Once Upon a Time

Once upon a time there was a second grade class that was very sweet and very full of energy. They worked and worked on writing fairy tales and after many days they completed the task. They decided to have a celebration in honor of their hard work. You are cordially invited to this celebration!
Where: Room 204, Irving School
When: 1:50 pm
Fairy Tale dress optional.

A Few Reminders

My class will be getting their report cards TOMORROW afternoon instead of on Friday. (I will be out on Friday.) PLEASE CHECK YOUR CHILD'S BACKPACK FOR THE ENVELOPE! After you have looked at the report card, sign the envelope and return in to school.

Just a reminder that tomorrow Irving School is aiming to have a ZERO waste lunch. Your child should pack his or her own lunch. If your child orders hot lunch, make sure they take only what they will eat.
Field Trip: We are going on our second field trip on December 17th to MSI. Permission slips will go home on Monday. They are due on December 15th.
Fairy Tale Celebration: We will have a celebration of fairy tales on December 16th from 1:40-2:55. If you would like to join us, let me know. We will read the fairy tales we wrote, do a fairy tale craft and have some fun celebrating this genre of literature!
Dates to Remember
12/9 Report Cards will go home for my class.
12/15-Winter Concert 8:30-9:30
12/15 -Field Trip Permission Slip due
12/16- Fairy Tale Party-please send in $2.00 to cover costs. 1:40-2:55
12/17-Field Trip to MSI

Turn in the permission slips and fairy tale craft fee as soon as possible so we can plan accordingly!

Reading: We are learning about animal camouflage while reading a story about a chameleon, They Thought They Saw Him. We continue to work hard on drawing conclusions and making inferences.
Writing: We read a lot of fairy tales this week and discussed what elements make up a fairy tale. We will begin writing our own fairy tales next week! They will be finished in time to read them during our Fairy Tale Celebration.
Math: We began a unit that is heavy on computation and problem solving skills. Some of the algorithms the students learn will be unfamiliar to you. Do not hesitate to help your child in a way that is more familiar to you! It won't hurt them to learn two different ways to solve a problem!
Science: We wrapped up our unit on Sink and Float by learning what makes a good boat. We shaped balls of clay into boats.
Announcements
Zero Waste Lunch: On December 9th Irving School is striving to have a ZERO waste lunch. We are urging kids to take responsibility for packing their lunch that day or if they are ordering a hot lunch to take only what they know they will eat. Please see this handout for additional information and tips. Our class will be helping the whole school sort their waste during lunch this day. As leaders of this initiative, the students will become experts on reducing waste and learning about our environment.
Field Trip: We are going on our second field trip on December 17th to MSI. Permission slips will go home on Monday. They are due on December 15th.
Fairy Tale Celebration: We will have a celebration of fairy tales on December 16th from 1:40-2:55. If you would like to join us, let me know. We will read the fairy tales we wrote, do a fairy tale craft and have some fun celebrating this genre of literature!
Dates to Remember
12/5 -Cookie Crumble
12/9-Zero Waste lunch-see above for details
12/9 Report Cards will go home for my class.
12/15-Winter Concert 8:30-9:30
12/15 -Field Trip Permission Slip due
12/16- Fairy Tale Party 1:40-2:55
12/17-Field Trip to MSI

Happy Thanksgiving!

Have a safe and wonderful holiday. I am grateful to be with your children each day!

A Week of Learning about Native Americans

We learned a lot about Eastern Woodland tribes this week. We completed our stories about the a day in the life of an Eastern Woodland child. Those stories, will go home next Tuesday after we have had a chance to share them with each other.

Reading: We put aside our Open Court book this week and read a biography of Squanto. In it we learned that the famous friend to the Pilgrims had traveled back and forth to Europe twice before coming home and meeting the pilgrims. He was part of a "show" in England. After returning to America he was kidnapped and brought to Spain and sold as a slave. When he finally helps the Pilgrims, he was fluent in English and a savvy politician.

