November 20, 2009
Happy Friday!
We had a great week this week as usual! Cayman was our star student and did a wonderful job of presenting her poster and telling us about herself. Way to go Cayman!
The most important thing on our minds right now is the THANKSGIVING PROGRAM!!!!. PLEASE REMEMBER THAT IT WILL BE MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, AT 9:15. The children are so excited and have worked very hard. We can't wait!!!
Our study of the first Thanksgiving continued this week and we have really enjoyed comparing and constrasting Pilgrims and Indians .
Our field trip to the zoo was so much fun! We are using that experience to do some writing using a topic sentence and writing details to support the topic/main idea sentence. Our details will be things we heard, saw, touched, smelled, tasted, and felt in our hearts.
In math this week we learned to find the perimeter of a space. We used different units of measure to explore the uses of perimeter.
Today in behavior folders I have included the book orders for December. These will be due Monday, November 30 in order to have the orders delivered before Winter break just in case you are ordering for Christmas gifts.
I have checked on our book orders from October/November and they are on the way. There was some confusion with them (my fault-I apologize) but they should be here when we come back from Thanksgiving.
NO HOMEWORK UNTIL AFTER THANKSGIVING!!!
Please continue to have your child read daily-that is so very important.
Behavior folders need to be signed this weekend and returned on Monday as usual.
Thank you sending in your "thankful feathers". They are proudly displayed on our turkey in the front of our classroom. Thank you also for returning the heart for your child. I have displayed them in the hallway and have had many comments on how special they are.
As always thank you for all you do to support your child and their learning. Please contact me at anytime.
REMEMBER -- THANKSGIVING PROGRAM MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 9:15.
Have a great weekend!
Kind regards,
Mary Lu Layton
November 13,2009
Good afternoon parents,
We had a wonderful week here in second grade-even on Friday the 13th! :) Brice was our star student this week and did a great job presenting his poster. Way to go Brice!
In our reading groups we read and discussed the history of Thanksgiving. They enjoyed talking about the Pilgrims and the Native Americans. The also read a Scholastic News about an American Indian child. We practiced our spelling words in a spelling center.
Almost all the children have published their "memory"--our first narrative story. A few will be finishing next week.
We wrapped up our study of money this week and will be staying in our homerooms the next 2 weeks for math. Counting money and problem solving with money will be reviewed weekly through the math warm up.
Our study of "Systems" continued this week in Science. We focused on plants as being an example of a system and also a cycle. We will plant a bean seed on Monday and make daily observations, measurements, and record the findings.
We are, of course, also practicing for our program on the 23rd of November.
Some reminders for next week:
Field trip on Wednesday, November 18 to the Austin Zoo. Children will need a disposable lunch with a drink, a snack, and a water bottle. Please have your child wear tennis shoes and dress for the weather.
Please return the heart with your child's name and compliments and notes of thanksgiving written by family memebers and/or friends-we want every child to have one for our display.
Also please return your feather with your own thankful thoughts to be displayed on our "parent turkey".
Homework for the week:
100 minutes reading
5 responses
math problem solving
NO spelling words this week--we will continue to practice on the vowel rules from the previous weeks.
Have a wonderful weekend. We will think positive thoughts for great weather next Wednesday!!
Thanks for all you do!
Kind regards,
Mary Lu Layton
vember 8, 2009
Weekend greetings,
I hope you are enjoying your weekend and the beautiful weather. Your children and I had a wonderful week together
In our reader's workshop this week the focus was making connections-connections with our own life and connections to other books we have read. They also responded to their literature using a response journal. In centers the children practiced spelling words and editing sentences. They also read a Scholastic News about pumpkin facts and answered questions using their highlighters to prove their answers.
During writer's workshop many children are publishing their stories and the others are ready to conference and then publish. We also took a spelling pretest on Friday and have some new spelling words for next week. Our study of long vowels continues with words that have two vowels together. We call these vowel teams-the first vowel is long and says its name, the second vowel is silent. "When two vowels go walking the first one does the talking-the second is just walking".
