I hope everyone had a GREAT Halloween!  Thanks again to all the parents and volunteers, as well as everyone who sent items in for the class party!  We really appreciate it!  Make sure to click on "Albums" on the right side of the blog to view all the Halloween party pictures!

 

We will continue with Unit 3 Week 2 in our Reach series for reading.  We will keep the same vocabulary words from last week but work on multiple meaning words.  This skill will still be tested on our regular vocab. test day, Thursday.  In phonics we will focus on long o and i.  We will work on sequencing and following steps in a procedure for reading comprehension.  We will incorporate a science experiment with our reading about the water cycle to help us with this skill!  Even though this is a shortened week, students will still bring home their books on Thursday and have their spelling and reading test on Friday!

 

We will be completing our Chapter 3 study guides in math on Monday.  They will be bringing them home so they can study all week!  Their Chapter 3 math TEST will be Friday.  Please make sure to look over their math papers to see if they need extra practice at home.  Subtraction with regrouping is a very important skill that needs to be mastered!

 

We have a lot to do in such a short time!  I know we can do it!

 

***Reminders!***

Please make sure to send your child in with a jacket!  The weather is getting cooler and many of them are getting cold at recess!

 

No School on Tuesday, November 3rd for students!   Don't forget to vote!

 

THURSDAY, November 5th- THANKSGIVING LUNCH!  There will be NO alternative lunches, so no salads, pizza, or pb &j!  Just the Thanksgiving lunch!  Flyers went home last week!  If your child does not want the Thanksgiving lunch, they will need to pack!

 

Have a great week! :)

We are ready for another great week!

 

We are moving right along into Unit 3 in reading.  This unit will focus on the big question, "Where does water come from?".  We will be reading, talking, and writing about the water cycle and learning how water is a natural resource.  We will be starting our new unit with our main story from our anthology, "Frog Brings Rain".  We will focus on identifying problem and solution for our comprehension skill.  In phonics, we will focus on long a words as well as multisyllabic words.  We will also learn more about adjectives and how to use them correctly when comparing nouns.  Please make sure to look for the newsletter that will come home Monday to explain our new unit and our new vocabulary words!  Remember, students will be bringing home their reading book each Thursday!  Since last week was their leveled reader, they will bring home their anthology book to read to you!

 

In writing, we are continuing to edit and publish our scary stories.  Students are learning that it takes quite a while to edit their writing pieces and make them perfect for publishing!  We will continue with this for the next couple of weeks!  We will start sharing the finished products later this week and continue to share in author's chair as they finish publishing!

 

We will continue with Chapter 3 in math, subtraction with regrouping.  We will move on with subtracting across with zeroes.  This can be a bit tricky!  Please make sure to support them with their homework if needed!  We are still working hard on checking our answers with addition and making sure we go back and fix anything if needed!  Please continue to support this at home!

 

We will finish up continents and oceans this week for social studies and move straight into land-forms!  Students are LOVING the continents and oceans songs we have been learning!  There will be a continents and oceans quiz at the end of the week!

 

*Remember:

 

Picture Retake Day is this Thursday, the 29th!

 

Keep sending in those box-tops!

 

Please make sure to look at the Winter Raffle Basket Fundraiser paper that came home last week!  It will be held in conjunction with our Literacy Night!  More information on literacy night will go home soon!  The 2nd grade theme is Boy Theme: this can include cars, trucks, hats, ninjas, games, super heroes, or anything else a boy would enjoy!  More details are on the flyer!

 

Our Halloween party is Friday!  Please make sure to look over the costume flyer that came home a few weeks ago to make sure your costume is acceptable!  Nothing violent, no masks, and kid friendly!  Your child will be changing into their costume before the party so please send them in normal clothes!  Remember, since the building of our new school has started, parking is very limited!  FOR THE DAY OF THE PARTY- no parking will be allowed on the playground.  We do have permission for parents to park at the Freshman School.  

 

Have a great week!

I can't believe we are already on our last week for Unit 2 in reading!  We will work on the new skill of describing elements of a poem for this week BUT this week also serves as the Unit 2 testing week, so their reading test will have a cumulative skills test for everything we have learned in this unit!  As always, we will take the reading test on Friday.  Our phonics/spelling skill will focus on digraphs: sh and ph as well as words ending in -ed and -ing.  Remember, no new vocabulary words but the test will be a cumulative review of previous vocabulary skills.  We will also be using this week to review skills such as plot, making inferences, identifying facts, and comparing.  We will continue working on verbs in grammar and work on finishing our scary stories!  Please be on the lookout for homework that will help reinforce skills we have learned!  It will be in their homework folders and written down in their planners!

