2nd Grade - Pietro's Printing Press

January 13, 2012

 

    First, Mrs. Coker and I would like to thank you for all the good wishes and much appreciated gifts we received. This is just in case the thank you notes didn't make it home! I hope that this new year is one filled with peace, health and success for each and every one of us.

 

Holiday Challenge - A ROUSING Round of Applause for the children who set their goal and made it in the school's holiday reading challenge.  They are as follows:

Master Aidan Boyle

Master Thomas Cupolo

Master Ryan Humphrey

Miss Lizzie Robertson

Master Enrique Ross

Miss Anna Stooksbury

Mastre Pete Tatum

Miss Chloe Thackston

Master Nhut Tran

Master Evan Valenzuela

 

Terrific Kid for January:  Master Aidan Boyle

 

A NOTE FROM MRS. BROUGHTON : ASP year end statements are ready for parents to pick up. Statements are in the front office.

 

The following is a link from CCSD for the school survey along with a blurb from their email to us.

                                                                       http://www.cobbk12.org/sisurvey  
 
The survey will be available until February 10, 2012,  and should take about 15 - 20 minutes to complete.  Your opinions are vital to the future of our schools and through participation in this survey you become active in helping your child’s school principal identify critical issues to be addressed.  

Dates to Remember

1-9                        A.R. resumes     1 book per week tested at 80%  or above accuracy

1-12                    Terrific Kid  Master Aidan Boyle

1-16                    No School    Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Observed

1-17 & 18        Mrs. Jones will be teaching research skills using Pebble Go.

 

Social Studies:  We are studying more Georgia Heroes. This quarter we will see how Martin Luther King Jr. and Jackie Robinson lived their lives and changed the social history of our country.This is always a fascinating study for the children as their lives are so different today. They can't imagine there was ever such a thing as segregation.

 Math:  The parent letter was emailed last week explaining all the standards that we are covering this quarter. Please work on the subtraction with three digit numbers. This is the hardest one for them right now.

 

December 14,2011

Dates To Remember

12-16            Math Benchmark for the end of the quarter - paper and pencil

12-19            Math Benchmark put on IRespond

12-20           Math and L. Art Checkpoints put on IRespond

12-21            *8:15  The children will have their party   *Science Benchmark test

12-22           Last day before the winter break       End of second quarter

12-23           Furlough Day

1-09             Teacher Workday

1-10              Students return

1-11              Walk to School Wednesday

1-13              Report Cards go home

1-16             MLK holiday

What a wild and wooly month this has been. The  children enjoyed their 'field trip' to learn about force and motion. We have also been studying all types of energy. Please know that they were to put all their work in their science folder. They can use these papers and their workbook pages as study papers for the benchmark test next Wednesday.

As I notified you in emails, the children have taken their IMI in math, the Math and L. Arts Checkpoint tests. The Math Benchmark is this Friday. Then all the major testing will be finished for this quarter. It's enough to make scrouges out of all of us.

We have read some Christmas, Kwansaa and Hanukkah stories. Remember that this quarter was Response to Literature. They are working on their final piece for the portfolio (and report card ) this week. We are using the book, The Christmas Tapestry by Patricia Polacco. The children are writing a summary with a good beginning that will invite the reader to continue reading. Then they will write a Text to Self Connection. These will all be put into a booklet form where they illustrate the cover, draw and explain their favorite part.We will also discuss why the author wrote the story. We have used this book for many standards including cause and effect. Next week I will be reading another of my favorites to teach cause and effect.....How Santa Got His Job.

At last night's Still Carolling at Barnes and Nobels, I got a book called The Twelve Days of Christmas in Georgia. It is a series of letters that talk about many famous landmarks and areas in Georgia. Since this goes with our year long study on Georgia, I was quick to snatch it up.

Happy Birthday

Master Thomas Cupolo

Miss Jordan Davis

 

 

Enjoy the wonder of the season and the joy of family life with no schedules!!

 

 

 

 

11-4-11

Parents, this is the link you asked for on here. It goes to the sign up sheet for Fall Festival. Please make sure you take your turn to help your child's classroom. Thanks so much.

www.SignUpGenius.com/go/fall4942/2116664   

Any questions, please email our room mom, Mrs. Paintin, who has been doing a spectacular job for the kids.