Writing: We worked hard on our stories and focused on hook beginnings, transitions and conclusions.

Math: We took a trip to the vending machine this week to learn about a real life application of making change and sharing. It was interesting to say the least...

Science: We discovered that we can make metal float (a paper clip) by taking advantage of surface tension. We reviewed the states of matter and discussed that the atoms at the surface of a liquid are closer together than the rest of the atoms.

Pizza Party!
Because the attendance at curriculum night was so great, the class earned a pizza party. We will celebrate with our reading buddies next Tuesday, so there is no need to pack a lunch that day. Please send in a water bottle, juice box or plan on buying milk.

Productive Week

Reading: We read a version of Cinderella and talked about the elements of Fairy Tales. We also took a Silent Reading Comprehension Test. Many children had a hard time drawing conclusions about the story. It is something we will work on next week. Some students took a quiz on Boxcar Children and many students began reading a biography of Squanto.
Writing: We wrote a story about a typical day and published it. They turned out great! We also started writing a story about a typical day for an Eastern Woodland child.
Math: We practiced frames and arrows with two rules this week. We also collected data and graphed it. We talked about the median number. Next week we will work on counting out change.
Social Studies: We are learning about Squanto and other Eastern Woodland tribes.
Science: We learned that bubbles in water affect buoyancy. We also learned that shape affects buoyancy.
Dates coming up:
November 23-Last day of the trimester
November 24-Institute Day-No School
December 10-Report Cards go home
December 16-Fairy Tale Party, please look for information about volunteering
December 17-Field Trip to MSI

Ask your child about

• making a hunk of clay float by changing it's shape.
• how a Wampanoag child might say hello, (Kwe).
  
• how to say "What is your name?" in sign language.
  

A Short Week

Students enjoyed a short, full week.
Reading: We read the story of the Three Whales. The story was rich in vocabulary and we spent a great deal of time trying to visualize the plight of these three whales. This week we will read a version of the classic fairy tale, Cinderella. This is a great introduction to Fairy Tales, as we will spend a great deal of time on them in December.
Writing: This week we practiced writing a beginning that has a "sound" in it to hook the reader in. We are writing narrative stories about a regular day. This week we will begin a narrative story about a typical day for a Wampanoag child.
Math: We worked on place value, time and money. Please have your child help you count your change at home and practice some simple "making change" problems. Ask your child to read the clock a few times each night.
Science: Students learned that the material that an object is made of will affect buoyancy, but size will not.

Ask your child about:

• the words plight, ordeal, trudged
• how to say "cold" or "warm" in sign language
• how to write the Roman Numerals for 1-12
  

Book Orders

Book orders are set up again. Look through the flier that went home. I set up a number of other catalogs online, including one with software. If you are thinking of books for the holidays and want me to keep them a secret, just send me an email. Books are great gifts!

End of October!

We had a great week of Halloween fun. We are now heading into another busy time of the year as we learn about Sinking and Floating in Science and Native Americans in Social Studies.
Reading: Last week we read the wonderful story of Corduroy. Again we talked about kindness. This week's story is about three whales who take a difficult journey. We will not be taking an end of the story test on the Three Whales. Rather, we will do a writing assessment and a fluency assessment.
Writing: The Halloween stories were magnificent! Bravo! We will continue to work on our narrative writing this month. We will also work on paragraph writing with a topic sentence, details and a conclusion sentence.
Math: We finished our Unit 2 assessments and we began Unit 3. We will be working hard on place value, time and money skills. Please make sure you give your child ample opportunities to count money, make change and tell time!
Science: We learned about buoyancy this week by doing some experiments. We learned that they type of material an object is made of affects buoyancy.
Ask your child about:

• sinking and floating cubes that were the same size and shape.
• sharing their writing assignments with 2nd grade friends
• Halloween!
  

Pre Halloween Fun!

The Halloween stories are AWESOME! Wow! I can tell how hard your child worked on these stories and how much support you gave them. They are great! The students will have fun reading them tomorrow to their friends in Mrs. Klette's class. I sat and read each one today. Each one was so original, creative and fun! If you join us for our party tomorrow, take some time to read them!

