2-10-12
Hi Parents,
We had an awesome fun week of WeDo, building Lego robots in the computer
lab to practice our math skills. The kiddos created all kinds of robots
including ferocious lions that roar, silly monkeys that play the drums,
hungry alligators who will snap your finger, and so many more. We finished
recording all of them, and we finished writing our math stories. We owe a big
thanks to Mrs. Oliver, Mrs. Boardman, Mrs. Albright, Mrs. Devaney, and
Weston's Gigi - Mrs. Tipton. They were a huge help!!!
Next week we will work on recording our voices as we read our double-digit
addition math stories and putting them into our Lego videos. We will also be
working on double-digit subtraction with regrouping. Unfortunately, we will
not get to use the Legos for this unit; we had to pass them on to another
class. Even though we are sad to see the Legos go, we are also feeling very
thankful since we are one out of only eight classes at all of Great Oaks who
get to use the Lego WeDo kits this year.
In social studies we are learning about historical figures. Each second
grade class is researching a different person. Our class is researching
Harriet Tubman. At the end of next week, we will put all of our facts in the
hallway to make a big time line for our research on historical figures. In
the weeks ahead we will be working in small groups to research historical
figures such as Amelia Earhart, Thomas Jefferson, Rosa Parks, George
Washington, Abe Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Helen Keller, Eleanore Roosevelt,
and more. We also had a fun program on Tuesday called African Safari! It was
so much fun! We are so thankful that PTA brings us such fun educational
programs.
In reading we continued working our reading comprehension and also learned
about fables and folktales. Many of the kids were very surprised to learn
the ugly duckling was not a duckling and he wasn’t ugly. Do you know how the
chipmunk got his stripes or why we have the sun? We do.
Our 5th grade buddies came yesterday and made Valentine Baskets with us.
Today in E-Slot we made Valentine cards for them. The kiddos in the scene 3
group also took pictures for Claymation with some extra help from Mrs.
Boardman. Next week we have two guest speakers who will talk to us about
recycling and conserving water. They are going to help us with our research
for our Claymation movie. This service learning project is coming along very
nicely!!
Even though my little friends might have had more fun this week than any
other week this year so far, I know my little friends are already looking
forward to next week's Valentine's Day party. Thank you so much to those of
you who have already sent in items for the party. Thank you in advance to
those of you who will send in items next week and/or help Mrs. Albright with
the party. You all did a wonderful job with the Winter party, I have no
doubt Tuesday is going to awesome, too.
Have a great weekend. Be sure to check the Wednesday folder and Great
Oaks Calendar for upcoming events.
Tammy Joy
2-3-2012
Hi Parents,
We had another terrific week! Our favorite part was by far working in the
computer lab all week on WeDo. The kiddos are writing math stories and then
using the Lego WeDo computer program make their robots move and act out the
stories. It is pretty awesome!!!! I am soooo amazed at how tech savvy today's
children are and how quickly they catch on. The kids are doing a fabulous
job; however, we couldn't get by without a little help from these awesome
ladies: Mrs. Albright, Mrs. Oliver, Mrs. Boardman, and Gigi for helping us
out! We will continue with this awesome fun next week, and I hope to be
posting their videos by the end of the week.
We also worked on Claymation today. We took pictures for scene two today.
We will continue working on this each Friday until we are done. It is going
great!! I can't wait till we are finished and they can show off their hard
work, but it will still be at least three months before that day comes. Save
the date for Friday, April 20th! We will have our Claymation Celebration in
the cafeteria that morning for E-Slot.
We have still been reading fairy tales and working on our comprehension in
reading. Next week, we are going to read fables and continue working on
sharpening our comprehension skills. Thank you for working with your kiddo at
home, too. I am very proud of the growth I am seeing in my little friends'
reading skills.
In science we learned more about natural resources and had a scavenger
hunt. In social studies we talked more about the past, present, and future.
We had some very interesting ideas presented for what we think schools will
look like in the future. Next week, we will start researching historical
figures.
The week after next we will have our Valentine's party. I sent out a class
list with names earlier today, and I will also send out a hard copy of the
names on Wednesday in the Wednesday folders.
Have a great weekend!!
Don't forget to check the Wednesday folder for more news and upcoming
events.
