Longina Pietro

Pietro's Printing Press 4-20-08

Dates to Remember

4- 23         Begin CRCT testing  End 4-29

4-24         Talk on Australia by Mrs. Cohen

4-25         Demonstration and talk by one of our science parents on Fungi

4-30         Individual Reading Assessments will be given.       

5-02         Talent Show

5-06         Program on Economics by Cara Ellison of The Teachers' Orchard

5-09         Field Day for 2nd and 3rd

5-13         Volunteer Tea  10 a.m.

Somewhere in the beginning of May is the classroom training by our local firemen. The children will also be going into the smoke house. I was involved in this course for the first time last year and I can personally attest to the wonderful job they do. They are very thorough and have each child practice the main idea of the lessons.

Another activity we have planned, depending on funding, is the Nana Nature program. We chose to have this because it covers Photosynthesis, one of the functions they need to learn in our unit on life cycles, and because it can be held in-house. With the way gas prices are, we felt this was the best of all situations. This is a hands-on class. Please look for the permission slips and envelopes in this Thursday's folders. Thanks.

LUNCH CHANGE               LUNCH CHANGE                                   LUNCH CHANGE

Our lunch time for the five days of testing will be 11:16  to  11:46.

Our specials will be 12:25 to 12:45 for the first three days of testing at least.

A.R. News

They were certainly reading up a storm over spring break.  There were 471 tests taken up to the break.  There are 512 tests taken as of Friday. That means they took 41 tests this week. When they have time to read, they do as you can see.

Kehla Meacham has meet her reading goal for the third time this year. Alex Stafford has gone above and beyond too. He is at 131% of his set goal. You two are amazing.

Alex gave me an assignment. He said that I had to read the last book that he did since he was able to finish it. I am going on the premise that I get as much time as he did. I am thankful that it is an interesting book.

The best part is that the class has an 86.1 average percent correct score for these tests. That tells me they understand what they are reading.

Talent Show

This is a very creative, accomplished class of students. A well rounded education includes the arts.We learn numerous skills when we incorporate the arts such as music, art, dance, poetry, writing etc. Those whose talents will be shared are: Jesse Kelley, Gabbi Primiano, Bo Didier, McKayla Brown, Anna Coleman, Caroline Caden, and Aniyah Alexander. Way to go, guys.

I will email or blog you if there are any changes on lunch schedules and when field day times are.

Pietro's Printing Press 3- 27-08

DATES TO REMEMBER

3-28    Momotaro, Peach Boy packet due. We did these in class.

3-28    All Boosterthon donations must be in so that they will release the earnings to the school.

4-02    Kindergarten Registration for new students

4-04    Jump Rope during specials.  Bring in all old sneakers to be recycled.

4-06    Spring Break all week

4-14    Children return to school.  Last week to review second grade skills

4-23    CRCT testing begins   Ours is Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

4-18    Final writing sample for Persuasion piece

5-09    Field Day  Rain date is the 14th

5-13    Volunteer Tea  10 a.m.

5-15    Nana Nature in-house field trip on photosynthesis for our plants and living cycles unit in Science.

THIS 'N' THAT

  The children are working hard in spite of Spring Break dreams. We have been fine tuning 2nd grade skills in order to feel comfortable during the CRCt testing. You should see some completed practice tests coming home. Don't forget that you can go on line and do the state practice tests too. You were sent passwords a few weeks ago. I know that some of the children have been taking these tests at home. It is mostly to familiarize them with the wording of tests, the pacing and just having to sit for a longer period. Mrs.                                           has even done some relaxation techniques with them that should help relieve the stress during testing.

  Please make sure that all Boosterthon pledged monies are in before Spring Break. They need to have the total here in order to give the school their part. The children really had a blast doing the running. They never slowed down!

