The Weber Weekly

OH MY, we have a BUSY week ahead of us!!  Today we kicked off our Community Worker visits by welcoming Officer Burgess into our classroom.  Mr. Burgess was fully dressed in his police uniform and ready to answer questions from the curious minds of our classroom.  He explained the importance of following the law and staying safe.  He even showed us some of the tools he needs for his job, such as his flashlight, badge, and handcuffs.  Thanks for visiting our classroom, Mr. Burgess!  We will have several other guest speakers from the community this week including the Mayor, a firefighter, and a nurse.  I can't wait to post pictures of all of our visitors.

In math this week we will learn how to write numbers up to 99.  We will also learn how to compare two-digit numbers using models and symbols.  Don't forget to encourage your child to practice his/her math facts.  Every Friday we will have our Minute Math test, which is a timed 1:20 for 40 addition problems and a 1:20 for 40 subtraction problems. 

Our wonderful writers have been so busy drafting, editing, and revising descriptive paragraphs.  Mrs. Starkman invited us into the Media Center to publish the paragraphs using Microsoft Word.  The kids began typing their paragraph today and will continue to publish on the computer all week.

We began a new nonfiction big book today, Tell Me a Story, Grandpa.  The kids will be learning about and then applying skills to help them decode unfamiliar words in this text.  These strategies will be useful when kids come to tricky words during independent reading. 

Other things happening this week:

Tuesday 

• Zoo Day - Your child can bring his/her favorite stuffed animal.  Please make sure the stuffed buddy is small enough to fit on top of a desk and that it doesn't make any noise.
• Mystery Reader Day 
• Mayor Collins and a firefighter (Mr. Kraft) will be visiting for Community Workers Week.
• PTO Meeting - 6:00 PM in the Media Center

Wednesday

• Picture Day - If you would like to order pictures, payment and order form must be sent to school. 
• Naglieri Testing for 2nd Grade
• A nurse (Mrs. Erhardt) will be visiting for Community Workers Week.  

Thursday

• Grand Prairie Spirit Day - PJ Day!  Your child can bring slippers to wear in the classroom, but please make sure he/she wears gym shoes to school.
• Fire Station Field Trip - Don't forget that this is a walking field trip.  Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately and has comfortable walking shoes.  
• Market Day orders are due

Friday

• International Walk/Bike to School Day 
• Taffy Apple order forms due 

In other news, I would like to congratulate Colin and Ashlee for being named our "Pillar of the Month" and "Student of the Month" for September.  Congratulations; keep up the great work!!  

Finally, I would like to thank all of you for thinking of me on my birthday.  You sure made my day extra special!  I was amazed with all the cute home-made cards, gifts, and well wishes.  Thank you!!  I couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather this weekend either.  Mr. Weber and I took our little guy to Honey Hill Orchard to pick apples and pumpkins and to see the animals in the petting zoo.  It was a perfect day!   

Apple Smiles :)

The kiddos had a blast making our very first Snazzy Snack!  The Apple Smiles were super cute and very tasty!!  BIG THANKS to the families of Hannah and Colin for being our September Snazzy Snack Shoppers!

The Weber Weekly

Happy Sunday!  To start off, I want to let all of you know that I will not be at school Monday or Tuesday.  I was lucky enough to be chosen to represent Grand Prairie on a district committee that will be focusing on the Language Arts Common Core.  Although I'm bummed that I will miss a couple of days with the kiddos, I'm beyond excited to work with other Plainfield teachers on this new endeavor.  I told the class on Friday that I would be out and that they could expect to see Miss Tsevas as well as a guest teacher on Monday and Tuesday.  I'm confident that everything will go well while I'm gone.  I will be checking email while I'm away, so please feel free to contact me.

Thank you to all who've signed up to lead, volunteer, and/or donate items for our three parties this school year.  We are currently looking for someone to lead the Valentine's Day party.  If you're interested, please shoot me an email or send a note to school.

The Watch DOG kick-off event is happening this WEDNESDAY at 6:00 pm!  I'm really excited about the number of fathers and father figures who have already RSVPed for this event!  It's not too late to express interest in the program.

