Friday, October 28, 2011
Fall Festival Party
Our Fall Festival Party was a great time! We had so many yummy treats to eat, and the kids were really excited. They were making me laugh doing "cheers" with their juice boxes - "Cheers to Mrs. Lawniczak," "Cheers to the second grade teachers," "Cheers to the moms who sent in snacks!" After we ate, we played a game in which each table group had to wrap up one person as a mummy using toilet paper! What a riot! A big thanks to everyone who brought in treats - we appreciate your helping make our party a success! And now for some pictures...
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Let the Second Quarter Begin...
We had a fun week this week. It is always a good time when we get to have themed dress up days! We didn't end up getting to accomplish everything I had hoped to this week. It seemed like we had some conflicts that popped up here and there (mostly issues with completing assignments before grades had to be turned in and starting to get ready for conferences), so we are going to continue some of this week's focus skills into the first part of next week.
Our story this week is Gus and Grandpa and the Two-Wheeled Bike. We are still working on making predictions before and during our reading. Have your second grader do a picture walk before reading at night, or read the back cover of a chapter book before beginning to read, and then have your child make predictions as to what they think the story might be about. Stop periodically while reading and confirm if their predictions were correct, and use what they have learned about the story so far to make additional predictions. High frequency words for this lesson are coming, curve, idea, knee, laughed, million, and world. You should hear some of the sentences the kids can come up with using several of these words at once - they are hilarious! Robust vocabulary words are romp, jubilant, defeated, and master. We've been acting the words out this week, and the kids are getting really good at demonstrating their understanding of these words. Ask them to demonstrate at home for you, or ask your child to name situations in which they might feel jubilant or defeated (ask about their report cards!). Discuss with your child various tasks that they would like to master, and when and why they want to be able to do those tasks well. We are focusing on singular and plural nouns in language. Have your child point out examples of nouns for you, and ask if they are singular or plural. We will continue with these skills through next Tuesday, when we will wrap up all of our assessments from lesson 7.
Beginning next Wednesday, we will switch to lesson 8. We will read The Great Ball Game. Our focus skill will shift to plot (beginning, middle, and end). High frequency words will be ago, accept, though, clear, half, and fair. Robust vocabulary words will be feud, superior, refuse, and insult. We will continue discussing nouns, and we will explore the difference between common and proper nouns. Spelling words will have the -ar spelling pattern. Words will be:
car, art, barn, start, farm, card, yarn, part, dark, hard, boy, follow, came, want, show
We will NOT have a spelling test next Thursday. I am still sending the list of new words home this Friday, but you will have two weeks to study. Spelling test for lesson 8 will be on Thursday, November 10th! The students have no school on the 9th due to conferences, so they can spend ALL day studying (haha!).
Speaking of conferences, many parents have not yet returned their confirmation of your conference time. These are due on Monday. Please check your calendars and let me know if you will be able to attend your designated time slot or not. I do still have one or two time slots open on Tuesday and a few on Wednesday afternoon if anyone needs to reschedule. Please note that we are trying something new with conferences this year. We are attempting to switch to a more student-led conference meeting, with your child doing a lot of the talking and explaining their strengths and weaknesses. For this reason, it is very important that you BRING YOUR CHILD WITH YOU TO CONFERENCES. The students will be sharing their part for the first 5-10 minutes, and then we will have to last 10-15 minutes to speak privately if necessary. This is a building-wide change, and we appreciate your patience and support through the change. We do plan to send a feedback form home after conferences are over so we can hear your thoughts about the new format.
A big thank you goes out to all of the parents who helped out with our Fall Festival party. This includes parents who sent in snacks and those who were in the classroom to help. We couldn't have had a successful party without any of you! The party was a good time. I will be posting pictures as soon as I can - check back next week.
Our specials schedule for next week will be:
Monday - gym
Tuesday - library
Wednesday - music
Thursday - computer
Friday - art
Enjoy the weekend - try to stay warm, especially on Saturday!