 

We will continue with Chapter 3 in math.  Please make sure to look at papers that come home to see how your child is doing with subtraction and regrouping!  We will focus on regrouping in the hundreds and tens, in the hundreds, tens, and ones, and story problems with regrouping!  Again, homework will be coming home to reinforce skills taught in class!  We will be focusing on -3 for our fast fact skill!  Students are doing a wonderful job with their facts and earning those snacks for our trail mix!

 

We will continue working on continents and start leaning our 5 oceans!  Students learned a fun little song last week to help us remember our continents, we will continue this with some other map activities!

 

Remember:

 

*The weather is starting to cool off!  Some students are complaining of being cold during recess!  Please send in jackets or sweatshirts if your child needs one!

 

*Chipotle Dine to Donate is on the 22nd!  Flyers came home last week!

 

*Please empty your child's red homework folder each week!  The only items that should be in there each Friday are homework papers they are turning in! 

 

Thanks for your support!  Have a great week! :)

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!  We have so much to do this week!

 

In reading, we will focus on making inferences and comparing for comprehension.  We will be hitting this skill hard in small reading groups with our story, "Living Lights".  Don't forget, they will bring home their book to read on Thursday AND it can count for their reading log!  In phonics and spelling, we will focus on words with digraphs.  We will also be reviewing contractions. 

 

We will continue working with verbs in grammar and writing.  We will also continue working with descriptive words while we write our scary stories!  Students are SUPER excited about writing their stories.  Last week, we reviewed using descriptive words to make our writing better and read some short stories to prove the point.  We then contributed to a shared writing to help give us examples.  Students can choose between writing a scary or  funny story but still work on using the writer's craft of details.

 

Students did FANTASTIC on their Chapter 2 test in math.  We will now continue with Chapter 3: Subtraction up to 1,000.  We will be reviewing what they learned about subtraction in 1st grade and start the chapter with subtracting without regrouping.  We will then move on to regrouping in the tens and ones.  We will also work on reinforcing the skill of using addition to double check our answer when subtracting.  We will focus on +3 for our fast fact skill!

 

We are now starting our Social Studies unit on Geography.  We will start with map reading skills and move to learning our continents!  We will touch base a little each day with our skills then focus on our main activities on Friday!

 

Important information:

*PLEASE RETURN the salsa fundraiser envelopes if you haven't done so!  They were due Friday!

 

*Conferences this Thursday!  I will send home reminders!

 

*Book orders due this week!

 

*Chipotle Dine to Donate Night will be on the 22nd!  More information will be sent home!

 

*Halloween Party papers will go out this week!  Students are permitted to dress up BUT NO MASKS, BLOOD, WEAPONS, MAKE UP, and NO scary costumes are permitted.  We need to keep in mind that we have very young children in the school so all costumes need to be kept at a G rating! :)  Students will change into their costumes BEFORE the party.  Please do not send students to school in their costumes.  They tend to get uncomfortable and hot.  Parking!!!  Since the building of our new school is starting this week- parking is very limited!  FOR THE DAY OF THE PARTY- no parking will be allowed on the playground.  We do have permission for parents to park at the Freshman School.

 

*Have a great week! :)

We are ready for another great week! 

 

We will continue with Unit 2 and our theme of animals and how they survive.  We will be working in leveled reading groups this week to work on identifying facts and making inferences.  We will also be working on final blends for phonics/spelling and closed syllables.  Please remember, we will keep the same vocabulary words but work on dictionary skills.  We will work on using guide words to help us find words in the dictionary as well as using the dictionary to find definitions of words.

 

I will be incorporating our "Being a Writer" program into our writing.  We will be focusing on story writing and using descriptive words and details.  We will also be working hard to remember sentence conventions and complete sentences.

