The Weber Weekly

The stockings hanging in our classroom are ADORABLE!!  I wish we could celebrate Christmas all year long!  It's so fun being a teacher in the month of December; especially to some completely innocent second graders.  I absolutely L-O-V-E being a teacher!!

I would like to give a special thanks to Nicole's mom, Mrs. Ortiz-Jones for being our Mystery Reader this week.  She read a cute holiday story called I've Seen Santa and even donated a copy to our classroom library!  She also brought candy canes for the kiddos as well as her favorite version of The Night Before Christmas.  The kids had a real treat on Tuesday!

We've continued to work really hard at our Geometry unit this week.  The kids should now be secure with plane & 3D shapes, parallel & non-parallel lines, and area & perimeter.  They will be taking their outcome assessment on geometry next week.

Reading was so much FUN this week!  The kids had a blast learning about the various types of humor that authors use in their writing such as alliteration, puns, and personification.

Our nonfiction writing is off to a great start.  Everyone has chosen an animal, written "I wonder" questions, and began researching their topic.  They're finding out really interesting facts about their animals!

Our suitcases are packed, our passports are ready, and we've boarded the Polar Express!  The train is taking us to many places around the world to learn how different countries celebrate Christmas.

We wrote another recipe and created "Rudie the Reindeer" this week.  Thanks to the families of Nicole, Matthew, and Zoe for being our Snazzy Snack Shoppers this month.  The reindeer turned out really cute!

 We're going to have a busy week next week.  Please take note of the following important days:

• December 20th is the last day to donate non-perishable food for the Student Council Food Drive.
• If you're donating items for our stockings, please send in your goodies by Wednesday.
• Thursday is the Winter Party!  Everyone is encouraged to get into the festive spirit by wearing a Santa hat, Reindeer antlers, or a pretty holiday bow.  I can't wait to spend this last day before break with my class!
• There is no school on Friday, December 23rd.  School will resume after break on Monday, January 9th. 

Stockings

The stockings were hung in our classroom with care...

And if you’d like to send something to stuff them with, we’d really love it!  Each child in our class has a stocking hanging, waiting for our winter party.  If you are able to send 26 small “somethings” for the stockings, we would appreciate it!  You can send whatever you’d like, but some ideas could include: holiday stickers, pencils, erasers, small toys, notepads, etc.  Our party will be on Thursday, December 22^nd.  I would like to have the stockings ready to go that morning, so if you could send in your goodies on or before Wednesday, December 21^st, that would be really great.  Thanks for helping to make this a special treat for the kiddos!  Happy Holidays!!    

Baby Update

Many of you have been asking lately about the arrival of Baby Weber, so I thought I'd post an update.  My due date is January 16th, so I have about six weeks to go.  My plan is to come back the week after winter break (January 9th) and teach that whole week.  I'm due the following Monday, so we'll just have to see how it goes.  I know some of you are concerned about your child while I'm gone, but I want to assure you that everything will be fine.  Miss Hampton (my student teacher) will be taking my maternity leave and I am confident she will do a great job with the class.  Her and I keep in touch on a daily basis and I will be able to stay informed of the class happenings through her.  I'm only going to be out about six weeks, so I'm looking to come back at the end of February or early March.  I hope you will keep my family in your thoughts while I'm out; I'm really looking forward to this new, wonderful adventure!

My amazing mother-in-law threw us a baby shower this past weekend.  (My family lives in Southern Illinois, so we had to have two separate showers.)  Here are a couple of pictures from the special day:

 My husband, Zach, (on the left) and his family - - the wonderful hosts

 The beautiful room where we had the shower :) 

 What an amazing cake!! 

 My mother-in-law put a lot of effort into the small details; the centerpieces were "flowers" made out of washcloths, booties, and onesies.  How creative!! 

 She even made the baby his very own Christmas tree, complete with Cardinals and Packers ornaments!  It looks so adorable in his nursery :) 

Such a beautiful baby shower - - I'm so blessed!  

The Weber Weekly

We had such a fun week back after break!  The kids were so cute in their PJ's Thursday.  Thanks to everyone for participating in this school-wide Spirit Day.

We have been busily writing letters to the soldiers this week.  The kids reviewed all the steps of a friendly letter, brainstormed ideas, and then drafted a letter.  After editing, they wrote a final copy on fancy stationary in their best second grade handwriting.  We're going to send the letters to the troops overseas for the holidays.  Some of their ideas included things such as, "You're very brave for fighting for our country.";  "I wish you could come home for Christmas.  I'm sorry you won't be able to see your family."; and "Thank you for protecting our freedom."  They really poured their hearts out into these letters and I know the troops will be happy to read them.  I have such a caring group of second graders this year!  :)

 
We started a Geometry unit in math this week.  The kids are becoming experts at plane shapes and solid figures.  They're really expanding their math vocabulary with words such as face, edge, and vertex.  We'll continue geometry next week as well.

