January 9 - 13

Dates to Remember...
Week of Jan. 9 - 13 - MAPs testing for 2nd graders
Fri. Jan. 13 - Gym Night  Tickets required
Mon. Jan. 16 - No School  MLK Holiday
Fri. Jan. 20 - Progress Notes sent home on an "as needed" basis
Tues. Jan. 24 - Vision and Hearing Screening
Tues. Jan. 31 - Reading Incentive Pajama Day
Thurs. Feb. 2 - Early Dismissal  11:35

MAP Testing - Next week we will be taking the MAP testing (math and reading) on our iPads.  Please be sure your child brings their iPad to school each day fully charged.  If they'd like to use a stylus, they may bring one.

Reading - This week we'll be reading That Book Woman.  It is about a boy, Cal, and his family who live in the Appalachian hills with little access to books.  A "book woman" arrives on her pack hourse to distribute books to the families.  Over time, Cal changes his mind about reading.

We'll focus on illustrations in a text and how they help us make meaning of the story.

Kane County Cougars Reading Club - Students who return their home reading log in January and February, will receive a free game ticket.  Please encourage your child to read 20 minutes each night and return their completed log at the end of each month.

This week we celebrated our December reading with a special lunch in the room and movie.  The students voted to have an extra recess as their reward for January!

Grammar focus will be on adverbs.

Math - We will continue to work with 3 digit addition, with and without regrouping.  We'll also work on problem solving.  We'll then switch to 3 digit subtraction.

Positive Paw Winner - Allision
New Student of the Week - Amey
Estimation Jar Winners - Nate, Aidan, Vanessa, and Allison

January 2 - 6

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays to each of you!  Have a wonderful, relaxing time with your family over the holiday break.  

Thank you to all the parents who sent in cookies, appetizers, and refreshments for our teacher cookie exchange!  The treats were delicious and I took home a wonderful assortment of yummy cookies!  Thank you very much!

Dates to Remember...
Dec.19 - Jan. 2 - No School  Holiday Break
Tues. Jan.3 - School Resumes
Mon. Jan. 16 - No School  MLK holiday  Happy

Reading - When we return from holiday break, we will be discussing an article titled, Little Free Libraries.  Our essential question is, Can small acts bring a community together?  We'll be doing a close read of the article, looking for text evidence to support our answers, and working with new vocabulary:  stunning, encourage, contain, public, and variety.

Reading logs should be returned on Tuesday, Jan. 3.

Math - We'll begin a new chapter in math when school resumes in January.  We will focus on 3 digit addition and subtraction.  We'll be looking at two different strategies ~ breaking apart addends, and using the standard algorithm with regrouping of ones and tens.

New Student of the Week - Brady
Estimation Jar Winner - Allison
Positive Paw Winner - Stephen

December 12 - 16

Dates to Remember...
Fri. Dec. 16 - Silly Sweater Day
                      Classroom Holiday Party 1:30
Dec. 19 - Jan 2 - No School Holiday Break
Tues. Jan. 3- School Resumes

 Holiday Traditions Project
The students will be sharing their holiday traditions next week!  Please help your child create a visual to go along with their written page.  If you have any questions, let me know.

Reading logs - The class voted to have lunch in the room as a reward for completing their December reading log.  They should be returned on Tuesday, Jan. 3.

Reading - During our Reading block this week, all 2nd graders will take part in a Holidays Around the World Unit.  Students will be learning how people in different parts of the world celebrate holidays.  They will have a passport and travel to the different 2nd grade classrooms as they learn about holidays in Sweden, Mexico, France, Israel, and Italy.  Look for your child's "Holidays" suitcase to come home on Thursday!

No spelling list or test this week.  We'll continue our Word Studies in January.

Math - We will finish our chapter on two digit subtraction this week.  We'll have a review and chapter test, then finish the week with some fun holiday math.

December birthday - Aubrey Dec. 20

Positive Paw Winner - Vanessa
Estimation Jar Winner - Ryan
New Student of the Week - Olivia

December 5 - 9

Mrs. Sulima came to our room today and helped us get started on Seesaw!  The students took a photo of themselves, drew pictures of things they like, and made a recording!  

Dates to Remember...

Wed. Dec. 7 - Early Dismissal  11:35
Thurs. Dec. 8 - Holiday Shopping 11:35
Fri. Dec. 16 - Classroom Holiday party 1:30
Dec. 19 - Jan. 2 - No School  Holiday Break
Tues. Jan. 3 - Return to school
                       Return December reading logs

Scholastic Book Order - If you are interested in ordering books for your child, please place your order by Monday.  Here is the link if you'd like to order online:

Scholastic Reading Club

Our class code is GVD6H.  You may also send in a check made out to Scholastic, along with the order form.  In addition, it's possible to order different levels of books for siblings.  You may order from any "book club" using the online link.

Reading - We will be working on a reading writing workshop this week.  We'll be discussing character traits and writing an opinion piece.  Students will write their opinion about a topic, state their reasons and give details about each reason to support their opinion.

Grammar focus will be on suffixes this week.

Holiday Tradition Project  
Students are bringing home information today about a holiday project.  The paper explains the project as well as a page for the students to fill out and return.  This project is due on Monday, December 12.  If you have any questions, please let me know.  

Math - We will continue to work with 2 digit subtraction this week.  We'll also solve problems using a bar models and we'll write equations to represent subtraction in word problems.  

Thank you to the families who donated books to our recent book drive.  I love to see families model the spirit of caring and compassion with their kids.  Little eyes are watching and learning from you!