Tammy Joy
1/27/2012
Hi Parents,
We had a wonderful fabulous fun week - maybe our best yet! I think my
favorite part of the week has been watching my little friends working so hard
on their Fractured Fairy Tale Puppet Shows this week. They are so cute but
so funny to watch. They are so excited about performing their fairy tales
for the class… almost as excited as they are about our Claymation movie. We
took the pictures for scene 1 today during E-Slot and continued working on
their fairy tales. I think we have a few hams in our class. *Ü*
We worked on fractions again this week. Today in the computer lab they
used Kid Pix to write stamp or sticker stories. The kids are making such
progress in math. The kiddos are very excited about the 100th day of school.
It is on Wednesday next week. We are asking the kiddos to bring baggies of
100 small objects to use in writing and solving double-digit addition stories
with regrouping. Don’t forget next Wednesday we also have an early release
day.
In science, we are still learning about natural resources. On our rainy
day we had fresh water falling from the sky, and it was the perfect day to
share some of my beautiful blue salt-water pictures with dolphins and other
sea creatures from the Caribbean.
Most of all, they are excited about WeDo for next week. We are going to be
making movies with Lego robots!!! Thank you so much to those of you who have
signed up to help. If you would like to sign up, please sign up on our class
website. The password was sent to you again via email on Friday.
Hoping you have a fabulous weekend,
Tammy
Upcoming Events:
Feb 1st: Early Release 12:45 dismissal
Progress Reports go home in the Wednesday Folder
February 7th: Special Assembly for African American History at 9:45
February 14th: Valentine's Day Party
February 20th: Staff Development/ Student Holiday
1/13/2012
Hi Parents,
We had a fabulous week at school. Here are some of the highlights from our
week.
* In social studies we have been studying past, present, and future. In
addition to realizing how old I am and how many things I used as kid are no
longer around, we used something from the past called a VCR to watch a very
interesting video about MLK. :) We had some great discussions about what our
country might be like if it were not for people like Martin Luther King Jr.
who tried to make a our country and our communities a better place.
* We have been working on poetry in writing. The students have been working
on two poems this week. Their winter poems, which are similar to the Autumn
poems, are hanging in the hallway. In addition, they worked in the computer
lab today to type up their funny friendship poems and will finish them on
Tuesday next week. I will start posting them on our class website's student
work page later next week.
* In math we have been studying fractions. The kids are doing a fabulous
job since we got a head start on them by comparing fractions with coins in
our morning math each week. The kiddos made some interesting pizzas in math
to show fractional parts.
* Thank you to all of you who were able to show up for Math Night. I hope
you had fun. You can access many of the games at home from our website at
http://schools.roundrockisd.org/greatoaks/grade_2_mathnight.aspx
* In E-Slot today the kids made posters for the Souper Bowl of Caring which
kicks off next Monday on MLK day and wraps up on Friday, February 3rd. We
will put up our posters around the building next week to remind everyone to
bring food for the food drive. Your help in helping us collect food items
for this event is greatly appreciated.
* Of course there is no school on Monday as it is a holiday. But, I do hope
some of you will be able to come to the MLK event at Great Oaks Elementary
from 10:00 - 12:00.
* In order to ensure that our students are prepared for third grade,
beginning January 23rd all of second grade is going to begin giving weekly
spelling tests every Friday. The tests will also include a dictation section
that will contain 2nd grade sight words as well as words from the current
week OR previous weeks. The teacher will pick ten - twelve words off of the
sort for the test so students are encouraged to study all words in order to
understand and apply the weekly spelling rule. The students in our class
have already been doing this ALL year in their Word Work Notebooks, so the
only change you will see at home is that the graded tests will now come home
in the Wednesday Folder instead of staying in your child's WW Notebook.
* From January 30th to February 10th our class will be using the WeDo
robotics kits to create and model math stories. The children will actually
be using a computer program to direct the motion of the lego robots that they
make. I would love to have some parent volunteers on Tuesday, January 31st,
and Thursday, February 2nd, and then again on Tuesday, February 7th, and
Thursday February 8th, from 9:45 - 10:45 to help the kids build their robots
and create the motion sequences in the computer program. If you are willing
and able to help, pleeeeeeeeeeease let me know.
* I know it's very early, but I am already posting a sign up for the
Valentine's party on Tuesday, February 14th. The password was sent to you
via email on Friday, January 13th. Thank you in advance for signing up to
contribute supplies and/or goodies for your child's Valentine's Party. It
will be held from 1:30-2:30 pm.
Thank you for your continued help and support!!!
Have a wonderful weekend!!