Our shared reading focus for the week was story elements.  We read a big book called His Majesty the King and identified the different parts of the book including main characters, setting, and plot.  The kids then learned how to use a graphic organizer as an aid to create a summary of the book.

We had a blast in science this week!  We began by reading a Dr. Seuess book called Bartholomew and the Oobleck.  In the book, a gooey green substance called Oobleck fell from the sky and wrecked havoc in the kingdom.  The kids had to make predictions about the Oobleck by using their five senses.  They were shocked to learn during the experiment that Oobleck has characteristics of both solids and liquids - - it acts like a liquid when being poured, but like a solid when a force is acting on it.  You can grab it and then suddenly it will ooze right out of your hands!!  Check out our pictures from the experiment:

We concluded our science unit by making a delicious experiment that shows all three states of matter - - Root Beer Floats!  Here are some more pictures: 

Thanks again for donating items to make these experiments a success!!

We have a lot of upcoming events at Grand Prairie that I'd like to highlight:

December 6th - - PTO Meeting at 6 pm in the Media Center

December 8th - - Market Day pick-up at 4:45 in the gym

December 8th - - Scholastic Book Order due (GREAT holiday gift idea!)

December 12th - - Holiday Gift Shop (Be on the lookout for more information)

December 22nd - - Winter Parties 

Mitten Tree:  In the "Spirit of the Season", 5th Grade Student Council needs your help to continue to give to those less fortunate.  December 1st – 15th you can donate new or gently used mittens, gloves, hats, and scarves for the “Mitten Tree”.  We will display the donations on our mitten tree, along with your child’s name and class.  (Please be sure to include the student’s name with your donation.)  Student Council will also be collecting new and gently used boots and coats.  These items will be donated to Grand Prairie families in need.  If we have any surplus items, they will be donated to a local shelter.  Give from your heart and help keep our Grand Prairie community and beyond warm this season!!

Food Drive:  Student Council will continue to collect non-perishable food until December 20th.  All food will be distributed to Grand Prairie families this holiday season.  

Is your family in need of help this holiday season?  It's the time of year for holiday giving!  Grand Prairie will be able to assist families who might be less fortunate during this year’s holiday season.  If you are in need of specific items such as winter coats, clothes, or boots for your children or would appreciate food for your holiday table, please contact our school social worker, Bianca Dassinger at 815-436-7000 ext. 208 or email at bdassing@psd202.org.  You may also write her a note and leave it at the front office.  You can be assured that all names will be kept confidential.  Please be aware that we might not be able to fulfill everyone’s wishes, but we will try our best to put something under the tree for each request.

Feast

Our Thanksgiving Feast was a BIG success!  The kids had so much fun sampling different kinds of foods from fruit salad and veggies to apple pie and pumpkin squares.  Thanks to everyone that was able to donate items for the feast.  What a great way to start Thanksgiving Break!!

Miss Hampton's last day was also a big success.  The class managed to keep her book and gift basket a secret.  She was so surprised!!!  Thank you for sending in all the wonderful gifts to help start her new classroom.  She is very grateful for the generosity.

Finally, I have to tell you how sad I am......you'll never believe what happened.  I took SOOO many pictures of Miss Hampton's last day and the feast for all of you to see.  I was really excited to go home and post all the pictures to the Blog, but then the worst happened; ALL THE PICTURES on my camera from September 7th until today somehow got ERASED!!!  They are totally gone!  I did everything to try to get them back, but I think they're gone forever.  I had pictures of the feast, Snazzy Snacks, Halloween, Mystery Readers, even my baby shower.  I was so upset!  :(  It wasn't a very good start to my Thanksgiving Break.  I'm still so bummed about it, but I guess that just means I'll have to take even more pictures now.  Needless to say, I won't be posting any pictures of that fun day.  I'm sorry!       

The Weber Weekly

I can't thank all of you enough for all of the donations lately!  From Snazzy Snacks, to the science experiments, and the apple tree, your generosity has been amazing!!  I am so lucky to have wonderful, caring, and supportive families this year.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Due to our day off on Tuesday, we were VERY busy this week!  The kids have been working really hard on their most recent writing project, which is a realistic short story.  They've used graphic organizers to develop their main character and to map out their story plan.  They're drafting their stories now and will be publishing them next week.  Be watching your child's folder to see his/her latest writing piece. 

Our math concepts are getting very challenging and the children are doing a great job keeping up.  We're still working on place value as well as name collection boxes, rounding, and estimating.  We'll finish this unit next week with our outcome assessment.  In the meantime, we're still working on the memorization of basic facts.  I hope your child has been practicing his/her facts at home.

Science has still been a favorite subject this week.  The kids have been learning about the ways that matter can change, such as freezing and melting.  We're going to continue our science unit next week with the Water Cycle. 
The children continued to explore how using what they know helps them as readers.  They learned that good readers use clues in the text to help them figure out what the author doesn't tell them directly; this strategy is called making inferences.  Making inferences means using text clues, plus what the children know, to make a guess about characters, ideas, or story events.  The children were given several opportunities to make inferences in our shared reading story, Dear Juno. 

