Week 17

 Dear Parents,

        This week in math we learned about odd/even numbers and how to recognize them even if the number is really large. (make partners or just look at the ones place) We also have been working with numbers with three place values: hundreds, tens and ones. We have represented them in word form, by a model and expanded form. We also learned how to place those numbers on a number line. We practiced adding ten more or 100 more and ten less and 100 less. 

        In writing we are working hard on our favorite holiday paper. We are also beginning to write friendly notes. We will actually deliver our notes. Look out- you may be a recipient of a note or letter.

       In reading we  read a book called Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter. We wrote a poem and created a project to showcase our poems. We read a Scholastic News called the History of Gingerbread and completed a comprehension check. At the end of our week we read two stories: Gingerbread Baby and Gingerbread Friends. We compared and contrasted these two fun stories.

       In science we have been continuing to learn about the objects in the sky and which ones show patterns. We focused on both the sun and moon. We read two different articles, discussed them, and the children took comprehension checks.

        We also created wrapping paper and cards for the holiday gifts we have been working on since last Oct. My plan is to send them home on Fr4iday with your child. If for some reason you will not be at school on Friday, please let me know so your child can take their gift home earlier. They are really excited to give them to you.

          

* There are no spelling words or sight words next week

* Please send in $3.00 for the Winter Party

Week 16

 Dear Parents,

          This week in math we finished up our unit on multiplication and division. We looked at multiplication as repeated addition and division as repeated subtraction. In multiplication the first number is how many groups. The second number is how many in each group. In division, like subtraction, you start with the whole and divide the total amount into equal groups. On Friday we learned about odd and even numbers.

            In writing we continued working on our imaginative stories while we began an expository paper on why we like our favorite celebration. We will be writing three reasons and putting them in three paragraphs which are color coded. They are excited about this new assignment! Our individual narratives are all finished and hanging on our great work board. They should all be proud of their work.

            In reading we listened to a fiction story and read a nonfiction story on Bookflix. They can access this app through the learning hub. We compared two different fiction books to nonfiction books on graphic organizers. We also read Going Places and took a comprehension test.

            In Science we are learning about Objects in the Sky. We are noticing the patterns of the sun, moon and stars. We also no somethings in the sky do not follow patterns, like the clouds. We are making a calendar that shows the phases of the moon!

 

*December’s habit is Habit 3: Put First Things First.

• In your child’s Friday Folder is the December Habit Newsletter. Attached to the newsletter is an activity that corresponds with the monthly habit of Habit 3: Put First Things First. There is also a QR code that you can scan and listen to a story with your child and ask discussion questions given from the newsletter. Please assist your child in completing the activity and sign/return the activity sheet to their homeroom teacher by Wednesday, December 6^th. 
• December 6^th is Put First Things First Day! We want to see the entire school wear BLUE for Habit 3 on Wednesday!
• We will be tracking grade level participation for returning the activity sheet. The grade level with the highest percentage of participation for December will receive extra recess!

Week 15

 Dear Parents,

 

       This week in math we began multiplication as repeated addition. In the problem 3x4, We chant: The first number is the groups, the second number is the dots. This helps them know that this problem is three groups with 4 dots in each group. We also learned that this can be represented as 4+4+4 or by repeated addition. We then had a number of objects and had to divide them into equal groups. We can look at division as repeated subtraction. 12-3-3-3-3=0 There are 4 groups of 3.

        In writing we took a break from our revising, editing and publishing our narratives and imaginative stories to write a THANKFUL Acrostic. These are special gifts from your child to you. They are very proud of their project! I hope you cherish them for years to come.

        In reading we read two scholastic News stories. One was about the life of  Wampanog children and the other was about the life of Pilgrim Children. We read the articles together, compared and contrasted their lives to our lives, and then took the comprehension check. We also listened to the story Thanksgiving at the Tappletons and wrote about what we are thankful for. We listened to Arthur’s Thanksgiving on Friday and followed a directed drawing video to draw Arthur.

       In Science we finished up our force and motion unit and took our unit assessment. We brought pet rocks to school and used our observations to record the physical properties of our rocks. We then compared and contrasted them with our classmates.

Week 13

 

Dear Parents,         

        In math this week we have focused on measuring in inches, feet, yards, centimeters and meters. Thank you for assisting at home with our home work. These measuring pages included real objects. It is important for your child to know if they should measure in inches, feet or yards. We also learned that 12 inches make one foot. Three feet or 36 inches are on a yard stick. There are one hundred centimeters in a meter. The smaller the unit of measurement the more units or the bigger the number of units will be!

       In writing we continue to work on our individual narratives and imaginative stories. It takes a lot of work to take our projects to published copy. They are doing very well and love to write! We also learned about Veterans Day and wrote an acrostic poem to thank our Veterans.

       In reading we read Room on the Broom and wrote a response to this book. We will make a class book for our class to enjoy! We read a Fairy Tales- A Crow, a Lion, and a Mouse, Oh My! We visualized as we read. We also read a Scholastic News article called My Army Dad. We took a comprehension check about this article. We began setting up our flip book about Government leaders. We will be learning about Local, State, and Federal Government next week.

       In science we began our unit on magnets. We explored with magnets finding out that the magnets push (repel) when the poles are North to North or South to South. We learned that the magnets pull (attract) when the North and South Poles are placed together. We practiced using objects to attract or repel other objects on our ipads through STEMscopes. We dug for buried treasure and did a talk read, talk write about magnets and magnetism.