Calendar:
Monday: MLK Day of Service from 10:00 -noon; School Holiday
Around the Corner:
January 26: Science Night hosted by 5th grade
January 30 - Feb. 10 We Do Robotics during math time
February 1: Progress Reports go home for midpoint of 3rd nine week grading
period
February 1: Early Release - 12:45 dismissal
February 14: Valentine's Party 1:30 -2:30 in the classroom
12/16/2011
Hi Parents,
We had a very merry week filled with lots of fun holiday events. But, before
I share the details of our week, I'd like to give a few shout outs to you!!!
I'd like to start with a big thank you for the sweet gifts you sent with your
children this week! You truly spoiled me, and I am truly thankful for your
kindness and generosity.
The kids and I owe a very big thanks to Mrs. Albright who planned the
Christmas party. The party was very well organized, and the kids had soooo
much fun playing games. Ask your little gecko about the snowball fight. It
was hilarious. I'd also like to give a big shout out to all of the parents
who helped provide the yummy snacks and treats for the party. You really
came through!!! *Ü*
As I already stated, we had a very merry week. It was so packed with fun that
we never found time today for Newsbooks. I can't tell you about the two
secret gifts that the kiddos are supposed to put under the tree for you;
however, I can share some of the details about our week with you.
Our biggest event this week was comparing media literacy to other forms of
literacy. We read the Elf on the Shelf, Olive the Other Reindeer, The
Grinch, and Polar Express. Then, we compared some of the print versions to
some of the G Rated film versions. The Polar Express was by far our
favorite, and we drank some yummy hot cocoa while we watched it. But, before
the movie started we had a very special delivery from the North Pole. Santa
had Rudolph make a special delivery to our school, and he sent us some jingle
bells. Rudolph flew sooooo fast to get them here to our school that the
jingle bells were still ice cold when we got them. After making his long
trip again on Christmas Eve, I'm sure Rudolph will be very happy to see the
special Reindeer Food that I gave the kids to put out for him and the other
reindeer on Christmas Eve.
We also did a lot of writing this week around the books and movies that we
watched. The kids have some cute letters to the Grinch about his bad choice
to steal presents from the Whos in Whoville. We are proud of him for giving
the presents back, but we all agree that he should treat people the way he
wants to be treated. :)
In math we continued practicing our problem-solving skills with some holiday
themed math problems. I continue to be amazed at how much my little friends
are improving with both solving the problems and explaining their thinking.
On a side note, I would also like to mention that I received a very special
call today from Scholastic. (Yes, the same people who publish all those
books we buy at the book fair and Barnes and Noble and everywhere else that
you buy children's books) Some how they found last year's Claymation movie on
my class website. They are going to put the movie on their interactive
website. I mention this because I told the kids about it... and I want you
to know it is the bullying/friendship movie from last year... not this year.
This year's movie is still in production. But, wow! What great news!!! I am
so proud of the way our school approaches service learning!!! I feel so
blessed to be a part of Great Oaks. I am looking forward even more now to
getting back to work on this year's Claymation project! Thank you for
everything you continue to do to support our efforts to educate the
children's minds and hearts!!!
Wishing you and your sweet families a very very Merry Christmas and blessed
new year!!
Upcoming Events
* December 19-30: School Closed: Winter Holidays
* January 2: Student Holiday; Teacher Workday/Staff Development
* January 2 -9: Mrs. Joy is gone; please call the office if you need to get
in touch with Mrs. Thomas.
* January 3: Classes resume for students: First Day of 2nd Semester
STAAR Information Meeting for Parents,
Library 8:00 a.m. or 6:00 p.m.
12/9/2011
Hi Parents,
We had another fun week and continued enjoying some holiday fun. We are
almost finished with our secret holiday projects.
Here are some of the highlights from our fun, busy week:
* Our most exciting event is most likely getting our Elf on the Shelf. Most
of the kids are trying very hard to be extra good knowing that Santa has
sent a scout elf to report on their good behavior.
* In the computer lab we continued working on making our powerpoint slides on
our pilgrim dolls.
* We made snowman bookmarks during Reader's Workshop and read some fun
holiday stories about Santa Claus and his family and helpers.
* The kiddos made adorable gingerbread houses to hold their Secret Pal
notes. I will deliver the first notes tonight, and they will be waiting on
the kiddos's desks when they come in on Monday morning. The kids are very
excited!!!
* We enjoyed listening to the Cedar Valley Middle School choir sing holiday
songs to us on Wednesday.
* We started our study on rocks in science; we will continue studying rocks
after the new year.