There is a flier in your child's folder today describing tomorrow's activities. The parade starts at 12:40 and there will be a performance in the gym at 1:30. Our classroom celebration will begin at 2:15. Laura Mattern has planned the party and you can contact her if you have any questions at
kurt_laura@yahoo.com

You can also contact me, but she has done such a thorough job I know very little about it! Thanks, Laura and all your helpers, too!

One last reminder that weapons are not allowed with the costumes. We will change into the costumes at 12:40. Do not send your child to school in their costumes.

Wonderful to See All of You!

It was wonderful to see all of you for our conferences this week. I hope you got some of your questions answered and left with a better idea of what kinds of things your child is working on in school. Please do not hesitate to ask for clarification or updates on any of our conference topics.

Reading: We read a story called The Butterfly House about a little girl and her grandfather who show kindness to a butterfly. We practiced monitoring and clarifying.
Writing: We wrote an extended response to our reading story. The students had to write a topic sentence, give three supporting details, make a personal connection and write a conclusion sentence.
Math:We finished up Unit 2 in math and prepared to take our end of the unit test for next week. Basic facts, algebraic concepts and telling time will be assessed.
Social Studies: The Social Studies test and packet of work was sent home on Friday. Please review it with your child.
Science: The students watched a 15 minute video about the states of matter as an introduction to our upcoming science unit on Sinking and Floating.

I will be updating the links on the left to show the lexile website and some new sites for practicing the states and learning about buoyancy. Check back often!

The Week Before Conferences

Please click on the link to the left to see your conference time. Make every effort to arrive on time so we have the full 20 minutes to discuss your child's progress. Come prepared with questions. If we need more time we will schedule an additional conference.

Reading: We read a story called The Paper Crane. We talked about Cause and Effect. This is another story about kindness.
Writing: We worked on our personal description stories and talked about how describing a setting can set the tone for a story.
Math: We continued to practice our basic facts. We also learned how to do frames and arrows problems, which is a prerequisite skill for many algebraic concepts.
Social Studies: We wrapped up our unit on Neighborhoods and Map skills. A packet of our work will go home next week.

Be sure to come to our Book Fair next week before or after conferences.
Ask your child about

• cause and effect.
• our upcoming book fair.
• our activity with our Kindergarten Buddies.
  

Perfect Fall Week

We had a great week in second grade. The students were very productive and enjoyed the trip to the farm.
Reading: We read Shoemaker and the Elves and practiced sequencing. We looked for time and order words. We continue to work hard in our small reading groups. Two groups are enjoying the book Boxcar Children and two groups are working on verbs and adjectives.
Writing: The students drafted and edited two paragraphs that describe their interests and physical appearance. They learned proofreading marks and practiced using them. Parent volunteers will be busy this week and next helping to publish these stories.
Math: The students practiced math facts all week. We used a spring scale, a balance scale and even a bathroom scale to weigh our pumpkin.
Social Studies: We are finishing up our unit on Neighborhoods and Communities. We read a book called Encounter. This book talks about Christopher Columbus' arrival in the islands from the perspective of a Taino, a native of San Salvador.

Ask your child about

• weighing our trash from lunch on Wednesday as part of Irving's Waste Assessment for a Zero Waste Grant awarded by Seven Generations Ahead.
• using spring scales
• The book Encounter

Please send in an empty cereal box-or two-by next Wednesday. We will use them for an activity with our Kindergarten buddies. If you want to help "wrap" these boxes, please let me know! It is an easy job, but will be time consuming unless we share the work! This is a great opportunity for someone who can't help during the day!

Pumpkin Farm

We enjoyed perfect weather today on our Field Trip to the Pumpkin Farm! Many thanks to our four wonderful chaperones. Michelle Chapman Reinstra, Laura Mattern, Al Nieto and Gloria Garcia. Enjoy the pictures! I'm not a photographer, but I do have pretty cute subjects. Click on the picture to see a bunch of (unedited) pictures from today.

