Ms. Gregory-Wilder's Second Grade Class

February 13-17

2012-02-09T11:30:00.000-08:00

WRITING
Parents beware! We are learning the art of persuasion this week! The focus will be on persuasive statements and how to use them. In our writing we will practice stating our opinions and giving reasons and examples to make our statements more appealing. Let me know if your child tries any new persuasive tricks this week:)

READING
To go along with our persuasive statements, we will study the purpose of media and the many different types there are. Through diagrams and video clips we will observe the sound, color, image and purpose of media and record how each of these things influences a message.

SPELLING
We will continue the study of the long 'o' sound (ough, ow). Spelling words will be sent home on Monday and we will test on Friday.

MATH
To get in the Valentine spirit, we are having special problem solving, team building stations. It will be a lot of fun for everyone!

We are combining our knowledge of addition and subtraction regrouping this week. As we review, we will continue to practice identifying key words to tell the difference between addition and subtraction. We will review with Jeopardy on Thursday and assess on Friday.

You can practice the 1-18 +/- facts with your children for quicker recall times.

SOCIAL STUDIES
We are studying the timeline this week and building on our knowledge of the past, present and future. The class will create their own timeline of many things: school, themselves, interview each other, and take notes on video and book sources of historical figures. We will extend our learning and brainstorm what we want to be in the future and also what school will be like in the future.

REMINDERS
Don't forget to send your box tops!!!
Library is Wednesday
February 14th- Class Valentine's Day party at 1:45 (all parents are invited!)
February 20th - No School (President's Day)
February 28th - Spirit Night Out at Catfish Parlour
March 3rd- Family Dinner Night

February 6-10

2012-02-03T12:59:00.000-08:00

Writing:
This week we focused on writing a legend of our own and next week we are going to review different types of writing we've learned this year by using the theme of Valentine's Day. We will be writing poetry, "all-about" stories, procedural text (a recipe), and letters.

Reading:
We are working on folktales and legends this week. We will read various stories and then comprehend what they are about including the character's words, thoughts, actions and traits. We are getting really good at understanding this genre. Please help your child to remember to write their reading minutes down each night.

Math:
We will work on 2-digit subtraction with regrouping (borrowing/carrying) this week. We will use our ones and tens blocks and several games to practice the strategies involved with this skill. Continue to practice at home as well.

Science:
Clouds and shadows are going to be the topic this week. We will discover different types of clouds and learn how shadows appear. At the end of the week we will get to research either the moon, sun, moon phases, meteors/asteroids with a group and present our information to the class.

Reminders:Send your box tops!!!

February 8th- Spirit Night at Mimi's Cafe
Library is Thursday
February 9th- Valentine's Day boxes due
February 14th- Class Valentine's Day party at 1:45 (everyone is welcome!)
March 3rd- Family Dinner Night

Jan. 30 - Feb. 3

2012-01-26T09:01:00.000-08:00

WRITING
Our outlaws are running wild, hopefully to be caught soon. Come by and see their wanted posters on the bulletin board!

Last week, we learned in reading about myths, legends and folktales and how to find the theme in the story. This week, we will create our own legend how of something came to be. Students will pick their topic (i.e. how a leopard got his spots, how an elephants trunk became so long, how a mountain became the shape of a triangle, why a rainbow doesn't have brown, etc), then create ways their legend can happen.

READING
We are focusing on folktales this week. A folktale is story or legend handed down from generation to generation usually by oral retelling (starts as an oral story, not a written story) and does not include the element of magic. We will discuss the origin of the story and the cultural values and themes that the story carries in it.

SPELLING
This week we will work on sounds of Y (y as 'i'-try and y as 'e'-bunny). Your child will get their list on Monday, and the test will be on Friday.

MATH
Our fractions unit is over and we are turning back to addition and subtraction. We will quickly review our fast facts and focus on 2 digit plus 2 digit and introducing regrouping. We will continue to focus on adding from the ones column first, then the tens column and word problem strategies (cross out the junk, circle important numbers, underline the questions).

SCIENCE
We will review and test on the water cycle the first two days. On Wednesday, we will introduce the night sky and aspects of the moon (What is it? Where is it? Why is it always changing shape? Why is it always moving?). At the end of the week, we will make our own moons using tasty materials:)

REMINDERS
Jan. 31 - Science Fair
Feb. 1 - Early Release
Feb. 4 - Celebration of Families, RRISD 9am-2pm
Feb. 8 - Spirit Night out at Mimi's Cafe
Feb. 9 - Valentine Boxes due
Feb. 14 - Valentine's Party

January 23-27

2012-01-19T13:44:00.000-08:00

WRITING
We are going wild in writing! The Wild West that is! The students will find their 'inner outlaw' create a story that goes with their character along with writing a wanted poster. Their story will include their outlaw name, crimes, setting, problem they face and what happens when they are captured.

