On the late side!!

Hi there kids!
Sorry for the late post. Lots of family duties to attend to.
Are you ready for tomorrow? Did you read the reading story out of your big, heavy book?. I know some of you were really weighed down but I hope you are prepared for answering some questions about the Henry and Mudge stories!!! I love how so many of you picked out some Henry and Mudge books at the LMC today! I loved the sleepover one. Even if these books seem a little easy to read, they are great to use to practice fluency (how fast you can get through words)! I see great choices being made during our Daily 5 time as well as LMC time! Like I said today in class, you all make me very proud when I see you trying your best and helping each other! Keep up the great work, 2G!!!!

Tomorrow is the last day for the Laura Numeroff story sheet if you'd like yours to be included for next week's assembly. Remember that you can also order an autographed copy of one of her books!!

See you tomorrow!!!!

Manners!!

Today, our secret word is "manners!". Can you remember what we learned about manners today? When might you use your manners around the school? If you see a teacher or student who needs to pass through our line, what could you do? When someone says "Thank you!" what might you say in return? I love it when I hear some of you using good manners, even when I'm not looking (or you think I'm not looking!).

Please remember to bring your spelling sort to school tomorrow. Lots of you did your assignment and left it at home. Remember to practice your word sort words and word wall words. We will test on Friday. We will ALSO take our first reading test over the Henry and Mudge story on Friday. We will do this first one as a class, but will send the book home tomorrow to read for homework. We have studied narrative elements (story parts) this week. Can you tell the characters (who), setting (when and where), and plot (what's happening) of a story? Can you tell the narrative elements in The B.F.G.?

Tomorrow, there will be no testing. We will have a math lesson in the morning and some writer's workshop time where you get to choose what to write about. During Daily 5, we will have time to write about Sophie or the giant from our read aloud. What would you tell Sophie or the giant??

See you tomorrow! I hope you have a GREAT night's sleep!!

Our first day of testing!

Parents,
Today, your child started taking the CoGat test. The letter explaining this test went home last week. We are testing tomorrow morning and Friday morning. Today's test took some extra time as the kids got the routines down of what to do and how to behave during a testing situation. The test is not timed - the kids have time to think and answer at their own pace, and then they let me know they are done by putting their pencil in the middle of their books. Most of them did a great job at remembering to do this step. I am SURE the kids will do better tomorrow and by Friday, there will be no question what to do during testing. I saw some excellent thinking skills during the tests today!

Due to the testing, we did not have math today. Your child's homework in math was to study their doubles fact cards (in home binder pouch). Memorizing these doubles facts will help them greatly in upcoming lessons. We are making some fabulous progress with Otter Creek, so make sure your child keeps their math flashcards (from Curriculum Night) up to date so they are studying the correct facts to help them pass. We take a test on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday most weeks.

Next week, we have another famous author coming to visit Nancy Young Elementary - LAURA NUMEROFF!! Ms. Ranucci talked to us last week about the books she has written, including If you Give a Mouse a Cookie and If You Give a Pig a Pancake. Due this Friday is a picture and sentence that uses the same pattern the Laura uses in her writing. Her new book is called If You Give a Dog a Donut. A form came home today for the kids (you!) to order one of her books and get an autographed copy while she visits our school. What a great memory! They are great books!

We are currently reading books written by another great author, Cynthia Rylant. She has written many books, including familiar series like Henry and Mudge and the Poppleton books. Tomorrow, we'll be reading an autobiography of hers to expose the kids to non-fiction work as well as the many fictional stories she has to choose from.

Make plans now to attend the 2nd grade PE night next week on October 5! More coming home about that this week! FUN! FUN!!

Bus Drill

We wrote the following paragraph together during writing today. The person who gave the sentence has his or her initials after the sentence).

Today we had a bus drill in second grade (Mrs. Grezlik). On our bus drill, we learned how to evacuate a bus (T.F.). We learned how to exit the front of the bus (M.P.). We learned how to walk around the front of a bus to stay safe (N.S.). We learned how to sit on our bottoms and face forward when we are on the bus (D.S.). We learned never to go under the bus if we lose a paper (M.L.). We learned that if the bus tips over, we may evacuate through the top (A.C.). Finally, we learned that there are 7 exits on a bus (K.J.).

Where in the world?

Students,
Today we did a little bit of map study. If you need extra practice telling your continents and oceans, try this website.

HERE is another site to help!

Math homework is link 2.1. We worked on reading and creating addition number stories. Use the picture on the page to make a number story, answer your question, and write a number model.

Remember, we have a test on our word wall words AND our WORDS THEIR WAY assessment on Friday, so prepare now!

See you tomorrow!

Does our room look different?

Our room has changed! Can you find your seat??

Yesterday, the kids got their first Home Link that goes with our math lesson. Some sort of math practice should come home nightly from now on Monday through Thursday. Sometimes, kids will have some time to begin (or complete) the math that is assigned. If your child comes home with a finished page, please take the time to go through the page with them. Feel free to create a new problem for them to do on the back that is similar to the problems on the page. Looking at and thinking about the activity in a different setting with a different person is a great way to get the brain to take in the information to a deeper level of memory.