Our school is again participating in the collection of hats and gloves for our Mitten Tree.  All donations will be given to a local agency for distribution to families in need.  Donations will be accepted until Dec. 16.  

Positive Paw Winner - Amey
Estimation Jar Winner - Aubrey
New Student of the Week - Haley

November 21 - December 2

Thanksgiving Musical

I am so thankful for this great group of kids that I have gotten to know this year!  They are so much fun to work with and I loved watching them sing and have fun last evening.  Also thankful that they were all able to be at the concert last night ~ despite all the sickness we've had!  

Dates to Remember
Tues. Nov. 22 - Grandparents Day  for 2nd grade ~ 10:15 - 11:00
                               Report Cards will be available online
Nov. 23 - 25  No School  Thanksgiving Holiday
Tues. Dec. 7 - Early Dismissal  11:35

Math - We will be working on a new chapter in math, 2 Digit Subtraction.  We'll begin by subtracting with the "break apart strategy, then modeling with base ten blocks, and subtracting with the standard algorithm.

Continue to practice math facts at home.  This week we'll do our monthly 5 minute fact fluency tests.   

Reading - We'll be reading the text, Aero and Officer Mike.  We'll look for text evidence to prove the author's purpose.  Comprehension focus will be recalling key ideas and details from the text.

Reading logs for November are due on Thurs. Dec. 1.  The class voted to have a stuffed animal day as their reward.

Estimation Jar Winner - Brayden
Positive Paw Winner - Brayden

Happy Thanksgiving
I've told the kids how thankful I am that we have a wonderful school to come to each day. I'm so grateful for the abundant resources we have, happy children, and supportive families. I hope you all have a great holiday celebrating the gifts we have in family and friends.

November 14 - 18

Veterans Day

We had the priviledge of meeting Captain Conley today.  He shared with us information about his experiences in the army.  He showed us his protective gear and answered many questions.  Thank you Captain Conley for your service to our country!  

Mrs. Johnson shared with us photos and information about her husband, Major Dale Johnson.  He was in the Air Force and served in several states in the U.S., as well as in Italy, Germany, Okinawa, and Bolivia. Their family has enjoyed so many unique experiences during his time with the Air Force.  We wrote letters to Major Johnson and thanked him for his service as well.

I'm so thankful for our veterans ~ such courageous men and women who love our country and are willing to sacrifice time away from their families to fight for us.  Thank you to Major Johnson, Captain Conley and so many others this Veterans Day!  

Dates to Remember...
Tues. Nov. 15 - Picture Retakes
Thurs. Nov. 17 - 2nd Grade Thanksgiving Sing at LV  7pm
Fri. Nov. 18 - Movie Night at PV
                     end of the 1st trimester
Tues. Nov. 22 - Grandparents Day at Ide
Nov. 23 - 25  No School  Thanksgiving Holiday
Wed. Dec. 7 - Early Dismissal

2nd Grade Musical is on Thursday evening at Lakeview.  Please have your child at LV by 6:45.  Students should dress in either jeans or khaki pants and wear a "fall colored" shirt.  The performance will begin at 7:00.

Reading Logs - Our class voted to have a stuffed animal day for their reading reward this month.  Please encourage your child to read and record their books and return their reading log on Wednesday, Dec. 1.

Reading - We will finish our Unit 1 Assessment and work on collective nouns.  We're starting a new unit this week, Neighborhood and Community.  We'll begin by reading and comparing two texts, Officer Buckle and Gloria and Officer Mike and Aero.  Our focus will be on identifying the main idea and details fo the stories, as well as drawing conclusions.    

Six Flags Reading Logs - Six Flags is again offering a free ticket to every student who completes their reading log recording 6 hours of reading.  The log is coming home today and must be returned by Feb. 21.  You may count the same reading/books for both our home reading log and the Read to Succeed log.  Any questions, let me know.

Math - The students are doing great with adding double digits.  This week we'll write equations to represent a problem and find sums for 3 and 4 addends.

Parent Teacher Conferences - It was great to meet with all of you this week.  I appreciate the time spent talking about your child's progress.

Positive Paw Winner - Cameron
Estimation Jar Winner - Andrew

November 7 - 11

We all had a great time at the Halloween Parade and Party!  I hope you were able to join us on such a beautiful afternoon!  Thank you to Mrs. Rerucha for planning, Mrs. Mesker, Mrs. LaRocco, Mrs. Monreal, and Mrs. Vano for helping with games, crafts, and refreshments. Thanks also to the Lafin and Woods families for sending in snacks and paper goods.  I know I'm forgetting someone else ~ but thanks to everyone who helped.  The kids made a spider craft and a ghost craft too.  They really had so much fun!

Dates to Remember...
Nov. 8 & 9 - Parent Teacher Conferences
Fri. Nov. 11 - Veteran Assembly
                     Wear red, white, and blue to honor our veterans
Thurs. Nov. 17 - 2nd Grade Music Concert
                          7 pm at LV
Fri. Nov. 18 - End of 1st trimester
                     Movie Night
Nov. 23 - 25 - No School  Thanksgiving Holiday

Math - We will continue working on 2 digit addition this week.  We'll do a lot of practicing with and without regrouping.  We took our 5 minute fact tests this past week.  We're graphing our scores on these tests, so your child can see his/her progress.

Reading - We will be doing a Unit 1 Assessment on skills learned during our Friendship Unit.  We'll also be working on collective nouns (flock of sheep, gaggle of geese).

We'll also read a story called Chick 'N Pug, as part of a Nearpod presentation on our iPads.

Estimation Jar Winner - Gio
New Student of the Week - Nick
Positive Paw Winner - Olivia