Mrs. Conquest's Second Grade Class

Feb. 20-24

2012-02-16T13:16:00.000-08:00

WRITING
We will put our skills to the test and use our persuasive language to write a book, movie and restaurant review this week! Students will see what a video review is made up of and how to organize it. Many examples of books, movies and restaurants they are familiar with will be presented in class. They will have the choice of what type of review (book, movie or restaurant) to write and select the platform (likes or dislikes) they will use to persuade their audience to believe what they believe.

READING
We will discuss the importance of fact and opinion in media. Students will have the opportunity to listen and watch certain media outlets and identify fact from opinion. Later in the week, we will compare media literacy and traditional literacy. The highlight of the week will be when our class emails a company to let them know what we think of their product using facts and opinions.

SPELLING
We will study the long 'u' sound (u_e, ue). Spelling words will be sent home on Monday and we will test on Friday.

MATH
Thank you so much for all the donated candy for our party and problem solving stations! It was a hit!

This week, we will continue working on our addition and subtraction regrouping. We introduced two step problem solving and will take a little more time going over this process before we test. Along with that, we are working hard on identifying whether a word problem is telling us to add or subtract by highlighting the key words and visualizing the problem happening. The review will be this Thursday and we will assess on Friday.

SOCIAL STUDIES
We will be revisiting natural resources and weather patterns this week in discussing natural hazards and settlement patterns. The class will discover why the locations of big cities are picked and why the environments and neighborhoods around the city, state, country and world are not all the same.

REMINDERS
Don't forget to send your box tops!!!
Library is Tuesday
February 20th - No School (President's Day)
February 28th - Spirit Night Out at Catfish Parlour
March 3rd- Family Dinner Night
March 6th - Kindergarten Round Up

Feb. 13-17

2012-02-09T08:44:00.000-08:00

WRITING
Parents beware! We are learning the art of persuasion this week! The focus will be on persuasive statements and how to use them. In our writing we will practice stating our opinions and giving reasons and examples to make our statements more appealing. Let me know if your child tries any new persuasive tricks this week:)

READING
To go along with our persuasive statements, we will study the purpose of media and the many different types there are. Through diagrams and video clips we will observe the sound, color, image and purpose of media and record how each of these things influences a message.

SPELLING
We will continue the study of the long 'o' sound (ough, ow). Spelling words will be sent home on Monday and we will test on Friday.

MATH
To get in the Valentine spirit, we are having special problem solving, team building stations. If you would like to donate any items (large bags of M&Ms, Hershey kisses or snack size candy bars), please let me know!

We are combining our knowledge of addition and subtraction regrouping this week. As we review, we will continue to practice identifying key words to tell the difference between addition and subtraction. We will review with Jeopardy on Thursday and assess on Friday.

You can practice the 1-18 +/- facts with your children for quicker recall times.

SOCIAL STUDIES
We are studying the timeline this week and building on our knowledge of the past, present and future. The class will create their own timeline of many things: school, themselves, interview each other, and take notes on video and book sources of historical figures. We will extend our learning and brainstorm what we want to be in the future and also what school will be like in the future.

REMINDERS
Don't forget to send your box tops!!!
Library is Tuesday
February 14th- Class Valentine's Day party at 1:45 (all parents are invited!)
February 20th - No School (President's Day)
February 28th - Spirit Night Out at Catfish Parlour
March 3rd- Family Dinner Night

Feb. 6-10

2012-02-03T12:55:00.000-08:00

Writing:
This week we focused on writing a legend of our own and next week we are going to review different types of writing we've learned this year by using the theme of Valentine's Day. We will be writing poetry, "all-about" stories, procedural text (a recipe), and letters.

Reading:
We are working on folktales and legends this week. We will read various stories and then comprehend what they are about including the character's words, thoughts, actions and traits. We are getting really good at understanding this genre. Please help your child to remember to write their reading minutes down each night.

Spelling:
This week we will work on long O sounds (-o_e, oe, oa). Your child will get their list on Monday, and the test will be on Friday.

Math:
We will work on 2-digit subtraction with regrouping (borrowing/carrying) this week. We will use our ones and tens blocks and several games to practice the strategies involved with this skill. Continue to practice at home as well.

Science:
Clouds and shadows are going to be the topic this week. We will discover different types of clouds and learn how shadows appear. At the end of the week we will get to research either the moon, sun, moon phases, meteors/asteroids with a group and present our information to the class.

Reminders:
Send your box tops!!!
February 8th- Spirit Night at Mimi's Cafe
February 9th- Valentine's Day boxes due
February 14th- Class Valentine's Day party at 1:45 (everyone is welcome!)

Jan. 30 - Feb. 3

2012-01-26T08:50:00.000-08:00

WRITING
Our outlaws are running wild, hopefully to be caught soon. Come by and see their wanted posters on the bulletin board!

Last week, we learned in reading about myths, legends and folktales and how to find the theme in the story. This week, we will create our own legend how of something came to be. Students will pick their topic (i.e. how a leopard got his spots, how an elephants trunk became so long, how a mountain became the shape of a triangle, why a rainbow doesn't have brown, etc), then create ways their legend can happen. This is one of my favorite writing projects because the class comes up with ways a legend could happen that I never thought of!

READING
We are focusing on folktales this week. A folktale is story or legend handed down from generation to generation usually by oral retelling (starts as an oral story, not a written story) and does not include the element of magic. We will discuss the origin of the story and the cultural values and themes that the story carries in it.

SPELLING
This week we will work on sounds of Y (y as 'i'-try and y as 'e'-bunny). Your child will get their list on Monday, and the test will be on Friday.

MATH
Our fractions unit is over and we are turning back to addition and subtraction. We will quickly review our fast facts and focus on 2 digit plus 2 digit and introducing regrouping. We will continue to focus on adding from the ones column first, then the tens column and word problem strategies (cross out the junk, circle important numbers, underline the questions).

SCIENCE
We will review and test on the water cycle the first two days. On Wednesday, we will introduce the night sky and aspects of the moon (What is it? Where is it? Why is it always changing shape? Why is it always moving?). At the end of the week, we will make our own moons using tasty materials:)

REMINDERS
Jan. 31 - Science Fair
Feb. 1 - Early Release
Feb. 4 - Celebration of Families, RRISD 9am-2pm
Feb. 8 - Spirit Night out at Mimi's Cafe
Feb. 9 - Valentine Boxes due
Feb. 14 - Valentine's Party

Jan. 23-27

2012-01-19T08:22:00.000-08:00

WRITING
We are going wild in writing! The Wild West that is! The students will find their 'inner outlaw' create a story that goes with their character along with writing a wanted poster. Their story will include their outlaw name, crimes, setting, problem they face and what happens when they are captured.

Our main focus will be creating a beginning, middle and end that flows and is easy to understand. We will post the stories at the end of the week.

READING
We are starting a new unit filled with folktales, myths and legends. The vocabulary words of theme and morals will be introduced and the students will see each day what makes these three types of stories unique. This theme will carry over into our reading groups as well.

