May 25 - 29

Aaron Reynolds Comes to Elizabeth Ide!!

We had a very exciting assembly this afternoon with well known children's book author, Aaron Reynolds.  

Dates to Remember

Mon. May 25 - No School Memorial Day
Fril. May 29 - Sunglasses Day
Wed. June 2 - Pen Pal Field Trip to PV
Fri. June 5 - All School Picnic
Tues. June 9 - Last day of 2nd grade
                        Dismissal at 12:00

Positive Paw Winner - Maddie
Estimation Jar Winners - Filip, Arianna, Cam, TJ, Lindsy

Math - We will continue to work on skills needed for 3rd grade:  Elasped time, congruent shapes, measurement using capacity.  Please encourage your child to work on math facts at home!

Reading - We have received our pen pal letters from Mrs. Olsen's 3rd grade class!  Next week we will be learning about the structure of a friendly letter and reading a few books that model this process.  Then we will write our letters back to our pen pals!  Our visit to Prairieview is on Wednesday, June 3.  This is such an exciting event for our kids!  They will get a chance to talk to their pen pals, ask them questions, play a few games with them, and take a tour around the building with Mrs. Olsen.

Reading Incentive Sunglasses Day is Friday, May 29!  Wear your sunglasses to school!

Reading logs for May are due on Monday, June 1.  The class voted to have freeze pops and an extra recess as this month's reward.  Please encourage your child to return their completed log so everyone can join us!

Social Studies - We will continue to work on Map Skills this week.  We'll learn to use a compas rose, we'll make a map using symbols, and practice finding things on a map using a map grid.

Spelling  - Next Friday, May 29, will be our final spelling test for the school year.

Summer Birthdays - Ariella - June 23
                                 Gage - July 12
                                 Gio - July 18
                                 Joseph - July 28

                                          

May 18 - 22

Brookfield Zoo Field Trip!

We had a perfect day at the zoo!  We started out in a lab learning about Animal Bites.   We looked closely at real animal skulls to practice identifying herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores.  Then we had a chance to explore around the zoo.  Thanks to our chaperones, Mrs. Harvat, Mrs. Kasper, and Mrs. Macek.  What a great day!  

Dates to Remember

Tues. May 19 - Summer Library Presentation

Fri. May 22 - Aaron Reynolds visit to Ide

Mon. May 25 - No School  Memorial Day

Wed. June 3 - Pen Pal visit to Prairieview 

Fri. June 5 - All School Picnic

Tues. June 9 - Last day of school  

Math - We'll continue our Step Up to 3rd Grade lessons.  This week we'll focus on Ploygons and Adding and Subtracting in Geometry.  No tests will be given on this material.  

Reading and Language Arts - This week we'll be reading The Three Little Pigs and The Three Little Javalinas.  Our focus will be on retelling and comparing the points of view of different characters in the stories. 

Vocabulary Words:  bundle, load, turnips, churn, fortune, and blazing

Little Free Library - We are excited to see our year long project come to a conclusion by the installation of our Little Free Library next weekend.  Look for it at the entrance to the school right out on Manning Road.  The students had a hand in designing it, filling it, and will hopefully enjoy returning to Ide in the future to check on it.  

Estimation Jar Winners - Mikella and Brendan

Positive Paw Winner - Marifer

May 11 - 15

We Said Goodbye...

On Monday, we released our 10 butterflies.  The kids were sad to see them go.  We all enjoyed watching their transformation from tiny larvae into adult butterflies.

Thank You to all of the students for the cute handmade cards and flowers.  They were so sweet and it really started my day with a smile.  Thanks also to our PTO and parents who contributed toward the delicious lunches and desserts that were provided to our staff this week.  Each day we were treated to a wonderful lunch.  We are so grateful for all you do!  

Dates to Remember

Wed. May 13 - Brookfield Zoo field trip

                               *  Please be on time to school as we will leave shortly after 9:00

                               *  Dress for the weather

                               *  Bring a sack lunch in something disposable

Fri. May 15 - Early Dismissal  12:00
Tues. May 19 - Library Summer Reading Presentation

Fri. May 22 - Aaron Reynolds Assembly

Mon. May 25 - No School  Memorial Day

Tues. May 27 - Dedication of our Little Free Library                 

Estimation Jar Winners - Gio and Alyssa

Positive Paw Winner - Alyssa

Math - We will continue to work on lessons preparing us for 3rd Grade.  We've finished learning about multiplication and division and writing number stories for each.  This week we'll focus on Fractions.  

Social Studies - This week we'll finish our unit on Our Country Long Ago.  We'll discuss slavery as well as historical figures Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and Abraham Lincoln, who have influenced our nation.  

Reading - We'll read a text by Aaron Reynolds this week, Carnivores.  Mr. Reynolds will be visiting our school later this month!  Carnivores is a humorous tale about 3 carnivores, a lion, shark, and timber wolf who realize that it's lonely at the top of the food chain.  They decide to become vegetarians to start making more friends.  They try disguises as well.  It doesn't work out at all.  They finally learn to accept themselves and feel at peace.  

Vocabulary words this week:  frenzies, misleading, carnivores, vegetarian, disguise, appetite

We'll work on writing a story summary and answering the Five "W" Questions (who, what, when, where, and why) about a story.  We'll also discuss the topic of debating a subject.  The students will read a selection, form an opinion, then support their opinion with reasons.  

May 4 - 8

Fuzzy Friends Come for a Visit!