Our main focus will be creating a beginning, middle and end that flows and is easy to understand. We will post the stories at the end of the week.

READING
We are starting a new unit filled with folktales, myths and legends. The vocabulary words of theme and morals will be introduced and the students will see each day what makes these three types of stories unique. This theme will carry over into our reading groups as well.

SPELLING
This week we will work on long I vowel patterns (-i_e, ie, igh, ind). Your child will get their list on Monday, and the test will be on Friday.

MATH
Our fractions unit will come to a close as we review the difference between unequal and equal parts, numerators and denominators, how to read fraction drawings and solve fraction word problems. We will review on Thursday and test of Friday.

SCIENCE
We are moving from weather to the water cycle. The class will dive in to the vocabulary of evaporation, condensation and precipitation. We will make rain makers, water wheels and follow the drops to explore the properties of water and just how much there is on Earth.

Thank you:
The kids loved the Skittles fractions activity! Thanks to Kristen Shepard for sending those in.

Classroom Needs:
Gallon Ziplock bags
Alcohol-free hand sanitizer
Seventh Generation cleaning wipes
Treasure Chest items

REMINDERS
Start saving your SHOE BOXES for a fun February activity...more to come later:)
Science Fair- Jan. 31
Early Release - Feb. 1
Celebration of Families, RRISD 9am-2pm - Feb. 4

January 17-20th

2012-01-12T09:02:00.000-08:00

IN HONOR OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., THERE IS NO SCHOOL ON JANUARY 16TH.

WRITING
We are showing off our poetry skills! This week, we are making poetry books to display our alliteration, rhyming, acrostic and concrete poems. With our knowledge of understanding poetry, we will use our sensory language to "Show and Not Tell" what we are thinking, seeing or feeling in our writing.

The students have the opportunity to share and show off their completed piece throughout the week.

READING
Our focus in reading this week will be in understanding the poem. The strategies we will cover are:

Preview the poem and read it aloud
Visualize the images of what is written
Clarify the words or phrases
Think about the author's heart and message

We will practice these steps with numerous poems throughout the week and give the students opportunities to show their comprehension with an independent assignment at the end of the week

SPELLING
This week we will work on long E vowel patterns (-e_e, ea, ey, ee, -i). Your child will get their list on Monday, and the test will be on Friday.

MATH
We are continuing our work on fractions this week. Our fraction fun will involve making caterpillars and fruit salad, a skittle activity and bingo. Our goal is to reinforce the teachings from last week about the numerator and denominator, equal parts and problem solving skills.

SCIENCE
We are starting our unit on weather, climate and seasons. With the crazy weather in Texas, we will explore what is a normal temperature to have during the four seasons and in different climates.

We will carry over our math skills of reading a thermometer, into science. The class will go outside and see how a thermometer works.

The students will get a chance to write their own weather report for a specific region, with a distinct climate. They will experience what it is like to give a weather report, like the forecasters do on the news!

REMINDERS
Science Fair registration forms- Due Jan. 17th
Holiday (MLK Jr. day)- Jan. 16th
Science Fair- Jan. 31st

January 9-13, 2012

2012-01-06T11:24:00.000-08:00

Writing
We are continuing to work on poetry this week. We are going to be putting powerful thoughts into tiny packages. We’ll discuss how poems have ingredients like a recipe, one is precise words and another is music. Using expression with a poetry voice will be another focus for the week. We’ll practice “trying on” different voices while reading poems to see how expression makes us feel when we hear them. We’ll write poems using our feelings and share them with our classmates. I can’t wait to see what wonderful poems our class writes.

Reading
Our focus in reading this week will be on repetition in poetry. Students will read a variety of poems aloud for fluency.
We’ll discuss the following types of repetition poems:
End Rhyme Repetition: the repetition of the ending sounds in two or more lines,
Alliteration Repetition: the repetition of initial sounds in two or more words,
Assonance Repetition: the repetition of vowel sounds within words.
Consonance Repetition: the repetition of consonant sounds within words, often with a variation in adjoining vowels.
Whole Poem Repetition: when poems have consistent repetition carried throughout the entire poem.

Spelling
This week we will work on long a vowel patterns (-a_e, ai, ay, eigh, -ea). Your child will get their list on Monday and the test will be on Friday.

Math
This week, we will begin our unit on Fractions. In this unit, students will be expected to identify fractions up to 1/12. We will do several fun activities this week, including an activity with fraction tortillas and making pizza fractions. Problem solving will be a daily focus so kids will need to put on their thinking caps! Vocabulary words that will be introduced are numerator and denominator. We'll definitely be having fun while learning about fractions!