 

In math, we will continue working on addition with regrouping in the ones and tens.  We will also be working on story problems and remembering the steps to solve them.  We have been trying hard to remember to first read the story problem, then reread while acting out the problem or visualizing the problem.  After that, we find key words and think about what the question is asking us.  We reinstate the question with a sentence, leaving a space for the answer.  We then solve the problem and make sure our answer makes sense.  We put our answer into the sentence we made and we are done!  Depending on how the week goes, I'm planning to test over Chapter 2 on Friday, if that remains the same, the study guide will come home Wednesday.

 

We will finish our nutrition and digestive unit up this week!  Ask your child about My Plate, and how we can make better food choices.  Also, ask them about how our food is digested!  I'm sure they can give you a lot of information!

 

Important information:

***This is the last week for the salsa fundraiser!

***Family Fun Night this Friday!  Flyers went home last week!  Hope to see you there!

 

 

I hope everyone had a great weekend and that everyone is ready for a fun-filled busy week!

 

We will continue on with Unit 2 in our reading unit.  We are done focusing on community and we will now focus on how animals survive and adapt.  Please make sure to look for the "Reach Newsletter", explaining Unit 2.  This week we will focus on this theme while learning how to make inferences and learning how to summarize story plots.  We will work with the phonics skills of r, l, and s blends.  We will be introduced to our new vocabulary for weeks 1&2 and focus on the meanings of the words and using them in context.  Students will continue working in reading groups and centers Tuesday-Thursday to work on skills in small group.

 

We will continue with Chapter 2 in math, focusing on addition with regrouping in the ones and tens.  We will be working on +2 for math fluency and practicing strategies such as: looking at the last digit and "counting" on by 2 to quickly find the answer.  We are also working hard at remembering to put the greater number in our head first and then add on.  We will also focus on story problems and review steps to follow when solving them.

 

We will be working with main verbs and helping verbs in grammar.  In writing, we will tie in plot to work on writing stories with a good beginning, middle, and end.  We will also focus on the writing trait of using details.

 

*Important information:

Please make sure to look at the Jose Madrid Salsa and Chips Fundraiser packet that came home Friday!  This will be our big fundraiser for the year!  Students have a chance to earn great prizes while raising money for Central.  The top selling student will win a $25 gift card to Target and the top selling classroom will win a pizza party!

 

First round of conferences are THIS THURSDAY!  I'm looking forward to meeting with you to discuss your child's progress and what we can work on to make this the most successful year yet!

 

Have a great week!

 

We are ready for another great week!  Again, I'm so proud of the students handling 3 days of subs like a pro!  I love hearing compliments about our class!  I am so proud of them!  That being said, I know my sub was trying to be helpful when she graded papers...however, she graded some incorrectly!  Please excuse the scribbling, I tried to cover up most mistakes with stickers! :) 

In reading this week, we will be on our LAST WEEK for Unit 1.  We will be learning this week's skills AS WELL AS testing over the whole unit on Friday.  This means our new skills this week will be included in a cumulative test this Friday, covering all skills from Unit 1.  In phonics, we will focus on words with -ck, and -ng as well as reviewing multi-syllabic words.  We will be focusing on using visuals for reading comprehension (internet features) as well as reviewing main idea, details, and characters.  In writing, we will continue mini grammar lessons on possessive 's as well as continuing to work on writing a main idea with details.

We will be starting Chapter 2 in our "Math in Focus" program.  We will be working on addition up to 1,000.  This week, we will focus on addition without regrouping.  Students will take a pretest Monday, this will help me make intervention/enrichment groups for math intervention time.  We will also be using the iPads for some new math games!  We will be using Fast Math in the computer lab to help us study our facts!  This week will be the first time we get to go to the lab since all testing is done for MAPS!

Important info...

***Monday and Tuesday are CENTRAL'S MARCO'S NIGHTS! Flyers went home last week!  Central will receive 20% of all orders on both nights!  You need to mention this flyer AND TELL THEM YOU ARE IN MRS. MCKINNEY'S CLASS!  The homeroom with the most amount of sales for the 2 nights will win a pizza party courtesy of Marco's Pizza!  LET'S DO THIS!

***Progress Reports go home Tuesday!

***PICTURE DAY is Wednesday!

***Friday will be our PTC Fall Fundraiser Kick Off!  Look for information to come home that day!

***Have a great week! :)

I am so excited to have a FULL week!  We have SO MUCH to do!  

