January Coming to a Quick End!

BLANKETS OF HOPE: COUMMUNITY NIGHT! THIS COMING TUESDAY THE 20TH AT 3:30. COME BE A PART OF THE SECOND GRADE SERVICE PROJECT. BLANKETS WILL BE GOING TO MEN AND WOMEN ACROSS SEAS!










This bulletin board has been up for the months of December and January and will be going down very soon to make room for our Valentines bulletin. The students learned how to write a haiku poem for their snowmen and we displayed them in the hall.
This month we are working on HOW TO . . . essays. For the Valentine's bulletin, the students are choosing a "how to . . ." topic with a valentines theme and they will be publishing their essays on heart "pillows".

In math we have been working on 2-D shapes and patterns. Students created "tessellations" and then we put them on a board inside the classroom.

Because Monday the 19th is Civil Rights day, there will be no school. Therefor we will be doing review lessons with spelling and word wall words. Don't worry about sending the green spelling folders back to school on Friday.

SEP's are coming up quickly and our class will begin doing the DRA reading test and we have already completed the spelling inventory. Most of the students have moved up at least one level with their spelling sorts and when they bring their next spelling sort home in two weeks, they will probably have a new type of sort to complete. Watch for information about SEP's within the next couple of weeks.

Welcome 2009!

This is exciting to be starting the 2009 year! Does your child know what a new year's resolution is? On Monday January 5, 2009 our class will be learning about resolutions to help us decorate the bulletin board by the office. Come in sometime during the month of January to check it out. I want to thank all of the parents and students that sent Christmas gifts my way. It was wonderful to receive such thoughtful gifts. Can you believe that the school year is half over already?

School will be resuming at full speed! We will be starting right in with center work, reading groups, topic 7 math, word wall words, spelling groups, and all of the other magical things that happen in school. I am still asking for donations of old calendars that have pictures, and I figure that right now would be the best time to ask for them because so many of you will be putting up 2009 calendars. If you have information on your calendars that you would not like to share, you can always paste them to construction paper so that the picture is showing and the Dr. appointments are NOT! If you need paper to help you with this project, just send a note to school with your child and I will be more than happy to supply you with it.

Also, I am looking for empty PLASTIC frozen juice concentrate containers for storage purposes and to use as pencil holders. If you have any that you would like to donate, it would be appreciated. Stay tuned for more pictures and updates!

What an Eventful Day!

To start the day off today, at center time our class went over to Mrs. Hendrickson's class to learn about family traditions. We learned about Hannukah today and our helpful aid taught us all about it.
We learned all about the prayer wall and how they light the candles for each of the 8 days of Hannukah. Some of the children were also able to try on the head pieces/scarfs that cover the heads of women and men. It was neat learning about another culture and their tradition.
After the excitement of cultures, we were able to enjoy the fun afternoon of watching Mr. Wilstead get his head shaved while wearing his pajamas because of the money we earned for Coins for Kids to provide holiday gifts for children in need. How exciting. Here we have some BEFORE, DURING, and AFTER photos of Mr. Wilstead losing his hair! Enjoy!

Clockwork!

The class enjoyed playing a matching game today using analog and digital clocks. They took home their own matching game and hopefully they will practice matching the times at home. The children need a little extra help figuring how much time passes from one time to the next time and counting change (figuring out change from a dollar). If you have time at home to practice with your child, please do.

Remember, school gets out for winter break at 1:15 on Friday, December 19th and will resume on January 5, 2009. Please have a safe break!