I hope everyone is having a wonderful 3 day weekend! Now that we have studied MLK Jr. in depth, hopefully your child has had more of an appreciation for this day we celebrate his life’s work!

Welcome to our newest member of the classroom, Paige! The students have been doing a wonderful job making her feel welcome and giving her the low down of being a student in our class.

Thank you so much for filling out the Spring FACT clubs form!

Upcoming dates: 

Jan. 21 – Exceptional Children’s Week

Jan. 27- FACT programs begin!

Jan. 29- 31 – Visiting Author

Jan. 31 – Foundation Patron Pledges due!

What Are We Learning? 

Reader’s Workshop – Our study on fluency continues! We’ll continue to practice our reading pace so that we’re reading at just the right speed to aid in comprehension, and then we’ll move into working on understanding the literary language that an author uses.

Writer’s Workshop –  We will continue in our opinion writing! Students will learn to use “for example” to cite evidence that supports their reasons. They will also work on growing their letters by giving more than one opinion on a book!

Math Workshop – We are using the strategies we learned in quarter 2 to add and subtract up to four 2 digit numbers. Ex: 27 + 39 + 61 + 46

 OG/Word work – We will be focusing on suffixes s, es, and ing. Students will learn to add the es suffix with words that end in ch, sh, s, x, or z.

Unit — We’ll finish up our MLK Jr. unit (be on the lookout for a MLK Jr seesaw video)!

Hi All,

I need EVERYONE to fill out the following Spring FACT clubs dismissal form even if your child is not going to do a FACT club. If you have already filled it out, thank you! If you did not, please complete it ASAP. Thank you for helping me make sure your child goes home correctly.

Spring FACT Clubs Dismissal Form

Silver Coin Drive: Your child is encouraged to bring silver coins in until January 16th to raise money for the Power’s Ferry Book Fair!

Absences: Please see the note below from Mrs. Howland, our attendance clerk.

Anytime any child is absent for any reason they should: Send either a hand written note OR an email to: annie.howland@cobbk12.org, OR if they have it a doctor’s note.
The note should include:
*The student’s name
*The teacher’s name
*All date/s absent
*The reason for absence

Thank you so much to everyone that sent in tissue boxes and Clorox wipes to help our class stock up! It is SO much appreciated!

Thank you for making my birthday so special. So many students brought in such sweet notes, and the generous Amazon gift card from the class was amazing! Thank you to our room moms (Becca O’Dell and Candice Wells) for making my birthday special with gluten free/dairy free desserts (Not easy to find), balloons, and flowers!

*Please continue to have your children practice math facts, reading, and trick words every night. The math facts score on your child’s report card was based only on accuracy for this quarter. However, moving forward all grades in math facts will be based off of accuracy AND fluency (solving within 4-6 seconds).

*Target will resume this Tuesday for a half day. Please make sure your child has the appropriate materials for Target.

*Spring FACT clubs will begin the week of January 27. If you have not filled out the FACT clubs form below, please do so now. Thank you!

Spring FACT Clubs Dismissal Form

UPCOMING DATES:

January 13 – Community Outreach
January 17 – “Honoring our Heroes” essay submissions due
January 20 – MLK, Jr. holiday – NO SCHOOL
January 21 – Exceptional Children’s Week
January 27- FACT programs begin!
January 29- 31 – Visiting Author
January 31 – Foundation Patron Pledges due!

WHAT ARE WE LEARNING?

WRITING-We will continue to write our opinions on our favorite book characters, parts of books, and authors with an emphasis on including examples and evidence from the books!

ELA/OG-We will continue to work on magic e words with “g” and “c” , closed syllable exceptions (ild, old, ost, ind, olt), reptile words, and rabbit words!

Trick words we’ll learn this week: because, people, does

MATH- Place value continues! We are comparing numbers in standard form as well as numbers in “wonky” form (28 tens, 16 ones). The students are also becoming really good at knowing the difference between the terms “digit” and “value”. A formal assessment will be given on Friday.

READING-The class will be working on our fluency skills as we scoop up our words and practice reading in a voice that is appropriate to the tone of the passage.

Please complete the form below so I can update dismissal regarding Spring Fact Clubs starting on January 27th. This form is for FIRST SESSION Fact Clubs ONLY. If your child is only attending a second session club (3:30-4:30) they will follow their regular dismissal unless you send a transportation form for ASP. Please make sure you fill out ONE FORM FOR EACH CHILD from the link SUPPLIED BY EACH TEACHER. (If you have 3 children attending clubs please make sure you fill out this form from each child’s individual teacher)

Spring FACT Clubs Dismissal Form

Report cards will come home tomorrow in your child’s daily folder. Your children have grown so much this quarter! Celebrate with your children all the progress they have made and the hard work they have put into their work. Please sign and return the report card envelope by Monday (1/13/19). Thanks!

SHHH!!  It’s a surprise!! Mrs. Vodopia is our school secretary, and her 60th birthday is THIS THURSDAY (1/9/20).  The children are encouraged to celebrate by dressing up in 60’s attire and looking “groovy” (tie dye shirts and/or bright, colorful prints or headbands).  This is purely OPTIONAL!! We hope you’ll join in the fun, but remember…it’s a SURPRISE! 😊 

Happy new year to all of you! I’m so looking forward to 2020 and all it holds! I’m excited to see your wonderful children tomorrow. I’m sure they will have great stories from their time over the break!

A few reminders…

*Six Flags Reading Log-At the beginning of November a sheet was sent home explaining this awesome reading incentive program. If you have lost the form, please email me and I will gladly send another one. You will need to simply register your child online, log reading minutes, and receive a FREE Six Flags ticket (if your child reads a total of 6 hours or more).