November 1, 2011

Dates to Remember

11-02            Walk to School Wednesday

                        Picture Retake Day for those absent or who need another packet. Bring the old one back.

11-03            Terrific Kid (Colin)

                        PTSA night.  4th graders performance

11-8              Student Holiday / Area Professional Learning Day for teachers

                       Chick-fil-A Night

11-10           Food Service Appreciation Day at Still

11-11            Veteran's Day Breakfast and Fall Festival

 

Parents, please respond to our room mom, Mrs. Paintin, regarding when you can work for our class during the Fall Festival. Yes, we all have many activities going on but a half hour of your time is needed for the Karioke spot that this classroom is to man.  Your children will aprreciate your time and effort. They would probably like to help you too. Mrs. Paintin has been working hard on your behalf to arrange this and many other school projects that you don't have to worry about because she is doing it. So this is the time to repay her and the children. Thanks.

Mrs. Coker and I thank you for all the treats during conference week. Those two weeks are so busy that it is hard to take the time to do what we should health wise. I purchased lunch one day and finally got to eat it the next day. I will admit, that I attacked the chocolate before Mrs. Coker returned. When the cat's away........  It was good to see you all and discuss your child. If there are any more questions, please email anytime.

Keep working on those addition and subtraction facts. Finger counting is getting in the way of the two digit subtraction that we are doing now. We will shortly be moving on to subtracting money. An easy way to subtract $2.96 from $5.00 is to set the problem up like the example below.

                                                        $5.00 can be regrouped to $4.99 plus 1cent. Then the children do not have to keep regrouping all those zeros. Just stress that they have to remember to add the penny back in to the answer. 

$5.00 =      $4.99 plus a penny

                        - 2.96__________

                        $2.03 +1 +  $2.04

 

      Happy Birthday to some sweet pumpkins

                                                            11-02        Lizzie

                                                            11-03        Kiera

                                                            11-14        Ava

 

 

October 19, 2011

This'N'That

     Remember that our Performing Arts trip is this Friday.  All of the permission slips are in now.  We will be going to the Cobb Civic Center, leaving here at 9 and returning around 12. Our changed lunch time is now 12:15.  Make sure to give them a big breakfast as I am not sure there will be a snack time before we get back.

     October 24th starts Conference Week.  We have a few time changes there too.  Specials will be from 9:05 to 9:35.  Lunch  will be from 10:22 to 10:52.  Dismissal is at12:15 that week.

     I am off to enjoy a good book and a hot pot of tea on this dreary day . I hope your evening is as soothing.

Breaking News

      
                                                  Here Ye, Hear Ye!

The following people have met their AR goal for this first nine weeks. Ring the bells and let's hear those shout outs for:

Colin, Thomas, Lizzie, Hannah, Enrique, Mia, Evan, Ryan and Nhut. 

Thank you , Mr. Tollefson for igniting AR fever in our room.  

 

October 13, 2011

We are at the end of the first grading period....nine weeks. The children and I certainly agree that it went very quickly even if it was a lot of work becoming a second grader.

Report cards will be given out at conferences. Please remember that school dismisses 2 hours earlier that week. They will be leaving the classroom at 12:10, not 2:10. Between Conference Week and next week, we will all be wearing our running shoes.

There are a few changes in our schedules next week. On Monday, the new math classes start with some changes in the groupings/teachers. These classes were created with the same criteria as last time. They test on the standards to be taught. Groups are formed by analyzing who needs which standards. They will continue learning at the speed appropirate for their present understandings. Again, we all learn the same standards for this quarter.

On Wednesday, the class will be stepping back in time. They will become a Creek child and experience a part of their lives.

Friday is our day for Performing Arts. We will be leaving the school 9ish and returning by 1. Our visit to the Cobb Center will be for a performance on Gershwin. I am interested in seeing how they will present this for the children's enjoyment. Things I think will be too hard to hold them always seem to be their favorite. The performers do a bang up job so it's always fun.

There will be a lunch change on Friday but we do not have that schedule as we go to print.

During Conference Week, we will have another change. Our special's time is 9:05-9:35. Lunch will be 10:22 - 10:52. Math will still be the first thing each day but the order of the other subjects will change around.

The Thursday folder work will be coming home tomorrow, Friday. Today they will bring home the money sheets.

