McDonald's Dinner Night/BINGO

Tomorrow, Young will have a family dinner night at the McDonald's at 425 N. Eola Road. This will take place from 4:30 - 8:00p.m. Many Young staff will be present to help serve behind the counter. I will be there from 5:30 - 6:30, so come and see me. McDonald's was my first real job (after delivering newspapers for a few years) so this will bring back some good memories!!

Also, if you signed up for Bingo Night (which was canceled due to Friday's weather), you will have an opportunity to re-register for the new night, now slated for Feb. 3. You can also ask for a refund if you cannot attend. Due to a prior committment, I can ONLY attend the early session of pizza and Bingo, so if you can make the early session, put that down for your first choice so I can see you!!

We have been working hard in math understanding how reading plays an important role in math. Being able to read the words in a problem so we know what to do with the numbers is a tricky skill, like being a detective. Tomorrow, the kids will have a 5 question quiz to check for understanding. Journal page 138-139 was class work today (we went through the entire two pages together and then the kids had time to work on it on their own) but some kids need to finish it at home. Be sure to study the important words that "clue" you in to which numbers go where in a diagram. Remember to look for comparing words, like longer, taller, more, etc. that tell you that number would go in the "difference" section.

Did you hear that we are celebrating the Chinese New Year this week in 2G? Greet others with "Gung Hey Fat Choy" which means "Wishing You Prosperity and Wealth!" We are also celebrating ALL cultures with the Cultural Fair that is coming up. Many kids in 2G have already decorated their "dolls," which is a paper shape that they can desiign to represent the unique traits of your family heritage. I hope all kids in 2G participate. Even those who consider themselves "just American" can celebrate the things that make your family unique. You could include fun things your family does or traditions you hold near and dear.

Frindle Fridays

Last week you received your One Book, One School book selection. Tomorrow, we will have our first "Frindle Friday." Every Friday during the One Book, One School program, special activities are planned that have a connection to the book. Trivia questions will be read over the announcements in the morning. Students can submit their correct answers into a drawing for a prize. We will also have other fun activities each Friday, as listed below:

Fun in the Sun Day - Friday, January 20th Wear beach attire to school, such as Hawaiian shirts, leis, flowers in your hair, etc. Please NO bathing suits or sunglasses!

Wacky Word Day - Friday, January 27th Make up your own new word. Write out the definition, pronunciation, and part of speech, just like in a dictionary. Please put your name, grade, and teacher on it and bring it in to school. All of the new words will be published together in a book to create a NYE dictionary!

Dictionary Day - Friday, February 3rd Complete the Dictionary Day Activity Sheet and return it to school. Using the dictionary can actually be fun!

Inspirational Ink Day - Friday, February 10th Who at NYE inspires you? Use some ink to fill in the Frindle pen cutout and bring it in to give to the teacher or staff member who inspires you. Don't forget the office staff, specials teachers, and aides. What a nice Valentine for that special teacher at your school!

Hooray for Homework Day - Friday, February 17th If you were the teacher, what kind of creative homework would you give your students? On a sheet of paper, write a paragraph about the kind of homework you would assign. Don't forget to put your name and class on the paper before turning it in.

Future Career Day - Friday, February 24th What will you be when you grow up? Wear an outfit to school that represents what career you would like to have when you grow up. Please consider proper dress code for the school environment.

HOpe you choose to participate!

Being a writer......

When I look out at you kids while I am teaching you something new, like how to work with a partner on revising, I am so impressed by how well you listen and take in information. I was very overwhelmed by the conversations I heard during your partner work today. The suggestions and questions you were asking were just what I would have asked if I were meeting with you. Writing is a wonderful, creative way to express yourself. There are so many ways you can write and it can change over and over until you say, "This is it! This is my final change to this!" Then it will be published and you can call yourself an author. It is wonderful. The secret words for tomorrow are, "I am an author!"

Keep it up.