*Honoring Our Heroes-PTA has a wonderful writing opportunity for your child! Please click here for additional information, as well as a copy of the entry form. Entries are due January 17, 2020.

*Target will resume the week of January 13. Please make sure your child has the appropriate materials for Target.

*Spring FACT clubs will begin the week of January 27.

UPCOMING DATES:

January 6 – First Day back!
January 13 – Community Outreach
January 17 – “Honoring our Heroes” essay submissions due
January 20 – MLK, Jr. holiday – NO SCHOOL
January 21 – Exceptional Children’s Week
January 27- FACT programs begin!
January 29- 31 – Visiting Author
January 31 – Foundation Patron Pledges due!

WHAT ARE WE LEARNING?

WRITING-We will start off the week writing “holiday news” as well as goals for the New Year! We will then launch our new writing unit–opinion writing! 2nd graders have very definite opinions, so this unit should be fun! 🙂

ELA/OG-We will review magic e words with “g” and “c” and then moving on to special patterns such as -old, -ost and -ild and how they change the vowel’s sound. We will also do a review of all the rules and patterns we’ve learned so far!

MATH-Our focus this week will be on place value and comparing numbers. We will review important terms such as DIGIT, VALUE, STANDARD FORM, EXPANDED FORM, MODEL, and WORD FORM. Students will stretch their thinking and look at values in different ways. EXAMPLE 2 hundreds, 11 tens, and 24 ones = 334.

READING-We will use this week to clean out our book bins, shop for new books, and start our new unit on amping up reading power.

Wow! Only one more week left of the 2019 portion of the school year! We will be wrapping up second quarter this week so please make sure you send in your kids on time to school and let me know if they will be missing days due to traveling for the holidays.

Holiday Party – Our holiday party will be from 12:15 – 1:00pm on Monday, Dec.16^th in our classroom!  All parents are welcome to come!

Tuesday is our Winter Wonderland day! A note came home on Friday explaining that every year we have a staff ugly sweater/crazy holiday  outfit contest. Second grade would like for the children to participate with us, so we are asking them to dress in any type of winter outfit. This is purely OPTIONAL! Ideas are below…

*hat, scarf and mittens   *winter PJ’s    *snowman    *snowflake   *holiday sweater/t-shirt    *anything winter like!

Thursday and Friday are EARLY RELEASE DAYS! The children will be dismissed 2 hours early each day.

Upcoming dates

12/16 – 2^nd grade Holiday Parties 12:15 – 1:00pm

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

12/21 – 1/5 – Winter Holidays!

1/6 – First Day of School for 2020!!

1/20- No School MLK, Jr. Holiday

1/27 – First day for spring FACT clubs

What will we be learning?

Math – We are reviewing a few of our standards from this past quarter such as measurement and place value. We will do a final timed test on our basic math facts to end out 2019. Please practice those math facts (especially subtraction)!

Reading –Individual reading assessments continue!

Writing – The children are revising, editing, and publishing their nonfiction books this week!  

ELA/OG – We will review contractions and learn about root words and how their meaning helps us understand other words with the same root (i.e. lucky, unlucky, luckily).

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend! The kids had amazing behavior at the Nutcracker performance last Friday and look fabulous!

SPIRIT OF GIVING – Thank you so much to all families that have donated items for the Giving Bag! Items remain on our SPIRIT OF GIVING list to help needy families! Items are due THIS TUESDAY (12/10). Not sure what I am talking about?  The PTA is putting together a beautiful program to aid about 20+ super needy families in our sister school communities!  The children will have the opportunity to help create caring bags by bringing in specific donations and writing cards and letters for these families.  How can you help? Have you and your child look at our class Shutterfly site for the signup.

If all the items are signed-up, you can always purchase a $5 or $10 gift card (or more!)  to Walmart or Kroger. Thank you PTA for encouraging us to help others!!

FACT CLUBS – Dec. 6 was the LAST day for FACT clubs (unless you are having a make-up day for your FACT club next week). I will assume your child will go home the way they go home with no FACT clubs. Send in a dismissal note if your child’s transportation needs to change!  Thank you!🙂

MATH FACTS – Please make sure your children are continuing to practice their math facts at home every night. Now that our math facts are within 20, most students struggle with being able to quickly (within 4-6 seconds) subtract. Focus your math fact time at home on subtraction!

Holiday Party – Second grade’s holiday parties will be from 12:15 – 1:00pm on Monday, Dec.16^th.  All are welcome, and we’d love to have you stop by to say “hi”. We understand that it is the “busy season”, so if you need those last precious hours before the kiddos come home, please take advantage of it!

Upcoming dates

12/10 – TPV – ALL Giving Bag items are due!

12/16 – 2^nd grade Holiday Parties 12:15 – 1:00pm

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

12/21 – 1/5 – Winter Holidays!

We’ll be learning…

Math – We are using our addition and subtraction strategies (OG drawings, expanded notation or open number line) to solve measurement word problems and regular word problems. Ex: If the back fence of the yard is 82 meters and the front fence of the yard is 68 meters, how much longer is the back fence than the front fence? I’ll assess towards the end of the week or the beginning of the following week.

Reading –We’ll be using nonfiction text features to figure out vocabulary and be looking at various poems to see how the author uses rhyme and pattern. We will also be completing our reading assessments.

Writing – The students will be setting goals for their writing and focusing on revising and editing so that they can start publishing their nonfiction writing at the end of this week!

ELA/OG – Our focus will be understanding and knowing when to use reflexive pronouns this week (myself, ourselves, themselves).

Unit –We’ll be exploring the sun and the stars!  We’ll compare and contrast our sun versus other stars as we discuss the color, size and brightness of the stars. The Star Lab is due to arrive next week, and we are excited about discovering our night sky!  🙂

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!