As part of our reading and writing workshops we will be studying the history of the first Thanksgiving and preparing a short program. Our program will consist of a few short poems and songs and we are beginning to practice some of these. The children are very excited! The program will be Monday, November 23, and we will be sending you an invitation soon with an exact time (it will be in the morning). All are welcome!!!
The children continued this week to study money in their math classes. This is a very important life long skill and children need to be strong in this area. I am sure many of you have noticed this when you are at the store check out- that without the computer many young people and adults sometimes have trouble counting money, change, etc. Counting money is a skill that is easily practiced at home using your pocket change or money in the piggy bank. I usually teach children to order the money from greatest to least so they begin to count with the coins that have the most value. This is also great practice with patterning, counting by tens, fives, etc.
We concluded our study of sound this week with some really fun activities. The children made musical instruments-including one using straws which we cut and blew through-they loved that noise!!! This gave us an opportunity to discuss why the straw was making that noise. I also brought some tuning forks into the room-they were fascinated by these-they could feel the vibrations and hear the noise when they put them up to their ear. Please ask your child what happened when we hit the tuning fork and put it into water.
Homework for the week:
Reading 100 minutes
5 responses
math paper front and back
short and long vowel word sort
There will be two items in the Tuesday folder this week that I need your help with as we prepare for the season. I will send an email Tuesday to explain. Please remember that Wednesday is an early release day.
As always thank you for all you do. Everyone brought their homework this week on time-thanks to you and your example to your children!!!
I consider it a privelege to spend time with them everyday.
Enjoy your weekend. Please remember that I am always available to you-for whatever reason! Just give me a call or email!
Kind regards,
Mary Lu Layton
October 30, 2009
Hello Parents,
Well it was definitely Friday and it was definitely the day before Halloween!!! We had a super fun day!
Isabella was our star student this week. We all enjoyed her pictures and her presentation very much!
Red Ribbon week was great and our poster was awesome and is displayed by the cafeteria. The children enjoyed all the fun things we did this week. Mrs. O’Brien also presented a lesson to the children centered around our drug free theme.
This week the children read and answered questions in the Scholastic News about fire safety. We also read and presented 2 reader’s theaters (plays). Reader’s theater is a wonderful way for children to practice reading and fluency and they love doing them. These were based on two Halloween books we had read together in class—Halloweiner and The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything. They split into 2 groups and practiced on Wednesday and Thursday. Today they presented their plays to each other. They were so cute and did a great job. They made headbands for their character and wore them as they performed-and most of the day! I gave them their scripts to take home and keep, so there may be a family performance in your future! Yipee! Look for pictures on this website in a new gallery.
We took a little break from math warm up this week and did some Halloween problem solving. We also were able to get to the computer lab to use Excel and print out our graphs-they are now in the hall. We learned and practiced rounding numbers to the nearest 10 this week. We will continue to build on this skill and use it all year long. Beginning Monday our math focus will be money. We are flexible grouping across the grade level for this unit so your child may be visiting another teacher for the next couple of weeks. They really enjoy traveling to other classrooms and seeing other second graders.
Our study of sound will continue into next week. We will be making some homemade musical instruments in class. I told the children if they wanted to do this at home to please bring their instrument to share or if they had some materials for homemade instruments to bring them. This would include such things as shoeboxes, cans, empty oatmeal containers, etc. Anything they can use to make noise!
Our writer’s workshop time is now being used to revise and edit our stories. They are learning to revise and make their stories better by using adjectives and great action verbs.
If you have not returned the field trip permission slip please do so by Monday. Our field trip will be Wednesday, November 18.
Homework for the week:
100 reading minutes
5 responses to reading
Math – pictograph
Reading-reading about fire safety practice locating answers in the text
As always thank you for all you do! Please know that I am always available to you. Have a fun and safe Halloween weekend.
Kind regards,
Mary Lu Layton
October 23, 2009
Happy Friday Parents,
What a beautiful day and the end to a fabulous week!
