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Mrs. Ilg's 2nd Grade Website



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Announcements

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Wednesday June 10, 2009

Warm-Up: Math worksheet

Specials: Art, Movie, Token Raffle, "Oh the Places You'll Go" book.

Daily 5/Reading: Read "Me" books to partners.

HAVE A WONDERFUL SUMMER!  KEEP READING AND KEEP A SUMMER JOURNAL OF YOUR 
TRAVELS AND ADVENTURES!

LOVE YOU ALL!

Mrs. Ilg :)

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Tuesday June 9, 2009

Warm-Up: Social Studies worksheet.

Writing: Sharing of "Me" books.

Specials: Computer Lab (Library), Movie :).

Math: Counting to 1000.

**1/2 Day tomorrow!**

**Last Day tokens raffle is tomorrow!  Don't forget to bring your backpacks 
to load up your stuff!**

**Report Cards went out today.**

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Monday June 8, 2009

Warm-Up: Math worsheet

Specials: FIELD DAY!

Writing: "Me" Books
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Friday June 5, 2009

Warm-Up: Math worksheet

Specials: Friday Feature, Computer Lab, Recognition Assembly, Music

Writing: "Me" Books

**MONDAY IS FIELD DAY - DRESS APPROPRIATELY!**

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Thursday June 4, 2009

Warm-Up: OCK worksheet

**Visit to Dunlap 8:45-11:00**

Math: TIME-O, workbook pages

Specials: Music, Social Studies

**Tomorrow at 1:30, we will hold a "graduation" ceremony for 2nd graders in 
the gym.  Parents are welcome.**
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Wednesday June 3, 2009

Warm-Up: OCK worksheet

Specials: Gym, Art

Writer's Workshop: "ME" Books.

Science: Science reflections.

**Last week for spelling tests!  No new words will come home this week.**
**Tomorrow from 8:45-11:30, the class will be visiting Dunlap Elementary.**
**On Friday at 1:30, we will hold a "graduation" ceremony for 2nd graders.  
Parents are welcome.**

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Monday June 1, 2009

Warm-Up: OCK worksheet, cleaned desks, practiced telling time.

Specials: Gym

Daily 5/Reading: I am testing still. :)

Writer's Workshop: Began "ME" books.

Science: Wall-E Movie, Plant Bingo (if time permits).

Math: Workbook pages involving subtraction.

**Last week for spelling tests!  No new words will come home this week.**
**On Thursday from 8:45-11:30, the class will be visiting Dunlap Elementary.**
**On Friday at 1:30, we will hold a "graduation" ceremony for 2nd graders.**
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Friday May 29, 2009

Warm-Up: ASH worksheets, math facts quiz

Specials: Computer Lab, Friday Feature (!!), Music

Daily 5/Reading: I am testing/comprehension questions groups

Writer's Workshop: Finish KINDNESS writing prompt.

Math: Workbook pages with subtraction.

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Thursday May 28, 2009

Warm-Up: Math worksheet, math facts quiz, Transitions talk with Mrs. Bierbaum

Specials: Music

Daily 5/Reading: Comprehension Question groups

Writer's Workshop: KINDNESS writing.

Math: Workbook pages with subtraction.

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Friday May 22, 2009

Warm-Up: Time-telling worksheet, math facts quiz

Specials: Music, Friday Feature, Computer Lab

Daily 5/Reading: I am testing this week.

Writer's Workshop: Book Covers.

Science: Review for assessment on Tuesday.

Math: Story problems with subtraction.
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Wednesday May 20, 2009

Warm-Up: OTE worksheet, math facts quiz, page M18, M19 (from math unit).

Specials: Art, Gym

Daily 5/Reading: I am testing this week.

Writer's Workshop: Book covers.

Math: Story problems with subtraction.

Science: Movie, End of Plant Unit discussion

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Tuesday May 19, 2009

Warm-Up: OTE worksheet, math facts quiz, coordinate plane worksheet

Specials: Library, Social Studies, SAS speakers

Daily 5/Reading: I am testing this week.

Writer's Workshop: Book covers.

Math: Plus 9 or 10 Bingo, subtraction with 2 digit numbers

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Monday May 18, 2009

Warm-Up: Money worksheet, Poem of the Week, desk cleaning.

Specials: Gym

Daily 5/Reading: I'm testing this week.

Writer's Workshop: Book covers.

Math: Subtraction problems.

Science: Discussion of what plants need to survive, review of plant life 
cycle.
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Friday May 15, 2009

Warm-Up: Math facts quiz, numbers in a sequence worksheet.

Specials: Computer Lab, Music, Friday Feature

Daily 5/Reading: I'm testing this week.

Writer's Workshop: Finishing recipe stories, working on end of the year books.

Math: Plus 9 or 10 Bingo, workbook pages

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Thursday May 14, 2009

Warm-Up: Word wall sentences, 2 digit number worksheet, math facts quiz, and 
dictionary practice.

Daily 5/Reading: I am testing this week.

Math: Even and Odd Number Addition.

Specials: Social Studies, Music
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Wednesday May 13, 2009

Warm-Up: 2-Digit Number Addition Worksheet, Math Assessment

Specials: Art, Gym

Writing: Finishing recipe stories.

Daily 5/Reading: I am testing this week.

Math: Even and Odd Number Addition.

Science: Discussion and Investigation: Do Plants Need Air to Survive?

**BOOK ORDERS CAME IN TODAY!**
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Tuesday May 12, 2009

Warm-Up: Math assessment, ACK worksheet

Daily 5/Reading: I am still testing.

Writing: Finishing recipe stories.

Math: Even and odd numbers with story problems.

Specials: Library, Social Studies.
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Thursday May 7, 2009

Warm-Up: 2-digit numbers practice, word wall sentences, special craft :)

Daily 5/Reading: I am testing this week.

Writing: Finishing recipe stories.

Math: Equivalent Fractions

Specials: Music, Social Studies
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Wednesday May 6, 2009

Warm-Up: ACK worksheet

Specials: ACES dance, Art, Gym

Math: Comparing fractions.

Daily 5/Reading: I am testing this week.

Writer's Workshop: Recipe stories

**EXCELLENT concert last night!**
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Tuesday May 5, 2009

Warm-Up: Math worksheet

Specials: Music practice at the high school, Social Studies

Math: Fractions on a number line.

Daily 5/Reading: I am testing this week.

Writing: Finishing "recipe stories."

**BOOK ORDERS WERE CALLED IN YESTERDAY AND SHOULD ARRIVE NEXT WEEK!**

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Friday May 1st, 2009

Warm-Up: Money worksheet, math facts test, MEAP practice.

Specials: Music, Friday Feature, Diabetes Walk, Computer Lab

Daily 5/Reading: I met with one group today.

Writer's Workshop: Recipe stories.

Math: Hershey's Fractions

Science: Baggie Garden observations.

**BOOK ORDERS DUE MONDAY!**
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Thursday April 30, 2009

Warm-Up: Even/Odd/Place Value worksheet, math facts, and MEAP practice.

Specials: Music, Social Studies

Daily 5/Reading: I met with one group today.

Writer's Workshop: Recipe stories.

Math: Fractions practice/fractions assessment.

BOOK ORDERS DUE MONDAY!
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Wednesday April 29, 2009

Warm-Up: Addition with 2 digit numbers, math facts test.

Specials: Art, Gym

Daily 5/Reading: I met with two groups today.

Writer's Workshop: Finished mystery stories.

Math: Fraction assessment.

Science: Mini-gardens!

**Book Orders Due Monday!  This will be the last one for the year!**
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Tuesday April 28, 2009

Warm-Up: OOK family words, math facts test, imagination writing.

Daily 5/Reading: I met with two groups today.

Writer's Workshop: Finishing mystery stories.

Specials: Library, Social Studies

Math: Fraction Flags (fourths, thirds, and halves).

**Book Order went home today.  This is due Monday!**
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Monday April 27, 2009

Warm-Up: OOK family words, Poem of the Week, cleaned desks, practiced telling 
time.

Daily 5/Reading: I met with two groups today.

Writer's Workshop: Finishing mystery stories.

Specials: Gym

Math: Folding Fractions

Science: Baggie Gardens

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Friday April 24, 2009

Warm-Up: Math worksheet, math facts test.

Daily 5/Reading: I met with one group today!

Writer's Workshop: Mystery stories - most are in the publishing stages!

Specials: Music, Friday Feature (earned!)

Math: Multiple halves :)

Science: Baggie gardens.

**Diabetes walk permission slip due by May 1st!**
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Thursday April 23, 2009

Warm-Up: Dictionary words, Mrs. Bierbaum visited us today!

Daily 5/Reading: I met with two groups today.

Writer's Workshop: Mystery stories!

Math: Multiple halves practice.

Specials: Music, Social Studies

**Diabetes Walk permission slips need to be signed regardless if you raise 
money for it or not!  :)
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Wednesday April 22, 2009

Warm-Up: EW words and Today's Number is 15.

Specials: Gym, Art, Diabetes Walk assembly, AND paid recess time!

Reading/Daily 5: I met with two groups today.

Writing: Mystery stories!

Math: Different types of "halves."

Science: The students put their tokens together for the first time to pay for 
an outside recess.  They paid 75 tokens!  Way to go!

Diabetes Walk permission slips need to be signed regardless if you raise 
money for it or not!  :)
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Tuesday April 21, 2009

Warm-Up: EW family words, math facts tests, and MEAP writing practice.

Specials: Library, Social Studies

Reading/Daily 5: I met with two groups today.

Writing: Mystery stories!

Math: Understanding halves.

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Monday April 20, 2009

Warm-Up: EW family words, word wall words talk, and cleaned desks.

Specials: Gym

Reading/Daily 5: I met with two groups today.

Writer's Workshop: Mystery Stories!

