Happy Friday!

Happy Friday!

A Few Important Things

• Tuesday will be a C Day.  The district is adjusting the ABCD calendar has been adjusted by a day.  Ross kids will have PE on Thursday and Mottaz kids on Friday.  
• No School on Monday: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Friday Folder

• HomeLinks for Unit 6 in math: this unit covers graphing and more word problem work.  We will start this unit on Tuesday.
• Unit 9 Fundations information:  Unit 8 is a short unit, so we will be finishing it next week and starting on Unit 9.
• Chat and Chew: information is in the Friday folder, this is an optional activity for students to participate in if they would like.  Students will read the assigned book and then discuss it with a parent volunteer over lunch.

Our Learning for Next Week

• Reading
• Students have been comparing information found in articles about a topic.
• Next week, students will identify facts that are in just one article and facts that are in both articles and creating a poster to show the facts.
• Writing
• We started publishing our informational piece about an animal this week.
• Next week, we will continue publishing and start adding text features to their writing.
• Math
• We took our Unit 5 test today.  It will be coming home next week.
• On Tuesday, we will start Unit 6.  This unit starts with creating bar graphs and analyzing the data.  This is a fun unit for students because they get an opportunity to ask classmates questions and find things they have in common.
• Fundations
• We will wrap up Unit 8 next week.  This unit covers AR and OR words.  The students are expected to be able to read and write words containing these r-controlled vowels.  They have also learned how to mark up the words.
• We will start Unit 9 next week.  This unit works on ER, IR and UR words as r-controlled vowels.  This one can be more difficult because all three spelling patterns make the same sound.  
• Science/Social Studies
• This week students showed their knowledge of weathering, erosion and deposition.  
• Next week, we will start to discuss landforms that are created through weathering, erosion and deposition.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Mrs. Ross

Happy Early Dismiss Friday!

Happy Friday!! Today was an amazing day.  The students really enjoyed Forts and Flashlights!  Make sure to check out Twitter for pictures.  Remember, if you don't have Twitter, you can always checkout the sidebar on the right of this blog!

Check Our What's In Your Child's Friday Folder!

• Student Teacher:
• We will have a student teacher this semester.  Her name is Sam Easter.  There is a letter in your child's backpack with more information.  We are super excited to have her!
• Six Flags Read to Succeed:
• When does 6 hours of reading = a ticket to Six Flags?  Six Flags Read to Succeed!  Coming home on a golden sheet of paper is a  book log.  Once your child has read six hours and has filled in the book log, the paper will be turned into Mrs. McKinzie by February 27. 
• Information on Fundations & Math:
• We finished up Unit 7 in Fundations today and will be finishing up Unit 5 in math next week.  Coming home in your child's Friday Folder is information about both of our next units in Fundations & math.
• Published Personal Narrative:
• There is a published personal narrative in your child's Friday Folder.  This is the story that we made into an electronic book.  Make sure to keep this piece of writing!  On the back of the story is a QR Code.  If you have not had a chance to listen to your child's story, this would be something perfect to do on a snowy weekend!  
• The QR Code will be active for a while, but if this is something that you would like to ensure that you have in the future - I would download it.  Please let me know if you have any questions about this.
• Lots of Other Student Work!
• Make sure to check out everything that we have been doing! :)

 Upcoming Events!

• January 18 - Hat Day (children can wear any hat of their choosing)
• January 21 - No School (MLK Jr Day)
• February 8 - Decade Day (children can dress up from any decade of their choosing)

What's Been Happening in Moss World!

