Hello, hello!
Upcoming this week...
FIELD TRIP!! Looking forward to the Great Frederick Fair! Please be sure your child is dressed appropriately for the weather and for WALKING - because we'll be doing LOTS of it :) Water bottles, hats and sunglasses are permitted, but please remind your child that he/she is responsible for them. Please be sure your child's name is written on his/her disposable lunch bag. The majority of this field trip will be spent outside, so please apply any sunscreen/bug spray before sending your child to school. Thank you!
We did not begin the drug education unit last week as originally planned, but we are starting it this week! There will be a small quiz on the information presented in the drug education unit on Friday, October 1st. A study guide will be sent home this week.
We will be finishing up the Velveteen Rabbit this week! On Thursday, students may bring in their favorite stuffed animal/toy to show to the class. This will also be the subject of a letter that they will be writing to the Velveteen Rabbit. I ask that students refrain from bringing in any toys that make noise, or any toys that are too large for them to carry. Thank you!!
In math we are taking the skills we've learning with patterns and place value and applying them to addition and subtraction. This is also referred to as "Composing" and "Decomposing" numbers. Students will also be using what they've learned about place value to create a class "I'm thinking of a number..." book!! Each student will create a page in this book that will contain clues about the 3-5 digit number they are thinking of. We (Mr. Kidd's class and ours) hope to present these books to the first grade!
Thank you so much for your continued support and communication! Be on the lookout for information about Wednesday's field trip to come home tomorrow and Tuesday.
Have a wonderful Sunday!
:) K.M.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Addendum :)
Hello again!
One of the excellent questions asked at Back to School Night was in reference to Frederick County's expectations for basic facts acquisition. It was mentioned that MCPS expects a student to recall 1 basic fact/3 seconds. FCPS curriculum states the following: MA.200.60.26c Demonstrate quick recall of number combinations for addition & subtraction (6.C.1.a)(Second Grade); and MA.300.60.26c Maintain quick recall of number combinations for addition & subtraction (Third Grade). The State curriculum states: Demonstrate proficiency with addition and subtraction basic facts using a variety of strategies (Second Grade). So that doesn't quite answer the question!
Ultimately, as I was saying, the goal of the Mad Minute is to beef up those basic facts. The students' lives will be that much easier down the mathematical road as their basic facts acquisition and recall skills strengthen.
Also, you may notice as more papers are coming home that you will see some papers with actually grades/percentages, and others with smiley faces. The smiley-faced papers indicate activities that we did together as a class, or as a practice activity after a lesson. If your child brings home a paper with a "Please Complete" or "Please Finish" message written on it, please have him/her complete/finish the work and turn it back into me again. I use the :) papers to determine the learning skills grades - so let's make sure they're getting credit when credit is due!
Thank you again! Have a wonderful weekend!
One of the excellent questions asked at Back to School Night was in reference to Frederick County's expectations for basic facts acquisition. It was mentioned that MCPS expects a student to recall 1 basic fact/3 seconds. FCPS curriculum states the following: MA.200.60.26c Demonstrate quick recall of number combinations for addition & subtraction (6.C.1.a)(Second Grade); and MA.300.60.26c Maintain quick recall of number combinations for addition & subtraction (Third Grade). The State curriculum states: Demonstrate proficiency with addition and subtraction basic facts using a variety of strategies (Second Grade). So that doesn't quite answer the question!
Ultimately, as I was saying, the goal of the Mad Minute is to beef up those basic facts. The students' lives will be that much easier down the mathematical road as their basic facts acquisition and recall skills strengthen.
Also, you may notice as more papers are coming home that you will see some papers with actually grades/percentages, and others with smiley faces. The smiley-faced papers indicate activities that we did together as a class, or as a practice activity after a lesson. If your child brings home a paper with a "Please Complete" or "Please Finish" message written on it, please have him/her complete/finish the work and turn it back into me again. I use the :) papers to determine the learning skills grades - so let's make sure they're getting credit when credit is due!
Thank you again! Have a wonderful weekend!
