The Weber Weekly

"I gotta feeling...that you're all gonna pass the ISAT....that you're all gonna pass the I-I-SAT"

WOW, we had an incredible assembly Friday afternoon to kick off ISAT testing.  Although the tests are only for 3-5th graders, our K-2 students attended the assembly to proudly show their support.  We had songs, a dance, a quiz show, and posters to show encouragement to everyone at Grand Prairie.  For the next two weeks (during testing), our second graders will be having morning special.  This will allow time for the 3-5th graders to have the whole morning block for their tests.  Our normal schedule will resume the week of March 18th.  

We celebrated "Read Across America Day" Friday with Oh, The Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss.  We read the story and discussed the qualities that make us one-of-a-kind.  The children then wrote about why they are special and created unique self-portraits of themselves.  The portraits are absolutely adorable and their ideas are really, really sweet. 

Everyone is working extremely hard on our telling time unit in math.  It's so fun to see the light bulbs go off when they finally get it.  Your child should be secure with telling time to the minute as well as quarter after, half past, and quarter til.  We will be taking our measurement assessment on Wednesday.  Tonight's math homework is a stapled review of everything that will be on the assessment. 

We're continuing with our expository unit in writing.  This week the kids will be choosing a community worker and explaining how the worker helps our community.  We will also be writing our next Snazzy Snack recipe this week.  In honor of Dr. Seuss, we will be creating "Cat in the Hat" treats. 

Today your child is brining home your scheduled conference time.  Please mark your calendar.  I look forward to meeting with you in a few weeks!

The kids earned their 10th ribbon for their awesome hard work in class.  On Wednesday we will be celebrating with a PJ and Stuffed Buddy Day! 

There is a PTO Meeting tomorrow night (Tuesday) at 6:00 in the Media Center.

Thursday is our monthly school-wide Spirit Day.  The kids are encouraged to wear workout clothes or sweats.

Our PTO is sponsoring a Dr. Seuss Birthday Party Friday night here at GP.  There will be games, songs, crafts, and books from 5:30 - 7:00 followed by a showing of The Lorax at 7:00 pm.  Admission is $2.00 at the door.

Don't forget to spend a few minutes completing a survey to let us know how we're doing.  The survey can be found here:  https://survey.5-essentials.org/illinois/

Spring pictures are next Thursday, March 14th.  Your child will be brining home his/her order form tomorrow.

Yearbooks are currently on sale for $16.00.  Order forms and payments are due by next Friday, March 15th.

With the cold weather upon us, we have been stuck indoors for recess.  Although we do have a lot of classroom board games, the kids are becoming bored.  If you'd like to donate any new or gently used coloring books to our classroom, the kids would be very appreciative!

Have a great week! 


 






 

 

The Weber Weekly

We had a short, but very busy week last week.  Big thanks to the families of Marty and Carrie for being our Snazzy Snack shoppers for the month of February.  The kids loved making "Berry Good Pizza".  I can't believe we only have a few recipes left before our books are complete.  The kids are going to be so excited to share their recipe books with you at the end of second grade!  Check out a couple of our pictures:

 
In reading we continued using a biography chart to track important information while reading biographies.  Some facts that we charted included the person's birth, early life, education, family, important accomplishments, and death.

The kids have been working very hard on their cursive letters in writing.  I'm amazed at how well they are doing!  We're also working on another expository writing piece.  Your child should now be able to write an introduction, three ideas with supporting details, and a conclusion for their expository topic.  They will be bringing home their writing this week; you will be so proud!

Our measurement unit is still in full swing.  Last week we learned all about weight, including ounces and pounds.  This week we're moving onto telling time. 

We began our living & nonliving science unit last week.  The kiddos are learning the traits of living things and how they connect to our environment.  This week we'll be exploring the life cycle of plants and animals.

Don't forget to return your conference preference form at your earliest convenience.   Remember that you must check whether you'd like to have a phone conference or a conference at school.  As soon as I get all the forms back, I will be able to send home your scheduled spring conference time. 

The Million Minutes and February homework calendars are due Thursday. 

Did you hear we took 2nd place in the Creekside Cares Food Drive?!  I'm so proud of the giving second graders we have in our class.  Your child earned a certificate as well as a free dinner coupon for Pepe's Mexican.  Way to go!!

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!!   

The Weber Weekly

Can you believe it's almost Valentine's Day?  This school year is flying by!  On Thursday we will be celebrating with our class party in the afternoon.  Your child needs to create a container to hold all his/her Valentines.  Also, if your child is creating cards, please make sure there is a card for every member of our class.  I can't wait to celebrate this special day with the kiddos!