  Wondering what to do with all those old sneakers and tennis shoes? Do we have a solution for you. The ASP Kiwanis Kids Club is sponsoring a recycling drive. They will turn the shoes into the Nike Corporation who turns them into playground flooring. This will help at lots of different levels. So send those old, worn out sneakers in next Friday.

  Be sure to check your child's lunch monies. We are getting to the point where they will not allow charges at all.

  For those of you who have children that enjoy testing in the A.R. program, our last test day is April 22nd. As I have said before, there are lots of readers here but they don't always read the A.R. books or take a test when finished an A.R. book. The good news is that as a group, this class has an 86% on comprehension when reading. That is impressive. Their love of Non-fiction books has increased almost to the fiction level. This is wonderful.

Our room also celebrated Kehla Meacham's accomplishment today. She has met her reading goal for the second time this year. Together we decided on a new personal goal to reach before the end of the year. I am sure that she will complete the challenge. We are all cheering her on. Go, Kehla!!

  Please also check on your child's supply of pencils. A lot of empty pencil boxes are showing up at this time. Our room is in need of animal crackers and hand sanitizer. If anyone has any to spare, we would appreciate it. Thanks to Mrs. Coleman, we have wet-wipes to help keep the room as germ free as possible. Thanks for all you do.

Pietro's Printing Press 3 - 9 - 08

Dates to Remember

3-11    Begin U4 Math

3-12    FunRun for Boosterthon    Our time is 8-9 a.m. 

3-14    End of Grading Period

3-20    Report Cards go out

4-2     Kindergarten Registration

4-4    Jump Rope for Heart

4-6    Spring Break

4-14   Return to school

4-23   CRCTs begin

This'N'That

    Thank you all for making the effort to come to the PTSA meeting. I hope that you enjoyed it as much as the children did. They worked so hard on the Pasta song and they wanted to show you. You all know how much it means to them to see parents at school. So again, I thank you.

    We started our new math unit a week earlier so that we could get in multiplication and division before the CRCT. There will be some 'readiness' problems on there. They do not have to know the tables. They need to know how to put equal sets together and take a sum apart into equal sets. We will also be working with four digit numbers, adding and subtracting with regrouping. Please check their work and make sure they know how to regroup. This also includes adding, subtracting money and giving change. That is still a hard concept for some.

    With our new quarter will come a different set of Mad Math. In the ten minutes, they will have 100 problems to solve BUT they will be addition and subtraction on the same page. When they come home with their papers, please show them the percentage that they have accomplished. I was doing it for 18 pages and it gets to be too much. I would appreciate you just doing the one with your child. Put the number right over the number of problems that they completed. It makes more sense to them to see what they have learned. Thanks.

    Our FunRun time was switched to a different time. It is now going to be 8 - 9 s.m.  Come join us if you can. Have the kids wear layers according to the weather. Thank you for the responses to the shirt size email. We turned them all in. They will be given to the kids on Wednesday morning at school. On the back, parents and teachers will mark the number of laps that they run. This should be fun to see.

    We are now deep into the science of space. We are all learning new facts each week. It is amazing what goes on out there. While researching books in our Media Center, I found a very whimsical one called Big Bang. While searching for the illustrator ( the cover really intrigued me) I noticed the author. Turns out to be my cousin's wife!  Talk about cosmic forces at work.

  We are studying constellations, stars, day and night, and seasons right now. Then we move on to the work of the moon and its phases. They made constellations on Friday and will be writing a story about how their stars got there.

    In Writer's Workshop, we are working on opinions, point of view, responding to literature and writing a persuasive letter. The letter writing also includes knowing the format of a friendly letter. The weakest point is keeping on topic. They have so much to say but they don't keep on topic. That first sentence should state your opinion and then you support it with the following detail sentences. The last sentence is restating your opinion but in a turned around thought of the first sentence. Little by little we are getting there.

