The Weber Weekly

Wow, what a special week in second grade!  Everyone had a ball passing out their Valentine cards and treats on Thursday.  Love was definitely in the air in Room 201!  Once again the kids amazed me with their thoughtfulness and generosity.  I had fun reading all the sweet love notes and cards; the chocolates and gifts weren't too bad, either!  I continually thank my lucky stars for being blessed with such an amazing class.  I love each and every one of my kids so much and I'm already dreading the day that I have to send them off to third grade.  I couldn't have picked a more perfect class or group of parents.  Thank you for all of your continuous support, kind words, and sweet gestures.  You are truly the best!

Thank you to Mrs. Kraulidis for leading the Valentine's Day party and to all the other parents that helped out.  Mr. & Mrs. Besich, Mrs. Coldwater, Mrs. Roark, Mrs. Martin, and Mrs. Mahalik - - we couldn't have done it without you!  Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to ensure that we had fun.  We even had a surprise visit from Miss Tsevas; what a great day!      

I'm very pleased with how hard the kids are working on our measurement math unit.  They have been having a great time estimating and then taking measurements of objects around our classroom.  We'll continue working on measurement this week.

Shared reading was all about biographies last week.  The children learned the characteristics of a biography text while reading a big book about an extraordinary artist named Grandma Moses.  We used a biography chart to track our information which could then be used to retell and write summaries.  We also did a lot of work with base words and affixes.  I'm really impressed with how quickly everyone is grasping word parts.

Have you heard about our new "Walk-To" model for Word Study?  Every second grader now switches classes during this time to work with their second grade peers on spelling patterns and word sorts.  Both teachers and students alike are loving this new approach.

Market Day orders can be placed online until 11:00 p.m. on February 18th.  Please visit www.marketday.com to enter the site.  The Grand Prairie account number is 3119.  Market Day now accepts the LINK card at pick-up.  Did you know that 10% of your pre-tax Market Day purchases are tax deductible?  Market Day pick-up is on February 21st from 4:45 - 6:00 PM in the school gym.

Yearbooks have gone on sale for $16.00 each.  Order forms and payment are due by Friday, March 15h.  Additional order forms are available in the school office.  

The deadline has been extended to turn in your nomination for PTO Awards.  The new deadline is February 22nd.  Please take a moment to nominate a special parent, staff member, or any worthy person for a job well done.  We would like to recognize specific individuals' time, effort, and dedication to making Grand Prairie a success.  Informational forms are available in the school office.

Have you had a chance to take the 5Essentials Survey yet?  From now until March 31st, all District 202 parents are encouraged to take part in this survey.  Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts about our school.  The survey can be found here:  https://survey.5-essentials.org/illinois/

The 1st Grade Musical, "Go Fish", will be held on Tuesday, February 26th.  Performances will take place in the school gym at at the following times:
5:30 p.m. - Mrs. Lindner’s and Miss Eskridge’s classes
6:30 p.m. - Mrs. Toohey’s, Mrs. Krippelz’s and Mrs. Sloan’s classes

The 5th Grade Student Council will be sponsoring a Bake Sale during the 1st Grade Music Program on February 26th.  Please consider baking or donating store-bought baked goods for this event.  If you are willing to help out, please contact Mrs. Young at (815) 474-7566/dyoung@psd202.org or you can send a note to school (include your name, contact information, and your child's name) to the attention of Mrs. Young.

We are four months into the Million Minutes Reading Challenge!  (The challenge runs through May 1st.)  After only four months, here are how things are looking:
We have read 240,995 minutes and have 759,005 minutes to go.  Second grade is in 1st place overall with 82,047 minutes.  Mrs. Watkin’s class is in 1st place with 17,233, Miss Cox’s class is in 2nd place with 17,025, and Mrs. Kulaga’s class is in 3rd place with 16,682 minutes read.  The logs will be due on February 28th.

April is Autism Awareness Month.  You're welcome to join us on Wednesday, February 27th from 4:00 - 5:00 pm to help plan and organize events and activities for our students, staff, and families.  Please contact Mrs. Dassinger, social worker, via email at bdassing@psd202.org or call at (815) 436-7000 ext. 208 if you would like more information.

Spring conferences are right around the corner.  Please fill out and return your conference preference sheet at your earliest convenience.  During spring conferences, you have the option of a phone conference.  Please indicate your preference on your conference form.  If you've already returned your form, but forgot to indicate your preference, please email me. 

Finally, if you made it all the way through this post, have your child whisper to me on Tuesday morning that I owe him/her a large Fuzzy.  Thanks for reading!!