I am truly amazed at the generous donations of our classroom.  We collected so much food and loose change for Creekside Cares.  Although I don't have the total of our donation yet, I do know we took second place in the whole school, just behind Mrs. Krupa's 4th grade class.  The kids felt so proud hearing our class announced over the intercom on Friday afternoon.  Thank you for supporting this wonderful organization!

We finished our graphing unit and have moved onto measurement.  The children are learning the attributes of measurement, including length, weight, and capacity.  This upcoming week we will focus on measuring length with nonstandard units, inches, feet, yards, centimeters, and meters.

We're having a blast learning how to read and write cursive!  This week we learned the letters:  e, l, h, k, and f.  The kids are excited about how many words they can actually write now.  Please remind them to only practice writing the letters we've learned thus far.

We learned some important new vocabulary while reading Blueberries for Sal during shared reading this week.  The kids practiced recording similarities and differences of characters using a Venn Diagram.  We also focused on root words with suffixes. 

Social Studies this week was all about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.  We'll continue with some President's Day fun this upcoming week.

A few important reminders:

• Six Flags reading logs are due on Monday.  Absolutely no late logs will be accepted.
• Do you have a few extra minutes?  Would you like to provide feedback on our school?  The district can really use your help!  We are asking all parents to take an online survey to help us get an understanding of the workings within our school.  The survey can be found here: http://www.psd202.org/survey/5Essentials.php
• Scholastic Book Orders are due Wednesday.
• There is no school on Monday, February 18th.  

   

 

The Weber Weekly

Because I was out Monday & Tuesday, it seems like we had a very short week.  I'll try to keep this a short post to make up from last week's lengthy one!  :)

This week has been all about nonfiction.  The kids have learned about the text features of nonfiction including:  glossary, index, captions, sidebars, headers, and bold words.  We'll continue our nonfiction genre unit next week.

In writing we brainstormed a list of things we love about our classroom and Grand Prairie.  Can you believe the kids were able to easily come up with 100 ideas?!  We will be displaying our ideas on the bulletin board in honor of 100th Day and Valentine's Day.

We continued collecting data and used the gathered information in various graphs this week.  The kiddos learned some important vocabulary this week, including:  maximum, minimum, and range.

On Monday we are having a change drive for Creekside Cares.  If you'd like to help support this wonderful organization, please send coins on Monday.  In addition to the coin drive, we're having another food drive.  The food collected helps feed more than 160 families in District 202.  All next week, we are accepting non-perishable food items.  The class that collects the most will receive a mystery prize!  Bonus points will be given for the following items:  peanut butter, jelly, hot cocoa, Mac -n- Cheese, canned veggies/fruits, rice, Ramen noodles, cereal, instant oatmeal, granola bars, pasta & sauces, and canned soups.  Please do not separate any of the items like the Ramen or granola bars.  Of course the most important thing I've told the kids is that it's all about giving to others, not the prize.  :)

 

  Thanks again to those of you who were able to come to Open House/Fine Arts Night.  It was great to see all of you!

Thanks to Ashlee's mom, Mrs. Clayburn, for being our Mystery Reader this week!  We still have dates available; shoot me an email if you're interested.

Upcoming events:

• February 5th - PTO Meeting in the Media Center at 6:00 pm
• February 7th - Spirit Day - Sports theme (wear jerseys or GP apparrel)
• February 14th - Valentine's Party (don't forget to send a container to hold cards)
• February 18th - No School (President's Day)

 

The Weber Weekly

Busy, busy, busy!  We've been so busy lately and I have a lot of updates for you.  I hope you can bear with me for the duration of this post ;-)

We finished our fractions unit and have moved onto graphing.  The kids have learned how to collect data, create tables, and how to use bar and pictographs.  We'll continue working on graphing all next week.

In writing we're researching facts and collecting information for our first expository piece on penguins.  The children now have a clear understanding of the difference between facts and opinions which will be beneficial during their reports.  We also wrote and created another Snazzy Snack recipe this week - - Penguin Treats!  Thank you to the families of Michael, Ella, and McKenna for being our Snazzy Snack shoppers this month.  

In shared reading, we've been reading nonfiction texts and determining the main idea.  We're also focusing on the author's purpose (inform, entertain, and persuade) as well as the author's message.

I wanted to remind you of the reading log programs that are happening now.  Your child can work on the Million Minutes Challenge logs and/or the Great America reading logs.  The Million Minutes challenge runs from October 1st - May 1st.  Every month your child will bring home a log to record the amount of time he/she reads in a day.  At the end of the month, the forms are collected and the total number of reading minutes are recorded.  After just three months into the contest, here's our data:  Our school has read a total of 145,862 minutes and we have 854,138 minutes to go.  The grade level that's in the lead is SECOND!  As an overall school, Mrs. Palmer's class is in 1st place, Mrs. Cox's class is in 2nd place, and Mrs. Elmusa's class is in 3rd place.  The January logs will be due next week.  The Great America reading logs will be due on Monday, February 11th.  Your child needs to read a total of 360 minutes in order to receive a free ticket.  Please remember that I will no loger send home reading logs on the back of the homework calendar; instead your child should be working on either the Million Minutes or Great America log.

