Health Center Field Trip

Thank you to our chaperones!

Hello Families! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. I was wonderful to see everyone at conferences! This will be the only blog post until after winter break. For winter break, the only homework will be an optional writing journal and to read everyday. The winter break journal should just be a couple sentences about your child's day and an illustration. I hope everyone is staying warm!

Reading: We temporarily finished our study of comprehension strategies: visualizing, making connections, questioning and predicting. We will continue to discuss the strategies we have learned and then finish the rest after break (synthesizing information, inferring and finding the main idea) We have started an exciting non fiction unit. We have discussed the differences between nonfiction and fictions, as well as, learned the features and their purposes in nonfiction (ie captions, photographs, glossary, index...) Ask your child to show you a feature in a nonfiction book. We have started non fiction book clubs also. Groups of 2-4 kids chose a non fiction theme to research and learn more about. In their groups, they discuss what they already know about the topic (their schema), any new facts, ask questions and talk about misconceptions they had. It has been a great start to the unit-excitement is high!

Writing: We have immersed ourselves in a writing friendly letters this month. The kids are doing a nice job remembering the 5 parts of a friendly letter: heading, greeting, body, closing, signature. I hope that you will notice an improvement in their TGIF Journal this week!

Math: The kids did a great job on the test last week. Thank you to all parents for supporting your kids with the "new" algorithm for math. I know that it is very different from what we learned in school, but the kids do develop a much better understanding for place value and numbers. Keep using the online Everyday Math resources for support. We are now working on Geometry. There are some difficult concepts, like line segments and parallel lines.

Social Studies: We continue to study continents and oceans. We have also begun learning about directions and grids. Ask your child to name as many continents as they can.

Other News:

*Field Trip next Tuesday to the Health Education Center. We will spend the morning learning about safety and bullying through interactive lessons and activities. We will be back in time for school lunch.

*Winter Party- Dec 22 1:00-2:00pm

*If you have not read the Tonawanda Tales from last week, I encourage you to read the front page about future district money saving possibilities in relation to our school.

November 20- December 11

Hello Families! We have had a busy couple of weeks. The daylight is getting shorter and the weather is getting colder (The kids say they are freezing- I keep telling them winter hasn't even begun!) Here is what we have been up to in 2nd grade:

• Mrs. Loyd came in for Art for Youth this week. Ask your child what he/she drew.
• We filled our pebble jar. The class voted on watching A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and having popcorn.
• The leaves on our Kindness Tree have all fallen (it's a good thing!). For every day that people used kind words or received kind words, a leave fell from our "Kind Words Are Falling Out of Our Mouths" Tree.

Reading: We have been busy making connections with our books. The kids have been working very hard making Text-to-Self and Text-to-Text connections. They have even begun comparing their personal traits with the characters they read. We started a bulletin board titled "Characters You Should Meet". Each child got to introduce the class to a book character they think others should "meet". Ask your child who he/she chose. The kids also had the opportunity to work with their reading partner to compare two similar themed books. They read the books and completed a Venn Diagram comparing the two. The kids had a lot of great ideas. It is so fun to see them have meaningful conversations about books with each other!

Writing: We have been working on writing good beginnings, exciting endings and using adjectives to make our writing more exciting. As writers, the kids have also started using more voice and thinking about their word choice. I have noticed a big improvement in every one's stories. They are so exciting. When we return from Thanksgiving, we will begin a letter writing unit. Throughout the unit, we will continue to use the tools good writers use and also have time to write fiction.

Math: We are working hard making change, making estimates and measuring. We will be having our Unit 4 test the Friday we return from Thanksgiving (Dec 4). At conferences, I am handing out a resource sheet to parents that demonstrates how we are teaching double digit addition. The math program does not introduce the borrowing algorithm until the end of the school year. The purpose behind this new method is so that kids are understanding place value. I ask that you please reinforce the math methods of the program so that you child does not get confused.

Science and Social Studies: We finished our excitement filled Balance and Motion unit last week. The kids had a great time balancing mobiles and pencils, spinning tops and zoomers and rolling cups and making roller coasters. This quarter we will studying Maps for social studies. We'll learn the 7 continents and oceans, directions, reading a map and working with grids.

Reminders: No school next week for the kids

Conferences Mon evening and Tues AM and PM

Field Trip Permission slip and $4

I hope you and your kids have a lovely Thanksgiving. Enjoy the days off with your family.