Second Grade Parent University is right around the corner.  On Thursday, October 11th, the second grade teachers will be hosting this informational night in the Media Center.  Please join us from 6:00-6:45 pm where you can learn all about the technology resources that we have to offer.  We will offer light refreshments and free childcare.  If you haven't yet RSVPed, please send the blue form back this week.   

We are still looking for a few more community workers to come speak to our second grade class.  If you are interested, please contact me.  If you already returned the form, I will be touching base with you this week.

This week the children will be supporting blood disorders by participating in the Hemophilia Walk during their PE and Health classes.  If you are interested in raising money, a special envelope was sent home for collections.  The envelopes will be due back on October 5th.  Please make sure your child dresses appropriately for weather and wears his/her gym shoes this week.   

School Picture Day is next Wednesday, October 3rd.  If you're interested in ordering pictures, please return the order form on the day of pictures.  Even if you don't want to order, your child will still get his/her picture taken for the yearbook.

Amy's Organic Van will be visiting GP this Wednesday during lunch.  Amy will be selling organic apples to the students for 50 cents each.  

Did you know you can sign up to receive the GP Gazette via email directly from Mrs. Szurek?  What an easy, safe, and "green" way to stay up-to-date with all the happenings at Grand Prairie!  To sign up, go to http://psd202.org/gprairie and click on "Grand Prairie Mailing List".  You can also sign up to receive the District 202 newsletter as well.

Mystery Readers will be coming to our class on C Days beginning in October.  I hope to have the Mystery Reader schedule posted here this week.  If you'd like to sign up to read to our class, please contact me.  I will send a reminder letter home the week before your scheduled reading date.

Classroom volunteers will also start in October.  If you signed up to volunteer, be on the lookout for the October Volunteer Calendar coming home this week.

I hope all of you have a great week!  I can't wait to see all the kids on Wednesday!!  :)

 
 



    

The Weber Weekly

           

Wow!  Wow!  WOW!!  I am so happy to have such wonderful, caring students in my class this year.  They are truly a great bunch!  Thursday we had our first fire drill and the kiddos amazed me with their behavior.  We prepared for the drill by reading aloud two different books, Stop Drop, and Roll! and Miss Mingo and the Fire Drill.  We discussed the purpose and importance of fire drills and we even practiced lining up and walking with fast feet.  I couldn't believe when the entire school was outside how PERFECT my class was.  They were models of excellent behavior and I was so proud of all of them!!  :)

 

We celebrated 9/11 this week by reading a heart-warming book, September 12th: The Day We Knew Everything Would be Alright.  This book focuses on all the positives of our country and it's written from the perspective of first graders.  After reading, the children created posters about the herores of 9/11 and the symbols that represent America.  The kiddos were then challenged to go home and ask parents and family members to share their own personal experiences from 9/11. 


 

The kiddos have been working hard on building their stamina in Daily Five.  We've created bar graphs for each of the components of Daily 5 so that we can monitor our growth.  I am really proud of the progress the class has been making. 

Yesterday we began the Second Step program with our school social worker, Mrs. Dassinger.  Every A Day, the children will learn new social and academic skills that will encourage success at Grand Prairie as well as outside the school. 

Miss Tsevas has started taking over a few subjects.  She has been working hard on teaching the kids addition and subtraction tricks in math, cinquain poems in writing, and she started Charlotte's Web for read aloud.  Each week, Miss Tsevas will increase her teaching time while I'll observe her.  She will have complete take-over of all subjects and tasks for three weeks.  Of course, I will still be here supporting her and answering any questions you may have.  If you have any questions about this process, please feel free to contact me.

It was great seeing so many of you at the Ice Cream Social last Friday.  I always have such a fun time seeing the kids outside of the classroom.  Thanks to everyone who came out to support our school.  We have another opportunity to get together this weekend at the Plainfield River Days.  This exciting event is happening both Saturday and Sunday in downtown Plainfield.  Mr. Weber and I will be taking Keaton on Sunday after his afternoon nap.  I hope to see many of you there!

Keaton is already preparing for the Duck Race!!  :) :)

This week the kiddos also got to take a trip to the library to check out new books.  Each week your child will have an opportunity to check out two books, one "just-right" and one other book of their choice.  After check-out, Mrs. Starkman read aloud a fun book titled We're Going On A Book Hunt.  We will visit the library and check out new books every C Day.
 