Peyton was our star student this week and gave a very interesting presentation and answered lots of questions. Way to go Peyton!
We met reading groups this week and the focus was story elements-setting, main characters, problem, and solution. The children's response to their story was to make a "flip book" where they wrote and illustrated the story elements of the selection they read. I really enjoyed discussing the stories with them! In centers they worked on a pumpkin glyph and some map skills.
My "authors" are drafting their stories in their drafting journals. I am still modeling and they are writing while I am conferencing with students.
We are almost finished with our graphing unit-we will wrap up the first of next week with pictographs. As a follow up we will visit the computer lab to graph on the computer (we weren't quite ready to do that today!).
The children have enjoyed working with maps and learning about the continents, compass rose, map key, symbols, and oceans. We also talked about landforms today--mountains, island, peninsula, hill, and island.
The wonderful Round Rock firefighters presented their Rock Solid Safety performance in the cafeteria this morning. As usual it was hilarious and the children had a great time!
I have included some pictures from the parachute drop-you will find them in Gallery 2.
Thank you for helping your child with the first week of the new homework folder. I thought they did a nice job with their responses. We talked together this afternoon about a few things concerning the homework and the responses. Please remember they are expected to complete all five responses. Each response should be at least 2 sentences and these should be in "published form"-in other words all spelling and capital letter/punctuation mistakes should be corrected. I was very happy to see that most of them read at least 100 minutes last week and met their goal. Those reading minutes are so very important to help further your child's reading growth.
Homework for the week:
Reading 100 minutes
5 responses
spelling words
math worksheet-Halloween problem solving
Have a wonderful weekend with your families. Enjoy the pleasant weather. As always thank you for being my partner in your child's education. I am always available to you-please contact me at any time.
Kind regards,
Mary Lu Layton
October 16, 2009
Hello Parents,
We had a super Friday-Superhero Field Day! A great time was had by all!! It was a little cold and misty at times but we still had lots of fun.
Shragvi was our star student of the week. She brought some traditional clothing to show us as well as jewelry. She did a great job of presenting her poster and telling us about her clothing and jewelry-we all really enjoyed it.
Thank you so very much for attending the goal setting conference this week. I appreciate all your interest and support as we help your child achieve his/her goal.
I read the children some books this week by authors who wrote from personal experience or what we call "memories". I modeled my plan for my personal experience story and they began to plan theirs. Next week they will finish planning and I will model my beginning. We will discuss how important it is to write a beginning that will "hook" your reader and make them excited to continue reading your story. The children will then write their beginning and the rest of their story. We will be taking this writing piece through all the steps of the writing process-planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing-so we will be working on it for several weeks.
We are studying graphs in math and began by learning about picture graphs. The children decided on a question to ask their classmates and collected data on a tally chart. They will use their data to construct a picture graph.
In Social Studies we discussed the earth, 7 continents, 4 oceans, the equator, and how we use maps. We will continue this next week.
To help wrap up our Science study of motion we had a wonderful demonstration of flight by Mr. Perch--Mrs. Perch's husband. He is a model airplane/helicopter enthusiast and explained how and why an airplance flies and the 4 forces that enable this to happen. He demonstrated 1 of his airplanes and a helicopter. It was very cool!
We discussed Christopher Columbus this week and practiced reading about him in our Scholastic News Magazine. The children used their highlighters to revisit the text and highlight where they found the answers to questions about Christopher Columbus.
I also read the book "Ira Sleeps Over" to the children and modeled the four types of responses they will be using in their homework folder.
We had our first spelling test and all went well. They are bringing new spelling words home in their homework folder.
The children will be having vision/hearing testing done next Thursday. If they wear glasses it is important that they bring them on that day!
The October book order will be in the Tuesday folder. Orders and money will be due Tuesday, October 27.
New homework folders this week. The children will be completeing 5 short responses to literature throughtout the week after their reading time. They may choose which one they want to do and circle it. I have modeled these in class and there are some examples in the folder for you to read. There is a place for them to write the title and author of the book, pages read, as well a place to write down their reading minutes. Our goal is 100 reading minutes per week. If they reach this goal every week during each month they will receive a coupon for a free personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut. This is through the "Book It" program sponsorded by Pizza Hut.