November 7-20

Happy November! Wow did October fly by. The first quarter of school ends today. Wow! Conferences are right around the corner. I am sending home a parent survey for you to fill out about questions and/or concerns you'd like to address at your conference. If there is anything you would like to talk about prior to conferences, please let me know. I hope everyone had a great week. Here is what we have been up to:

Reading: We are working on thinking before, during and after we read books. We have worked on making predictions and asking questions. We have started to leave thinking marks in our books using post its- we write down any thoughts or questions we have as we read. Prompt your child to ask questions while they read. You can model this in your own reading aloud too. The students are doing an excellent job thinking about books!

Writing: Did you know that your child is now a published author? We had our very first Author's Celebration! It was a success. Each student chose their favorite Small Moment story to edit, revise and publish. Then last Tuesday, we celebrated our hard work by sharing our stories and having a toast at the end. Everyone's story in now prominently displayed in our classroom library! Look for your child's story drafts from the first 2 months in their folders today. This month we are now focusing on what makes a good story: ideas, organization, word choice, voice, sentence fluency and conventions. We are currently working on Organization: writing strong beginnings, middles and ends.

Spelling: Quarter 1 has concluded. The spelling lists sent home for the rest of the year will still have the 5 high frequency words, but now only a list of connecting words for the spelling pattern. This means that the list I send home will not have any of the spelling pattern words your child will have on the Friday test. Rather, the list will have connecting words-words that have a specific pattern that can be learned and transferred to new words. The reason the list is changing is to promote a deeper understanding of the spelling pattern rather than memorizing a list and not being able to transfer the knowledge.

I introduced the kids to a website called Spelling City (spellingcity.com). It is a great site where kids can enter their spelling words and then practice through games or computer tests. Try it out at home sometime. The website also has a link under Educational Links to the right.

Math: We took our Unit 3 Math Assessment yesterday- just in time for report cards! The kids are doing well. We are now learning. As you have noticed, I had had to assign homework on a Friday, always making the link due Tuesday in case your family would like the weekend homework free. The reason I have to do this is because of the Everyday Math timeline. For scheduling purposes, we may have to do a math lesson instead of math games on Fridays. When that is the case, there is a home link that supports the lesson so I do have to assign it on Friday. Thank you for your understanding and support continued support at home!

Science: We will be finishing our unit on Balance and Motion early next week. It has been a fun and exciting unit. Our final experiments involved motion. We built and observed different wheels on axels and cups rolling down a ramp. Our final experiment involves building a roller coaster using the knowledge gained throughout the unit about motion. Ask your child what type of wheels roll straight and which type turn. We will take a break from science until after winter break, as we study Mapping in Social Studies.

Have an absolutely wonderful weekend!

October 23-November 6

Hello Families! I hope everyone is having a delightful Fall. We only have 3 days this upcoming week. Our Fall festival is on Wednesday. We have had a busy couple of weeks at school. Here is what we have been working on:

Math: We took the Unit 2 test on Monday. I as very pleased with everyones performance on the test. It is so exciting to see such growth and mastery of skills. The test came home with your child today. Please look over it with your child, sign and rerun to school. The last page of the test was not graded- it was a challenge. We have begun Unit 3 which includes telling time, counting money and continued number patterns and strategies. I did mention in a previous email that a couple home links had example problems in the family note that were beyond second grade skill level. These problems are not expected to be completed by the kids- they are just examples for parents. Everyone continues to show growth in their facts test scores. I will be adding some links to websites that have fun math facts practice activities.

Reading: In Readers Workshop we are learning that readers don't just read the words, they think about the story- ask questions, predict, make connections, have feelings... We have learned how to track our thinking as we read by writing down our thoughts on post-its. Your child brought home an example of this on a paper with 6 boxes. They "tracked" their thinking as I read Chester's Way. Ask your child to retell you the story in their own words. We have also been practicing reading with fluency. Ask your child what a fluent reader sounds like.

Writing: We have worked hard to focus our writing on a small moment- not a big watermelon, but rather a watermelon seed. We have worked on writing catchy beginning and excited endings. We are working especially hard on revising and editing. This is a hard process for most because we like to be done after we write the first draft. Everyone has worked very hard these past two months and are excited to finally celebrate our hard work. As you may have noticed, I listed our 1st Authors Celebration on the October calendar as tomorrow, Saturday Oct. 24th (oops!). It was meant to be today, but we needed a couple extra days to publish. SO our celebration will take place on Tuesday. The kids are excited to be publishing their 1st piece as a second grader. They will now officially be authors, as their piece will be displayed in our classroom library.