Science
We are continuing our unit on natural and manmade resources. We’ll discuss the differences between renewable and nonrenewable resources. Several examples of both will be introduced as well as how we can reduce, reuse and recycle some of our resources. There will be an assessment on Friday over the concepts we’ve learned.

Reminders
Science Fair registration forms- Due Jan. 17th
Holiday (MLK Jr. day)- Jan. 16th
Science Fair- Jan. 31st

October 17-21

2011-10-12T10:48:00.000-07:00

It was so nice to meet with everyone for parent conferences. I was very happy to get to talk to so many of you face to face and discuss how your child is doing in class. As I talked with many of you about in conferences, I plan to go out on maternity leave this week. I have total confidence that your child will be well taken care of by our excellent substitute Carla Lieurance. She has many years of experience, and has worked with our second grade team here at Caraway before. If you have any questions or concerns about your child, then please voice them to Mrs. Lieurance in my absence. She will gladly get any information that you need, and with the support of my team, she can get any support that is needed for your child in my absence. I hope that everyone enjoys the next few months, and I can't wait to see you all again soon.

Reading
This week we will continue to read nonfiction texts. We will pick a topic to learn about and research that topic through both fiction and nonfiction texts. During this process we will also discuss the author's purpose, the difference between main idea and topic, and features of each text that we read. We will gather information on sticky notes about our topic and at the end of the week we will discuss how to organize this information in a logical manner.
We will also continue with our leveled reading groups, and Daily 5 reading stations.

Writing
This week’s writing is going to be a lot of fun! We are going to write our first expository piece, and it will be a “How To" story on blowing a bubble with bubble gum. We will have to chew some gum in class so that we can document the steps of blowing a bubble. Then we will talk about word choice and turn our steps into a story that captures the reader's imagination.

Math
We are going to be going over both subtraction and addition strategies this week. We will review what we have learned and discuss recognizing when a problem is addition or subtraction. Then we will review on Thursday and assess these skills on Friday. You can help your child at home by reviewing basic math facts that add up to 18 with them at home. First in Math is a great way for your child to practice their math facts. Please make sure your child stays on an appropriate level for their grade (ex: not doing the decimal section or higher grade levels).

Spelling
The spelling pattern this week is a review of short vowel sounds. We will put the sounds all together and work on recognizing what sound is being used in a word. Try this fun website to help you study, too! http://www.spellingcity.com/

Science
This week in science we will be discussing energy. We will look at heat, light and sound as forms of energy. We will do several experiments to investigate energy. We will look at heat during our balloon and butter investigations. They will learn about opaque, transparent and translucent materials when we discuss light energy. Then during our sound energy investigation they will create their own musical instrument. We will need several materials for our experiments this week. If you have empty milk cartons or shoe boxes at home, then please send them in before Friday for our musical instruments.

Reminders and Dates:
Tuesday Folder Basket- Nithyalakshmi Somasundaram
Principal's Pride- Dylan K.
Library Day- Wednesday all books need to come in- even if they are just being rechecked.
Oct. 26th- Early Release Day (school ends at 12:45)
Red Ribbon Week- October 24-28 (information coming soon)
Harvest Festival -12-3 p.m. on November 5th

October 10th-14th

2011-10-06T08:58:00.000-07:00

This Monday is Columbus Day. The children do not have school on Monday. I will be at school meeting with parents throughout the day for fall conferences. If you are meeting me for a conference, then please double check your time. Conferences are only 20 minutes, and many of them are back to back. I want you to have your full time to meet with me and ask any questions that you have. You can check your conference time at http://www.signupgenius.com/go/fall2170 using the password "GW."

Reading
This week in reading we will continue to work with our Daily 5 groups, and we will begin to explore non-fiction texts. We will look at text features, discuss monitoring our reading for comprehension and also deciding between fact and opinion.

Writing
This week the students will be working on writing summaries and writing in a booklet format. The students will write a short summary of something the class has done in a fun booklet format to share with the class.

Math
We will be starting subtraction this week. We will focus on subtraction strategies and we will play many subtraction games. On Friday we will be making fun "Domino Fact Families" out of graham cracker, icing and raisins. Ask your child to share with you what they learned about fact families during this exercise.

Spelling
The spelling pattern this week is short u. Feel free to look up other short u words so that you can point out the pattern to your child. Try this fun website to help you study, too! http://www.spellingcity.com/

Science
We are going to finish up matter this week and test over matter on Wednesday. On Tuesday we will review everything we learned about matter. We had so much fun with all of our matter experiments last week! Thank you to everyone who helped us out in the lab and with supplies. Thursday and Friday of next week will be dedicated to the using the 5 senses like a scientist, and then magnet exploration will be our final activity of the week.