Homework for the week:
100 reading minutes
5 responses
math worksheet
spelling words
Have a wonderful weekend!
Kind regards,
Mary Lu Layton
October 9, 2009
Happy Friday!
Well it was a rainy Friday-that always makes things a little crazy!! :) We had a busy week and it just flew by!
We have finished our animal non fiction study. The children wrote an acrostic poem using facts they had researched. They will illustrate their poems and have made banners to put in the hallway. We also discussed character traits using a character from a read aloud book. After naming the character's traits we revisited the text to find evidence to prove these traits. We also used our Scholastic News this week to learn and practice going back into a passage we have read to locate an answer. In small groups we read the Scholastic, read the questions, and used our highlighters to mark the answer. We discussed that not every answer can be found in the text-we call these "head questions" because we have to figure them out in our head. This is a skill we use all year and they will use in third grade as they prepare for the TAKS. I also feel that going back into the text to find an answer is a life skill they will always use! Next week we will be discussing story elements - setting, characters, problem, solution.
During writer's workshop this week we extended our study of adjectives and used that information to write a short poem called Alligator Pie. We will compile them to make a class book.
We concluded our math unit with comparing and ordering numbers to 1,000 using the greater than and less than symbols as well as the words after, before, and between. We went to the computer lab today and practiced these skills on the Envision (our text book) website-the children really enjoyed it.
To enhance our study of force we began a discussion of parachutes and how a parachute works. We watched several short videos of skydivers using parachutes. The vocabulary we are learning with parachutes is gravity, air resistance or air friction, and terminal speed. The children worked in small groups to construct a parachute using a small trash liner, string, and a plastic baggie which will hold an egg. The goal is to build a parachute that will allow their egg to make it to the ground without breaking. We will test them next week.
Next Friday is field day - that is always fun! We are scheduled 9:00-11:30. Please have your child bring an extra change of clothing (including underwear and socks) in case they get wet. That is hamburger cookout day-we usually pick up the food in the cafeteria and eat on the front porch. Our lunch time will be 12:35 instead of 10:50. Please join us for the day!!
Thank you for taking the time to get your child started on Raz Kids. They have been working hard and are very proud of themselves!
The October calendar is updated on my webpage and I will continue to add things as needed.
I look forward to seeing you and your second grader Monday at conferences. The schedule is on my webpage in case you are not sure about the time.
Several of the children are interested in having some of their writing pieces from their morning journal published. If you would be willing to help publish please let me know and I will send it home for you to type. I did this last year and they were so proud of their pieces and I think it really encouraged them to write.
Homework for the week:
Reading 105 minutes
Math worksheet
Language arts adjective practice paper
Spelling words are written at the bottom of their reading chart. Test will be on Thursday
As always thanks for all you do! Your partnership is so important to me. Please contact me at any time. Have a great long weekend-I'll see you Monday!
Kind regards,
Mary Lu Layton
October 2, 2009
Greetings Parents,
It's a new month-where did the time go? I will be updating my web page for the new month.
We had a fun week together. Maddie was the star student this week and presented her poster on Thursday. The children wrote some great letters to her this morning. Way to go Maddie!
Force and motion was the focus in science this week. We discussed that force is a push or pull and discussed the different types of force-gravity, wind, magnets, and water. The children watched a short video and did some activities with ramps and measuring the distance that a toy car traveled down the ramp as we increased the slope. We also discussed friction and how the car would travel slower on the carpet than on the tile. We will do more with friction next week.
The children finished reading and gathering facts about their animal and are now writing an acrostic poem with these facts. They will publish their poems on banners that we will hang in the hallway.
We extended our study of adjectives this week and used them to write a Fall poem. The children published their poems in the computer lab this week. They picked their font, size, and used a picture from clip art. They did a great job of listening and following directions.