October, Already?

October will be a busy month in our classroom. Please make sure to read the blog and check the folders each day.
Reading: We finished up some assessments from our first unit in Open Court. These will be shared at conferences. We also started a new unit on kindness. Our first story was called Mushroom in the Rain.
Writing: We did some pre-writing for a paragraph that students will write about themselves. It is the first project that we will take through the writing process. You will see a writing assignment for the month of October in next week's homework packet.
Math: We are working on strategies that help us remember the basic facts. We took our first timed test.
Social Studies: We continue to work on neighborhoods, focusing this week on the difference between urban and rural areas.

Our Field Trip is Tuesday! If you haven't already sent in the permission slip and money, please do so on MONDAY!
Your child will need a packed lunch on this day and should dress for the weather.

We took the COGAT test this week. This test will not influence reading groups, math groups or any kind of pull-out group. It is simply an extra piece of information for us to use to help your child learn.

Ask your child

• how to "sing" Happy Birthday in sign language.
• about our Free Choice Friday
• our new desk configuration
  

First Week of Fall

Well, it did not feel like autumn up in our classroom, but we did start talking about the change of seasons.
Reminder:
Field Trip Permission forms are due by next Friday. $10 is due with the permission slip.

Reading: Students read a story about a boy who gets lost in books and shares the stories with his family. They are migrant workers and travel between Iowa and Texas. We practiced summarizing and making connections. We started reading groups. 2 groups started a novel, and the other two groups finished up assessments.
Writing: We worked on strong verbs. Knowing the parts of speech helps us write complete, correct sentences. It also helps us make our writing more interesting. We also talked a lot about having a beginning sentence that introduces the whole story.
Math: We completed Unit 1 in our math curriculum. Unit 2 focuses heavily on the basic facts and computation strategies. We will begin timed math fact tests.
Social Studies: We are practicing looking at different kinds of maps. We learned about communities, leaders and rules.

Ask your child

• to sing the 7 Continents song.
• for a strong verb that means the same as sleep, eat or go.
• what a migrant worker is.

A conference reminder will go home with homework next week. Be sure to mark it on your calendars!

WOW!

We had a great turnout for curriculum night! It was great to see all of you. I know your children appreciate your enthusiasm! Please continue to stay involved and curious throughout the year.

I look forward to our conferences. If you did not sign up for a conference I assigned a time for you. Please look at the assigned time and let me know if we need to reschedule. (Reminders will go home in the next few homework packets.)

Please look for a permission slip in next week's homework packet for our trip to Goeberts on October 5th.

Reading: We practiced making a text to self connection. Your child will practice this next week for homework.
Writing: We learned how to use strong verbs to make our writing more interesting.
Math: Ask your child how they remember which way the greater than or less than sign goes. (<,>)

Ask your child about:

• How Honeycomb cereal helped us be better writers!
• Their Kindergarten Buddy
• Their first partner spelling test

See you all soon for conferences!

CURRICULUM NIGHT

Quick! Click the back button and reply to my email letting me know you are checking this blog! I need to know who is really checking it and who needs a hard copy! Thanks! (Then click back to the blog and read on.)

Curriculum Night is FAST approaching. I look forward to the opportunity to see each of you and welcome you into our classroom. Here are some of the details to help you plan.

What: Curriculum Night is an opportunity for you to learn more about your child's day-besides the special class she attended and who she sat next to at lunch. I will talk about our schedule, homework, differentiation, testing, our curriculum, parties and field trips. I will also have sign ups for conferences and volunteer opportunities.

When: Irving will be open on Thursday, September 16th from 6:30-8:30. I will give a brief presentation at 7:00. Please be on time for the presentation as it will cover a lot of information in a short amount of time.

Where: All of Irving is open.

Who: It is an awesome opportunity for you to see Special Area teachers, our Teacher Librarian, Mr. Hodge, Ms. Creehan, and the office staff including our nurse and social worker.