    Reading finds us still on main idea, completing sentences, reading for meaning, taking stories apart and reviewing parts of a book. In doing a mini 'test' based on CRCT practice sheets, I found out that they need a refresher on when we use an atlas, encyclopedia, dictionary and thesaurus. They must know which resource to use when. Each week we will take time to review some practice tests. Again, it helps them feel at ease with the test language and timing. Test taking skills are as important as learning the material in the first place. They need to polish up their critical thinking and reasoning skills. It is so enjoyable to watch them analyze thoughtfully.

    Please make sure the kids are wearing their sneakers to school. They are falling all over with the sandals and crocs. Save those for home even if they are cute and go with the outfit. They are turning ankles just 'walking' down the hall. Remember too as the weather gets warmer, that we are only outside for 15 minutes. The rest of the time is in the 'cool' classroom. They should still bring a sweater for those days it freezes in there.

    A special thank you to the Brown Family. They gave us those wonderful leather folders. I have dubbed them the CRCT folders. Right now we are doing our most important work and it deserves a special place. I love it as it adds to the importance of the work. I let the children take them home to show you so I hope you saw how lovely they are. They are so nice in fact, that my husband confiscated mine. Hmmm.  Thank you Mr. Brown for thinking of us.

Pietro's Printing Post 2 -18-08

Dates to Remember

2-18                  Stevi B’s Night

2-19                  Teacher Inservice Day   no school for students

2-20            WAMU Banking Day    Media Center, 7:15 a.m. – 7:45 a.m.

                        Author Visit, Bettye Stroud, Media Center   10:55-11:55 (2^nd grade)

                        Math Pre-test for Unit 4

2-21                 Japanese Food Tasting  11:00 - noon

2-22            End 6^th School Month

                        Cosmic Bowling,  Gym,   6:15-8:30 p.m.

2-25           School Council Meeting, New Conference Room, 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m.

2-26           Tom Mathis Council Science Fair Awards Reception, Still ES, 7:00 p.m.

                 

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Dr. Seuss Birthday  Read Across America Day

Friday, February 29, 2008 The West Cobb Reading Brigade has chosen Still Elementary to celebrate with this year.  Volunteers will arrive in all the classrooms and specials classes at 9:00 a.m. to read for 20 minutes.  Teachers – please provide books for our guests.  They will be happy to read Dr. Seuss books, books about a subject you are studying or a chapter book to your class.  Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

This'N'That

At this point, we are reviewing along with learning new skills as the CRCTs are coming up quickly. To see all the skills they should have and those that we are working on now, please go to the county web site. There is a parent section that lets you know what we do each quarter. The CRCT tests are in April after Spring You can go on the Georgia State Education site to preview the examples of the kinds of questions they will be required to answer. In the Thursday folder, you will be receiving a paper that has their test ID number code. This will allow you to get into the tests in order to practice. I do not have a copy of these codes so keep them in a safe place. Each child has their own code.

The reason we practice these tests are so that the kids feel comfortable with the wording. Test taking is a skill to learn. This is also why we use those words from the chart...the Wonder Words. You will also be able to see where your child needs individual help. It would be a good idea to sit down with them and go over the questions. There is a lot that they are required to know. It is best to be reviewing now. Thanks for all your help with this. We try hard but sometimes we don't catch a weak area for an individual until it is too late. You can help one on one with your child's skills.

Language Arts

• Reading: We are working on main ideas.

Pietro's Printing Post 2-01-08

DATES TO REMEMBER

1-29     Start unit on Japan
2-02   Punxsutawney Phil's Day in the news
2-05    Chick-Fil-A Night
2-06    Early Release    Dismissal 12:10
2-07    PTSA Meeting
2-18     No school
2-19     No school
2-21    Japanese Tasting
2-22    Cosmic Bowling

This'N'That

    On Saturday (Feb. 2nd.) we celebrate Ground Hog's Day. If you want the children to have some fun, make sure they use this website. It is for the real groundhog weather predictor she says tongue in cheek. The southern one is General Lee, I believe. It's always fun to see what they say . We will be comparing and contrasting their predictions.