Our study of place value continued this week with numbers to 1000. We worked with comparing numbers using the greater than, less than, and equals sign. The children also expressed numbers using expanded and standard form.
The children and I explored the Raz kids website that I wrote to you about last week. I showed them the link on my web page and we went into the site to demonstrate how they could use it. They were very excited! Their password is their student number which came home Tuesday in their blue folder. It is also their number in the computer lab-many of them have it memorized. This is a great way to practice reading skills at home!
Spelling will begin next week. On Friday each child will have an index card taped to their desk with their spelling words on it. The words will also come home in the homework folder on Friday. In an effort to make it beneficial to each student and as authentic as possible, each child will have a different list. These first few weeks the words will be the words they missed from the kindergarten and first grade spelling lists that were tested the first few weeks of school. The children will be taking a test over their words every Thursday. Since all lists are different they will have a partner and give the test to each other. They will check it and then I will double check. Any words they missed will be on their card for the following week and then new words will be added. When they have mastered all kindergarten and first grade words, second grade words will be added and words from their journal writing that they have misspelled. Every few weeks I will stop and teach a specific spelling skill such as plural rules, vowel rules, doubling the final consonant, etc. and their spelling words will practice and reinforce that skill. This is a variation of a spelling program we had years ago and I have changed it a little-so I still consider it a work in progress.
Next week is Education Go Get It week in the district. We are encouraging children to think about careers and continuing their education after high school. They will be making pennants next week with their " college choice" logo on them. You might mention this to them so they will have something in mind when it is time to make the pennant. Monday we will be wearing a Fern Bluff shirt and Friday their favorite college tshirt.
On Tuesday and Wednesday of next week we will administer the OLSAT test. This stands for Otis Lennon School Abilities Test. This is not a test they can study for-a good night's rest and a healthy breakfast would be the best preparation. The tests are sent off to be graded and results will be here around the end of November or first of December. These results will then be sent home to parents.
Homework for the week:
105 reading minutes
math paper front and back
adjective paper sack activity
I have put the conference schedule on the web page. If you have not yet signed up please check the available times and let me know when we can meet. Thank you.
Enjoy the weekend and the cooler, wet weather! As always thank you for all you do.
Kind regards,
Mary Lu Layton
September 25, 2009
Greetings Parents,
Happy Friday to you! We had an awesome week! Tara was the star student this week and brought a beautiful poster to share with us.
Our reading time this week focused on non fiction informational reading and comparing and contrasting. We read a story called Never Kiss an Alligator and discussed the differences between alligators and crocodiles. We completed a Venn diagram and a worksheet using our comparing and contrasting skills. The children also read some facts about sharks from Scholastic Magazine and completed an activity. We will continue non fiction reading next week.
During Writer's workshop we reviewed nouns and verbs with some games and activities. We brainstormed nouns and verbs that tell about Fall. The children used those lists to write a short fall poem. We are ready to edit them on Monday and will publish them in the computer lab.
In Science we are finishing our study of matter and will have a short test on Monday. This week we discussed properties of matter and reversible and irreversible changes. They should be able to explain these concepts to you!!
Math focus this week was patterns and using strategies to solve problems. We used the hundred chart to explore patterns and solved problems with patterns in our math journal. We will continue to build the foundation of our math program. Place value will be our focus next week along with writing numbers using standard and expanded form. Thank you for reviewing and reinforcing the concepts on the math warm up that comes home in the Tuesday folder.
Thanks to the school we have a membership to an online reading program called Raz kids. This is a fun way for the children to practice reading skills at home. I have entered all the children on the website, given them a password, assigned them a level, and they are ready to go! An information card with their log in and password will be coming home in Tuesday folders. Just a brief explanation of the program: on each level there are books they can choose. With each book the children will listen to it, read it, and take a quiz. As they do this they will earn points. They can use these points to build their Raz rocket. On the site they will see a tab for the raz rocket and they will click on the TV with the star on it. They will enjoy exploring with it and earning points. After they have read the books on a level I can set a new level for them. There is a link on my webpage for Raz kids. Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions.
