It’s hard to believe that this is my last Take Home Journal letter of the 2008-2009 school year.  The year has certainly flown by!! Your child has grown both socially and academically this year. Just take a look at the first few journal letters your child wrote!!

On Monday, the children participated in the “Wheel Wise” safety program sponsored by Wellstar.  The topics discussed included vehicle and bicycle safety, rollerblades, scooters, skateboards, and more!

A special thanks to all the parents that volunteered their time this year.  No matter what you did – field trip chaperone, Thursday Folders, Great Artists, Adventures in Reading, or sending in items or snacks for the class – I truly appreciate it more than you’ll ever know. A very special thanks to Gayle Haden and Michelle Carter for taking on the job of co-Room Reps. They did a fabulous job!

I hope you have a wonderful summer! Please remember to have your child read, practice math facts, money, and time. A few hours a week will do wonders!!

            We have had quite a busy week!  The children have especially enjoyed the beautiful weather we’ve had all week at recess.  It looks like summer will be here before we know it, at least with the weather!

            On Tuesday, we celebrated Marshall’s birthday.  We enjoyed some delicious cookie cake at lunch.  Thanks, Marshall and Happy Birthday, again!

            We began learning about life cycles this week.  We have been focusing on the life cycle of a plant.  On Wednesday, we planted lima beans.  Throughout the next few weeks, we will continue to observe how they grow and examine the different parts of a plant.

            Next week, we will begin studying the life cycle of a butterfly.  Our class butterflies are now all securely in their pupas in our butterfly house.  Hopefully by the beginning of next week, we will begin to see some butterflies so we can really study them!

            Emmy and Newsom did the weather forecast on TRNN this morning.  They did a fabulous job and we all enjoyed listening to their predictions for the weekend weather.  Great job!

            The children really enjoyed Arts Jubilee Day today!  We saw a variety of artists throughout the day and even got to participate at some stations.  Thank you so much for sending in an “easy snack” with your child, since we had to “eat on the go!”

            Just a reminder, next week Target will be on Thursday instead of Monday.  Thank you for being flexible!

            Enjoy your weekend!

            CRCT testing is over!!! The children handled the task of test taking very well. Thank you for ensuring that your child was here at school on time and well rested!  A big thanks to Mrs. Eaton, Mrs. Gladstone, and Mrs. Woodard for sending in yummy, healthy snacks during testing. We enjoyed them during our break between testing session. Also, thank you to Mrs. Heisterberg for sending in our “celebration” snack now that we’re finished with testing.

            To celebrate Earth Day, PTA sponsored a High Touch High Tech program. The children were able to rotate around to 5 centers: planting a terrarium; observing little living creatures (scorpions, mealworms, ants, and tarantulas); recycling; observing rocks; and observing plant life.  Ask your child to tell you which station was his or her favorite.

            We are finishing up our economics unit on spending, saving, and scarcity.  Next week, we will begin our study of life cycles.

            Please keep in mind that we go out to recess just after 10:00 AM when it is still in the 50s or 60s.  Many children have been coming to school with short sleeves and no jacket!

            It looks like spring weather is finally here!  I hope you’ve been enjoying the beautiful weather outside just as we have been in the afternoons.  We will remain on our “CRCT schedule” on Monday but will return to our regular schedule on Tuesday.

            Enjoy the beautiful weather this weekend!

I would like to thank you for making Staff Appreciation Week a fantastic week. The flowers are just beautiful and brightened up the room. The notes and pictures are priceless! The lasagna was delicious and I appreciated not having to cook on Monday night! Thanks to the parent volunteers (Mrs. Woodard, Mrs. Minnick, Mrs. Heisterberg, and Mrs. Buhmeyer) for coming in so I could enjoy an extra 30 minutes of lunch on Tuesday and the PTA breakfast on Wednesday. I know that this was Staff Appreciation Week, but I would like to let you know that I value all the support I receive from you at home and at school.

            The children did very well with multiplication. Today we began talking about various methods of dividing such as repeated subtraction and equal groups.  We will be doing a lot of reviewing when we return from Spring Break. It would be a good idea to practice math facts (+ and -) and counting money and counting back change over the break.

            A very happy birthday to Jay!  His birthday is on April 5^th over Spring Break.  Also, Lauren will be celebrating turning 8 on April 12^th.  Happy Birthday to you both!

            Congratulations to Grace for being “Caught with Character” for her commitment.  We are so proud to have you as a part of our class!

            Just a few reminders– Tuesday, April 14 is our field trip to the Tellus Science Museum; CRCT testing will be the following week, Tuesday-Thursday, April 21-23. PLEASE DO NOT schedule any appointments for your child on those mornings.