Punxsutawney Phil.com

    Thank you all for your attendance at conferences. I hope that I was able to fully communicate each student's performance. If there are any more questions, email me. Never hesitate to ask anything. It's too important not to be on the same path.
    We are starting our unit on the study of Japan. We will again, compare and contrast life there to our community, Jamestown, Plymouth,  the Native Americans of the Plains and Woodlands, and eventually, Australia. They will so most of the learning in our classroom but we do rotate to other classes. They will go to a Tea Ceremony in Ms. Fancellas' class, learn about ikebana in Mrs. Hester's class. Then they will discover the landforms and geography that make up Japan in Mrs. Kosty's room. In Mrs. Novac's class, they will view the clothes worn in that culture. We will decorate our own dolls in our room. They will play childhood games with Mrs. Brunson. In our room, they will be touring a personal museum with curator Mrs. Denise Leigh. Her parents lived in Japan for a few years. She graciously comes each year and displays all her treasures, explaining about them and life in Japan.
    In our homeroom, we will be studying about the cultural aspects of Japan. We will combine Literature with the skills we need to learn in all areas of the curriculum. We will be reading, How My Parents Learned to Eat and connecting that with research on the web to produce a meal. We will compare and contrast our dinner to one we could indulge in when visiting Japan. We will be making a Zen garden, colorful fans and some other projects. This unit is one we all enjoy. Art, Music, Computer Lab, and P.E. will work on all things Japanese too. On the 21st, we will have the finale. We have a food tasting and that is when we make the Zen Gardens. Mrs. Primiano and Mrs. Kelley will be leading this endevor.

    If anyone has  Japanese treasures to share, please send them in for display. Also, if you have clean sand to give, I would appreciate it.  Sand comes in bags too big for us to buy as this is the last year we do these activities. We are also on the look out for clean trays. I need the kind that meat comes in. These are the base for the Zen gardens. Thanks.

     Happy Groundhog's Day !

Pietro's Printing Press 1-14-08

Happy New Year. May 2008 be one of happiness, health and discovery for you all. In case the thank you notes were misplaced, I want to thank everyone for the total enjoyment that Dan and I had eating out, searching out new books and music and just being out and about. You certainly made our holidays bright.

A very special thank you  to all parents from the children and me for making our holiday party such an event.  Thanks to Mrs. Kelley, Mrs. Didier and Mrs. Primiano for all their work. The food and atmosphere were enjoyed by one and all.

Dates to Remember

1-8    U3 math began

1-11   Report cards sent home

1-16   WAMU Banking

1-21   ML King holiday   no school

1-21   Stevi B's Night

1-22   Conference Week    Dismissal 12:10

1-22   Tell-Tale Theater  production in the gym for specials

 Remember that conferences run differently this year. The schedule goes from Tuesday the 22nd to MONDAY the 28th. That means early dismissal for all those days. That Monday date is throwing a kink in the memory system.

This'N'That

  Math: You should have received a list of the math skills being taught this quarter. To begin, we are working on fractions - fractions of a shape and fractions of a group. They usually have a harder time grasping the fractions of a group concept. This would be something to review at home too. We are making fractions, identifying fractions, comparing fractions and in some cases, adding and subtracting fractions. It's amazing what a second grader can do.

    Please continue to work on the addition and subtraction facts to 18. The goal is 100 facts in 7 minutes, At this time the sheets are all either addition or subtraction but we will move on to mixed questions in a bit. You don't have to drill the children with flash cards. Use computer games, internet games or just any spare time. For example, when you are walking out to the car, or up the stairs for the bedtime routine, fire away a few questions. Make it a challenge and fun at the same time. Not knowing these facts and having to count on fingers really  hampers them. They will be required to memorize the multiplication facts next year and this is a building block for that.