Math: Fractions begin!  We are studying halves at first.

Science: Designed a seed experiment.

**Math journals from Unit 6 went home over the weekend.  We checked most of 
the pages that we completed together.  Anything we did not complete can be 
done as extra practice at home!**

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Friday April 17, 2009

Warm-Up: Math Facts, MEAP practice

Specials: Music, Computer Lab

Reading/Daily 5: I met with one group today.

Writer's Workshop: Finished spring break stories, worked on MEAP practice 
writing.

Math: Took an assessment on spending $1 and skip counting.

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Thursday April 16, 2009

Warm-Up: Word wall sentences, MEAP writing practice, math facts tests.

Specials: Music, Social Studies

Daily 5/Reading: I met with one reading group today.

Writer's Workshop: Finished spring break stories.

Math: Practiced counting by 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s.  We also practiced spending 
money using story problems.

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Wednesday April 15, 2009

Warm-Up: MEAP practice, OAT family words

Specials: Art, Gym

Reading/Daily 5: I met with two groups today.

Writer's Workshop: Spring Break Stories.

Math: Workbook pages (story problems).

Science: Dissect a seed.
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Tuesday April 14, 2009

Warm-Up: OAT family words, addition facts and MEAP practice.

Specials: Library, Social Studies

Daily 5/Reading: I met with two groups today.

Writer's Workshop: Spring Break Stories.

Math: Played "Spend $1.00" and completed workbook pages.

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Monday April 13, 2009

Welcome Back!

Warm-Up: OAT words, rules review, cleaned desks.

Specials: Gym

Writer's Workshop: Spring Break stories.

Daily 5/Reading: I met with two groups today.

Math: Played "Unroll a Square" and "Spend $1.00."

Science: Examined different seeds and discussed their characteristics.

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Thursday April 2, 2009

Warm-Up: AIL family words

Specials: Social Studies

Writer's Workshop: Spring Break stories.

**1/2 Day Today!**

**Book Orders came in today!**

***Have a wonderful Spring Break!  Keep reading!***
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Wednesday April 1, 2009

Warm-Up: AIL family words and whale books.

Specials: Art

Writer's Workshop: Spring Break stories.

**1/2 Day, Conferences tonight: 1-4, 5-8:30.**

**No new reading logs or new spelling words this week.  It is too difficult 
with a shortened week and the break coming up.  However, keep reading and 
practicing spelling!  We will give spelling tests again the week after Spring 
Break!**

**Book Orders were placed on Friday.  The books may come in before break, but 
most likely after!**
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Tuesday March 31, 2009

Warm-Up: AIL family words,and worked on our whale books.

Specials: Library, Social Studies

Writer's Workshop: Spring Break Anticipation stories.

Math: Discussed "Does It Equal 100?"

**Pajama Day Today!** 

**No new reading logs or new spelling words this week.  It is too difficult 
with a shortened week and the break coming up.  However, keep reading and 
practicing spelling!  We will give spelling tests again the week after Spring 
Break!**

**Book Orders were placed on Friday.  The books may come in before break, but 
most likely after!**
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Monday March 30, 2009

Warm-Up: Practiced our AIL family words, cleaned our desks, and practiced 
telling time.

Specials: Gym, Bomber's Assembly

Writer's Workshop: Spring Break prompt.

Math: Played "Get to $1" and "Get to 100."

Science: Worked on whale books.

**Conferences tonight from 4-7.**

**No new reading logs or new spelling words this week.  It is too difficult 
with a shortened week and the break coming up.  However, keep reading and 
practicing spelling!  We will give spelling tests again the week after Spring 
Break!**

**Book Orders were placed on Friday.  The books may come in before break, but 
most likely after!**
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Friday March 27, 2009

Warm-Up: Spring Word Search fun.

Specials: Computer Lab, Reading Basketball Finale, Friday Feature, Music

Writer's Workshop: Finished publishing "prank" stories.

Math: Played "Get to 100" and "Collect $1." We also completed one journal 
page.

**Tuesday is Pajama Day!**
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Thursday March 26, 2009

Warm-Up: Worked on our OW family words, completed our "book awards," and 
finished writing about "friendship."  We also worked on science a bit since 
we were unable to get to it yesterday!

Specials: Music, Social Studies

Writer's Workshop: Publishing "prank" stories...hopefully finished by 
tomorrow!

Math: Played "Get to 100" and completed a few workbook pages.

**Boor Orders Due Tomorrow!**

**No reading logs next week...**
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Wednesday March 25, 2009

Warm-Up: Worked on our OW family words.

Specials: Art, Gym, Guest Readers from the High School!

Writer's Workshop: Publishing "prank" stories.

Math:  Assessment: "How Many More."

Science: Whale books!

**Book Orders Due Friday.**
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Tuesday March 24, 2009

Warm-Up: Worked on our OW family words, practiced MEAP writing skills.

Daily 5/Reading: I started new reading groups today.

Writer's Workshop: Publishing "prank" stories.

Math: Worked on story problems, and played "Roll a Square 2."

Specials: Social Studies, Library
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Monday March 23, 2009

Warm-Up: Worked on our OW family words, wrote our word wall words of the 
week, read our Poem of the Week, and cleaned our desks.

Daily 5/Reading: I finished testing today!  I am able to begin new reading 
groups!

Writer's Workshop: Publishing "prank" stories.

Math: Played "Roll a Square," checked story problems, and completed a few 
workbook pages.

Science: Began whale book.

**We are in desperate need of sanitary wipes for the classroom...We clean our 
desks every Monday and it's nice to have these wipes for our desks.  We like 
to keep the germs to a minimum (or at least we try).

**Conferences begin Thursday from 4:00 - 7:20.**

**BOOK ORDER DUE FRIDAY**
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Friday March 20, 2009

Warm-Up: Happy Spring! wordsearch.

Specials: BC Symphany fieldtrip, Reading Log movie celebration, music

Math: Introduction to sticker books, played "Roll a Square."
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Thursday March 19, 2009

Warm-Up: Today we worked on our "AKE" family words, looked up words in the 
dictionary, and talked about the genre "fantasy."  

Specials: Brainstormers, Social Studies, Music

Daily 5/Reading: I continue to test for reading groups.

Writer's Workshop: Finish editing/publishing our "prank" stories.

Math: Sticker Books and story problems.

**Field trip to the Battle Creek Symphany tomorrow.  We will leave around 
9:15 and be back by 11:30.**
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Wednesday March 18, 2009

Warm-Up: Finished sharing our "leprechaun" stories.

Specials: Art, Gym

Daily 5/Reading: I will be testing for reading groups all this week.
I'm seeing lots of growth so far!

Writer's Workshop: Finish editing our "prank" stories.

Math: Missing Numbers on the 100s chart.

Science: Finishing up whale research for our research book.

**The Spring conference schedule confirmation sheet went home today.  It is 
PINK!**

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Monday March 16, 2009

Warm-Up: Worked on our "AKE" family words, practiced telling time, cleaned 
out our desks, read our "Poem of the Week," and wrote down our word wall 
words of the week!

Specials: Gym

Daily 5/Reading: I will be testing for reading groups all this week.

Writer's Workshop: "The Prank..." 

Math: Played "Roll a Square."

Science: We continue to do research for our non-fiction books on whales.
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Friday March 13, 2009

Warm-Up: GPM Reader's Theatre performances!

Specials: Computer Lab, Extra Gym Time (Reading Month Goal Attained)!, Music

Daily 5/Reading: I began testing today.

Writer's Workshop: Story of Your Choice today. :)

Math: Story problems and Guess My Number game.

Science: We continue to work on researching whales to eventually write a non-
fiction book.


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Tuesday March 10, 2009

Warm-Up: Worked on our "OUND" family words, played "Make Words," and 
made "costumes" for our GPM reader's theatre.

Specials: Library, Social Studies

Daily 5/Reading: I met with one group today.

Writer's Workshop: Some of us are still publishing our "leprechaun" stories, 
while others are writing stories of their own.

Math: Solved story problems involving two digit numbers (i.e. 23+57).

**I will send out a conference confirmation soon.  I hope my "oopsy" didn't 
make everyone too confused!**

**I will have a substitute tomorrow for a teacher conference.**
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Monday March 9, 2009

Warm-Up: Worked on our "OUND" family and word wall words.

Specials: Gym

Daily 5/Reading: I met with two groups today.

Writer's Workshop: Finishing up leprechaun stories.

Math: Solved story problems involving two digit numbers (i.e. 23+57).

Science: We are studying whales to write a non-fiction book about them later!

Wear a Readable T-Shirt Day tomorrow!
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Wednesday March 4, 2009

Warm-Up: Worked on our "ACE" family words, and performed GPM reader's theatre.

Specials: Art, Gym

Daily 5/Reading: I met with two groups today.

Writer's Workshop: We continue to work on our leprechaun stories!

Math: Looked for patterns in numbers and cube trains.

Science: Began our writing non-fiction unit on "whales."

**I sent home blank conference forms yesterday (OOPS)!  I e-mailed everyone 
their conference times today...if there is a problem with your time, please 
let me know.  Sorry for the confusion..."blonde moment!"  
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Tuesday March 3, 2009

Warm-Up: Worked on our "ACE" family words, practiced telling time, and 
practiced our GPM reader's theatre.  We also practiced writing in complete 
sentences.

Specials: Library, March is Reading Month Assembly, Social Studies

Daily 5/Reading: I met with three groups today.

Writer's Workshop: This week, we are working on writing stories involving 
leprechauns!

Math: Looked for patterns in numbers and cube trains.

**March is Reading Month calendars went home over the weekend.  I will also 
be putting the week's events on this website under the "Calendar" link.  

**Bring in books for the book drive!**
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Friday February 27, 2009

Warm-Up: GPM reader's theatre, making words.