 

In reading, we will be starting centers with our reading groups!  We will be focusing on short e and u for phonics as well as other high frequency sight words. We will continue working with photo essays and focus on identifying details using the selection.  Please remember, a new letter will not be sent home.  The newsletter that was sent two weeks ago covers ALL 4 weeks of the unit!  HOWEVER, I'll send home another copy of the vocabulary words we will be working with over the next two weeks!  We will continue working on nouns, focusing on proper nouns such as names, holiday, months, etc.  In writing, we will be incorporating what we are learning about in class to write complete sentences and work on adding details to our writing.  We will be doing some shared writing activities to model how to add important details and what to do when we don't know how to spell a word!

 

*Some tips we have been reviewing during reading when we come to an unknown word:  

Get your mouth ready (many words at this level CANNOT be sounded out.  So instead of saying, "Sound it out", tell your child to get their mouth ready to make the first sound.  That is usually a safe bet!  Let them know that they cannot make all the sounds to figure out the word, just usually the beginning sound.

Look for parts you know or "hunks and chunks" such as sh, ch, th, er, ai

Look for word parts to break up- for example compound words such as chalkboard, butterfly, etc.

Break the word up into syllables (also helps with spelling)

Read the rest of the sentence AND THINK ABOUT WHAT WOULD MAKE SENSE!  Can they figure out the word based on context clues from the rest of the sentence?

Try some of these if they come to an unknown word when doing their nightly reading!

 

We will wrap up Chapter 1 in Math this week!  We will be completing a "study guide" in class to take home to help them study for the test.  This will be incorporated into their homework.  Please make sure you are taking a look at the papers coming home to see how your child is doing with the math concepts we are learning in class.  If your child has been doing great and can get through the homework on their own, they should be well prepared for the test!  We will review skills and concepts throughout the week and test on Friday!  The study guide will come home on Tuesday.  We will also be starting our fact fluency program this week.  Please make sure to look for the letter that will be sent home Monday.  We will start with +/- 0.  Students will be expected to study math facts with +/-0 throughout the week (5-10 minutes) and it will be part of their daily math homework.  Flashcards will be sent home in their homework folders each week for the fact of the week!  So, in their agendas, you will notice them writing +/- and the fact for the week with all their other homework.  They will be tested on the fact every Friday.  If you missed Curriculum Night and need an explanation after reading the letter Monday, don't hesitate to call or email!

 

*Remember, you can practice the fact fluency skill of the week ANYWHERE: in the car on the way to practice, getting groceries, or on the way home from school!  Just focus on the fact we are working on in class!  That can be their "studying" for homework!  If your child is struggling, tie in some strategies!  Let me know if you ever need any ideas or strategies to help at home!

 

We will be learning about being a good citizen and how to develop habits of being a contributor to where we live for Constitution Day.  We will also be learning about what the Constitution is and why we celebrate this holiday.  Our main activities will be on Friday, during Social Studies Friday.  We will be introducing the topics throughout the week to build background!

 

Important Reminders:

 

*PTC meeting this Tuesday, September 15th! 6:30 for Room Parents and 7:00 for the general meeting!

*Book orders are due by this Friday the 18th!

*Conference sign up times will be sent home this week!

*BOX TOPS!!!  Please start sending in Box Tops or Labels for Education!  The two top classes win an ice cream party!  This is a great fundraiser to raise money for our school!  Can we STAY UNDEFEATED?!!!!  

 

We have completed MAP testing.  Students who did not finish the test in the hour window for each test will finish Monday in the computer lab.  Students who were absent on test days will also complete the test Monday!

 

Make sure to check out the album I posted to see the photos of our class working on our Patriot Day crafts.  We had some very good discussion about the 9-11 events.  Your child may have even asked what you were doing when you got the news.  We answered all questions to the best of our ability and discussed how these "bullies" didn't like the freedoms we had in our country. 

We also tried to recall happier outcomes such as becoming united as a nation.  Ask your child about Philippe Petit, the French aerialist, and his high wire walk between the twin towers of the World Trade Center. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend!  

