Heat warning-freeze those water bottles!!

Hi everyone! Thanks for checking in!! Read the whole post, ok??

Tomorrow and Friday are going to be very hot days! Wear cool clothes and bring water bottles filled with half frozen water (fill bottle 1/2 or 3/4 of the way and freeze overnight). We will take frequent water breaks tomorrow to fill up and your water will be nice and cold! Be sure you have a few books to read in the afternoon-some of you left the LMC today without checking out any books! You'll need them tomorrow!

Today, we had a full day of learning. We talked a lot about telling time during math. Can you find out how to write the number 9 in Roman Numerals?? Ask someone at home to help you! Also, keep it to yourself until sharing time! There is no secret word for tomorrow-I only do that some days!!

We talked today about using the "Stop, Walk, Talk" method when we are having problems with another person. We always want to feel safe in school. We created a huge list of ideas to write about during writing today. It was amazing!! I can't wait to start writing and seeing what you choose to write about!

I'm sorry for the late posting, Wednesday nights are busy nights with soccer practices!!

See you tomorrow and bring your water!

What time is it?

Do you know that it is 6:00p.m. and I am STILL at school? It's true! I need to go home! Herbie and Howie will be lonely but they should find someone's desk to go into for the night. Remember, if you find Herbie and Howie in your desk, it is because they love a clean desk. However, you are NOT allowed to clean your desk out any time of the day! Some of you were cleaning out your desk today during my TEACHING or your WORK time. That will call for your card to be turned because it causes such a mess and it is noisy! Just keep your desk neat every part of the day!

Tomorrow, we will be reviewing what you learned with time! Take some "time" (Ha, ha!!) to look at a clock and review it at home with someone so you are well prepared!

Here are some questions for you:

Did you bring in your money today? If not - bring it tomorrow!

What are the days of the week?

What are the months of the year?

How can you use your hand to tell which months have 31 or less days?

How can you write 7 or 8 with Roman Numerals? That is our SECRET WORD - ROMAN NUMERALS!

See you on TIME tomorrow!! Remember, it is Wednesday - so it's late start day. Also, it's gym day and LMC book check out!! Bring your LMC Books (if you are done)!!

One for the kids.....

Hi there! This note is written just for the students! Parents can read it too, but I know I have been writing a lot of stuff to the parents!

First - a new secret word: Howie

Howie was lost a good part of the day today and is feeling very sad that he spent so much time stuck in a desk. Howie likes his dark spaces but needs some air during the day. Be sure to check your desk in the morning to see if he is in there. Remember, Howie and Herbie need air during the day or they get very sad!!

As a reminder, you have homework and it is in your home binder. Get your homework sheet signed by a parent! Bring in your money too if you haven't already. You need:

20 pennies
10 dimes
5 nickels
4 quarters

Practice counting money! See you tomorrow!

The Class Email List

Hi everyone! I hope you are enjoying your weekend. I finished compiling the class emails and have created our own email list - so you should have received our first group email on Friday. If you did not, PLEASE LET ME KNOW AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. I do not want you to miss any important information. If you do not regularly check email, I will be happy to print out what I send/post and send home a hard copy in the home binder. However, you have to let me know that this is what you prefer. Thanks!

Also, I forgot to mention that I will only be posting here (usually) Monday - Thursday. The only homework over the weekend (usually) will be to read 10-20 minutes, depending on your child's stamina. Eventually, this will also include 3-5 minutes of studying flashcards to improve math fact automaticity. Get in the habit of checking your child's home binder/home folder nightly for any important papers. Get your child in the habit too, by discussing the color they ended the day on (Behavior calendar) and if they have materials in the correct place in the binder (notes and papers for home should be in the home FOLDER, not in the side pockets of the binder. Spending a few minutes talking about the importance of being organized and how to be organized (but not harping on it), will eventually sink in (maybe not for a few years)!! I am glad I spent some time reading this summer about what a second grader is developmentally ready to do because it has helped me understand what I can expect from your child. However, each child is different, so if you find that your child is having a difficult time with something I am expecting them to work on, please contact me by phone, email or note!

As a reminder - there is no school on Sept. 5 and 6 for the kids. After Labor Day, the staff has an Articulation Day at school. Also, our Curriculum Night is planned for Monday, Sept. 12 at 6:30.

Thanks!

Making Faces!

Today we worked on so much! We started the day with a number sequencing activity and worked for the first time in our math journals. Generally these stay at school, but a few kids took the page (1) home to finish. One way to help with number sequencing is just pick a number at random and have your child begin counting either up or down from there.

During writing, we talked about when a capital should be used in a sentence and what a sentence should end with. Then we practiced writing some sentences about things we want to learn, what we laugh about, and what we love.