Our story this week is Gus and Grandpa and the Two-Wheeled Bike. We are still working on making predictions before and during our reading. Have your second grader do a picture walk before reading at night, or read the back cover of a chapter book before beginning to read, and then have your child make predictions as to what they think the story might be about. Stop periodically while reading and confirm if their predictions were correct, and use what they have learned about the story so far to make additional predictions. High frequency words for this lesson are coming, curve, idea, knee, laughed, million, and world. You should hear some of the sentences the kids can come up with using several of these words at once - they are hilarious! Robust vocabulary words are romp, jubilant, defeated, and master. We've been acting the words out this week, and the kids are getting really good at demonstrating their understanding of these words. Ask them to demonstrate at home for you, or ask your child to name situations in which they might feel jubilant or defeated (ask about their report cards!). Discuss with your child various tasks that they would like to master, and when and why they want to be able to do those tasks well. We are focusing on singular and plural nouns in language. Have your child point out examples of nouns for you, and ask if they are singular or plural. We will continue with these skills through next Tuesday, when we will wrap up all of our assessments from lesson 7.
Beginning next Wednesday, we will switch to lesson 8. We will read The Great Ball Game. Our focus skill will shift to plot (beginning, middle, and end). High frequency words will be ago, accept, though, clear, half, and fair. Robust vocabulary words will be feud, superior, refuse, and insult. We will continue discussing nouns, and we will explore the difference between common and proper nouns. Spelling words will have the -ar spelling pattern. Words will be:
car, art, barn, start, farm, card, yarn, part, dark, hard, boy, follow, came, want, show
We will NOT have a spelling test next Thursday. I am still sending the list of new words home this Friday, but you will have two weeks to study. Spelling test for lesson 8 will be on Thursday, November 10th! The students have no school on the 9th due to conferences, so they can spend ALL day studying (haha!).
Speaking of conferences, many parents have not yet returned their confirmation of your conference time. These are due on Monday. Please check your calendars and let me know if you will be able to attend your designated time slot or not. I do still have one or two time slots open on Tuesday and a few on Wednesday afternoon if anyone needs to reschedule. Please note that we are trying something new with conferences this year. We are attempting to switch to a more student-led conference meeting, with your child doing a lot of the talking and explaining their strengths and weaknesses. For this reason, it is very important that you BRING YOUR CHILD WITH YOU TO CONFERENCES. The students will be sharing their part for the first 5-10 minutes, and then we will have to last 10-15 minutes to speak privately if necessary. This is a building-wide change, and we appreciate your patience and support through the change. We do plan to send a feedback form home after conferences are over so we can hear your thoughts about the new format.
A big thank you goes out to all of the parents who helped out with our Fall Festival party. This includes parents who sent in snacks and those who were in the classroom to help. We couldn't have had a successful party without any of you! The party was a good time. I will be posting pictures as soon as I can - check back next week.
Our specials schedule for next week will be:
Monday - gym
Tuesday - library
Wednesday - music
Thursday - computer
Friday - art
Enjoy the weekend - try to stay warm, especially on Saturday!
Thursday, October 20, 2011
First Quarter Is Over Already!
This week we wrapped up first quarter (can you believe it?!) with a story called Winners Never Quit. It is an autobiography written by Mia Hamm, a famous U.S. women's soccer player. We introduced the skill of making predictions, and we talked about how we use what we know about a story plus what we know about real life to make predictions about what will happen next in a story. The kids did really well with this! Our high-frequency words for the week were brother, caught, cheer, learn, lose, and straight. Robust vocabulary words were agile, spectator, competitive, and worthwhile. These were difficult words for the kids because many of them had not heard of any of the words before. I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly many of the kids are picking up on the words, what they mean, and how to use them correctly in sentences. We are developing such grown up vocabularies! Our grammar skill for the week was nouns. We mostly focused on identifying nouns as people, places, animals, and things, but we did touch on singular and plural as well. We finished up our letter writing unit.
Next week will mark the beginning of second quarter. We will read Gus and Grandpa and the Two-Wheeled Bike. We will continue to work on predictions. High-frequency words for next week will be coming, curve, idea, knee, laughed, million, and world. It's a longer list next week, but I am feeling confident that the kids will have no problems. Robust vocabulary words for next week will be romp, defeated, jubilant, and master. We will continue with nouns. Our big focus for next week will be distinguishing between singular and plural nouns, and using the correct endings (-s or -es) for plural nouns. We will begin a writing unit on narrative stories, and this will be our primary focus throughout second quarter (though we will continue to practice writing friendly letters and journaling as well). Spelling words for next week have the long a sound (spelled ai and ay). Words are:
pay, mail, paint, day, rain, stay, sail, way, train, tray, means, old, any, same, tell
Conferences are quickly approaching. Several parents have not yet signed up for a conference time. On Tuesday, I sent home a form to request a day/time for those parents who did not sign up at Fee Collection Day or Open House. If you have not yet returned that form, please do so by Monday. Parents who have not returned the form by Monday will be assigned whatever time slots I have left open. Reminders will go home for all parents next Monday listing your day/time.
