a book.  We will focus on both when and where the story takes place.  We have discussed this in our writing, so will carry it over to identifying it in books we read.

Writing
Next week in writing, we will work on "A Day in the Life of a Second Grader."  This will be a fun piece of writing for them to share with you at Curriculum Chat on September 20 from 7:45-8:15 a.m.  This writing will walk you through their day at school.

Math
We took our math test today and after grading them, I have decided we need to review the directions, as some students didn't get all parts of the questions answered.  We are going to review the directions and any concepts they have questions about and then they will correct their test.  They have shown me this week that they understand the concepts, but it's also important for them to read and follow all the directions.  These tests will be coming home next week.  I was very proud of how hard they worked and how quiet and respectful they were of classmates as they finished their tests.

The rest of the week, we will focus on addition and subtraction word problems.  We will also introduce place value.  Please continue practicing math facts at home.  If you would like blank copies of the math wizard tests, just let me know and I can send some home with your student.

Science
We have a fun science experiment planned for next week.  We will be working on making hypothesis based on things we already know and then conducting an experiment to test our hypothesis.  

Homework
As a reminder, homework starts next week.  Under the homework tab is directions for math games as well as directions for our homework.  The homework is only 1 page for the entire week, students will complete 15 minutes (or more) of reading each night and one section of math.  I will go over directions for the homework with the students on Monday.

Spelling
This week's spelling test will be coming home in next week's Friday folder.  Our spelling words for next week are your, should, some, about, other, being, look, like, own and why.  Please practice these words with your student.  These words are considered "trick" words because they don't always follow traditional spelling patterns or can't be sounded out correctly.  We will start our word sorts in the next few weeks.

STEAM Club
Ms. Mottaz and I will be sponsoring a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) Club this year.  There is an information/permission slip in your student's Friday Folder.  We have a lot of fun activities planned.  We are taking the first 40 permission slips we get, so if your student is interested, please return the form on Tuesday.

Emily Arrow
Mrs. McKinzie has booked Emily Arrow to come perform at our school.  Emily Arrow takes children's books and turns them into songs that she performs with her guitar.  She is extremely talented and the students really enjoyed watching videos and listening to her music today.  Her website has videos of her music.  It can be found here.  She will be coming to RBE in December.  It should be a really fun and exciting performance for the students!

PE/Library Days
We will have PE on Thursday next week.  Please make sure you student is wearing tennis shoes.  As a reminder, our library check out day is Wednesday.  Please make sure your student brings their library books back so they can get new books to enjoy.  :)

Other Awesome RBE Blogs
I have added a new tab to our blog.  It contains blogs from some of our specialists teachers.  Please take the time to check it out!  The have some good information about the awesome things occurring in their classrooms.

Maker Space
We had our first Maker Space today.  Maker Space is on Fridays in the library and Mrs. McKinzie plans fun activities for the students.  Today the students played with Snap Circuits which are really neat.  The students lit light bulbs, played music through speakers and made fans fly through different circuits.  They really enjoyed it!

We had a fabulous week in Room 27!  I hope you had a fabulous week and have an even better weekend!

Mrs. Ross