            Have a wonderful, restful, and safe Spring Break!!

The children are very excited about all the activities they participated in while learning the multiplication process. We used repeated addition, made arrays, skip-counted, and worked with a multiplication table. Next week we will talk about division and three digit addition and subtraction with regrouping.

          We began learning about Jimmy Carter this week.  The children love learning about a president from our own state of Georgia.  He will be our last addition to our American Heroes Journals.

          Today we went to the Cobb Civic Center and saw the ballet “Live!” for our performing arts trip.  It was a look into the life of a young ballerina and the important roles that the orchestra has in a ballet.  Both the Georgia Ballet and the Cobb Symphony Orchestra performed for us, so it was definitely a treat.  We did get a little wet in the process but had an overall great time!

          Just a reminder, please check my website for any upcoming events or news.  I try to update my blog with my Friday letter each week, just in case you’d like to check it during the week.

          There’s just one more week until Spring Break!  Have a great weekend!!

            It was great seeing so many of you at Technology Night. Thank you for coming out.  I hope you enjoyed watching your children explore the various activities we use in class with the Smart Board.  There are so many more things that can be done with the Smart Board.

            We began our unit on multiplication. What we will be working on is understanding what multiplication means rather than drilling multiplication facts. The children are learning vocabulary such as product, array, factor, and multiply.

            The children are enjoying learning about the Earth, moon, and stars. We have talked about what causes night and day, the phases of the moon, and what causes the seasons to change.  The children enjoyed observing their shadows and how they changed throughout the day.

            On Wednesday, Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone came in for Adventures in Reading.  We loved making masks and listening to The Naughty Prince.  Ask your child how they participated in the story.  Thanks again for coming to read to us!

            Thanks to Mrs. Price for the delicious St. Patrick’s Day snack. The children and I enjoyed shamrock cookies and a gold coin at the end of the day.

            Jamie is celebrating his birthday on Sunday.  Happy Birthday! 

            Congratulations to Alex and Erin for participating in the Timber Ridge Science Fair on Thursday night.  Alex’s project showed us how yeast makes bread rise.  Erin’s project showed us how animals use camouflage.  We’re so proud of the two of you for participating!

            Just a reminder, we will not be eating lunch at our regular time next Friday, March 27^th due to our Performing Arts Performance.

            Have a great weekend!

            I hope you enjoyed our little taste of nice weather!  The children loved going outside “jacket free.”

            I hope to see all of you at Technology Night on Monday from 6-7!  We will have our SmartBoards up and running in three 2^nd grade classrooms.  Your child can show you how much easy SmartBoards are to use and how they make learning so much fun!  If you’ve never seen a SmartBoard in action, this is a great opportunity to see how wonderful they are in a classroom.

            The children even wrote persuasive letters to the Timber Ridge Foundation to convince them to buy more SmartBoards.  These will be in the classroom for you to look over if you can make it out to Technology Night.  They really did wonderfully with their job writing!

            Anna and Marshall were on TRNN this morning.  We enjoyed watching their weather forecast for today and this coming weekend.  Awesome job!

            On Wednesday, we previewed the Book Fair and the children made “Wish Lists.”  Please stop by with your child sometime next week to check out all the wonderful books.

            We have continued our study of the earth, moon, and stars.  Hopefully the children have been looking at moon each night to check with their moon phases chart.  We will continue to keep track of moon phases in the month of March.

            Thank you to Mrs. Tapley, Mr. Tapley, and Mr. Freedman for volunteering to help out in our classroom today.  The second grade teachers were able to meet and plan for the next quarter.  This time is so helpful to us!  Thanks again!

            Enjoy your weekend!

Thank you all for coming to the performance last night to support your children and Timber Ridge. The children did a fantastic job! They put a lot of effort into preparing for this program, and it showed.

            We breezed through our measurement unit. The children enjoyed measuring different objects in inches and centimeters and observing various water temperatures. We will review addition and subtraction with and without regrouping over the next few days. Please practice math facts at home.

            On Wednesday, we went to the computer lab where we graphed our snacks.  The children had used tally tables to record to what food groups everyone’s snacks belonged.  With our data, the children each made their own graph showing which food groups were represented during snack.  Ask your child what food group had the most snacks.

            Congratulations to Ben for being “Caught with Character” for the word tolerance.  We’re so proud to have you in our class!

            Hopefully, spring is finally arriving. The temperatures forecasted for this weekend will be a terrible tease if spring is not around the corner! Don’t forget to “Spring Forward” this weekend.  L (I don’t like losing an hour!!)

            Enjoy the fabulous weather and have a great weekend.