    Use the math terminology. We don't borrow or carry anymore, we regroup. It sounds minor to some of us but it opens up a world to them. There are a lot of reasoning skills involved in the choice of wording. When you come to conference, I will be showing you the way a problem solver is evaluated. Not only are the solutions, terminology,  and process important but taking it to the  next step is involved. The students need to analyze the story problem and summarize what else they could do to their solutions.

   Language Arts: We are working on cause/effect and supporting our answers. Within the grammar part, we are studying pronouns, possessives, verbs, adjectives, nouns, subject sand predicates, combining sentences without the use of 'and', synonyms, antonyms, homophones, homographs, contractions, compounds and so many other skills. Some of these are review but they need to remember them for the CRCTs. When they are talking to you, have them tell you things in just a few sentences. Remind them to combine sentences and just relate the facts. They want to add facts that just aren't relevant and they get lost in the story. They need to think and communicate clearly.

   Social Studies: Our main area now is Jamestown. We are comparing their lives, resources, food, shelter and clothing to our style of living. We are also comparing them to the Pilgrims in Plymouth. Jamestown is the first permanent English settlement. This is where our country had its beginnings. The children are astonished to realize that Pocahontas is not a Disney creation. We are reading the book, Elizabeth's Diary, which is about this time period. They are also writing a response journal to events in the story.

   Writing: We are finishing up our unit on Informational Writing. They have researched and worked on paragraphs for Native Americans, Strange Plants and now Martin Luther King. If they ask you to help them research on the internet, please do. They are in the midst of collecting facts on ML King right now. During conference week they will be writing their paragraphs. They always have to support the main idea with the facts, not opinions.

See you at conferences. Come with questions. There are no egos when we are all trying for the sucess of the student. If a question requires some research, just send it ahead of time.

Pietro's Printing Post 12-2-07

DATES TO REMEMBER

12-03        Book Fair in Media Center.....all week.......open 2-6 p.m.

12-04        Chick-fil-A Night    5-8 p.m.

12-05        WAMU Banking for those participating

12-06         Terrific Kid  -
                   High Touch, High Tech in house field trip for our room, if funded.

12-07        Spirit Day.....wear those class t-shirts proudly

12-10        School Council Meeting  7-8 a.m.    Room #003    All community members are welcome.
                  Hat Day too

12-11        Family Science Night  6:30 p.m.

12-12 to 14        All wrapped Star Tree gifts are due to the front office.

12-10 to 14        Our room will do the pledge for morning announcements on the TV

12-21       Second Grade Class Holiday Brunch   9-10 a.m.

Book Fair

    The Scholastic Book Fair will run all this week in the Media Center. It will be open after school until 6. There are a lot of good book choices in there this time. Come and choose some for your Christmas gifts. If you are looking for a book for your second grader, the Thesaurus would be a wonderful gift. Ours are well used at this point.

High Touch, High Tech

    This lesson is all about Forces and Motion. These are second grade standards that we are teaching. The children will get more hands on experiences through this. We ran into a problem with people not sending permission slips or money for the lesson. Our room has everything in now. Hopefully the whole thing will proceed.A special thanks to Mrs. Stafford for sending in an extra contribution that will go a long way towards helping all second grade.

Family Science Night

    If this night is anything like last years, parents and students alike will be totally engaged. Come and join the fun while you get to try various experiments. Make your predictions, compose a strategy and try. This is another time when you can "try and fail or fail to try".  It's a good way to show the young ones that failure is OK. It is another way that you learn. Don't you wonder how that stigma became attached to failure?

December's Holiday Brunch

    I know that a lot of parents are teachers and feel badly that you can't be here for the brunch. Please don't. This is a treat for the children themselves. We have a few people who will set up and take down. We will not be doing any ornaments or games or such at that time. Actually, I'll continue on teaching after the brunch.  This is their usual snack time so it will work out well. Mrs. Kelley will be sending home a sign up list for breakfast contributions. We enjoy ourselves but also keep things low key.  Holiday cheer starts after dismissal.

