It's conference time! I'm looking forward to meeting with you all!

Since our time will be brief, I hope to maximize our time together. I'll be sending home a small form tomorrow for you to write down your top-priority questions or concerns that you have for our conference. I hope to have the answers prepared beforehand in order to allow for more discussion time :) Thank you in advance!!

We've started our Short Stories unit in Language Arts. The focus of this unit is for students to be able to identify the story elements and their connections. This is one of my most favorite units to teach - the students get to read some wonderful stories, all while learning the components that make them work.

We've wrapped up with money and time in math, for now. We'll be working on writing word problems, problem solving skills, and reviewing some of the more challenging place value and number sense concepts.

Thank you for your continued support, have a great week!

:) KM

Greetings from second grade!

Our field trip to the Great Frederick Fair was a huge success! The students had a great time looking at the different displays and animals. A huge thank you to the Maryland Geographic Alliance, Frederick County Public Schools, and the the Great Frederick Fair for keeping this field trip opportunity available to us!

This week in Language Arts, students will begin having some homework for their Guided Reading Groups. At this point in the year, students will be expected to read and reread the books/magazines they were assigned in class. As the year progresses, students will also have some comprehension questions to answer in their Reading Response Journals. You will be informed of when this change takes place via the students' agenda books, as well as the BLOG. This week, students will have either a National Geographic book or magazine to read and reread at home. This book will come home in their Book Baggie - a gallon sized Ziploc bag with his/her name on it. Students will earn smiley faces on their baggie every time they bring their baggie to group. Every time the students earn ten smiley faces, they will earn a prize coupon! Please treat this baggie as you treat the Home-School folders and Agenda Books - from home to school and back again everyday. Like we say in class - it lives in your backpack! :) Thank you for your support!

Wednesday afternoon we will be planting bulbs in our garden! In the spring, we will be studying life cycles - including that of plants. So, we are planting bulbs now to see them in the spring. I don't anticipate it being too dirty of an experience, but I wouldn't recommend coming to school in your Sunday best either. If you would like to help out, you're more than welcome to join us! We'll be doing this in the afternoon, at about 2:30. If you have any small gardening tools (small hand shovels or bulb diggers would be ideal) that you would like to contribute, they would be MOST useful. Please have your last name written on them so they can be returned. Thank you in advance!

We will be meeting our Junior Pals class this week! The Junior Pals program is new to UES - and it fits in perfectly with our Positive Behavior System that's already established. Primary grade classes are paired with secondary grade classes, and students within those classes are partnered up to form friends. Our classes will have times to read together, work on math skills together, and participate in school events together! We will be meeting our Junior Pals class on Tuesday afternoon, so please be sure to ask your student about their new 5th grade friend. Our class is paired up with Mrs. McLaurin's 5th grade class - looking forward to it!

Just a reminder that there is no school on Thursday, and a two hour early dismissal on Friday. Thank you for your continued support and communication - have a great week!

:) KM

Thank you to those of you who were able to attend Back to School Night on Wednesday! I hope the session gave you a good idea of what to expect in second grade. If you have any questions or concerns, please email me at Kelly.Phelps@fcps.org.
We talked briefly about 9/11 on Friday with our lesson. The story we shared, The Little Chapel that Stood, gave appropriate insight as to the events of that day, and focused on the positive results of the tragedy. For example, people working together, helping each other, caring for one another, and other examples of good character. I hope that on this September 11th, that you and your families were able to spend some pleasant time together.
Last Friday I gave the students a quick quiz in math to see where they stand on what we've been learning. The quiz also had a basic facts section. They students did a great job! These quizzes will be coming home this week. My plan is to give the students a quick quiz at the end of every week/every two weeks to check in on what we've been learning in class.
Thank you for your continued support! As always, should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me.
Have a great week!
:) KM

Hello!

Back to School Night is TOMORROW, September 7th, from 7:00 - 9:00 PM. You will be able to sign up for your parent/teacher conference times in October, attend the brief volunteer training (if needed), and come to visit our classroom!

During social studies this week, we will begin our study of communities! We will be learning about different types of buildings, landmarks, map skills, and community helpers.

Mrs. Wright, our fabulous Media Specialist, shared a few lesson plan ideas with the teachers that relate to 9/11. I found a lesson plan that is very appropriate for our second graders, I plan to teach this on Friday. The lesson connects to what we're studying in Social Studies, and has an excellent book to use for a read-aloud. You can preview the lesson by following this link.