SPELLING
This week we will work on long I vowel patterns (-i_e, ie, igh, ind). Your child will get their list on Monday, and the test will be on Friday.

MATH
Our fractions unit will come to a close as we review the difference between unequal and equal parts, numerators and denominators, how to read fraction drawings and solve fraction word problems. We will review on Thursday and test of Friday.

SCIENCE
We are moving from weather to the water cycle. The class will dive in to the vocabulary of evaporation, condensation and precipitation. We will make rain makers, water wheels and follow the drops to explore the properties of water and just how much there is on Earth.

THANK YOU!
Thank you for the donations of the Ziploc bags and treasure chest items!

REMINDERS
Start saving your SHOE BOXES for a fun February activity...more to come later:)
Science Fair- Jan. 31
Early Release - Feb. 1
Celebration of Families, RRISD 9am-2pm - Feb. 4

Jan. 16-20

2012-01-12T08:52:00.000-08:00

IN HONOR OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., THERE IS NO SCHOOL ON JANUARY 16TH.

WRITING
We are showing off our poetry skills! This week, we are making poetry books to display our alliteration, rhyming, acrostic and concrete poems. With our knowledge of understanding poetry, we will use our sensory language to "Show and Not Tell" what we are thinking, seeing or feeling in our writing.

The students have the opportunity to share and show off their completed piece throughout the week.

READING
Our focus in reading this week will be in understanding the poem. The strategies we will cover are:

Preview the poem and read it aloud
Visualize the images of what is written
Clarify the words or phrases
Think about the author's heart and message

We will practice these steps with numerous poems throughout the week and give the students opportunities to show their comprehension with an independent assignment at the end of the week

SPELLING
This week we will work on long E vowel patterns (-e_e, ea, ey, ee, -i). Your child will get their list on Monday, and the test will be on Friday.

MATH
We are continuing our work on fractions this week. Our fraction fun will involve making caterpillars and fruit salad, a skittle activity and bingo. Our goal is to reinforce the teachings from last week about the numerator and denominator, equal parts and problem solving skills.

SCIENCE
We are starting our unit on weather, climate and seasons. With the crazy weather in Texas, we will explore what is a normal temperature to have during the four seasons and in different climates.

We will carry over our math skills of reading a thermometer, into science. The class will go outside, see what a thermometer is made of and what makes it move up and down (we will be using mercury thermometers, not digital).

The students will get a chance to write their own weather report for a specific region, with a distinct climate. They will experience what it is like to give a weather report, like the forecasters do on the news!

DONATIONS
We need snack size skittle packets and sandwich size ziploc bags for our fraction activities this week! Please let me know if you are able to donate to the class. Thanks for your help!

REMINDERS
Science Fair registration forms- Due Jan. 17th
Holiday (MLK Jr. day)- Jan. 16th
Science Fair- Jan. 31st

Jan. 9-13

2012-01-06T14:11:00.000-08:00

WRITING
We are continuing to work on poetry this week. We are going to be putting powerful thoughts into tiny packages. We’ll discuss how poems have ingredients like a recipe: one is precise words and another is music. Using expression with a poetry voice will be another focus for the week. We’ll practice “trying on” different voices while reading poems to see how expression makes us feel when we hear them. We’ll write poems using our feelings and share them with our classmates. I can’t wait to see what wonderful poems our class writes.

READING
Our focus in reading this week will be on repetition in poetry. Students will read a variety of poems aloud for fluency.

We’ll discuss the following types of repetition poems:
End Rhyme Repetition: the repetition of the ending sounds in two or more lines,
Alliteration Repetition: the repetition of initial sounds in two or more words,
Assonance Repetition: the repetition of vowel sounds within words.
Consonance Repetition: the repetition of consonant sounds within words, often with a variation in adjoining vowels.
Whole Poem Repetition: when poems have consistent repetition carried throughout the entire poem.

SPELLING
This week we will work on long a vowel patterns (-a_e, ai, ay, eigh, -ea). Your child will get their list on Monday, and the test will be on Friday.

MATH
This week, we will begin our unit on Fractions. In this unit, students will be expected to identify fractions up to 1/12. We will do several fun activities this week, including an activity with fraction tortillas and making pizza fractions. Problem solving will be a daily focus so kids will need to put on their thinking caps! Vocabulary words that will be introduced are numerator and denominator. We'll definitely be having fun while learning about fractions!

SCIENCE
We are continuing our unit on natural and manmade resources. We’ll discuss the differences between renewable and nonrenewable resources. Several examples of both will be introduced as well as how we can reduce, reuse and recycle some of our resources. There will be an assessment on Friday over the concepts we’ve learned.

ABSENCE
I will be out for jury duty selection on Monday, January 9th.

REMINDERS
Science Fair registration forms- Due Jan. 17th
Holiday (MLK Jr. day)- Jan. 16th
Science Fair- Jan. 31st

Jan. 3-6

2011-12-15T07:56:00.000-08:00

WRITING
We will begin our poetry unit this week. We will use our "poet eyes" and sensory language to write our own poetry. This is a good time to introduce the poetry genre at home if you haven't already. Children love poetry!

LIFE JOURNALS
We will also start our individual "Life Journals". They will come home each Friday and will need to be returned the following Friday so we can use them during our sharing time. Directions are included inside each life journal, and details will be discussed in class.

READING
We will be reading poetry this week. We will be focusing on looking for rhyming words and fluency. During our guided reading time, we will read and discuss several fun poems. Daily 5 will continue this week also. Keep up your reading minutes at home!

SPELLING
Spelling for this week will focus on digraphs ph-, -gh, and -tch. We will send home your child's words on Tuesday and the test will be on Friday.

MATH
We will continue learning about money this week. We will review the names and values of each coin and learn strategies to count coins. We will have a review on money this Thursday and then assess on Friday.

SOCIAL STUDIES
We will compare natural and manmade resources this week. We will determine why certain objects are categorized into natural or manmade. We will discuss how useful objects from each category are as well.

REMINDERS
Science Fair registration forms- Due Jan. 16th
Holiday (MLK Jr. day)- Jan. 16th

Disinfecting Wipes

2011-12-07T08:11:00.000-08:00

Due to the chemicals in Clorox Wipes, we have been asked to discontinue their use in the classroom. But Seventh Generation Wipes have been approved as a safe alternative.

If you see any of these wipes when shopping, please consider donating a package to our classroom. We'd love any help in keeping the germs away! Thank you!

Dec. 12-16

2011-12-06T13:14:00.000-08:00

WRITING
Our "All About..." books are published and displayed on the bulletin boards. Each student worked so hard to show the depths of their knowledge in their book. This week, we will be get in the holiday spirit and channel The Grinch! We will become very creative in our ways to figure out ways to make the Grinch smile and why those ways would be successful.

SPELLING
We will continue our spelling this week with words that have consonant digraphs (sh, th, ch-hard and soft-and wh). A list of your child's words will come home in their communication folder on Monday and the spelling test will be on Friday.

READING
Our class is great at the challenge of identifying key sensory words. We will continue to develop this skill by reading more great stories such as Through Grandpa's Eyes and Owl Moon. We will also rotate through the Daily 5 stations and work on reading in groups.