Specials: Computer Lab, Music, Friday Feature

Daily 5/Reading: Mr. Popper's Penguins group today.

Writer's Workshop: Finished "Click, Clack, Moo" stories.

Math: We continue to look at the relationship between data in a table.

Science: Worked on our "Trash Bash" pictures.

**March Reading Madness: Our theme this year is "basketball."  We will be 
having lots of fun activities and prizes every Friday for reading logs 
completed.  Reading logs for March will be due on Friday in order to give out 
prizes.  Also, reading for March will be increased to "30 minutes" a night.  
I collected all of the reading logs that I could today, and I put a new one 
in everyone's folder to begin tonight!  

Have a great weekend! 
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Thursday February 26, 2009

Warm-Up: Wrote sentences for our word wall words of the week and for 
our "ECK" family words.  We also played "Guess the Covered Word" and 
practiced looking up words in the dictionaries.

Daily 5/Reading: I met with two groups today and we read through our "GPM" 
reader's theatre.

Writer's Workshop: Finishing our "Click, Clack, Moo" stories.

Math: We continue to work on relationships involving tables.

Specials: Social Studies, Music
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Wednesday February 25, 2009

Warm-Up: Worked on our "ECK" family words.

Specials: Art, Gym

Daily 5/Reading: I met with one reading group today.

Writer's Workshop: Finishing up "Click, Clack, Moo" stories.

Math: Finished looking at table relationships.

Science: Today we read the book "The Great Trash Bash" and talked about ways 
that we could have a "trash bash."

**SOS: We could use some donations of pencils and dry erase markers. :)

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Tuesday February 24, 2009

Warm-Up: We worked on our "ECK" family words and performed a reader's theatre 
from the book "The Giraffe, Pelly, and Me."

Specials: Library, Social Studies

Daily 5/Reading: I met with three groups yesterday and plan on meeting with 
two reading groups today.

Writer's Workshop: We began our stories modeling the book "Click, Clack, Moo."

Math: We continue to work on our "Buildings" unit.  We also worked on using 
tables to organize data.

**I will be absent for a 1/2 day tomorrow (in the afternoon) due to a 
teacher's workshop for mathematics.**
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Friday February 20, 2009

Warm-Up: Battle Creek Bombers' book mark contest, and completed story 
elements for "The Giraffe, Pelly, and Me."

Writer's Workshop: Finished publishing brainstormer's stories.

Math: Began Unit 5 - using buildings to help with number sequence.

Specials: Friday Feature, Computer Lab, Music

**Unit 4 math journals came home today.  We checked each page we did in class 
together.  All other pages can be completed at home for extra practice if you 
would like!**

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Thursday February 19, 2009

Warm-Up: Worked on our "OON" family words, began to create a class book about 
recycling (we did not get to this yesterday!), and finished the book "The 
Giraffe, Pelly, and Me."

Writer's Workshop: Finish publishing brainstormer's stories.

Math: Finished our line plot assessment, began our new unit.

Specials: Social Studies, Music

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Wednesday February 18, 2009

McEducator's Night Tonight!

Specials: Art, Gym, Ronald McDonald visit

Writer's Workshop: We continue to publish brainstormer's stories.

Math: Survey and assessment.

Science: Created a class book about recycling!

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Tuesday February 17, 2009

Warm-Up: Worked on our "OON" family words, read our "Poem of the Week," 
worked on telling time, checked our homework from last week, and cleaned our 
desks.

Specials: Library, Social Studies

Writer's Workshop: We are in the works of publishing our "brainstormers" 
stories.

Math: Continue to work on line plots and interpreting data.

**New spelling words were given out today for both Monday and Tuesday 
spellers."
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Wednesday February 11, 2009

2 Hour Delay Today!  Very foggy this morning!

Well, today the kids and I caught up on all of the fun activities I had 
planned to get us ready for our Valentines Day celebration tomorrow.  We 
decorated the room a bit, made our Valentines envelopes, and made some cards 
for our family members.  

Our party will be from 2-3 tomorrow.  Please bring in Valentines cards (one 
per student) tomorrow.  We will be distributing them in the morning and 
opening them in the afternoon.  

Specials: Gym, Officer Todd's safety Lesson
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Friday February 6, 2009

Warm-Up: Read "The Giraffe, Pelly, and Me," worked on writing in complete 
sentences, and played "Make Words."

Specials: Computer Lab, Music

Daily 5/Reading: I met with one group today.

Writer's Workshop: Drafts of "Brainstormers" stories.

Math: Today I assessed student knowledge of 10+ facts.  We also began 
looking at line plots for Pocket Day and reviewed making "20."

**Our Valentines Day Party is on Thursday February 12th from 2:00 - 3:00.  
Please bring your valentines in that morning. :)
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Thursday February 5, 2009

Warm-Up: Played "Guess the Covered Word," looked up words from our "Poem of 
the Week" in dictionaries, and wrote sentences for our spelling words.

Daily 5/Reading: I met with one group today.

Writer's Workshop: We continue to write/plan stories for our Brainstormers 
to perform.

Math: We took an assessment, practiced our 10+ facts, and completed two 
workbook pages.

Specials: Social Studies, Music

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Wednesday February 4, 2009

Warm-Up: Practiced taking and analyzing surveys, and read "The Giraffe, 
Pelly, and Me."

Specials: Art, Gym

Daily 5/Reading: I met with two groups today.

Writing: We are beginning creative writing stories that will hopefully be 
later performed by our Brainstormers!

Math: Worked on categorizing different animals.

Science: Discussed which items were the most important to recycle and 
decorated our hallway banner.

**Valentines Day information went out today (finally)!  I attached a class 
list for valentines and talked to the kids about having to bring in a 
valentine for EACH child.  If you happen to lose the list, please let me 
know and I can print/send you another!**
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Tuesday February 3, 2009

Warm-Up: Today we worked on answering in complete sentences, we read "The 
Giraffe, Pelly, and Me," worked on coordinate grids, and made words out 
of "animals."

Specials: Library, Social Studies

Daily 5/Reading: I met with two groups today.

Writer's Workshop: Planned our "Brainstormer's" story.

Math: Organized our survey data from the question: "What is your 
favorite_____?"  We also worked on telling time and our 10+ facts.


**I wasn't able to finish all of the Valentines Day Party information 
yet...tonight hopefully! :)**

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Monday February 2, 2009

Warm-Up: We read our "Poem of the Week," talked about our word wall words 
for this week, cleaned our desks, and completed a fun "Groundhog Day" 
worksheet.

Specials: Gym

Math: We surveyed each other today about our "favorites."  We also practiced 
our 10+ facts.

Science: Today we talked about how long different items biodegrade (or turn 
into "dirt").  We also saw a movie that helped to illustrate this concept.

Daily 5/Reading: I met with one group today.

Writer's Workshop: Free write today and added finishing touches on "My 
Favorite Book Character."

**I was sick on Friday.  The substitute said the class was well-behaved.**

**Valentines Day information will be sent out tonight, lists will go home as 
well (if you have e-mail, it will come electronically).**
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Thursday January 29, 2009

Warm-Up: Worked on coordinate graphing, looking up words in our 
dictionaries, and wrote sentences involving our word wall words.

Specials: Brainstormer's Assembly, Music, Social Studies

Reading/Daily 5: I continue to meet with reading groups as usual this week.

Writer's Workshop: Finished writing about our favorite book characters.

Math: Used a Venn Diagram to categorize student attributes.  Played "Guess 
My Rule."

**Report cards went home yesterday in green folders. Two report cards were 
sent if necessary.**

**I will hopefully be back on track with updating the website...this week 
has been packed with report cards and afterschool meetings!**
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Tuesday January 27, 2009

Warm-Up: Worked on interpreting graphs and read "The Giraffe, Pelly, and Me."

Specials: Library

Reading/Daily 5: We are back to reading groups...

Writer's Workshop: We wrote about becoming a favorite character.

Math: Worked on representing data.

Science: "A World Without Recycling..."

**Report cards come home tomorrow!**

**Math Journals from Unit 3 went home yesterday.  We corrected the pages we 
completed together in class.  Any blank pages that we did not finish can be 
extra practice at home. :)

**Our Valentines Party will be on February 12th from 2:00 -3:00.  More 
information to come next week!**

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Thursday January 22, 2009

Warm-Up: Played "Guess the Covered Word," wrote sentences for our word wall 
words, looked up words in the dictionary from our "Poem of the Week," and 
worked on our ING family words.

Daily 5/Reading: Read "The Giraffe, Pelly, and Me" together and discussed 
different words we came across that were difficult.  

Writer's Workshop: Finished letters to our friends.

Math: Took an assessment and completed some workbook pages.

Specials: Social Studies, Music

**1/2 Day tomorrow!**
**Report Cards come home Jan. 28th.**
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday January 21, 2009

Warm-Up: Worked on ING words and played "Making Words."

Specials: Art, Gym

Daily 5/Reading: Continue to read and discuss: "The Giraffe, Pelly, and 
Me."  I am also finishing up reading tests.

Writer's Workshop: Worked on letter format.

Math: Continue to work on groups of 10s and 1s.

Science: Completed a conservation of water pledge, read the book "A Drop 
Goes Plop," and made "Landform Books" as a review.

**1/2 Day on Friday!**
**Report Cards come home on Jan. 28th.**
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thursday January 15, 2009

Warm-Up: "EST" words practice, played "Guess the Covered Word," looked up 
words in from our "Poem of the Week" in our dictionaries, and played "Making 
Words."

Specials: "Friday" feature, Music, Social Studies

Daily 5/Reading: I am testing reading levels all this week.  I also began 
reading "The Giraffe, Pelly, and Me" for our genre unit.

Writer's Workshop: Continue to work on "Compassion" prompt.

Math: Completed workbook pages and checked them together.  