I feel that with the increased media for the 10th anniversary of 9/11 it is all the more important for us to discuss this with our students. I do not suggest going into any sort of graphic detail, but rather provide age-appropriate information to help explain what they are seeing in the media.

Should you have any questions or concerns, please contact me. I will also be sharing this lesson plan at Back to School Night.

Thank you so much for your support! Hope to see you tomorrow!

:)
KM

Welcome!

Welcome to our second grade class! We had a GREAT first day together! We spent some time getting aquainted, discussing classroom rules, Character Counts pillars, and reviewing some concepts from last year.
We will be spending the majority of the week getting into our regular routines, refreshing the concepts learned in first grade, and some pre-assessments to adequately plan for your student's needs.
Please visit the blog frequently! Homework assignments are posted here, as well as several links for both parents and students.
Happy school year!
:)
KM

Thank You

Hello students and families! I just wanted to say thank you so much for your generous gifts! WOW!
I have been so blessed to work with all of you this school year. I hope you and your families have a wonderful summer, come visit me during Open House!
Thank you again,
KM :)

Rain Gutter Regatta Videos!

Thank you to all the parents and other family members who were able to attend our Author's Tea this morning. The students put so much time and effort into their books; they were SUPER excited to share them with you today. I am so proud of all they accomplished - from illustrations, to stories, to poems, to math problems - we have a very talented group in here! The books were sent home today for the students to keep.
I had a few parents inquire about how to purchase these books for use at home. If you click here it will take you to the Bare Books website. The website is also available in the Parent - Teacher Connection section of the blog. Enjoy!
This coming Monday is our final field trip - Fountain Rock! The students and I discussed how we should dress for the trip, and this is what we came up with: Dress like it's field day - sunscreen, hat, sunglasses if you want, sneakers with socks, comfortable clothes, water bottle with your name/initials on it. We will be eating lunch at Fountain Rock, so please pack a lunch in a disposable bag. Reusable lunch bags are acceptable, but please be advised that your child will be responsible for carrying it. The current weather report is mostly sunny with a high of 79 - a welcome sight compared to this week!!
Report cards will be sent home with your child on Wednesday. In addition to your child's report card will also be his/her SAT-10 scores. Urbana elementary school second graders came in the top FIVE out of the whole county!! WAY TO GO!! Your child's teacher for third grade will also be posted on the report card.
Tuesday, June 14th will be the UES band/orchestra/chorus concert outdoors at 9:15 AM. This will be set up similar to how the 50th Anniversary Celebration was, with students sitting on the black top. Please have your child bring a towel to sit on that day, and a coat of bug spray wouldn't hurt either :) Thank you!
Finally, as you will read in the UES News, I will be leaving the Magnet program next year to teach second grade general education. I am excited for this opportunity, especially since I will continue to work with my AMAZING second grade team, and get to stay at Urbana Elementary school. I am looking forward to applying my experience with the Magnet program to benefit the students in my future general education class!
Thank you all for a great year, I hope you and your families have a wonderful summer, and a great school year next year!!

:)
KM

About Monday's Field Trip...

First of all, we're VERY excited!!

Second of all, there has been a time change. Instead of leaving at 9:00 and returning at 12:15, we'll be leaving at 10:45 and returning to UES by 2:00 PM. All other aspects of the field trip will remain the same. Please let me know if you have any questions. Want a preview of what's to come? Check out the link below!

Have a great week!

:) KM

Fountain Rock

Hi all! Just a brief note - due to an error on my part the homework and mad minute packets were not copied today - so that is why they aren't in your child's folder :) They'll be coming home tomorrow! Thank you!

May Day! May Day!

WOW! Can you believe MAY is here?! Time flies when you're having fun :)

We have wrapped up the drama unit! The students did a great job with their play presentations. Each group took a very simple play, modified the script to accommodate more or less characters, added stage directions, costumes, prop lists and set design. Their creativity ran wild! The scenery and costumes were very well detailed - down to the last crackling ember in a fire place, whisker in an animal mask, and fake facial hair to show their characters' ages. (I was also rather impressed with our students' repertoire of accents!) Way to go class - two very enthusiastic thumbs up :)

