October 9, 2009 Update...

Hi Parents and Students,

We are so excited about our Movie Night tonight! We have finished Charlotte's Web in class and will be taking a comprehension assessment on the story Monday. We also will be taking the AR quiz, which will help us all get a jumpstart on meeting our new AR goals. Please check your child's Monday agenda section for your child's new goal. We conferenced on Friday and reassessed how we did with our reading this past nine weeks to determine the new goal. The comprehension average will still be set at 85%. Please emphasize comprehension with your child. Some children think that the goal of AR is to speed read and take as many tests as possible, but their comprehension suffers. This week, the children were also given the opportunity to show me what they have learned in regards to writing. We took the final nine week writing assessment on Friday. I am looking at your child's ability to independently write a personal narrative of appropriate length and detail, as well as looking at whether or not your child is applying conventions expected at this level. Next week, we will take our final assessment on Math. This test will cover number representation, addition with regrouping, comparing numbers, graphing, and money. Check out below to see what else has been going on in our Fabulous Second Grade Class!

Phonics: We reviewed all the spelling patterns covered in this first nine weeks.

Writing: Teacher modeled several personal narratives, as we discussed what makes a piece of writing great. The children wrote in their journals on two mornings, and we shared "great starts" for personal narratives. We also continue to summarize books that we are reading. We will get more in depth with our summary writing the 2nd nine weeks, as our writing genre is "Response to Literature".

Reading: We finished our shared reading, Charlotte's Web. We also worked in small groups on identifying story elements from passages. We read several nonfiction passages and identified the main idea in the story.

Math: We continue to work on counting various amounts of money. The children are learning about making equal trades and expanding their knowlege of money. We also introduced counting and writing money up to $20.00. Mrs. Pepper sat in on one fun math lesson, in which I gave the kids the number of coins I had and the amount and the children had to determine what coins I had. We wrote on our desks using dry erase markers. Mrs. Pepper said this is the only time she condones writing on the desks! We also reviewed concepts previously learned this nine weeks.

Social Studies: We learned all about the Cherokee tribe and the contributions of Sequoyah. The Cherokee tribe is almost identical in the ways of life as the Creek tribe. I did not send home study materials this week, as I believe if your child is actively engaged in class, this is sufficient for them to be able to learn and understand the topic. We took the Cherokee assessment on Friday. Next week, we will begin learning about the early Colonists and the important historical figures who influenced Georgia history. Also, don't forget to help your child practice his/her research project due Monday. The children will be getting a "oral presentation" grade, which will be reflected on the report card.


Class Reminder and Notes:

Thank you to the Brooks family, the Sharpe family, the Sampsell family, the McKinnon Family, the Glass family, and the Schadl family for your book donations from the book fair! Our class library is growing and the kids are so excited to get into these new books!

Also, thank you to Mrs. Brooks for coming up and helping in the classroom on Wednesdays and Fridays. She has been volunteering her time to read with the children and help them get those AR points.

Thank you also to Mrs. Glass for her time volunteering on Tuesdays to complete copying, as well as preparing other materials that I am using in class with the students.