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

Friday, December 17, 2021

Week 19A

  Dear Parents,

          In math we reviewed and took our assessment over ordering, comparing and placing numbers to 999 on an open number line. We also reviewed several skills learned this semester! 

           In writing we finished up our notes and friendly letters to the people of our choice and delivered them! We also had several chances to choose some creative writing after we were finished. 

           In reading we listened to and responded to several stories and just enjoyed some good children’s literature!

           In science we finished up our unit on bodies of water. We did a cloze procedure paper using the vocabulary and took our assessment. 

            I wanted to take this chance to thank you for your kind messages about me being chosen CRE Teacher of the year and for your cards and gifts- you spoiled me! I truly hope you enjoy your child’s gift to you. A lot of hard work went into them and they are so excited to give them to you. Enjoy your time off with your families! I will be here to welcome your children back in 2022!

Friday, December 10, 2021

Week 18

  Dear Parents, 

        This Week in Math we were working on representing numbers to 999 on the number line ,also as standard form, expanded form, model  (learning new terminology as sheets, strips and singles), as well as adding 100 0r 10 to those numbers, and subtracting 100 or 10 from those numbers. Please keep practicing the skills of time and counting money at home. When we return from break we will be taking our Math CBA assessment which will be over all the skills we learned thus far.

         In writing we have taken a friendly letter through the writing process. A copy of the letter will go home so that they can mail or hand deliver their letter.

          In reading we have been reading holiday books, using a bubble map to compare them and graphic organizers to recognize the story elements. We also read a Scholastic News who took a ride in a tree to Rockefeller Center.

          In Science we have been learning all about sources of water, both fresh and salt water. We talked about where to find them, their attributes, as well as participating in a talk, read, talk, write activity. We also love playing our vocabulary games!

Friday, December 3, 2021

Week 17

Dear Parents,

     This week in math we worked on odd and even numbers. We realized that we can skip count, make partners or teams to help us decide if a number is odd or even. We also learned about numbers to 999. We can write them in standard form, word form , expanded form and draw a model.

      In writing this week we started our unit on correspondence. We wrote thank you notes that we revised and edited and will give to the person we wrote it to. We had a lesson on contractions as well. We are next learning to write a friendly letter.

       In social studies we learned about customs and traditions. We wrote about our favorite family tradition! We wrote a poem called hello Winter by listing things from fall to say goodbye to and saying hello to winter things. We brainstormed many ideas and then the children made a fun project to go along with their poem.

       In science we have been having a wonderful time observing the properties of rocks and comparing rocks. We have measured the diameter as well as the length of our rocks. We tested if they could be scratched by a penny or if they would bubble when we put vinegar on them. We took our assessment on Friday.


 

Friday, November 19, 2021

Week 16

 Dear Parents, 

       We had another fun week of learning despite the full moon, Lunar Eclipse and the excitement about the upcoming break. I hope you enjoyed their special keepsake Thankful Acrostic Poem we made!

        In math we looked at division as repeated subtraction. We also had a baggie of chocolate chip cookies ( the paper kind) to practice dividing them up into equal groups depending on how many friends were to share them. We took our assessment on Thursday. 

         In writing we continued on with our expository explain why paper. We used color coding and three different graphic organizers to plan and write this paper. The children are getting better at revising and adding interesting words as well as sensory details. We will continue finishing up some of these after break. ( Most were finished and enjoyed sharing on Friday.

          In reading this week we focused on Thanksgiving stories both fiction and nonfiction. We took a comprehension/ story element quiz over one of the stories. We read two Scholastic News stories, one about the first Thanksgiving and one about a Thanksgiving tradition we have today- The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade!

           In science we continued learning about force and motion as we painted with marbles (using pushes and pulls as they rolled around a box lid) and had investigations where we observed how objects can either roll, slide or spin. We measured and traced the paths of objects and learned that their path can be affected by their physical properties. We even saw how the hills and inclines of a roller coaster affected the speed of the marble as it traveled on our roller coaster. On Friday we began our performance task of planning a maze. 