• Math
• We have been focusing on different strategies to help us solve word problems.  We will continue to work on this next week, and our plan is to test over this unit on Friday.
• Writing
• This week, we worked on editing and revising our first informational writing.  We also came up with creative headings for each of our paragraphs, and decided which text feature would be best for each of our paragraphs. 
• Next week, we will start publishing this story. 
• Fundations
• In Unit 7, we learned about open syllable words (when the vowel makes a long sound at the end of the syllable like hi or remote - re in the open syllable).  We have also learned about the suffixes -y, -ly and -ty.
• In Unit 8, we will be learning about the r-controlled vowels of ar and or.
• Reading
• This week, we started learning about the importance of comparing nonfiction texts as we researched.  We learned that some facts can be found in multiple sources and others might only be in one.
• Next week, we will continue to focus on comparing nonfiction texts.
• Science
• Before Winter Break, we had been talking about things that cause quick changes to the Earth's surface (example: volcanoes or earthquakes).  This week, we started learning about a slower process that can change the Earth's surface - weathering, erosion and deposition.  The students learned a song with hand motions to help them know what each means.  We tweeted them singing the song out on Wednesday - check it out if you haven't already!
• Next week, we will finish up the unit on Earth's changes.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Happy Friday!

Happy Ugly Sweater Friday!

Wow!  We were quite impressed with the holiday sweaters and outfits today.  It's amazing how kids can make ugly sweaters look cute.  :)

It's crazy to think that next Thursday is our last day of school before Winter Break.  There is information below about special activities planned for next week as well as our learning for after break.

We will not send home Friday folders next week.  Sometimes they get lost over long breaks.  :)

Important Upcoming Dates

• Wednesday, December 19: Grinch Day
• Students may dress as their favorite Grinch character.
• We have fun Grinchy activities planned.
• Thursday, December 20
• Library Check Out (please make sure students have their library books)
• PJs for Positives Day
• Students may wear PJs to celebrate our first 100 positive office referrals before the 100th day of school.
• Please make sure they have shoes for recess and their pajamas will keep them warm.  
• Winter Party at 1:45 p.m.
• https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0b4fa5ac2eab9-winter
• 
  
• Friday, December 21-January 2: Winter Break
• Thursday, January 3: School Resumes

Student Bragging!

• Our goal is for 80% of the students to get 80% or better when we give an assessment.  We don't expect all students to get 100% as we all have off days or need some clarification on a topic.
• We took the STAR Reading winter benchmark this week and ALL the students' scores have gone up since the beginning of the year!  We know the students are growing as reader and it is always nice to see that carry over.
• On the Mid Year Assessment in math which covers all the topics from 2nd grade so far (it's long and covers a lot), 85% of the students received an 80% or better.  
• We bragged earlier this week, but will brag again over 80% of the students received an 80% or above on their Unit 4 math assessment over time, measurement and place value.  ALL the students showed huge growth in this unit.  It is amazing to be writing the pre and post test scores on the cover sheet and see their huge improvement!

Our Learning After Break

Math

• We will be continuing with Unit 5.  This unit reviews money and introduces making change.  It also covers word problems and various strategies and models to solve the problems.  The students ROCKED the pretest over Unit 5 so we will be pushing them even more with explanations and variety of ways to solve a problem.  One thing to continue to work on at home is basic addition and subtraction facts.  As we get into harder addition and subtraction problems, we don't want them to get hung up on the basic facts.
• The students all did very well on our time unit, but this is not a skill that we will hit much more this year.  We will continue touching on it here and there, but please continue practicing telling time at home.  It can be something as simple as randomly having your student look at the clock and tell you the time.

Writing

• We started writing our informational piece this week.  The goal is to have the rough draft written before break.  It all depends on scheduling as to whether this happens.  :)
• When we return from break, we will pick up where we left off.  They will finish writing if needed, then edit and revise their writing and then publish.  With their informational writing, they will also be including text features in their books.  This will help their reader understand more about the topic.

Fundations

• We are in the middle of Unit 7 which introduces open syllable words.  We are continuing to review all syllable types as we introduce new ones.
• We will wrap up Unit 7 after break and start Unit 8.  Unit 8 covers r controlled vowels.  
• Please continue practicing the trick words at home.  These are words the students just have to memorize.

Science/Social Studies

• The students became an expert on volcanoes, floods or earthquakes this week and were able to teach classmates about their topic.  We will also be learning about landslides before break.
• After break, we will switch back to social studies.  We will be focusing on geography for the month of January.  They will be identifying landforms and creating maps to show the landforms.

