Picture Day!

Check out these 2nd Grade Cuties!!!

Picture Day is Tomorrow!

Don't forget that TOMORROW, Wed. 9/30 is school Picture Day!

Every child will have their picture taken. If you would like to purchase pictures, please return the order form tomorrow! 

Thanks!!

Service Learning Friday!

A need in our neighboring district was brought to the attention of the Service Leadership Committee, and we would like to help! Northwest R-1 is trying to ensure that every student has food by opening a food bank and by sending home backpacks full of food with their students. They are accepting donations of non-perishable items.

The Service-Learning committee would like to have a food drive this Friday, October 2, in conjunction with a Spirit Day. We are encouraging our students and staff to wear their Concord Spirit Wear this Friday and bring a canned good or other non-perishable item. We want our students to be aware of the needs of their neighbors and help however they can. Our retired friend, Carol Stulce, will pick up and deliver our food donations to the schools Friday afternoon.

If you are able, please send in a donation of non-perishable food items on Friday!

Wear your green and gold Concord gear!

Peek at the Week for September 28th!

 

is on Wednesday!!!

I hope you enjoyed your 3-day weekend! I had an excellent day of learning on Friday and I can't wait to use the new things I learned in our classroom!

Each Monday at our Morning Meeting, we share one thing we did over the weekend.  I can't wait to hear their stories tomorrow!

Does your child play a sport? I LOVE to watch my kiddos doing their thing!

I got to see a few kids at soccer on Saturday morning at Truman Middle School! I love seeing them at their games and practices! If you have sent me a schedule, thanks of letting me be a fan!

If your child is in a sport this fall, I'd love to come cheer them on! Send me a schedule of their games and I'll try to make one! My daughter plays LAA soccer every Saturday, so it's really easy to stop by there, but I'm happy to visit other parks and fields as well! My dog Lilly loves to visit a new park!

This week, the fifth choice will be added to our Daily 5 Routine - Work on Words. Throughout the week next week, the kids will be assigned a Work Study Group and their first list of words. Each group of about 5 kids meets one day of the week, so not everyone will bring home a list right away. If I can help it, there is NOT a Monday group - Word Study tests are the first thing we do in the morning, and it's tough to start out Mondays with that for a kiddo. As the year goes on, and if the need arises, I will have that space on Monday to create another group. Each group will be tested on the same day every week.
They will bring home a sheet of "cards" to practice. You are welcome to cut them out or keep them together in one sheet - whatever works for you. They cut them out at school and sort them by the spelling pattern. They are doing tons of activities at school throughout the week as well.


We will also continue our work as Growing Readers by showing our comprehension by talking about  and discussing our books and what we've read. There are lots of ways to talk about books: retelling the events of a story, summarizing a story, and making connections to other things we've read.

This week we are finishing up Chapter 2 - we will dig into something that is typically brand new to students (and parents.) Your child will be learning about a math concept called an "array."
An array is a visual that shows objects in equal groups. This visual example is used to show skip counting, repeated addition, and is an introduction to the foundations of multiplication.
Here is a picture of an array made with cereal :) The repeated addition is shown to the side.
Eventually, they will learn the multiplication that matches (4x5=20)
This is an essential building block to the way kids think about math. Plus it's a lot of fun!

I hope you saw the post about our new classmates! We have 6 caterpillars that have moved into our classroom. They went on vacation to my house this weekend, and this year my dog left them alone (last year she nearly ate them for a snack.)

Watch the blog this week to see how much they have grown!

Tomorrow we have LIBRARY with Mrs. Graeff! Please help your child remember to bring back their books. They can't get new books until they are returned. 

The weather in September can be WhAcKy! I suggest sending a sweatshirt or jacket to school with your child. They are welcome to keep it in their cubbie at school. It looks like this week will start out chilly and be HOT by Thursday! 

Wednesday is PICTURE DAY!

Students will have their school pictures taken on Wednesday. We are very lucky to have our time almost first thing in the morning so start practicing those smiles!

Wednesday, September 30: Picture Day & Be There Day - Do you have your cute outfit??

Friday, October 2: Custodian's Day

Tuesday, October 6: PTG Board Meeting 9:00-11:00 a.m.