Yesterday's home link (1.11) had a section that needed the MRB (My Reference Book) and since we had a substitute in here yesterday afternoon, it did not make it home. It is coming back home today to use the MRB (which every child should have) to finish, along with Link 1.12 on reading temperatures.

Don't forget to study your Words their Way words, Word Wall words, and Otter Creek Facts. Our Words their Way and Word Wall test will be at the end of this week, so be prepared.

Progress reports will come home on Friday. CoGAT testing will take place in second grade next week on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings.

Take a Trip to Spelling CIty!

Some of you have visited Spelling City before and know how it works. This is a guide to those who haven't been to this great practice site before! I will use it to update the word wall list and may even put on word sorts that I use with each group. Most importantly for now, I have added all of the sight word lists for kindergarten, first grade, and second grade. Please familiarize yourself with this site and allow your child 10-15 minutes to practice most days of the week. This will help your child build confidence in spelling, writing, and reading! Plus, it is super fun and engaging! Be sure to check my lists for new opportunities.

Here are the directions for this site:

1. On my blog, click on the Spelling City link in the right margin under "Links for this week's learning." This link will always be there so you can access it anytime. You can also just type in "spellingcity" in your address bar or google it!
2. On the site, click on the "Find a List" tab under the sun in the logo area.
3. in the "Find a list" search box, type in my name, christi grezlik, and hit search (you can also just type in grezlik and my name should come up)
4. find my name and click on it
5. find the list you want to work on
6. choose an activity to practice your words!

I hope you enjoy this new ADVENTURE with me!!

Some links for this weekend....

We had a very busy week in 2G. Please be sure to check your child's home binder today. While I gather the homework sheets on Friday to check parent initials, some kids have work to do that was not completed today in class or they just need some extra practice doing.

Every child could benefit from practicing their Otter Creek flashcards up to their level. The goal is to say the sum automatically, without hesitation. If your child takes more than three seconds, have them repeat the fact aloud three times. Another area of daily study could be practicing the Words their Way cards in their zipped pouch in the back of their binder. Finally, reading a book that is at your child's reading level is very important. I have assessed the kids this week and will be sharing their reading level on the progress report next Friday. If you need books at home that are at your child's level, take this level to your local library and ask the librarian for help in finding appropriate books. Always let your child pick books that he or she is interested in, but insist on having a book that is at the correct reading level as well. It will help them build confidence and automaticity.

Did you know that the Bookmobile will be available in front of the school on some Saturday's beginning next Saturday (the24th)?? I can't come that first day but I plan on coming one Saturday and will let you know. I can't remember the time- will add that this week.

Here is an easy way to work on some sight word practice- click here, make your choices, and click start now!

If you are proficient (which means pretty good) with your sight words, try this sight to challenge yourself with new vocabulary! You will get smarter and earn rice for people who are hungry, all at the same time. It is so fun!!

Have a great weekend!!

Classroom Neighborhoods

Today, we started our very own classroom neighborhoods. As we study what makes a community, we are really focusing on how people in a community support one another. In all small groups, each person plays a role to help support their group. Sometimes the group needs to hold a vote to make a decision. Today, the group had to decide on a neighborhood name and more. The groups did a great job and we read about some neighborhoods in New York City. Tomorrow, we will do some work on using maps. Some kids took the social studies book home to read those pages again (p.16-19).

Tomorrow, we have our second word wall test. The words are on the back of the homework sheet. Please make sure your child has studied and is prepared. We create sentences with our word wall words on Friday morning, so be prepared for those too!

Also tomorrow, we have a special assembly. The secret word is "Bubbles!" Can you guess what the assembly might be about??

See you tomorrow!

Self checks

Today, we completed our first self-evaluation on our word wall sentences from last Friday. It should be in your child's folder if they turned them in on time. I graded the work to see if your child used the word properly in the context of a sentence. Today, your child was responsible for evaluating the bits and pieces. This will hopefully teach your child what is expected of sentence work as they will complete it again this Friday. There are days that I will use the evaluate sheet to conference with your child, some I will collect, and some will come straight home. From this week on, your child will be graded on the spelling of their word wall word in addition to using in correctly so each sentence will be worth 2 points. I'm hopeful that this reflection will create better thinking during all written work, knowing that our work
needs to be legible and formatted and understandable if we want our intended readers to appreciate it.

Today, your child should have brought home their race car fluency passage that we've been using for
practice. They need to read that to someone at home tonight and it should be written on the homework sheet.

Thanks for your support at home!! Our second word wall test is on Friday.

Busy Day!

Hi everyone!

We had a busy day today, didn't we? Here are a few things you can review about what we did today:

We read a passage about race cars and made predictions about the passage. We read to practice our fluency and accuracy.

We worked on how to use a calculator today and were challenged by NOT using some keys to make given numbers.

We talked about more ideas for writing and chose one favorite person we know to write about. We wrote one topic sentence and tried to write 4 detail sentences about that person.