Why: Come because it shows your child YOU CARE about school. It lets your child know that we communicate and you understand the expectations. Classes with 80% attendance get a class party. If we get 90% attendance my class earns a Free Choice Friday. Students get to set the schedule after our reading test and it can include up to 40 minutes of recess! I am THAT confident that your participation will give payoffs all year in academic success.

How: Childcare is available in the auditorium during the presentation at 7:00. The timing of the presentation allows you to eat dinner and still get home at a decent bedtime.

Other stuff:
Ask your child about

• Dibels testing in the library
• Our Productive Thinking Book
• Xtra Math

Be sure to check the folders before returning them to school on Mondays. I try to write comments each week and it is a good opportunity for you to empty the folder.

See you Thursday!

Our First Full Week

We had a productive first FULL week of school. Students learned many more routines and continued to impress me with their reading and math skills.

Reading : We read a story called Come Back, Jack! about a little girl and her brother, Jack, jumping right into a book. It referenced many different nursery rhymes.
Writing: Students continue to write in their journals. We talked about topic sentences. We did some creative drawing and started writing stories about our pictures.
Math: We practiced counting by 100s, 10s and 1s. Check out the link on the left for a great website that has many different math games. Look for Bang on Time! It is great practice for those still learning to tell time.

Ask your child

• how to say "Walk to your desk," in sign language.
• about "hugs and bubbles."
• about reading centers.

Mark your calendar:
September 16th is Curriculum Night. I hope we will have 100% attendance!
October 5th is our first Field Trip to Goebberts Farm. (Click to see their website and find out more!)

A Wonderful Start!

We had a very smooth start to our school year. The students did a fantastic job learning many new routines and procedures. Next week we will learn even more.

Here are a few notes about our week.
Reading
We read a short excerpt from a story called Ant and the Three Little Figs. We practiced our reading strategies and tried a fig newton.
Writing
We started writing in our journals this week. Their journal entries will take the form of a friendly letter to me. Individualized spelling words will be taken from these journals.
Math
We practiced using number lines, learned calendar routines and counted money. Whew! This class has VERY strong math skills! I'm very impressed!

Ask your child about

• our PBIS assembly on Friday.
• how to say, "I'm thirsty" in sign language.
• the classroom jobs

Notes:

• Our first field trip has been scheduled for Tuesday, October 5th to Goeberts farm in South Barrington. More details and information about chaperoning will follow.
• I hope to see you all at the back to school picnic! It is this Friday, at Barrie Park at 5:30. If you haven't already completed the forms on the left, please do so today. It will take you about 3 minutes! There is a link to our special schedule on the left.
  

I will continue to send home hard copies of the blog for the next two weeks. After that if you indicated you will check the blog after an email you will no longer receive hard copies.

Great First Day!

We had a great first day of school. There are a few things you'll need to know for the rest of the week.

• Your child may bring a HEALTHY snack each day. Fruits and vegetables are encouraged because they give a quick energy boost. Pretzels, goldfish, dry (non-sugary) cereals are also OK. Please NO chips, nuts, candy or cookies. Children who do not have a healthy snack will be asked to eat it at home. Please don't make me the healthy food officer.
  
• Gym will be on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. That means your child needs gym shoes TOMORROW!
• Water bottles are important until the weather breaks. Your child can take it home every day or leave it at school and fill it up from our faucet. I'll send them home on Fridays.
• The only homework for this week is the 3 About Me bag. Next week a short packet will go home. After Labor Day regular homework will begin.

Do not hesitate to contact me, email is best, with any questions!
bparkinson@op97.org

Have a great first week!

Welcome Back

I look forward to getting to know each of my students and their families. Please stop by on Monday between 3:00-4:00 to drop off your school supplies and see the classroom. We are in room 204, right across from the gym.

When you come to the room you will notice it is hot! hot! hot! Please be sure to have a water bottle when school starts next Tuesday.

Please fill out the forms that are linked to the left. There is one for parents and one for students.