Homework
105 reading minutes
math pattern worksheet
editing worksheet
Reminder Picture day is Tuesday October 29
Parent academic night October 29 6:30-7:30 cafeteria
Be on the lookout for some pictures of our fungus coming soon to this web page!
I hope you enjoy the weekend with your family. As always thank you for all you and remember that I am always available to you.
Kind regards,
Mary Lu Layton
September 18, 2009
Happy Weekend!
The children and I had a wonderful week together!
Faria was our star student this week and she did a great job presenting her poster!
The fungus has left the building-or at least our classroom! We made our last observation this week and recorded it in our science journals. We had a lot of fun learning about mold/fungus and living things that do not have arms,legs,etc. We have moved on to learning about "matter" and the 3 forms of matter-solid, liquid,and gas. We made jello to help us visualize the forms-steam from the boiling water, liquid cold water, and the solid jello after it had been in the refrigerator. We will move on to properties of matter next week.
We are building our math foundation and learning strategies for solving problems. We practiced the doubles and doubles plus one strategy this week as well as the "fast nines" strategy--instead of thinking of 4+9 it is much easier to think of 10+3. We also visited the computer lab and played games to help us practice speed with addition and subtraction facts.
We celebrated Constitution Day on Thursday. The children and I discussed the Revolutionary War, the "mean" English King, winning our freedom, and the "very smart men" who met in Philadelphia and wrote the Constitution. We read about the Constitution in our Scholastic weekly magazine.
This week we also reviewed the method for selecting "just right books". Each child has a bookmark to use here at school to help them remember. This very easy method tells them to inspect the front cover of the book and read the short blurb on the back. If they think they are interested, open to the middle of the book and read a page. Put up a finger for every word they do not know and cannot figure out. 1-2 fingers-book is too easy, 3-4 fingers is a just right book, 4-5 fingers is a later book.
In our writing workshop time the children finished publishing and illustrating their post cards and we have hung them in the room. We have also been working on nouns and verbs-both action and being(we call them boring) verbs. We will continue more with these and extend them into our writing. Using action verbs always makes our writing better!
Our workroom day is Friday morning. If you have some extra time on Friday mornings our workroom volunteers could always use some help! If that is not a possibility but you would like to help with projects at home just let me know!
Homework for the week:
105 minutes reading
math review (front and back)
verb worksheet
Please send the $5.10 for the Scholastic News Weekly publication if you have not already done so. I am somewhat late sending the money to Scholastic and would appreciate this by Monday, September 21.
Thank you so much for all you do to help your children understand the importance of their school work and helping them budget their time with the homework. I value your help at home so much-our partnership maximizes their learning.
Have a fabulous weekend,
Mary Lu Layton
September 11, 2009
Greetings Parents,
It is a wonderful and wet Friday-what a blessing the rain is!
We had a short week so we made every minute count! I have finished half of the reading assessments and will continue to assess next week. The children are trying very hard and I will share this information with you at conferences.
Each student now has a "chapter book reading log" at their desk that we use daily. They have chosen a chapter book to read and log in and out daily with a beginning and ending page number, along with the title, and type of genre they are reading. This works to build their ability to make a commitment to a book from beginning to end and to experience reading chapter books. During DEAR time after lunch they may choose to read anything that interests them. Thank you for continuing to read daily with them at home. Second graders should be reading at least 20 minutes every day.
This week the students completed their math warm up problems independently. They bring them to me each day and I check them. If they have mistakes they correct them and return them to me for a final check. We have also been working in our journals and practicing the format they will use this year for problem solving. They are expected to show a strategy (picture), write about their strategy, and then write a number sentence with an answer and label. We played a game today called "I have, who has" that practiced our math and listening skills. This afternoon we visited the computer lab and worked on keyboarding skills.
During our writing workshop time we are in the process of drafting and publishing a postcard to a friend. I modeled my plan and draft and they planned and are drafting in their drafting journals. Next week I will conference with them to edit and they will publish on the postcard and illustrate on the back.