MATH
This week you may hear the Apprentice tune in your head -Money, Money, Money, Money...Money! We will start our unit on coins - the best strategies to use when identifying coins, counting coins and comparing collections of coins. The main focus will be on the five coins (no bills): penny, nickel, dime, quarter and half dollar.

This concept can be difficult for children to grasp. A fun way to practice counting money at home is to get a handful of coins and race your child in counting out different amounts, trying to use as many combinations as possible.

SOCIAL STUDIES
We will continue studying historical figures and end with making a paper doll of our favorite person we studied. Along with the doll, we will compose a brief description of what the person looked like, why they were important and why they are still remembered today.

*If you have any scrap cloth, buttons, plastic eyes, yarn, etc. we would love to use it for our dolls! Please send it in with your child by Wednesday.

REMINDERS
December 15th- Class holiday party at 1:30
December 19-January 2 Winter Break

Dec. 5-9

2011-12-01T13:58:00.000-08:00

WRITING
This week will will continue working on our "All About" books. The kids are experts on so many neat things from "Grass" to "Laptops". It is really neat to see how they are using different types of writing to share their knowledge. We will edit and then get to share our books with the class later in the week and add them to our library for all to enjoy!

SPELLING
We will continue our spelling this week with words that have inflectional endings (-ng and -nk). A list of your child's words will come home in their communication folder on Monday and the spelling test will be on Friday.

READING
Your kids have loved being detectives and figuring out examples of sensory language in the stories we've read this week. We will continue to develop this skill by reading more great stories such as Pickles to Pittsburgh and A Lucky Thing. We will also rotate through the Daily 5 stations and work on reading in groups.

MATH
This week we have some neat games and activities to continue learning about 2-digit addition and subtraction without regrouping ("borrowing"/"carrying"). We will have a review on Thursday and then an assessment on Friday.

SOCIAL STUDIES
We will focus on rights and responsibilities in our community. We will begin discussing what a good citizen is and learn about some historical figures such as Paul Revere and George Washington Carver. We will be studying even more historical figures next week.

REMINDERS
December 7th- Early Release Day at 12:45
December 5th-9th Book Fair
December 15th- Class holiday party at 1:45
December 19-January 2 Winter Break

Nov. 28-Dec. 2

2011-11-22T13:26:00.000-08:00

WRITING
This week we will be picking a topic that we are experts in to write an “All About” book. We will use nonfiction characteristics that we have been learning to include in our books, such as diagrams, table of contents with chapters, and how-to writing. Throughout the week we will organize our ideas and begin writing our books. This will be a two week project and will cover grammar and editing skills.

READING
This week, we will continue the Daily 5. Reading groups will focus on sensory text. Our whole group instruction will focus on visual imagery and mental imagery from the text being read. Students will learn to recognize that some words and phrases have literal meaning and non-literal meaning. The books we will be reading to explore sensory language are The Napping House, I Love You the Purplest, My Many Colored Days and Dear Mr. Blueberry.

SPELLING
This week we will work Silent E (a_e, i_e, o_e, u_e). Your child will get their list on Monday and the test will be on Friday.

SOCIAL STUDIES
This week, we will introduce our social studies unit on government. We will discuss the roles of the local government including establishing order, handling conflict and providing security. We will discuss why we need rules and why we need rules for citizens. State and national government roles will also be learned as we make a government roles booklet to organize our information.

MATH
We will start our two digit subtraction unit (without regrouping). Students will learn that, similar to one digit subtraction problems, addition facts can help you solve two digit subtraction facts. Students will get the opportunity to play games reinforcing their skills learned in subtraction and addition!

LIBRARY
Library checkout is on Tuesday! Please remind your child to bring their books to school.

REMINDERS
Nov. 23-25 Thanksgiving Break
Dec. 7 Early Release 12:45 p.m.
Dec. 15 Winter Class Parties 1:45-2:45pm
Dec. 15 Family Art Night 6:30-7:30 p.m.
December 19-30 No School-Winter Break
Dec. 29 Family Ice Skating Event, Chaparral Ice in Northcross Mall
Jan. 3, 2012 School resumes
Jan. 31, 2012 Science Fair

Nov. 21-22

2011-11-18T13:13:00.000-08:00

WRITING
We are going to be writing about things we are thankful for in our lives this week. As a class, we will brainstorm things we are thankful for and make a list. The one thing that each child is the MOST thankful will be what they write about.

READING
This week, we will continue to rotate the Daily 5 stations. We will evaluate our knowledge of fiction vs. nonfiction and discuss all of the characteristics each have. Students will be given elements of both types of books and choose if it is fiction or not. A Fiction vs. Nonfiction flip book will be made by each student with elements of each in the correct section to assess students’ knowledge of these genres.

SPELLING
No spelling this week

SCIENCE
We are going to be talking a mile a minute in science this week! Students will tell a partner how much they know about rocks and what they are used for in one minute. We will rotate around with partners as a fun review on our study of rocks. An assessment on rocks will be given Tuesday.

MATH
We will begin learning 2-digit subtraction (without regrouping) using the place value chart and hands on manipulatives. We’ll challenge our thinking with word problem strategies with two digit subtraction. We’ll have some fun learning to play our new math board games. Math centers will be an exciting treat as we review our addition and subtraction facts throughout the short week.

LIBRARY
We won't have an official library checkout this week, but students can return books and checkout for the holiday break. Please remind your child to bring their books to school.

REMINDERS
Nov. 21 and 22 Annual Turkey Trot
Nov. 23-25 Thanksgiving Break
Dec. 7 Early Release 12:45 p.m.
Dec. 15 Family Art Night 6:30-7:30 p.m.
December 19-30 No School-Winter Break

Nov. 14-18

2011-11-10T14:29:00.000-08:00

FIELD TRIP
I hope you enjoyed the slide show of our field trip! Thank you to all the chaperons who braved the rain, the walk and the bats!

WRITING
This week we will select one of our procedural writings and take it through the publishing process. We will learn new punctuation that can be included in our How-To writing (parenthesis, colon and commas). As we finish, we will add our books to the class library!

SPELLING
This week we will work on ending consonant blends. Your child will get their list on Monday and the test will be on Friday.

READING
Daily 5 will continue as well as our reading groups. We will continue to read for the purpose of researching monkeys. Last week, we learned that a fiction book on monkeys is comical and enjoyable, but for the purpose of research we need to stick with non-fiction and the facts. The children will use many resources to research the topic as a class. We will continue to add to our banana tree throughout the week with information we gather.

MATH
This week we are reviewing our word problem strategies (crossing out the junk, underlining the question and circling important numbers). We will be using games (board, dice and card) and competing against our classmates and even the teacher. Our goal is to quicken our recall time and effectively use numerous strategies to solve each problem.

SCIENCE
We are continuing our study on rocks! We will go on a class nature walk and collect samples of different rocks on the trail. As good scientists do, we will keep a rock booklet identifying and classifying our rocks according to their size, shape, texture, weight, and color. Using our adjectives and comparative skills, we will play 'Who Am I?" with the rocks and descriptions given by each student.

