I hope you all had an amazing Thanksgiving break with your families and had time to reflect on all the blessings we have! My husband and I had the privilege to go to Prague and parts of Germany over Thanksgiving break. I’m excited to share some of the culture and language that I learned with your children tomorrow!

A few reminders..

*Friday, Dec. 6 we will be attending the Nutcracker at the Cobb County Civic Center. We will be leaving at 9:00 and returning around 12:00. We will eat upon returning (I will sent out a reminder of your child’s lunch choice before Friday). Since it is a ballet, please have your child wear their “Sunday best,” something they might wear to church/Synagogue/place of worship.

*Holiday Party-Our class holiday party will be December 16th from 12:15-1:00. All parents are welcome to come!

*Spirit of Giving bags-MBES is thrilled to continue our community outreach Spirit of Giving Bags tradition again this year. Many families attending our sister schools rely heavily on school provided breakfast and lunch, when schools break for holidays these families lack the food and necessities needed on a daily basis. During the December 10 TPV, each classroom will prepare a Giving Bag, complete with such necessities. A list of what is most important for these families can be found on our class Shutterfly webpage. Please allow your child to participate in purchasing these special items or take time to explain WHY they are bringing in these items to me! 🙂 We still have items available for purchase!

*PTA’s Honoring our Heroes Essay contest kicks off this month! It is a writing contest designed for students to write about real-life heroes and role models. It is a chance for your child to recognize someone who has made a personal impact in their life such as a family member, doctor, public safety officer, soldier, friend or teacher. The deadline for submissions is Friday, January 17, 2020. If you think your child would be interested in this writing activity, let me know and I will send home a copy of the entry form and the directions

UPCOMING DATES:

December 6-Nutcracker Field Trip/LAST Day of FACT Clubs
December 16-Second Grade Holiday Party 12:15-1:00
December 19-20- Early Release
December 21-January 5-Winter Holidays-NO SCHOOL

WHAT ARE WE LEARNING?

WRITING- The students will be revising their writing by adding in definitions, steps, tips, examples and appropriate nonfiction text features to clarify information for their readers! They will also be editing capitalization, spelling and punctuation!

ELA/OG- Our focus will be reptile words (words with a magic e syllable) and possessive nouns.

MATH-Measurement begins! We’ll measure with inches, centimeters, feet, yard and meters this week as well as discuss the best measuring tool to use in different situations. We’ll also be applying measurement in word problems!

READING-This week we will be working on describing the connection between a series of historical events or steps in a nonfiction text. We will also be working on unlocking key words in a nonfiction text!

UNIT STUDY– Students will finish working on their project on the Georgia founder that they chose. We also have some work to do on special holiday items this week!

PTA’s Honoring our Heroes Essay contest kicks off this month!  It is a student – writing contest designed for students to write about real-life heroes and role models. It is a chance for your child to recognize someone who has made a personal impact in their life such as a family member, doctor, public safety officer, soldier, friend or teacher. The deadline for submissions is Friday, January 17, 2020.  If you think your child would be interested in this writing activity, let me know and I will send home a copy of the entry form and the directions.  

Upcoming Dates:

11/22 – Foundation STEM DAY!

11/25 – 11/29 – Thanksgiving Holidays – Happy Thanksgiving!!

12/6 – LAST day of FACT Clubs

12/16 – 2^nd grade Holiday Parties 12:15 – 1:00pm (all parents are welcome!)

12/19 & 12/20 – Early Release TWO hours early

12/21 – 1/5 – Winter Holidays!

What are we learning? 

Math –We’ll continue to review all our strategies to add and subtract within 100 (expanded form, open number line, or OG drawings). Students will pick the strategy they are best at and practice it before we assess towards the end of the week.

Reading – We will continue to work on finding the main idea (author’s purpose) of a nonfiction text and the details that support the main idea. In reading groups we have been looking for main ideas, details, and text evidence in nonfiction text!

Writing – We will continue to revise our nonfiction writing by adding good endings and answering our reader’s questions by giving examples and writing “twin sentences” to provide definitions.

ELA/OG – We will continue to practice using apostrophes in possessives and contractions.

Unit  – We will learn about and start our research projects on a Ga Founders (Tomochichi, Mary Musgrove or James Oglethorpe) to discover his or her part in the founding of Georgia!