During writing we have also been reviewing nouns. We will move on to a study of verbs next week.
In science the children made two observations of the fungus. By Wednesday we had lots of growth and some great colors! They loved it! They drew pictures in their journal and wrote about what they observed. We put them back in the closet for one more observation next week.
We have received our first Scholastic News Magazines-and of course I received the bill! Thank you to those who have sent the $5.10 to cover your child's subscription. If you could please send this by Monday I can remit to Scholastic in a timely way.
Thank you to all who sent paper towel rolls. We decorated them today and put all materials in the "time capsule". They are stored away in a box and waiting until the last few weeks of school.
Mrs. O'Brien, the counselor, visited our classroom this week and taught a lesson on big problems and little problems. When to solve a problem on our own and when to seek help.
Thank you to all who have sent supplies for our classroom! We are still in need of baggies - both small and large.
Book orders are due Tuesday, September 15 if you choose to order this month.
Second grade parent academic night is scheduled for September 29, 6:30-7:30 in the cafeteria. I put this on the calendar on my webpage. We will be discussing our curriculum, homework, etc.
Homework this week:
105 reading minutes----please record minutes on the chart along with your signature or initials
math paper-"house points"
noun worksheet
Behavior folder with your signature is due every Monday.
I hope you have a great weekend. Thank you for encouraging your children to focus on producing their "personal best" and striving for quality work!
Kind regards,
Mary Lu Layton
September 6, 2009
Happy Weekend to all Parents,
Well, this is my third attempt to type and send this news flash - let's hope three is my lucky number!
We have completed another great week of second grade! The days just fly by and we are very busy! We have finished most of our beginning of the year assessments. I will still be assessing reading for the next couple of weeks since we have two different assessments to administer. We finished the Math Diagnostic test this week. This is a four part test sent by the district and I will share the results with you at conferences.
We read a great book this week titled The Fungus that Ate Our School.The children loved it and we decided that it would be fun to try and grow some fungus of our own. We dampened a paper towel and a piece of bread and placed them in a baggie. It is now hiding in the deep dark closet in the corner of our classroom. We hope they are really gross and fun to look at by the time we return on Tuesday. This gave us an opportunity to set up our science journals and to discuss the scientific process. The children will write their hypothesis in their journals on Tuesday. We will then write and draw about our observations.
The children drafted and began publishing their first star student letter to ME! Yes, Mrs. Layton was the star student of the week. They drafted the letters in their drafting journals,edited, and began publishing on writing paper. We will finish Tuesday. I will send the star student notification home in the Tuesday folder when your child's week is coming soon. I also have included it on the calendar section of my webpage. We would love to have you visit our classroom as a guest reader during your child's special week. If you are interested please let me know and we will set a time.
We completed our first math warm up this week. They will be coming home next week. This was a practice week with learning how to set it up in the math journal and showing strategies used to find answers. There were only 2 problems per day this week but beginning next week there will be 3 problems per day. After this week they will be returned with grades on them. This warm up is used as distributed math practice over all areas of math the children have learned. It is meant to enhance retention of math skills and to practice daily problem solving. Reviewing these math warm ups is an excellent way of practicing math at home.
Our library day this year will be Tuesday. We will be going as a class to check out/return books. Your child may also visit the library at other times-they just need to let me know!
I have ordered Scholastic weekly magazine to use and enhance our reading and science/social studies curriculum. I think the children will really enjoy this publication. I would appreciate your help to make this available for each child. The cost per child is $5.10. Please send cash or a check made out to Scholastic. Thank you.
As I am sure you are aware, the President is speaking nationally to all school children on September 8. We will not be watching this speech as a class-actually it conflicts with our lunch. I feel this is a parental decision and much more appropriate for your child to view it with you (if you choose) than at school.
The Scholastic book order for September will be coming in the Tuesday folder. This is a great way to order reading material for your child at a reasonable cost. The orders and money will be due the following Tuesday. I will send a book order home once every month. I am looking for a "book order Parent". This would involve tallying the order, counting money, and placing the order. Please let me know if you would be willing to help with this.