During reading, we listened to our read aloud and had to complete some exit questions to show how well we were listening. We also worked on a word sort on our desks and a blind sort with partners. Mrs. Grezlik had some of us come over and read to her to check our fluency rates. She'll finish that tomorrow.

In social studies, we read about how we can read maps and discussed why they are important.

Today's homework includes:
Reading - 20 minutes and write the title of one book on your homework sheet
Otter Creek - cut out your flash cards up to the level you are currently on (I shared those with the class at the end of the day and they were to add them to their homework sheet)
Word Wall - study
Words their Way - do a sort at home and do a blind sort with a parent where YOU DO THE WRITING and they do the speaking. Remember - you only get to hear the word and have to write it in the correct column.

Secret Word: Word

Curriculum Night TONIGHT!!

Parents,
I hope to see you in a little while at our Curriculum Night. Session 1 will begin at 6:30 and Session 2 will start at 7:10.

Looking for some good actors or actresses!

Hi everyone,
Just a reminder that I am looking for a few students to show how to properly P.O.P. for the camera tomorrow. We are preparing for parents to come on Curriculum Night on Monday and I would love to show a video of how to do this activity correctly. Will you be the one I pick? What are the steps of P.O.P.-ping?? If you are interested, you will be asked to write out the steps AND demonstrate it tomorrow during our Otter Creek time.

Don't forget to check out the money fun post below to click on the links. Remember to hover over the purple words and click! Also, do you see that you can now post your reaction (opinion or feeling) about my blog post for the day? Just click on one of the boxes at the bottom of the post to tell whether you thought it was interesting, funny, or cool! Vote!

See you tomorrow!

Money FUN!

If you click on THESE WORDS, you will enter a great site for practicing counting money! Have fun!

HERE is another fun game to practice money!

Good Fit Books

Tomorrow is our LMC day. Remember to bring your books back if you are done reading them so you can pick out books that are a good fit for you. Today, we talked about how some books are a good fit, meaning they are just right for our reading level. We discussed ways to follow the I-PICK method.

I Pick a book out.

P urpose - I have a purpose for reading this book.
I nterest - I am interested in this book's topic.
C omprehension - I can understand what I'm reading about this topic.
K now - I know most of the words in this book (the five finger rule).

It is important to know why we pick the books we do. Tomorrow, we will talk about when it is ok to read a book that is above our level and below our level. We want to always be reading books that are at our independent reading level, but there is a time to look at those "Old Favorites" and the "Save for Laters."

Today in math, we worked on our partner skills by playing Addition Top-It. During writing, we added more to our idea lists and chose a topic to write about. Tomorrow, we will have our first Word Wall test over the following words:
are, an, first, best, said, and then. Next week, we will begin our first Word Study list (think:spelling) and this will be discussed at depth at Curriculum Night. Each week, we will have a new list of Word Wall words.

As a reminder, tomorrow is Dolphin Depot at Young. This is the school store and will be open first think in the morning. Tomorrow is only for grades K-2. Also, MOnday is Curriculum Night for grades K-2, so make plans now. It is from 6:30 - 8:00 and I hope to see everyone.

Have a wonderful evening!

Keeping Cool!

I hope everyone is keeping cool. I am sitting here in the room with three fans currently turned on me as I write this! It was a good decision made by the district to keep the kids out of the room today as I don't plan on spending too much time in here this morning and by this afternoon, it will be miserable up here. Enjoy the day off.

As a reminder, we also do not have school on Monday (Labor Day) OR Tuesday (Building Articulation Day). I know many parents wonder what these articulation days are exactly. These days are a time for grade level teams to talk to each other about how to best help students succeed in their current grade level and be better prepared for the next grade level. Talking to other teachers early in the year like this helps me understand what your child was exposed to and experienced in first grade and what they need to know and be able to do in third grade. These are not days for teachers to work in their rooms, it is a very productive day and benefits the students greatly. I just thought you might like to know that. So, I will look forward to seeing the kids next Wednesday, Sept. 7 (late start day).

We will have our first Word Wall test next Thursday. Your child has a list of words in the home binder, right on the back of the assignment sheet. Please be sure to check this EVERY NIGHT and sign when your child has completed the reading and work. Each week, we will have different items on the assignment sheet. Also, your child may not have finished an assignment and it will be written on that sheet. Your child needs your help to develop good organizational skills. A habit usually takes about 2 months of consistent participation in the behavior, so after a couple months (ideally), you could have created a habit that your child will carry with them for the rest of their lives. Let me know how this works for you. :-) In the meantime, if your child happens to not complete their homework, they may come home with a "Yikes!" note as a reminder to complete it. Thanks for your support!

I look forward to seeing you on Monday, Sept. 12 at 6:30 for our Curriculum Night. This is for parents only, so make arrangements for your child(ren) now. This is an evening for me to share what we will be doing in all subject areas this year and how you can help at home.

The homework for this weekend will be to read 10 minutes each day and cut out the money (3 green sheets) that was sent home. I like to send this busy work home so we can focus on learning in the classroom. Thank you for taking the time to see that it gets done and placed in the sandwich baggy that came home as well.

Have a wonderful Labor Day and loooonnnnggg weekend!