Wed. Oct. 20
HALLOWEEN
Next Friday will be the Halloween parade.In preparation for that, I wanted to
share a couple of guidelines regarding costumes. Shaker Lane School's policy
is that no weapons be brought in, i.e. plastic swords, guns, etc. Children
should be able to get their costume on themselves or with just a little help.
There is one girl's bathroom with 2 stalls for all of second grade, and 1
stall for all of the boys, so all children will be changing in the classroom.
If you need to make any changes in your child's costumes please do so to help
with this. For example, a girl could wear leggings and a light shirt to
school, and then put on a princess dress over that. We will be having a low
key party after that. Mrs. Hamilton, our room mother has contacted a few of
you to send in supplies. Thank you in advance! Please only send in food if
she has contacted you. We should have lots of fun and we look forward to
seeing you outside the building for the parade, around 1:45 pm. Thanks !
Thu. Oct. 7
CLASS MEETING
Your child has begun participating in class maeeting. Wed. Sep. 29.One part
of class meeting is sharing.
Children will be able to bring in a special toy or object for sharing when it
is their turn. Each week three children will have a turn to share.If not
sharing, they may sign up for something else at meeting. If your child
forgets their sharing, they may bring it in the next day, or on Monday.
Otherwise they need to wait for their next turn. Below is a schedule for the
next few months so you can help them remember when its their turn. A note:
when
choosing sharing, children are limited to one or two items, maximum, and they
should be able to carry it themselves. No live animals, please (photos are
fine) and children should discuss it with you if they want to bring anything
valuable or breakable. Additionally, children are welcome to bring things
relating to curriculum to school (such as a balancing book when we study
balancing) but if it is not related to a curriculum area, they should save it
for their sharing day. PLease also discourage your child from bringing
outdoor things inside or to class meeting such as acorns and nests, as we
have several students with tree nut allergies and want to keep them safe.
Thank you!
CLASS MEETING SHARING SCHEDULE:
Oct. 7
Maddie, Dylan, Tara
October 14
Shane, Jack, Matthew
October 21
Ellie, Hannah, Olivia
October 28
Alex, Robert, Megan
Nov. 4
Kelly, Zelene, Evan
week of Nov. 8 (date of class mtg. TBA)
Natasha
Jerry
Kathryn
Nove 18
Jesada, Jackie, Dylan
Dec. 2
Maddie, Tara, Shane
Dec. 9
Jack, Matthew, Ellie
Dec. 16
Hanna, Olivia, Alex
Dec. 23
Robert, Megan, Kelly
The rotation will continue on in 2011. I will send a reminder about dates in
Jan. Thanks!
Your child may have been telling you about the traffic light system and prize
tickets. Feel free to ask them more about that. This is tied in to the HEART
program. Following all of our HEART values as well as our specific class
rules and getting work done as best as you can are ways to stay on green. As
the class discussed, the most common reasons right now for kids going on
yellow are not following directions (such as not cleaning up and going to
desks despite repeated instructions) or repeated interrupting/talking out.
Most children have been on green every day or almost every day so far! Feel
free to ask your child how they have been doing.
Look forward to seeing you and your child tonight at Open House!
FRI. Sep. 17
Updates: Good morning ! We are off to a great start in room 202! I wanted to
keep you in the loop about several things. Mostly I will post information on
the class website: http://teacherweb.com/MA/ShakerLaneSchool/MissMawn/h2.aspx
but I will let you know when there is an update there.
Class Meeting starts next week:
We are about to begin our weekly class meeting schedule. Please ask your
child what class meeting is all about! One part of class meeting is sharing.
Children will be able to bring in a special toy or object for sharing when it
is their turn. Each week three children will have a turn to share.If not
sharing, they may sign up for something else at meeting. A note: when
choosing sharing, children are limited to one or two items, maximum, and they
should be able to carry it themselves. No live animals, please (photos are
fine) and children should discuss it with you if they want to bring anything
valuable or breakable. Additionally, children are welcome to bring things
relating to curriculum to school (such as a balancing book when we study
balancing) but if it is not related to a curriculum area, they should save it
for their sharing day. PLease also discourage your child from bringing
outdoor things inside or to class meeting such as acorns and nests, as we
have several students with tree nut allergies and want to keep them safe.
Thank you!
You might want to ask your child if he/she would like
a hand pencil sharpener for their desk. Check with them, and see if they
could use something like that for their desk. Thanks so much.
On your child's birthday, you may send in a special snack. The Littleton
Schools Wellness policy and the school nurse asks that we do not serve
unhealthy snacks for birthdays. Additionally, we have a number of students in
the classroom and many in the school with food allergies - some life
threatening - and it may just be best to keep baked goods, etc. out of the
room. We ask that you consider sending in a fun alternative. Some popular
choices include fun pencils for the students in the class, superballs, silly
putty, small gift bags for the students, stickers, etc. As far as healthy
snacks, fruit salads and veggies and dip have always been a hit.