PTA Membership Drive
If you have not joined the PTA, then it is a great way to support your child's school. We currently have a contest that is almost up! Help us win by signing up for the PTA!

Box Tops for Education!
Box top collections are almost done! This is the final week to send in box tops! Send them in soon if you can to help us win this competition.

CONFERENCES
Please sign up for a time if you have not, using the password of "GW" on the website http://www.signupgenius.com/go/fall2170. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Reminders and Dates:
Columbus Day/Conference Day- October 10th
Box Tops for Education ends- October 14th
Tuesday Folder Basket- Nithyalakshmi Somasundaram
Principal's Pride- Abigail
Library Day- Wednesday all books need to come in- even if they are just being rechecked.

October 3rd-7th

2011-09-29T08:30:00.000-07:00

October is here! Fall is well underway, and hopefully the temperatures will be dropping soon. Your child is also well on their way in second grade. This is already the seventh week of school! Soon the first nine weeks will be over, conferences will be done, and report cards will be going home. This will be a busy month with a lot going on, but for now read over the blog and see what is happening in our class this week!

Reading
We have now gone through all the parts of the Daily 5 reading program. Your child will be practicing this week with working in different stations and staying on task while reading groups are being pulled. We will spend a lot of time on these skills, because the foundation of this program working is being able to meet with groups on their reading level while others are working meaningfully and independently.
We will also work on the comprehension skill of "making connections" as our reading strategy this week. We will focus on how good readers make connections to themselves, other books and the world as they read in order to create meaning.
For grammar we will focus on pronouns and how to use them correctly in our writing.

Writing
Our "Dream Boards" were so much fun to create last week! Please come by and look at our boards and read the stories we wrote about our dreams for our future.
This week we will continue with Lucy Calkins lessons on writing with a focus on organizing our writing, types of writing and sounding out words that we have difficulty spelling. These lessons will set the stage for our writing program for the rest of the year. At the end of this week every child in the class will know what types of writing they can do during writing workshop, what to do if they get stuck on writing a work, and how to organize their writing.

Math
We are still focusing on addition strategies this week. We are learning strategies to make us faster and more efficient problem solvers by giving us several ways to solve a problem. We will learn addition strategies like "making a ten, making 10 to add 9, making 10 to add 8, count on 1, count on 2 and count on 3." These are strategies that your child can apply to a lot of problem and it will help them think about number sense. As we go through the week you can ask your child which strategies they are learning each day, and ask them to show you the strategies they have learned.

Spelling
This week’s words will focus on the short o spelling pattern. Your child's list will come home on Monday, and they will have a spelling test on Friday. Feel free to look up other short 0 words so that you can point out the pattern to your child. Try this fun website to help you study, too! http://www.spellingcity.com/

Science
This week in science we will be talking about physical and chemical changes.
This is a tough concept, and we will be spending time this week doing experiments of chemical and physical changes to demonstrate the two types of changes.
This Friday we will be trying to do several science stations showing these two types of changes. It would be wonderful to have parent volunteers to help manage the stations. There is a sign-up genius list that has been sent out it you want to volunteer.

Reading Logs Due- Your child's September Reading Calendar is due on Monday. It should be be signed and have the minutes tallied at the bottom. The goal is 400 minutes a month. New calendar's will come home Monday night for October.

PTA Membership Drive
There is a classroom contest for PTA membership! The class with the most PTA memberships in each grade will have a chance to win a glow in the dark basketball! PTA membership forms went home this past Tuesday, and there are more located outside the front office. If you have not yet joined and you plan to, just fill out the form and send it back in with your PTA dues.

Box Tops for Education!
This contest is in the last two weeks of its run, and there are prizes to be won! Keep sending in those box tops! If your child sends in 10 Box Tops, then they can get a coupon. Just have them write their name on a baggie or envelope to keep their Box Tops together. We win extra recess for our class if we are the big grade level winners, and there are probably many items in your house that already have box tops on them!

CONFERENCES
Please sign up for a time if you have not, using the password of "GW" on the website http://www.signupgenius.com/go/fall2170. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Reminders and Dates:
Box Tops for Education ends- October 14th
Tuesday Folder Basket- Nithyalakshmi Somasundaram
Principal's Pride- Ellie
Library Day- Wednesday

September 26-30

2011-09-22T08:56:00.000-07:00

It is the last week of September! Time is flying by as your children get into the groove of second grade! We are in full swing academically and our class is doing very well with the set expectations for behavior and responsibilities! Way to go!