            I hope you all have a wonderful break and can spend much needed quality time with friends and family.

 

*SSA is offering one more mini camp before Christmas break. See the attached flier.

 

  • From our Language acquisition specialist: With the holidays just around the corner, your LAS team is putting a little something together to celebrate holidays around the world. We are going to change out the window case that is currently featuring Diwali within the next few weeks. If you, or your children celebrate a holiday other than Christmas around this time of year and would like to contribute, please reach out to me!

 

             We are looking for items and/or pictures that we can display in the window for Hanukah, Kwanzaa, or any other holidays that I may have missed. Ideally we would like to             feature pictures of you or our students celebrating their holiday and items commonly associated with the holiday, such as a dreidel or menorah for Hanukah. Any items shared with us will be given back after the holidays when we change out the window case again, unless donated to the LAS team for future use.

Friday, November 12, 2021

Week 15

 Dear Parents,

        This week in math we began  multiplication as repeated addition as we built buildings with floors that had the same number of rooms.We ended the week by comparing repeated addition to equal groups. We chanted the first number is the groups the second number is the dots. We showed that drawing 3x4 is different than drawing 4x3. They have the same answer, but one has 3 groups with 4 dots in each group as the other one has 4 groups with 3 dots in each group. They both have a product of 12 total dots.

         In writing we worked on our explain why papers, then took a break to make a special keepsake for each child to give you next week. We wanted to make sure there was plenty of time to do our very best. We will continue drafting our expository papers next week.

         In reading we learned about nonfiction text features and read two interesting Scholastic News stories. We answered comprehension questions, questions about the main ideas and details, as well as the nonfiction text features we saw.

         In science we had fun learning about magnets by digging for buried treasure. We saw what things were magnetic and nonmagnetic. Then we had a magnetic hunt in our classroom. We did a talk, read, talk write activity and played a vocabulary game. We are next talking about forces as pushes and pulls and will paint with marbles to test out these forces.

Friday, November 5, 2021

Week 14

 Dear Parents, 

        We had another fun filled week of learning in second grade. I told the class how impressed I am with their responsibility at school. We are working to do our best, and learn from our mistakes- with a good attitude! In math this week we continued with measuring using standard and metric measurements. We also reviewed area and perimeter with a fun activity using Cheez-It crackers! We made sure to build on a paper towel so we could eat them when we were finished. We reviewed on Thursday and took our assessment on Friday.

          In writing we worked on an acrostic poem to honor our veterans at the upcoming assembly on Nov. 11th. A paper went home this week asking you to invite any veterans you would like to honor at our assembly. I will attach another copy of the flyer if you missed it. We then began to brainstorm and plan an expository writing explaining why we like something.

           In reading/ Social Studies we read about our three levels of Government and created a flip book about some of the facts we learned. It was fun seeing the faces of our Mayor, Governor, and President as well as learning their names and seeing the pictures of buildings in which they work. On Friday we read a story about reading and chose our favorite book to create a chatterpix telling why we liked our chosen book.

          In science we continued investigations and learning about the three forms of energy. We learned the parts of the ear and eye that help us experience this energy. We added heat to chocolate and observed as it turned from a solid to a liquid and then back to a solid as we added heat, and then removed heat. We really had fun drawing in the chocolate when it was in a liquid state. We took a vocabulary cloze procedure and finished up our assessment on Friday. Next we will be learning about force and motion!

 

*We are almost out of classroom snacks again. If you would like to donate some snacks it is appreciated. They really love goldfish and Cheez-Its!

 

*For the Veterans Day Assembly second grade is to wear a blue T-shirt.

 

*The November Habit Newsletter went home today in your child’s Coyote Folder- If you fill them all out- you will become a lighthouse Family! They are to be turned in by Wednesday November 10th.  The grade level that completes and turns in the most habit newsletters will receive a grade level choice reward! 

 

 

Friday, October 29, 2021

Week 13

 Dear Parents,

           Red Ribbon Week was a great week! Thank you for having your children participate with the different themes each day! I also want to thank you for the great response we had for stuff the pantry! Our class made a great contribution.

