Mrs. Ross's Classroom Blog: Happy Friday!

Happy Friday!

We have had an great first week of 2nd grade! We are continuing to focus on learning our expectations and classroom routines. The kiddos have done any AMAZING job transitioning back to school!

Solar Eclipse

A solar eclipse will be happening on Monday (August 21). Due to this being a very special day our classroom schedule will look a little different. Our day will be filled with learning about what an eclipse is and other activities. We will be outside from 12:25-1:30 (this is the time that the totality of the eclipse will be occurring) so please apply sunscreen to your child in the morning. Also, our recess/lunch schedule will be different. Please send your child with a towel for your child to sit on.

Today we practiced wearing our Solar Eclipse outside. The kiddos were so excited to wear these glasses and look at the sun. We are looking forward to a fun and memorable event!

Friday Folder

Your child is coming home with a Friday Folder in his/her backpack. This Friday Folder is an additional communication tool between school and home. In the left inside pocket (which is the "Return to School" side), you will find a orange piece of paper which has your child's Friday Folder Checklist on the front and on the back is a place for comments. Please initial the front that you have reviewed your child's work habits and the comments (which will be written every other week). This week we have been focusing on establishing routines and classroom expectations - please review the Friday Folder checklist and the expectations taught this week. Now that we are in the routine of school, it is our expectation these expectations to be met with fewer reminders. On the right you will find a "Keep at Home" pocket - inside this pocket will be papers that your child completed at school or other correspondence from the school.

RBE 3

At RBE, we have three expectations that are called the RBE 3. These expectations are that we are safe, respectful learners. On Wednesday, we read How Dinosaurs Stay Safe and brainstormed a list of expectations of how to be safe. On Thursday, we read Chrysanthemum and established a list of expectations of how to be respectful at school. Then today, we made a list of list of how to be a learner after we read Steve Raised by Wolves. The kiddos made a dinosaur, a flower and a book with these expectations and they are posted in our classroom. The next time you are at school, make sure to check them out!

As students are showing us that they are safe, respectful learners they are able to earn stickers. Each kiddo has their own sticker chart and when the sticker chart is full they are able to earn a small celebration. Many students have filled up their sticker chart and are bring them home. On the back we have wrote what celebration they have chosen. For example, some kiddos are choosing a pajama day, wear a hat during the day, show and tell, read a book to the class, or bring a stuffed animal to school. If your child brings home a filled sticker chart with a celebration on the back they can have their celebration the next school day. With Eclipse Day on Monday and being a special day, we discussed that if your child would like to not have his/her celebration until Tuesday that would be fine!

What has your child been doing in school?

In Math:

On Wednesday, we took our first "Math Wizard" check-in. Every Wednesday your child will take this check-in. The purpose of this check-in is focusing on your child knowing his/her math facts quick and fast. As your child grows as a mathematician it is helpful for the student to know their math facts - knowing these facts will help your child as we start learning how to add/subtract two & three digit math problems. For your child to "pass" this check-in s/he will need to get 46 out of 50 problems correct in 3 minutes. This week we went over different ways to practice facts (playing math fact games together or individually using a computer or tablet, orally practicing facts in the car, practicing the math wizard test, etc.). Your child's first Math Wizard check-in was just a practice and it will remain at school for us to see progress. Please help your child find time to practice these facts.
Today we took a beginning of the year assessment. This assessment allows us to know what your child already knows and lets us begin to guide our instruction.
Next week, we will be starting our first math unit on numbers and their patterns. In this unit we will be establishing math routines, learning about different math tools, and number patterns.

In Reading:

This week, we perused the huge classroom libraries that we have in our classroom and the students selected the first books that they will read as second graders. We discussed that one of the benefits of having such a huge classroom is that there double the books to be able to read throughout the school year! :) One of the ways we will keep track of what your child reads is for him/her to fill out a bookmark on a completed book. We have a fiction and nonfiction book. An adult will meet with your child when a book is finished to talk with him/her about what was read.
Next week, we will start to implement reading stations and focus on establishing these strong reading routines.

In Writing:

This week, the students made a free write notebook and we talked about the expectations of writing in this notebook. They had the opportunity to be able to begin to write in this notebook.
Next week, we have some fun writing prompts to get the kiddos excited about writing and establishing our writing routines. The following week, we will begin our first unit on writing a personal narrative (small moment story).

Star Students

Every week a different student will be coming home with a Star Student pocket. Inside this pocket is instructions with what to write on the note-cards provided to help us learn more about the Star Student. On Monday, please help your child return the note-cards and any pictures that s/he would like to share inside the pocket.

Class "Pets"

We do not have actual class pets in our classroom, but we do have book characters stuffed animals that act like our class pets. This year our book characters are from a variety of Mo Willems' books. We have Piggie & Elephant, Pigeon, and Knuffle Bunny. Each animal has a notebook where students are able to write down the adventures that they have with our class pets. Each weekend two students will get to select a class "pet" to bring home. Their job is to enjoy spending time with the pet all weekend long, keep the stuffed animal dry, clean, write about his/her adventures, and bring the "pet" and the notebook back on Monday to share.

Birthdays

This week was full of birthdays! On Tuesday is was Thaida's birthday and then on Wednesday it was Bradyn's. We celebrated by singing "Happy Birthday" and then on Wednesday we ate cupcakes to celebrate Bradyn's birthday! :)