If your child has a rock collection they would like share they can bring it any day this week.
Thank you, Emilio, for bringing your rocks! It was a very extensive and beautiful collection!

REMINDERS
Library Day: Tuesday
No School: Nov. 23-25
Principal's Pride: Reid

Nov. 7-11

2011-11-04T13:15:00.000-07:00

WRITING
This week we will work on procedural writing. We will be studying books that explain how to do things and then write our own stories of how to do something. We will pay special attention to adjectives this week. We have started our Handwriting Without Tears program, and the student's penmanship is looking better and better!

SPELLING
This week we will work on beginning blends. Your child will get their list on Monday and the test will be on Friday.

READING
Daily 5 will continue as well as our reading groups. We will read for the purpose of researching this week. Our topic will be about Primates. The children will use many resources to research the topic as a class. We will be updating our "knowledge tree" throughout the week with information we gather.

MATH
This week we are working on applying knowledge of basic skills such as counting on, doubles, bridge to 10 (tens frames). We will use addition strategies and things such as dominoes, ones/tens blocks, and hundreds charts, and games to help with our understanding.

SCIENCE
We are starting a 2 week unit on rocks! We will get to sort and classify rocks according to their size, shape, texture, and color. We have some neat activities and interactive games to engage and explain the vocabulary about rocks. If your child has a rock collection they would like share they can bring it any day this week.

FIELD TRIP
Our field trip is Tuesday, November 8th. We will leave the school at 8:45 and return around 1:00. There will be 4 tours. The first group starts at 10 and then a new group goes in the cave every 15 minutes. Each tour lasts about 1 hour. We will eat lunch outside at the picnic tables and then return to school. Tennis shoes are mandatory.

REMINDERS
Harvest Festival- November 5th
Field trip- bring a lunch and wear tennis shoes, November 8th
Family Skate Night- November 10th, 6:00 p.m.
Principal's Pride: Sofia Hall

Oct. 31-Nov. 4

2011-10-28T08:31:00.000-07:00

FIELD TRIP Field trip permission slips were sent home last week. If you have not returned a permission slip for your child, please do so as soon as possible. If you'd like to join us, we could definitely use your help!

READING BUDDIES
Our class will be meeting with our reading buddies from Mrs. Reed's class on Monday, October 31st. We will complete a fun activity with them while still learning. We are looking forward to meeting our fourth grade buddies!

WRITING
This week will be focusing on letter writing. We will discuss parts of a letter: date, salutation, closing and signature. We will write letters to many important people in our lives. We will also combine our "How To" procedural writing with writing a letter to a person in the class on how to do something. Throughout the week, students will conference with the teacher to discuss their writing progress and editing.

READING
We have been rotating groups in the Daily 5. We will be taking a step back to go over how to successfully rotate when there is more than two or three stations. This week, we will continue to learn from procedural texts. We will review what a procedural text is and it's features (ex: diagrams, captions, photos, and step by step instructions). Fact and opinion will be discussed throughout this process, and we will also learn about the use of the text features. Partner groups will be assigned a procedural text to work with throughout the week. Together, they will become experts on their specific procedural text. At the end of the week, they will present their topic to the class and discuss the book's features.

SPELLING
The spelling pattern this week will be beginning blends sounds such as sp, st, sw, sn, sm, sc, sk, tr, tw. Please check your child's folder on Monday for a list of their spelling words.

SCIENCE
We've been discussing energy the past few weeks, including specifics about rolling, spinning, sliding, light, heat, sound, and magnets. This week, we will review the topics we've covered and there will be an assessment at the end of the week. We will be doing some fun activities including making a flipbook with objects that roll, spin or slide. We're also going to be making a clothespin button race car and test them on different angles of ramps to find the fastest ones. If you would like to donate items, we will need clothespins, buttons, pasta wheels, bread ties and drinking straws.

MATH
We learned all about graphing last week. We made pictographs, bar graphs and real object graphs with our shoes. This week, we will learn about patterns. We will create number patterns and learn how to continue a pattern that is given to us. For example, if one tricycle has three wheels and two tricycles have six wheels, how many wheels will four tricycles have? We will also create patterns with shapes, colors, pizzas, jack-o-lanterns and spooky hotel patterns for our class to solve.

REMINDERS AND DATES
Library Day- Tuesday
Principal's Pride: Tal
Reading Buddies: October 31st
PTA General Meeting: November 1st
Harvest Festival: 12-3 p.m. on November 5th
Field Trip to Inner Space Caverns: November 8th

Oct. 24-28

2011-10-21T05:25:00.000-07:00

READING This week we will continue to read nonfiction texts, focusing on procedural writing. Students will learn about the purpose of procedural texts and key words. The reading skill instruction will focus on drawing conclusions, summarizing, and multiple meaning words.

WRITING
At the beginning of the week, students will complete a district writing benchmark. Students will be given a topic and will be asked to plan and write a paper about this predetermined topic. Benchmarks will be graded to determine future writing instruction and needs.

Students will also spend time this week discussing forms of writing other than stories. With a topic of their choice, students will write poems, letters, songs, or lists. They will then revise, edit, "fancy-up", and publish their pieces. We are excited to show their writing creativity!

MATH
This week, we will be learning more about each other as we create GRAPHS! Students will learn to survey, tally, record data, create graphs, and analyze information. Be sure to stop by our classroom to see the variety of graphs that the class creates.

CLASS NEEDS:
We need two boxes of Lucky Charms. (A generic brand is fine!)

And we also need 1 bag of round balloons in assorted colors.

If you can donate these things to our class, please let me know via email. Thank you!

SPELLING
The spelling pattern this week is another review of short vowel sounds. Please check your child's folder on Monday for a list of their spelling words.

SCIENCE
This week in science we will be continuing our discussion on energy, but our focus will be on motion. We will do several activities to discover the energy behind rolling, spinning, and sliding. Next week, we are going to need 4 buttons and 1 clothespin per child. Will you check around your house to see if you have anything you could donate? We would greatly appreciate it.

LUNCH RECESS
As you know, our Caraway students are privileged to have recess after lunch each day. This time allows the children to have an extra recess in addition to their grade level recess.

Lunch recess is celebrated and favored among the students, but safety and supervision has become a concern. We want your children to be safe at all times, and lunch recess is no exception. This is where we need your help.

Parent volunteers are needed to help in the cafeteria and at lunch recess to ensure the safety of all students. Without the proper supervision, lunch recess may cease to exist.

If you can help, we would greatly appreciate it. And your child would appreciate it, too!

The sign up form can be found on the Caraway PTA website:
http://caraway.my-pta.org/content.asp?PageID=28

Thank you for considering this opportunity! We hope to see you on the playground!

REMINDERS AND DATES
Principal's Pride- Keri
Library Day- Tuesday
Oct. 26th- Early Release Day (school ends at 12:45)
Red Ribbon Week- October 24-28
Harvest Festival -12-3 p.m. on November 5th

Oct. 17-21

2011-10-14T09:47:00.000-07:00

Thank you all for your sweet emails, notes from the children and hugs last week. It really meant a lot to me.