Spelling: We have one more set of words focusing on the vowel sounds. This week the short and long vowel review will the focus. The words will come home Monday, but the test will not be until Mon. Nov 2.

Science: We have moved from balancing objects to experimenting and observing spinning objects. We created tops and zoomers. Ask your child what a zoomer is. Also ask, what does a top or zoomer need to be set in motion (force).

Character Development:

We have read a couple books this week and watching a short video on Brainpopjr. about Bullying. We are discussing strategies we can use if someone is bullying or being unkind: ignore, walk away, use your words to express you feelings and tell them to stop, be friendly back or make a joke out of the put-down. We also talked about the difference between tattling and reporting. You are reporting if you or someone else is being hurt- with words or physically. You are tattling if you are trying to get someone in trouble. We continue to drop leaves from our Fall tree bulletin board everyday when kind words are being used. We keep track throughout the day when someone in our class uses a kind word: please, thank you, I'm sorry. Are you okay?, You're welcome...

Reminders:

No School Thursday and Friday

Write back to your child in their TGIF Journal (it's sent home every Friday- return the journal by the following Friday))

Please sign your child's assignment notebook everyday

Please help your child return the book and bookbag everyday

Please help your child return the math home links every morning.

October 9-October 22

Hello Families! I hope everyone enjoyed this week of nice weather. It looks like it won't be nice for long. Stay warm this weekend! We had a wonderful week at school. We had lunch in the classroom with a stuffed animal on Monday. The kids earned this reward for filling our class pebble jar. The kids seem to have enjoyed their unexpected day off on Wednesday. Here is what we have been up to:

Math: We are nearing the end of our 2nd unit in math- the test will be on Mon Oct. 19. The self assessment will come home on Thursday- this helps me, you and your child know what he/she needs to work on before the test. The kids have been working on strengthening their fact recall, learning about fact families, learning quick and efficient strategies to add or subtract numbers, and noticing patterns on the number grid. We have also started our addition facts test. Attached to the first test sent home was the 2nd grade facts expectations. All students are working towards a proficient score in addition and subtraction facts. This quarter we will be focusing solely on addition, unless a student completes all 80 addition facts in the allotted three minutes.

Reading: Readers workshop we are learning about what good readers do before they read. We have talked about how good readers 'warm-up" before they read. Readers read the title and look at the cover, thinking "What will this book be about?". They also read the summary on the back, read the chapter titles and examine the title page. We also learned how it is important to look at the pictures on the pages because they help tell the story. Ask your reader how the illustrations in The Ghost Eye Tree helped them understand the story better.

Writing: We are working on writing Small Moments from our lives. It is a hard concept for some to understand. So we talked about how there are Watermelon topics- vacations, my weekend, trip to my cabin, my soccer season... Then there are watermelon seed topics (small moments)- when I met Mickey Mouse, when I gave my dog a bath and she shook and got me soaked, when I went tubing at my cabin, when I scored my first soccer goal... We are learning that writers take small moments from their loves and stretch them out by adding lots of details. We have also begun to focus our writing by planning a beginning, middle and an end. You could support your child as a writer by saying "You could write about that" when something funny or fun or interesting happens. You would be helping them see that their life is full of great moments to write about.

Spelling: I will continue to send a list of word home every week. The list is meant to provide examples of the word family or pattern of the week. It is not necessary to have your child memorize these words, but rather have them practice a couple so that they understand the pattern. There is a list of suggestions for studying spelling words in the Welcome to Second Grade packet given out at PIN. The 5 high frequency words should be practiced the most and be memorized- these are the "No Excuse" words that are placed on the word wall.

Science: We continue to work on balancing objects- we created a mobile this week. Next week we will begin to experiment with motion.

Thank You:

Thank you to all families for continuing to support your child at home with reading, daily home links and quick spelling practice. If you ever have any questions or concerns, please call or email and we can set up a time to talk! I am always more than willing to meet with you!

Reminders:

Return the conference confirmation date and time slip

Write back to your child in their TGIF Journal (it's sent home every Friday- return the journal by the following Friday))

Please sign your child's assignment notebook everyday

Please help your child return the book and bookbag everyday

Please help your child return the math home links every morning.

September 25-October 8

Hello Families! We have had a wonderful couple weeks at school. I think we are finally settling into the routine and feeling more comfortable as second graders. Here are some of the highlights (hopefully you will read about some of these in your child's TGIF journal):

Math: We took our Unit 1 test yesterday! Look for the corrected tests in your child's daily folder on Monday! We finally started home links this week. Please be sure that your child only completes the assigned link every night and that the home links packet stays in your child's daily folder everyday. I will be checking for completion everyday. As a reminder, please be sure to check your child's answers using the answer key in the unit parent letter in the front of the homelinks packet.