* In math we have been reviewing counting money and working on solving
holiday-themed story problems. We will review telling time next week.
* Our pajama and book drive is still going on. We have only collected three
pairs of pajamas and two books in our class so far, but we are hopeful that
we can bring in more next week. The drive ends on Wednesday.
* Today during E-Slot we made Christmas cards for our soldiers and our
5th grade buddies. We are getting together with our buddies on Tuesday to
read our favorite holiday stories.
Upcoming Events:
December 13: GOE Junior Choir Concert 6:30 p.m. Cafeteria
December 15: Polar Express/Read-in/Pajama Day -
Please refer to the note and/or email that went out on
Wednesday with more details. Please do consider picking up a
pair of pjs and a book for the pajama drive when you are out
shopping for your little gecko.
December 16: Class Holiday Party at about 1:30 -
Thank you soooooooo much to those of you who signed up to
bring items for the party AND/OR for our Polar Express Day.
A note from Mrs. Albright went home on Monday with info
about the party.
December 19-30: School Closed: Winter Holidays
January 2: Student Holiday; Teacher Workday/Staff Development
January 3: Classes resume for students: First Day of 2nd Semester
STAAR Information Meeting for Parents
in the Library 8:00 a.m. or 6:00 p.m.
12/2/2012
Hi Parents,
We had another fun week, and we have already started enjoying some holiday
fun. To say the kids are excited about the things we have coming up in the
next couple of weeks is an understatement.
Here are some of the highlights from our fun, busy week:
• We started collecting new pajamas and books for our pajama drive
• A fantastic visit from awesome Austin author Liz Scanlon who talked to us
about being a writer
• Reading some fun Gingerbread stories in Reader's Workshop and making a mini
book to recall the important details
• Writing Gingerbread stories in Writer's Workshop
• Practicing double-digit addition with regrouping in math
• Playing a fun game of Four in a Row to practice our mental math strategies
• Typing, experimenting with font, and inserting pictures into powerpoint
slides about our pilgrim dolls in the computer lab
• Learning how to use the computer to help us find a book in the GOE library
• Having a guest speaker and learning a little about some of the things
someone not born in the US must do to become a US citizen
• Listening to music in the cafeteria - I know the Watch Dogs will appreciate
this one *Ü*
• Making SECRET holiday projects - Hmmm. Our carpet at school looks a little
shiny, too ;)
•PTA movie night tonight featuring the Smurfs
Please don't forget to check the E-Folder for important notes!!!!
Upcoming Events:
December 2: PTA Sponsored Family Movie Night
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. in GOE Cafeteria
December 7: Cedar Valley Choir Performs for GOE 9:00 and 9:30 a.m.
Chick-fil-A School Spirit Night
Early Release Day, Students Dismissed at 12:45
December 8: Holiday Lunch for 1st Grade, 3rd Grade, 5th Grade
(Our lunch time is 11:30 instead of 11:45 on this day.)
December 13: GOE Junior Choir Concert 6:30 p.m. Cafeteria
December 15: Polar Express/Read-in/Pajama Day -
Don't forget to pick up a pair of pjs and a book for the pajama
drive when you are out shopping for your little gecko.
December 16: Class Holiday Party at about 1:30 - There is a sign up page on
our class website and a note from Mrs. Albright will go home
next week with info about the party.
December 19-30: School Closed: Winter Holidays
January 2: Student Holiday; Teacher Workday/Staff Development
January 3: Classes resume for students: First Day of 2nd Semester
STAAR Information Meeting for Parents in Library
8:00 a.m. or 6:00 p.m.
November 21, 2011
Hi Parents,
I will be out tomorrow. My husband's 91 year old grandmother, Mee Mog, died
yesterday, and we are going to be trying to help Ron's parents with funeral
arrangements as we love on our family and celebrate Mee Mog's long, blessed
life and her going Home.
I have left some Thanksgiving themed activities for tomorrow that I hope the
kiddos will enjoy.
I pray you have a happy and safe Thanksgiving break and enjoy some quality
time with your little geckos.
Counting my family as well as you and your sweet children and a pumpkin pie
delivered early in my top-ten on my list of blessings,*Ü*
Tammy
November 18, 2011
Hi Parents,
We had another very busy fun week. Below is a list of some of our favorite
things that happened this week:
* We got several great new books from the book fair for our classroom
library. Thank you to those of you who were able to contribute.
* We can not all agree on the food at the Thanksgiving Day luncheon, but most
of the kids said the pie was their favorite part.