    During this month, we are working on collecting school supplies to replenish the Calvary Children's Home school room.  A flyer was sent home listing some items needed if you are able to donate. Second grade believes in teaching the children the joy of giving as they are at that age where it will mean something. I almost choked the other day when I saw a store's ploy for selling gift certificates for the holidays. To paraphrase, it said something about "I know what the joy of giving is but what's in it for me". They did not mean that you as the giver would feel wonderful just giving joy. They had some sort of money reward attached instead. We want our children to feel compassion and yet we shove this out there for all to see. It's a scary world sometimes.

This 'N' That

    Math:  This unit has held a lot of different skills. We have all worked on subtraction with and without regrouping, using digits or money. There was estimating, knowing how to check a subtraction problem by using addition, fact family, bar graphs (making and reading them, plus collecting the info using a table or t chart), Venn diagrams to see how we compare things, geometry (knowing figures and what their attributes are) and angles. Yes, angles. We learned acute, obtuse, right and straight angles. They also learned that the clock shows those angles, not just the ones we make. They should be able to tell time to the five minute point now. They are still hesitant deciding which HOUR the clock is working on. So please keep asking them the time. As for money, we are deciding which coins will make a designated amount. For example, tell them to make fifty cents with one coin, then two coins, then five coins, and maybe 6 coins. See if they can come up with other solutions too. Start using the phrase, "least amount of coins, greatest amount of coins". A lot of the children are able to do the straightforward math (computation) but they struggle with problem solving and thinking skills. They need to apply their knowledge. On that note, please have them work on their addition and subtraction facts. Our goal now is 100 subtraction facts in 7 minutes. Some have accomplished that goal in addition, now we are on to the other. Our math post tests will be sometime the last week of school this year.

    Social Studies: We have finished our work on comparing the lives of Plains Natives Americans, Eastern Woodland Native Americans and those who lived in Plymouth.  Our last activity will be to compare our chores each day to those of children in the Plymouth colony. This will be an eye opener! 

    Science: We will be discovering what a force is and how we can use it to our advantage. Then we move on to the study of light, it's sources and uses. Hopefully they will be inspired to try an experiment of their own for the Science Fair later in the year.

    Reading: We are working on Cause and Effect using various pieces of literature. I have one book that gives good examples. It is called, How Santa Got His Job. Great on many levels. We did a few lessons on summarizing, comparing and contrasting using Hanukkah books. We even used the dreidels for a lesson on probability in math. The actuality was far apart from their predictions. It's always a joy to see their astonishment and discoveries.

    Writing: We are working on Informational writing. We are doing research and then will write about our subject to inform others about our learning. These are based on non-fiction books. Our media specialist, Mrs. Kearns, took each second grade class into the computer lab to show them how to use the Internet sites for research. Then we continued in the classroom where she showed them how to use the encyclopedia and non-fiction books to collect data too. It was time well spent. They even got a preview of the animals we will look over whose habitat is Australia.

    I will be emailing the day that your child will be leading the pledge for morning announcements. On that day, I am asking that each child wear some patriotic colors. Thanks. 

11-12-07

 

Dates To Remember

11-13    Chick-Fil-A Night

11-19    Stevi-B's Pizza Night

11-19   Bag Lunch in room so other grades can have Grandparents' Lunch

11-20    Grandparents' Luncheon for second grade.

    We will eat the regular time in the cafeteria. Grandparents come in, pay for their lunches in the main school lobby. There will be chairs in the hallways for their comfort. On our way to lunch, we will go through those hallways so grandparents may join us.

             Grandparents are welcome to have pictures made in the media center. Please have them let us know they are taking the children there. They are also welcome to come out to recess with us and tour the classroom.

            IF they plan to take the child home with them, they need to dismiss from the front office only. Remember that you will need to write a note stating your agreement. Thanks.

11-21 to 11-23  Thanksgiving Holiday.  No school.   