Reading: Our Readers Workshop has gotten off to a great start! The kids are reading independently and learning to be a good reading partner who talks about books and supports their buddy. We just finished our first read aloud: High Tide in Hawaii. Ask your child who Jack and Annie met in Hawaii, what happened while they were in Hawaii and what kind of ship Jack and Annie built.

Spelling: I will continue to send a list of word home every week. The list is meant to provide examples of the word family or pattern of the week. It can be daunting to practice the whole list. Try having your child highlight the pattern or choose a couple to practice. There is a list of suggestions for studying spelling words in the Welcome to Second Grade packet given out at PIN. The 5 high frequency words should be practiced the most- these are the "No Excuse" words that are place don teh word wall.

Science: We started our first unit this year: Balance and Motion. Ask your scientist what kind of balance experiment they conducted. Ask him/her how to get an object to balance.

Thank You:

Thank you to Ms. Doane and Mrs, Armitage for volunteering on our field tip. Although we got rained on, we still learned a lot! Thank you to Mr. Loyd for being our first Surprise Reader. Thank you also to our room parents- Mrs. Coakley and Ms. Garvens. We just met to schedule our volunteers for this year. Thank you in advance to everyone who volunteers their time to our classroom! I truly appreciate anything and everything you do for our classroom!

Reminders:

Please sign your child's assignment notebook everyday

Please help your child return the book and bookbag everyday

Please help your child return the math home links every morning.

Welcome Back to School

Welcome to 2nd Grade!

We have had a great start to the year! It has been wonderful getting to know everyone and beginning to build our classroom community. Here are the highlights from our first two weeks:

Reading: We have begun to pave the way for Reader's Workshop. We are talking about who we are as readers, what types of books we like to read, what types of books we like to read, how our reader's workshop should look like and sound like, how to pick out just right books... The kids also received their very own book box for the classroom and a home book bag so that they all may take a book home every night. It is important to help your child make sure the book and bag are brought back to school everyday (even you did not get a chance to read the book). We are so excited to dive into reading this year!

Math: We jumped right into math. Families should have all received the Unit 1 Family Letter that contains to the answers to the home links for the unit. It is expected that you are checking your child's homework to make sure the answers are correct. The home links are always a review of what we learned that day in class. At school, I am simply checking for completion. We have not had a home link for this unit yet; however they will start next week and continue to be a daily feature (except on Fridays- no math homework on the weekends). We will begin addition facts tests in a couple weeks. These tests will be given twice a week. It would be wonderful if you would help increase your child's fluency by practicing at home with flashcards or online facts games (check the blog).

Spelling: Spelling words and the weekly pattern will be posted on the blog and also in your child's assignment notebook on Mondays. Since this was a short week, we will have our 1st spelling test next Friday. Please continue to encourage your child to practice his/her words veery night. Look in your child's folder for a list of possible words that follow the /r/ blend pattern on Monday (Remember, this a list of possible words that will appear on the test- your child will not know which ones will for sure be on the test)

Writing: On Tuesday, your child brought home a letter and assignment to create a personal collage to help generate ideas for writing topics. Please help your child turn this assignment in by Friday September 18- we will be sharing our collages on this day.

Class News:

Reminders:

• We have a field trip coming up on September 22. Please turn in your child's permission slip and fee.
• Scholastic Book Orders were due Thursday, but I am extending the due date to Monday. Remember you can order online with thee Username: Dahms and Password: AllStars (Click on the Scholastic link on the right side bar)

I want to thank all families for accommodating your schedules to allow our assessment day this Friday. We are excited to be able to start our Readers' Workshop earlier in the year!

Mrs. Dahms

Teddy Bear Picnic

Last Post of the Year

I can't believe that our year together in seocnd grade is coming to an end. What an exciting and eventful year. It was my pleasure to be your child's second grade teacher. I hope you all have a wonderfully fun and safe summer. Here are a couple end of the year announcements:

• Author's Celebration: Families are welcome to celebrate our writing for the last time this year. Mark your calendars for Thursday June 11 at 2:45pm. You are welcome to take your child home when the celebration is over.
• Teddy Bear Picnic: The majority voted for a Teddy Bear Picnic as our final reward for filling the pebble jar. Next Tuesday, we will eat our lunch outside. Cold lunches are preferred, but kids can still get hot lunch. Small-Medium sized Teddy Bears are invited.
• Pizza Party: 2nd grade will be having a Pizza Party on Friday June 12th. Your child will only need a drink. Milk will be available!
  
