Welcome to a New School Year!!!!! Sept.3-7
First Day
Tuesday Sept. 4 was our first day of school and it was great! The kids are so well-behaved and ready to learn – parents you did a wonderful job preparing your kids for the new school year. Our day was spend getting to know each other and learning how to be good community members. We read First Day Jitters and How to be a Bucket Filler. We talked about how to be a bucket filler – give compliments, treat people fairly, be respectful and we also discussed what a bucket dipper looked like. We don’t want to be bucket dippers – people that aren’t considerate of others.
SELF-ESTEEM
Part of my job is to build self-confidence and foster respect for ourselves and each other. The kids used their arms and hand to trace and then drew pictures of their favorite things or what was special to them and attached to the fingers. We displayed all our “trees” in the classroom. I love how the kids walk around and check out each others work.
Another activity was one that Mrs. Sweeney shared. The kids took notebook paper and wrote 3 things about themselves and then wadded the paper up and tossed it into a basket. I pulled out a paper and read it and the kids had to guess who wrote it. Great fun and a neat way to get to know each other.
Today the students had a survey to do. The kids walked around the room and asked their classmates questions. They enjoyed the time to talk with each other and move around the class.
MATH
We read a story about whales and answered math story questions about the whales. The questions involved place value. If there were 27 whales – How many set of tens in 27? What number is in the ones place? Tommorrw we are going to write our own story problems and use certain math vocabulary words in the story. Words such as fewer, less than, greater than, more etc.
We also worked with partners and played a math game with dice and counters and hundreds board. The kids rolled the dice and moved that many spaces on the hundreds chart. The first one to reach 100 won!
Reading Street and GoMath and homework officially start next week!!!
We are going to have a great year!!!!!!
Thursday April 26
I promised something I couldn’t do!!! We didn’t take any pictures of Rock Star Day because I couldn’t get my hands on the school camera. So sorry!! I do have some pics of Mrs. Adair teaching the kids during her last week!
I am also attaching the letter that will be going home MONDAY regarding field trip. Just giving you a heads up!!!! Field Trip Reminder
Thanks for all you do – we still need pencils!!!!
April 23-27
Sorry it has been so long since I have updated my blog! It is a busy time of year. It is hard to believe we have just 7 weeks left before summer break. I really enjoy this class! The school year has just flown by.
Mrs. Adair’s last day of student teaching was Thursday April 19th. We had a little party with cookie cake, punch and chips. All the kids made cards filled with advice for Mrs. Adair as she begins her teaching career. Some words of wisdom from your children…… give lots of candy, practice math facts, give out pom poms, never refocus and read lots of books to your class.
We also gave Mrs. Adair a photobook with pictures of our class doing many of the activities she planned and implemented in the last few months. We will miss her but she is planning on being a chaperone for our field trip May 2.
Speaking of the field trip….. Please have the permission slip and $8 in as soon as possible. Many of the kids have already paid but we need everything in by Friday April 27.
Tomorrow is dress like a rock star!!! I will post some pictures tomorrow of our outfits! I will also include a study guide and reading log.
Please send in some pencils, pencil top erasers and glue sticks. We still have several weeks of school and pencils and erasers are disappearing quickly. Thanks!
Pictures!!!!!
As promised – pictures of the class displaying the different phases of the moon with oreo cookies! Thanks Mrs. Adair!
March 19-23
READING
This is review week in Reading Street. We will be reviewing all the high frequency words for Unit 4 and our spelling list will include 20 words.
Please go over the spelling with your child and prepare for the test on Friday. The words will be posted on spellingcity.com.
We are continuing to monitor fluency in our classroom. The goal for the end of the year is 87 wpm. I have found a site that has interesting articles on reading aloud and fluency. If you get a chance, check it out.
http://www.readingrockets.org/article/c59/
The articles continue to point out the importance of fluency and comprehension in reading. They also stress the importance of reading aloud. The reading log that I send home each week is an important component to your child’s reading. It is important that you initial the reading log and it is returned to school. Reading aloud, repeat reads and silent reading ensures your child’s accuracy and comprehension. Good questions for your young reader…
Who is the main character in the story?
Where does the story take place?
What is the problem/solution in the story?
What is the theme of the story?
MATH
We are working on fractions!!!!! The kids are doing very well! Here is a site to visit that has a lot of different games and power points to go with second grade skills. Click on math and then click on fractions. There are several games to play.
http://guest.portaportal.com/fairhope
We are continuing to work on math facts. Flash cards are a terrific way to help your child with addition and subtraction math facts. We go to the computer lab every Thursday and do fast math which is a website by scholastic that concentrates on math facts. We are also going to work more with the laptops in practicing math facts. Your child needs to be secure in math addition and subtraction facts thru 18.