Reading
We are almost done introducing our Daily 5 program! This is the last week of introductions before our program is in full swing. This week we will introduce Listen to Reading. Listen to reading is often a favorite of the students, because they get to use CD players and netbooks to listen to stories. We listen to many books on CD, and we also listen to stories on the computers on sites like "Tumble Books” and "BookFlix." The kids find this exciting and at the same time it is great for them to hear fluent reading on books of their choice. We will continue practicing the other 4 parts of the daily 5 each day, too. Soon we will be doing all the different parts of the daily 5 each day at different times. We will also meet with our reading groups on our guided reading level during this time. Our reading groups are all set now that our district reading assessments are done. Our reading program is well underway, and your children are doing very well with the system.

Writing
We are still working on our "Dream Boards" this week. We have completed the boards, and we are almost done with our stories. Our stories should be done and out in the hallway before the end of "Education, Go Get It Week!"

Math
We have completed place value and ordering numbers. We will now be moving on to addition and addition strategies. We will use strategies like adding doubles, near doubles and making a ten to add. We will use hands on materials like cubes, dice and white boards. We will also play games like adding dice rolls and "Doubles Simon Says." This is a week were we review a basic skill, but in a fun and engaging way that will help each child learn a basic that they can apply to much harder numbers.

Spelling
This week’s words will focus on the short i spelling pattern. Your child's list will come home on Monday, and they will have a spelling test on Friday. Feel free to look up other short i words so that you can point out the pattern to your child.

Science
We have a lot of science experiments this next week as we continue to introduce the process of an investigation. We will discuss classifying items and introduce states of matter to the class. We will have some time to explore liquid, solid and gas and how matter can move from one category to another. This is an exciting week in science, so feel free to ask your child what they do in science each day!

"Education, Go Get It" week is this week. Encourage your child to dress the part each day. We will be discussing colleges and college careers each day next week.
What to wear each day:
MONDAY: “Give a Hoot/College Bound” Students and teachers wear Kathy Caraway t-shirts.
TUESDAY: “Dress for Success” Students dress up in career outfits or as if they are going for an interview.
WEDNESDAY: “Step up for Education” Students and teachers wear sneakers or tennis shoes.
THURSDAY: “Hats off to College” Students and teachers wear favorite collegiate hat.
FRIDAY: “Show Your College Spirit” Students and teachers wear their favorite collegiate t-shirt.

Box Tops for Education!
Keep sending in those box tops! The class in second grade that gets the most box tops gets extra recess, and the school wide winners get a trophy and extra PE time with choice of activity! Also, if your child sends in 10 Box Tops, then they can get a coupon. Just have them write their name on a baggie or envelope to keep their Box Tops together. We will be collecting box tops through October 14th.

CONFERENCES
Fall conferences are right around the corner! Please sign up for a time, using the password of "GW" on the website http://www.signupgenius.com/go/fall2170. If you have any questions, please let me know.

CHARACTER EDUCATION LUNCH
Congratulations to Nathan and Abbey for earning the monthly character education luncheon with our school counselor, Ms. Vrazel. Abbey earned the award for respect, and Nathan earned the award for cooperation.

Reminders and Dates:
Box Tops for Education ends- October 14th
Tuesday Folder Basket- Valerie Armstrong
Principal's Pride- Nathan P.
Library Day- Wednesday

September 19-23

2011-09-15T12:23:00.000-07:00

Thank you to everyone who donated to our Caraway Cares Drive! Our class gathered a huge amount of new socks and underwear to donate to the people who lost everything in the recent central Texas fires. If you have not been able to donate yet, then there is still time! The drive ends on September 23rd. We are collecting new underwear and socks in our room and you can drop off gift cards into the box in the office.
Thank you for all your support!

Reading
We will continue introducing our Daily 5 program and reviewing the parts of the program that we have already learned. Last week we did Read to Self, Work on Writing and Read to Someone. This week we will introduce Word Work to the students. Word Work will allow the students extra time to work with their spelling words each week. Students will take their spelling words and use magnetic letter, play-doh, and stamps to "write" out their spelling words for extra spelling practice. We will also continue to practice reading strategies this week for reading comprehension, and we will be completing the DRA. The DRA is a reading assessment that each student takes individually, and that will allow me to create our reading groups.

Writing
We have been working on writing stories and using a sketch of a picture to help us get our thoughts out. This week we will use that skill as we create a "dream board." This is a collage that we will create to show our future goals and dreams. We will then use this board to help us write stories about our goals for college, career, hobbies and family. This will be used as an introduction to Education Go Get It Week, which is the following week.
We will also do some comparing of common and proper nouns next week for our grammar lessons.

Math
We continue to work with comparing and ordering numbers up to 999. We will review the skill on Thursday and test on Friday of this week. This skill has been covered for the past few weeks, and most of the class is doing beautifully with this skill. If you would like to help your child review at home then using the language of before, after, and between when comparing number placement on a number line is a great start. Also, using greater than >, less than <, equal to = language and symbols will help your child prepare. This can be done by comparing playing cards that you deal out for a fun game.