During our reading time, we talked about creating mental images in our heads while we are thinking during reading. I was reading the class the story, Freckle Juice, and we stopped in lots of different places to talk about mental pictures.

We continue to get better each day about following the rules of the school and the room. One of the many instances I noticed today was when we had two minutes to clean up from an art activity and the kids were so wonderful about helping their neighbors. We finished with 5 seconds to spare!

Finally, a pink half slip came home today requesting money. No, not for me! The students need some coins (real coins) that they can work with throught the year. We complete many activities with money and using the real thing is much more meaningful! If you didn't get a pink sheet, we need (in a baggie) 20 pennies, 10 dimes, 5 nickels, and 4 quarters). They will be returned at the end of the year. Thanks!

Now, this next thing is something I do every once in a while. I put up a SECRET WORD. Only the kids who look at the blog or hear from a parent who read the blog should know it. The secret word today is Freckle. If your child comes in an quietly whispers it to me (without telling anyone else), they will get to color in 5 Dandy Dolphins.

Thanks for playing along and reading this post!

Quick Post

We had a great day in 2G today, even though it was SO hot! We managed with frequent water breaks and lots of fun activities! This has to be a quick post (two soccer practices to get to) so please talk to your child about the following:

Who is Holler Loudly?

What numbers did we use to do our "clap practice" today in math?

What did the kids use in the LMC with Ms. Ranucci?

How did we sort our first names today?

What two things do we have for homework (I'll give you this one - 10 minutes of reading tonight and our collage picture is due on Friday)?

What did we do in our math journals today?

What did our class earn for being so responsible during our fire drill today?

What group did you work with during today's number scavenger hunt?

Thank you for taking the time to talk to your child about the day we had together. I hope they remember some of the answers to the above questions. :-)

Day #2

Hi everyone!

There was no homework given today. However, many students did not bring in their homework from yesterday (Writing about "My First Day of Second Grade"). I told them I will give them one more day to bring that in before they need to bring a "Yikes" form, our version of a missing homework note. These will be half slips of color paper and need to be signed and returned the next day. There are also full page behavior notes that will be given if your child ends the day on red (and sometimes yellow). Please support this process at home as a learning opportunity and a chance to talk to your child about how to make better choices that will help our learning environment.

Your child colored in his or her behavior calendar today for today and yesterday. I will try my hardest to allow for this important sheet to get filled out before we leave. This is also a learning opportunity for you to help support what we are doing in the classroom. Take a minute in the evening and/or the morning to talk about your expectations for your child for that day.

We had a wonderful day getting to know each other. We accomplished a great deal today. We participated in an activity that forced us all to walk around and talk to each other. Being 2nd graders who like to talk, this was not hard for most of the kids. The class seemed to really enjoy it.

We also took our assessments to determine the levels for starting on Otter Creek (math facts), which we will continue working on tomorrow. You should see flashcards coming home soon that your child will keep in his or her home binder. It will be part of the daily homework for your child to study those nightly!

We read from a read aloud titled Chocolate Fever. The kids loved hearing about his boy who ate so much chocolate that he started to get brown spots all over his skin! Tomorrow, the kids will get to go to the LMC for orientation and book check out. YIPPEE!! I love the LMC!

Here's the final message for the night: Each and EVERY morning, your child will experience the exact same routine in my class. If you could please talk to your child about this routine, it would prepare your child for their day and create a habit. These exact directions will be on the board for the first few weeks until a routine is established. Here is what your child will read:

1. Walk into the room and take your backpack to your seat. Unload your backpack with everything you'll need - home binder included.

2. Take your ZIPPED backpack to your hook.

3. Hang your lunch bag on your hook or place it in the lunch box bin outside the door.

4. Make lunch choice on the SMARTboard. Put your lunch card in your pocket if you are getting hot lunch or milk.

5. (This direction will define the morning activity and it varies day to day.)

Our regular homework sheet will begin next Monday and be placed in the home binder. I will post homework on here daily until then. My email list will be up and functional tomorrow sometime, so look for an email to come to you Thursday! Thank you so much for the support you are giving your child at home.

Our First Day!

Wow! That was the fastest day I have ever experienced! I was overwhelmed by the number of parents I got to meet today. You were all, parents and students, so welcoming! I really enjoyed my first day as a second grade teacher. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful class of students to spend my days with! We are going to have a great year. Here are a few bits of information for you to know about our first day:

- Today, we collected all the supplies that were brought in. If your child did not bring in a supply, please try to get it here by the end of the week (baby wipes, tissues, baggies, pencils, markers, post-its, etc.). Most importantly, send in a pair of headphones (can be earbuds, too) and a zip drive as we are going to attempt to keep ALL student work on the zip drive this year. I will keep both items in a gallon size zip loc for your child to take to computer lab. Most likely, we will need to replenish some items, like tissues, half way through the year. There NEVER seems to be enough! Thank you so much for bringing these items in.