Dates to Remember
Week of May 4 - Benchmark Reading and Math Tests
Wed. May 13 - Field trip to Brookfield Zoo
                        *  Bring a sack lunch and dress for the weather
Fri. May 15 - Early Dismissal  12:00
Tues. May 19 - Library Presentatiion - Summer Reading Programs
Fri. May 22 - Aaron Reynolds Assembly
Mon. May 25 - No School  Memorial Day

Estimation Jar Winner - Aleck
Positive Paw Winner - Filip

Reading and Science - This week we will focus on retelling as we read 2 selections about ants.  Two Bad Ants is a fiction story about 2 ants who decide to leave the safety of their home and explore a kitchen.  Ant is a non fiction story about the life cycle, habitats, and different types of ants.  We'll compare and contrast the two selections and work on the reading strategy of visualization.   Grammar lessons will focus on compound words.

We finished reading our books on owls this week.  Our final activity was to dissect owl pellets.  Hopefully your child showed you the mole bones they found.  Ask them about it!

Students are carefully dissecting their owl pellets.

All 10 of our butterflies emerged from their chrysalises!  We were able to witness 4 of them actually coming out.  It was amazing to watch!  We'll have to let them go on Monday, but it has been interesting to learn all about their life cycle up close.

Vocabulary words for this week:  hovered, violently, deemed, chamber, plunged

Remember to return reading logs for April.  The class voted to have an extra recess as their reward this month.  It would be great if everyone could participate!

Math  We have completed the chapter on Time, Graphs, and Data.  We're now working on a unit called Step Up To Grade 3!!  We started today by working on connecting what we've learned about repeated addition and connecting it to Multiplication.  We wrote multiplcation stories and drew pictures to match our stories.  Up next is Division!

Earth Day!

Thank you to our PTO for providing reusable bags for all the students!  We were also given the book, How to Help the Earth - by the LORAX.  What a nice addition to our classroom library!

Open House  It was great to see every student at our Open House last night!  I enjoyed visiting with you and your children LOVED having you come to our classroom to see their work.  Thanks also to those families that gave money toward books for our classroom.  I was able to buy a huge stack of new books for our room!  We always love new books!

Dates to Remember
April 27 - May 1- MAPS testing  (Tuesday and Thursday)
                           *  Please be sure your child is well rested and brings a healthy snack to school.
April 30 - Reading Incentive ~ Fuzzy Friend Day
May 1 - Gym Night
             Progress Reports sent home on an "as needed" basis
Wed. May 13 - Field Trip to Brookfield Zoo
                         *  Bring a sack lunch  Please return permission slip asap

Reading  We will read and compare 2 texts this week, Owls and Owl Moon.  One is realistic fiction, the other a non-fiction story.  We will discuss point of view as well as retelling.   Grammar lesson will focus on adjectives.

Vocabulary words for the week are:  clearing, echo, meadow, owling, pumped, shadows, threading.

April Reading Logs should be completed and returned on Friday, May 1.

Math  We have completed our unit on Time, Data, and Graphs and have started the next chapter, Working With Equal Groups. We have learned about arrays and will continue to practice repeated addition next week.  We'll compete the chapter next week by writing number sentences and drawing pictures to match.

Estimation Jar - Joseph, Sean, and Aleck

April 20 - 24

Open House This Thursday!

Dates to Remember

Thurs. April 23 - Open House & Book Fair at Ide!  Everyone is welcome!
Fri. April 24 - Progress Notes sent home wtih students on an "as needed" basis
Thurs. April 30 - Reading Incentive Fuzzy Friend Day
Fri. May 1 - Gym Night at Ide

Permission slips for our field trip to Brookfield Zoo, on Wednesday May 13, were sent home today.  There is also a medical waiver that needs to be returned.  Please send these back to school as soon as possible.  No fee is needed for the trip.  Thank you PTO for paying for our day at the zoo!

Math  We will continue our chaper on Time, Graphs, and Data this week.  We'll start by taking a survey to collect data.  We'll show the results on a bar graph, and finally answer questions using the graph.   We'll also learn to show data on a line plot and we'll practice working with picture graphs to solve problems.  Chapter test at the end of the week.

Reading and Science  We will continue working on our Habitats unit this week.  We will complete our research reports and share them with the class.  Our larva are moving toward the pupa stage and will be turning into chrysalises very soon!.  We will continue writing in our butterfly journals as we monitor the changes we see each day.

Reading Logs Students voted this week to have an extra recess for completed reading logs.  Please encourage your son/daughter to read 20 minutes each night and to return their completed log at the end of April.

April Birthdays - Lindsy -  April 17
                           Sean -  April 6

Estimation Jar Winners - Lindsy and Brendan

April 13 - 17

Dates to Remember...
Thurs. April 23 - Open House and Book Fair at Ide
Fri. April 24 - Progress Notes go home on an as needed basis
Thurs. April 30 - Feed My Starving Children event

Positive Paw Winner - Mikella
Estimation Jar Winners - TJ, Maddie, Lindsy

Reading and Science - We will begin working on our final research project for the year.  Students will choose 2 animal habitats, research information using both a text and digital site, fill out a graphic organizer, then write a final paper comparing the habitats.

We began a butterfly unit this week!  We began by learning about the life cycle of the butterfly.  We have 10 larva (caterpillars) in our room and we're watching as they change every day!  We're recording our observations in our butterfly journals.  Ask your child about it!

Math - We will finish our chapter on measurement this week.  Our next topic will focus on Time, Data, and Graphs.

Feed My Starving Children Event - Elizabeth Ide families are invtited to participate in an event to help children in malnourished countries around the world.  To find out more about the event, and to register, please follow the link in my email.  The code for our school group is 563842.  Registration will close on Thurs. April 16 and is open to the first 90 participants.