Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Monday, May 31

Woah- it sure is HOT in our classroom today! Try sending a water bottle with your child to keep them hydrated during the day. 

Field day is THURSDAY--send sunscreen!!! Let us know if you want to come and help :)

Walk to the Harper Woods Library THURSDAY morning- wear tennis shoes :)

AWARDS (ppromotion to 3rd grade, perfect attendence and citizenship) assembly is this Friday at 12:45. Parents welcome :)

Poupard Carnival June 10th at 6pm :)

Class picnic June 13th at 11:30. I need a parent or two to help me fill up water balloons that morning (or at home the night before if you'd rather) for a game.  Let me know if you are available. Thanks!!

 Also- I have a fun lesson to do with the kids involving ice cream- I thought it might be fun to make homemade ice cream after finishing the lesson but I have NO expierence making homemade ice cream! If you have made it, let me know! I could use your advice and tips :)

Friday, May 27, 2011

Friday, May 27th

Homework went home today- those who had their reading logs (and other homework) TOTALLY DONE  got to eat lunch in the classroom :) 
I will do this again next Friday.  Please make sure the reading log is compete every week- it is important for your student to learn responsibility.

In social studies today we played a game to review the words goods & services.  We also learned the words Scarcity and Oppurtunity Cost.  Ask your child tonight what the words mean-- see if they remember!

NO SCHOOL MONDAY
we will be walking to the Harper Woods Library in the morning next Thursday( I already have all the walking permission slips for this from the beginning of the year) and then we will have field day in the afternoon!

Have a good weekend :)

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Wednesday, May 25th

AWESOME new links for kid's computer games on the "Links for Kids" page!!

Click on the score that your child got on the NWEA test and it will give you games that will help them improve the skills they are weak in :)

 READING GAMES http://www.sowashco.k12.mn.us/ro/pages/studentlinks/map/reading.htm

MATH GAMES http://www.sowashco.k12.mn.us/ro/pages/studentlinks/map/

Also, FIELD DAY HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR TOMORROW DUE TO RAIN!! A new volunteer sign-up sheet is going home asking you to help out on the NEW field day date: June 2nd

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Tues. May 24th

Today was the Town Hall Meeting! Ask you cild how it was :)

Thursday is field day- check the backpack for volunteer information for those who signed up.
Remember to have your child wear thier tiedye on Thursday!

 Remember - NO school on Monday and Harper Woods library next Thursday (June 2nd)!

Monday, May 23, 2011

Monday, May 23

Today in class we had centers that focused on writing synonyms, antonyms, describing words, and editting.  We are working REALLY hard to improve our writing this last month of school and will be doing these centers almost daily in order to get a lot of practice in before the end of the year.

In math we played a couple math games (yaye!) and started reviewing and learning to get ready for the 3rd Grade math MEAP test :) We also started doing some of the 3rd grade math warm-ups!

Town Hall is tomorrow at 2:15
Our reader is Ti :)

Friday, May 20, 2011

Friday, May 20th

Finally! All the permission slips are IN and we are all set to go for Greenfield Village :)  We still need a few drivers for 2nd grade so if you are available please let me know :)  Remember that we will need booster seats for kids under 4'9 so think about sending one in on the day of the trip for your child.
 We tye-dyed all the shirts tody and they turned out great! I will give them to all the kids on Monday and they can either take it home or leave it here.  Either way, they need to wear the shirt on THURSDAY for field day :)

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Thursday, May 19th

Today we had the GP New reporter visit us about our can drive! He listened to the kids tell about what they did, why they did it, and how it made them feel.  They also took a picture :) I am not sure when it willl be published but I will let you know if I hear anything!

Thanks for getting all those consent forms in!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Wednesday, May 18th

Today we made an Antonym book We worked hard for the REAL antonym to different words (instead of saying the opposite of cry is happy, we put laugh- etc) tomorrow we will be working on synonyms- this will help our writing so can say "I felt amazing, superb, stupendous,etc. instead of just "I felt good"

During math time we did a quick review before doing the NWEA Math test.  The students made goals before we left and recorded their scores on a slip of paper for you to see :)

BIG NEWS!! Today we were contacted by the GP news for an interview about our can drive for Japan :)  I told the kids and they were VERY excited.  The interview is TOMORROW afternoon so please send back the waiver form tomorrow morning so that your child's picture, name, or quote can appear in the GP News if the reporter would like to use them.  I am not sure what the report is planning but I want the waiver forms just to be sure that all the basis are cover just in case he does want a picture :)

Have a great night!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

May 17

Today in class we finished the Grosse Pointe Writing Assesment for good! Tomorrow we have the NWEA computer test for Math and then we are officially done with testing for the year :)

In science we did a vibration expierment- ask your child about the gongs we used!