Reading

• We finished learning about text features this week.  They will use these text features in the publishing of their informational writing.
• When we get back from break, we will briefly review the concepts we have covered in the first half of the year.  Then we will move on to making connections between different books as well as between books and events occurring in the world.  

Have a fabulous weekend!

Mrs. Ross

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday!

We have had a wonderful week!  Check out what we will be working on next week, as well as important information for the next few weeks.

Important Upcoming Events/Information

• Please remember to send in snacks with your student each day.  We have snack each day at 9:55 a.m.
• Ugly Sweater Day: December 14
• Grinch Day: December 19
• We will have "Grinchy" activities all day.  Students may dress up for Grinch Day if they would like.
• Winter Party: December 20 at 1:35 p.m.
• The All School Sing Along will be before the parties so parents can set up for the party.  Due to the size of our gym and number of students we have at RBE, we do not have room for parents to attend the Sing Along.  
• Winter Break: December 21-January 2

Box Tops

• We are doing another school wide Box Top collection this month.  Please cut out your box tops and send them in with your student.  There is a sheet in your student's Friday folder where you can tape/glue the Box Tops.  Our goal is 200 box tops for the entire Team Moss class.  

Homework Bingo

• We have had our first 2 Homework Bingo Black Outs!  If your student wants to eat lunch with us, they simply have to bring in their Bingo Board with a Bingo.  We check daily and we eat lunch with them most Fridays (we let the students know if it is a different day than Friday).

Math

• Unit 4 Test on Tuesday (covers time, measurement, place value)
• We will start Unit 5 next week.  This unit covers adding 10 and 100 to numbers.  It also reviews counting money and introduces finding change.

Reading

• We learned about table of contents, heading, photographs, captions, diagrams, labels and types of print this week.  The students are getting an opportunity to learn about the text features and create their own.  We will use these text features in their informational books that they will write.  
• Next week, we will continue working on text features.  As you're reading at home, encourage students to read informational or nonfiction books and ask them to locate text features and how they help them as a reader.  

Writing

• This week, we worked on researching our topic.  We talked about the importance of putting the information in our own words.  They can use the information, but cannot use someone else's words.
• Next week, we will wrap up our research and then start using the information to write an informational book about their animal.  

Science

• This week, students researched about volcanoes, earthquakes and floods.  They learned what causes them and how they change the earth's surface.  
• Next week, they will take the information they learned and create a poster.  They will use the poster to teach other students about their natural disaster.  

Have a fabulous weekend!

Mrs. Ross

We cannot believe that December is right around the corner!  The students are doing such an amazing job.  This week was full of special events!  

• On Wednesday, we celebrated the end of our Colonial America unit, we had Colonial Day.  A HUGE thank you to those who sent in supplies and helped run a station - this would not have been possible without your support!  
• Then today, to celebrate all their hard work during first trimester, we had a pizza party!  The money that you sent you at the beginning of the year paid for the pizza, and families provided a healthy side, chips and dessert.  The students had a blast today with an extra long lunch, pizza, and short video!

Upcoming Events

• December 5 - RBHS Planetarium field trip (we will be out of the building from 9:15-10:45)
• December 14 - RBE Ugly Sweater Spirit Day 
• December 20 - RBE Holiday Sing Along - due to the size of our school parents are not able to attend this event.
• December 20 - Winter Party (1:45-2:25)
• December 21-January 3 - No School Winter Break

Student Teacher Next Semester!

We are super excited to be hosting a student teacher from MU next semester!  Sam Easter will be with us next semester.  She is planning on coming by to introduce herself to the students during December, and in January, you will receive a letter from Ms. Easter introducing herself. 

What We're Learning!