Friday, October 9: Family Trivia Night 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Truman Cafeteria

I will be at Family Trivia Night as the score keeper! Hope to see you there!!

Have a great week!

Class Butterflies!

We have 6 new classmates in room 12!

Meet our Painted Lady Caterpillars....

Gumball

Doughnut

Cray Cray

Scream Queen

Big Belly

And Kevin!

(Cray-cray is climbing on the lid, which is why you can't see him in this picture.)

We will observe our caterpillars and watch them grow into a chrysalis and then turn into a butterfly. We will release them in the Concord Butterfly Garden. 

Happy Early Release Day!

Today your child is bringing home their Leadership Binders. Their math tests and past reading logs are inside. The Leadership Binder is a tool we use to see how much we've grown, set goals, and celebrate our accomplishments! Take a minute to celebrate with your child!

Peek at the Week for September 13

The weather this weekend was a beautiful "peek" at fall weather! I hope you got a chance to enjoying being outside this weekend! Our family spent a lot of time walking in the neighborhood and visiting one our favorite spots - the Kitun Dog Park by Truman Middle School. It's really close to our house and we love taking our dog Lilly over there to play! I hope you had fun this weekend too! 

Each Monday at our Morning Meeting, we share one thing we did over the weekend. It has been really fun learning more about the kiddos by sharing what they do on the weekend! I can't wait to hear their stories tomorrow!

Does your child play a sport? I LOVE to watch my kiddos doing their thing!

If your child is in a sport this fall, I'd love to come cheer them on! Send me a schedule of their games and I'll try to make one! My daughter plays LAA soccer every Saturday, so it's really easy to stop by!

This week in reading we will be completing our Daily 5 routine! Miss Tackes, our Literacy Teaching Assistant, will come to our room each day for 40 minutes to meet with small groups and teach Guided Reading. Second Graders will continue to build stamina as growing readers by choosing from four of the Daily 5 choices: Read to Self, Listen to Reading, Read to Someone, and Work on Writing. The fifth choice will be added next week, Work on Words.

We will also continue our work as Growing Readers by connecting our reading and writing. We know that authors choose to write in a certain way on purpose - and growing readers start to notice these things! The author of the Mercy Watson series makes the story funny! But how?? The author of Owl Moon makes the story peaceful, and serious... but how?!? We will answer those questions in our reading this week!

In Writer's Workshop, we will visit some of the same authors we are studying in Reading. We will study their "Craft Moves" and how each writer uses unique "moves" to make their writing interesting.

In math we took our first test on Friday! They did EXCELLENT! I will send home their math tests for you to see and sign - but please send it back to school! They are kept in their leadership binders at school as a portfolio of accomplishments.
This week we will begin Chapter 2, exploring number patterns and reviewing skip counting. We will also begin Math Workshop and adding workstations to our routine! 

In social studies we will continue learning about different types of communities and places people live in the United States. We will begin to talk about the Great American Mail Race this week!

Tomorrow we have LIBRARY with Mrs. Graeff! Please help your child remember to bring back their books. They can't get new books until they are returned. 

The weather in September can be WhAcKy! I suggest sending a sweatshirt or jacket to school with your child. They are welcome to keep it in their cubbie at school. It looks like this week will start out chilly and be HOT by Thursday! 

Wednesday is our first EARLY RELEASE DAY. 

Students will be dismissed at 1:40 pm. If your child will have a different dismissal plan, please send me a note or an email. Even though everyone filled out forms at the beginning of the year, plans can change - please be sure to send a note or email if their dismissal will be different from their regular routine. It helps keep us all on the same page! 

News from PTG!

We are looking forward to seeing you at our first Parent Teacher Group meeting of the year on Tuesday.  The fall party planning will be held from 6:15-7 and the general meeting will begin at 7:00.  You will have a chance to hear from our new principal, Mrs. Angie Moehlmann.