I would like to welcome a new student to our classroom. Tyler joined our class last Friday. He comes from Erie, Pennsylvania. The students have done an outstanding job making him feel welcome. He is a wonderful addition to our class and a great role model for other students!
Our specials schedule for next week will be:
Monday - library
Tuesday - music
Wednesday - computer
Thursday - art
Friday - music
Enjoy your weekend!
Next week will mark the beginning of second quarter. We will read Gus and Grandpa and the Two-Wheeled Bike. We will continue to work on predictions. High-frequency words for next week will be coming, curve, idea, knee, laughed, million, and world. It's a longer list next week, but I am feeling confident that the kids will have no problems. Robust vocabulary words for next week will be romp, defeated, jubilant, and master. We will continue with nouns. Our big focus for next week will be distinguishing between singular and plural nouns, and using the correct endings (-s or -es) for plural nouns. We will begin a writing unit on narrative stories, and this will be our primary focus throughout second quarter (though we will continue to practice writing friendly letters and journaling as well). Spelling words for next week have the long a sound (spelled ai and ay). Words are:
pay, mail, paint, day, rain, stay, sail, way, train, tray, means, old, any, same, tell
Conferences are quickly approaching. Several parents have not yet signed up for a conference time. On Tuesday, I sent home a form to request a day/time for those parents who did not sign up at Fee Collection Day or Open House. If you have not yet returned that form, please do so by Monday. Parents who have not returned the form by Monday will be assigned whatever time slots I have left open. Reminders will go home for all parents next Monday listing your day/time.
I would like to welcome a new student to our classroom. Tyler joined our class last Friday. He comes from Erie, Pennsylvania. The students have done an outstanding job making him feel welcome. He is a wonderful addition to our class and a great role model for other students!
Our specials schedule for next week will be:
Monday - library
Tuesday - music
Wednesday - computer
Thursday - art
Friday - music
Enjoy your weekend!
Thursday, October 13, 2011
A Week of Review
This week was our first review week, and it was also the first week we got to read a Readers' Theater. A Readers' Theater is like a play, only without the acting and without the memorization of lines. Students rehearse reading a script throughout the week and perform on Friday, with the main goal being fluent reading with expression. Our Readers' Theater this week was called Neighborhood News. We reviewed characters and main idea/details. Our high-frequency words were all review this week, but we did have four new vocabulary words (penalty, location, excitable, and positive). We reviewed sentences and continued writing friendly letters.
Next week will be the last week of first quarter. We will read Winners Never Quit. Our focus skill will be making predictions, and our strategy will be to use prior knowledge to help us make predictions. High frequency words will be brother, caught, cheer, learn, lose, and straight. Our robust vocabulary words will be agile, spectator, competitive, and worthwhile. In grammar we will begin talking about nouns. We already have a little bit of knowledge about nouns, and the students should know a noun chant. Ask your second grader if they remember it, and if they do, have them do it for you. And speaking of chants, have your second grader do the main idea chant for you as well! We will wrap up our letter writing unit next week.
Spelling will be changing slightly beginning next week. Due to inconsistencies between grade levels as far as how many words the students are required to learn how to spell, we are cutting our list down to 15 words. The list will consist of ten words with the weekly pattern and five sight words. Next week's pattern is long i words spelled with ie and igh spelling patterns. Words are:
pie, high, tie, light, lie, night, bright, fight, might, tight, much, before, line, right, too
* Please note that the original list has "right" on it twice. Please change one of those to "fight."
Our specials schedule for next week will be:
Monday - music
Tuesday - computer
Wednesday - art
Thursday - music
Friday - gym
* I could use one more parent volunteer if you have the time to donate. I'm willing to work with your schedule. I am open any morning or afternoon except Monday and Wednesday mornings, as I already have two wonderful mommies volunteering on those days!
I hope your weekend is fun-filled and relaxing!