Spelling
This week’s words will focus on the short e spelling pattern. Your child's list will come home on Monday, and they will have a spelling test on Friday. Ask your child to sort the words and think of other words with this spelling pattern to put the focus equally on learning a pattern that can be used again and memorizing the words that are just for this week.

Science
We are done with social studies for a few weeks, and we will be starting a unit on science. This first week we will focus on being a scientist and thinking through the process that a scientist goes through as they tackle questions. We will first look at safety and discuss safety rules for any science experiment. Then we will do our first science experiment of the year, and we will focus on the steps of the process of an experiment.

Special Treat From The Teacher on Friday!
This Friday, September 23rd, is the first day of fall and my birthday. I love fall for this reason, and I love to celebrate this change of season (hopefully to be followed by a temperature drop) with the kids. On Friday I will bring a snack for the class of apple slices (healthy and seasonal). The kids and I will read a special book together and enjoy our snack.

Box Tops For Education!
Thank you to everyone who has sent in box tops for the school drive. Cutting these out and sending them in is a great fundraiser for our school. There are many box tops on items already in your house (the kids pointed out to me the other day that our tissue boxes have box tops on them, too). The class in second grade that gets the most box tops gets extra recess, and the school wide winners get a trophy and extra PE time with choice of activity! We will be collecting box tops through October 14th, so keep those coming in!

Thank you!
Thank you to all the parents who have sent in supplies for our classroom. The hand soap, extra toys for our treasure box, dry erase markers and printer ink was greatly appreciated!

Reminders and Dates:
Caraway Cares Drive ends September 23rd!
Box Tops for Education ends- October 14th
Tuesday Folder Basket- Valerie Armstrong
Principal's Pride- Adelina Yoon
Library Day- Wednesday

September 12- 16

2011-09-08T06:37:00.000-07:00

This is going to be another exciting week in second grade with a lot going on! We will be celebrating Freedom Week with a look at why we are grateful for our freedoms. We will celebrate Constitution Day on September 16th. At this time we will discuss the constitution and why it is important.

This week we will also have an early release day on Wednesday. School will be dismissed at 12:45. Please let me know with a note in the folder or an email if your child's way of going home will change for early release.

Reading
For reading we will continue our Daily 5 program. Last week we continued to work on Read to Self and introduced Work on Writing. This week we will continue to practice those two skills, and we will add Read to Someone. Read to Someone is a buddy reading system that the kids love. It gives them time to get with a partner and read in a structured way that is still exciting.
We will also continue to practice reading strategies this week for reading comprehension.

Writing
Last week we focused on types of sentences and incomplete and complete sentences. This week we will introduce the Lucy Calkins writing program with a focus on drawing or sketching out a story in order to get the idea for the story before writing. We will also have grammar lessons over common nouns and a/an usage in sentences.

Math
In math we will continue to work with place value in numbers up to 999. We will compare and order these numbers using words like before, after and between. We will also introduce and use the greater than, less than and equal to symbols to show value. At home you can continue to work with your child on reading clocks to the 5 minute mark, and also on comparing large numbers. An easy way to do this is to give them a couple of three digit numbers and asking them to name the larger or smaller number.

Spelling
This week we will start our new spelling program. I will give a pre-test on Monday and then send home the words with your child that day. Each day at school, we will practice the spelling pattern and you can practice with the words at home. We will test over these words on Friday. The test will also include 10 "surprise words" that they have not studied but that match the spelling pattern.

This is not a program that focuses on memorization. The goal is to learn a spelling pattern that you can apply to other words in hopes of improving each child's spelling in their writing. Many spelling programs have students memorize a list of words just for the test on Friday. They might get all the words right, but then they may forget them or never transfer them to their writing. Other students might do poorly on Friday spelling tests because they have difficulty with memorization, but in their writing they might be stronger at sounding out words than their peers.

Obviously the important thing is to become a better speller, and not to just be able to memorize a list of words for a week. It may take your child a while to get use to this program, and I'll give the class some feedback after the first test. I know this is the first time that they will have taken a test like this, and will view their grades accordingly. Just remember that the goal is overall spelling ability and not memorization or test grades.

Social Studies
This week we will continue to study geography. We will look at different types of maps, globes and atlases. We will talk about the purpose for each of these, and how to use each. Then we will move into discussing landforms.

Caraway Cares
Our school will be working with the Caraway PTA, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts to collect items to help with disaster relief in our area. Each grade will collect a different item. Second grade will be collecting new socks and underwear in all sizes(still in the package). All grade levels will be accepting gift cards to area stores (HEB, Randall's, gas stations), for as low as $5 a piece. These cards can be dropped off in the front office in the labeled box on the circle table. This drive will replace the annual Caraway Can Food Drive this year, and it will end on Friday, September 23rd.

