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
Monday, March 28, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
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
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
Thursday, March 3, 2011
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
~Class picture day: Tuesday, March 15th
~Leprechaun Trap Project: Thursday, March 17th
~Field Trip to Urbana High School to see Cinderella: Wednesday, March 30th
Saturday, February 19, 2011
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
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
Sunday, January 30, 2011
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
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
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
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
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
Saturday, January 1, 2011
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
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
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