Please take note of these upcoming Grand Prairie events:

• Monday, November 14th - - Lights for Learning order forms are due
• Tuesday, November 15th - - Rain Forest Family Night at 6:30 p.m. in the gym
• Wednesday, November 16th - - Picture retake day
• Friday, November 18th - - 2nd quarter midterms go home

Happy Veteran's Day!!

 
  

Science Donations

Over the next two weeks, we will be doing a couple of fun science experiments.  We will need a few donations to make these experiments a success.  Please let me know if you can provide any of the following supplies:

• 1 package of 30 Styrofoam bowls
• 1 package of 30 clear, plastic cups
• 1 package of plastic spoons
• Corn Starch

Thank you to the families of Jeremy, Emily, Aiyana, Josh, Zoe, Luke S., Connor, and Bohdan for already agreeing to bring in some of the supplies.  Science class is going to be so much fun because of all of you!  :) 

Cheesy Spider Webs

Thanks again to Andrew and Raymond for being our "Snazzy Snack" shoppers for the month of October!  The kids had a blast making "Cheesy Spider Webs" today!!  We even had a Watch Dog, Mr. Blair, that was able to join in on the fun!  Check out the pictures of our exciting day:

Mystery Reader Pictures

Thanks again to all the Mystery Readers we've had so far!  

Matthew's mom, Mrs. Koss

Raegan's mom, Mrs. Blair

Andrew's mom, Mrs. Fedmasu

Mackenzie's mom, Mrs. Scheidt

Bohdan's mom, Mrs. Purtell



Mackenzie's dad, Mr. Scheidt

 Nicole's mom, Mrs. Ortiz-Jones

Carter's dad, Mr. Prochaska

The Weber Weekly

This school year is flying by; I can't believe it's almost November!

Our week was packed full of fun and interesting activities.  Here are the highlights:

A big congratulations goes out to Joshua Stratton for being selected as our "Student of the Month" as well as Andrew Fedmasu for being selected as our "Pillar of the Month".  Keep up the great work, boys!  

The kids are LOVING science!  It's so fun to see their excitement for each new experiment we do in the classroom.  They know all about mixtures and solutions now.  We performed experiments working with oil and water, salt water, lemonade, and Jell-o.  Make sure to ask your second grader about the soup factory separating activity!  Next week we will begin to explore solids, liquids, and gases with a lot more experiments. 

We read Cinderella and worked on creating summaries of the story for writing.  Be on the lookout for your child’s writing piece later in the week.  They blew me away with their quality summaries and illustrations; we may just have some future authors or illustrators in our classroom!

Math has been all about place value, ordering numbers, and greater than/less than.  We played place value BINGO for prizes earlier in the week.  Friday we had a little fun with a mystery monster grid.  Students followed the mysterious Battleship-like directions to reveal Frankenstein on graph paper.

We've been reading Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle for two weeks now.  The children wrote about their favorite part so far and it seems like the majority of the class agrees:  they LOVE the sassy, rude parrot that Mary is dealing with right now!  Ask your child to tell you about it. 

The Monster Bash was a huge success last night.  Thank you to everyone that was able to come out for some spooky fun!  Miss Hampton enjoyed seeing so many of the second graders there.  She was amazed by the packed dance floor filled with kids showing off their moves!

Don't forget Monday is our special PJ and Stuffed Buddy Day.  The children have definitely earned the celebration with their spectacular behavior and hard work.  We can’t wait to dress comfy and meet all the new stuffed friends that will be joining our class!  

Be sure to take note of these upcoming events:

November 1st - PTO Meeting in the Media Center at 6:00 PM

November 3rd - School "Rainbow" Spirit Day (Second graders wear YELLOW)

November 10th - Market Day pick-up at 4:45 in the gym

I'd like to give a special thanks to several family members:

Thank you to Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Lewis, Mrs. Korwin, Mr. England, Mrs. Koss, and Mrs. Saavedra for planning and running our Fall Celebration.  It was so nice to be able to sit back and watch the kids enjoy themselves at the party.  We can tell you put a lot of time into organizing the afternoon and we applaud your efforts.  Thank you!!

Thank you to Mrs. Fedmasu for being our Mystery Reader this week.  She read one of her favorite Disney stories, Atlantis.  The kids really enjoy having family members visit our classroom to share their love for reading.  If you'd like to sign up, check the Mystery Reader schedule below to see what date works for you.

BIG thanks to everyone that donated items from our "Giving Tree".  Your donations of baggies, plastic silverware, disinfecting wipes, construction paper, and candy will really make a difference in our classroom.  I am so thankful to have such wonderful, supportive families this year.

Thanks to our "Snazzy Snack" shoppers for the month of October.  We are really grateful for the families of Luke Deal, Andrew Fedmasu, and Raymond England.  These three boys are bringing in all the supplies and ingredients that we'll need for our "Cheesy Spider Webs" that we're making on Monday.