Thanks to all of you that donated food for our Creekside Cares Food Drive.  We collected thousands of boxes and cans of food that will feed local families.  Your generosity means so much!

We celebrated many birthdays this week!  Happy Birthday to Ethan C., Ben, and Dylan!!  When your child has a birthday, we celebrate him/her with a song and birthday treat (Pixie Stix balloon).  Your child is also allowed to bring a non-edible birthday treat.  Some families choose to send goody bags filled with little toys while other families choose to send a classroom gift in honor of the birthday.  The birthday gift is usually a book or an indoor recess game, but it should be a surprise to your child.  Your child will unwrap the present in front of our class after we sing happy birthday.  The surprise gift is usually the class favorite!  :)


Calling all dads, grandpas, stepdads, uncles, and any other adult male father figures....we are holding our 2nd Annual Watch DOGS Kick Off on September 26th at 6:00 PM.  Miss Eskridge and Mrs. P will be presenting information about the program and we will have free hot dogs, chips, and drinks.  

On Monday we will be starting our Book Buddies Program!  Every child will receive a canvas tote filled with 10 books to read for the week.  These books range in reading levels and interests.  Some of the books your child will be successful reading independently and others will need to be read to your child.  Don't forget that all of these books can be read and recorded as part of the monthly reading log.  All Book Buddies will be due back to school on Thursday.  Have fun reading!!

Please take note of the following:

• Scholastic Book Orders and due on Thursday.  
• Parent University RSVP forms are also due on Thursday.  
• School Picture Day is October 3rd.  
• If you have not yet signed up for text message reminders, I highly recommend it.  Joining is easy; simply text the message @weber02 to the number (814) 201-5236.
• Your child will need an art shirt this year.  This is simply an old t-shirt that can be worn over regular clothes during art class.  The shirt can be left in your child's cubby for the year.
• We have PE on D and E Days.  Your child must have gym shoes in order to participate.  Again, the gym shoes can be left in your child's cubby if you so choose.   
• If you signed up to be a classroom volunteer, we will be needing your help soon.  At the start of each month, I will send home a volunteer calendar indicating the dates and times I would need you to come in.  Be on the lookout for the first calendar in the next couple of weeks.  
• As always, please contact me with any questions or concerns regarding your child and I will do the same.  I know it's going to be a GREAT school year!!  :) :)

Happy Weekend!  

 

 

Busy Week

We have a busy week ahead of us!  This week is Discovery Testing for second grade.  Your child will take an assessment in both reading and math to help determine the areas for instruction this year.  We took the reading test today and we'll be taking the math portion on Thursday.

Student Council and the PE Department are hosting a Food Drive through a program called "Creekside Cares".  If your family can spare any non-perishable food items, we would greatly appreciate it.  All of the food collected will be donated to other Grand Prairie families in need.  This food drive will run through next Friday, September 14th.  The class that collects the most food items, we be rewarded with an extra PE class!  This food drive is an excellent example of one of the many ways your child can show citizenship.  We've been learning all about being good citizens in social studies and now we have a real-life opportunity to act on it.  Encourage your child to be a good citizen by helping others in need. 

Today the class was introduced to another positive reward system, "Award-Winning Behavior".  Any time the whole class is being an excellent example of positive behavior, I will award them with a blue ribbon.  The ribbons will then be displayed on our white board for everyone to see.  When the class earns ten ribbons, they will be rewarded with a class celebration.  We've already earned TWO ribbons!!  Wow, our class is awesome!  :)

The sight words for this week are: other, which, children, their.  Remember that your child is expected to correctly read, spell, and write all second grade sight words.  We will have a quiz over these four words on Friday.  For homework tonight, your child needs to rainbow write his/her sight words in the spiral homework notebook.  In addition, he/she needs to choose a minimum of two choice activities to complete.

Last Friday your child brought home his/her September Homework Calendar.  The expectations are a minimum of 15 calendar activities and twenty minutes of nightly reading.  I will be collecting all reading logs and homework calendars at the end of the month.

Finally, I want to let you know that this Thursday, September 6th is Spirit Day.  The whole school will be participating in "Hawaiian Day"!  Bust out those grass skirts and leis for a day of fun.