Important Dates!!

Field Day: May 26th
Haper Woods Library: June 2nd
Greenfield Village Trip: June 9th
School Kickball Game: June 10th
2nd Grade picnic @ Poupard: June 13th

Monday, May 16, 2011

Monday, May 16th

This morning we wrote our Weekend News and then did centers.  We have new centers this week that include differentiated centers for math enrichment.  In the afternoon we started a new math lesson with bar graphs, median, mode, and range.
In science we finished our sound expierement and wrote about our findings.

REMEMBER!! You MUST send back the green permission slip for the Greenfiled Village trip!! I also need your white T-Shirts for tye-dying ASAP!!! Thank you :)

Friday, May 13, 2011

Friday, May 13th

I got an OKAY note from the sub today- There were a couple 2nd graders who had to flip cards which disappointed me VERY much :( Ask your chid if she or he got a behavior report from me today.

Other than THAT- the day was excellent! We reviewed explanded form, base-10 blocks, and word form for numbers.  We also counted money and did some work with homophones.

In science we did our first exploration for our new unit: Sound.  Ask you child how it went :)

The Tin Can Auction is TONIGHT at 6pm! I hope to see you there.
Homework binders went home today as well as a a request for each student to bring a PLAIN WHITE TShirt to school in the next week so that can tiedye them for our field trip and for field day!

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Wednesday, May 11th

Today in class we completed our Grosse Pinte Writing assessment! The kids did a great job staying very 'serious' about the test and doing their best.  Ask your chld what they chose to write about.

In math we did some rounding and estimating review.  We played a game and did some extra practice with clocks.  We are still working on words like 'half past' and 'quater after.'

I sent home a field trip permission slip to Greenfiled Village today! Please return the form ASAP so that I can arrange for enough drivers.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Tuesday, May 10th

Today we worked on our animal reports.  Some of us are DONE (yayyyye!!) others have lots of work to do.  There were 3 students who had to stay in for recess to catch up on lost work :(  As this was a we-do, you-do project, there was more chance for independence and a lot more responsibilty put on the students to work when work time was provided.  Ask your child how his/her project is coming along!

In math we worked on clocks. We are a little ahead in our math series so today we took a day off from the math program and did a rounding game and a clock activity in order to reienforce those skills for 3rd grade.

Remember, the tin auction is THIS FRIDAY at 6pm!!  Please send in your chocolate items assigned to you by Mrs. Armentrout (she sent home a blue slip of paper last Friday) so that we can get it in the auction basket. 

Monday, May 09, 2011

Monday, May 9th

Today we read "The Lorax" and got new "whisper-ma-phones" just like they have in the book! (Thanks to ms. stocks and the office staff!!!) We also talked about the lesson of the story and did a short writing assignment about air pollution.  In the afternoon we followed up our writing by (finally) doing a ittle air pollution expierement to test the air in our school for pollution.  We will checking our 'data' for the next 3 days and recording our results!
Spreading the Vaseline onto the plates for the experiment

The boys being silly and getting their project ready


I finally got ALL the pop can slips and totalled everything up and it amounted to...$185.70!!!!!! I am AMAZED at how many cans the kids collected to reach this amount!! My husband works for Toyota and they agreed to doulble any donations he made to the Red Cross so the donation was made as 'Poupard Elementary Second Graders" in the amount of $371.40! WOW!!!

Hope everyone had a great weekend enjoying the nice weather :) Remember that the Tin Can auction is this Friday! Those of you who haven't sent something in for the chocolate baskets got a slip from Mrs. Armentrout asking for a speciaifc donation on Friday.  If you are able, please send it in asap so I can get it to her. Thanks!