Friday, September 10, 2010
Buzz Buzz!
Worky work! Busy bees!!
This week in Language Arts we have continued comparing fiction to non-fiction texts, utilizing before, during, and after reading strategies, as well as using those strategies to make predictions.
One book we practiced making predictions with is The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein. This is the Caldecott Award-Winning story of Phillipe Petit - the man who walked a tight rope between the World Trade Center Towers in August of 1974. If any of you are familiar with the book or independent film Man on a Wire - this is the same guy.
I've been sharing this book with students on or around 9/11 for the past four years. I think it's a wonderful way to associate a positive memory with the towers, and it has also served as a springboard for students to ask questions about what happened on that day. There weren't any questions or connections vocalized by the students today.
Beginning next week, we will be reading The Velveteen Rabbit as a whole class. I choose to read this book with the students for multiple reasons. First, it ties in with Character Counts – showing examples of so many different pillars of character! Second, I like to start with a smaller chapter book to begin the discourse model for reading groups. This model is great to use with the Gifted and Talented program as it really harnesses the higher level comprehension and questioning skills. I will be alternating back and forth between the discourse model, and the Literature Circle model throughout the year.
Students will be expected to read one chapter per night, twice. Please do not let the students go ahead in the book – our discussion relies on all the students being at the same point in the book. Each day we will meet in our groups to discuss new vocabulary, answer any questions the students may have about the book, as well as answer questions in response to the book. These small group discussions will build up to the whole group discussion that we will have at the end of the week.
The book will be kept in the baggie with the Reading Response Journal (RRJ). The pages in the journal will be used as note taking pages, and response pages. The pages will be clearly marked as such: each chapter will have a page labeled for note taking, and a page labeled for responding. The note taking pages will be for listing unknown or interesting words, questions students have about what has happened in the story, and/or an area to prepare their responses.
I have seen such a great amount of success with this model in the past. The quality of discussion is like that of a book club – for adults!
As always, should you have any questions about this model please contact me as soon as possible. Kelly.Phelps@fcps.org
This coming week in math we will be wrapping up place value skills while continuing to practice patterns skills. We will be picking up where we left off with the Mad Minute next week, finishing up with a quiz on Friday.
Our next Social Studies Unit is a drug education program entitled "Here's Looking at You". In this unit students will be able to: identify themselves as unique individuals, discuss the qualities of good friends/friendships, describe the physiological and behavioral effects of nicotine, identify drinks that contain alcohol, describe the behavioral effects of alcohol, identify and describe the functions of the brain, heart, liver and lungs, describe the effects of nicotine and alcohol on the body, and identify drugs as "any substances except food that affects the way the mind or body works." This program was developed by teh Educational Service District No. 121 under grants from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the National Institute on Drug Abuse. This program extends from Kindergarten through 12th grade. The overall goal of this program is to help young people make responsible decisions concerning drugs. As always, should you have any questions about this unit please contact me as soon as possible. Kelly.Phelps@fcps.org
In the students' Home-School folders today was the permission slip for our first field trip!! We will be going to the Great Frederick Fair on Wednesday, September 22! This trip is not for rides and games, but for the agricultural and economical lessons that can be learned from a fair. Chaperones are welcome to attend. If you wish to ride the bus, please be advised that the cost is $2.00. If you wish to attend but are willing/able/would rather drive that is perfectly fine as well, without the $2.00 fee. Chaperones must be present at the school before we leave for the field trip, and follow or ride the busses to the Great Frederick Fairgrounds. SO EXCITED!!
Thank you to all of you who signed up to volunteer! I will be putting together a volunteer calendar to begin the week of October 4th. I'll be in touch - thank you again!
Have a wonderful weekend! Enjoy this great, autumnal weather!
:) KM
This week in Language Arts we have continued comparing fiction to non-fiction texts, utilizing before, during, and after reading strategies, as well as using those strategies to make predictions.