Pictures
I will post some pictures on Monday that Mrs. Adair took when she taught a science lesson on the phases of the moon. It was pretty cool and the kids got to show the moon phases with oreos. It was a yummy lesson!
Have a great week!!!! Enjoy the basketball games!!!!
March 5-9
Wow! Was anyone else surprised to see snow on the ground Monday morning? I was and it was a slippery ride to school. It was good to see everyone arrive safely.
Our story this week is a fiction tale entitled The Night the Moon Fell. Study guide for this week has some difficult vocabulary words – please go over with your second grader. Spelling words are compound words with vowel patterns that we have been working on at school. Here is your copy – U4W4 Study Guide – The Night the Moon Fell –
We have started a new behavior incentive called Class DoJo! It is on the internet so you could check out the website if you do a google search. It is something that I keep on the smart board and the kids get a point when they follow procedures and a point when they help someone else. We are going to keep the points for the school week and each student has made an individual goal for themselves. Be sure and ask your child on Friday if they reached their goal for points!!
The kids filled their pom pom jar last week and got to have a movie day on Friday. We had a juice box, chips pretzels and a disney movie. Can’t get any better than that!! The kids deserved their day – they earned it!!!
Until next week….:)
Feb. 27- March 2
Beautiful weather for the end of February! The kids couldn’t wait until recess to get outside and enjoy the fresh air. I hope this is an indication of a lovely spring ahead!
We are reading Soil in Reading Street this week. It is non fiction text that tells facts about a topic. We discussed today the difference between fact and opinion and searched for examples of both in our reading.
The study guide for this week is:U4W3 Study Guide – Soil and the kids took their copy home today. I gave a pretest for spelling and the students corrected their own papers from the study guide. You will see this on regular notebook paper.
Lots of papers went home today. The children did an AMAZING job on their spelling test last Friday. I was also impressed with the written response section of the Reading Street Assessment. The comprehension was tricky as was the phonics and we will continue to work in those areas.
The “hamburger” paper was a sequencing activity. Ask your child to explain his work – I loved what they did!!!
Spelling this week is difficult with the oi, oy, ow, ou sound. The words can be found at spellingcity.com.
Please work on math facts at home. The kids should be secure with addition facts thru 18 by the end of this quarter and subtraction facts thru 18 by the end of the year. Flashcards help and all our tests are timed for 7 minutes. 100 problems in 7 minutes – it’s tricky!!!!
Any questions – please email me at bruns_j@westcler.org
Have a great week!!!
Feb. 20-24
I hope everyone enjoyed the nice winter break and had a great long week-end!
We have started a new story in reading street entitled Life Cycle of a Pumpkin. As you can guess, we are studying non fiction this week. Some of the comprehension strategies we are working on are sequencing, antonyms and establishing a purpose for reading. In this story, we are reading for information.
The study guide went home today but here is one in case you need an extra.
U4W2 Study Guide – Life cycle of a pumpkin
Math this week is all about making patterns and seeing patterns in numbers. Please review counting by 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s. We will also be working on finding patterns on the number grid with tens and ones.
The kids took home Volume 1 Everyday Math Workbooks today. Please keep the books at home. There are several pages we didn’t complete in class, so it would be good practice to do at home. We will start working in Volume 2 tomorrow in class.
Spelling City has the spelling words for this week. The kids did well on their pretest. We try to do a pretest at the beginning of the week. The kids write the words on notebook paper and then correct with the study guide.
Have a great week!!!!
Feb. 13-15
Happy Valentines Week!!!!! It is such a short week that we are NOT going to give a spelling test or a Reading Street Assessment. However, we are still going to send a study guide home so please go over with your child.
Here is a snapshot of the week:
- Math Assessment on Monday Feb. 13 – includes addition and subtraction with regrouping (carrying and borrowing)
- Valentines Day Party on Tuesday – kids need to bring in valentines and a decorated box.
- Assembly on Wednesday – goal is to encourage kids in grades 3,4,5, to do their best on the Ohio Achievement Assessments (OAA)
Remember – No school on Thursday Feb. 16, Friday Feb.17 and Monday Feb. 20 – enjoy the winter break!!!!!!
Feb. 9, 2012
HELP!!!!! We are in need of pencils, glue sticks and pencil top erasers. I think we eat pencils in this classroom:) I sharpen pencils every morning and they are gone by 3 o’clock! Actually, you might want to ask your child if they need any new supplies. Everyone should have a highlighter and dry erase marker but the PENCILS and pencil top erasers are really needed.
Thanks so much!!!!
mrsbrunswt 