Friday, May 06, 2011

Friday, May 6th

Today we had our ice cream party for winning the book exchange competition- Thank you Mrs. K!!

We also worked on some review centers in the morning while taking our spelling test- Thanks to Molly's mom for coming to help (as usual!)

Homework went home today- thanks to Louis' mom!

Hope you all have a good weekend :)

Thursday, May 05, 2011

Thursday, May 5th

Today in reading and writing we (again) worked on our animal reports.  We also did some fiction writing and shared with the class.  We focused on maknig sure our stories had all 4 parts: Characters, setting, problem, and solution.
In math we worked on elapsed time as well as phrases like 'half past' and 'quater to'  I am seeing a lot of improvement and am amazed at how the 'lightbulb' just seems to 'turn on' regarding these topics for a lot of students.  We have been working hard to review and learn these concepts in class periodically throughout the year.
We also learned the word 'simile' today and defined it as: a sentence that compares TWO different things.  It always has the word LIKE or AS in the sentence. For Example: The grass is as green as a leprechaun’s hat! We are making simile rainbows to hang up in the classroom :)

Thanks to all of you who volunteered to go on the field trip with us.  Permission slips will be coming in the next 2 weeks.

Have a great night!

Wednesday, May 04, 2011

Wednesday, May 4th

I moved the date for our Greenfield Village field trip today to June 9th.  I reserved enough space to allow 4 parents per 2nd grade classroom to attend.  It will be an all-day trip (10am-2pm) and will cost $8 per parent.  If you are able to get work off and can attend, let me now ASAP!! This will be a self-guided trip so you will be responsible for 3-4 students walking around the village on your own. Hopefully we will have great weather and it will be tons of fun :)

Today in math we worked on telling time and elapsed time.  A lot of kids are doing TONS better on this but there are still a few who are struggling.  Help your child by asking them to read the clock to you.  Some students also need practice with phrases like "half-past" and "quater-after"

In reading and writing we continued to work on our animal reports.  I am in need of parents volunteers to come in during the day to help revise and edit these with the kids one-on-one.  Let me know if you are available. Thanks!

Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Tuesday, May 3rd

This morning was the citizenship breakfast and I got to go see Mikaill and his family enjoying their breakfast :)  Mikaill has been a nice, thoughtful, and caring friend to everyone this WHOLE school year! Great work, Mikaill :)

Today in class we had writing stations and MANY students chose to write fiction stories using our mad-lib (they love this and so do I because it helps get them reading for the GP writing test!)  a lot of us finished our animal reports and are ready to do the FINAL draft :)

In math we only had time to do a couple story problems and a few multiplication/array review questions before heading upstairs to the computer lab to take our LAST NWEA test in reading! It took us nearly an hour and half to complete this and the kids did a great job staying focused. I am very very happy with how they all performed on this- ask your child how they did :) I will be sending home reports with their scores once we complete the math testing next week.

**I am in need of parent volunteers to come in and help conference with students about their writing.  You would be in the hallway one-on-one with a student reading their report to you.  You would give them feedback and offer tips to make sure everything 'makes sense' and is written in complete sentences. Let me know if you are interested and have time during the day (10:20-11:30 would be best!) to help. Thanks!

Monday, May 02, 2011

Monday, May 2nd

Today we started counting up our totals for the can drive and already we have over $100 to donate to the Red Cross!  We still have several bags left that the kids and I will be returning tomorrow.  I cannot believe it has added up to this much already- the kids are so proud of themselves :) The top 3 can collectors got permission slips to take home today for you to sign.  We actually had a 3-way-tie for 2nd place so I went ahead and invited all the kids who brought in 2 or more FULL garbage bags. I told the kids we could also swing by Wendy's on the way back to school so if your little 2nd-grade-can-collecting -champion wants to get something from Wendy's make sure to send them with a litte $ :)

In class we worked hard to finish up our continents project and made a video of ourselves singing the 7-continents song. 
 

We took our test in math and are going to begin our LAST math unit tomorrow (WOW!) I cannot believe we are already going to begin the last unit! This means that we will also have some spare tme to review and get into a little bit of 3rd grade material before we end the year :)

Tomorrow morning is the citizenship breakfast.  Cheesecake pick-up is Friday after school.