            In math this week we measured many things with nonstandard units, inches, feet, yards, centimeters and meters. We learned the difference between height, width and length. 

            In writing we were able to finish up our imaginative stories. Next week we will be writing an expository. We will also have a contest in second grade to write an acrostic poem about a veteran. The winner will read his/her poem at the Veterans Assembly.

             In reading we read and listened to three stories. We learned about figurative language and focused on character traits. We had a reading checkpoint over one of the stories.

              In science we had fun exploring Sound, heat and light. We did several experiments and recorded them in our science notebooks. Using a tuning fork to see sound vibrations was really fun! 

                  Hoping to see you tonight at CRE Movie Night! 

Thursday, October 21, 2021

Week 12

 Dear Parents,

   This week in math we learned time to the minute. We also looked at shapes and how many square units make up their area. This was a quick introduction to time, but I will continue to reinforce this skill every Tuesday for time Tuesday. Please help at home by asking the time whenever appropriate.  That way they can see the real world application of this skill.

     In writing we finished up our narratives and began imaginative writing. We picked our character, setting and event, then wrote a beginning, middle and end using a flow map and a graphic organizer.

      In reading we continued reading many different kinds of folktales and filled out graphic organizers, this time for a grade. We are getting really good at listening for the sequence of events, the characters, their problems and solutions.

       In science we continued writing about combining matter with specific properties for a purpose. They completed a performance task about building a birdhouse and used their ipads to show and tell what they used to build their birdhouse and what properties made that a good material for that specific purpose.

 

*Our annual food drive is coming up next week on October 25- 29. See attached flyer. We will be collecting food donations the entire week. The grade level with the highest donations will receive a reward! Some items we are collecting, but not limited to are:                                 

• canned evaporated milk (16 oz.); 

• canned fruit (16 oz.);

•instant potatoes, boxed;

• canned pie filling;                                               

• canned yams (16 oz.);

• boxed stuffing;

• canned chicken broth;

• canned cranberry sauce;

• baking mixes (cakes, cookies, etc.).

 

Friday, October 15, 2021

Week 11

 Dear Parents,

       This week in math we dove into problem solving. Examples of them will come home in your child’s coyote folder today. These are the main types of problems they are expected to read and understand whether it is an addition problem or a subtraction problem. Practicing these at home by giving your child problems that are similar to these and having them decide whether to add or subtract is helpful. The steps are to write the beginning, middle and end, the number sentence, then the part/part/whole box . They use the part/part/whole box to decide what is the best way to solve the problem. We are becoming experts on doing the problems, but could use reinforcement on deciding how to solve them. We will be working on a problem a day for the rest of the year, but this focus for the week is now complete.

         In writing we are finishing up revising our personal narratives and publishing them. Some are in the process of choosing characters, setting and an event to begin an imaginative story next week.

          In reading we have been focusing on the types of folktales and filling out graphic organizers as we read them. We are looking for the characters, setting, problem and solution as well as if there is any magic in the story. We are learning on how to identify the folktale as a fairytales, fables, legends, pourquois, myths, or tall tales. We also read a Scholastic News about bats and answered comprehension questions.

          In science we continued changing and combining matter. We finished up testing our boats to see how many pennies they could hold. We built a bridge together deciding how to combine the matter to make a strong bridge that would hold together. We observed a gobstopper in water and recorded how it changed over time. Next week we will be taking our performance task to see if we can decide what materials to use to create a birdhouse.

Friday, October 8, 2021

Week 10

 Dear Parents,

     It’s hard to believe it’s the end of the first nine weeks! I am so proud of the progress your children have made. We have learned classroom routines and are getting down to serious second grade work. We are doing our best on our work and fixing our mistakes. 

    Field Day was a great success as I saw good sportsmanship and encouragement for our classmates! Thank you Coach Ray!

       In math we made great strides as we understood how to subtract two digit numbers with and without regrouping ,then switched over to addition with and without regrouping to add to check our subtraction problems. We had our assessment on Thursday.

