Happy 2nd Day of School!

Wow!  We have had a wonderful first two days of school!  The kids have been working so hard reviewing expectations and learning about everything in Room 27.  I am very proud of them!

Yesterday, we read First Day Jitters and then wrote about our jitters while drinking jitter juice, to get all our jitters out. :)  Some of them were nervous, excited, happy, sad, even a few said they were mad.  I think they had different feelings this morning.  :)

 Their smiling faces with their juice. :)

How they felt when they came to school yesterday.  

We have been testing out our flexible seating also.  They have tried at least 3 different places to sit.  We were reading this afternoon, and it was fun to walk around the room, they all looked so comfortable, but were all working so hard also!

Today in math, we made a graph about their favorite pizza toppings.  Cheese was an overwhelming winner with 12 votes, while sausage, ham and pepperoni on had 2 votes each.

In writing, they started their free write notebook today.  This is a place for them to write about anything they want.  We discussed some topics they could write about and away they went.

They picked out a nonfiction and a picture book to keep in their book bags today.  These are books that they will read during our reading centers.  We will be adding a couple more books to their bags in the coming week.  

We have been reviewing expectations at school and will continue that the rest of this week and into next week also.  We have discussed that our school wide expectations are the be safe, respectful, learners and we refer to these expectations as the RBE3.  Today we focused on ways to be safe at school.  Tomorrow, we will discuss being respectful and on Friday, we will discuss being learners.  We are covering these in all areas of the school and talking about how they apply in each area.  

The students have been earning stickers very quickly this week with their wonderful behavior.  They have a few options when they fill up a sticker chart.  If they choose an option that requires something from home (PJ day, stuffed animal day are a few of those options), I will write their choice on the back of their sticker chart and they take it home as a reminder for themselves to bring in whatever is necessary.

I have so enjoyed spending the last 2 days with your students and can't wait to spend the rest of the year with them!

Have a wonderful evening!

Mrs. Ross

Meet the Teacher Night!

What a wonderful meet the teacher night!

I enjoyed meeting so many students and parents at Meet the Teacher Night tonight!  I can't wait to see all the smiling faces on Tuesday morning!

I will update the blog periodically througout the week and every other Friday I will do a more in depth post with information about what we have been working on in the classroom and what we will be working on in the classroom.  The blog has a lot of important information, please take the time to read over the posts.  There are also schedules (our schedule, CPS schedule and ABCD schedule) as well as fun websites for the students to practice skills at home.  I will also post pictures of classroom activities for you to enjoy.  I want the blog to be a great resource for you.  If there is information you would like added to the blog, please let me know.

If your student didn't bring their supplies tonight, they can bring them on Tuesday.

If you haven't verified your email to receive email updates, please verify your email address.  Sometimes the email to verify your email address goes to your junk folder, so you might need to check there.  :)

Please note that we have PE on A days, so we will have PE on the first day of school.  Please make sure your student wears tennis shoes, or packs them in their backpack.

Please remember to send a snack with your student, we have individual snacks that we will eat around 9:30.

I look forward to spending the year with your wonderful children!

Mrs. Ross

Yeah! You Made It To Our Blog!

Welcome to our wonderful blog!  This is where I will post all the fabulous things happening in the classroom.  I will post pictures and weekly (sometimes more often than that!) updates for what we are doing in the classroom. I will also post reminders for upcoming events.  If you were unable to sign up for email updates at Meet the Teacher night, please go to "Follow By Email" on the homepage of the blog, then confirm your email by checking your email and you will then receive email updates from blog.  If you have difficulty signing up for blog email updates, please contact me.  Looking forward to spending this school year with your student!

Last Day of School

Last blog post of the year.  :(

I can't believe the end of school is here.  I'm sitting in a quiet classroom with no student work or supplies.  It's kind of eerie.  I have had a fabulous year with your students.  It has been amazing to see them grow both academically and socially.  I know each and everyone of them will be success in 3rd grade whether at RBE or at a different school.  I greatly appreciate all the wonderful support from home also.  They are lucky students to have such supportive parents!

Today, we had 2 celebrations.  One was from yesterday and one for today.  Yesterday's celebration that we did this morning was arts and crafts and laptops.  The students are very creative and made some awesome projects.  Ms. Mottaz and I even got some of their artwork.  Our second celebration which we had this afternoon was a cupcake decorating party, which ultimately ended in us eating cupcakes.  :)  That was one tasty celebration!  There are pictures from both celebrations here.

Also, be sure to watch KRCG tonight.  They were recording our final send off to the buses and parent pick up students.  It's fun to see all the teachers waving and kids waving back as they leave the school.  There were definitely some tears shed as I waved good bye today.