Our second to last unit of study in language arts this year will be Novels. As I mentioned in previous posts, students will be working in literature circles again. Thus, their typical homework assignments for reading/language arts will be to either read, complete a literature circle role, or answer a response question in their Reading Response Journals (RRJ). One of my fellow teammates, Ms. Saenger, has shared a great resource with me. It is a list of "Sentence Leads (or starters) for Reading Response Journals." I plan to have each student attach a copy of this inside his/her reading response journal to use as a resource for future journal writing assignments. I want to provide the students with a little more freedom in their journaling assignments, but I also want them to have some guidance as well. You'll see in this week's assignments that they are to write two free choice responses in their journal by Friday, May 6th. I expect students to still refer to their blue rubrics as a writing guide, and to select a "Sentence Lead" from the list to prompt their writing. Looking forward to reading and discussing these responses in group!

Students will have time during centers to work on their literature circle and reading response assignments, I hope this will help to alleviate the work load at home :)

This past week in math we've reviewed and extended our skills in finding fractions of a region and fractions of a set. This coming week we'll be continuing those skills, as well as identifying mixed numbers and improper fractions. With the 50th Anniversary Celebration and Strawberry Festival coming this Friday I will wait until next week to quiz these skills.

Monday we will have an assembly from the Arc of Frederick County. This presentation will provide students information on persons with disabilities. The Arc is such a positive part of our community, this should be a very informative presentation.

As I'm sure you've heard, Friday is Urbana Elementary School's 50th Anniversary Celebration and Strawberry Festival!! There will be all sorts of fun games and activities for families to participate in - including the sponge toss at the teachers (myself included - yikes!!). Hope to see all of you there!

Enjoy this lovely weekend :)

Hello and welcome back! I hope you and your families had a pleasant, relaxing spring break.

We will be wrapping up the drama unit this week, and moving on to novels next week. Please keep an eye out in your child's agenda books for potential prop and costume needs as they will be presenting their one-act plays at the end of this week. Not to worry - no shopping trips required :)

For the novel unit we will be following the literature circle model again as we did in the beginning of the year. There will be a packet that comes home with specific reading and comprehension assignments that will need to be completed. Any extra literature circle roles that are completed will be counted as extra credit.

In math we are continuing to study fractions and decimals. This unit should take us throught the next 3 weeks or so.

With spring upon us, and an increase in extra-curricular activities, I will be providing the students more time to work on assignments in class - and this includes homework. I hope this helps to alleviate the work load at home :)

I hope you have a great week - thank you for your continued support!

Top of the 4th Quarter!

Just a few reminders about this week -

Field trip to Urbana High School on Wednesday morning!

Class pictures, Thursday morning!

Spelling quiz has been moved to next Friday, due to the delay in the spelling lists getting home.

Thank you for all your continued support and communication - have a great week!

:) KM

Springing Forward...

...into DRAMA!!

We have started our drama unit in language arts. The students have historically had a great time with this unit - the creative juices really get to run wild! Students will be comparing stories to plays, identifying the components of plays, reading plays and performing plays. As you know, we are also going to be observing a play at Urbana High School on the 30th - Rodger's and Hammerstein's Cinderella.

We will be continuing multiplication strategies in math for the remainder of the week. Students will be learning division strategies beginning next week.

In science, we are wrapping up our Changes unit - which was focusing on the different forms and properties of matter. Our next science unit will be Life Cycles - we'll study the life cycles of plants, meal worms - and butterflies!

The Leprechaun traps were A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! It was great to see such innovation and effort go into these projects. The students clearly put so much effort and planning into their projects - way to go! Additionally, I would like to add how impressed I was with the students' attitudes towards one another's projects. Such positive, encouraging language was heard throughout the room - complimenting each other, asking questions, thanking one another for the exchange of kind words. It was a great, "bucket filling" experience!

"What is this 'bucket filling' you speak of?"
If your child hasn't already shared with you, we read a book a few weeks ago titled, Have You Filled a Bucket Today? I had noticed that we had gotten to the point in the school year where we need to take a moment to remind ourselves of the school rules, and how to treat one another. Another second grade teacher, Mrs. Crawford, had introduced me to this fabulous book. The essence of the story is that everyone carries an invisible bucket around with them. This bucket holds the good thoughts and feelings that each of us have toward ourselves. Each person has the capacity to be either a "bucket filler" or a "bucket dipper". Bucket fillers give encouraging words, compliments, use manners and say kind words. (The best part about filling someone else's bucket, is that you fill your own bucket at the same time!) However, a bucket dipper teases, bullies, says unkind or rude words to others in the hopes that this will fill his/her bucket. Dipping into someone else's bucket is not going to fill your own. This has been a very helpful tool, and a useful language to use with the students in building their own self-confidence, as well as positive relationships with one another. There is a link in the new "Parent-Teacher Connection" section of the blog with more information about this program.