* Most of the students finished their Turkey Stories in Writers' Workshop.
The stories did not fly out into the hallway for all to see - sorry. We
are going to be reading them out loud next week for our read aloud time on
Monday and Tuesday next week. The kiddos will take them home on Tuesday
along with their scarecrow stories.
* We discussed cause and effect in Readers' Workshop this week and read lots
and lots of Thanksgiving stories.
* In social studies we learned about how the Native Americans helped the
pilgrims, and we took a virtual field trip to a museum called Plimoth
Plantation thanks to the folks at Scholastic. It was awesome!!! You and
your family can check it out at
http://www.scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving/ There were some actors
dressed in period costume who pretended to be pilgrims and Wampanoags. I
don't think any of us would trade our nice warm houses for the houses they
lived in back then or want to eat eel.
* In math we have been working on double-digit addition with regrouping. We
also played some games in the computer lab today to practice our math
skills.
* We started building our set for our claymation movie today. We should
finish on Friday, December 2nd. That would mean we can start taking
pictures on December 9th. The kids will be working on some top secret
holiday projects that day while I take the pictures for the characters who
are in the movie for each scene.... so, I am taking back my request for
parent help with the pictures. I think we will be fine - and this will
allow the kids to work on their project without spoiling your surprises.
Upcoming Events
* Don't forget the Pilgrim Doll projects are due on Monday, November 21st;
thank you for your help!!! I hope you are enjoying it. NO homework for next
week :)
*Wednesday - Friday, November 23, 24, 25: Thanksgiving Holiday
*Thursday, December 1st: Author Liz Scanlon to visit
*Friday, December 2nd: PTA movie night
*Wednesday, December 7th: Early Release Day - 12:45 dismissal
*Tuesday, December 13th: Junior Choir Concert at 6:30 - more details will be
going home from Mrs. West later.
*Thursday, December 15th: Polar Express/Pajama Day and Flashlight Read-in- I
will be sending out a request for cocoa, 16 ounce Styrofoam cups, mini-
marshmallows, peppermint candy canes, as well as supplies and treats for
the Winter Holidays party later. If anyone knows how to make a great cup
of cocoa and wants to bring that, let me know; otherwise I will just ask
for someone to bring 20 packages of instant cocoa. I have a coffee pot at
home that I can bring and use to heat up the water.
*Friday, December 16th: Winter Holidays party from around 1:30 - 2:30 Our
awesome room moms will be asking for volunteers to help set up the
classroom (between 12:45 and 1:30) for the party while the kiddos are in
the computer lab.
Have a blessed weekend,
Tammy
11/11/2011
Hi Parents,
Wow! What a busy, fun week we had. Every day was filled with fun and
learning, but I’m sure most of the kiddos would agree today was the best!
They are soooo excited about the Book Fair and eager to show you their Wish
Lists that they wrote at our Book Fair Preview today. We saw lots of awesome
books that we would love to add to our libraries. Don’t forget our day to
go shopping as a class is Tuesday November 15th, from 1:00 - 1:20. Students
can also go shopping anytime with a parent on Tuesday or Wednesday during
book fair hours 8:20 - 2:40.
Most of the kiddos finished their scarecrow stories this week during Writer’s
Workshop. I will be hanging their cute stories out in the hallway next week
along with their adorable scarecrow glyphs. The kids are really improving as
writers, and I am very proud of the growth I am seeing in each of them. Who
knows, maybe one day I will be buying one of their books at a book fair!
We wrapped our unit on patterns in math this week. My little friends amazed
me with how well they did on their problem-solving tasks! Some of them even
complained that one of the problems I gave them this week (which is supposed
to be a challenge) was too easy! Next week we will work to improve our
problem-solving strategies while using and improving addition and subtraction
skills.
In science we learned about force, friction, and motion. We did two fun
experiments with spinning and sliding. We had a “rolling” good time on the
ramp in the hallway.
In Reader’s Workshop we worked on making connections with different kinds of
text and discussed the different types of text features. The kiddos are
doing such a great job making text-to-text connections, and their fluency and
comprehension skills are improving as well!! Thank you for reading with your
kiddos every night at home! I know they love spending that quality time with
you, and I appreciate your extra support.
Next week, we will start our unit on settlement patterns in social studies.