• Packing Up: I will have the kids clean out their desks on Thursday. Please send a bag to carry home supplies. If you do not plan to use markers, crayons, dry erase markers, colored pencils...please have your child leave them for the classroom- Thank you!
• Pictures: If you are interested in having a cd of photos from the year, please let me know and I will burn you a copy.
• Finishing up: We took our last math assessment today. We finished our fairy tale unit in reading, but I am afraid not everyone will finish writing their fairy tale. This would be a great summer story!

Lastly, I want to give a big thank you to Joanne New, our room mom and all the parents who volunteered either in our classroom or provided outside help. I can not tell you enough how much your time and efforts mean to me and the kids!

May 22-June 5th

Hello Families! We had a great week. Some of the highlights were the Art for Youth gallery (Thank you Mrs. Erwin for a wonderful year of Art!) and our field trip to the Elm Grove village hall. We have only 3 weeks left of school. We are trying to remain focused on school to finish second grade applying all we have learned, reflecting how much we have grown. Here is a glance at the next three weeks:

• Finish the last chapter in Math: A Review of the main concepts
• Wind experiments in Science
• Goods and Services- Needs and Wants in Social Studies
• Fairy Tale Study in Reading and Writing

Human Growth and Development- Next Thursday May 28. In second grade, it is the requirement that we discuss female and male body parts. The lesson includes a video about good and bad touching and then a teacher led discussion about anatomy. The boys and girls will be separated for the lesson. If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know.

Thank You! Again I want to thank everyone for the beautiful flowers, treats, cards and gifts for Teacher Appreciation! It was a wonderful week!

Community Projects- Large projects that can't go home on the bus can be picked up anytime!

Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend!

May 8th-22nd

Hello Families!
What an absolute crazy week! I hope the unexpected two days worked okay for your family! Despite the crazy beginning of the week, we had a great rest of the week.

Class News: Our Poetry Cafe was a big success thanks to you! The kids really enjoyed having parents come to our celebration. It was Maddy's birthday on Friday. Mom and Dad came in to be the surprise readers. David was star this week and Justin will be next week. I would like to say thank you for the teacher appreciation cards and gifts. They were very thoughtful and made me smile! Have a very Happy Mother's Day! We hope you enjoy your gifts we made!

HELP: We are in need of a couple parent volunteers one afternoon towards the end of May (day to be determined). Parents from all 3 classes will create a project assembly line to put together the kids' poetry anthologies (their end of the year gift) It will probably be a 2 hour project. Please let me know if you may be interested!

Reading and Writing: We finished our Poetry unit and jumped right into our last unit of the year: Fairy Tales! This is a fun unit that ties in with writing as well. We have begun to read fairy tales whole class, small group and independently. We are paying special attention to the elements of Fairy Tales: Special Words at the beginning and end, good character, evil character, problem and solution, magic, royalty and/or a castle, and 3's and 7's. We will begin to write fiction stories and eventually our own fairy tales!

Math: Finally! We have officially learned the subtraction algorithm! The kids have done an excellent job understanding how and why we borrow and trade. It is important that you support your child using the exact method we learned in class as your child will be expected to do this every year in school. Please re-look at the Home Links lesson 11-3 for an example. I know this is not the way you learned or I learned in school. It is a little different so that kids better understand that they are moving a 10 to the ones column not just putting a 1 next to the top number. This week, we will begin exploring multiplication and division.

Social Studies: Community Projects are due on Monday! The 5 that were turned in this week did a nice job! We have our field trip to the Elm Grove Town Hall Tuesday May 19th.

Science: We continue to study air and are now moving into weather. We have a class meteorologist everyday who charts the day's weather and helps turn on our 30 second video weather forecast on WeatherBug.com

Ask your child:
What are some of the elements of Fairy Tales?
What is Air resistance?
How do you subtract 52-37 using the trade first method?

Reminders:
Blacklight Show Permission Slips need to be turned in ASAP

April 24-May 8th

Hello Families! I hope everyone had a great Spring Break and are enjoying the warmer weather!

Class News: We had a wonderful week back! Author Marcia Diane Arnold visited Tonawanda and helped us to think of new and exciting ways to think of story ideas and write them on paper.We celebrated Earth Day on Wednesday. We all brainstormed ways that we can help the Earth at school and home. Every child took home two recycled strips of paper. They are to write down on each strip, one thing they did to help the Earth. The strips should be returned to school as we will create a save the Earth chain. The results of the Cogats testing your child participated in will be delivered to you next week.

