TGIF!  Thank Goodness It's Friday...BUT it's been a good week! I told the kids that I can tell they're starting to act like second graders!

TURN IN FUNRAISER MONEY TOMORROW!

YATES' BOOK FAIR BEGINS TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3!!!! Please come and support our book fair.  I love it!

Study really hard for spelling tonight. As I watched the kids practicing with each other today, several do not know their spelling words. 

We'll do another +1/+2 timed "test" tomorrow to see if we've improved!

Conferences continue the next two weeks.  I've enjoyed meeting with you.  I'm still trying to get the last three families scheduled. 

DON'T FORGET THAT IT'S YATES NIGHT AT CHICK-FIL-A!

Our library checkout day is Thursday, but starting this week Miss Johnson has asked us to turn in our books by Wednesday afternoon.  So, BRING LIBRARY BOOKS TO CHECK IN TOMORROW.

Also, don't forget that your child may bring favorite books from home to read during Read To Self.  

Study spelling and practice math facts.  (That's a command sentence! :)

We started today counting groups of like coins--pennies, nickels, and dimes.  Since we've been working so hard on counting by ones, fives, and tens, this transfer of knowledge should be pretty easy.  We will include quarters this week.  Right now, if the value of the group of coins in less than one dollar, we'll write the amount with a cent sign.  If the value of the group of coins in more than one dollar, we'll write the amount with a dollar sign and decimal point. We made crayon rubbings of the different coins today.

I believe small reading groups will start after Labor Day.  Once I know the schedule, I'll make plans for using parent helpers.

The new B3 spelling list has some rather difficult words...I believe there are six ways to spell the long e sound!  Extra studying will be necessary!  Don't forget to practice using the words in sentences, too.

A3 list:  cap, van, set, kids, fit, gas, jet, bus, log, mob, hop, mud, saw, when

B3:  teacher, cheat, least, steep, green, between, happy, baby, really, people, field, thief, saw, when

We are working on recognizing the subject in a sentence...the words that tell "who" or "what" the sentence is about.  For right now, these words are at the beginning of a statement.

PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE on math facts :)

This Thursday night is Yates' night at Chick-fil-A.

No school next Monday because it's Labor Day.

This week we'll be learning about economics in social studies/reading: income,  goods, services, producers, consumers, natural resources, capital resources, and more!

My, oh my, where has the week gone?  I'll probably see some of you in just a few minutes at the common core meeting!

Tomorrow is our spelling test. I cannot emphasize enough that a child really knows the spelling of a word when (s)he correctly uses it in their sentence writing...not just simply spelling a list of words.  We have been working hard on simply recognizing when a group of words makes a sentence.  This is what we've learned:  A sentence is a group of words that makes sense.In other words, the group of words tell a complete thought or idea.  We know that the words do this when we can answer two questions.   (1)Who or what do the words tell about AND (2)what are they doing...what is happening?  If we don't know either of these two things, the words do not tell a complete thought.  So many times, children think that the capital letter at the beginning of the words and the punctuation mark at the end is what makes the words a sentence. WRONG!

This week we've been talking about the four different kinds of sentences and how we know which kind it is.  (statement, question, command, exclamation)

We will have the timed tests on math facts tomorrow.  I hope you practice on these at home!

We are working on our field trips.  More information along the way!

I've just about scheduled all my beginning of the year conferences.  I look forward to talking with you.

We finished our DIBELS this morning, so hopefully tomorrow will be a somewhat "normal" day for us. 

A letter from me is coming home today stapled on top of last Friday's spelling test.  I hope this will be helpful to you.  A new spelling list (A2 or B2) is also coming home.

In Social Studies (reading informational texts), we are talking about our culture and customs. A custom is something we usually do at a certain time.  Culture is the way of life of a group of people.  Our culture includes our customs along with clothes, food, music, beliefs, language, and other things.  A tradition is an idea or custom that is passed down from one person to another.  I encourage you to talk with your child about our culture, and your family's customs and traditions.

In math we are continuing writing and recognizing numbers through 1,000.  Today we wrote from 200 to 299, paying attention to the patterns of the numbers as we write.  We are also working on quick recognition of +0, +1, and +2 facts. 