Volunteers: A Volunteer sign up will be available at Open House night (you
may bring your children to that night). Math volunteers may not be starting
right away as the schedule for that is up in the air. There will be other
volunteer slots, though. We couldn't do it without you!
Wish list: Check the website for ideas. Additionally, we could use plastic
spoons, plastic bags of all sizes, crayons, and markers.Thank you very much
and enjoy your weekend!
Rebecca Mawn
Grade 2
MON. Sep. 13
Homework packets will be sent home starting today. A packet will go home on
Monday and your child should return it on Friday. If your child has any
questions about the homework, please have them ask me about it in class, or
you can write me a note and I will see what I can. Keep in mind that homework
will reflect what second grade benchmarks we are working on, and therefore,
depending on how your child is doing with a certain topic, may sometimes be a
little easy, sometimes a little hard, but often just right! Thank you.
Volunteering will begin later than usual this year due to some changes in
the Language Arts program. I need to see how that will work before I can
schedule volunteers. In the meantime, you can always contact one of the
following people at SHaker Lane to help out:
The art teacher welcomes volunteers, as does the librarian, and the
school needs recess and lunch volunteers, and I am pretty sure the office in
general would love volunteers. Thank you.
WED. April 14
Reluctantly, and effective immediately, the teachers of Littleton have
decided to withdrawl all voluntary services until we make adequate progress
in our negotiations with the Superintendent and the school committee. This
includes parental communication ourside of the school day and updates to our
websites. We deeply regret having to take these steps because as teachers we
are proud of what we do and proud of what our students accomplish. We have
always given more than is what is contractually asked of us.
We sincerely appreciate your ongoing support.
TUE. MARCH 16
MATH WEBSITES
Here is a list of great math websites where your child can go for online math
practice as well as some printables.
http://www.aplusmath.com/Worksheets/index.html
adding/subtracting
http://www.coolmath4kids.com/fractions/
fractions
http://www.amblesideprimary.com/ambleweb/mentalmaths/grapher.html
graphing
http://www.learningplanet.com/sam/sm/index.asp
adding/subtracting
http://www.firstschoolyears.com/
http://www.mathplayground.com/wordproblems.html
http://www.myschoolhouse.com/courses/math-lessons.htm
everything!
THU. MARCH 4
PAJAMA DAY is tomorrow!If your child likes they may wear their pajamas to
school. They should also be prepared for outdoor recess so they could bring
another pair of pants to put on over their PJs for recess. Due to the lice
issues, children should not bring in pillows, blankets, stuffed animals or
slippers. Thanks a ton.
MON. FEB. 8
POETRY AUTHOR'S SHARE: We hope to see you on FRIDAY, FEB. 12 AT 2:30 PM for
our poetry author's share in room 202. Feel free to bring siblings,
grandparents, etc. Your child will be sharing their poetry book with you and
we may possibly have some students read poems aloud to us!
RECESS : Morning recess has been indoors every day since sometime in January.
Lunch recess is sometimes outside but seems to be "blacktop" only, unless
there has been fresh snow that is not too wet and melting. Therefore, I'd
recommend to save your family time in the morning, only send snowpants and
boots to school when there is a fresh snowfall.
100's DAY: We are not doing a ton for 100's day due to Valentine's Day and
Poetry share the next day, but if your child would like to wear something
with 100 things on it they may.
TUE. JAN. 26
In math, we have been working on 2 digit subtraction. We used rods and cubes
as manipulatives to show the concept of taking away ones and tens and also of
trading. The students also have been introduced to the traditional pencil and
paper algorithm to solve problems such as :
39
-27
__
They also have been introduced and will be working all week on subtracting
with regrouping (also sometimes called trading or borrowing), which is needed
when the ones digit of the bigger number is smaller than the ones digit of
the smaller number:
36
-19
____
Here are some websites that your child can try to practice more two-digit
subtraction:
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-
8&rlz=1T4ADBS_enUS311US334&q=2+digit+subtraction+games (good game your child
can play with a partner)
http://www.learn4good.com/games/kids/double_digits.htm (click on subtraction)
http://www.numbernut.com/basic/activities/sub_4card_2x1word.shtml (word
problems)
TUE. JAN . 13
Would you like a link to a website that has some tips for helping your child
with homework? Check out
http://www.ed.gov/parents/academic/help/homework/index.html . One tip I would
add is help your child find a consistent place to keep homework assignments
and project directions - maybe stuck to the fridge or pinned to a bulletin
board or in a certain place on the child's desk.
SPELLING: Added to this week's words: wishbone, which, and matching. We need
more practice !
FRI. DEC. 18
Thanks to Mrs. Taylor for the kind donation of an electric pencil sharpener!
What a thoughtful gift!
TUE. DEC. 15
WOW! Thanks to all of you for your generosity, we collected 19 (yes, 19) toys
for Tots! Amazing. Thank you!
MON. DECEMBER 7
Toys for Tots:
If you would like to, send new, unwrapped toy for a tot. The last deadline
is on FRIDAY, DEC. 11. I will be dropping them off after school that day, so
get them in before Friday or on Friday!