**No School tomorrow or Monday!**

**Stay warm!**

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday January 14, 2009

Warm-Up: "EST" family words worksheet, good vs. bad sentences, "Poem of the 
Week" nouns and verbs, introduction to "fantasy" genre.

Specials: Art, Gym

Daily 5/Reading: I continue to test all week.

Writer's Workshop: Begin "compassion" stories.

Math: "Plus 10" combinations.

Science: Do plants need water?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday January 13, 2009

Warm-Up: Worked on our "EST" family words, cleaned our desks (we ran out of 
time yesterday), and worked on writing our word wall words.  We also made 
words from the word "snowball."

Specials: Library, Social Studies

Daily 5/Reading: I continue to test all week.  We also talked about the 
word "compassion" and finished separating words with an "ED" ending.

Writer's Workshop: Finished "ED" ending groups.

Math: Worked on combinations of 10.

**Stay warm tonight!**
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday January 12, 2009

Warm-Up: EST family words, cleaned desks, and introduced "Poem of the Week."

Daily 5/Reading:  Today we talked about the genre "fantasy."  I also began 
reading level testing this week.

Specials: Gym

Writer's Workshop: We worked on "ED" endings.  We separated words such as: 
started, loved, and yelled into two categories.

Math: We worked on telling time and grouping 10s.

Science: Discussed how wells are formed and our homework from the weekend.

**Book Orders were due today!**

**A special THANK-YOU to all of the parents who volunteered at our New 
Year's Party!**  

NO SCHOOL FRIDAY (this week) OR MONDAY (next week)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Friday January 9, 2009

Warm-Up: Coordinate graph worksheet, math review (money)

Specials: Friday Feature (earned!), Music, New Year's Party, 

Writer's Workshop: Finished publishing "My Vacation."

Reading/Daily 5: Finished book review of "The Teddy Bear."

Math: Worked on trading coins and counting by 2's, 5's, and 10's.

**Book Orders due Monday!**
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thursday January 8, 2009

Warm-Up: Finished coordinate graphing exercise, played "Guess the Covered 
Word," completed a worksheet from our ANK family, and made different words 
from the word "snowman."

Reading/Daily 5: Read the story "The Teddy Bear" and talked about the theme, 
plot, and resolution of the story.  

Writing: Published "My Vacation" stories.

Math: Completed and checked some story problems and played "Collect 50 
cents."

Specials: Social Studies, Music

**Book Orders due Monday!**
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday January 7, 2009

Warm-Up: Coordinate graphing exercise, worked with "digraphs" (ch, wh, sh, 
etc.), and read our "Poem of the Week."

Specials: Art, Gym

Daily 5/Reading: We began talking about "doing the right thing" and read the 
book "The Teddy Bear."  We also did a story map of the characters, setting, 
problem, and events.

Writer's Workshop: Edited our "My Vacation" stories.

Math: Corrected our story problems involving skip counting by 2's, 5's, 10's 
etc.  We also completed another page in our workbooks.

Science: Completed a bodies of water chart, and began talking about how we 
use water daily.

**Book Orders due Monday!**

**New Year's Party on Friday from 2-3pm.  If you volunteered to bring 
something in for the Christmas party, please bring it to our New Year's 
Party!** :) 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday January 6, 2009

Warm-Up: We worked on our "ANK" family words, completed a math pre-test, and 
cleaned our desks.

Daily 5/Reading: I was able to meet with a few groups today.  I will be 
testing for reading levels next week.  I think some can move up, while 
others will stay comfortable where they're at...we will keep moving forward 
as much as possible though!

Writing: We continue to work on our prompt: "My Vacation."  I am trying to 
get students to stretch out their writing by adding more detail.

Math: Today we played "Collect 50 Cents," looked at an analog clock, and 
completed four story problems involving skip counting by 2's, 5's, and 10's.

Specials: Social Studies, Library

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday January 5, 2009

Warm-Up: Today we got back into school mode.  We went over the rules again 
and discussed good vs. bad behavior. 

Daily 5/Reading: We went over good fit books today and I met with a few 
groups to work on reading skills.  We also went over the rules again for 
Daily 5 activities.

Writer's Workshop: Our theme this week to write about is "My Vacation."

Math: Today we played "Collect 50 cents" and completed one workbook page.

Science: Movie Review: The Magic School Bus "Rocks and Rolls"

**My new name now is Mrs. Ilg...we are ALL trying to get used to it!**

**I will send out an e-mail tonight updating everyone about what's happening 
in January!**
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thursday December 18, 2008

Warm-Up: Worked on evens vs. odds, and consonants vs. vowels.  We also 
looked up some words from our "Poem of the Week" in the dictionary, 
completed two handwriting pages, and a Christmas craft.

Writer's Workshop: We worked on our Christmas traditions stories.

Math: Played "Collect 50 cents" and continue to work on even and odd 
numbers.  

Specials: Social Studies, Music

*On the event of a "snow day" tomorrow, the North Penn staff has decided to 
have a "New Years" party on the Friday we get back to school (January 9th) 
from 2:00 - 3:00 to replace the Christmas party that we would miss tomorrow!*
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday December 17, 2008

Warm-Up: Today we had a fun Christmas craft to contruct.  

Specials: Art, Gym

Writer's Workshop: We continued to work on our "Christmas Traditions" story.

Daily 5/Reading: I met with two groups today.

Math: Today we worked on counting by fives and twos, which were ways in 
which to solve a few story problems we encountered.

Science: Made models of the ground we cannot see, and looked at how 
rainwater gets into the ground.
 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday December 16, 2008

Warm-Up: Today we worked on a Chrsitmas word shirt, finished our Christmas 
presents, and colored a Christmas page.  We also enjoyed a great performance 
by the third graders.

Daily 5/Reading: We only had time to "read to self" and practice spelling

Writer's Workshop: We worked on nonfiction stories about Chrismas traditions.

Math: We played "Cover Up" and took an assessment on "even and odd."

Specials: Choir program, Social Studies

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday December 15, 2008

Warm-Up: We read our "Poem of the Week" and worked on Christmas Rhymes.

Daily 5/Reading: I met with three reading groups today.

Writer's Workshop: Christmas presents (finishing them up today)!

Specials: Gym

Science: Today we looked at how groundwater flows and how water gets into 
the ground.

Math: "The odd man out."  We worked on finding when someone is left out, 
what type of number that is (even or odd?)

**We are all set for our Christmas Party!  Thank you very much for your 
donations and time!  Our party is on Friday from 10:30 - 11:30.**

**No new spelling words this week!**
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Friday December 12, 2008

Warm-Up: Today we worked on verbs, played "Guess the Covered Word" and 
worked on our letters to Santa.

Daily 5/Reading: I met with a three groups today to work on comprehension 
and fluency.

Writer's Workshop: Christmas presents :)

Math: Students took an assessment today involving story problems.  We also 
played "Cover Up."

Specials: Friday Feature, Music, Computer Lab

*We are all set for our Christmas Party...Thank you all for volunteering!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thursday December 11, 2008

Warm-Up: Worked on our ELL words, looked up four words in the dictionary 
from our "Poem of the Week," and played "Guess the Covered Word."

Daily 5/Reading: I met with two groups today to work on comprehension and 
fluency.

Writer's Workshop: Letters to Santa and finishing Christmas presents :).

Math: Today we played "Cover Up" and looked at the relationship between 
addition and subtraction.

Specials: Music, Social Studies

**Below is a list of items I still need for our Christmas Party**
  54 brown pipe cleaners
  54 small eyes (found at any craft store)
  One healthy snack
  One sugary snack (donuts?)
  plates
  Drinks (I've got a volunteer for the choc. milk, I just need one more 
choice).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday December 10, 2008

Warm-Up: Worked on our ELL words.

Daily 5/Reading: I met with quite a few groups to make up from yesterday!  
Our reading (in general) is moving along well...

Writer's Workshop: Christmas Presents :)

Math: Today we played Cover-Up (we weren't able to get to it yesterday due 
to Santa's Secret Shop).  We also worked on solving and writing story 
problems.

Science: Today I demonstrated how rocks and other objects in the ground help 
the ground from moving or shifting as much.  We also discussed the 
importance of rain/snow in terms of our drinking water.

Specials: Art, Gym

**Santa's Secret Shop make-ups will be Thursday.  This is different than 
originally stated...they have fewer groups attending on Thursday, so it was 
switched.**
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday December 9, 2008

Warm-Up: Worked on our ELL words.

Daily 5/Reading/Writer's Workshop: We only had time to do read to self and a 
little bit of writer's workshop today!

Math: We worked on writing our own story problems and played the game "Cover 
Up," which helps build number sense.

Specials: Santa's Secret Shop, Social Studies

**2 Hour Delay Today**

**Below is a list of items I still need for our Christmas Party**
  54 brown pipe cleaners
  54 small eyes (found at any craft store)
  54 candy canes (2 per student)
  One healthy snack
  One sugary snack (donuts?)
  Cups, plates
  Drinks (I've got a volunteer for the choc. milk, I just need one more 
choice).
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday December 8, 2008

Warm-Up: We read our new "Poem of the Week" about Kwanzaa, worked on our 
family ELL words, and cleaned our desks.

Specials: Gym

Daily 5/Reading: I met with two groups today.

Math: We worked on problems with unknown change today.

Science: We discussed the differences between water in its three stages.

Writer's Workshop: Worked on Christmas presents :).

**Remember, we visit Santa's Secret Shop tomorrow!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Friday December 5, 2008

Warm-Up: Today we played "Guess the Covered Word" (which helps us use the 
context of the sentence to figure out the 'mystery' word).  We also worked 
on one handwriting page.

Specials: Friday Feature, Computer Lab, Music

Math: Worked on coordinate graphs.

Daily 5/Reading: I tested a few kids today to move up in their reading 
levels.