 

When we return on Tuesday, we will have a very busy four days!  In reading, we will continuing with our theme of communities.  We will be focusing on topic and main ideas using our reading selection.  We will also work on comparing genres of realistic non-fiction and photo essays.  Our phonics skills will include short o and multisyllabic words such as bottom and cannot.  We will have the same vocabulary words as last week, except this week we will be working on the skill of multiple meaning words such as brush and saw.  SPELLING WORDS CAME HOME on Thursday.  These words are a little harder, so I wanted to make sure you had them over the weekend if needed since we don't return until Tuesday.  Homework folders will go out on Tuesday.  We will continue working on complete sentences and punctuation.  We will also be working on our writing prompt of what your child wants to be when they grow up and how their job will help their community.

 

We will work on comparing 3 digit numbers and work on greater than/less than in math.  We will continue working on number patterns and using strategies to figure out what the actual pattern is within the numbers given.

 

We will be observing Patriot's Day on the 11th.  We will be discussing 9-11 events and learn more about why this day is important to our country.  We will be reading books written by kids about the topic, watch an educational clip, and we will be making a really neat craft.

 

We will be MAP testing as well!  Please make sure your child has a good night's sleep and a good breakfast!

 

 

Have a great weekend! :)

 

We had a great FULL week back! 

During Language Arts, we spent most of the time reviewing first grade skills such as: long/short vowels, letter sounds, high frequency words (sight words), and reading strategies.  We also did A LOT of one on one testing to see where each student was as well as practicing some future centers.

I'm so excited to say that we will be starting our NEW READING SERIES this week!  We are using the National Geographic: Reach program!  This means...regular homework will start this week!  I will be sending home red homework folders on Monday!  Daily homework will consist of reading each night, studying spelling words, and reviewing vocabulary if needed.  Please make sure to look at the Home Newsletter that will come home in their homework folder.  This letter explains the WHOLE unit and will be the only letter that gets sent home for the entire Unit 1.  (There will not be a weekly home letter!) Red homework folders are due back with ALL completed work on Thursday! Even though this week is shortened, we will still be taking our reading, spelling, and vocabulary test on Thursday.  Please make sure to help your child study!  Please plan on coming to Curriculum Night this Thursday to learn more about our reading program and how we do things in the classroom.

We have started Chapter 1 in our "Math in Focus" program.  We are working on numbers to 1,000 using place value, standard, word, and expanded form.  Homework for math will usually consist of a couple of assignments per week until daily math facts practice starts in two weeks.  All math work sent home will be reinforcement and review of what was taught during previous lessons.

Just a few reminders:

*Please make sure snacks are healthy and handy!  This means no cookies or candy!

*Your child should know their 6 digit ID number!  They not only use this for lunch but to get into the computers at school!

*Curriculum Night is THIS THURSDAY at 6:30 p.m.  This is a very informational night for parents!!!  Come to our classroom, room 11!

*No School for students on Friday, September 4th! Teacher In-Service

*No School for September 7th- Labor Day!

*FIRST PTC meeting on September 15th!  7:00p.m.

*Save the date- Marco's Pizza Nights September 21st-22nd!  More information will be sent home!

Have a great week! :)

We have had a wonderful two days back at school!  We have made many new friends!  Our activities have mostly consisted of learning classroom and school routines and procedures as well as learning about our new school-wide behavior system.  We learned our "school" rules and what HERO means.  Ask your child to see if they remember! H- Honesty, E- safE, R- Respectful, and O- respOnsible. 

 

In the classroom, we are making our own rules to follow.  Students brainstormed different ideas and suggestions for rules in our very own classroom.  We are still working on them and we will be getting the list down to 3-5 main rules using positive language. (Do instead of don't!)  We have been discussing WHY we come to school and some of our goals this year.  Each student is setting their own goal and our rules will help us achieve them in some aspect!

 

Next week, we will begin reviewing short/long vowels as well as sight words.  I will be assessing students to see where they are at.  We will also be administering the 2nd grade DIBELS assessment to check reading fluency.  We will begin Chapter 1 in math, make sure to look at the Home School Connection letter explaining the chapter!  The letter will come home Monday.  We will continue working on creating our classroom rules and discussing the importance of working as a community.

 

I will be sending home a volunteer form for those of you who can help out during the school year!  Please be on the lookout for this paper in the middle of the week!

 

Also, homework folders will not come home next week.  They will continue to write, "Read 20 min.", in their trackers daily.  Please make sure to initial their tracker each night!  This is their only homework next week since we are reviewing and testing.

 

Please remember, students are allowed to bring a snack as long as it is healthy and handy!

 

Have a great weekend! :)