In language, we are working on writing good, complete second grade sentences and recognizing when a group of words is a sentence or is not a sentence.

In Read to Self, our stamina has reached thirty minutes!  If you're not sure what this means, ask your child :)  Don't forget that two or three books from home may be brought in by your child for their book box. These need to be books that he/she can easily read.

This Thursday is picture day.  While pictures do not need to be purchased, everyone will have their picture made to go in the Yates yearbook.  That night, from 6:00 until 7:00, there will be an informational meeting in the gym regarding common core. 

Have a great week!  We plan to!

TGIF! It's been a good first complete week of school with all eighteen students being here all five days!  Thank you so much.

There is a Cici's Pizza coupon for a child's free buffet coming home in the green folder.  I gave these out for the perfect attendance this week.

Please do not send a snack in for just your child.  We have classroom snacks.  Thanks to Emma's mom for restocking us today.  PLEASE REMEMBER:  NO NUTS!

Thursday, August 22, is yearbook picture day.

September 13 is Star-Spangled Banner Day.  Whiz Kids will be raising the flag and the entire school will gather around the flagpole to sing the Star-Spangled Banner!

NEXT WEEK OUR CLASSROOM WILL BE FEATURED AS DR. RINGSTAFF'S CLASS OF THE WEEK.  Look for our picture and a brief write-up on the CCS website next week!

Study spelling--test Friday...Remember to practice making good complete sentences with your child.  At this time I expect a second grade sentence to be at least six words in length, make sense, begin with a capital letter, and end with the correct endmark.

Practice + and - facts...We're working mainly on addition right now, but subtraction usually is the weaker of the two.  Practice, practice, practice at home.  I promise it will pay off!

I have started beginning-of-the-year conferences.  Hopefully between now and Labor Day I will get to meet with most of you.

This Friday, August 16, will be second grade hearing screening and the first DIBELS testing of the school year for my classroom.

Thursday, August 22, is yearbook picture day! I'll send home the picture information tomorrow.  That night from 6:00-7:00 you may come for an informational meeting to learn more about Common Core State Standards.

We've been in school for six days and the children now feel pretty comfortable. They're really of good group of kids, but we're struggling with following directions.  I solicit your help in having your child look you in the eyes while you are giving an instruction and then expecting them to follow through with the direction. Second grade is a huge change from first grade and we have a long road ahead of us, but we'll make it!

THIS FRIDAY IS STEVI B'S PIZZA FOR LUNCH CHOICE!

Based on last Friday's pretest, the children got their spelling word list for this Friday's test. Some received the A1 list while others received the B1 list.  The list your child studies may vary from week to week depending on how he/she did on the pretest.  There are activities to be done at home on the spelling worksheet.  These are not due back until the day of the test.   Oh, the tests will not be simply spelling each word.  There will be sentences with one misspelled word in each sentence.  Your child must find the misspelled spelling word and write it correctly.  This is how it is done on standardized tests and it makes for much better spellers.  Also, your child will have to make up and write three sentences using one of their spelling words in each of the three sentences.

We started a list of grade-level irregularly spelled words (rule breakers).  The first five words we talked about today are:  of, you, are, was, they.  As you study spelling words each week, be sure to include reading, spelling, and using these "rule breaker" words in sentences.

Second grade hearing screening will occur this Friday, August 16, right after morning opening at 8:30.

Practice + facts (addition)...remember the laminated sheets I gave you at parents' night????

Yates' fundraiser information is coming home today.  I encourage you to look over the neat things to sell and raise money for our school!

Be send in a sweater or sweatshirt to leave in the classroom and make sure your child's name in written on the tag.  They get so cold with the air conditioner running!

Your child may bring in 2 or 3 favorite books from home to put in their reading boxes.  Again, make sure their name is written inside the front cover.  These books should be ones that are easily read by your child. 

Welcome to second grade and to a new school year!  I am thrilled to have your child this year, and I am expecting it to be a great school year!  This week we'll spend lots of time getting to know each other and practicing rules and procedures that their new teacher expects.

Remember that we have our second grade parents' night tomorrow night at 6:00.  Please do not bring your children if at all possible.  We'll start in the gym.  I look forward to seeing you.