Writer's Workshop: Christmas presents... :)

**I will send out an e-mail this weekend regarding our Christmas Party.**
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thursday December 4, 2008

Warm - Up: Today we looked up some words in the dictionaries, worked on 
rhyming our word wall words, and played "Guess the Covered Word."  We also 
worked on finishing our "coordinate graph" picture of a panda bear.

Daily 5/Reading: I met with two groups today.

Writer's Workshop: Christmas presents :)

Math: Today we looked at the difference between two story problems.  We also 
worked on some number stings involving today's number: 19.

Specials: Social Studies, Music

**Santa's Secret Shop is Tuesday!**

**I will be gone for a half day tomorrow (in the afternoon).  I will be 
getting my marriage licence - wow, it's coming up fast!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday December 3, 2008

Warm-Up: Today we worked on alphabetizing our family words, rhyming our word 
wall words, and we worked on using a coordinate grid.

Specials: Art, Gym

Daily 5/Reading: I met with three groups today to work on comprehension 
strategies and fluency.

Writer's Workshop: Finished free write story.

Science: Today we studied the path of a raindrop and the differences between 
liquid, solid, and gaseous H2O (water).

*Students should be studying their math doubles facts this week (i.e. 8+8, 
4+4, etc.).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday December 2, 2008

Warm-Up: Worksheet on circles, semi-circles, and ovals.  We also had a 
worksheet on our ARK family words.

Daily 5/Reading: I met with two reading groups today to work on 
comprehension and fluency.

Writer's Workshop: Free write today!

Math: We worked on "today's number 15" using our "close to doubles" facts.  
We also worked on solving addition story problems. 

Specials: Library and Social Studies

**No book orders today!  I have the wrong catalogue...I will search for the 
right one today!**

**Santa's Secret Shop forms went home tonight!**  We will visit the shop 
next Tuesday at 9:35.**
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday December 1, 2008

Warm-Up: We read our "Poem of the Week," wrote our word wall words of the 
week, and cleaned our desks!

Daily 5/Reading: I met with three reading groups today to work on 
comprehension strategies and fluency.

Writer's Workshop: We began a new story of their choice.

Math: Today I assessed students' abilities with number strings.  We also 
played Beat the Calculator or Close to 20.

Science: Groups presented their landform today.  I also demonstrated how 
water collects into oceans, rivers, streams, etc.

Specials: Gym

**Welcome Back!  Book order forms for the holidays will be going home 
tomorrow.  I think there are some great deals!**
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday November 26, 2008

Warm-Up: Today we started with a fun Thanksgiving worksheet and wrote 
letters to a family member to be given out at Thanksgiving.

Specials: Art, Gym, "Wednesday Feature"

Math: Practiced number strings and facts.

Writer's Workshop: We published our "turkey speeches" today and read them 
aloud in class.

Have a great Thanksgiving Break!  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday November 25, 2008

Warm-Up: Today we cleaned our desks and played "Guess the Covered Word."  We 
also had a fun Thanksgiving worksheet as morning work.

Specials: Library, Social Studies

Math: Students had a choice to play "Close to 20" or "Beat the Calculator."  
We also worked on "number strings" and took a timed doubles quiz (for 
practice only).

Daily 5/Reading: I was able to meet with a three reading groups today!

Writer's Workshop: We edited our "Turkey Speeches" today using our checklist.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday November 24, 2008

Warm-Up: Today we read our "Poem of the Week:" "Thanksgiving Delights."  

Specials: Gym

Math: We continue to work on number strings by playing "Beat the 
Calculator."  We also played the game "Close to 20."

Science: Today we worked on our posters for our specific landform (valley, 
hill, mountain, plain, or plateau).  We worked hard on using kind words and 
group working skills...we did pretty good for the most part.

Daily 5/Reading: I met with three groups today.

Writer's Workshop: We began writing persuasive speeches, pretending that we 
are a turkey and do NOT want to be eaten!

**No School Thursday and Friday this week!**
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Friday November 21, 2008

Warm-Up: We played "Guess the Covered Word" and worked on two handwriting 
pages.

Specials: Music, Computer Lab

Daily 5/Reading: I am finished testing and beginning to meet with new 
reading groups.  

Writer's Workshop: We are finishing our story for the week (editing and 
publishing today)!

Math: We played "Beat the Calculator" again and worked on "number strings" 
again.

**No Friday Feature today...we need to work on blurting out answers and 
following directions in a timely manner!**
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thursday November 20, 2008

Warm-Up: We worked on our family words today, looked up four words from 
our "Poem of the Week" in the dictionary, and played "Guess the Covered 
Word."

Math: Today we worked on number strings again and learned a new game 
called "Beat the Calculator."

Daily 5/Reading: I finished testing today and I met with one group to work 
on reading strategies.

Writer's Workshop: We finished editing our stories and worked on publishing 
them.

Specials: Social Studies, Music
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday November 19, 2008

Warm-Up: We continue to work on our AIN family words.  We also rhymed our 
word wall words and looked for nouns and verbs in our "Poem of the Week."

Math: Today we played beat the calculator and continued to work on our 
number strings (i.e. 9+1+3).

Specials: Gym, Art

Science: Today we looked at different landforms.  We also wrote about a 
landform that we would like to see.

Daily 5/Reading: I am almost finished testing students to boost them to the 
next reading level.  Many have passed!  Woo Hoo!

Writer's Workshop: Mrs. Brann was my substitute for today (for a half 
hour).  The kids worked on editing their story of the week.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday November 18, 2008

Warm-Up: Today we worked on our AIN family words, and drew pictures of our 
word wall words.

Math: Today we used combinations that we knew to figure out multiple addend 
problems.

Specials: Library, Social Studies

Daily 5/Reading: I am testing students today to see if they can move up in 
their reading groups.  I also met with two reading groups today.

Writer's Workshop: We are working on correct paragraph writing and 
organization today.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday November 17, 2008

Warm-Up: Read our "Poem of the Week:" "I Ate Too Much Turkey."  We also 
wrote down our word wall words for the week: tell, city, before, who, and 
played.

Math: Began our new unit today.  We worked on multiple-addend problems (i.e. 
6+5+1=12).

Science: We continue to work on our John Powell Story about landforms.  We 
also looked at landform pictures from space.

Daily 5/Reading: I met with two reading groups today and I tested a few kids 
to move up in reading levels.

Specials: Gym
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Friday November 14, 2008

Warm-Up: Today we looked at the different sounds of words (using our ACK 
family).  We also worked on elapsed time.

Math: We took an assessment today on symmetry and doubles facts.

Specials: Computer Lab (we are typing our Turkey Stories), Friday Feature, 
and Music.

Daily 5/Reading: I read with three groups today and began testing to move 
kids up in their reading levels.  

Have a super weekend! 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thursday November 13, 2008

Warm-Up: Today we worked on rhyming our word wall words and making sentences 
with our word wall words.  We also worked on finding four words from 
our "poem of the week" in the dictionaries.

Daily 5/Reading: I met with three groups today to work on comprehension and 
fluency.

Writer's Workshop: We're in the process of writing letters to get a pet 
turkey (this is all make-believe of course)!

Math: Again, we continue to work on symmetry and doubles facts.

Specials: Music and Social Studies

**I had a math conference to attend yesterday and today I have another one 
in the afternoon. I probably hate being out of the classroom as much as the 
kids hate me being gone as well!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday November 11, 2008

Warm-Up: Make up work day!  Any unfinished work in students' white folders 
needed to be finished today (we do this almost every week to make sure we're 
all on the same page)!

Math: We continue to work on the definition of "symmetry."  We also worked 
on our doubles facts today as well.

Specials: Library, Social Studies

Daily 5/Reading: I finished talking to each student about their "good fit 
book" choices.  I also read with one group and wrote about the problem in 
the book.

Book orders will be sent in tomorrow.  Books should be here in two weeks.

Writer's Workshop: We began a letter about wanting a "turkey" for a pet.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday November 10, 2008

Warm-Up: We read our new "Poem of the Week" called "Jimmy Jet and His TV 
Set."  We also wrote down our new word wall words (won, or, brothers, 
sister, and two) and worked on our new family "INK" words.

Math: Working on the definition of "symmetry."

Science: We began our new unit today.  We also took a test over our 
Measurement Unit.  Our new unit is called "Earth's Land and Water."  We 
talked about how our earth is covered with 3/4ths water and 1/4th land.

Daily 5/Reading: While students read to self, read to someone, and worked on 
their spelling, I pulled students to look at their "good fit books."  

Writer's Workshop: Worked on finishing our stories with different beginnings 
of sentences.

Book Orders are due TOMORROW!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thursday November 6, 2008

Warm-Up: Making words out of the letters: v,e,g,i,t,a,b,l,e,s.  We also used 
our dictionaries to look up four words from our Poem of the Week.

Math: Mirror designs and symmetry discussion.

Daily 5/Reading: I met with the rest of my reading groups this week.  Each 
group will be working on summarizing the story they read with me in their 
reading response journals. 

Handwriting: Fixing sentences and completed pages 46 and 47 in our 
handwriting books.  

**Book Orders will be due on Tuesday for the month of November.  

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday November 5, 2008

Warm-Up: Today we worked on some math journal pages involving addition 
facts.  

Specials: Art

Math: We finished making our boxes.

Daily 5/Reading: I met with three reading groups today and each group wrote 
a summary about the book in their Reading Response Journals.

Writer's Workshop: We are working on stories that have different sentence 
beginnings.


1/2 Day Today and Tomorrow.  No School on Friday!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday November 3, 2008

Warm-Up: Today we read our Poem of the Week and began fixing our word wall 
word sentences from last week.  We are focusing on periods, capitals, and 
overall good sentences.