READING
This week we will continue to read nonfiction texts. We will pick a topic to learn about and research that topic through both fiction and nonfiction texts. During this process we will also discuss the author's purpose, the difference between main idea and topic, and features of each text that we read. We will gather information on sticky notes about our topic and at the end of the week we will discuss how to organize this information in a logical manner. As always, we will also continue with our leveled reading groups, and Daily 5 reading stations.

WRITING
This week’s writing is going to be a lot of fun! We are going to write our first expository piece, and it will be a “How To" story on blowing a bubble with bubble gum. First, we will chew some gum so that we can document the steps of blowing a bubble. :) Then we will talk about word choice and turn our steps into a story that captures the reader's attention .

MATH
We are going to be going over both subtraction and addition strategies this week. We will review what we have learned and discuss clues for recognizing when a problem is addition or subtraction. We will review on Thursday and assess these skills on Friday. You can help your child at home by reviewing basic math facts that add up to 18 with them at home.

SPELLING
The spelling pattern this week is a review of short vowel sounds. Please check your child's folder on Monday for a list of their spelling words.

SCIENCE
This week in science we will be discussing energy. We will look at heat, light and sound as forms of energy and will do several experiments to investigate energy. We will look at heat during our balloon and butter investigations. Then we will learn about opaque, transparent and translucent materials when we discuss light energy. During our sound energy investigation, students will create their own musical instrument. We will need several materials for our experiments this week. If you have empty milk cartons or shoe boxes at home, then please send them in before Friday for our musical instruments.

REMINDERS AND DATES
Principal's Pride- Nakai and Miranda
Library Day- Tuesday - all books need to come in- even if they are just being rechecked.
Oct. 26th- Early Release Day (school ends at 12:45)
Red Ribbon Week- October 24-28 (information coming soon)
Harvest Festival -12-3 p.m. on November 5th

Oct. 10-14

2011-10-10T12:05:00.000-07:00

READING
This week in reading we will continue to work with our Daily 5 groups, and we will begin to explore non-fiction texts. We will look at text features, discuss monitoring our reading for comprehension and will also learn the difference between facts and opinions.

WRITING
This week, the students will be working finalizing their booklet stories. They will also do several activities to learn about verbs.

MATH
We will be starting subtraction this week. We will focus on subtraction strategies and we will play many subtraction games and participate in several hands-on activities. Ask your child to share with you what they learned about fact families during Friday's surprise lesson!

SPELLING
The spelling pattern this week is short u. Not only should your child be sorting the words, but they should also be thinking of other spelling words that use the same spelling pattern. In an effort to have a unified spelling program among the second grade classrooms, spelling tests will no longer have a spelling grade at the top. All words will be corrected, and an M (mastery) or NM (non-mastery) will be at the top. A student will have mastered the spelling pattern if they have 70% of the words correct.

SCIENCE
We are going to finish up matter this week and test over matter on Wednesday. We had so much fun with all of our matter experiments last week! On Tuesday we will review everything we learned about matter and will send the review home on Tuesday evening. On Thursday and Friday, we will be scientists who use our five senses and magnets! Be sure to ask your scientist for details!

PTA MEMBERSHIP
If you have not joined the PTA, then it is a great way to support your child's school. We currently have a contest that is almost up! Help us win by signing up for the PTA!

BOX TOPS FOR EDUCATION
Box top collections are almost done! This is the final week to send in box tops! Send them in soon if you can to help us win this competition.

REMINDERS AND DATES
Due to a death in the family, I will be out Tuesday and Wednesday. Learning will continue with Ms. Barnes as my substitute.

Box Tops for Education ends- October 14th
Library Day- Tuesday - remember if you are rechecking, you still need to bring in your book.

Oct. 3-7

2011-09-30T14:04:00.000-07:00

October is here! Fall is well underway, and hopefully the temperatures will be dropping soon. Your child is also well on their way in second grade. Can you believe this is already the seventh week of school? Soon the first nine weeks will be over, conferences will be done, and report cards will be going home. This will be a busy month with a lot going on! We are excited about what lies ahead!
READING
We have now gone through all the parts of the Daily 5 reading program. Your child will be practicing this week with working in different stations and staying on task while reading groups are being pulled. We will spend a lot of time on these skills, because the foundation of this program working is being able to meet with groups on their reading level while others are working meaningfully and independently.

We will also work on the comprehension skill of "making connections" as our reading strategy this week. We will focus on how good readers make connections to themselves, other books, and the world in order to create meaning.

WRITING
Our "Dream Boards" were so much fun to create last week! Please come by and look at our boards and read the stories we wrote about our dreams for our future. Beware: some of them may cause laughter.

This week we will continue with Lucy Calkins's lessons on organizing our writing and types of writing. These lessons will set the stage for our writing program for the rest of the year. At the end of this week, every child in the class will know what types of writing they can do during writing workshop, what to do if they get stuck on writing a word, and how to organize their writing.

MATH
We will still focus on addition strategies this week. We are learning strategies to make us faster and more efficient problem solvers by giving us a bag of tricks to solve an addition problem. We will learn addition strategies like "making a ten, making 10 to add 9, making 10 to add 8, count on 1, count on 2 and count on 3." These are strategies that your child can apply to a lot of problems and it will help them think about number sense. As we go through the week you can ask your child which strategies they are learning each day, and ask them to show you the strategies they have learned.

The terminology of these strategies is best explained using the Pearson CD that was sent home last week. We are working in topic 2.

SPELLING
This week’s words will focus on the short o spelling pattern. Your child's list will come home on Monday, and they will have a spelling test on Friday. Feel free to look up other short 0 words so that you can point out the pattern to your child. For fun try: http://www.spellingcity.com/

SCIENCE
This week in science we will be talking about physical and chemical changes. A chemical change is a change on a molecular level (changes what the matter is made of like rusting pipes or burning sugar, substance, color, smell appears that wasn't there before). A physical change is a change in motion, temperature, pressure, size or shape (folding paper, crushing a can, breaking a bottle, etc).

This is a tough concept, and we will be spending time this week doing experiments of chemical and physical changes to demonstrate the two types of changes. On Wednesday, we will be complete several different stations to show these two types of changes.

PTA MEMBERSHIP DRIVE
There is a classroom contest for PTA membership! The class with the most PTA memberships in each grade will have a chance to win a glow in the dark basketball! PTA membership forms went home this past Tuesday, and there are more located outside the front office. If you have not yet joined and you plan to, just fill out the form and send it back in with your PTA dues. Our class currently has 23% participation.

BOX TOPS FOR EDUCATION
This contest is in the last two weeks of its run, and there are prizes to be won! Keep sending in those box tops! If your child sends in 10 Box Tops, then they can get a coupon. Just have them write their name on a baggie or envelope to keep their Box Tops together. We win extra recess for our class if we are the big grade level winners!

STICKER DRIVE
We are partnering with Ms. Henegar's class in collecting stickers for the patients of Malawi, Africa through Friday, October 7th. Please help us to bring a smile to a child's face.