Don't forget - tomorrow is Fun in the Sun dress up day. NO BATHING SUITS OR SUNGLASSES!!

:0)

Don't make me BINGO alone!!!

I found out today that, even though the registration for the Bingo night was due Tuesday, you can sign up for the evening tomorrow or Friday. I made more copies of the registrationg form today and handed them out. The organizers need the number (and payment in advance) so they know how much dinner to provide (Dominos pizza). I sure home someone will let me sit with them for BINGO since my girls have both dropped me from their plans. Madison is going to a middle school dance and Kenna has a basketball night at her school.

Today, we learned the letter "t" in cursive. Feel free to practice it and the letter "i." Can you put them both together?? That is the secret word of the day.

What did you learn about revising and editing today? Today we worked with a partner on revising our first drafts for the Slice of Life paragraph. Tomorrow, we will meet with another partner to do the same. Do you think you will get different suggestions? Do you think you will GIVE different suggestions? On Friday, we will work on editing so that we are ready to publish on Monday in Computer Lab!

Did you hear there is snow in the forecast for the next two days? Do you think I am happy about that?

New Challenges in 2G

A few new developments may have made their way to your dinner table tonight. One is that we began our unit on cursive writing today! The kids were beyond excited. We began by talking about why we learn cursive writing and how we will learn it and practice it. There is a specific way we are learning to write in cursive, so please allow your child to show you the letters we have learned. Today, we learned the letter i. If you are right-handed, your letters should be slanted to the right and if you are left-handed, your letters are a bit more upright.

Another exciting challenge for some of the kids will include moving on to subtraction facts next week. This will be the last week that kids who are still on addition facts will be taking regular addition tests twice a week. All kids will move on to subtraction next week, continuing the Tuesday and Thursday test routine. The subtraction facts flashcards should be at home and I will send home the level your child is starting on on Monday. Those who have not mastered all levels of addition should continue to study addition facts AND subtraction facts at home. These kids will take an addition test during intervention time on Fridays and if they do not pass, they will spend part of their Fun Friday time practicing the addition level they are currently on. Please let me know if you have questions about this or need some ideas on how to help at home.

Exciting Days!

Today was another day of unseasonably warm temperatures. Kids were out at recess with light jackets or no jackets at all (even though I made kids take them if they had short sleeves on!!)





















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We are all very excited about the possibility of snow tomorrow! Be sure to wear appropriate clothing tomorrow, since there will likely be outdoor recess! Snow boots and pants are a must if you wish to play in the snow and WHO DOESN'T WANT TO PLAY IN THE SNOW!!!!

Today was exciting because we got to work with laptops today. We are going to use the laptops as long as we can be very responsible and respectful with this learning tool. The kids did very well on them today. Take a look:










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By the way, MORE EXCITING NEWS! We start cursive handwriting next week AND the kids have all earned a FISH PARTY, which is TOMORROW! Oh- I can't stand it!

:-)

First Post of 2012

Happy New Year!

We have started this year off on a great foot! The students got right back in the groove like they were just off for a weekend! Here is what we have to look forward to in each subject:

Reading: We will be studying penguins and Antarctica in our reading for the next two weeks. We will do some shared reading, independent reading, and small group reading. Check out the site on Antarctica under the Science links in the right margin.

Writing: The kids are coming home to interview parents to get some final details on the Slice of Life picture they brought in. Tomorrow, we will use our organizer to write our first draft.

Word Study: Word Wall test this week will be on Thursday, next week it will be on Friday. Word Sort test will be next week on Thursday.

Math: We are taking the test over chapter 5 (2D and 3D shapes) on Thursday. Next week, we begin Unit 6.

Science: We will begin our study of the Water Cycle next week.

Social Studies: We will study our country's government (local, state, and federal).

Also, as a reminder - there is no school this Friday (Teacher Work Day) or next Monday (MLK Jr. Day). Report cards go home NEXT Friday (Jan. 20).