        In writing we began our own narratives on a topic of our choice. We will take this piece through the writing process. We started by brainstorming five ideas, choosing one, then drafting our bold beginnings, mighty middles, and excellent endings. Next we will have several lessons on how to revise and edit our drafts.

          In reading we read the story Gingerbread for Liberty, a story about a real American who made a difference. The skills we focused on were synthesizing the information and being able to retell it in correct time order using words like first, next, then and last. We took a comprehension check as well.

           In science we had  lots of practice changing matter and observing, then recording those changes in our science notebooks. We could cut, bend or break items. The big take away was that by making these changes we changed the properties of the matter, but the matter was not more or less than it was before we changed it. Next we used sand paper to change the properties of an animal cracker. We had lots of cracker dust, and animal crackers that looked completely different from when we started. This time there was less matter than when we started. We wrote about these differences in our science notebooks. We used bending and coloring to create paper airplanes- then tested them to see what properties made our airplanes fly the farthest. Congratulations to Bryce whose airplane won! Bryce went straight to the treasure box. We are in the process of testing our boats to see how many pennies they can hold.

            I hope all of you have a wonderful long weekend with your friends and families!

 

*Please see the below Second Step information from our counselor Mrs. Moore. :

From the Counselor:  Mrs. Moore

 

Parents,

LISD supports the whole child not only through academics but through Social and Emotional    Learning as well.  In an effort to build emotional capacities and leadership, each week your child will receive a Second Step Digital lesson. Within these lessons, student learning objectives of social awareness skills and emotional regulation will be taught.  In conjunction with Second Step Curriculum, students are also offered access the Rhithm (an app which offers a daily read on each child’s emotionality and then generates a  short video to support the child with a specific coping skill), The Child Protection Unit (how to stay safe),   and The Bully Prevention Unit (pro-social skills and bully prevention).  Parents will be receiving a weekly caption of each week’s lesson provided through your child’s homeroom teacher communication. 

 

We invite you to preview each of the tools we use to teach Social and Emotional Learning.  Please reach out to Mrs. Moore for a preview of the curriculum.  

 

Thank you,

 

Stephanie Moore

Counselor 

Coyote Ridge Elementary

mooress@lisd.net

       972-350-4310

 

 

  

*My fall Conference sign up is here! Follow this link to the Sign up Genius. I am looking forward to talking to each of you about your children during our October conference times:

 

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0B4CAFA82AA02-fall1

 

 

*From Mrs. Hernandez, our Librarian:

 

Storybook Pumpkin Patch

 

You are invited to be part of our Storybook Pumpkin Patch!  What is this you ask, well let me tell you!   Start with a pumpkin and then use your imagination and your creativity to turn your pumpkin into a book character.  You can use paint, props or anything else you can think of!  A plastic or foam pumpkin works great, but really any pumpkin will be great!

 

If you are using a real pumpkin, please NO CARVING!  Even a small hole will cause the pumpkin to rot quickly!!!!!  

 

Please bring your Pumpkin to the library the week of October 18th-October 22nd. I would like to have all participating pumpkins in so we can start our Pumpkin Patch visits the following week.  Fill out the pumpkin form (attached or pick up a paper copy in the library) so it can be displayed next to your pumpkin.  You may also include the book to be displayed next to your pumpkin!

 

All pumpkins need to be picked up between Oct 29-Nov 2 or they will be thrown away. 

Friday, October 1, 2021

Week 9

 Dear Parents,

    This week in math we started two digit subtraction with and without regrouping. This is one of the hardest math skills the second graders learn. Please help reinforce this process at home. Once we start internalizing this skill it also becomes hard to switch back to two digit addition with regrouping. One way to practice is to do a subtraction problem. Then add the answer to the bottom number from the problem . The answer should equal the top number of the subtraction problem. We call this adding to check.

