About Me

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Carrollton, Texas, United States
Welcome to my blog! My name is Beth Carpenter! I am a 2nd grade teacher at Coyote Ridge Elementary. I majored in Early Childhood Education and have taught for 22 years. I have taught grades K- 3 which gives me a unique ability to know where my second graders fit within those grades. Teaching is more than a profession to me, it is a calling. I love to help light the fire of curiosity to help all my students become lifelong learners!

Schedule

Math 8:00-9:30 Brain Break 9:30-9:40 Enrichment 9:40-10:30 Guided Reading 10:30-11:30 Lunch 11:30-12:00 Writer's Workshop 12:00- 1:00 Recess 1:00-1:30 Reading/Social Studies 1:30-2:00 Science 2:00-2:50 Pack/Stack/Dismiss 2:50-3:00

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Kenji is our leader of the week!


We sang to our veterans!


Martha MacKenzie is a veteran!



Chace reading his letter to the veterans!


Week 12

Dear Parents,
           In math we went back to place value. We had fun building our numbers to 999 with place value blocks as well as cheese-it squares for hundreds, pretzel sticks for tens, and marshmallows for ones. Thank you to the parents who donated these items so that we could build our tasty numbers!
           In language we finished up writing our “How to Bake a Thanksgiving Turkey” papers and made them into special  keepsakes to take home for Thanksgiving break.
           In reading we listened to five different Thanksgiving stories and worked on activities that helped us understand each book a little better. We answered comprehension questions, listed our story elements (setting characters, problem/ solution), wrote reading responses, practiced using our adjectives to describe a character, and sorted facts about Native Americans as well as used our map skills to find out where they used to live.
        In science we began our unit on forces, pushing and pulling. We had several hands on experiences with magnets and even saw how a magnet could make a machine work. 
       In social studies we continued learning our Leader in Me Habits. We are learning to synergies while we celebrate our likenesses and differences. We learned to use our strengths and work together. Humility and teamwork were key words in our discussions.
        I hope you all have a wonderful break! I look forward to seeing your children back at school on November 27th!
* Check out our blog by clicking the link in my signature line to see our Veterans Day Assembly. Chase read his friendly letter to the veterans to represent the whole second grade! Congratulations to Kenji who is our new leader of the week!

Thursday, November 9, 2017

Week 11

Dear Parents,
      Wow! I can’t believe the first nine weeks is over and we are a week into our second nine weeks! Math has been a struggle. Addition and subtraction with regrouping is perhaps the most challenging unit that second graders learn. Please continue to reinforce these skills at home. We finished up our week by taking a performance assessment. Next unit we will continue our focus on place value. We look forward to starting it next week.
       In writing we learned about time order words and used them in a few “How To” writings. ( How to Blow out a Birthday Candle, How to make and eat a Rootbeer Float, and How to Bake a Thanksgiving Turkey. Thank you to Mrs. MacKenzie for helping us with our keepsake Thanksgiving placemats and serving us our rooter floats!
        In reading we continued working on our nonfiction feature books, learned about the 50's for the 50th day of school and compared life then to life now. We also read a Scholastic News about Veteran’s Day! We gave our letters we wrote last week to the veterans who are coming to Coyote Ridge tomorrow for our assembly. Please come to join us if you can! We are to wear white shirts tomorrow.
        In science we finished up our unit on Energy: Light, Heat and Sound. We took our assessment.
        In social studies we revisited our Leader in Me habits that we have focused on so far. We have great leaders in the making in our classroom! 
        

Thursday, November 2, 2017

Week 10

Dear Parents,
              This week in math we switched over to subtraction. We are learning our subtraction fast facts taking away zero. We are subtracting two digit numbers with and without regrouping. This switch from addition to subtraction is hard for second graders. Continue to challenge them to add as well. We will  be helping them switch back and forth until it is reinforced and no longer hard to know the process.
              In writing we are learning to write a friendly letter. We are writing to a Veteran. Their original letter will be given to a Veteran on Veteran’s Day, but I will make a copy to grade and save for our portfolio.
              In reading we are learning about nonfiction text features. We are creating a book that tells the purpose of these features and shows examples. They are enjoying creating these books.
              In science we have begun our unit on energy: Light, Heat, and Sound. We will be doing investigations where these types of energy will be increased and decreased. We will be making predictions and then record what we find in our science  notebooks. On Tuesday we took a break from this unit to do a pumpkin investigation. The children estimated the circumference, weight and number of seeds and then we checked our pumpkin to see how close we got to our estimate. They loved digging into the gooey pumpkin!
               In Leader and Me we discussed the importance of honesty, even when it feels hard to do. We talked about public speaking and the importance of speaking clearly. Congratulations to our new leader of the week, Elwin Thomas!