  

 

The Weber Weekly

WOW!  We had such a great week of learning in second grade.  I am so incredibly proud of all the children and how hard they've been working.  Here are some of the highlights from the week:

• The kids have become experts at a couple of math fact games.  One of the games, Top It, can be played with any deck of cards.  Ask your child how to play and then challenge him/her this weekend.  What a great way to build math "fact power"!
• Have you heard about "stamina"?  Ask your child about it!  You will be surprised at how much he/she is learning about becoming independent.  We've been building our stamina during "Read to Self" and "Work on Writing".  We practice each day in short intervals in order to prepare for guided reading centers.  To help your child understand the meaning of stamina (doing a task for an extended period of time without getting tired or giving up), I connect it to riding a bike:  "When you first learned how to ride your bike, you could only ride for a very short distance before you fell off or tired out.  Each time you got back on your bike, you were able to get a little better and ride a little further.  Now because you've been riding your bike for months or maybe even years, you are able to ride for a long time.  Perhaps you can ride through your entire neighborhood without feeling tired; that's because you've built your stamina."  In the same way your child built stamina for bike riding, we will also build stamina for tasks at school.  I do not expect your second grader to be able to sit and read or write for twenty minutes at a time.  Instead, we practice in short intervals.  We brainstormed everything we believed our classroom would look and feel like during independent reading and then set a goal of three minutes.  While the kids are practicing, I stay at the guided reading table (where I will be when they are doing their centers), and I do not interfere.  It's so important that they learn how to be independent; I've told them repeatedly that once we start centers, I will not be able to stop working with my group to remind someone to be quiet or to get back to work.  They are held accountable and monitor their own behavior!  The second someone is not following the expected behavior, I ring a bell to signal everyone back to our meeting spot.  We then talk about any celebrations as well as problems we need to fix before we practice again.  Ask your child why we do this and he/she will be able to tell you...we don't want to train our brains the incorrect way.  The kids are really taking ownership of their own behavior and learning; it's such an incredible sight to see!!  (Phew!  If you're still reading this, thank you for listening to my rambling!  Please have your child whisper to me on Tuesday morning that they deserve a large fuzzy!!)
• We have learned about citizenship and different types of communities during social studies.  We're focusing on responsibility and how to be an active member of our classroom community by following the rules.  

I hope you and your child enjoy the long weekend!  I can't wait to see all the kiddos on Tuesday!!  :)

Homework

Our first week of homework was a success!  I'm so proud of all the hard work I've seen from the kiddos thus far.  I do want to clarify a few things and give a few helpful reminders:

• Math Monday - This will be a two-sided practice of the skills that are currently being taught.  The math practice will come home in the yellow take-home folder every Monday and needs to be returned the following morning.
• Totally Sight Word Tuesday - Each week your child will bring home a list of three or four sight words that they're expected to correctly read, spell, and write.  Every Tuesday your child will have a choice in their sight word homework.  Of the choices listed, he/she will need to choose a minimum of two to complete inside the homework spiral.  
• Writing Wednesday - The writing assignments will vary from week to week, but they should always be completed in the homework spiral.
• Thinking Thursday - Every Thursday your child should read a book and write a thoughtful response to the text.  The response expectations will change monthly, so be on the lookout.  For the month of September, the children are responding about favorite parts.  Your child should read a book at home, then write the date, title, and author's name, draw a picture of his/her favorite part, and then write at least two sentences about the favorite part.  All of this work should be completed in the homework spiral.
• Friday - Enjoy the weekend!  No homework :) 

The most important thing to remember is that your child will only bring home a homework practice sheet on Monday.  All Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday homework will always be completed in the homework spiral. 

In addition, I will be sending home monthly homework calendars and reading logs.  Your child is expected to read for twenty minutes every night.  The book titles should be recorded on the reading log.  The expectations for the calendar will increase each month, starting with fifteen squares in September.  Please remember your child can choose any of the fifteen activities; he/she does not need to go in order of the calendar.  The first calendar/reading log will be coming home tomorrow (Friday).  Please help your child find a safe place to keep the calendar/log so it can be worked on over the course of the month.  I will send a reminder note towards the end of the month.  Each student who turns in a completed log and calendar will receive one LARGE FUZZY!! 

