Newsletter 12-18-14

Parents, 

We’ve been busy during this time before winter break.  We started unit three in Reading Street: "What does it mean to be creative?"  Our first two stories were Pearl and Wagner and Dear Juno.  Our comprehension focus has been on author’s purpose and drawing conclusions.  Our language focus has been on verbs. 

We are learning opinion writing in this unit.  We practiced when we wrote our friendly letters to Santa.  We told him that we had been nice this year and gave him three points of evidence.  We also wrote our opinion about our Anansi story this week. 

Since we learned about faraway places in our language unit, Jack and his mom spoke to our class about living in Cambodia.  We learned so much about the culture as we heard stories, looked at pictures, and touched real objects.  What a great experience! 

We also had a guest speaker teach us sign language, another form of communication.  She taught us the history of sign language, and we learned several signs.  We learned the alphabet, and the students will get a page to bring home tomorrow so they can practice their names over the break. 

We finished our unit on mental subtraction and have moved on to addition with regrouping.  Please have your child continue to use Reflex Math over the break.
 
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in our room!  We have done some fun writing activities, centers and art projects to help us enjoy the holidays.

We appreciate all the kids who brought in change for Quarters for Christmas.  Our school earned over $800!  If you can give your child some opportunities to count money over the break, it will help so much when we get to that math unit later in the year. 

It has been so much fun to see students present their tradition reports this week.  They have done a fabulous job!  Thank you for helping your child with this.  All of the students need to present to the class by Friday to get a grade.  Remember, their reports can be about any tradition you do as a family.  They do not have to be a holiday. 

Today your child brought home a book order page with a free book coupon.  If you would like to redeem the coupon, you may order online by December 30.  You will be able to choose from Lucky, 2^nd Graders, or any other book orders.  You can also search for favorite books. 

Thank you so much for the gifts.  Also, thank you to our fabulous volunteers who have helped us so far this year.  Have a wonderful winter break! 

Kristen Adams
kristen.adams@canyonsdistrict.org                  

Newsletter 11-19-14

Parents,

We’ve been having a great time in second grade!  We finished unit two in language arts and have been reviewing this week.  We liked reading and acting out The Bremen Town Musicians.  What a great way to practice fluency and accuracy!  We read the fable One Good Turn Deserves Another, and we compared and contrasted it with other fables.  We wrote narratives about what we are thankful for and used our sequence words.  We also made some fun Thanksgiving turkeys.  Ask your child about Abraham Lincoln granting a pardon to Jack the Turkey!

We finished our place value unit in math.  We learned a fun even/odd game that you can play anywhere, Miss Even & Mr. Odd.  We are working on our mental addition unit, which means we are solving two-digit problems in our heads.  We are learning different strategies such as breaking apart numbers, using ten-frames, and working with hundred charts.

We had a fabulous Halloween party, thanks to our terrific room mothers.  We played Halloween Bingo, made up spooky stories, played pumpkin bowling, made mummies and ghosts, and ate doughnuts.  It was fun to see so many of you at the parade!

We’ve had a fantastic SOAR week!  We reviewed school rules, dressed up, and had extra raffles.  Our “S” leaders, Ellie and Trinity, did a great job representing our class in September and October.  Our “O” leaders, Jack and Reagan, will cover November and December.  Josh earned the award in our class for trustworthiness and got a special certificate at an assembly.  We all dressed in red, and the school choir sang.  It’s fun to see so many of our second graders in the choir!

I am sending home two book orders today.  Remember that you can go online using the code GYPDT and have a much larger selection of books.  If you would like to order books as Christmas presents, just let me know.  We can make arrangements so I can get them to you without your child seeing.  Don’t forget to use the free book coupon I sent on Halloween. 

Although there was not a homework packet this week, please remember to have your child read and practice math facts every day.  Reflex Math is a great tool for practicing math facts.  There are also many links to educational websites on my blog: http://mrsadams2.blogspot.com. 

Thanks for all your help at home, and please contact me with any questions or concerns.  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving break!

Kristen Adams

kristen.adams@canyonsdistrict.org

     

Newsletter 10-15-14

Our language arts story for the last week and a half has been Tara and Tiree.  It’s about two dogs that save their owner when he falls through the ice.  We’ve been talking about safety and what to do in an emergency.  We’ve also been studying nouns and cause and effect.

We have been practicing expository writing with animal reports.  After learning about elephants in our Scholastic News, we’ve been writing about these amazing animals.

We used the extra time this week to practice fluency and speaking skills with Reader’s Theater.  All of our students performed in front of our class.  They had fun and did such a good job!

We finished our unit on subtraction, and we’re starting a unit on basic multiplication.  Remember to have your child keep practicing basic facts.  Their Reflex Math passwords are in the front of their planners. 

We’re excited for our Halloween party!  Thank you to our parents who volunteered to help.  Students should arrive that day in costume, but please remember that they cannot where masks or have weapons of any kind.  We will send more information later.

Thank you to all of our mom helpers and watchdog dads.  We love having you in our classroom!  I’m including another copy of our schedule.  If you have an unpredictable schedule but still want to help, feel free to email me on a day when your schedule allows.  We'd be glad to have you!

Parent Volunteers

(10:30-11:30)

1st Monday:  Debbie Mertens

1st Tuesday:  Rachael Felsing

1st Wednesday

1st Thursday: Amy Boulette

2nd Monday:  Renee Deremiah

2nd Tuesday:  Amy Boulette

2nd Wednesday

2nd Thursday:  Nichole Lambert

3rd Monday: 

3rd Tuesday:  Rachael Felsing

3rd Wednesday:  Heather Allen

3rd Thursday:  Mylisa Graham

4th Monday:  Lynette Baird

4th Tuesday  

4th Wednesday:  Heather Allen

4th Thursday

1st Friday:  Heather Allen

2nd Friday:  Katie James

3rd Friday:  Katie James

4th Friday:  Katie James