As part of this unit the kiddos will have a special homework project in which
they will be decorating old fashioned clothes pins to look like pilgrims… but
not the ordinary pilgrim that you see in Thanksgiving decorations – no, we
would like each kid to decorate a clothes pin like a pilgrim so that it
is “dressed” to match your family’s heritage – or at least part of it. I
will send you a couple of pictures of some examples so you will know what the
finished project might look like. The end product turns out very cute, but
the understanding the children gain of their own heritage as well as the
heritage of their fellow classmates through this project is really the best
part of this unit.
Thank you in advance for your continued support and for partnering with me to
educate your child’s mind and heart, especially this week as we honored our
veterans and the next couple of weeks ahead as we work together to help your
kiddos learn about their heritage.
Calendar:
Monday: First Grade Service Learning Project: Food Drive for RR
Serving Center Continues ...If you have not had a chance, please think about
bringing a donation for the collection barrels. The pantry shelves are close
to empty.
Tuesday: Holiday Lunches for TWC, K, 2nd, 4th (Our special lunch time
is 11:30 - 12:00.)
Tuesday: Reflections Awards 7:00 p.m. in the Cafeteria
Tuesday and Wednesday: Book Fair
Wednesday: Progress Reports for current grading period
Around the Corner:
November 23, 24, 25: Thanksgiving Holiday
Have a blessed weekend!!!
Tammy Joy
11/4/2011
Hi Parents,
We had another fun, busy week at school. Here are some talking points for
some of the things that happened this week:
•Our science experiment with magnets and buried treasure (magnetic,
nonmagnetic, attract, and repel)
•Two experiments about light
•Beautiful autumn poems hanging in the hallway
•Making patterns in math with cube buildings and paper clips
•Deciding what our Claymation set will look like and what materials we need –
Barbie food, plates & cups, Legos to build tables and benches; the kids are
planning to bring in those items no later than Friday, November 18th
•Making music and duck noises with dancing kangaroos in the computer lab as
we practiced our key boarding skills
Things we are excited about for the upcoming weeks:
•Veteran's Day Celebration - Pppplease don't forget to send in pictures for
the Wall of Honor of your favorite veteran's! Thank you to those of you who
have signed up to bring breakfast items.
•Book Fair - We have a preview on Friday, November 11th, from 1:00 - 1:20,
and our day to go shopping as a class is Tuesday, November 15th,from
1:00 - 1:20. Students can also go shopping anytime with a parent on Tuesday
or Wednesday during book fair hours 8:20 - 2:40.
Calendar:
Reflections contest: Diversity means... - Projects are due no later than
Monday, November 7th
First Grade Service Learning Project: Food Drive for RR Serving Center
Around the Corner:
November 8: TAG Information Night
November 11: Veterans Day Program 8:15 - 9:00 in the Cafeteria; Veteran's
Day breakfast in the Science Lab (Rm 509) 8:45 - 9:15
November 15: Holiday Lunches for TWC, K, 2nd, 4th; our time is 11:30 - 12:00
November 15: Reflections Awards 7:00 p.m. in the Cafeteria
November 15-16: Book Fair 8:20 - 2:40
November 16: Progress Reports for current grading period
November 23, 24, 25: Thanksgiving Holiday
Blessed beyond measure,
Tammy Joy
10/29/11
Wow Parents!
What an awesome turn out we had for today's clean up at the Brushy Creek
Clean Up! I am so proud of my little geckos!!! Who knew picking up trash on
a cool Saturday morning could be so much fun!!! Thank you, parents, for
leading by example and encouraging my little friends to make a difference in
their community.
Inspired and grateful,
Tammy Joy
10/28/2011
Hi Parents,
We had a great week of fun and learning. I think my favorite part of the
week was watching my little TV stars in action as they made a short Public
Service Announcement video to persuade students at Great Oaks to attend the
clean up for the Brushy Creek water ways. When you see their movie, you will
know why I lovvvvvve my class and bouncy castles, too.
We tried making our film in the library on Tuesday with the KGOE “green
screen”, but there was a problem with the sound. The kids were a little
disappointed the next day when I told them the microphone didn’t work and our
movie was not going to be on KGOE that day… until I told them we would just
have to try again. Then, my little hams were jumping for joy. We ended up
making the movie in our classroom thanks to some help from our friend Mr.
Weiler, and we were able to get everybody in it at the end. They all did such
a great job, and they know it!!! One of my little starlets even said she was
going to make an autograph book so she could get everybody’s autographs. *Ü*
Tuesday’s field trip to Pepper Rock Park for the Box Top Celebration was so
much fun. I hope you enjoyed the pictures I sent you by e-mail on Tuesday.