Please encourage responsibility and ensure your child is completing his/her homework.  A strong home/school connection will ensure for a successful second grade experience for everyone.   

 

WOW!!

We had an AMAZING first full week!  The kiddos are doing an awesome job in second grade.  I am so proud of how hard they've all been working.  Everyone was so giddy today because it was the big FUZZY TRADE-IN!!  Some children traded their fuzzies for pencils and funky erasers and others decided to hang onto their fuzzies until next week.  They were all so cute trying to decide what they were going to "buy"; they had a great time shopping! 

We had a few lucky ducks earn "Smart Beads" this week.  Smart Beads are fancy, sparkly necklaces that are given out a few times a day to kids that share answers that go above and beyond.  This week the kids earned them for remembering some of our tricky new vocabulary such as stamina, independent, polite, rural communities, etc.  If a child earns Smart Beads, they get to wear them for the whole day.  At the end of the day, they trade the beads in for a certificate.  You wouldn't believe how excited the class gets when someone earns the beads! 

Also, I have to share a story that will hopefully give you a small peek into our classroom and the awesome group of kids we have.  This morning the kiddos were reviewing and playing a buddy math game called "Top It".  When I brought the class back together again at the carpet, I asked if there were any problems that we needed to talk about and correct before next time, or celebrations to share.  I began by celebrating the fact that I heard so many people using polite (new vocabulary word this week) words, taking turns, and playing fairly.  Almost every hand shot up in the air; everyone had compliment after compliment to give to either their partner or the class as a whole.  One little boy raised his hand and said, "I feel so happy.  Can we hug everyone?"  I explained that hugging each other wasn't appropriate, but we could give ourselves a big hug.  After hugging, patting ourselves on the back, and saying how great we were, even MORE hands shot up!  The smiles on the kids faces were PRICELESS!!!  They were all BEAMING and sharing how happy they felt!  They could not hold it together!  Someone then raised her hand and asked if we could hug ourselves again because she just felt so good inside!  It was such an incredible sight to see; I just can't get over the happiness and strong sense of community that they all felt.  What a great bunch of second graders!     

Next week we're going to keep practicing our strategies that will allow us to be independent during centers.  We will continue learning about addition and subtraction in math, communities in social studies, and the importance of taking care of our books during reading (as well as many other habits of great readers). 

Thank you to everyone that donated supplies to our second grade pantry!  Your generosity is GREATLY appreciated!!

Enjoy your weekend with your little ones.  I can't wait to see them again on Monday!!  

Nice to Meet You

It was great to finally meet so many of you at Curriculum Night!  Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to attend this back-to-school session.  I apologize for the incredibly LARGE amount of paperwork that I gave to you, but I do hope you can find the time complete it soon.  Your child should have all of the following things turned in this Friday, August 24th:

• Book Buddies permission
• Blog permission  
• Snazzy Snacks permission
• Class behavior policy
• Class Directory
• Highlights Magazine order form

If you're interested in being a classroom volunteer this year, please complete and return that form as well.  I will be posting the Mystery Reader schedule on our Blog in September, so be on the lookout for that if you're interested.

Don't forget to sign up for text message reminders by texting the message @weber02 to (814) 201-5236.   

Welcome Back!

Hip, hip, HOORAY...it's the start of a new school year!  We have had an amazing couple of days together and I know it will only get better!!  Last week was really exciting because we kicked off the school year with a pep rally assembly.  Mrs. P led the students in the wave, a school chant, the dramatic slow clap, and so much more.  On Friday, we were lucky enough to have nice weather for our "Sports Day".  The kids got to go outside for relay races and team building fun.  What a great way to pump everyone up for another awesome school year! 

Today was the start of our first full week in second grade.  We were busy little bees as we began following our daily schedule.  The children are going to be writing addition and subtraction sentences in math, reading Table for Two during shared reading, checking out books from our classroom library, and so much more! I hope your child is just as excited for the year as I am.  I know we are going to have a great time learning and growing together.

Don't forget that Curriculum Night is at 7:00 pm tomorrow.  I really hope to see you! 

Finally, I wanted to let you know that this Thursday we will be having a whole-school Spirit Day.  The theme is "Get in the Game" and the children are encouraged to wear their sports gear. 

Have a great week!