Daily 5/Reading: I met with one group today and we voted for President in 
the library.  Ask who your child voted for (remember, they don't HAVE to 
tell you)! :)

Math: Today we learned that a rectangle is a square, but a square is NOT a 
rectangle.

Science: We finished our Measurement Unit today!  We watched two enrichment 
videos and will be taking our test on Wednesday!

Specials: Gym

*Wow - what a crazy two weeks for teachers!  It has been hard to update the 
website the past couple days!  

*Just a reminder - we have a 1/2 day Wednesday and Thursday this week, and 
NO school on Friday!  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday October 29, 2008

Warm-Up: Today we looked for nouns and verbs in our Poem of the Week.  We 
also worked on our IDE family words and word wall words.

Daily 5/Reading: Continue to work on retelling and comprehension skills.  

Math: Rectangles and area work.

Specials: Art, Gym

Science: How to filter out mixtures.

Halloween Party Information:

We have enough parent volunteers for our Halloween Party.  Our classroom is 
very tight with 26 kids, so if you are planning to come in, please let me 
know.  It will be standing room only.  The parade begins at 1:30 and our 
party will last until 2:55.  The class has music from 2:55-3:25.  Students 
will most likely wear their costumes home (unless we have time to change).  
You may take your child home right after the party, but they will be missing 
music class.  Also, please do not have the kids bring weapons with their 
costumes to school OR have their make up on for the entire day.  If a 
costume requires make-up, we will get it on them at 1 pm.  

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday October 28, 2008

Warm-Up: Making words out of the letters: a,c,o,r,n,s.  We also worked on 
our IDE family words and word wall words.

Daily 5/Reading: I met with two groups today.

Math: We are working on area, using rectangles.

Specials: Social Studies, Library

**Halloween Party News**

We have enough parent volunteers for our Halloween Party.  Our classroom is 
very tight with 26 kids, so if you are planning to come in, please let me 
know.  It will be standing room only.  The parade begins at 1:30 and our 
party will last until 2:55.  The class has music from 2:55-3:25.  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Friday October 24, 2008

Warm-Up: Handwriting, Guess the Covered Word, Making Words

Daily 5/Reading: I met with three reading groups today.  We continue to work 
on comprehension strategies.

Math: Today we sorted shapes into categories of three and four sided 
shapes.  We also looked at different angle measurements.

Specials: Computer Lab, Music, Friday Feature (earned!).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thursday October 23, 2008

Warm-Up: Today we looked up four words from our Poem of the Week in the 
dictionary (patch, balloon, gate, and face).  We then added those words to 
our own personal dictionaries.  We also worked on our family words today 
(ENT).

Daily 5/Reading: I met with one reading group today during this time.  We 
continue to work on comprehension.

Math: Worked on building geoblocks, ways to fill a shape, and began sorting 
different shapes into categories.  

Specials: Social Studies, Music

Fun Fest Tonight Starts at 5:30!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday October 22, 2008

Warm-Up: Today we did "nouns" and "verbs" with our Poem of the Week.  We 
also wrote sentences for our family words.  

Specials: Gym, Art

Daily 5/Reading: I tested during this time.  Some students have moved up a 
reading level already!  Yes!

Math: Today we worked on building different shapes and finding shapes to 
fill other shapes.  

Science: We explored the question: Which weighs more?

**Conference sheets went out today.  The teaching staff sat down this 
morning and mapped out our conference times.  Please sign and return the 
form coming home tonight.  

**Head lice has been reported in our classroom.  Please check your kid at 
home tonight.  The janitor will be spraying lice killer tonight as well.  A 
note has gone home today regarding this occurrence.   
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday October 21, 2008

Warm-Up: Today we worked on our family "ENT" words today.  We also located 
our word wall words in our Poem of the Week and drew pictures for our word 
wall words.  

Science: Began looking at the weights of different objects.  

Daily 5/Snack: I am retesting kids for report cards.  I met with one reading 
group today also.

Writer's Workshop: Today we looked at the trait "VOICE."  We will be trying 
to add good "voice" in our writing today.

Math: Today we looked at our Addition Doubles Facts and categorized them 
into "Knowns" and "Unknowns."  We also combined shapes and looked at 
different shapes to fill in 2D objects on paper.  

I contacted everyone I knew of who wanted to volunteer for the Halloween 
Party.  If you would like to volunteer, please shoot me an e-mail!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday October 20, 2008

Warm-Up: Our new word wall words this week are: favorite, I, not, stop, and 
thank.

Specials: Gym

Math: Today we worked with our geoblocks, looking at the differnt faces of 
3D objects.  We also played "Mystery Block" and began to sort our different 
blocks.  

Daily 5/Reading: Met with two groups today to work on "theme."  I am 
retesting those who I think may have moved up a reading level this week as 
well.

Science: We invesigated the question: "Which container holds more?"  
Students received two containers and tried to figure out which held more.

*Halloween Party information WILL go out tonight!  Sorry for the delay!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Friday October 17, 2008

Warm-Up: Worked on our family "OUT" words.

Specials: Computer Lab, Friday Feature (WE EARNED IT!).

Math: Today we worked with our geoblocks, looking at the different faces of 
3D objects.

Daily 5/Reading: Met with the last two groups this week and worked on 
comprehension strategies.

Pumpkin Day: What a great success!  Thank you to all of our parents who 
helped us: Mrs. Burns, Mr. and Mrs. Hagenbuch, Mr. Vincent, Mr. Karker, Mrs. 
Powell, Mrs. Wells-Allen, and Mrs. Lake.  We had a great time!

See you all on Monday!  

Note: Conference schedule sheets will go home on Wednesday Oct. 22nd.  I 
will also be sending out Halloween Party information this weekend (probably 
on Sunday night).    
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thursday October 16, 2008

Warm-Up: "Guess the Covered Word" and wrote sentences using the word wall 
words of the week.

Math: Today we started Unit 2 and took the assessment for Unit 1.  Unit 2 
has a lot of geometry!

Specials: Music, Social Studies

Daily 5/Reading: Met with one reading group today and focused on 
comprehension strategies.

Writer's Workshop: Worked on adding capital letters and ending punctuation 
to our sentences. 

*Pumpkin Day is tomorrow!  For those of you who volunteered, see you 
tomorrow at 2 o'clock!*
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Wednesday October 15, 2008

Warm-Up: Worked on our family "OUT" words and our word wall words.

Math: Today we worked on some workbook pages and completed another "Magic 
Pot Problem."

Specials: Gym, Art, Social Studies

Daily 5/Reading: I met with two reading groups today.  We are focusing on 
comprehension skills.

Writer's Workshop: Talked about the importance of having periods and 
capitals in our writing.

*Pumpkin Day Friday!*
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Tuesday October 14, 2008

Power Outage Today!  We tried to contact everyone - hopefully all went 
relatively smooth getting home!

Until tomorrow...enjoy the surprise day off!
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Monday October 13, 2008

Warm-Up: Wrote down our new word wall words: very, use, off, clock, and line.
We also read our new "Poem of the Week" together.  This week's family words 
are the "OUT" family (i.e. scout, pout).   

Math: Today we worked on a "Magic Pot" worksheet and played "Double It" 
and "Double Arrays."

Daily 5/Reading: I met with two reading groups today to work on 
comprehension strategies.

Writer's Workshop: Finished publishing our Superhero stories.

Specials: Gym

Book Orders were placed today!

Pumpkin Day is Friday!  Please volunteer if you can!
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Friday October 10, 2008

Warm-Up: Today we practiced our word wall and "eat" family words.

Math: We worked with "The Magic Doubling Pot" and added double numbers (like 
5+5 and 7+7).  We also played the game "Double It."

Daily 5/Reading: I met with three reading groups today to work on 
comprehension.

Writer's Workshop: We are currently publishing our superhero stories.  They 
are looking pretty good!  These stories will eventually come home (sometime 
this coming week).

Specials: Friday Feature (we earned it!), Music, Fire Safety Assembly, 
Computer Lab

**I only have three parents to help on Pumpkin Day next Friday Oct. 17 from 
2-3:30.  I would like 6 or 7!**

Book Orders will be placed on Monday!
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Wednesday October 8, 2008

Warm-Up: Today we worked on trying to rhyme words with our word wall words.  
We also drew pictures for each of the words.  

Math: Again, we focused on strategies for solving story problems.

Daily 5/Reading: I met with one reading group today while the class "Read to 
Self," "Worked on Words," "Read to Someone," and "Worked on Writing." 
Reading group focus this week is on comprehension.

Science: Today we measured liquid and talked about capacity vs. volume.

Specials: Gym, Art

School Store Started Today!
Book Orders Due Friday!
Pumpkin Day Volunteers NEEDED - October 17th, from 2-3:30.
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Tuesday October 7, 2008

Warm-Up: Worked on our family words "eat" today.  We also made sentences 
using our word wall words. We also completed one page in our Handwriting 
books - using the letter "e."

Math: Today we focused again on strategies for solving story problems. 

Daily 5/Reading: I met with one reading group today and finished 
conferencing with students about their letters.

Specials: Library, Social Studies
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Monday October 6, 2008

Specials: Gym

Warm-Up: Today we got our new word wall words, which will become some of our 
spelling words for the week.  The new words are: best, to, too, rain, and 
here.

Math: Today we discussed "Strategies for Subtracting."  I will be sending 
home a packet of corrected workbook pages this week.  About 5 or 6 packets 
will go home each day (I'm trying to send them home according to the 
spelling list days).  

Science: We discussed area and used centimeter cubes to explore the 
concept.  We also discussed the terms "length" and "width" again.

Daily 5/Reading: I met with two reading groups today.  We will be trying to 
work on comprehension throughout this week.

Book Orders went out today!  Hope everyone got my e-mail or letter home 
today!
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Friday October 3, 2008

Specials: Computer Lab, Friday Feature (Yay - we earned it!), and Music

Warm-Up: We played "guess the covered word" today, and completed page 21 in 
our Handwriting books.