5^th Grade is participating in their annual Acts of Kindness week.  It will culminate with the Pajama Pants Challenge benefiting CCYA (The Center for Children and Young Adults) on Friday! Your child may bring $1 or more on Friday to benefit CCYA and may wear their PJ’s on Friday (only if $1 or more is given)! 

Please encourage your child to bring their own money or to earn the money by doing chores! This is a great opportunity for students to learn about the joy of giving of their own money!

What is CCYA?

World Diabetes Day: Tomorrow (11/14) is Word Diabetes Day. We have a Mt. Bethel Student who is advocating for children with diabetes. To support this student and people who have diabetes, staff and students can wear blue tomorrow!

Monday is Veteran’s Day and our second graders are performing songs for the Veterans! Please have your child wear RED, WHITE, and BLUE. Also, we are expected to have the students lined up ready to go by 7:45. Please make sure your child is on-time Monday, otherwise they might miss the opportunity to perform. Riding the bus is a guaranteed early arrival!

We had an amazing week. Native American Day: The students ground corn, made Native American toys, got tattooed with to be identified with their clan (deer clan), ate Native American food, and  touched all sorts of furs (skunk, fox, deer, bear, ect.). Thank you to Andrea Castle, Kandi Glover, Kate Gaffney, and Millicent Croom for helping out with out Native American Day! Thank you to all the volunteers that sent in Native American food! The kids loved it!

We have 2 challenges going on in the class right now that the students are really excited about. Feel free to practice these at home as well!

1. Say “thank you” when receiving something. If you don’t, the teacher will take it back. 🙂
2. Don’t interrupt someone who is already talking!

Our 5^th graders are working on Acts of Kindness and are including the entire school in their endeavor to raise money for children in homeless shelters. The children are encouraged to bring at least a $1 so they can wear PJ pants (or complete PJs…tops and bottoms) on Friday, Nov. 15!

UPCOMING DATES:
November 11 – Veteran’s Day celebration

November 13 – Parents’ Guide Series 9 AM  Understanding and Helping your Child Manage Anxiety

November 22 – Foundation STEM DAY!

November 25 – November 29 – Thanksgiving Holidays

WHAT ARE WE LEARNING?

MATH-This week we will focus on using the number line, OG drawings,  and expanded form as strategies to solve addition and subtraction equations within 100. Students will also continue working on mastering addition and subtraction facts within 20 using mental math strategies.

ELA/OG–We will be practicing using apostrophes in possessives and contractions.

WRITING-Our non-fiction unit continues! We are setting goals for our writing, editing our work, adding features to our non-fiction books that other authors use, and starting on new books.

READING-Nonfiction books will continue to be our independent reading focus. Students will begin to “talk the talk.” They will learn how to look for important key vocabulary words in their text and read like an expert!

*If you have not filled out this Field Trip Lunch Form yet, please do it now! Thanks!

*LICE-Second grade has been hit with lice! Please let me know if your child gets treated for lice. Students are putting their jackets INSIDE their backpacks and headphones are in baggies. Girls might want to wear their hair in a ponytail for prevention! There is also lice prevention spray available at local stores. 😉

*If your child is home sick, please let me know what they get diagnosed with. We clean with Clorox wipes every afternoon, but if it’s a major sickness I need to know so we can up the cleaning and hopefully keep everyone else healthy! Just a reminder, if your child throws up or has a fever, they need to be 24 hours clear of all symptoms before returning to school. I know it’s frustrating at times to find care or miss work but you put everyone else at risk of getting sick by sending them back to school to early. Thank you so much for your help in keeping everyone safe and healthy!

The class has done it again: they’ve beat the teacher in our class vs. teacher competition! As the class reward, they have voted on doing show and tell at school on Friday. We came up with some guidelines: They may not bring anything living, bigger than their backpack, trading cards (Pokemon or baseball cards), extremely valuable (sentimental or money wise), or in any way inappropriate for school. They know they need to check the object by you first. I’m looking forward to seeing what they will bring!

Hi All!

In about a month we will be going to The Nutcracker Ballet at the Cobb Civic Center! We will be having our lunch after we return around 12:00 (Yay! A normal lunch time!). I need you to fill out a this Lunch Response Form for whether your child will bring a lunch or order a lunch. Please fill it out ASAP! Thanks!

I hope you had a great weekend!