Mon. September 14: Dad's of Concord Meeting (The DOC) {7:00 pm at 026 Pub in Fenton}
Tues. September 15: Halloween Party Planning and PTG Meeting {7:00 pm}
Wed. September 16: Early Release {Dismissal at 1:40}

Fri. September 25: No School {Professional Development Day}

Wed. September 30: Be There Day and School Picture Day! {Go shopping for those cute outfits!}

If you read this entire blog post, leave a comment below and tell me what your favorite book was as a child! I will share these with the kids this week!

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns!

Have a great week!

Daily 5 in Action!

Listen to Reading - Hearing an expert read and watching the text helps us grow as readers!  

Work on Writing - we are growing our writing muscles and our creativity.

Read to Self - we are growing like bean stalks reading from printed text and on our devices. 

Read to Someone! We can read to each other to become fluent, strong second grade readers.

Mira is filling out her reading log to see how much she is growing as a reader!

Peek at the Week for September 8

Second graders are already showing so much growth! They are learning to read stronger and longer!
 This week we will continue to work on decoding tricky words and refining skills we have learned in first grade and kindergarten. Second graders have a large, sharp tool box of different strategies to use when they run into a word they don't know. When you are reading at home with your child, be sure to let them figure out the word rather than telling it to them. Even the hard stuff! You can use a prompt like,
"Look for little words."
"Do you see chunks you know?"
"What makes sense in the story."

This week we will continue to refine our skills as reading partners. We have added in a few different activities during our Daily 5: Read to Someone, Listen to Reading, as well as Read to Self.

In Writer's Workshop, we are continuing our work on Personal Narratives. This week we will work on beginnings, endings, and trying out craft moves like a professional author to make our stories more interesting.

In math we have been building our addition and subtraction strategies. This week we will continue to relate the two operations by doing "Flip Flop Facts" and "Fact Families."
We will have our first MATH TEST this Friday. Second graders are still learning what it means to "take a test" and the purpose of a test. This week we will learn how to be a leader when preparing for a test, taking a test, and what tests show the teacher.

In social studies we will be exploring different types of communities and places people live in the United States. We will begin to talk about the Great American Mail Race this week!


Teachers are always learning things, too!!
Does it drive you nuts when your child confuses their lowercase "B" and "D"??  There are a variety of ways to explain it and devices to help kids remember... In the past, I have helped kids with lowercase B and D by using the word BED/bed and looking at their thumbs. But this was SO much easier. I saw this video floating around Facebook and it blew my mind! Why didn't *I* think of that?

The little boy in this video was told that b is a gut, and d is a bottom. Hehe... But it confused him because what if the "person" turns around?? The gut and bottom trade places!
But he now knows that you can make a "b" by thinking Honey Bee... make an "h" (for honey) and then close it up to be a "b."
You can think a, b, c, d... and make a "c" then close it up to be a "d!" Brilliant!
Watch!

Her son wants to show you a cool trick for b/d reversals AND why a different trick he was taught did *not* help!
Posted by Julya Shane on Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Monday's are our typical library day. Since we didn't have school today, the students will have the opportunity to check out books during Daily 5 reading time. They must return their old books before they can get new ones! We will return to our regular library schedule next week.

The weather in September can be WhAcKy! I suggest sending a sweatshirt or jacket to school with your child. They are welcome to keep it in their cubbie at school. If the heat index gets too high, we will have indoor recess and play inside for the day. 

News from PTG!

The PTG launched their Newsletter on Monday August 31^st. The letter is sent to inform you of all upcoming meetings, events, and volunteer opportunities that the PTG sponsors. This letter should arrive to your inbox once, every two weeks. We will also be communicating events and volunteer opportunities through SignUp Genius throughout the year.  If you are not receiving these emails, please check your junk email or blocked list. The simplest way to ensure you receive these emails is to add their address to your contacts list: concordptg@gmail.com and info@signupgenius.com

If you believe that we do not have your correct email address, please contact Jennifer Abercrombie atcjabercrombie@sbcglobal.net You can easily unsubscribe from either or both by simply going to the bottom of the email and clicking on “unsubscribe.”

September 11: PTG Movie Night! {6:30 p.m.} Hope to see you there! 
September 16: Early Release {Dismissal at 1:40}

September 25: No School {Professional Development Day}

September 30: School Picture Day! {Start shopping early!}

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns!
Have a great week!