October 25-November 8

Happy Fall to all! Here is our classroom news:
Word Work: We are rolling out Word Study next week. The first week will be routine focused. The second week will begin with differentiated, just right sorts your child complete based their individual assessment. In addition to weekly word study patterns, your child will get 6 high frequency words to study- these are individualized based on assessments. Any words your child missed will
Conferences: Parent Teacher Conferences are right around the corner as Quarter 1 comes to a close. You can sign up for your conference date and time on the Tonawanda website.
Sunset Playhouse Field Trip: We will go on our first field trip on Thursday October 31 to Sunset Playhouse. We will be walking so please send your child to school with a warm coat and possibly hats and gloves depending on the weather.
Fall Party: Our Fall Party was a huge success! Thank you to ALL parent volunteers who sent in items for the party, planned, prepared and/our chaperoned the party. The kids had a GREAT time. We did not get a chance as a class to say a BIG THANK YOU!

Ask Your Child:
Who are you getting to know in reading? (Which character?) What do you know about him/her? Why do you think that?
Retell your story using SWBS...Somebody, Wanted, But, So
How does an object get set in motion? (a force)
Name the similarities and differences in Twirlers and Zoomers. (Both spin...Zoomers are set in motion by hands spinning the zoomer in circles, twirlers are set in motion by gravity and air resistance)
What is happening in Charlotte's Web?
What is a 3 Star post It? How is it different than a 1 star Post It?
Reminders:
Please return the assessment envelope that your child's MAP scores were delivered in on Monday Oct/ 21st (I apologize for the delay in sending them home!)

October 11-25

Hello Families! We have had a great couple of weeks in second grade. Busy, but great. Here are some happenings and information for you:

NEW FEATURE
Kid Chat: "Catching Complements"- We challenged ourselves to compliment our classmates. At the end of the day, we shared the compliments we received. Mrs. Dahms placed a baseball on the mitt everyday. Finally, when we reached 20, we earned an extra recess. (written, edited and revised by Mrs. Dahms' second graders)

Spelling Bee Date mix up!: On your October calendar, I put the spelling bee on October 18th. It is really scheduled for November 18th. This is an optional event. Your child can decide whether to participate or not. Here is the link to the spelling lists on the school website:
http://www.elmbrookschools.org/tonawanda-elementary/item/index.aspx?linkid=561&moduleid=34
Field Trip Permission slip: In your child's BEE folder, you will find a new field trip form. The School district is sending one main field trip permission form home with all of our field trips for the year. Please fill out and return the form along with the one fee for all the field trips listed. Thank you!
Scholastic Book Orders: I apologize to all the families that placed a September order. I realized after I entered all the orders, I must never have clicked Submit. I realized a week later after the books hadn't arrived. So sorry for the wait.
I will send home the Oct./Nov catalog next week.
Mrs Dahms Store- It finally opened last week. The kids earn pennies throughout the week for complete homework, reading logs and bringing their books back to school. In addition, I will give out pennies when someone does a job for me or helps someone else with their job. The kids then exchange their pennies for nickels, dimes,  or quarters to shop at Mrs. Dahms store. Along with little things like pencils, sticker sheets, fun erasers, I sell coupons for things like "Show and Tell, "Bring a Stuffed Animal to School". If you see a coupon like this come home, then you know that your child bought it from the store and fulfill the coupon any day he/she chooses.
Reminders:
Our Fall Party will be on Oct. 24 11-11:45. This is a half day of school.
Oct. 25- No School
Oct. 31- Sunset Playhouse Field Trip AM
Ask Your Child:
What patterns do you see in your book character's behavior?
How much time has passed in this story?
What does your character want?
As a writer, can you give me an example of a story ending that is not exciting? Can you give
Tell me about one of the small moments you have written in class.
What is happening in Charlotte's Web?
What is a turn around fact?
Explain how you would solve this problem...Team A has 14 kids, Team B has 11. How many more kids are on Team A?