Since returning from break, we've been taking every precaution to avoid the terrible flu bug that has been going around.  We talk daily about the importance of washing hands, covering our coughs and sneezes, using Kleenex, and keeping our fingers out of our noses.  We've also been going through a lot of hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes.  THANK YOU to all of you that donated these supplies to our classroom recently.  In addition to all of these precautionary measures, we need your help at home.  Please, please, please monitor your child's health closely.  If your child has a fever or flu-like symptons, DO NOT send him/her to school.  Your child needs to be fever-free for at least 24 hours before returning to school.

Our breakfast program is in full swing now.  If your child is interested, he/she can purchase a breakfast upon arrival to school for just $1.50.  Your child will have time to eat the breakfast in our classroom.

Please help out our classroom by labeling all of your child's winter accessories.  Our Lost and Found bin has been overflowing with hats, mittens, and scarves.  Also, please remind your child the importance of dressing appropriately and bundling up when going outside.

Earlier in the week, your child took home a PTO Awards letter.  If you know of a deserving teacher, staff member, or PTO member, please write a short, one to two paragraphs explaining why he/she should win an award.  You can also pick up a nomination letter in the office.  Please return your writing in a sealed envelope labeled "PTO Awards".  

Mrs. Boggs is hosting Fine Arts Night on Tuesday, January 29th from 5:30-7:00 pm.  The children will have art projects on display and they will also be allowed to show you around our classroom. The 5th graders are providing entertainment by putting on a Talent Show at 6:00 pm.

Grand Prairie is hosting a food drive for Creekside Cares the week of February 4th - 8th.  The Creekside Cares program helps feed 160+ families in District 202 by providing a backpack full of food.  Please send any non-perishable foods that you're willing to donate.

The GP Student Council is hosting a "Re-Use a Shoe Drive".  If you have any shoes you'd like to donate, they can be dropped off in the bin in front of the school office.

I recently sent a class list and directions for Valentine's Day cards.  If your child is going to pass out Valentines, he/she needs to have a card for everyone in the class.  In addition to the cards, your child also need to create a container to hold all of the Valentines.  We will be celebrating on Thursday, February 14th.  Please do not send the cards or containers before then.

Thank you to Mrs. Besich for being our Mystery Reader this week!  We still have several dates available; click the tab at the top of this page to see our schedule for the year. 

I will be out of the building on Monday and Tuesday for Common Core.  I will still have access to email, so feel free to contact me, if needed.

Finally, I'm leaving you with pictures of my little birthday boy.  I can't believe he's a year old already!!  

  

Pictures

 Grinch Day!

 

Contraction Surgery

A new day...

I spent the majority of my weekend glued to the television watching the horrific events unfold.  I shed so many tears and had my heart broken again and again.  I can’t even begin to put into words the amount of pain and grief I feel for Newtown and those innocent little babies.  I tossed and turned all night last night thinking about how I would get through the day today.  I had such a heavy heart and couldn’t even make the short ten minute commute to school without breaking down into tears again.  I went to the staff meeting where we discussed what we should/should not say to the kids and I cried even harder.  I kept thinking to myself, How will I ever make it through this day? 

When the bell rang and the kids starting filing in, it suddenly hit me: I need to put a big smile on my face and hug my students, my children.  I need to teach them, guide them, and make them feel happy, safe, and loved.  I tell my class all the time that they are my second family; Mr. Weber and Keaton are my first family, but they are my second family.  I always tell them that I love them, care about them, and respect them as individuals, but today was the day to really show it.  We had such an amazing day.  We didn’t discuss the events that happened on Friday; instead we focused on all the positives that were happening today.  We were all a little kinder, a little more patient, a little more compassionate, a little more tolerant, and a little more understanding of one another.  We laughed, we sang, we hugged, we learned, and we had fun.  I went to school today with a heavy heart and left with an overwhelming feeling of joy.  My heart is full of happiness as I think about being a teacher:  I love my kids, my school, our community, and everything else that comes with it.  I am so grateful to have a job that feels more like a hobby than anything else.  I truly love what I do and I’m so thankful that I am lucky enough to do it.    

On a lighter note, the kids do not have a homework assignment sheet this week.  Instead, I told them that their homework is to find ways to help out around the house.  I know how busy things can get around the holidays and I want to help make your week as stress-free as possible.  The kiddos are prepared to scrub floors, take out the garbage, wash dishes, anything you need.  :)  Enjoy your time with your babies.  

