Happy Friday

Happy Friday!

I hope you all have had a wonderful week!  I am absolutely LOVING this beautiful weather.  Yesterday, we were able to get out to the track for a little bit.  I told the students we might be doing that more as it is warmer outside!

I can't believe the end of the year is so close.  You can feel the excitement already building about the end of the year.  We had a conversation this morning that it is important to continue to do their job at school and that we have a lot of fun things planned for the rest of the year.

Reading
This week, we worked on summarzing fiction stories.  We taught them a different strategy other than "Somebody, wanted, but, so then" this week.  We focused on identifying the main idea, details and the most important words and then using this informaiton to create a one sentence summary.

Next week, we will be working on a similar strategy with nonfiction passages.  We will identify the main idea, details and then use this informaiton to create a one sentence summary of the nonfiction passage.

Writing
This week, we wrapped up our rough draft for our best pet opinion writing.  Next week, we will edit it and then publish our writing.  We are planning to use the laptops or iPads to publish writing.

Math
This week, we wrapped up our geometry and fraction unit.  I will be sending home this test and the subtraction tests next week.  Please review them with your student then sign and return it to school.

We took our pretest over measurement today.  We will start our measurement unit on Monday.  We will start with non-customary measurements, then move into standard measurements.  We will also be talking about different units of measure and tools to measure.

Science
We are continuing to observe our plant experiment.  The students are noticing what the plants need to survive.  We will wrap up our experiment by the end of next week and see if our hypthesis that plants need sun, soil and water is correct.

Homework
We will have homework for the next 2 weeks and then will be finished with homework.  The students will have optional homework after that of reading and math facts each night (starting the first full week of May).  If they do math facts and reading (15 minutes each) for at least 3 nights (starting in May), they can eat lunch in the room on Friday.

Field Trip

• April 29: Jazz Ensemble at Hickman High School, leave RBE at 9:30 and return by 11:30.
• May 11: Runge Nature Center, leave at 8:30, return at 2:00

Important Dates

·      April 22: "Earth Day" - Wear green or other "Earth Friendly" attire

·      April 29: Field Trip to Hickman High School for a Jazz Concert – leave 9:30 & return 11:30

·      May 10: PTA Meeting (5;30)

·      May 11: Field Trip to Runge Nature Center – leave at 8:30

·      May 13: Variety Show

·      May 20: Field Day

·      May 20: "Summer Fun" - Wear your most colorful, fun, floral outfit to kick off summer (no swim suits)!!

Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the warm weather!

Mrs. Ross

Fraction Quilt

We have been practicing fractions this week.  We have focused on halves, thirds and fourths.  Along with Ms. Mottaz's class, we created a Fraction Quilt below.  They either partitioned their rectangle into halves, thirds or fourths and identified how many pieces were in their rectangle.  We will continue practicing and reviewing fractions this week.  Our plan is to test on Friday over fractions and geometry.

Summer School/Pin for Cancer

Happy Wednesday!

I'm so excited to see the sun and warmer weather outside!  I'm ready for summer weather!

I just wanted to remind everyone that the date for guaranteed summer school enrollment is this Friday.  I know that summers can be very busy, but if summer school fits into your schedule, it is a good review of 2nd grade as well as an introduction to 3rd grade concepts.  The teachers always do a wonderful job creating a lot of fun learning activities!  If your student is slated to go to a different school next year, they will still go to Rock Bridge for summer school unless you have requested another school and will be providing transportation for your student.

Also, a HUGE thank you to everyone who has donated change/money for St. Jude Children's Hospital.  Our class has already raised over $100.  We had to increase our goal today and we have increased our goal to $200.  I appreciate all your donations!

I hope you get a chance to get outside today and enjoy the warm weather!

Mrs. Ross

Happy Monday/Pin for Cancer

Happy Monday!

I hope you have all had a wonderful start to your week.  We had a great Monday in Room 27.

I just wanted to give you some more information about a presentation that was given to our class today by three of Mrs. Howard's students today.  One of her students, Myles Putnam, is doing a fundraiser called Pin Cancer to raise money for St. Jude Children's Hospital.  Mrs. Howard's class has decided to take this opportunity to do a whole school fundraiser.  We will be collecting coins (dollar bills are fine also) in the classroom to donate to St. Jude Children's Hospital.  The link below gives some additional information about the fundraiser and also a place to donate if you would like to donate online.  Please do not feel obligated to donate by any means, but I wanted to share the information with you because the kids may come home to talk about it.

https://getinvolved.pincancer.org/fundraise?fcid=593893

This week, we will be working on summarizing in reading, opinions in writing, fractions in math and experimental design through plants in science.

Please send a jacket with your student for recess this week.  It can be very chilly in the morning.

Have a wonderful evening!

Mrs. Ross

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