- Today, we put out home binders together. Like this blog, the home binder is an important tool used to communicate between home and school. In it, there are papers that should stay in for the school year (I have hole punched these) and they should be behind the page protectors, loose. It is very important that when you are done reading these that you intial or sign the top, just so I know you are aware of the information. I will let you know when a new sheet has been placed so you know to find it and read it. I will teach the kids to routinely add to the very back of the binder, so the notes are in sequential order (of course, with 28 kisd, there may be a time I don't catch incorrect placement). The page protectors are for work the children are doing that I also want to keep safely inside. It is a place to keep projects, ongoing work, favorite work pieces, etc.) The things that are to stay home or be signed and return to school will always be in the Dolphins home folder in the binder. The things on the left should be read over, possibly signed, and returned to school. The things in the right pocket should be looked through and kept at home - I will not ask for these back. Teaching students to be organized is very important to me. I model it and discuss it often and I hope a small part will rub off.

- One of the items in the Dolphin Folder was a green information sheet. Please take a minute to fill this out, especially your email. I use email to send important messages. I promise I will not bombard you with anything that is not related to helping your child succeed! Kids receive a reward if these are returned by Wednesdsay!

- If you did not return the green dismissal sheet, please do so as soon as possible. I need to make sure that your child knows exactly how to get home at the end of the day. A few kids were uncertain how to get home, even when the sheet was turned in. I would appreciate a quick discussion at home and frequent reminders about how your child should be leaving the school daily. Please remember to let me know if there is a change in plans!

HOMEWORK - We will get into a routine of using a homework sheet in the home binder, but for today - we worked on a simple writing assignment at the end of the day, right after our Back to School Assembly. The students were to write at least three sentences about their day. We brainstormed some ideas to write about and some kids only wrote the words down from the board, but they are to show me how they can construct sentences. It is important for you to let them do the work with little guidance, so I can see what they do with an assignment like this.

- Snack time will be in the morning, so please send a healthy snack that is not messy.

- Classroom volunteers are needed. I will put my requests up here and will send emails out when I need help in the room. They will be random requests mostly until I get my routine going. Right now, I could really use some help tearing out some of the pages from our math Homelinks book. These workbook pages are very difficult to tear out for young hands, so if you could donate a 30-60 minute chunk of time, it would be such a help. If you are able to help out in the computer lab, I believe we will have lab on Monday afternoons, so that would be a regular 50 minute chunk of time you could sign up to help out with. Art Awareness is a program through the PTA, so let me know if you are interested in teaching a lesson about an artist and I will get you the information (generally 30 minutes long).

-We have peanut allergies in the room, so please refrain from sending snacks made with peanuts. Thank you!

Thank you for taking the time to check the blog today. Always feel free to contact me with questions, concerns, and suggestions. Have a wonderful evening!

It's Almost Here!!!

Hi everyone! Only one more day until our adventure begins!! Be sure to check out the specials schedule in the right margin of the page. Tomorrow we have art! Aren't we lucky!! Be sure to bring your water since staying hydrated it extremely important for your brain to learn (and you have lots to learn tomorrow)! A great trick is to fill a water bottle half way up, freeze it in the freezer (of course!), and then when you are at school, fill it up and enjoy nice refreshing water all morning! Also, dress in nice cool clothes so you are comfortable! Tomorrow morning, Meet and Greet starts at 8:40 and I will be up in the room waiting for you. Feel free to bring any family members and they can stay in the room until school begins at 9:10. You may also bring a picture of your family to keep in the room for the year as we'll be making a family collage this week. We have lunch at 12:15 and will have a morning snack time, so feel free to bring something healthy to snack on.

See you in the morning!!
Mrs. Grezlik

Welcome to a new school year everyone!  This really IS a new school year for me, since I am both at a new school and in a new grade level.  I am so excited about the adventures ahead as a second grade teacher.  If this is your first time on my blog site, please be aware that it is geared mainly toward fifth grade, since that is the grade I have taught for most of my career.  I will make changes to it as soon as possible so that it will be beneficial to my new second graders and their families!  My blog is a way for me to communicate with the families of my students as well as a tool for my students to enrich the learning we do in school at home!  I will write new posts often so that parents can keep up with what we are doing in school.  For now, I just wanted to say "WELCOME!"  I look forward to meeting you on Wednesday here at school for the social from 4-6p.m.  Hope you can make it!!