    Happy Thanksgiving to all. I count among my blessings the children in this class.  They are so exciting, full of wonder and inquisitive. They make each day a joy and not a job. Now if only we could eliminate the    paperwork!

11-26 to 12-02    Barnes and Noble Book Fair.  Word will be coming on this event.

    The ancestor dolls were a great success. They will be displayed on the bulletin board as our Thanksgiving 'Pilgrims'. The conversations generated were worth all your efforts. They could not get over Bo's project. He brought in a photo of his ancestors in a tin frame. They were all agog over the clothes worn then. The most astonishing thing was that he also had the bracelet his great, great, great grandmother had in the photo. As Abby stuttered with wide opened eyes and head swinging back and forth, "First it was there and now....now......it's here!"  They all enjoyed connecting to their own beginnings. Thank you all for taking the time to do the research.

    We are now doing research in the classroom on a Native American group of their choice. Some children are working alone while others chose to work with a partner. We are combining the skills of research with the other standards we need to master this quarter in Social Studies and Informational Writing. They  are looking at the areas of food, landforms, natural resources, shelter, clothing, and transportation. The facts they are gathering will be transformed into paragraphs eventually. They are having a lot of fun learning about different groups right now. I love the chatter I hear over their findings. They were wearing a path out racing to share new facts with me!

    In the Accelerated Reading Program, these children have improved their accuracy rate this time slot:  Todd Allen, Caroline Caden, Anna Coleman, Bo Didier, Kehla Meacham, Coralie Pierre, Daniel Ranke and Logan Smith. Good job, ladies and gentleman!

     Each child has an individual goal and it includes accuracy points. There are a lot of children reading other books which are not AR books. To honor them, we have an in-class chart that they 'sticker' when finished their book.

    Aniyah, Luke Catton, and Todd are all at 10 % of their goal.  Logan is at 15% of his goal while Caleb is at 20% of his. Bo has reached 30 % of his goal. Kehla is at 40 % and Coralie has reached 60 % of her goal.

    All the children spend a great deal of time reading during the day but not all are registered A.R. books. A.R. is wonderful for comprehension but we are working on more skills than just that. We are doing the other side of reading where we make connections to our lives, other books or world events. They look at the crafting of the story by the author. They visualize, extend their thinking, infer and draw conclusions. There truly is a lot more to reading than comprehension alone.

    The Fall Festival was a rousing success. Thank you to all who contributed to the class basket. A special thank you to Wal-mart for their material support also. Thanks to the Kelley family for taking care of it all.

    Math classes are being extended starting this week. During last week's collaboration days, we discussed extending the classes 15 minutes longer and worked on materials needed. This will allow the children to do the RAP part with their math class, not the homeroom class. RAP has replaced Calendar Math as it is more aligned with the new Georgia standards which are higher level thinking skills. RAP simply means Review And Practice.

                                                            Happy Thanksgiving !!

Pietro's Printing Press 10-22-07

Dates To Remember

10-17            Began Unit 2 in Math
10-22            Report Cards go home      Red Ribbon Week
10-26            Relay for Hat Day
10-27           West Cobb Chiropractic Food Drive Festival  9-3
10-29            Performing Art's Trip to see Firebird at the Cobb Civic Center

Kids in the News 

Character Kids

Miss Aniyah Alexander for having a Positive Attitude.

Miss Caroline Caden for exemplifying Justice and Fairness.

Miss Anna Coleman for always showing a Cheerful Attitude.

Master Todd Allen for being very accountable.

WELCOME
Our class would like to welcome to the Still family

             Master Zachary David Brown !!

Zachary is lucky as his big sister is McKayla Brown.

...AND THE WINNERS ARE.....

Master Todd Allen

          Master Caleb Jackson

These young men entered the Reflections Contest here at Still. Both boys received medals for their creations. Way to go, gentlemen.

The Walk to School day (10-30-07) is being postponed until Spring due to the change in daylight savings time.