We are so thankful for the help you gave us by sending in those Box Tops and
other labels as well as for the extra help you gave us on our way to the park
and back.
We took our writing benchmarks on Wednesday. I am eager to grade them this
weekend and see how much progress my young authors have made. On Thursday,
we made lemonade and wrote “how-to” papers. We had a great time with reading
their directions and trying to literally follow them. Today, we worked on
writing and editing our autumn poems. They are sounding beautiful and
looking fabulous. With the cool front, today was a perfect day for writing
about autumn. I am hopeful that we will be publishing these masterpieces in
the hallway on Tuesday. Our cute spider diamantes from last week should come
home this Wednesday.
We began our unit on patterns this week in math. We had a fun lesson with
additive patterns. I was very pleased with how quickly most of the kids
caught on to the rules of making them. We will continue working with
patterns in tables next week.
We learned about sound in science this week. We did a fun experiment on
vibrations and pitch with soda cans and watched a Magic School Bus movie.
Ms. Frizzle is sooo smart!!!
For E-Slot today, we teamed up with the rest of second grade to do our part
for the second grade service learning project for Veteran’s Day. With some
help from Weston’s Gigi and Noah’s mom, Lisa, we were able to make lots and
lots of chains to decorate the hallway. We also owe a huge thanks to Ema’s
mom, Xenia DeVaney, for cutting all of the red, white, and blue strips in
advance for our chains! A note with more information about the Veteran’s Day
event went out through the e-folder this week. I will send more information
about this project next week.
Thank you so much to those of you who are planning to join me tomorrow for
the Brushy Creek Clean Up. I know the weather is going to be a little colder
than what we have gotten accustomed to these last several months, but the
kids who have said they are coming are sooooo excited. I can tell it means a
lot to them to know you support them and take an interest in what they think
is important. My hubby, Ron, and I will see you there at 9:00.
Calendar:
Reflections contest continues. Diversity means....
First Grade Service Learning Project: Food Drive for RR Serving Center
Wednesday: Site-based Advisory Team Meeting - Library 3:15 - 4:30
Around the Corner:
November! Book fair, holiday lunches, Thanksgiving holidays! Good times, and
busy times, ahead!
November 8: TAG Information Night
November 9:Campus Leadership Meeting: Data Analysis - location moved to the
science lab * DATE CHANGED
November 11: Veterans Day Program 8:15 - 9:00 in the Cafeteria
November 15: Holiday Lunches for TWC, K, 2nd, 4th
November 15: Reflections Awards 7:00 p.m. in the Cafeteria
November 15-16: Book Fair
November 16: Progress Reports for current grading period
November 23, 24, 25: Thanksgiving Holiday
Hi Parents,
I hope you had as much fun this week as we did. The kids worked so hard and
did a great job, especially in math and writing.
As you know we were one of the winners for the Box Tops contest this 9
weeks. Thanks to your help, we raised almost $100 for our school and have
won a field trip to Pepper Rock Park! We chose to go on Tuesday, since we
are keeping our fingers crossed that the weather man's prediction for rain is
correct for Thursday and Friday. Wednesday was out since it is an early
release day. A permission slip should be in your child's homework folder
tonight. I also sent out a digital copy earlier today through email and a
copy of the note can also be found on the notes page of our class website.
Please return your child's form signed and completed on Monday. If you are
interested in coming along, please email me and plan on meeting us here in
our classroom at 1:45 on Tuesday.
Speaking of enjoying parks and much needed rain, today in our enrichment hour
my sweet little friends continued working on our recycling/water conservation
claymation service learning project and made posters for next weekend's
Brushy Creek Clean-Up. We posted our posters around the school today after E-
Slot in places we thought they would best be seen. The kids didn't know it,
but they were working on persuasive writing *Ü*. They are also going to
make a short PSA video on Tuesday in the library with Mrs. Grindle to
encourage others to join us and help clean up the Brushy Creek waterways.
Mrs. Grindle will play their video on KGOE next week to promote the clean-up.
This cleanup event will be held from 9AM to 11:30AM on Saturday, October
29th. There are badges to be earned for boy scouts and girl scouts... hint,
hint. Snacks will also be provided, and there will be a bouncy castle at the
end for the kids who participate. The event starts at the Creekside Park at
4300 Brushy Creek Road. We will wear our blue class shirts and meet at the
park playground for a safety orientation where we will be given supplies and
directions to the area we will be cleaning. I am hoping several of you can
join me. (For their safety, children who are coming must be accompanied by a
parent or another adult friend or adult family member who can monitor the
safety of the child.) A flyer with more information was sent out via email on
Friday, and it can also be found on the notes page.