Thank you!
Thank you to all the parents who have sent in supplies for our classroom and extra toys for our treasure box! Our class appreciates your support.

Reminders and Dates:
September 14th Early Release Day- School ends at 12:45
Tuesday Folder Basket- Valerie Armstrong
Principal's Pride- Luke Lentz

Septmeber 6-9

2011-09-01T08:24:00.000-07:00

What another great week! We are getting off to a great start this year.
This next week will be very exciting. It is only a four day week due to Labor Day on Monday. Then on Tuesday night we will have Back to School Night. This is an opportunity for you to come up to the classroom and meet me, see your child's class, and hear from me about what we will be doing this year in second grade. We will meet for only 30 minutes from 6:30-7:00. During that time I will give out a lot of information about second grade, but if you cannot make the meeting let me know and I will email you an overview. Since the time is so short and our space is limited in the classroom, please try to make arrangements for your child during this time.
Below is the schedule for the whole evening in case you need to attend more than one orientation.

Parent Orientation Sessions:
6:00-6:30 PM TAG (for current TAG students' parents)
6:30-7:00 PM K-2nd Grade Parents meet in student’s classroom
7:00-7:30 PM PTA General Mtg.& Mrs. Hohmann introduces staff
7:30-8:00 PM 3rd-5th Grade Parents meet in student’s classroom

Procedures and Expectations
We have for the last two weeks overviewed the procedures and expectations for everything that we do at school. We now know school expectations for walking in the hallway, using the bathroom, playing on the playground, and interacting with other students. All classroom expectation have also been laid out. I want every student to be successful this year, and I think that letting every child know what they need to do to be successful is the first step. I will continue to reinforce our procedures and expectations throughout the year so that we can all have a wonderful year.

Reading
For reading we will continue our Daily 5 program. Last week we worked on reading independently in the classroom. This week we will review those Read to Self skills, and begin to practice Work on Writing. During this time students will work on writing stories and becoming better writers.
We will also continue working on a few whole group reading lessons that focus on reading comprehension strategies as well as review the strategies that we learned last week.

Writing
Last week we wrote our first stories with a beginning, middle and end. These stories will be great to compare our end of the year stories to and gauge writing growth. Now that we have a start of the year writing sample, we will go into all the basics of writing. We will begin with a review of complete sentences and types of sentences. We will be really focusing on recognizing an incomplete sentence from a complete sentence.

Math
In math we will be looking at place value to the hundred's place. We will be working with manipulatives like blocks to "build numbers." We will compare numbers in the hundreds to each other, and we will look for patterns with these numbers. We have many interactive games that we plan to play in math next week, and your child should really enjoy this reintroduction to place value.

Spelling
This week is only four days long, and rather than start our spelling unit with the class on a short week, we will introduce spelling the next week. We will go over the new spelling unit during Back to School Night.

Social Studies
Last week we focused on being a good citizen. We tied that into being a good classmate and discussed a lot of ways to be a good citizen/classmate throughout the week. This week we are moving on to geography. We will discuss some local geography; go over map parts and how to read a map. Then we will create a class map of our community.

Reminders and Dates:
September 5th- No school for Labor Day weekend
September 6th- Back to School Night- In classroom 6:30-7:00, PTA meeting 7:00
September 14th Early Release Day- School ends at 12:45
Tuesday Folder Basket- Valerie Armstrong
Principal's Pride- Emma T.

August 30-September 3

2011-08-25T08:25:00.000-07:00

What a Great First Week!
We had such a wonderful first week, and it was great to learn all about every student in class through their first week homework bags, their What Lights Me Up pictures, and through the million words that so many of you have already sent in. I'll look forward to reading the rest of those Million Word Parent Homeworks next week. They really help me get to know your child quickly, and to meet their needs in the classroom more completely.

Procedures and Expectations
In this second week of school we will continue to talk about how we do things in class and at school. We got together with all the second grade classrooms every day last week to talk about cafeteria, hallway, recess, before school and after school procedures and expectations. We want to make sure that every child knows the school rules and knows what is expected at school. This week we will continue to review in our classrooms, so that we can all have a successful year.

Academics Begin!
We are jumping back into our academic subjects this week. I will be guiding the class through how we do everything in each subject, and also starting to do some beginning of the year testing to see what each child's academic needs are at this time.

Reading
For reading we will begin our Daily 5 program. This program is a class model that allows me to meet with small groups and to work with students on their individual reading level. When students are not meeting with me they will be doing one of five other activities. This week we will practice one activity, which is Read to Self. I will explain the program and then we will practice the correct way to independently read to yourself for a few minutes at a time until we build up stamina.
We will also be working on a few whole group reading lessons that focus on reading comprehension strategies.