I hope everyone has a wonderful summer!  The kids told me about all their wonderful plans yesterday.  It sounds like there will definitely be some busy families this year.  Good luck to all my fabulous now 3rd graders next year.  I know there will be a lot of change with new schools, but they will all do wonderful.

Mrs. Ross

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!

WOW!!!!!!!!!!  What an awesome turn out today for our Lunch Bunch.  Thank you to everyone that came in today to have lunch with us.  The kids absolutely loved it and it just warms my heart to have such involved parents!  I have posted pictures here.

Yearbooks
If your student would like to bring in their yearbook to have it signed by classmates tomorrow, please send it with them tomorrow.  If they do not have one, we have been making memory books and they can have classmates sign those.

Last Day of School
I can't believe we only have 1 1/2 days of school left.  That's crazy!  If your student isn't going to be here on Thursday, please make sure to let me know.  We will be cleaning out pockets/book bags tomorrow, so please make sure your student has their backpack with them.

Grade Cards
Grade cards will be sent home on Thursday.

Again, thank you so much to everyone that joined us today!  It was so much fun!

Mrs. Ross

Last Happy Monday

Happy Monday!

I hope you're having a wonderful day!  We have had a great day so far.

We went on our hike to Rock Bridge State Park today.  The kids had a lot of fun.  I think it wore them out a little, so they should sleep well tonight!  :)  There are pictures here.

Lunch Bunch is Tomorrow (Tuesday)
Tomorrow is our lunch bunch!  I'm really excited for you all to enjoy lunch with your student.  I'm crossing my fingers than the rain holds off.  The last I checked, it was supposed to rain in the morning, but be finished by mid morning.  Let's hope this forecast is correct or even better, no rain tomorrow.  :)  Please meet us on the playground at 11:15 a.m. and we will walk to the pavilion together.  Please remember to check in at the office before coming to the playground or pavilion.  If it is raining too hard at lunch, we will have lunch in the room.  We can move tables around and eat picnic style in the room.  :)

Books
BJC Health donated books to all 2nd grade students in the CPS district.  Your student picked out a book today and will be bringing it home.  This would be a great book for them to read over the summer.  :)

Yearbooks on Wednesday
If your student wants to bring their yearbook to be signed, please remember to send it with them on Wednesday.  If they don't have a yearbook, that is completely fine, we are making Memory Books that they can have friends sign. I believe there are still a few yearbooks available for purchase if your student would be interested in purchasing one.  They are $7 if they are still available.

Backpacks
We will be packing things up to bring home throughout the week.  Please make sure your student has their backpack with them each day.  Also, please make sure it is cleaned out each night in case they bring home additional items.

Last Day
Our last day is Thursday.  It is an early dismiss at 12:10 p.m.  Please make sure I know if your student is getting home a different way than normal.  Also, please let me know if your student will not be here on Thursday.

Have a wonderful rest of your day!

Mrs. Ross

Happy Friday!

Field Day was a SUCCESS!

It was cloudy, but no rain and the kids had a blast!  I have uploaded a lot of pictures from today.  You can find them here.

Hike to Rock Bridge State Park on Monday
On Monday, we will be walking to Rock Bridge State Park.  Please make sure your student is wearing tennis shoes.  The path we take is a dirt path.  If you would like to put bug spray on your student before they come to school, you may do so.  We cannot apply bug spray at school.  We will be leave at 8:00, so please make sure your student arrives at school on time.  We will play at the park at the state park and enjoy some popsicles then walk back.  I'm hoping for beautiful weather!

Lunch Bunch on Tuesday
We have our lunch bunch on Tuesday.  Please be on the playground by 11:15 (we go to recess at 11:00, feel free to join us for recess also) so we can walk to the pavilion together.  Please make sure you check in at the office before coming to the playground.  If you want to bring a blanket for you and student to sit on you may.  There are tables under the pavilion, but I know we will have a big group for lunch (which is awesome!).  After we eat lunch, your student can show you around the outdoor classroom.

Yearbooks/Memory Books on Wednesday
We will be creating memory books next week.  On Wednesday, we will be signing memory books/yearbooks.  If you purchased a yearbook, your student can bring them on Wednesday for people to sign.

Last Day of School on Thursday
Our last day of school is Thursday.  We will dismiss at 12:10.  If your student is going home a different way than normal, please make sure to let myself and the office know.  It is difficult to make last minute transportation changes.  Also, if your student will not be here on Thursday, please make sure to let me know as well.

Library Books
If your student still has library books checked out, please help your student locate them this weekend and send them back next week.  If you can't locate the book, there is a sheet in your student's Friday folder with the fine associated with the book.  We have a wonderful library and we don't want to lose any books out of it.

Have a wonderful weekend!  I can't believe this is the last "Happy Friday" post I will make of the year.

Mrs. Ross