It’s a abnormal week this week. Monday is Native American Day and Tuesday is Election Day–no school!

Native American Day: Please have your child wear his/her BLUE class tshirt. We will be putting our Native American shirts over these to wear throughout the day! Also, if you signed up for your child to bring his/her lunch, the lunch does NOT have to be disposable since we will stay at school. If you child was signed up for sack lunch, they will actually be going through the hot lunch line instead. We’ll have our large group presentation first, then move to our Native American activities in all the 2nd grade classrooms!  Next, we’ll then enjoy lunch in the room and then head outside for a fun Native American activity. Finally, we will enjoy some Native American treats (beef/turkey jerky, berries, popcorn, etc…). It’s going to be a great day!

UPCOMING DATES:
November 4 – Native American Day for 2nd grade!
November 5 – Election day – No school – Teacher In-service day
November 8 – Breakfast with Dad
November 11 Veteran’s Day celebration!
November 22 – Foundation STEM DAY!
November 25 – November 29 – Thanksgiving Holidays

WHAT ARE WE LEARNING?

MATH-We will wrap up our focus on two-step word problems and will take an assessment on Friday!

ELA/OG–We will look at Magic e  words (rake, site, note) and reptile words –2 syllable words with a magic e syllable (pancake, picture).

WRITING-Our informational writing continues! We will also take a short break to write Thanksgiving letters to soldier overseas!

READING-Nonfiction books will continue to be our independent reading focus. Students will begin to “talk the talk.” They will learn how to look for important key vocabulary words in their text and read like an expert!

UNIT STUDY– We will wrap up our Native American unit through our Native American Day celebration Monday!

Hi All!

Just a quick note: I need everyone to make sure their child has head phones for school. If you sent in headphones for your child at the beginning of the year, then I have those headphones and your child has been using them. If not, could you send in headphones with your child? We use them for math centers and math assessments taken on the computers. THANK YOU!!!

I hope you all have had a great weekend and start to your week!

A HUGE THANKS to Candice Wells, Camille Ward, and Tereza Kros for helping the students bead their shirts for Native American Day!

A few reminders:
*The Patron Drive ends this week! We are at 72% participation. A few things to consider:

EVERY iPad and its maintenance has been purchased through the Foundation. We have three EXTRA, incredible instructors thanks to the Foundation. We have OG phonics training, OG Math training, Kagan training and materials from all the trainings thanks to the Foundation! We have the Seesaw APP so that you can see examples of your child’s work thanks to the Foundation! We have a fabulous TURF field thanks to the Foundation! We have more copiers and nice rugs in our rooms thanks to the Foundation! PLEASE consider donating to this supportive organization that only wants the best for YOUR child!

*Native American Day is MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4. This is a stay-at-school field trip! The students worked on beading their shirts today and will use the Native American symbols to create a story on their shirt later this week. Shirts will REMAIN at school. Students will put them on Monday morning before Native American Day begins– we want to ensure no shirts are left at home!

UPCOMING DATES:
October 31- Foundation Patron Drive ends
October 31- Happy Halloween!
November 2 – PTA Fun Run!
November 4 – Native American Day for 2nd grade!
November 5 – Election day – No school – Teacher In-service day
November 8 – Breakfast with Dad
November 11 Veteran’s Day celebration!
November 22 – Foundation STEM DAY!
November 25 – November 29 – Thanksgiving Holidays

WHAT ARE WE LEARNING?

MATH-This week we will continue looking at two-step word problems (Ex: Matias scored 13 goals. He scored 4 on Monday and 7 on Tuesday. How many did he score on Wednesday?) We will also continue reviewing telling time and skip counting.

ELA/OG–This week we’ll continue working on spelling “rabbit” words. These are karate chop words with two syllables where each syllable is closed (ex: puppet, tennis).

WRITING-Informational writing will continue this week. Students have been writing books on topics they are experts in. This week we will consider who our audience is to influence what details are included in our books!

READING-Nonfiction books will continue to be our independent reading focus. Students will begin to recogonize the importance of “reading to learn” not “learning to read” this quarter.

UNIT STUDY– The class has done a great job of researching and gathering information on Georgia’s first occupants: the Creek and Cherokee Native Americans!  This week we will be discussing Sequoyah–the creator of the Cherokee alphabet. We will even have a visit from Sequoyah on Friday!