Writing
This week the students will write their first story for me. I will model how to write a story with a beginning, middle and an ending. After I model how to do each of these things I will ask the class to write their own stories for me.

Math
In math this week we will review time and clocks from last year. At the end of the week the students will have a small assessment over clocks, time and schedule reading to gauge where they are right now with this skill. We will continue to touch on time throughout the rest of the year, but I want a good idea of each child's ability level on this skill so that I can match the lessons I will teach the class to their needs. Time is also a great skill to practice at home with your child. Having your child read digital and analog clocks is great practice for the classroom, and for life!
We will also do some math testing this week to see where each child's ability level is currently. These tests do not count as a grade, but it is a type of pretesting to see what lessons each child needs.

Spelling
We will not be starting our spelling program just yet, but we will be doing a spelling assessment to see what each child's spelling abilities are at this time. This is not a test to study for or to prepare for ahead of time. It is a check of each child's ability so that they can be placed in a spelling group that will have similar words that they need to practice.

Social Studies
We will switch throughout the year between science units and social studies units. We will begin with social studies with a focus on communities, good citizenship, and symbols. We will spend most of the week with a focus on how to be a good citizen to start the year on the right foot.

Reminders and Dates:
September 5th- No school for Labor Day weekend
September 6th- Back to School Night- In classroom 6:30-7:00, PTA meeting 7:00
September 14th Early Release Day- school ends at 12:45

August 23-26

2011-08-21T12:34:00.000-07:00

Welcome Back to School!
I'm so excited to meet everyone and to start another great year in second grade here at Caraway Elementary.
This will be an exciting first week! We will be getting to know each other, learning about second grade expectations and learning to work as a team. Our first day will be full of getting to know each other games and learning about our classmates, teacher and classroom. Our second day will be a celebration of everything 2! We will honor the second day in second grade with all things that come in pairs, are doubled and 2s of all kinds. On our third day we will continue with classroom and school expectations, as well as discussions of how to be bucket filler (someone who goes out of their way to help others and say things that are nice to others). The final day of our fist week we will continue to learn about each other by sharing our Me Bag Homework with the class. These bags are full of items that we feel show our personalities. Then in the afternoon we will celebrate our first week of school with a Second Grade Olympics contest. Our class will work as a team to compete against other classes, and will put to use all the teamwork skills we learned earlier in the week.
This first week will be an exciting week for your child to learn about their classmates, classroom and teacher as well as have many fun and exciting activities.

Here is some helpful first week information you might like to know!
Morning
I'm so excited to meet every one of you and so happy to have you in my classroom. School starts each day at 7:45. The bell rings to come down to the classroom at 7:35every morning. If you arrive before the bell then you can go to the cafeteria to wait and come down with your class, and with me. I'll be in the cafeteria every morning for the first two weeks, and if you get to the classroom before me the door will still be locked. Don't worry; I'll be down with the class from the cafeteria as fast as we can.
Breakfast
Breakfast is offered at the school and starts at 7:15. Breakfast is $1.35 paid and $0.03 for reduced lunch. The cafeteria stops serving lunch at 7:35.
Snack
We will have snack every day at 9:00. Students are responsible for bring their own healthy snacks. Snacks cannot be shared due to allergy concerns. Water bottles are welcome in the classroom, but must have a pull top or straw so that they remain closed in case of spills. Please have your child put their name on their bottles so that bottles are not accidentally shared.
Lunch
We will have lunch every day at 11:28. You child can bring a lunch or eat from the cafeteria. The cost of lunch is $2.10 paid and $0.40 for reduced lunch. Adult lunches cost $3.00 if you plan to join your child for lunch. Adult lunches cannot be put onto student accounts, and need to be ordered in the morning since our lunch is delivered to the school.
Specials
Please encourage your child to wear tennis shoes or bring them with them since they cannot participate in PE if they are not wearing safe footwear.
Recess
Recess is at the end of the day at 2:00 when it is very hot. If the heat index is over 100 degrees we will have indoor recess (per district policy). Please encourage your child to bring a water bottle every day in case we are able to go outside.
Dismissal
School ends each day at 2:45. Bus riders only are allowed to leave at 2:40 so that they can load the buses and leave before the car rider line begins.
We will walk down to the office in a line at the end of the day and it can get very congested in the hallways. It may be easiest for you to tell your child to meet you at the flagpole or playground at the end of the day. If you would like to meet them at the door at the end of the day, then be sure to sign-in at the office (per district policy).
Please email me with any questions or concerns you have about the first week of school.
I hope that everyone has a great first week!

Ms. GW