Happy Friday!

Happy Friday!

Week one after Spring Break was a success!  Overall, the students did a nice job getting back into the routine of school.  They were more talkative that normal, but that's expected when they haven't seen their friends for a week.  You could tell they were definitely tired today.  A week of school after a week off can definitely make them tired!

I have uploaded the newsletter to the newsletter section.  Please take the time to read over it.  There is important information and dates for the rest of the year.  I can't believe we are already talking about end of the year activities.  Our last day of school is currently scheduled for May 26 and it is an early dismissal at 12:10.

Field Trips
We have two more field trips scheduled for this year.  We have one on April 29 and we will be going to Hickman to watch a Jazz Ensemble performance.  We will be gone from approximately 9:30-11:30.  We have switched our lunch time with kindergarten so we will eat when we get back from the trip.

On May 11, we are going to Runge Nature Center in Jeff City.  We will leave around 8:30 and return to school around 2:00.  We will be eating lunch in Jeff City.  More information will be coming home soon.  If you would like to attend this field trip, please let me know.

Fraction Brownies
Be sure you ask your students about the 3 fractions we learned about today.  They partitioned brownies in groups today into halves, thirds and fourths.  We will continue working on fractions next week.

Happy Tuesday!

Happy Tuesday!

I hope you all had a wonderful Spring Break.  The students were all very excited about what they did over break.  We talked about it, they drew a picture and wrote about it.  In the hallway is their writing and their pictures, but they aren't hung up together.  The goal is to match the writing to the picture.  :)

Field Trip
We will be going to see a Skippy Jon Jones play tomorrow.  We will leave school at 9:00 and will be back around 11:00.  We will have a slightly later lunch tomorrow since we may be back a bit after 11:00.  The students will have recess/lunch from 11:30-12:15 tomorrow instead of our normal 11:00-11:45.  Please remember to ask your student about the play tomorrow afternoon.  :)

Math
We took our geometry/fraction pretest yesterday.  In this unit, we will work on identifying triangles, quadrilaterals, pentagons and hexagons.  We will discuss the difference between a cube and a square.  Students will also have to partition (evenly divide) shapes into halves, thirds and fourths, as well as identify the fraction that is shaded.  This unit will take approximately 2 weeks.  Even though we aren't currently working on addition or subtraction.  Please continue to practice those facts at home.

Reading
This week in reading, we will be working on visualizing.  This is a skill that helps the students to better understand the story.  The idea is that the students have a "movie" playing in their head as they read or have a story read to them.  We will practice this through our read aloud book and various poems.

Writing
We are continuing our opinion writing unit.  Yesterday, the students wrote an opinion piece about why their Spring Break was the best.  For our next opinion writing, the students will be doing research to support their opinion.  They will be researching about pets and then choosing which pet they think would be the best pet and then will use their research to support their opinion.

Science
Before Spring Break, the students designed an experiment to test what a plant needs to survive (soil, water and light).  Later this week, we will set up the experiment and make observations to determine if our hypothesis was correct that plants need soil, water and light to survive.

Weather
Hopefully warmer weather will be here to stay shortly.  Please make sure your student has a jacket with them for recess.  It is still chilly at our morning recess, especially with the wind on the playground.  It is harder for the students to enjoy recess if they are cold.

Have a wonderful week and as always, if you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me!

Mrs. Ross

Happy Thursday!

Happy Thursday!

I can't believe we only have one more day before Spring Break!  You can definitely feel the "buzz" as you walk around the school.  The kids are very excited for Spring Break.  :)  There is a lot of information in this post, please take the time to read over it.

Homework
Your student doesn't have homework tonight.  I collected it a day early.  If they hadn't finished up their reading response, they finished it this morning.  We will have homework the week after Spring Break to get back into the routine.

Friday Folder
Friday folders will not be coming home tomorrow.  Any notes from the school have been sent home throughout the week.  We will send home Friday folders home the Friday of the week we come back to school.

Spring Break
I know a lot of the students and families have excited plans for Spring Break.  I can't wait to hear about all the fun things the kids get to do!  If you have some extra time, please encourage your student to do some reading and practice math facts.  Even though it is only a week, the students can get out of the routine and getting back into it for the last stretch of 2nd grade can be difficult.  Reading and math facts are a great way to pass the time while traveling also.

Pretzel Making
We had a pretzel making class on Tuesday.  I have posted pictures under the pictures tab or you can click here.

Reading
This week, we reviewed story elements and morals of stories.  The students were able to identify the moral as well as give evidence from the story to support the moral.  These also bring up good conversations about how to treat others in different situations.

The week after Spring Break, we will work on visualizing.  This is fun because the students get to draw pictures of what they imagine as they read the book.  I tell them it is like a movie playing in their head and they get to draw it.

Writing
This week, the students did an opinion letter to you about what they wanted to do over Spring Break.  Let me know if they persuaded you to change plans.  :)  They also wrote an opinion piece about their favorite ice cream toppings.  We will be celebrating our ice cream and ice cream toppings writing with an ice cream party tomorrow afternoon.

When we get back from Spring Break, we will continue working on our opinion unit.  The students will be doing research to support their opinion. This opinion piece will be about what they think is the best pet.

Math
We took our post test over subtraction this week.  These will come home the week after Spring Break.  Please look over them with your student and then sign and return them.

We will start our geometry unit when we get back after Spring Break.  We will identify triangles, quadrilaterals, pentagons, hexagons and cubes.  They will also learn different vocabulary related to the shapes.