Math: Today was "Pocket Day Number 2."  We counted how many pockets we had 
in our class and graphed the results.  Today's Number was 15 today so we 
tried to come up with as many combinations to make 15 as we could. 

Daily 5/Reading/Writer's Workshop: I tried to conference with as many 
students as I could today about their "Letters to Ms. Griffith."  I would 
like the kids to write to me on a frequent basis.  They can write about the 
problems they are having, what they like or dislike about school, etc.  We 
also worked on being good reading coaches again today.

**Note: Expect an e-mail from me over the weekend regarding up-coming 
events.** 
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Thursday October 2, 2008

Warm-Up: We worked on guessing the "covered word" today.  This helps 
students to decode words they cannot read.  We also got the dictionaries out 
and looked up the words: blanket, maple, leaf, and carpet.  Lastly, we 
completed page 20 in our Handwriting books.

Math: Today we worked on different story problems.

Daily 5/Reading: We continued to work on "coaching" each other's reading.  
We also began talking about comprehension strategies.

Specials: Social Studies, Music


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Wednesday October 1, 2008

Warm-Up: We are working on the "ump" family (i.e. jump, bump, stump, etc.). 
We also are working on our word wall words.  Today we spelled rhyming words 
to help us spell our word wall words.

Math: Today we looked at addition card facts.  We separated cards 
into "Knowns" and "Unknowns."  We also completed page 33 in our workbooks.

Daily 5/Reading: We continued our mini lesson on "coaching."  We elaborated 
on strategies to help each other read. 

Science: Today we flew our "modified" paper airplanes and measured the 
distance.  We also completed a few pages in our workbooks, which had us 
measuring correctly using a ruler.

Specials: Gym, Art
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Tuesday September 30, 2008

Math: Today we looked for patterns on how to "make 10."  We also played "10s 
Go Fish" and "Make 10" today.

Daily 5/Reading: Our mini lesson today was on "Coaching."  We talked about 
being a good "reading coach."  We also worked on the word family "ump" today 
and studied our spelling words.

Specials: Library, Social Studies
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Monday September 29, 2008

Math: Today we looked at all the possible ways to make 10.  We also played 
the games "10s Go Fish" and "Make 10."

Daily 5/Reading: Our mini lesson today was on choosing topics and forms to 
write about during "Work on Writing." Students were also given a "Work on 
Writing Journal" to keep with them. New word wall words this week: are, 
them, thing, went, sale.

Science: We finished our ramp observations today.  We also made paper 
airplanes to measure distance.

Specials: Gym

*New seats today!  I will change seats once a month.  We also cleaned our 
desks today!*
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Friday September 26, 2008

Math: Today we learned "10s Go Fish." We are focusing on learning how 
to "make 10s."  We also played "Make 10" and completed another page in our 
workbooks.

Daily 5/Reading: Today I am done testing.  I will be calling students up to 
show me their "Special Place" stories while the rest work on words, read to 
self, and read to someone.

Science: We finished our ramp observations today and finished two writing 
pages in our science journals.

Handwriting: Used the "Magic C" to form other letters, such as "g," "d," 
and "a."

Specials: Assembly/Music

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Thursday September 25, 2008

Math: Played "Make 10," completed a few "quick images" (which help with 
spacial intelligence!), and worked on finishing a few workbook pages.

Daily 5/Reading: I am almost done testing every students' reading 
abilities.  My hope is to complete this today and/or tomorrow to get rolling 
with reading groups! Students will be "Reading to Self," "Working with 
Words," "Reading to Someone," and will "Work on Writing" while I conduct 
reading groups! 

Writer's Workshop: Brainstormed topic ideas and forms of writing.  

Specials: Social Studies with Mrs. V. and Music
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Wednesday September 24, 2008

Math: Today we had a "class meeting" about behaving on recess and 
friendship.  This took a little long.  We only had time for a demonstration 
of the game "Make 10."

Specials: Gym, Art

Daily 5/Reading: Ms. Griffith had a meeting for a little while during this 
time.  The kids worked as usual, but were not as focused as they should have 
been.  We will work on this tomorrow.

Science: Today we built ramps and observed if objects rolled or slid down 
them.  We also timed and measured our objects distance.  

*I talked with everyone about having a better day tomorrow.  It just seemed 
like many (not all) could not get it all together today.  We will go over 
classroom rules again tomorrow for reinforcement. I know my class can do 
better! :)
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Tuesday September 23, 2008

Math: Students had a chance to pick "Plus One or Two BINGO," complete a 
counting strip, or play "Collect 25 Cents."  We then took an assessment 
on "Enough for the Class."  

Daily 5/Reading: Today we "Read to Someone," "Read to Self," "Worked on 
Words," and continued to work on "Work on Writing."  

Specials: Social Studies, Library

*I spoke to the kids in length today about correcting mistakes that they 
have made AFTER I corrected their papers.  I told everyone that I put 
stickers on papers that are 100%.  If they got a paper back that was not 
100%, they could redo it for a sticker.  I am encouraging students to fix 
their mistakes (since most of us learn the most by making mistakes!)  Please 
feel free to correct any paper with your child and turn it in the next day!

*Picture Day went great!*
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Monday September 22, 2008

Math: Today we played "Plus One or Two BINGO."  We also played "Collect 25" 
and corrected a few counting strips that were wrong!

Daily 5/Reading: Today we "Read to Someone" for 10 minutes, "Read to Self" 
for 20 minutes, "Worked on Words" for 10 minutes, and began "Working on 
Writing" for 5 minutes.  Super job!

Science: Today we measured lengths in our science journals.  We also set up 
our experiment for Wednesday (using objects, ramps, distance, and time).

Specials: Gym

**PICTURE DAY TOMORROW!**

**Behavior was not great today as a whole.  We need to work on making better 
choices and being more efficient in cleaning up!  We lost 5 letters 
from "Friday Feature" today!  I'm not sure if we will be able to 
have "Friday Feature" this week!
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Friday September 19, 2008

Math: Today was "Pocket Day!"  We counted all of our pockets and added them 
up using the connecting cubes.  We also played "Collect 25."  Homework: 
Complete the pocket worksheet with your family at home!

Daily 5/Reading: We did AWESOME today!  I was very proud of our class.  We 
read the whole time and worked on our spelling words rigorously!  Nice work!

Writer's Workshop: Worked on "A Special Place" story!

Specials: Music, Friday Feature, Computer Lab (Everyone e-mailed Ms. 
Griffith!)

*Picture Day is Tuesday!  All forms went out yesterday!
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Thursday September 18, 2008

Math: Today we played a game where students were to be the first to make 25 
cents.  This was a very neat game in which students were able to work and 
count money.

Daily 5 and Reading - Thursday spellers got their lists today.  Wednesday 
spellers should have received their lists yesterday (they were on their 
desks in the morning).  We have reached our maximum stamina for "Read to 
Self" and "Working with Words."  We are working on our "Read to Someone" 
stamina, we are at 10 minutes!

Handwriting - Capital Letters!

Specials - Music, Social Studies

*Many students received double tokens yesterday for good behavior with the 
substitute.  Thank you very much!*

**PICTURE DAY IS TUESDAY - PACKETS WENT HOME TODAY!**

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Tuesday September 16, 2008

Math: Made "Counting Strips" and Ms. Griffith tested students on their 
counting abilities.  We also completed another "Enough for the Class" 
worksheet.

Daily 5 and Reading: Tuesday spellers got their lists today.  I will have a 
sub tomorrow for a conference I have to attend and Wednesday spellers will 
have their lists on their desks already in the morning.  Today we "Read to 
Someone" for 6 minutes, read our book bins for 18, and worked on words for 
18 as well.  Nice work.

Handwriting: We worked on making a few capital letters. 

Specials: Library, Social Studies

Writer's Workshop: We finished our summer stories today and began writing 
about "A Special Place."

**Tomorrow is a DOUBLE TOKEN DAY!  If I get any names from the substitute 
for naughty behavior, they will not receive their tokens.  If you are good - 
DOUBLE TOKENS!*
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Monday September 15, 2008

Math: Today we took a closer look at a penny, nickel, dime, and quarter.  We 
also completed "Enough for the Class" worksheet.

Daily 5 and Reading: Today we got new spelling words.  Monday spellers got 
10, while the other week spellers received 5 today.  We worked on learning 
to spell these words in class.  We also began "Read to Someone" today and 
worked on building our stamina.  Students "read to someone" for 4 minutes 
today.  Lastly, we "Read to Self" for 16 minutes.  Super work!

Science: Today we measured ourselves (arms, legs, height, etc.).  We also 
learned how to measure using a measuring stick and a ruler.

Handwriting: We began handwriting today.  We sang the song "Where Do You 
Start Your Letters?" and practice starting our letters at the top!

Specials: Gym

Did we get enough rain over the weekend or what?

NOTE: Parents - you should have received a letter or e-mail about when your 
child's spelling tests are given each week!

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Friday September 12, 2008

Math: We worked on different ways to describe the size of our class.  We 
wrote number sentences and tried to describe "25" kids in the class in terms 
of different addition problems.  We also played "Guess My Number."

Daily 5 and Reading: Today we continued to talk about "Good Fit Books" and 
read for 15 minutes today.  We also took our first spelling test 
after "Working with Words."

Writer's Workshop: Both myself and Mrs. Brann edited everyone's "Summer 
Stories" and we began to publish.

Specials: Friday Feature, Computer Lab, and Music

Have a great weekend!
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Thursday September 11, 2008

Math: Today we did "Today's Number" where we wrote as many different ways 
to "describe" today's number (7 and 8).  Some of the kids were very creative 
and described "7" as 200-200+4+4=8!  Very interesting and good thinking!