One book we practiced making predictions with is The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein. This is the Caldecott Award-Winning story of Phillipe Petit - the man who walked a tight rope between the World Trade Center Towers in August of 1974. If any of you are familiar with the book or independent film Man on a Wire - this is the same guy.
I've been sharing this book with students on or around 9/11 for the past four years. I think it's a wonderful way to associate a positive memory with the towers, and it has also served as a springboard for students to ask questions about what happened on that day. There weren't any questions or connections vocalized by the students today.
Beginning next week, we will be reading The Velveteen Rabbit as a whole class. I choose to read this book with the students for multiple reasons. First, it ties in with Character Counts – showing examples of so many different pillars of character! Second, I like to start with a smaller chapter book to begin the discourse model for reading groups. This model is great to use with the Gifted and Talented program as it really harnesses the higher level comprehension and questioning skills. I will be alternating back and forth between the discourse model, and the Literature Circle model throughout the year.
Students will be expected to read one chapter per night, twice. Please do not let the students go ahead in the book – our discussion relies on all the students being at the same point in the book. Each day we will meet in our groups to discuss new vocabulary, answer any questions the students may have about the book, as well as answer questions in response to the book. These small group discussions will build up to the whole group discussion that we will have at the end of the week.
The book will be kept in the baggie with the Reading Response Journal (RRJ). The pages in the journal will be used as note taking pages, and response pages. The pages will be clearly marked as such: each chapter will have a page labeled for note taking, and a page labeled for responding. The note taking pages will be for listing unknown or interesting words, questions students have about what has happened in the story, and/or an area to prepare their responses.
I have seen such a great amount of success with this model in the past. The quality of discussion is like that of a book club – for adults!
As always, should you have any questions about this model please contact me as soon as possible. Kelly.Phelps@fcps.org
This coming week in math we will be wrapping up place value skills while continuing to practice patterns skills. We will be picking up where we left off with the Mad Minute next week, finishing up with a quiz on Friday.
Our next Social Studies Unit is a drug education program entitled "Here's Looking at You". In this unit students will be able to: identify themselves as unique individuals, discuss the qualities of good friends/friendships, describe the physiological and behavioral effects of nicotine, identify drinks that contain alcohol, describe the behavioral effects of alcohol, identify and describe the functions of the brain, heart, liver and lungs, describe the effects of nicotine and alcohol on the body, and identify drugs as "any substances except food that affects the way the mind or body works." This program was developed by teh Educational Service District No. 121 under grants from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the National Institute on Drug Abuse. This program extends from Kindergarten through 12th grade. The overall goal of this program is to help young people make responsible decisions concerning drugs. As always, should you have any questions about this unit please contact me as soon as possible. Kelly.Phelps@fcps.org
In the students' Home-School folders today was the permission slip for our first field trip!! We will be going to the Great Frederick Fair on Wednesday, September 22! This trip is not for rides and games, but for the agricultural and economical lessons that can be learned from a fair. Chaperones are welcome to attend. If you wish to ride the bus, please be advised that the cost is $2.00. If you wish to attend but are willing/able/would rather drive that is perfectly fine as well, without the $2.00 fee. Chaperones must be present at the school before we leave for the field trip, and follow or ride the busses to the Great Frederick Fairgrounds. SO EXCITED!!
Thank you to all of you who signed up to volunteer! I will be putting together a volunteer calendar to begin the week of October 4th. I'll be in touch - thank you again!
Have a wonderful weekend! Enjoy this great, autumnal weather!
:) KM
Friday, September 3, 2010
Have a Wonderful Three Day Weekend!!
Hats off to another spectacular week!
This week in Language Arts we have been working on comparing fiction and non-fiction texts, identifying and describing text features, and using graphic organizers to prepare our writing. Next week we will be continuing to practice identifying and describing text features, in addition to inference and identifying the main idea.
The past two weeks in Social Studies have been concentrated on the Six Character Counts Pillars: Respect, Responsibility, Caring, Trustworthiness, Citizenship, and Fairness. We have been making text-to-self and text-to-world connections as we read various stories, and describe how they show examples of the various Pillars. Two books we've read so far are Do Unto Otters and The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room.