• Math
• Your child should be able to tell time to the nearest 5 minutes, and use a.m. & p.m. appropriately.  Please continue to reinforce this skill with your child.
• We are now working on place value.  Your child's goal is to be able to read and write 3 digit numbers in all forms (standard, word, base ten, and expanded form).
• Writing
• We finished publishing our second personal narrative.  Make sure to ask your kiddo what s/he wrote about!
• Your child will also be publishing their personal narrative using the iPad and making an electronic book.  We are super excited about this, and can't wait to share these books with you!
• We are starting informational writing.  Your child chose an animal that they wanted to research, and next week we will be starting to research.
• Reading
• To go along with our informational writing unit, we are learning about text features that authors use to teach their readers.  Over the next few weeks, we will be learning about the different text features.
• Fundations
• We took our Unit 6 Fundations test today.  Your child should be able to tell the difference between a short vowel and a long vowel.  
• In Unit 7, we will learning about open syllable word patterns (a word that ends with a vowel).  Examples of this pattern are go and cry.
• Trick Words are word that do not follow the pattern that students just have to memorize.  Please be practicing these words with your child to make sure that know these words.
• Unit 6 Trick Words: only, house, move, right, place, together
• Unit 7 Trick Words: eight, large, change, city, every, family, night, carry, something
• Review Trick Words: some, come, would, could, should, say, between, each
• Social Studies
• We finished up our Colonial Unit of study this week.  Your child should be able to tell you what Colonial life was like, the jobs that Colonial people had, and the clothes that they wore.  We also worked on comparing Colonial life to present day life.
• Science
• Our next science unit will be focusing on comparing the Earth's surface changes over long and short periods of time.
• Next week, we will be focusing on quick changes, such as volcanoes and earthquakes,  We will also be discussing flooding and landslides.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Happy (Short Week) Friday!

The students put on an AMAZING performance at our Veterans Day Assembly!  If you were not able to make it - check out our Twitter feed because we tweeted out the three songs that were sung by our class!  As a reminder, you can always find lots of pictures from the week on Twitter.  If you don't have Twitter - all you have to do is look on the right sidebar of our classroom blog.

Some Friendly Reminders! :)

• Food Drive: Service Club is having their yearly food drive.  Second grade is collecting smooth peanut butter.  If you would like to donate any peanut butter, you can send it in with your student.  

• Book Fair: The book fair will be open during the week of November 12-16.  This is a great place to get some books for your students to read at home.  The book fair schedule is below.
• Monday 7:30 AM-5:00 PM
• Tuesday  7:30 AM-5:00 PM
• Wednesday  7:30 AM-5:00 PM
• Thursday  7:30 AM-7:00 PM
• Friday 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM

• Conferences: This week we started Parent/Teacher Conferences, and next week we will finish them up.  This is one of our favorite times of the year to be able to show the growth that your child has made!  We are looking forward to meeting with every family!

Look What's Happening in Moss World!

• Math: On Wednesday, we reviewed Unit 3 (subtraction) and took our end of the unit test.  We will be sharing this assessment with you at your child's P/T Conferences.  We also started Unit 4 (time, measurement and place value).  We started learning about how to tell time on an analog clock and will be continuing to practice this skill during the next couple of weeks.  Your child's goal, at the end of this unit, is to be able to tell time to the nearest 5 minute using AM and PM.  This would be something that would be super helpful for you to practice on at home!

• Writing: We have started writing the middle of our second small moment stories.  This week, we broke our story down into three events and worked hard on adding important details to each event.  Next week, we will finish writing our middle and add the lead paragraph. 

• Reading: This week, we started working on visualizing.  Visualizing is an important skill for readers to have.  When a reader visualizes what they are reading, they are able to better comprehend what's happening in the story.  As students continue to grow as readers, the books will have less and less pictures, and visualizing will become more and more important.  We will continue practicing this skill next week.

• Fundations: This week, we reviewed two Fundations rules that we had learned earlier this year.  
• Do you know the rule when to use -ick or -ic at an end of a word?  Your child does!  Ask him/her the rule.  If they need a hint, remind them about syllables and short vowel! :)
• You can also ask your child about when to double the f, l and s at the end of a word.  In Fundations this is called a bonus letter that happens in short vowel words. 