Writing: We continue to write many varieties of poetry and use various elements. Ask your child what Alliteration and Onomatopoeia are. Remember our poetry Cafe is next Friday at 11:15am. Families are invited.

Reading: We have been reading published poems and getting ideas for our own poems. The kids have all chosen a favorite poem to practice reciting for our Poem in My Pocket Day (next Thursday). Your child should be bringing home their copied poem today to practice.

Math: We continue to learn about Money and Place Value. Again, this is a challenging unit, but everyone is doing a great job working hard and learning. We will have our test in the middle of next week.

Science: We are currently studying air and weather. Ask your child how to submerge a paper towel in a vial in a tub of water without getting it wet. We also made parachutes and observed their motion outside as they fell.

Social Studies: We are studying rural, suburban and urban communities. Your child has brought home information on the last project of the year. Every child will chose a community and create a model.

Reminders: Scholastic Orders were due today. You can still order online through this weekend.

March 30-Spring Break

Hello Families! We have come upon the end of the third quarter and the beginning of spring. It is truly amazing how fast time flies (I especially notice now having a 7 month old!) Here is what we have been working on in school:

Reading: We continue to practice skills that good readers use: finding the main idea, and now we are even inferring (using clues from the book to draw conclusions- it's also predicting) This is a tough skill, but the kids are doing a beautiful job. Ask your child to make an inference when you read with him/her.

Math: We took our Unit 9: Measurement test on Tuesday. We have now started a unit on decimal points and money. Thank you for helping your child with their home links every night! Remember the answers to all the links are in the parent letter at the beginning of the packet!
Keep Practicing those math facts! It is a second grade goal to improve the test scores by 5 problems every month. By May, students are expected to score 51 out of 80 in both addition and subtraction for proficiency. Flash cards and computer games are great tools to use for practice!

Keyboarding: We took our first keyboarding assessment. Keyboarding is a standard that will be assessed on third quarters report card. A note was sent home earlier in the week asking you to please remind your child to use the "online" position to type. The district expectations fro proficiency are at least 90% accuracy with at least 9WPM (words per minutes)

Writing: We are just finishing publishing our How To books. The kids are creating slideshows in KidPix. I will post the slideshows on the website hopefully by spring break! Next month we will begin our poetry unit.

Science/Social Studies: We will begin a new science unit on Air and Weather next week. To help support the unit, talk with your child about the days weather- temperature, forcast. In social studies we have begun our last unit on Communities. We have discussed what a good citizen is and will soon study the similarities and differences between urban, suburban and rural communities.

Other: Our talent show two weeks ago was a blast. The kids earned this reward by filling up our class pebble jar. Our field trip to see Stellaluna yesterday was very fun. Thank you to our chaperones for volunteering their time.

Reminders:
No School Monday March 30
Conferences Tuesday March 31, Wednesday April 1st and Friday PM April 3rd
Students are released at 11:30 on Friday April 3rd
Scholastic Book Orders were due today- you can still order online tomorrow

March 13th-March 27th

Hello Families! We are as busy as ever having fun learning as the end of quarter 3 is quickly approaching. Here is what we have been up to:

Writing: I hope that you have been hearing a little more about school through the TGIF Journals. We have finished our letter writing unit (you should have seen some letters some home last Friday). We are now writing How-to books. Our next authors celebration will be open to families to come and join us. We will plan that celebration for Friday March 27th at 11:15 (before lunch).

Reading: The Biography projects were a huge success! Thank you to families for helping your child research and develop a final project to share with the class. We are continuing to analyze text through connections we make, questioning, predicting, and visualizing. We will be discussing Main Idea and Details next week.
Spelling: As I mentioned before, we had a stretch of really difficult spelling patterns that kids struggled with. Remember that these spelling patterns are not expected to be mastered in second grade- just so the kids have a knowledge and foundation for the future. Please keep practicing with your child at home.

Math: We just completed the Fraction Unit. I apologize for sending home the tests without recording them. I appreciate all the tests that were returned and thank you to the other families for looking! Fractions were definitely a difficult concept. A lot of the material was not expected to be mastered in second grade- it was more exposure. We are now using our knowledge of fractions to learn about measurement. Remember to check your child's answers on the home links using the key found in the parent letter.

Science: We took our Plant unit test this week. We will now begin our final unit on Air and Weather starting next week.