The School Food Drive is in operation. They are looking for canned and dry goods to be donated. The food will go to Calvary Children's Home which receives no federal funding. Donations can be put in the crate in the lobby.

                          Veterans' Day is coming up. Invitations were sent for our annual breakfast. If you know someone who would like to come be honored, please give them the invitation. Send the replies in asap. Thanks.

This'N'That

Report cards are coming home. Please remember that they are based on the past nine weeks. Consistency and application across the curriculum are the cornerstones of grades. They are earned, not given. 'E' means a child has learned and is CONSISTENTLY using the skill. S, G, and E all mean the skills have been learned. They are differentiated by how they are applied.

We started our U2 math. The pretest was taken and flexible groups were made for this 9 week period. Look for the math objectives in the Thursday folder. The main thrust will be Subtraction and Geometry. Yes, they will be learning about shapes, faces and angles in geometry. This is where the visual and artistic people shine.

Technology - The children have been busy here too. They have been able to access the video streaming to complement our units in class. They have watched "Fall of Freddie the Leaf" for science and "City, Suburb, and Rural Communities" for social studies. The tree video is part of the year long project on the life cycle of trees. Each week they also work on keyboarding. Starting to learn to 'type' correctly and quickly at this age is key for future work.

Spelling - We are now starting to differentiate spelling work. We have second grade spellers and super spellers (that is not me!). The super spellers have a packet which includes about 9-10 words each week. I try to give the packet out on Friday in case they get bored over the weekend. They must work on this as their spelling homework, at their own speed. The finished packet gets turned in the following Friday morning. These will be tested as part of their spelling test along with the words in their agenda.

               As for the Spelling tests, they are sometimes given four of their previous words to spell on the back. They have to spell and use these words correctly in two sentences they make up. You don't get an E unless the previous words are spelled correctly too. I keep stressing with them that you don't learn things just for a test and then forget them. Learning is on going.

Writing - We will be writing our final piece this week for grading. We have worked on the Writing Process, interesting hooks to start the paragraph, sequencing sentences, transition words, and good endings.

Social Studies = We have started on our study of Native Americans. We will look at the Eastern Woodland and Plains cultures. The children will be comparing our community to theirs. We focus on food, transportation, resources, clothing and housing.

Language Arts - We started our first Literature Circle group. This is a big shift in a child's thinking. They are now looking at stories not as a reader, but analyzing how the author crafted the story. Why was that word chosen, how are sentences put together, what picture is the author painting with his choices? These children have all displayed the skills that good readers use to be a reader. Now they have to shift that focus. Through this process, they will become more aware as they write.

Pietro's Printing Press 9-20-07

Dates To Remember:

9-21    Reflections Due
9-28    LUNCH CHANGE  11:24 a.m.
10-1    Community Booklet due
10-4    PTSA Night
10-15 End of grading period
10-17 Early Release

Community Booklet

This booklet was given out to students last week. We discussed the rules in class. They also took home a rule sheet. On the bottom of the sheet, there is a part to sign and return. I do not have all those yet. Please check with your child. Remember that this project is due on October 1st.

Performing Arts

I need those forms back in order to take the children out of the school. That is their permission slip. We are going to see a production of Firebird. Harrison's band used this piece for their marching performance one year. It was a beautiful presentation then and I imagine the children will be just as fascinated this time.

Highlights Magazine

Thank you all for taking the time to look at and sign the forms. Needless to say, I am just as excited as the children with the 'prize' we can receive. It is a timer that has a stoplight top. This allows them to watch as the time passes in a colorful manner. Gives them those benchmark time checks.

Kids In The News

P.E. Superstar          Master Logan Smith
Brains on in Art        Master Todd Allen

Character Kid           Miss Hailee Worth

A VERY SPECIAL THANK YOU to the class and parents for making my birthday so very exciting. I am sending home a thank you note and this is just in case it doesn't arrive. :}  To say it was a surprise...and one that will never be topped ....is an understatement.