Next week will be the last week of first quarter. We will read Winners Never Quit. Our focus skill will be making predictions, and our strategy will be to use prior knowledge to help us make predictions. High frequency words will be brother, caught, cheer, learn, lose, and straight. Our robust vocabulary words will be agile, spectator, competitive, and worthwhile. In grammar we will begin talking about nouns. We already have a little bit of knowledge about nouns, and the students should know a noun chant. Ask your second grader if they remember it, and if they do, have them do it for you. And speaking of chants, have your second grader do the main idea chant for you as well! We will wrap up our letter writing unit next week.
Spelling will be changing slightly beginning next week. Due to inconsistencies between grade levels as far as how many words the students are required to learn how to spell, we are cutting our list down to 15 words. The list will consist of ten words with the weekly pattern and five sight words. Next week's pattern is long i words spelled with ie and igh spelling patterns. Words are:
pie, high, tie, light, lie, night, bright, fight, might, tight, much, before, line, right, too
* Please note that the original list has "right" on it twice. Please change one of those to "fight."
Our specials schedule for next week will be:
Monday - music
Tuesday - computer
Wednesday - art
Thursday - music
Friday - gym
* I could use one more parent volunteer if you have the time to donate. I'm willing to work with your schedule. I am open any morning or afternoon except Monday and Wednesday mornings, as I already have two wonderful mommies volunteering on those days!
I hope your weekend is fun-filled and relaxing!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Good Things Are Happening!
This week we read our first nonfiction selection of the year. It was a story called Dogs,
and as I predicted, the kids really enjoyed it. Our focus skill for
the week was main idea and details, and I was surprised at how well we
did with this! It's usually a pretty difficult skill, especially this
early in the year, but these kids are really getting it - great job!
Our high frequency words for the week were bicycle, sugar, exercise,
sometimes, and special. Robust vocabulary words were depend,
responsibility, frisky, and affinity. We learned about parts of
sentences - the naming part and the telling part. We also continued our
letter writing unit.
Next week will be another first - our first week of Readers' Theater. A Readers' Theater is like a play, only without the acting and without the memorization of lines. The students will practice reading a part in a story all week in preparation for a performance on Friday. The main focus of this type of reading is to increase fluency (the speed and accuracy) and practice using expression when we are reading. We will discuss characters again as well as main idea and details. It will be a review week for grammar skills - we'll be wrapping up sentences and reviewing the four types (statement, question, command, and exclamation) and the two parts (naming and telling). We will continue letter writing as well. High-frequency words will be a review from the past four weeks. I don't anticipate any difficulties with these words, as the kids are doing a fantastic job with these! Robust vocabulary words will be penalty, location, excitable, and positive. Spelling words will also be a review. The list will consist of ten words that we have already had as spelling words over the last four weeks and ten sight words. The spelling words for next week will be:
has, win, spot, best, mud, same, broke, rule, clean, sleep, name, good, sentence, man, think, say, great, where, help, through
Our specials schedule for next week will be:
Monday - computer
Tuesday - art
Wednesday - music
Thursday - gym
Friday - library
Have a nice weekend - enjoy the weather!
Next week will be another first - our first week of Readers' Theater. A Readers' Theater is like a play, only without the acting and without the memorization of lines. The students will practice reading a part in a story all week in preparation for a performance on Friday. The main focus of this type of reading is to increase fluency (the speed and accuracy) and practice using expression when we are reading. We will discuss characters again as well as main idea and details. It will be a review week for grammar skills - we'll be wrapping up sentences and reviewing the four types (statement, question, command, and exclamation) and the two parts (naming and telling). We will continue letter writing as well. High-frequency words will be a review from the past four weeks. I don't anticipate any difficulties with these words, as the kids are doing a fantastic job with these! Robust vocabulary words will be penalty, location, excitable, and positive. Spelling words will also be a review. The list will consist of ten words that we have already had as spelling words over the last four weeks and ten sight words. The spelling words for next week will be:
has, win, spot, best, mud, same, broke, rule, clean, sleep, name, good, sentence, man, think, say, great, where, help, through
Our specials schedule for next week will be:
Monday - computer
Tuesday - art
Wednesday - music
Thursday - gym
Friday - library
Have a nice weekend - enjoy the weather!
MacQueen's Apple Orchard
Here are the pictures Miss Geddert was able to take on the field trip last Friday. Looking at them makes me sad that I wasn't a part of such a fun day, but in the end I'm just glad the kids enjoyed it! Thanks again to our chaperones!
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