About the New, "Parent Teacher Connection" Section...

During Parent-Teacher conferences, I had shared a few tid bits from various articles that I have read at various trainings and meetings with parents. It was brought to my attention that perhaps I could post these articles on the blog to share with everyone. What a great idea! So, in it's debut, the Parent-Teacher Connection has a few links in it. You'll find the FCPS home page, the link for the Volunteer Training (mandatory to chaperone any field trips), the bucket-filling link, and then two links to the National Education Association's website - featuring two different articles. One, is a link to the Bully Free Starts With Me program. As I'm sure you've heard in the news, the frequency and severity of bullying as increased dramatically in schools across the country. This link provides access to the bully-free pledge, video links about the campaign, and as well as other related links on the topic.
The other link is to an article entitled "The Praise Paradox". In our various trainings and meetings throughout the school year, this has been one of many hot topics of discussion. It has been rather enlightening to me, as an educator, and I encourage you to read it for yourselves, as parents of gifted students.
I hope this will be a good resource for the both of us to use as we continue to work together throughout the rest of the school year.

Finally, I hope you and your families enjoy the long weekend ahead, as well as the last quarter of the 2010-2011 school year! Thank you so much for your continued support and communication.

:) KM

Dates Updates

Hello all!

~Class picture day: Tuesday, March 15th

~Leprechaun Trap Project: Thursday, March 17th

~Field Trip to Urbana High School to see Cinderella: Wednesday, March 30th

Wind in Our Sails! :)

YIKES! It's windy out there!

REMINDER: CLASS PICTURE DAY IS THIS COMING TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 22ND. OUR TIME SLOT IS AT 9:00.

The students are in the process of completing their persuasive paragraphs in response to the "Cartoon Ban" article in the Kids Post from the Washington Post. If you would like to have your child's article sent to the Washington Post, I can email you an electronic copy of their work, along with the address to send it to. Maybe one of our student's responses will be published!

Students have started the process of creating their Second Grade Writing Anthologies. Each student is able to design the cover of his/her book, and compile all the various writing pieces completed throughout the year. Towards the end of the school year, we will be having an "Author's Tea" to give the students the opportunity to share their work with their parents and peers. The students take such pride in presenting their work, and it's a great keepsake!

We have wrapped up our unit on data and probabity and will be moving on to multiplication this week! The students have been so eager to learn more about this mathematical concept, I'm very excited to get the ball rolling.

Coming home on Tuesday will be a half-sheet sign up for Parent-Teacher conferences. These conferences are optional the second time around, but most certainly encouraged should you have any concerns. Please have these half-sheets returned by Monday, February 28th.

I hope you all enjoy the three day weekend!

:) KM

Helloooo snow!

Due to last week's snow days, the spelling quiz will be postponed until Friday, February 11th. Students began creating their lists on Friday, copies will be home by Tuesday, February 1st. Thank you for your flexibility!

Monday,January 31st will be our field trip to the ESSL! This is such a wonderful field trip, the teachers at this site are so knowledgable and thorough. They combine the right amount of education and entertainment to get the students super-engaged in their learning. We will be eating lunch at the ESSL, so please be sure your son/daughter packs a disposable lunch (unless you planned to have him/her purchase a bagged lunch from the cafeteria before we leave). Super excited!

This week in math we will be continuing our unit on data collection - reviewing and extending knowledge of various graphs and plotting systems.

Last week in writing, students began creating "Who am I?" riddles. The primary purpose of this writing exercise is to encourage students to develop their descriptive writing skills. I hope to have these finalized by the end of the week. Our next writing project will be persuasive writing! Students will have the opportunity to formulate and defend their opinions on relevant topics! Students will be reading two different articles from the KidsPost and responding to these articles in writing. One of the best ways for students to make the connection between speaking and writing is to provide them with the opportunity to discuss their opinion. Students will have this opportunity to discuss their opinions during class, but I highly encourage you to discuss them at home as well! Below are the links for the articles the students will be reading. Please read them together and discuss at home - enjoy!!

Thank you so much for your continued support and communication - have a great week!