The children and I have talked quite often about keeping ourselves healthy this year. We have discussed the importance of hand washing and using sanitizer after sneezing, coughing, etc. I have been washing and spraying the children's desks nightly. We are in need of hand sanitizer-we are using our last bottle!
Homework for the week:
105 reading minutes recorded and initialed on the chart
math worksheet-graphing
"I can write about" paper. Please help your child generate this list of writing topics. They can be personal experiences, make believe, pets, trips, weekend activities, what they ate for breakfast,etc.etc. We will staple these in the front of the journals. They are wonderful for the children to have during times of "writer's block".
I am so proud of the children for all their hard work these past 2 weeks and their wonderful positive attitudes! They are a fun group to spend the day with!!
Enjoy the weekend. As always thank you for all you do and please let me know if you have questions. I am always available to you.
Kind regards,
Mary Lu Layton
September 2, 2009
Good Evening Parents,
I wanted to send just a few reminders this evening.
Homework folders are due tomorrow! The children have told me that they have been working on their homework so please help them remember to return their folder tomorrow.
I also wanted to further explain the Highlights Magazine slips that were sent home in Tuesday folders. I have asked the children to return the slips whether you have marked "yes" or "no". We can use these slips to get free items for our classroom. Highlights is a wonderful magazine and I know some of you are already receiving it. If you mark "no" on the slip, your signature is all that is required, if "yes" then all the information is required so that the magazine can be mailed to your home. Thank you for taking the time to do this.
We have had a great week so far-the days seem to go very fast and we are busy! There's alot of testing these first few weeks, but we have also done many fun activities too. This class is very enthusiastic and seem to enjoy all our activities. They have a very positive attitude toward school-thank you!!! Each day we are becoming better acquainted and I am enjoying getting to know each child better.
Thank you for all you do-enjoy your evening.
Kind regard,
Mary Lu Layton
Greetings Parents,
I am sending this news flash a day early because I will be gone tomorrow to take my daughter to college--that is if we can get all her "necessary stuff" in the car!!!
I have been working on updating my website. I have updated my wishlist-I will not have a wish list outside my classroom this year, it will all be on the website. Thank you to those families who have already sent things from the wish list.
We have had an awesome first week of second grade and I thank you again for having your children ready each day to do their best at school. We have spent time organizing and labeling supplies, folders, and journals. We read the book Miss Nelson Is Missing and made some rules for our classroom that are fair for all and will keep us all safe. We also had fun playing some games to get better acquainted with one another.
Today we read 2 stories about a main character who "dared to be different". I also have a cute picture with dogs and one is different than the rest. After our discussion I took pictures of each child with some crazy glasses and we will put them in the hall underneath our "dare to be different" picture.
Our math activities included an activity with Skittles that involved classifying, addition, graphing, shapes, and estimating. We also classified and graphed with color tiles.
One of the activities we are really excited about is our time capsule. We are preparing several pages to put in our time capsule. These pages will go into our capsules (paper towel rolls-please don't throw them away, send them to us!) and we will put them away until the end of the year. Then we will see how much we have grown and changed physically and academically.
Behavior folders will come home this Friday (and every Friday from now on). You may see at a glance your child's behavior colors for the week. Please sign and/or comment and return every Monday.
The children will also be bringing their homework folder on Friday. Homework folders go home every Friday and are returned the following Thursday. This week the children will be working on sequence. They have a number squence cut and paste worksheet and some pictures to cut and glue in order and then write a sentence under each one. Of course these will all make more sense when you see the papers. Our regular homework is a little different-it involves writing a summary or a connection every week. We will not start that until we cover that with you at parent academic night and we will also model it in the classroom with the children.
Again, thank you for making this such a great week. I am enjoying getting to know each child and working with them to make a strong classroom team.
Please remember that I am always available to you to talk about celebrations, concerns, questions, etc. Do not hesitate to contact me.
Have a super weekend with your family!
Kind regards,
Mary Lu Layton