Have a wonderful week.

September 26, 2011

Change 

 October 5-7- 1st and 2nd grade switch specials

2nd grade goes at 9:15

1st grade goes at 10:00

 

 

 

Dates To Remember

 

9-29-30    Collaboration Days for teachers  

10-6            PTA   6:30  Second grade will be performing.

10-17          New Math groups start.  Immigrant dolls due.

10-21        Performing Arts trip to Cobb Civic Center

10-24        First day of Conferences.  School will dismiss every day that week 2 hours earlier.

 

 Happy Birthday, Pete!  10-1-11     

 

This 'N' That

        I hope the children brought home their placemats and use them. What a wonderful visual for making sure that we get all those food groups in each day. I even keep it out for Mr. Pietro to look at when he makes dinner. The Wellstar program, Just Eat It, did a super job last week teaching us nutrition. It helped that the trainer was a retired Cobb County teacher from Dowell. I know you parents are on the road to good heatlh as the children knew a lot about healthy eating and exercising.

        Our PTA program is coming up quickly. I hope that you will all help the students be here that night. I know that all kinds of sports are taking place but this is ONE NIGHT out of the year that they get to perform. They have certainly been practicing hard. For those of you  whose children have  speaking parts, please make sure that they practive daily. We do not do that here at school.

        The Immigrant Doll directions will be coming home shortly. I will send home all the makings of the doll for the children to dress. You can make it as elaborate as you would like. They will decorate the bulletin board for a long time. I will also send home an index card for the children to fill out the information that they found. It does not matter which side of the family that you investigate either. 

    Remember that the children need to read and take an AR test each week. Once they have reached the goal of 9 AR books and 9 tests with at least 80% accuracy, then they may take out any book on their level that is not an AR book. They are allowed two books a week at the library so this is not a hard task.  This semester the goal is 6 books as the program started later. 

    September 29th and 30th are Collaboration Days. For the students, that means no specials on Thursday but double specials on Friday. Our specials on Friday will be from 9:55 to 11:25. Lunch is right after that. Whew. Since we have a longer time in the classroom on Thursday, they will be taking their Pre-test for the next math unit.

        Writing: We are still trying to put good sentences together. They can all tell me that a sentence starts with a capital letter, ends with a punctuation mark and makes sense. There are still problems with the application of that knowledge! One thing you can do is to have them always answer you in a full sentence. When that becomes ingrained, we see an improvement in the written part.

        Our mini lessons have been on the Writing Process itself. We are on the stage called Revision. They are looking to replace overused words with Vivacious Verbs and Awesome Adjectives. Fancy Nancy is our heroine when it comes to revision.        

    Spelling: Our sort this week is working on long and short /e/.  Next week will be reviewing all the long vowel sounds.

    Reading: They have read their small group book. Now they will practice summarizing the book. We have worked on that together for a few weeks using the promethean board. Now they will be working more independently.

     Thank you for sending in conference notes. I will try really hard to get the days listed. Remember that the children will dismiss about 12:15 each day that week. Conferences start shortly there after.

 

September 12, 2011

I do apologize that there was not a blog already on here for today. I had done one on Saturday and sent it but I have not seen it. So I am reinventing the wheel today. 

Dates to Remember

 
9-13            Fall Picture Day  prepaid program

                     Social Studies Test

9-15            IdentAKid opportunity

9-29-30    Collaboration Day for teachers  

10-6            PTA   Second grade is part of the program

    Collaboration Days mean that we will have double specials one day and no specials the next day. We have not been given our schedule yet.

    Math- We are all working on place value and now addition of two digit numbers with and without regrouping. Again, practice those addition and subtraction facts to 18. It really is drudgery when you have to count on your fingers each time and still get two digit addition going. Everything they are taught builds on what came before. So know those facts.

    Writing- We are still working the writing process. Last week we learned different ways to prewrite. We used brainstorming, word webs and freewriting. This week are moving to Drafting, Revision, and Editing.

    Words Their Way/Spelling - Some of the papers have two grades on them. The higher is the one in my grade book while the lower is what they earned on that paper. The lower grade reflects what the student earned by not following directions. We go over these rules before each assessment. They hear and see them, yet did not follow them. I don't grade that for spelling but will in the behavior part of the report card.  I don't tell them this as I want them to start following directions. It only wakes them up if they see the lower grade.