REMINDERS AND DATES
I will be out of town with family Oct. 6-7. Learning will still be taking place in the classroom with the fabulous Ms. Jarrett.

Photo Orders: Late orders will be accepted through Tuesday, October 4th

Box Tops for Education: ends October 14th

Sticker Drive: ends Friday, October 7th

CATCH Exercise Incentive: Walk or Bike to school on Fridays!

Star of the Week: Sofia S.

Library Day: Tuesday

OLSAT Testing: Wednesday

Sept. 26-30

2011-09-23T14:07:00.000-07:00

It is the last week of September! Time is flying by as your children get into the groove of second grade! We are in full swing academically and our class is doing very well with the set expectations for behavior and responsibilities! Way to go!
READING
We are almost done introducing our Daily 5 program! This is the last week of introductions before our program is in full swing. This week we will introduce Listen to Reading. Listen to reading is often a favorite of the students, because they get to use CD players and Netbooks to listen to stories. We will listen to many books on CD, and we will also listen to stories on the computers on sites like "Tumble Books” and "BookFlix." The kids find this exciting and at the same time it is great for them to hear fluent reading on books of their choice.

We will continue practicing the other 4 parts of the Daily 5 each day, too. Soon we will be doing all the different parts of the Daily 5 each day at different times. We will also meet with our guided reading groups during this time. Our reading program is well underway, and your children are doing very well with the system.

WRITING
We are still working on our "Dream Boards" this week. We have completed the boards, and we are working on our stories. The writing should be done and out in the hallway at the end of "Education, Go Get It Week!"

MATH
We have completed place value and ordering numbers and will assess on Monday. We will then be moving on to addition and addition strategies. We will use strategies like adding doubles, near doubles and making a ten to add. We will use hands on materials like cubes, dice and white boards. We will also play games like adding dice rolls and "Doubles Simon Says." This is a week where we review a basic skill, but in a fun and engaging way that will help each child learn a basic that they can apply to much harder numbers.

SPELLING
This week’s words will focus on the short i spelling pattern. Your child's list will come home on Monday, and they will have a spelling test on Friday. You may want to look up other short i words so that you can point out the spelling pattern to your child.

SCIENCE
We have a lot of hands-on science activities this week as we continue to introduce the process of an investigation. We will discuss classifying items and will also introduce the states of matter. We will have some time to explore liquid, solid and gas and how matter can move from one category to another. This is an exciting week in science, so feel free to ask your child what they are discovering in science!

"Education, Go Get It" Week
Please encourage your child to dress the part each day. We will be discussing colleges and college careers each day of the week.

What to wear each day:
MONDAY: “Give a Hoot/College Bound” Students and teachers wear Kathy Caraway t-shirts.
TUESDAY: “Dress for Success” Students dress up in career outfits or as if they are going for an interview.
WEDNESDAY: “Step up for Education” Students and teachers wear sneakers or tennis shoes.
THURSDAY: “Hats off to College” Students and teachers wear favorite collegiate hat.
FRIDAY: “Show Your College Spirit” Students and teachers wear their favorite collegiate t-shirt.

BOX TOPS!
Keep sending in those box tops! The class in second grade that gets the most box tops gets extra recess, and the school wide winners get a trophy and extra PE time with choice of activity! Also, if your child sends in 10 Box Tops, then they can get a coupon. Just have them write their name on a baggie or envelope to keep their Box Tops together. We will be collecting box tops through October 14th.

CONFERENCES
Fall conferences are right around the corner! Please remember to send in the parent input form before your conference day!

CHARACTER EDUCATION LUNCH
Congratulations to Catie and Emilio for earning the monthly character education luncheon with our school counselor, Ms. Vrazel. Catie earned the award for respect, and Emilio earned the award for cooperation.

REMINDERS AND DATES
Box Tops for Education ends- October 14th
Principal's Pride-Emilio
Library Day- Tuesday

Sept. 19-23

2011-09-16T13:52:00.000-07:00

Thank you to everyone who donated to our Caraway Cares Drive! Our class gathered socks, underwear and gift cards to donate to the people who lost everything in the recent central Texas fires. If you have not been able to donate yet, then there is still time! The drive ends on September 23rd. We are collecting new underwear and socks in our room and you can drop off gift cards into the box in the office. Thank you for all your support!

READING
We will continue introducing our Daily 5 program and reviewing the parts of the program that we have already learned. Last week we did Read to Self, Work on Writing, and Read to Someone. This week, we will introduce Word Work to the students. Word Work will allow the students extra time to work with their spelling words each week. Students will take their spelling words and use magnetic letter, play-doh, and stamps to "write" out their spelling words for extra spelling practice. We will also continue to practice reading strategies this week for reading comprehension, and we will be completing the DRA. The DRA is a reading assessment that each student takes individually, and that will allow me to create our reading groups.

WRITING
We have been working on writing stories and using a sketch of a picture to help us get our thoughts out. This week we will use that skill as we create a "dream board." This is a collage that we will create to show our future goals and dreams. We will then use this board to help us write stories about our goals for college, career, hobbies and family. This will be used as an introduction to Education Go Get It Week, which is the following week.

We will also do some comparing of common and proper nouns next week for our grammar lessons.

MATH
We continue to work with comparing and ordering numbers up to 999. We will review the skill on Thursday and test on Friday of this week. This skill has been covered for the past few weeks, and most of the class is doing really well with this skill. If you would like to help your child review at home, please begin using the language of "before, after, and between" when comparing number placement on a number line. Also, using greater than >, less than <, equal to = language and symbols will help your child prepare. When learned this skill by picking the bigger number and putting two dots next to it and the smaller number only gets one dot. Connecting the dots makes the correct sign.

SPELLING
This week’s words will focus on the short e spelling pattern. Your child's list will come home on Monday, and they will have a spelling test on Friday. Ask your child to sort the words and think of other words with this spelling pattern so that they focus on learning a pattern rather than just memorizing words for a test.

SCIENCE
We are done with social studies for a few weeks, and we will be starting a unit on science. This first week we will focus on being a scientist and thinking through the process that a scientist goes through as they tackle questions. We will first look at safety and discuss safety rules for any science experiment. Then we will do our first three science experiments of the year, as we focus on the process and safety of an experiment.

BOX TOPS FOR EDUCATION
Thank you to everyone who has sent in box tops for the school drive. Cutting these out and sending them in is a great fundraiser for our school. There are many box tops on items already in your house. The class in second grade that gets the most box tops gets extra recess, and the school wide winners get a trophy and extra PE time with their choice of activity! We will be collecting box tops through October 14th, so keep those coming in!

CONFERENCES
It's almost time for our fall conferences! Please review the time slots still open and let me know which one will work for you.

REMINDERS AND DATES
Caraway Cares Drive ends September 23rd!
Box Tops for Education Contest ends October 14th
Principal's Pride: Tara
Library Day: Tuesday

Sept. 12-16

2011-09-09T13:20:00.000-07:00

This is going to be another exciting week in second grade with a lot going on! We will be celebrating Freedom Week with a look at why we are grateful for our freedoms. We will also briefly discuss September 11th during this time, and we will celebrate Constitution Day on September 16th.
This week we will also have an early release day on Wednesday. School will be dismissed at 12:45. Please let me know if your child's way of going home will change for early release.

