Almost Halloween

We are just two days away from Halloween! The parade will begin at 1:45 and our party will follow immediately afterwards.  The party will end around 2:35.  Please remember to send kids to school in their normal clothes.  We will change shortly before the parade.  Thursdays are our busy days and we will have a lot to do before the party.  If you are attending the parade or party, please wait in the cafeteria until it begins.  You are more than welcome to stay for our party after you are done watching the parade.

ALSO, conferences are next week.  The schedule is posted under the schedule tab above.

Have a good Tuesday!

Pumpkin Week

This week we took a hiatus from our normal routine and focused on a lot of different activities involving pumpkins.  Below is a list of what we did.

Monday:  The kids were divided into groups of two.  Each group had a pumpkin.  They had to do several measurements, describe the pumpkin and estimate the amount of seeds.  Then, the fun part! The groups had to gut the pumpkins and separate the seeds from the guts. Some girls were less than amused...

Tuesday:  Each group had to divide all of their seeds into groups of ten and then count them up.  The largest amount we had was 508 in one small pumpkin! After that we weighed the guts, the seeds and all of the pumpkins and added them all up.  

 

Wednesday:  We enjoyed our pumpkin seeds.  More than half of the kids liked them.  We did a hundreds chart puzzle, made a patterned pumpkin and then in our groups we designed our pumpkin.  Each group had 10 minutes to agree on a design for their pumpkin.  After, they were given paint, construction paper and 25 minutes to execute their design.

Thursday:  We made the dough for our pumpkin snickerdoodle cookies.  The recipe had to be doubled, so we did some math first.  

Friday:  PAJAMA DAY! We will sit in our pajamas, watch an afternoon movie, make crock pot apple cider, eat our cookies and RELAX.  

I am incredibly impressed on how well the groups worked together.  I was ready for some fighting and tears but, it never happened.  They are an awesome little group! 

Quick notes:  I changed the Fundations test to Wednesday, October 30th.  We just weren't quite ready yet.  Also, make sure to return report card signature pages ASAP.  THANKS! 

1/4 of the Way Through Second Grade!

We have OFFICIALLY finished first quarter! This group of kids are absolutely amazing and they are working together better than I ever expected.  Report cards will come home on Thursday and a note from the second grade teachers regarding the report card will come home on Wednesday.  Please take the time to read the letter before you look at the report card.  It will hopefully answer some questions you are bound to have.

Conferences are about two and a half weeks away.  I will be sending home more information about those next week.  We will have a lot to cover in the twenty minutes I spend with you!

Check out the tab above about Flat Stanley.  We are starting to get our Stanley's back and they are so awesome.  We are keeping a map and pinpointing where he was and what he did.

This is going to be a REALLY fun week.  During our math block on Monday and Tuesday, we will be doing a ton of pumpkin activities with Mrs. Wadsworth's class.  Also, it is drug prevention week.  Monday's theme is "Be a JEANius, don't do drugs."  I'll be sending reminders in assignment notebooks about the daily theme.

Also, Halloween is a week and a half away.  The parade will begin on October 31st at 1:45 P.M.  The party will follow immediately after.  If you signed up to contribute to the party, I will send a reminder home soon.

Here is a picure from the first day of school.  I forgot to share it earlier in the year.

Brady G. was voted our Bumblebee of the Week! Brady is the first one to volunteer to help a friend.  Great job Brady! 

Week of FUN!

Last week was FILLED with different special things. Below, there are lots of pictures from the week!

Remember, Friday is the end of first quarter and will be a 1:35 dismissal day.  Reports cards will come home the following Thursday.  We have a brand new way of doing report cards, so I will be sending a note home the day before explaining the changes and how they effect our second graders.

I placed book orders today, for those who ordered.  I will be sending the next ones home this week.

A HUGE thank you to those of you that volunteered at Jog-a-thon.  Also, thank you to those of you that brought your kiddo to Friday night's football game.  Our class had the most kids in second grade!

As always, if you have any questions contact me anytime!

Ali is our Bumblebee of the week! WAY TO GO, ALI! You are one of the best listeners and hardest workers!

Busy, Busy Week!

Happy Tuesday! This is quite a busy week for the bumblebees.  Tomorrow, we get to spend some time with the Pecatonica Fire Department.  They are going to talk to the kids about fire safety for a little while.  Thursday, we will be planting bulbs in the raised beds in the front of the building.  Then, of course, Friday is JOG-A-THON! The kids are getting really pumped and excited! Make sure you check the weather and that they are dressed appropriately (tennis shoes).

Friday is also an early release day (11:15).  On Friday night, the kids will be singing the Star Spangled Banner at the football game.  If you sent a permission slip in saying that your child will attend, make sure you have them there no later than 5:15.

This week Brady S. was voted as our Bumblebee of the Week.  Brady is incredibly helpful and always stays on task! Yay Brady!

Here are some of the pictures from the Upward Basketball game I went to on Saturday morning.  I was lucky enough to see Drew, Bret, Jayden G., Casey and Ethan play! 

Updates

I hope that you have all had a great week.  Mine was long and a bit exhausting.  On my way to school on Wednesday morning, I got into a pretty bad car accident on Telegraph.  I am okay, other than being really sore.  However, the jury is still out on my car.  I am incredibly lucky that I came out of the accident okay, considering how much damage I did to my car and how hard I hit a couple of guard rails. When I came in after taking care of everything on Wednesday morning, my bumblebees were incredibly caring and helped make me feel better with lots of hugs!

On a happier note, we are getting closer to Jog-a-Thon! I still need several permission slips from parents.  Please make sure you get them to me soon:).  Also, there will be a flyer sent home in communicators this week about paying a dollar to wear a hat during Jog-a-Thon.  The money goes to a great cause that supports one of our kindergarten friends that is living with cancer.

Jog-a-Thon (October 11th) is also an early release day.  We will dismiss at 11:15.  There is no school on October 14th and October 18th is an early dismissal at 1:35.  The 18th is also the end of first quarter! Report cards will be sent home the following week.

Don't forget, book orders are due on October 11th.  You can send them in or order online.

Below are some pictures of the kids in G-Lab.  We go to G-Lab two times a week and we always do XtraMath.  Then, we follow it with either Scoot Pad or Learning.com. Finally, we do Raz-Kids.  If they are quiet and worked the whole time, I typically give them a few minutes of free time.