    Social Studies - as stated to the children and at Open House, our test will be on Tuesday. There is a study guide they got on Friday. There are also sheets in their Social Studies Folder in the binder. They may use all of those sheets we worked on for review. I think the hardest part is knowing all the rivers.  Review that study guide.

    A big shout out to RYAN. He was our first Terrific Kid. Then he was chosen by his peers as the first Character Kid. Way to go, Ryan.

 

August 27,2011

Dates to Remember

9-05  Labor Day - no school

9-6    Parent Orientation for 1/3/5

9-08  Parent Orientation for K/2/4

9-13    Picture Day and Chick Fil A night

This 'N' That

We now have all the pieces of our day in place and here is our daily schedule.

7:15 - 7:50  Morning Work

7:50 - 8:05 Morning News

8:05 - 9:05  Math Classes

9:05 - 10:15  Language Arts

10:15 - 11:00  Specials

11:00 - 11:27   RAP and Morning Work

11:27 - 12:15  Lunch and recess

12:15 - 12:50  Talent Development on Mondays      Writing

12:50 - 1:20  Science, Social Studies or Health

1:20 - 1:55  Language Arts

1:55 - 2: 10  HW calendar check, StackNPack, Teacher Read, Dismissal

 

Morning Work includes a visit to the media center, copying agendas on Mondays, a Words Their Way activity (this is their spelling/phonics book), a Daily Language Review section of that week's packet, and other short jobs for those that have " nothing else to do" :} These bite size activities complement the large group learning that is going on in second grade. This is also the time to turn in homework, use the bathroom, do any AR tests, pick your lunch choice, take notes to the teacher or the front office, and talk to your neighbor. 

You are probably wondering why they are coming home with pictures they have drawn each week. These are part of the WorkShop activities. One is Pencil Sentences. They copy a sentence and then illustrate it.  Those sentences should be copied correctly...grammar and spelling....and then they have to become part of the sentence by thinking about it and illustrating it. The sentences are wide open for their interpretation. Another activity is Folding Paper. They create 8 blocks.  A category topic is given. They need to draw and label 8 items that would fit into there.  We do everything to get them to think, classify, and make connections.

Please check over the grades coming home for spelling and DLR. The process will all be discussed at Parent Orientation.  The spelling needs to be studied each night from the list or a word from the phonics we did with those sounds. For example, the word "make" might have been on their list. For the test, I might give them "maker" or "making" or "makes" depending on what we practiced in phonics that week. As for the DLR, we do those skills each day. The test is made up of those same skills and sometimes uses the same sentences. If they pay attention when we correct the DLR, then they will be getting the skill. Remember, we don't just learn the skills, they need to take it to the next level by applying the skills. For the DLR, I will pick one skill that we worked on that week (such as capitals and ending punctuation) and grade that for the report cards.

Report card grading for K-2 is not averaging the grades. We observe their daily work and where they are at the end of the 9 weeks.  We analyze the application and improvement. During each nine weeks in math, we meet for a data team. We analyze the IMIs and identify a common theme. We will target that skill so that all students will be successful.

Small Reading groups will begin this week. While I am meeting with one group, the others will have their group work to do. They have a week to finish the work. They will also be able to read or take AR tests during that period. Trips to the Media Center and bathroom come then too.

For Social Studies, we have been doing map skills.  We also looked at the five regions that make up Georgia. We will take a look at the rivers of GA and their uses.

In Reading and Writing, we are learning to visualize and become part of the story. They are learning the Writing Process and working on each step. We have talked about Vivacious Verbs and Awesome Adjectives. We will work on parts of speech concentrating on nouns, verbs and adjectives. We are looking at synonyms this week too. 

Please remember to check their agendas daily for their spelling words and homework. Although the money sheet (their behavior sheet) is in the binder, please do not sign it. The money sheet only gets signed when it comes home in the Thursday Folder.  Unless a paper in the Thursday Folder says to sign and return, you can keep it.

These news letters will be coming out every two weeks. If something comes up in the meantime, I will simply email everyone. If you would like to be notified when the newsletter is on line, then please subscribe. It will send it to the address that you want.  I sound like a Face book, Twitter ad don't I? 

Have a wonderful weekend.