:) KM

KidsPost Mars

KidsPost Cartoon Characters

Is the school year half-full, or half-empty? :)

Welcome to the second semester! Here's a brief overview of what's coming up!

Math: Data collection, analysis, and probability - oh my! Students will be able to conduct surveys, evaluate information they collect, analyze and create different types of graphs, and determine the probability of various scenarios. Mad Minutes will start back up on the 24th.

Spelling: Prefixes! Students will be learning the meanings of various prefixes, including, but not limited to, pre-, re-, dis- and un-.

Reading/Language Arts: the focus will be on non-fiction, science texts. Students will be able to identify and describe the purposes of the various features of non-fiction text, as well as read for information.

Science: our field trip to the ESSL is coming up on January 31st.

We are running low on tissues and disinfecting surface wipes, if you could please send in a box it would be greatly appreciated. We're going through them quickly this time of year :)

I hope you all enjoyed your time off with your families, please be safe in the upcoming inclement weather.

:) KM

Oh Thank Heaven, for 2011!

Happy New Year!!!

I hope all of you had a pleasant, relaxing winter break with your families and friends. Just as hard as it is to believe that 2010 has come and gone, the first semester has nearly come and gone as well! The marking period will end on Friday, January 14th, and the third marking period/second semester will commence on Thursday, January 20th. We have much to accomplish between now and then!

Math
We will be wrapping up the end of the first semester by studying volume, and assessing the students' skills in geometry and measurement. The homework that will be coming home over the next week and a half will be a combination between volume practice and review of geometry and measurement. When I say "volume" I mean we'll be very lightly focusing on the subject. Students will be able to estimate and measure the volume of various containers using "standard square units" (cubes). This is simply to introduce the concept of volume/capacity and how it is measured. Students will be shown a few different ways to calculate volume - counting the cubes one by one, creating a repeated addition problem, and multiplication. The purpose here is to show the students various methods to calculate, we'll have a greater focus on multiplication in the spring.
The students will be coming home with their math textbooks. I ask that these books come to and from home and school everyday until the quiz on Wednesday, January 12th. This quiz will be assessing the students on the skills they learned in Unit 6 in the text book, pages 410 - 489. There is a GREAT study guide for the quiz on pages 488 and 489, this would be a great tool for you to use with your child when it came time to review vocabulary and other various skills learned throughout the unit.
When the second semester begins, we'll be studying data collection and data analysis. Students will be able to conduct surveys and present the data in various types of graphs. Some of their homework assignments will be to collect some information from home for the next day's lesson. I know some of you have your student keep his/her homework packet at home during the week, and some keep it in the Home-School Folder. If you could please make sure that these homework assignments come into school I would greatly appreciate it. I will indicate on the homework page if it needs to come in before the end of the week. Thank you!!
We will also be continuing the Mad Minute this week, which will give us two more quizzes before the end of the marking period. Be sure to check out the "Funbrain Math" link under the "Helpful Links" section of the blog. There are many fun games and practice activities to help students master the basic facts - addition, subtraction, multiplication and division!!

Spelling

Compound words will be our last spelling exploration of the first semester! This time, students will be coming home with 30 words - 15 assigned and 15 of their choice. The quiz for this exploration will be on Friday, January 14th. We'll begin our next exploration when the students return on Thursday, January 20th. Their new spelling lists will be coming home as early as Friday, January 21st, and as late as Monday, January 24th. We'll be spending most of the remainder of the year exploring a variety of prefixes, suffixes, and root words.

Reading/Language Arts
I would first like to applaud the students for their hardwork on their holiday traditions presentations! It was so great to listen and learn about the many different traditions among our students' families. The presentations were great, the students really let their creativity flourish! Way to go!
Poetry will continue to be our unit of study until the end of the marking period. The students have been having such a great time with poetry! I'm so glad they're enjoying it so much because I really enjoy teaching it! We're going to be continuing to learn about the different poetry elements, and reading and writing various forms of poetry.

Science
The moon phase calendar will be collected this Thursday, January 6th. We are going to be having a field trip to the Earth, Space and Science Lab (ESSL) at the end of the month. This is SUCH an exciting field trip!! The students get to have a lesson in the planetarium, have lunch at the lab, and have the opportunity to check out the rest of the science center. Field trip permission slips will be coming home soon!

Thank you so much for your continued support and communication! I hope you and your families have an excellent 2011!!

:) KM