Reminders:
*Our Stellaluna field trip will be March 26. Remember to turn in the permission slip and $6 fee.
*Marcia Diane Arnold's (the author visiting our school in April) books are still for sale through PTO.
*No School March 30th
*Conferences will be March 31st, April 1st and April 3rd. Please turn in the blue conference forms- you will receive an extra reminder today if you have yet to turn it in.

Biography Projects and Other Photos

February 28th-March 13th Newsletter

Hello Families!
We have had a great couple of weeks at school. We are glad that February is ending- spring is now within reach! Cassie said to me last week "You know Mrs. Dahms, I really can't wait until I don't have to wear all this winter stuff anymore." Me too Cassie!
Math: We are finishing our unit on Fractions this week. I am really impressed with how well the kids are understanding fractions. We will have the test on Wednesday and then move on to the next unit: Measurement. Please continue to practice addition and subtraction math facts. Remember a score of 54 is proficient for 2nd grade.

Reading: We are finishing our biography study this week. As a reminder, projects are due- we will be presenting them on Thursday. We have also been working on making connections as readers: text-to-self, text-to-text and text-to-world. These connections helps us understand the story better.

Spelling: You may have noticed that the past 3 or more spelling tests have been rather challenging. I just want families to know that word patterns we have been studying the past couple weeks are not expected to be mastered. Rather, we expect that your child is now exposed to these spelling patterns and will hopefully make deeper connections in grades to follow.

Science: We will be completing our study of Plants this week. It was a fun unit- the kids enjoyed learning about plants and having the opportunity to care for their own.

Writing:We also just completed our letter writing unit. We have received about 5-6 Flat Stanleys in the mail. We look forward to receiving the rest of them. I was so pleased with the creative energy kids were using to write fictional letters. We will continue the TGIF journals until the end of the year. Kids are still working on using the friendly format.

Reminders: Please return your conference forms asap.

Other News: Peter was Star last week and Joey will be this week. Have your child vote for their favorite Dr. Suess book on the new poll located to the right!

Field Trip to the Domes

February 13- 26 Newsletter

Hello Families! I hope you are enjoying the warmer weather. The 60 degree day gave me spring fever. Punxtatawney Phil says we still have 5 more weeks of winter! There are a couple additions/changes to the blog. The assignment notebook section now shows you the homework for the entire week, including each color day. Also, the Nature Center pictures are displayed and there is a new poll for your child to participate in about Planting. We had a great week in school. Here's where we've been and where we're headed:

Reading: We continue to learn how to think as we read. This week we are making Text to Self Connections. Starting next week, you will start to consistently see your child bring home a reading bag. Please help your child return the bag to school everyday.

Math: We have been working very hard on measurement and number patterns in Unit 7. We will have our Unit test on Tuesday. Your child's MRB (My Reference Book) will be coming home every night(except weekends) as it is a tool to help explain the homework. On every link, there is a book icon that indicates what page will help you and your child understand the problems. Please help your child return this every day. Please make sure you are checking your child's answers using the key from the family letter in the front of the link packet. Fact test scores are rising-keep up the good work at home!
Writing: Remember to write your child a letter back every weekend. TGIF journals should be returned every Monday. We continue to work hard at keyboarding. We are focusing on being in the "online" position (hands on home keys, good posture)

Science: We continue to watch our brassica plants and grass grow. Most kids have brought home their grass. We also planted wheat seeds to observe their growth. This unit continues to excite our little scientists.

Upcoming Dates: Next Friday is our Field Trip to the Domes
Tonawanda is fortunate to have a guest author, Marsha Diane Arnold, coming to visit. Her books are available to buy through the school. Check out some of the titles on the bookshelf to the right. Also check out her website: http://www.marshadianearnold.com/

Reminders: Read to Succeed Forms (Reading Log to earn a Free Great America Ticket) are due next Friday, Feb 20th. School will be starting earlier and ending a little later starting next week!

What's New?:

• You can now view and purchase class photos at Snapfish.com Look for the link to the right.
  
• MRB- Math Reference Books will be coming home to help with Home Links
• TGIF Journals- please write a letter back to your child every weekend
• Home Book Bags- your child will be bringing home a book every night

Our Trip to the Nature Center

January 30th Newsletter

Hello Families! Here is what we are learning in school:

Math: We just took our Unit 6 Test on Friday. The kids were so excited that they were learning multiplication and division. We will take our mid-year math test on Monday. Results will be sent home. I ask that you sign and return the test ASAP. Thank you. Please keep up the addition and subtraction fact studying at home. As you can see with the report card, the fact recall standard is pretty high. We will be taking mixed addition and subtraction 3 minute timed tests this quarter.