In math this week, my brainy mathematical friends worked on making and
interpreting graphs. Each student made and conducted their own tally chart
survey on Monday. Then, we used those surveys all week long to study
graphs. Our bar graphs along with statements about our data are currently
proudly hanging out in the second-grade hallway; our pictographs will be out
there the week after next week after we finish presenting them to our
classmates in our morning math meetings. We will use the data from the other
tally mark surveys each week to keep our graphing skills sharp. I am
extremely proud of the teamwork the students used to make their graphs this
week and amount of effort they put forward. As always, I continue to be
amazed each week with their improvement in problem-solving and explaining
their mathematical thinking. Mrs. Stowe stopped by on Thursday and stayed
for our graphing lesson. She, too, was pleased with their efforts.
The students are also very proud of their cute spiders and spider diamante
poems that they made this week during Writer's Workshop. Those will be on
display next week, too. We also worked to write our hooks this week for our
scarecrow stories. Next week, we will work on setting the scene. In
addition, we will work on writing procedural text. I can't wait to see what
they say about how to make lemonade.
We had many fun moments this week, but using their cardinal directions to
find treasure on Wednesday was probably a favorite of many of my little
pirates. I'd like to give a big shout out to Ema's fabulous mom, Xenia
Devaney, for putting the treasure bags together and to Noah's terrific first
mate, Lisa Boardman, for guiding my tiny buccaneers around the school. No
one had to walk the plank, everyone got to keep their treasure, and according
to Mrs. Boardman they did a terrific job of reading their treasure maps and
navigating their way to their treasure.
We also went to the computer lab this afternoon and took our first AR test(s)
to check our comprehension. This was after another Brain Food Cafe and our
Friday's Friend, Ema Ann, showed off her guinea pig, Spike. He was sooo
adorable... don't be surprised if you see a guinea pig on your kiddo's
Christmas wish list.
Next week during E-Slot we will work on making patriotic chains to hang in
the main hallway during the week of October 31st to celebrate Veteran's Day.
If you would like to help us with making these, we would greatly appreciate
your help as we have a lot to make. Enrichment hour starts around 8:00 on
Friday. Just bring your staplers. The kids will be using staplers instead
of glue since we have so many to make, and it would be nice to have some
extra eyes on duty. We will have our own little assembly lines going with
the chains, and depending on how many parent helpers we have, we may have a
station to make patriotic place mats.
In addition to making patriotic decorations for the week of Veteran's Day,
second grade would also like to ask our fellow teachers and students to help
us create a Wall of Honor for the family members of GOE students, faculty,
and staff that are currently serving or have served in the military.
We are asking our GOE families to share copies of (not original) pictures of
their family members who have served or are currently serving in the
military. We would like to post these pictures in the main hallway along
with a 3x5 note card below the picture that gives information about that
veteran or service member. If you do not have a picture but would still like
to help us honor your family member(s), there will be a paper star going out
later that you and your child can decorate. The stars will be used by our
fabulous 5th grade students to make a banner for the Veteran's Day
celebration. Of course, we would love for you to do both projects.
Speaking of prized possessions and dearly loved family members, I hope you
have an awesome weekend enjoying your little ones.
Thank you in advance for your continued support in educating your child’s
mind and heart.
Below are some upcoming events:
Calendar:
Reflections contest continues. Diversity means....
October 11th - 25th: Coins for Coats Fund-raiser
October 24th - 28th: Red Ribbon Week
Monday: Decorate Your Shoes Day. “I’m walking through life drug free.
Tuesday: Mix and Match Day. “Drugs and I don’t mix or match.
Wednesday: Dress for Your Future Day. “Drugs have no place in my future."
Thursday: Crazy Socks Day. “Sock it to drugs.”
Friday: Team Shirt Day. “I’m teaming-up against drugs.”
Tuesday October 25th: Library day and Walking Fieldtrip
Wednesday, October 26th: Early Release and Campus Planning/Staff Development
Saturday, October 29th: Brushy Creek Clean-Up
First Grade Service Learning Project Continues: Food Drive for the RR Serving
Center - Watch for Details!
Around the Corner:
Friday, November 11th: Veteran's Day Celebration
Monday, November 14th - 16th GOE book fair in the library
Looking forward to many more fun learning adventures,
Tammy Joy
e-mail