Science
The students designed an experiment today to test if plants need soil, water and sunlight to survive.  We will be setting up the experiment after break and then testing our hypothesis that plants need all three to survive.

Lovely Missouri Weather
Please make sure your student is dressed appropraitely for the weather and has a coat.  I know that we have had some crazy up and down temperatures this week, but it was cold at recess today.  We have rarely reached the high temperature for the day by our morning recess and it can be windy and chilly on the playground.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, let me know and have a wonderful Spring Break (starting tomorrow after school :)!

Mrs. Ross

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday!

I hope you have had a wonderful week!  We have been very busy in Room 27.

I have uploaded this week's newsletter to the Newsletter section, please take the time to read over it.  It has information about what we will be doing next week as well as important dates for the rest of the year.

Earbuds
A lot of the students have lost their earbuds or they have broken.  Please check with your student to see if they need a new pair.  Also, if you would like to donate extra earbuds or headphones to the classroom, we would greatly appreciate it!

Spring Break
I can believe we only have one more week of school before Spring Break.  If your student is leaving early for Spring Break, please make sure to let myself and the office know that your child will be absent.

Reading
We have been reviewing story elements this week.  The students are able to identify the character, setting (when and where), problem and solution of a story.  This is something quick to review with your student after they do their nightly reading.  It helps with their comprehension and also shows you that they know what they were reading.  We will continue reviewing story elements and other concepts from the year next week.

Writing
We have been working on our opinion writing this week.  We did a taste test of Hershey's Kisses and they decided which was their favorite and then have to give valid reasons for why it was the best.  Then, the students started their second opinion piece over ice cream flavors.  This writing will be finished next week and they will also do a quick opinion writing over ice cream toppings.  We will have an ice cream party next Friday to celebrate their fabulous ice cream opinion writing.  :)

Math
We continue to work on subtraction in math.  We worked on word problems this week.  Our current plan is to test on Tuesday.  We will be reviewing on Monday and if it appears we need some additional review, then we will push the test back a day or two.  After we take the test, we will spend the rest of the week reviewing concepts from the year.

Fun Eagle Website
Mrs. McKinzie sent out a link to the teachers earlier this week of a live camera from Washington, D.C. of a bald eagle's nest.  The eagles are currently sitting on eggs and one hatched last night.  If you would like to wathc it at home, the kids are really enjoying it!  Here is the link: http://dceaglecam.eagles.org/

As always, if you ever have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Mrs. Ross

Happy Friday!

What an amazing week we have had in Room 27.  Reading Week was a complete success!  Thank you to everyone who came in to read, helped with costumes and just supported reading at home.  I think the kids had an absolute blast this week!  I know I sure did!

Here is what we will be working on for the next two week before Spring Break.  Can you believe Spring Break is in 2 weeks?

Reading
Next week, we will be reviewing summaries as we write summaries of the books that were read this week.  We will also review story elements with these stories.  I was extremely impressed this week as the students pulled out concepts from the beginning of the year when discussing books.  Way to go guys!

Writing
We will be starting our opinion unit next week.  We introduced it this week as the students had to choose their favorite book each day from all the readers.  We will be talking about valid reasons to support an opinion and also introducing the idea of counter arguments.  We will be doing some taste testing next week to start off the opinion unit.

Math
We will continue trucking along with our subtraction unit next week.  Next week we will work on word problems and then start reviewing.  The currently plan is to test on Tuesday, March 22 over the subtraction unit.  After we test, we will use the last few days before Spring Break as an overall review.

Coats/Jackets
Please send a jacket to school with your student even if the high temperature is above 60.  Many times it is chilly during our morning recess and the kids get cold without a jacket.

Important Upcoming Events

• March 16: Picture Day
• March 25: "Career Day": Dress as your favorite career
• March 28-April 1: Spring Break
• April 6: TRYPS Field Trip to see Skippy Jon Jones, leave RBE at 8:30, return at 11:00
• April 22: "Earth Day": wear green or other "Earth Friendly" arrire
• May 10: PTA Meeting (5:30)
• May 11: Field Trip to Runge Nature Center, leave RBE at 8:30
• May 13: Variety Show
• May 20: Field Day
• May 20: "Summer Fun": wear your most colorful, fun, floral outfit (no swimsuits)

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Mrs. Ross

Happy Thursday!

Happy Thursday!

I loved seeing all the cowboys and cowgirls today at school.  Thank you for helping your students to participate in dress up days if they want to.  :)

Tomorrow is Book Character Day.  Your student may dress as their favorite book character.  Please make sure they still have shoes for recess and also a coat.  Some of the kids were a little chilly at recess.  Our playground always seems to be cooler and windier than it is anywhere else.

We had more wonderful mystery readers today.  Please check out all the pictures.  There are here.

Tomorrow is our last day of Reading Week.  We have a few more mystery readers to wrap up our week.  Please ask your student about all the wonderful books that have been read to them this week.  Each day they have chosen their favorite book and given three reasons they liked the book.  Next week, we will start our opinion writing and their first writing will be about their favorite book from reading week.  :)

Have a wonderful evening!

Mrs. Ross

Wonderful Wednesday!

Happy Wednesday!

I hope you are having a wonderful day!  We have had some amazing mystery readers again today!  The kids are loving all the special guests coming into our room to read!  We have more tomorrow and Friday.

Tomorrow is "Lasso a Good Book" for dress up days.  The students can wear their Western Wear attire to school.

Have a wonderful rest of your day!

Mrs. Ross