 

The Weber Weekly

First of all, I want to thank all of the families that donated items for our recent science experiments. The kiddos had a blast experimenting with the different states of matter.  What a fun way to end our unit on solids, liquids, and gases!  I will be posting pictures soon.  Tomorrow we will be moving into our Holidays Around the World unit in Social Studies.  The kids will learn about Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Las Posadas, Christmas, and Saint Nicholas Day.

We had a very fun week in shared reading; the kids had traveling teachers!  We did a genre study on tall tales, prose, fairy tales, folktales, and fantasy.  Each second grade teacher spent a day visiting every second grade classroom to teach about a specific genre.  Ask your child about his/her favorite genre and help your child look for that genre the next time you're at the library.  Maybe you'll even hear some new Christmas list book ideas?!

Our wonderful writers have been working hard on a narrative story about the time they lost a tooth.  The stories are humorous!  Did you know some of our kids had to have their teeth pulled out with a wrench?!  The dialogue that they're including in their stories makes for great reading!

Our geometry unit is jam-packed with new vocabulary, but the kiddos are doing really well with it.  Your child should now be able to identify all of the plane and 3D shapes as well as describe the attributes of the shapes.  We're also working on parallel/non-parallel lines, points, and line segments.  Next week we'll continue our geometry unit with area and perimeter. 

We started a new chapter book this week, The Mouse and the Motorcycle.  The class can't get enough of this hilarious book about a mouse named Ralph who lives in a hotel.  What a fun adventure!

Here are a few things happening next week:
Monday & Tuesday - I will be out of the building for Common Core.
Tuesday - December book orders are due.  Books will arrive just in time for Christmas!  
Wednesday - Second Time-Around Shop and Community Mall (It's not too late to sign up.)
Holiday Gift Shop (Our class is shopping Thursday.)

The Weber Weekly

Wow, wow, WOW!  What an amazing week!!  I had so much fun teaching the kiddos this week.  We covered a lot of new concepts and I thoroughly enjoyed watching all the little light bulbs going off all week.

In reading, we began my absolute favorite comprehension strategy, INFERRING!  We can make inferences using our own schema (prior knowledge) plus clues from the pictures and the text.  It's such an incredible sight to see and hear the children inferring.  We will continue working on this higher-level comprehension strategy throughout the year.

Guided math groups will soon be up and running.  We really worked hard on learning the procedures and routines for guided math this week.  Every day the children will have a whole-class lesson followed by Math with Self, Math with Someone, and Math with Teacher.  This format will allow me to work with small groups of students at a level that is "just-right" for their learning.  When we return from Thanksgiving Break, we will start a geometry unit using this approach.

The children have learned to write many different types of responses to reading this week.  We've been reading Thanksgiving books and responding to the text by writing letters, creating quizzes, sharing connections, and retelling.  The class has been working unbelievably hard on their writing!

Miss Tsevas has been working hard on our matter unit in science.  The kids have learned about the properties of matter, the states of matter, the differences between mixtures and solutions, and the changes in matter through heating/cooling.  We have a few experiments coming up that we will need many supplies for.  If you're willing and able to donate any of the following, please let me know.  We will need:  cornstarch, Styrofoam bowls, plastic cups, root beer and orange soda, plastic spoons, and vanilla ice cream.  I know I've been asking for a lot lately, so please don't feel like you have to donate anything.  I will be happy to pick up whatever supplies we still need.  I am extremely grateful for all of your donations and I hope you all know how much your generosity is appreciated!

I also want to express my thanks to the following:

• Thank you to all of our November volunteers!  The kids are really enjoying the time spent working with parents during centers.
• Thanks to Mrs. Fedmasu for being our Mystery Reader this week!  Thanks also to Molly, Marty's big sister, for being our Mystery Reader last Friday.  Please check the "Mystery Reader" tab if you'd like to sign up for a date to surprise your child by reading to our class.
• Thanks to the families of Ethan C. and Carrick for being our Snazzy Snack shoppers for the month of November.  We will be creating "Squanto's Snack" on Monday.  
• Many, many GIANT thank yous to all of you who were able to pick an apple and donate supplies to our classroom.  Your donations of markers, plastic utensils, plates, napkins, batteries, paper, and more will help out TREMENDOUSLY.  I am so fortunate to have an amazing bunch of kiddos and families this school year.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!! 

Please take note of the following upcoming events:

• Tuesday is our Thanksgiving Feast.  Don't forget to send your food items in a disposable container.  
• We do not have school next Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday.  Have an enjoyable Thanksgiving!
• Second graders will take their second round of Discovery tests after Thanksgiving Break.