• Social Studies: This week, we started learning about Colonial times.  We learned that the Colonial period is between 1607 (Jamestown colony established) and 1776 (the end of the American Revolution).  We also discovered why all the 13 original colonies were on the east coast of the United States.  We started learning about what Colonial men, women and children wore.  Next week, we will also be learning about what the work that men, women and children did in Colonial times.  Your child's goal, at the end of this unit, is to be able to compare the life of a person from Colonial times to their life.

• As a celebration of our learning about Colonial America, we will have Colonial Day on November 28!  We need your help to make this fun learning experience a success!  We need parent volunteers (8:00-10:30) and a few supplies.  Please click here to be able to look over our SignUp Genius to see what is needed.  We appreciate all your support!

 Upcoming Events

• November 16 - No School (P/T Conferences)
• November 21-25 - No School (Thanksgiving Break)
• November 28 - Colonial Day (8:00-10:30) ***new event***
• November 30 - RBE Spirit Pajama Day

This trimester is flying by and I cannot believe that it is already November! 

Parent/Teacher Conferences

We start Parent/Teacher Conferences next week.  Ms. Mottaz and I try to do all conferences together, so we spread them out over two weeks.  If you have not already sent back in your blue form confirming you P/T Conference time, please do so as soon as possible. 

Upcoming Events

• November 5 - No School (Teacher Work Day)
• November 6 - No School (Election Day)
• November 7 - PTA Meeting at 6:00 in the Media Center
• November 9 - Veterans Day Assembly in the gym at 9:30 ***correct time***
• November 16 - No School (P/T Conferences)
• November 21-25 - No School (Thanksgiving Break)
• November 30 - RBE Spirit Pajama Day

Food Drive

Service Club is having their yearly food drive.  Second grade is collecting smooth peanut butter.  If you would like to donate any peanut butter, you can send it in with your student.  

Book Fair

The book fair will be open during the week of November 12-16.  This is a great place to get some books for your students to read at home.  The book fair schedule is below.

• Monday 7:30 AM-5:00 PM
• Tuesday  7:30 AM-5:00 PM
• Wednesday  7:30 AM-5:00 PM
• Thursday  7:30 AM-7:00 PM
• Friday 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM

Veterans Day Assembly

The students have been working extremely hard with Mrs. Sharp to put together a Veterans Day Assembly.  Our students will be performing at 9:30 on November 9 (next Friday).  Please have your child wear red, white & blue on Friday!  The wrong time was reported in the Bear Facts - so please make sure that you have the correct time on your calendar!

Bear Facts

If you have not already had a chance to look through the Bear Facts, make sure you check out it - especially the section on Zones of Regulation because there are several pictures from our classroom in this section! :)

What We're Learning in 2nd Grade!

• Math: 
• This week, we finished up Unit 3 on Subtraction.
• Next week, we will review and take the end of unit test.  Our next unit will focus on time and measurement.
• Writing: 
• This week, we started our second small moment story.  The students are working so hard on this piece of writing!
• Next week, we will continue to work on our story!
• Reading: 
• This week, we talked about what to do if you come to an unknown word.  We reviewed decoding strategies (picture below) and how to use context clues
• 
• Next week, we will be talking about how visualizing helps us understand what is happening in our story.
• Fundations: 
• This week, we finished up Unit 5 on suffixes and took the end unit quiz.
• Next week, we will be reviewing the rules that we have learned so far in Fundations and trick words.  The following week, we will be starting Unit 6 - we sent home the introduction letter to this unit in your child's Friday Folder.
• Science & Social Studies: 
• This week in Science, we finished up our Properties of Materials unit and took the CPS district assessment on Physical Science.  We are super proud of the students! 
• Next week, we will be starting our Colonial Unit in Social Studies.

We are looking forward to meeting with everyone over the next few weeks at conferences!  I hope that your child enjoys their 4 day weekend!