We've focused primarily on patterns this week in Math. We will continue this focus as a practice point, as we move on to place value.
Even though it's September - it's still WICKED hot!! Our classroom is in an oddly-placed space in the building - as in not close to ANY water fountains. Please send in a water bottle with your child with his/her name written on it in permanent marker. This will allow your child to have water whenever he/she needs it, and eliminate the travel time it takes to go to and from the water fountains. We have a super-short day!! Let's do everything we can to make the most of our time! :)
I hope you all have a wonderful three day weekend with your families and friends. Thank you again for your continued support and communication ~
See you Tuesday!
K.M. :)
This week in Language Arts we have been working on comparing fiction and non-fiction texts, identifying and describing text features, and using graphic organizers to prepare our writing. Next week we will be continuing to practice identifying and describing text features, in addition to inference and identifying the main idea.
The past two weeks in Social Studies have been concentrated on the Six Character Counts Pillars: Respect, Responsibility, Caring, Trustworthiness, Citizenship, and Fairness. We have been making text-to-self and text-to-world connections as we read various stories, and describe how they show examples of the various Pillars. Two books we've read so far are Do Unto Otters and The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room.
We've focused primarily on patterns this week in Math. We will continue this focus as a practice point, as we move on to place value.
Even though it's September - it's still WICKED hot!! Our classroom is in an oddly-placed space in the building - as in not close to ANY water fountains. Please send in a water bottle with your child with his/her name written on it in permanent marker. This will allow your child to have water whenever he/she needs it, and eliminate the travel time it takes to go to and from the water fountains. We have a super-short day!! Let's do everything we can to make the most of our time! :)
I hope you all have a wonderful three day weekend with your families and friends. Thank you again for your continued support and communication ~
See you Tuesday!
K.M. :)
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
The blog ate my homework!!
GRRRRRR :(
The majority of the wonderful, well-detailed post disappeared into cyberspace!!
The abbreviated version of the lost post until I find the lost, wonderful details:
Homework is assigned at the beginning of the week, please hang on to it until it is due at the end of the week.
Please sign the bottom of the Agenda Book Page by the end of the week.
Please time your students on their Mad Minute for 1 minute, circle where he/she stopped at 1 minute, then have them complete what's left for additional practice.f
First spelling pattern is Long A - first spelling quiz is Friday, September 17th. Please have students complete at least 3 Spelling Practice Activities per week.
Please have your student read for 20 minutes every night. This could be independent reading, reading with/to a sibling or friend, or reading with/to a parent/guardian.
Book Baggies with Reading Response Journals (RRJs) and books need to come to and from home and school everyday.
Behavior calendars will be attached to the Home-School folders this week. Green = Great Behavior!! Yellow = needed some (3)reminders of how to make good choices. Red = Needed three more reminders of good choices to make, and a Think Sheet will be sent home to be signed.
Thank you so much for your support! Please email me with any questions, comments, or concerns you may have :)
Looking forward to seeing you on Back to School Night! Tuesday, September 17th, 2010 @ 7:00
:)
The majority of the wonderful, well-detailed post disappeared into cyberspace!!
The abbreviated version of the lost post until I find the lost, wonderful details:
Homework is assigned at the beginning of the week, please hang on to it until it is due at the end of the week.
Please sign the bottom of the Agenda Book Page by the end of the week.
Please time your students on their Mad Minute for 1 minute, circle where he/she stopped at 1 minute, then have them complete what's left for additional practice.f
First spelling pattern is Long A - first spelling quiz is Friday, September 17th. Please have students complete at least 3 Spelling Practice Activities per week.
Please have your student read for 20 minutes every night. This could be independent reading, reading with/to a sibling or friend, or reading with/to a parent/guardian.
Book Baggies with Reading Response Journals (RRJs) and books need to come to and from home and school everyday.