Daily 5 and Reading: Today we continued with choosing our "Good Fit Books."  
We read for 15 minutes today.  Our stamina is improving!  We also worked on 
our "spelling words" during "Working with Words" time.  Our stamina is up to 
14 minutes as well.  I gave a practice spelling test today as well.  This is 
not a spelling test that was to go home and study this week.  That will 
begin next week with individualized tests.  This was just a way for students 
to get acquainted with the routines. I will give a "real" spelling test 
tomorrow, but we have been working on 5 words the entire week in class, so 
they should be okay.  

Writer's Workshop: We worked on adding details and peer editing each other's 
Summer Stories today.  We will publish tomorrow.

Specials: Music

Social Studies (with Mrs. V.) - Worked on classroom rules.

Happy Birthday Alexis!  Thanks for the yummy treats!
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Wednesday September 10, 2008

Math: We worked on another "Cover My Shape" worksheet and used the 
connecting blocks to make number sentences that equal 10.  I will grade them 
tonight and and send them home!

Daily 5 and Reading: Today we learned what it meant to find a "Good Fit 
Book."  Students learned that they need to be interested in the book, be 
able to read most of the words, have a purpose for reading the particular 
book, and are able to understand it.  We "Read to Self" for 14 minutes today 
and worked on "Word Work" for 10 minutes.  Great morning everyone!

Specials: Art and Gym!  We love Wednesdays!

Science: Today we explored measuring ourselves and read the book "Measuring 
Penny."

Writer's Workshop: Today we worked on highlighting our misspelled words in 
our Summer Stories.
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Tuesday September 9, 2008

Math: Continued with the yearly pre-test and playing "Guess My Number."  We 
also completed another "Cover My Shape" worksheet.


Daily 5/Reading: Today we read for 14 minutes by ouselves!  We continued 
working with our spelling words: they, was, said, because, and have. 

Writer's Workshop:  We continued writing our "Summer Book."  Each student 
brainstormed a funny thing or a cool thing that happened over the summer.  
We finished planning our stories today and began writing them!

Social Studies w/Mrs. V. today!

Specials: Library

Note: Parent Volunteer notes went home today! (I e-mailed it to most of you)!
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Monday September 8, 2008

Math: Today we took a pre-test for the year.  We also played "Guess My 
Number" again and completed another page of "Cover My Shape" in their 
journals. 

Daily 5/Reading: Today we read for 12 minutes by ourselves!  Yay!  We are 
continuing to build stamina to reach 20 minutes.  We also began our 
official "Working with Words."  Students were given five spelling words to 
practice in class: they, was, said, because, and have."  They practiced with 
these words using white boards, pipe cleaners, and regular markers and 
paper.  This was very successful today.

Writer's Workshop:  We are beginning to write a "Summer Book."  Each student 
brainstormed a funny thing or a cool thing that happened over the summer.  
We planned our stories today.

Science: Our first science class today!  We took a pretest.  Wednesday's 
lesson will be more exciting!  We are beginning a measurement unit.  

Specials: Gym
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Friday September 5, 2008

Hooray for Friday!

Math: Today we worked on covering shapes with geometric figures.  We also 
played "Guess My Number" as a class.

Daily 5/Reading: Worked on "building our stamina" during "Read to Self" 
time.  We read for two sessions of 9 minutes each! 

Word Work: We finished our classroom names today.  We graphed how many 
syllables were in each of our names and we practiced vowel sounds using our 
names as well.

Specials Today: Computer lab and Music

Friday Feature: Each Friday, the class has an opportunity to earn a movie.  
This week was a "freebie," but starting on Monday, the class will need to 
earn their "Friday Feature."  The movies are only 30 minutes, but students 
are allowed to bring in a special snack for this time on Friday. 

Have a great weekend!
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Thursday September 4, 2008

Morning routines are coming along very well!  I am also impressed with 
students using their time wisely with their white folders and/or reading 
from the classroom library. Nice work!

Math: Today we worked on making number sentences and geometry during math 
time.  

Daily 5: Worked on "building our stamina" during "Read to Self" time.  We 
read for two sessions of 8 minutes each!  We are working up to 20 
minutes...and are on the right track!

Suggestions for Home: Help students become more familiar with telling time.  
We are working on this during our "Warm-up" time.  Whenever possible 
ask: "What time is it?"   


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Wednesday September 3, 2008

We had a great day today!  We are busy working on routines in the classroom 
and establishing good reading habits.  Great job!
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Sept. 2, 2008 Welcome to 2nd Grade!

Policies and Procedures:

HOMEWORK: Daily reading will need to be completed at home.  This consists of 
15 minutes of reading and recording what was read each night on the reading 
log.  There will also be weekly Spelling words to study for homework 
throughout the week.  Formal spelling lists and tests will be individualized 
to meet your child¡¦s specific needs.  These will be starting soon.  
Sometimes math will be sent home for reinforcement as well.  All homework 
assignments should be recorded by your child each morning.  Please also 
check the website for homework updates and announcements regularly.  The 
website will be the quickest way to check for understanding of what has been 
assigned.

GRADING: On your child¡¦s papers, you will see a number 1, 2, or 3.  If your 
child receives a ¡§1¡¨ on their paper, this means they have mastered the 
content.  If you see a ¡§2¡¨ on their paper, this means they are ¡§almost 
there, but need further mastery.¡¨  If your child receives a ¡§3¡¨ on their 
paper, this means they need further guidance and have not mastered the skill 
addressed.  Obviously, I will be keeping track of your students¡¦ scores and 
if I BEGIN to see any patterns of misunderstanding, you will be contacted 
immediately to discuss what we can do to help your child succeed.  

PARENT VOLUNTEERS: I will be sending home a volunteer letter in the coming 
weeks.  Please fill out if you are interested in coming in at any time.  
Parental involvement is very important and I look forward to working with as 
many parents as possible.  Please expect this to come within the second week 
of school.

TOKENS: This year, students will have a chance to earn ¡§tokens¡¨ for good 
behavior (being on ¡§green¡¨ everyday), homework completion on Fridays, and 
completing their jobs each day.  Students can spend their tokens on a 
variety of different things (school supplies, treasure drawer, free time, 
etc.).  The tokens will be THEIR responsibility to keep (they are 
like ¡§money¡¨ in the classroom).  Occasionally, I do give out random tokens 
for students who are doing an exceptional job, but for the most part they 
must be earned consistently.

BIRTHDAYS: When your child has a birthday, please feel free to send him/her 
to school with store bought treats.  Please also be sensitive to students 
who have food allergies throughout our building (please, NO peanuts).  We 
have 28 students in our classroom, so please plan accordingly.  Also, please 
try to avoid sending invitations to birthday parties with your child to 
school.  Hurt feelings are made very quickly, even when it is not 
intentional.  

BEHAVIOR SYSTEM: I use what is called the I.C.M.M. board (or I Can Manage 
Myself).  If a student is not following the rules of our classroom they will 
be told to simply ¡§Flip your card.¡¨  Everyday students start off on 
¡§green¡¨ 
and will move accordingly throughout the day.  Listed below are the 
consequences to the I.C.M.M board:
	Green: Excellent Behavior!  
	Yellow: Warning (please check your behavior).
	Red:  STOP!  Fill out a behavior note (to be signed and returned the 
next day).
	Double Red: Call home and Lose Recess.
Each consequence will be added to the next.  Therefore, students who flip to 
a ¡§double red¡¨ status will have a behavior note, a call home, and will 
lose 
their recess the next day.  If a student cannot ¡§flip their card¡¨ anymore, 
they will need to conference with Mrs. DeVries immediately.  Of course, 
individuals who will need other accommodations will be dealt with on a case-
by-case basis. 
 
TAKE HOME FOLDERS: EVERY night I will be sending home with students 
their ¡§green folders.¡¨  There are two sides to these folders: ¡§Keep at 
Home¡¨ 
and ¡§Return to School.¡¨  The homework sheet and reading log will need to 
stay on the ¡§Return to School¡¨ side of the folder at all times.  Every 
Friday I will ask students to turn in their signed reading logs and signed 
homework sheet.  These sheets need to be initialed by you EVERY NIGHT and 
sent back to school the next morning.  Also, any papers that have been 
graded will need to be cleaned out of the folders on a daily basis.  The 
BEST way to do this at home is to have a designated spot for your child to 
put their green folders when they get home everyday.  I recommend the 
kitchen table where it will most likely not be forgotten! ļ  Also, any 
notes 
from home can be put into their green folders and I will check for these 
daily.  Please don¡¦t hesitate to e-mail me however (I check this a couple 
times throughout the entire day)!  

HOT LUNCH: Lunches may be purchased in bulk.  Simply send the money to 
school on Monday with your child and remind him/her to deliver the money to 
the lunch room when they get to school.  Please include your child¡¦s name 
on 
each check or money envelope.  If your student is paying daily PLEASE make 
sure the money is in a baggie or envelope and in a secure place in their 
backpack.  Please do not throw money into a pocket in their backpack as 
coins get lost very easily.  

WATER BOTTLES: I HIGHLY recommend sending a water bottle to school with your 
child daily.  I also recommend pop tops and flip lids for the water bottles 
(screw on lids cause spills easily).  Please label your child¡¦s water 
bottle 
with his/her name.

CONTACT INFORMATION: If you have any questions or concerns, please don¡¦t 
hesitate to call.  I want the best education and well-being for your child 
and will welcome any comments or concerns you might have.  E-mail is also 
another GREAT way of reaching me.  If you choose to call me at school, 
please note that I will call you back as soon as I can.  
	E-mail: griffite@pennfield.net
	Website: www.teacherweb.com/MI/NorthPenn/MsGriffith
	Phone: (734) 478-2562
	School Phone: (269) 961-9797

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