      In writing we took our class narrative about the first day of school through the writing process. We have published our papers! ðŸ˜Š

       In reading we discussed two stories as we filled out graphic organizers. We found the topic of the first story and then looked for a lesson a character learned  to find the theme. In The Great Kapok Tree we listened to the clues in the story to infer what the man who entered the rain forest to chop down the tree would do. 

       In science we had two experiments in which we observed how matter changed as we added heat. We ended the week with a talk read talk write about changing matter.

 

 

*There is still time to order pictures. If any of your students forgot their payment on Wed., parents will need to order online. They will have five days to do so from Wed.  The website is strawbridge.net, and the online code for ordering is FM362452.

 

 

*My fall Conference sign up is here! Follow this link to the Sign up Genius. I am looking forward to talking to each of you about your children during our October conference times:

 

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0B4CAFA82AA02-fall1

 

   

*PE REMINDER:

*Coach Ray asks that parents please send students in tennis shoes on PE days and shorts under skirts/dresses.

PE Website Here you can see our specials rotation schedule.

Field Day is next Thursday, October 7th!  YIPEE!

 

K-2nd grades will be 12:30-2:22 (14 stations, 8 minutes each)

 

Our class is divided into 6 color groups: RedOrangeYellowGreenBlue Purple  Students are encouraged to wear a shirt in the color of their team the day of field day.   At each station, they will line up/play in these groups.

 

Red-  Isaak, James, Ryan

 

Orange-  Bryce, Cordelia, Landon

 

Yellow-  Brayden, Bradley, Charissa

 

Green-  Daniel Serenity, Gabriele

 

Blue-  Journee, Logan, Connor, Rylen

 

Purple-  Ziya, Jordan, Joanna

 

Field Day Information:

 

*Please remind students wear tennis shoes, sunscreen, hats (optional) & their team color (if possible  Students need to be sure and have a water bottle for refilling on field day.  There will be a station by the 2nd grade water fountain for refills.

*PTA will be providing popsicles for everyone.  This will be one of the stations.

We need to limit parent spectators to TWO per class. This will be in addition to volunteers who sign up on our official link in Voly for Field Day Volunteers. The two SPECTATORS from each homeroom will travel with the class. The spectators will also need a current background check and VOLY account so they can officially volunteer as a spectator.

            

              This is my class spectator link for Field Day:  https://lewisvilleisd.voly.org/opportunity/view.html?id=65617 

 

*Coach Ray is asking for 10 volunteers for the 3-5th grade shift, and 10 volunteers for the K-2nd shift to sign up in Voly. The VOLUNTEERS will be assigned to a station to help run the event, and they will get instructions from Coach Ray.

Friday, September 24, 2021

Week 8

 Dear Parents,

             Your children are beginning to be more independent as learners, know what to be working on during guided reading independently while I meet with reading groups, and learning what quality second grade work needs to be to be turned in. This is all a process, but this group is really making progress. We even got a complement from Mrs. Martinez, our LEAP teacher who visits our room! 

              In math we began a unit on solving two digit addition problems with and without regrouping. We modeled the problems with base ten blocks and then solved them in out vertical boxes. We ALWAYS start adding or subtracting in the ones! We ended our week by taking our assessment. ðŸ˜Š

               In writing we began a class narrative about the first day of school. We started it off by doing a prewriting activity where we drew the beginning, middle and end of our day. We then talked about our pictures. We drafted a beginning, middle and end. Next we will publish our class paper. I can’t wait until next week when we each pick our own topic and take our narrative through the writing process.

               In reading we read the story The Big Red Lollipop. We learned about a character’s point of view, the difference between first person and third person point of views. We took a comprehension check on this story as well. In social studies we continued our research on American Symbols during guided reading as independent work.

                In science we finished our unit about the properties of matter and began our next unit where we will change the properties of matter. Ask your child what happened to the marshmallow and soap when we added heat with a microwave. Science can be so much fun!

                I was honored today by Scheels as their first LISD Teacher of the Month. The news will be tweeted out next Tuesday. They brought a gift for me and a water bottle for each of my students. This water bottle went home today in your child’s backpack. They also gave them a special sticker. I am very grateful for Scheels choosing me and for giving my class their very own Scheels water bottle!