Behavior calendars will be attached to the Home-School folders this week. Green = Great Behavior!! Yellow = needed some (3)reminders of how to make good choices. Red = Needed three more reminders of good choices to make, and a Think Sheet will be sent home to be signed.
Thank you so much for your support! Please email me with any questions, comments, or concerns you may have :)
Looking forward to seeing you on Back to School Night! Tuesday, September 17th, 2010 @ 7:00
:)
It's Just Procedure :)
Hello all! Allow me to begin by congratulating our students on a wonderful first week of school! Great job!
I apologize for the delayed posting of this, but below you will see the procedures for homework assignments, behavior, etc. As always, should you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me :) Thank you so much for your support!
Homework:
~The Agenda Book: Since most assignments are given at the beginning of the week, and not due until the end of the week, I only have the students record their assignments one time - at the beginning of every week. Please keep in mind that assignments may be added or changed throughout the week, so please continue to check the book everyday. I ask that the bottom of the page be signed by the end of the week to signify that you have been checking their agenda books.
I apologize for the delayed posting of this, but below you will see the procedures for homework assignments, behavior, etc. As always, should you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me :) Thank you so much for your support!
Homework:
~The Agenda Book: Since most assignments are given at the beginning of the week, and not due until the end of the week, I only have the students record their assignments one time - at the beginning of every week. Please keep in mind that assignments may be added or changed throughout the week, so please continue to check the book everyday. I ask that the bottom of the page be signed by the end of the week to signify that you have been checking their agenda books.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Welcome Back!!
Hello! Welcome to the 2010-2011 school year! I am so excited to be working together with you!
I look forward to learning much about you, so here’s a little information about me!
I grew up in Rockville, MD with my mother, father, younger brother, Dennis, and two dogs – Casey and Nipper. I went to Frostburg State University for my Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education, graduating in the winter of 2004. My first teaching job was in second grade at Goshen Elementary School in Montgomery County. I continued teaching there for two more years – one in second grade and one in first grade. I came to Frederick County Public Schools two years ago and taught one of the first grade Gifted and Talented classes. I LOVE teaching the Gifted and Talented Program, and was thrilled to learn that I was going to be teaching second grade again this year!
This past July I married my husband, Matt, in downtown Frederick. We now live in New Market, with our chocolate lab, Koa.
I look forward to meeting you at our Open House this Friday, August 20th, from 3:00 – 4:00. There will be ice cream at 3:45 – YUMMY ! Please feel free to bring in your supplies if you’d like.
The first day of school is Monday, August 23. The arrival time for magnet students is between 8:15-8:30. Instruction begins promptly at 8:30. The magnet program dismissal is at 2:30. Parents, please mark your calendar for the UES Back to School Night which will be at the school on Tuesday, September 7, from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m.
I’m really looking forward to meeting and working with you all this year – we have SO much to look forward to!
I look forward to learning much about you, so here’s a little information about me!
I grew up in Rockville, MD with my mother, father, younger brother, Dennis, and two dogs – Casey and Nipper. I went to Frostburg State University for my Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education, graduating in the winter of 2004. My first teaching job was in second grade at Goshen Elementary School in Montgomery County. I continued teaching there for two more years – one in second grade and one in first grade. I came to Frederick County Public Schools two years ago and taught one of the first grade Gifted and Talented classes. I LOVE teaching the Gifted and Talented Program, and was thrilled to learn that I was going to be teaching second grade again this year!
This past July I married my husband, Matt, in downtown Frederick. We now live in New Market, with our chocolate lab, Koa.
I look forward to meeting you at our Open House this Friday, August 20th, from 3:00 – 4:00. There will be ice cream at 3:45 – YUMMY ! Please feel free to bring in your supplies if you’d like.
The first day of school is Monday, August 23. The arrival time for magnet students is between 8:15-8:30. Instruction begins promptly at 8:30. The magnet program dismissal is at 2:30. Parents, please mark your calendar for the UES Back to School Night which will be at the school on Tuesday, September 7, from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m.
I’m really looking forward to meeting and working with you all this year – we have SO much to look forward to!
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