READING
For reading we will continue to introduce our Daily 5 program. Last week, we continued to work on Read to Self and introduced Work on Writing. This week, we will continue to practice those two skills, and we will add Read to Someone. Read to Someone is a buddy reading system that the kids love. It gives them time to get with a partner and read in a structured way that is still exciting. We will also continue to practice reading strategies this week for reading comprehension.

WRITING
Last week we focused on types of sentences and incomplete/complete sentences. This week, we will introduce the Lucy Calkins writing program with a focus on drawing or sketching out a story in order to get an idea for a story. We will also have grammar lessons over common nouns and a/an usage in sentences.

MATH
In math, we will continue to work with place value in numbers up to 999. We will compare and order these numbers using words like before, after, and between. We will also introduce and use the greater than, less than, and equal to symbols to show value. At home, you can continue to work with your child on reading clocks to the 5 minute mark, and also on comparing larger numbers. An easy way to do this is to give them two three digit numbers and asking them to name the larger or smaller number.

SPELLING
This week we will start our new spelling program. I will give a pre-test on Monday and then send home the words with your child that day. Each day at school, we will practice the spelling pattern and you can practice with the words at home. We will test over these words on Friday. The test will also include 10 "surprise words" that they have not studied but that match the spelling pattern.

This is not a program that focuses on memorization. The goal is to learn a spelling pattern that you can apply to other words in hopes of improving each child's spelling in their writing. Many spelling programs have students memorize a list of words just for the test on Friday. They might get all the words right, but then they may forget them or never transfer them to their writing. Other students might do poorly on Friday spelling tests because they have difficulty with memorization, but in their writing they might be stronger at sounding out words then their peers.

Obviously the important thing is to become a better speller, and not to just be able to memorize a list of words for a week. It may take your child a while to get use to this program, and I'll give the class some feedback after the first test. I know this is the first time that they will have taken a test like this, and will view their grades accordingly. Just remember that the goal is overall spelling ability and not memorization or test grades.

SOCIAL STUDIES
This week we will continue to study geography. We will look at different types of maps, globes and atlases. We will talk about the purpose for each of these, and how to use each. Then we will move into discussing landforms.

CARAWAY CARES
Our school will be working with the Caraway PTA, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts to collect items to help with disaster relief in our area. Each grade will collect a different item. Second grade will be collecting new socks and underwear in all sizes(still in the package). All grade levels will be accepting gift cards to area stores (HEB, Randall's, gas stations), for as low as $5 a piece. These cards can be dropped off in the front office in the labeled box on the circle table. This drive will replace the annual Caraway Can Food Drive this year, and it will end on Friday, September 23rd.

THANK YOU!
Thank you so much for making my birthday extra special. It was very touching to receive all the students' cards and presents. I could not ask for a better present than celebrating with the class today. It was so much fun!

We have started our box top competition strong! Thank you to all who have saved them and sent them in. Keep them coming!

Thank you for all the great treasure chest items! We appreciate your support.REMINDERS AND DATES
September 14th Early Release Day: School ends at 12:45
Principal's Pride: Andrew

Sept. 6-9

2011-09-01T14:53:00.000-07:00

What another great week! We are off to a great start this year!

This next week will be very exciting. It is only a four day week due to Labor Day on Monday. Then on Tuesday night, we will have Back to School Night. This is an opportunity for you to come up to the classroom and meet me, see your child's class, and hear from me about what we will be doing this year in second grade. We will meet for only 30 minutes from 6:30-7:00. During that time I will give out a lot of information about second grade, but if you cannot make the meeting let me know and I will email you an overview. Since the time is so short and our space is limited in the classroom, please try to make arrangements for your child during this time.

Below is the schedule for the whole evening in case you need to attend more than one orientation.

PARENT ORIENTATION SESSIONS
6:00-6:30 PM TAG (for current TAG students' parents)
6:30-7:00 PM K-2nd Grade Parents meet in student’s classroom
7:00-7:30 PM PTA General Mtg.& Ms. Hohmann introduces staff
7:30-8:00 PM 3rd-5th Grade Parents meet in student’s classroom

PROCEDURES AND EXPECTATIONS
For the last two weeks, we have overviewed the procedures and expectations for everything that we do at school. We now know school expectations for walking in the hallway, using the bathroom, playing on the playground, and interacting with other students. All classroom expectations have also been laid out. I want every student to be successful this year, and I think that letting every child know what they need to do to be successful is the first step. I will continue to reinforce our procedures and expectations throughout the year so that we can all have a wonderful year.

READING
For reading, we will continue our Daily 5 program. Last week we worked on reading independently in the classroom. This week we will review those Read to Self skills and begin to practice Work on Writing. During this time students will work on writing stories and becoming better writers.

We will also continue working on a few whole group reading lessons that focus on reading comprehension strategies as well as review the strategies that we learned last week.

WRITING
Last week we wrote our first stories with a beginning, middle and end. As soon as we finish these, these stories will be used as tools to compare writing growth throughout the year. Now that we have a start of the year writing sample, we will go into all the basics of writing. We will begin with a review of complete sentences and types of sentences. We will be really focusing on recognizing an incomplete sentence from a complete sentence.

MATH
In math, we will be looking at place value to the hundreds place. We will be working with manipulatives like Base 10 blocks to "build numbers." We will compare numbers in the hundreds to each other, and we will look for patterns with these numbers. We have many interactive games that we plan to play in math next week, and your child should really enjoy this reintroduction to place value.

SPELLING
This week is only four days long, and rather than start our spelling unit with the class on a short week, we will introduce spelling the next week. We will go over the new spelling unit during Back to School Night.

SOCIAL STUDIES
Last week we focused on being a good citizen. We tied that into being a good classmate and discussed a lot of ways to be a good citizen/classmate throughout the week. This week we are moving on to geography. We will discuss some local geography; go over map parts, and discuss how to read a map. Then we will create a class map of our community.

REMINDERS AND DATES
September 5th- No school for Labor Day weekend
September 6th- Back to School Night- In classroom 6:30-7:00, PTA meeting 7:00
September 14th Early Release Day- School ends at 12:45

Principal's Pride is Sofia S!!!

Aug. 29 - Sept. 2

2011-08-26T13:10:00.000-07:00

WHAT A GREAT FIRST WEEK!
We had such a wonderful first week, and it was great to learn all about every student in class through their first week homework bags, their What Lights Me Up pictures, and through the million words that so many of you have already sent in. I'll look forward to reading the rest of those Million Word Parent Homeworks next week. They really help me get to know your child quickly, and to meet their needs in the classroom more completely. Please email or send them in with your child by Thursday.