Reading: We have begun a change from literacy centers to more of a readers' workshop. Instead of visiting activity centers during reading, students are now spending more time reading and thinking about their reading during independent read, buddy read, reading groups and reader response rotations. We are focusing on How Readers Think When they Read. This past week we talked about questioning. Readers ask questions about illustrations, story events, what characters do, and the authors purpose.

Writing: We have officially begun our letter writing unit. Students will be writing a letter to you about their week at school in a notebook called TGIF (Thank Goodness It's Friday). I ask that you take time over the weekend to respond using the Friendly letter format your child is using and allow your child to read your letter. Please help your child return the notebook to school every Monday. Look for the notebook this Friday. We will be mailing our flat selves (inspired from the book Flat Stanley) to the address you sent to school along with the stamp. We are excited to see and hear about the place our flat self goes.

Science: Our Plant study is off to a great start. We planted brassica seeds ( a fast growing plant) and are observing and documenting their growth. Despite an accidental tipped tray, most of our plants are still growing strong. We have also planted grass that we have to mow as it grows taller. This week we will plant wheat seeds. Our scientists have done a great job caring for their plants and are very excited to observe the next stage of growth.

Friday Folders: There was a lot in your child's Friday folder. The most important pieces are the two field trip forms that need to be signed and returned to school. The Nature Center trip does not have a fee, however the trip to the Domes does include a fee.

Home Helpers: Please let me know (one more time) if you are interested in helping with gluing/cutting projects to do at home. I will make a Master list and rotate sending home the projects I have.

Reminders: Please send shoeboxes to school for our Valentine's day mailboxes.

January 16th Newsletter

Hello Families! I hope you all are staying very warm on these two chilly days! With report cards coming up, next week will definitely be busy! Here is what is going on in the classroom:

Reading: Everyone has been working really hard reading independantly, with a buddy and in small groups. We are finishing up our Nonfiction unit. We will be switching reading groups this week. You may notice your child brought home a Caldecott book from the library (award for best illustrations). We will be discussing these books further in February.

Writing: Yet again we postponed our Authors Celebration. I will not give a definite day for next week, but we will have our celebration. The kids have been working very hard on writing small moments from their lives. As we finish this unit, we will begin a letter writing unit. As I discussed at PIN, students will have a Kid Connection Journal in which they will write about their week to you and I ask that you take time over the weekend to write back to them.

Science/SS: We are finishing our Mapping unit in Social Studies and beginning our new science unit on Plants. We will plant brassica seeds next week.

Math: We just finished our unit on 2D and 3D shapes. We looked over the tests and sent them home on Wednesday. We have begun a new unit on Number Stories. This is a challenging unit. Please be sure to help your child with math links every night.

Spelling: Spelling tests from last week were sent home with your child on Wednesday (/ow/ /aw/ and /ou/ words) We will continue "are" and "not" contractions next week so we will test next Friday.

Scholastic: Book orders were suppose to be due today. The online username is Dahms and the password is Allstars click here to order. If you prefer to send a check, you can still send it to school on Monday!

Other News: Zach was our Star of the Week. Jacob will be our star starting on Monday. Thank you to all families who donated stickers to our classroom! It is much appreciated! To celebrate the upcoming 100th day on February 13th, we have started a class bulletin board "On the Lookout for 100 random acts of Kindness!". Once an act is seen, that person will write a "cloud" stating the kind person and what he/she did. Then it is placed on the bulletin. Ask your child if they have recieved a cloud or written one.

New Year Newsletter

Hello families! Happy 2009! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season! Here is the latest classroom news:
Math: We will be having our Unit 5 test (most likely Monday January 12th). We have started the subtraction smarties program. When your child brings home their test, please have them finish the test (not timed), get a parent signature and return to school.
Writing: Our Authors celebration will Wednesday January 14th (this celebration will be students only)
Spelling: Tests will come home with a score at the top. This score includes points for capitalization and ending punctuation.
Surprise Readers: Please check the sign up dates on the class website and email me if you can come in to read to our class. Remember it can be any family member!
Notes: If you click on the class photo on the right, it will take you to our class website. The bookshelf on the right displays our class read alouds. Have your child take the poll on the right: What was your favorite winter break activity. I would love to receive feedback (positive or negative) on this blog!
Reminders: Our rescheduled field trip to the Health Center is on Wednesday. Your child will need a bag lunch!

Winter Wonderland