MON. NOV 30
TOYS FOR TOTS
At this time of year, many people exchange gifts. As in past years, I would
like my class to consider not giving me a gift, since I have everything I
need, and consider those who are needy. I will be collecting Toys for Tots in
the classroom again this year. Please consider, instead of giving the teacher
a gift this month, donating a toy for a tot. It should be new and unwrapped.
I remember last year the need was high for non-violent toys for kids ages 9-
12 and baby toys. I am sure those are needed this year again but anything
would be appreciated. It looks like I will need to get the toys to the drop
off location the weekend of December 11, so all toys must be dropped off by
Friday, December 11. Thank you for considering others at this time of year.
WED. NOV 18
Food Drive:
Shaker Lane School is having a food drive for Loaves and Fishes. Please feel
free to send in food between now and Nov. 24th. For safety reasons, do not
send items in glass jars or containers. Canned goods, rice, cereals, etc. are
all great! Thank you.
CURRICULUM:
We have had a busy 1st trimester. As we wrap up the trimester we are talking
a lot about effort, which is E in our HEART program. We have been discussing
how if something is difficult for you and you put in lots of effort, it
becomes easier and you learn more and do better. On the flip side, it has
come up that something can be easy for you, but you don't put in much effort
and end up doing a bad job when you could have done fabulous. Effort will
remain a focus as we enter next trimester. In math, we wrapped up units 1, 2,
and 3 and are doing a few days focusing in on telling time/elapsed times
before we start unit 4. In Social Studies, we are pausing in our geography
studies for now. We have been working hard on learning about the compass
rose, map keys and the seven continents. We will pick back up later on to
learn about 4 major oceans. We will be starting a science unit on animals in
winter (hibernation, migration and adaptation), so be on the lookout for
activities relating to that. Thank you!
THU. NOV. 5
WISH LIST:
We would love for either families to donate mechanical pencils or for each
child to bring a few to school for themselves. Pencil sharpening of regular
pencils is problematic for us and mechanical pencils would probably help.
Thanks!
TUESDAY, OCT. 27
OPEN HOUSE: Tomorrow is Open House Night! You and your child can come check
out our classroom, tour the school, meet friends and more. Here is what will
be happening:
VOLUNTEERING SIGN UP
At Open House night, there will be a Volunteer Sign Up.
-If you can not come and would like to volunteer, please let me know I and I
will tell you what slots are available.
-Volunteers should find child care for their younger
children during their volunteer time.
-Also, please note that if want to volunteer, you must sign up at Open House
or during the week or two following it. Our schedule is so complicated that I
will not be able to accomodate new volunteers that want to work with students
later in the year.
-If people find they have extra time this winter and spring,they are
certainly welcome to volunteer in ways such as copying, switching out
bulletin board, etc.
Thank you so much to all of you who offered so far to help. Your assistance
is so appreciated and valuable!
CONFERENCE SIGN UP
At Open House, there will be a conference sign up. Please think about your
availability on Dec. 2 and Dec. 3 or bring your schedule along so you can
select a conference time.
WISH LIST
There will be sticky notes with wish list items on them. Feel free to take a
sticky note and donate that item to the classroom.
Q&A IN THE CAFETERIA
After visiting the classroom, if you have any general questions about the
school that I cannot answer, you can head down to the cafeteria where Mr.
Faherty will be leading a Q&A session. Keep in mind, there are many questions
I can help answer in the classroom, or by a phone call or at conference time.
Hope you can come and check out Rockin' Room 202 and see some of your child's
work!
THURSDAY. SEP. 24
On your child's birthday, you may send in a special snack. Some popular
choices include cookies and cupcakes. Please do not send in a full cake that
needs to be cut. We have 21 students and 2 teachers. Also, please note we
have some students with food allergies. Please try and avoid sending anything
with nuts in it. Thank you.
THURSDAY, SEP. 17
You might want to ask your child if he/she would like some mechanical pencils
and/or a hand sharpener for their desk. Students have been spending lots of
time sharpening pencils, and as you might imagine, less time focusing on
academic activities. I encourage all to sharpen a bunch of pencils before
9:00 and then have decided that they must borrow from friends or use a hand
sharpener after that time. Check with them, and see if they could use
something like that for their desk. Thanks so much.
MONDAY, SEP. 14
Homework packets will be sent home starting today. A packet will go home on
Monday and your child should return it on Friday. If your child has any
questions about the homework, please have them ask me about it in class, or
you can write me a note and I will see what I can. Keep in mind that homework
will reflect what second grade benchmarks we are working on, and therefore,
depending on how your child is doing with a certain topic, may sometimes be a
little easy, sometimes a little hard, but often just right! Thank you.
Volunteering will begin later than usual this year due to some changes in
the Language Arts program. I need to see how that will work before I can
schedule volunteers. In the meantime, you can always contact one of the
following people at SHaker Lane to help out:
The art teacher welcomes volunteers, as does the librarian, and the
school needs recess and lunch volunteers, and I am pretty sure the office in
general would love volunteers. Thank you.