PROCEDURES AND EXPECTATIONS
In this second week of school, we will continue to talk about how we do things in class and at school. We got together with all the second grade classrooms every day last week to talk about cafeteria, hallway, recess, before school, and after school procedures and expectations. We want to make sure that every child knows the school rules and knows what is expected at school. This week, we will continue to review in our classrooms so that we can all have a successful year.

ACADEMICS BEGIN!
We are jumping into our academic studies this week. I will be guiding the class through how we do everything in each subject, and also starting to do some beginning of the year testing to see what each child's academic needs are at this time.

READING
For reading we will begin our Daily 5 program. This program is a class model that allows me to meet with small groups and to work with students on their individual reading level. When students are not meeting with me, they will be doing one of five other activities. This week, we will practice one activity, Read to Self. I will explain the program and then we will practice the correct way to independently read to yourself for a few minutes at a time until we build up our stamina.

We will also be working on a few whole group reading lessons that focus on reading comprehension strategies.

WRITING
This week, the students will write their first story. I will model how to write a story with a beginning, middle and end. After I model how to do each of these things, I will ask the class to write their own stories for me.

MATH
In math this week, we will review time and clocks from last year. At the end of the week, the students will have a small assessment over clocks, time and schedule reading to gauge where they are right now with this skill. We will continue to touch on time throughout the rest of the year, but I want a good idea of each child's ability level on this skill so that I can match the lessons I will teach the class to their needs. Time is also a great skill to practice at home with your child. Having your child read digital and analog clocks is great practice for the classroom, and for life!

We will also do some math testing this week to see where each child's ability level is currently. These tests do not count as a grade, but it is a type of pretesting to see what lessons each child needs.

SPELLING
We will not be starting our spelling program just yet, but we will be doing a spelling assessment to see what each child's spelling abilities are at this time. This is not a test to study for or to prepare for ahead of time. It is a check of each child's ability so that they can be placed in a spelling group that will have similar words that they need to practice.

SOCIAL STUDIES
We will switch throughout the year between science units and social studies units. We will begin with social studies with a focus on communities, good citizenship, and symbols. We will spend most of the week with a focus on how to be a good citizen in the classroom, community, and world.

REMINDERS AND DATES:
September 5th- No school for Labor Day weekend
September 6th- Back to School Night- In classroom 6:30-7:00, PTA meeting 7:00
September 14th Early Release Day- school ends at 12:45

Aug. 23-26

2011-08-22T11:41:00.000-07:00

Happy first day of school!
I'm so excited to see everyone and to start the year with the best class at Caraway Elementary.

This will be a fun first week! We will be getting to know each other, finding out about second grade expectations and learning to work as a team.

Our first day goal is going to be moving from acquaintances to becoming friends. We will be getting to know each other through detective games and learning about our teacher and classroom. Our first day jitters will be a memory by the end of today!

On the second day we will have a celebration of everything 2! We will honor the second day in second grade with all things that come in pairs, are doubled and 2s of all kinds.

Thursday will be a continuation of learning about second grade with classroom and school expectations. We will dig deep in discussion of how to be a bucket filler (someone who goes out of their way to help others; creating a positive, supportive and responsible community of learners).

Friday, we will continue to learn about each other by sharing our Me Bag with the class. These bags are full of items that show our personalities. In the afternoon we will celebrate our first week of school with a Second Grade Olympics contest. Our class will work as a team to compete against the rest of second grade, and will put to use all the teamwork skills and ways to encourage each other we learned earlier in the week.

Here is some helpful information you might like to know about the first week of school!

Morning
School starts each day at 7:45. The first bell rings at 7:35 each morning. If you arrive before the bell, you can go to the cafeteria and wait in our assigned class spot. I'll be in the cafeteria every morning for the first two weeks. If you get to the classroom before me the door will still be locked. Don't worry! Our class will be at the room shortly.

Breakfast
Breakfast is offered at the school and starts at 7:15. Breakfast is $1.35 paid and $0.03 for reduced lunch. The cafeteria stops serving breakfast at 7:35.

Snack
We will have snack every day at 9:00. Students are responsible for bringing a healthy snack (please, no cookies, candy or cupcakes). Snacks cannot be shared due to allergy concerns. Water bottles are welcome in the classroom, but must have a top or straw so that they remain closed in case of spills. Please have your child put their name on their bottles so they are not accidentally shared.

Lunch
We will have lunch every day at 11:22. Your child can bring a lunch or eat from the cafeteria. The cost of lunch is $2.10 paid and $0.40 for reduced lunch. Adult lunches cost $3.00 if you plan to join your child for lunch. Adult lunches cannot be put onto student accounts, and need to be ordered in the morning since our lunch is delivered to the school. There are extra sides your child can purchase, in addition to the lunch. If you do not want your child to purchase extra snacks, please let me know.

Specials
Please encourage your child to wear tennis shoes or bring them in their backpack. They cannot participate in PE if they are not wearing safe footwear.

Recess
Recess is at the end of the day at 2:00 when it is very hot. If the heat index is over 100 degrees we will have indoor recess (per district policy). Please encourage your child to bring a water bottle every day in case we are able to go outside.

Dismissal
School ends each day at 2:45. Bus riders only are allowed to leave at 2:40 so that they can load the buses and leave before the car rider line begins.

We will walk down to the office in a line at the end of the day. It may be easiest for you to have an outdoor meeting point (flagpole, picnic table, owl garden). If you would like to meet them at the door at the end of the day, be sure to sign-in at the office (per district policy).

Please email me with any questions or concerns you have about the first week of school.

Have a great first week!

About Mrs. Conquest...

2010-08-22T16:55:00.000-07:00

I was born and raised right here in Austin, Texas. My school career in Austin started at Anderson Mill Elementary, Grisham Middle School and ended at Westwood High School. I went on to get my undergraduate degree at The University of Texas at Dallas and graduated in 2004. Then, I came back to Austin for my certification and masters at Texas State University.

The first person to inspire me to teach was my first grade teacher, Mrs. Flamm. I was fortunate enough to be moved to her class, due to an over abundance of students that year. The teacher's lounge was converted to our classroom and there she taught with love, enthusiasm and joy and it was contagious! She is one of my mentors for teaching and we still keep in contact today.

I came to Caraway Elementary for my student teaching in the spring of 2009 with Carla Naylor, in second grade. I accepted the second grade position at Caraway the summer after my student teaching and am returning for my third year. I am excited about the opportunity to be your child's teacher!

During any free time, my husband and I enjoy Camp Gladiator boot camp, family/friend time and traveling. We approach each day as an adventure, live our life to the fullest and try to make as many memories as possible. I am the middle of three sisters and a proud aunt of two adorable girls!

As each school year approaches, I am excited about what the year will bring, the memories that will be made and the learning and growth that will take place. I love teaching, but even more, I love children. I meet each child where they are and create a setting in which they can flourish.

My goal for your child is for them to grow not only in their knowledge of core subjects, but in who they are as an individual in this world. I will support them in their voice of their opinions, views and ideas and encourage them to believe in themselves. As we respect and embrace the differences of each student, we develop pride for our class and school.

As said before, I am eager for this year to begin and the individual victories that will be written over this year!

Welcome to a new school year!