               Important papers went home today in your child’s Coyote Folder: an istation report for Sept., Their 6 weeks progress report and a letter explaining your child’s istation score ( if he/she is being monitored or progressing as expected). Please look for this information and let me know if you have any questions.

                Our Pumpkin Project did not make it into our Friday Folder today. My apologies. I will send it home on Monday. If you would like next weekend to complete it, ours can be due on Monday the 4th instead of Friday the first.

 

     *PE REMINDER:

*Coach Ray asks that parents please send students in tennis shoes on PE days and shorts under skirts/dresses.

PE Website Here you can see our specials rotation schedule.

 

Hello CRE families:

 

We had a successful Book Fair this week!  Thank you for all of your support!  I especially wanted to thank all of the families that donated books to our wonderful teachers!  Your gift is truly appreciated!  If your child did not find a book during the book fair you can still shop online!  Our store will remain open until tomorrow at midnight.  Here is the link to find it:  https://bit.ly/CREbookfair


Thursday, September 16, 2021

Week 7

 Dear Parents, 

         What a challenging week we had in math as we dove into addition using mental math. We found many ways to find the answers to two digit addition problems with and without regrouping. We used place value blocks and ten frames to make a ten. We found different ways to add the sums in our heads. We even got a sneak preview of adding numbers up and down in boxes. Lots of higher level thinking occurred as the children decomposed numbers to add them together.

           In writing it was speed week. We finished taking our narratives about fall through the writing process. We had fun finding ways to make our papers better. We added words, crossed out words, and changed words to synonyms that sounded better. We found it hard to write on the lined paper, but with practice we will soon be forming our letters correctly.

            In social studies we learned about the American flag and answered questions about it. We then learned that there are rules about how we treat the American flag. We began learning about American Symbols and chose four symbols to research.

            In science we finished up observing matter by sorting items by their physical properties and had a scavenger hunt to find objects in our room that had certain physical properties. We used Draw and Tell on our ipads to show that we can describe an object using its physical properties.

            It was a great Week!

 

*PE REMINDER:

*Coach Ray asks that parents please send students in tennis shoes on PE days and shorts under skirts/dresses.

PE Website Here you can see our specials rotation schedule.

 

*Your child came home with a sticker on Wednesday night with a QR Code that would take you to the 21 Day Challenge sign up page. This link will also get you there. You have until next Wed. to sign your child up to win lots of free meals from area restaurants.    21 Day Challenge Information

 

 

 

Fall BOOK FAIR!

September 20th-24th

 

Dear CRE families,

 

I am so excited to announce the arrival of the Fall book fair next week!  This is a great event that brings books kids want to read into our community.  There will be a wonderful selection of interesting and affordable books for every reading level.  Please be aware of the book fair schedule below:

 

Book Fair dates:  September 20-24

Shopping hours:  8:30-2:30

 

Your child was given a flyer with the selection of books available and prices.  Please be aware that tax is not included so the price will be a little higher than what is on the flyer.  Please use the chart below to get an idea of how much money your children will need.

 

Book price

Price with tax

Book price

Price with tax

Book price

Price with tax

.50

.54

$5.99

$6.48

$11.99

$12.98

.99

$1.07

$6.99

$7.57

$12.99

$14.06

$1.99

$2.15

$7.99

$8.65

$13.99

$15.14

$2.99

$3.24

$8.99

$9.73

$14.99

$16.23

$3.99

$4.32

$9.99

$10.81

$15.99

$17.31

$4.99

$5.40

$10.99

$11.90

$19.99

$21.64

 

I highly encourage that you look into creating an eWallet for your child to use during the fair.  The eWallet can be set up online.  There is more information on a small flyer that went home with your child along with the book fair selection flyer.  

 

Also, be on the lookout in the principal’s email on Sunday for a way to support our amazing teachers with a link to view their wish list!  Thank you for all your support!

 

Mrs. Hernandez, 

CRE Librarian