Week 12

 Dear Parents,

           This week in math we worked on time to the minute and area. Please continue to work with your child at home on time. There will be occasional homework papers to reinforce this skill. We also worked on area. They had fun using foam tiles to figure out how many square units a shape contained.

            In writing we continue to work on our individual narrative projects and are learning how to write an imaginative story. They are so excited to include things like talking animals or objects, magic and more. Two students have already begun his/her individual imaginative story. We are taking both these projects through the writing process.

             In reading we have been focused on fairy tales. We have listened to 4 fairy tales and read one. We were graded on a graphic organizer that focused on a story’s elements and the important parts of the beginning, middle and end of the story. We compared two versions of Goldilocks.

               In science we have been reviewing what we have learned about sound and are planning to make a device to solve a problem. We are working together to plan, create and possibly correct anything that might make their invention better.

       

*Thursday, November 2^nd is Fall Picture Retake Day!  Packages can be purchased online at www.strawbridge.net.  Click "Order Pictures," and enter the following code: FM430153.  Orders can also be turned in with the attached form on picture day with cash or check. See the above attachment for more information.

         

Week 11

 Dear Parents,

              For the last two weeks we have been hitting word problems very hard. There are a lot of steps to help your child understand a problem and solve it. We usually start with a B, M, E. We write the story problem in order from beginning to end. The first sentence is the B. It usually contains a number. Last week we learned it could begin with a question mark. In the middle Is the second and sometimes third sentence of the word problem. The E or end is always the question. The next step is to put the word problem into a number sentence. We stay in the order of the BME. If the Problem is : I have 26 pies. I sold 15 of them. How many are left? The Number sentence is : 26-15= ?. If the story was: I have some pies. I sold 15 of them. Now I have 11 pies. How many pies did I start with? The number sentence would be: ?-15= 11. Next the students put the information into a part/part/ whole box. That helps them decide how they would solve the problem. The first problem could be solved just as it  is. The second problem could be solved using the part/part/whole information. They could decide to add the two parts 15+11 to get the whole, 26. We do a problem every day the entire year, but in this unit we solved many problems. Due to this unit, I’m sure you noticed that there was no math homework. This unit is not in our math book.

            In writing we are continuing to write, revise and edit our independent narratives. Some are working on their final copy! They are doing a fantastic job! We also had lessons on digraphs, the prefixes un- and re-, and practiced changing the beginning sounds of words to make new words. 

           In social studies we finished our Texas State Books. We read the story Stella Luna and had a comprehension check. Due to swim this week we lost two hours in our day, for 4 days, but had a great time.

          In science we learned about how sound travels through the different states of matter and how our outer ear collects the sound, sends it through the ear canal and vibrates our eardrum. We learned that there are 3 small bones behind the eardrum which increase the sound and sends a message to our brain and the brain interprets the sound. They were amazed to find out that sound can travel 1,029 feet in a second!

Week 10

 Dear Parents,

         This week in math we focused on problem solving. We break the story problem up into the beginning, middle and end. This helps us place the numbers in the number sentence. After that we make a part/part/whole box and a strip diagram to decide how we wish to solve the problem. We are learning that there are many types of word problems and always more that one way to solve them. 

           In writing we finished up our class project. We wrote a narrative about the first day of school. We now started on our individual narratives. We learned about starting with a bold beginning. We want our readers interested enough to read our narrative. Then we write our mighty middle, using transition words. Last we write our excellent ending making sure it concludes our narrative. We are very busy and very excited about this new  project.

           In reading we read an informational story and learned about text organization. They were amazed to find out that a baker was key in our winning the Revolutionary War. We read a Scholastic News about Tarantulas. We took the comprehension check for a grade. We started a Texas State Book in social studies. We learned about many of our state symbols, lots of interesting facts, and where many of the major cities of Texas are located on a map.

              In science we read about sound energy as we engaged in a talk read talk write activity. We listened to a tuning fork and learned the difference between volume and pitch. We learned about engineers and the main  things that make a good engineer- ask, imagine, create and improve! 

            Now what we’ve been waiting for- IT’S SWIM WEEK for our class. Please read over the information sent home a couple of weeks ago. The children come dressed in their swim suit with clothes over it. Bring underwear and a towel for after swim. No goggles allowed at the pool. Place all this in a large bag. They need to bring their swim bag and a backpack Monday through Thursday. Parent day is Wednesday. If you come to Parent Day you must go get a tag from the Coyote Ridge Office in the morning. This is just for safety reasons.  Our bus leaves the school around 8:50. You may follow us or drive yourself. You enter the natatorium after we arrive. It is such a wonderful program. I hope you can come!

 

*Please check Coyote Folders for important papers and Flyers each week as well as our grade level newsletter.

Week 9

 

Dear Parents,

        In math we finished up two digit subtraction with and without regrouping. We learned how to write the numbers in the solving box, how to subtract on a number line as well as how to add to check the answer to a subtraction problem. We took our test on Wednesday.

        In writing we finished our class narrative about the first day of school. They will each start their own narrative next week! The students are also picking from several different writing choices during guided reading. They can create a book, write from an October writing calendar, or write in their journal from their heart.

        In social studies we learned about Columbus, his voyage and why we have a holiday on Monday. In reading we read the story The Big Red Lollipop

And took a comprehension check. We listened to the story Three Hens and a Peacock, learned that a theme of a story is a lesson or moral the author wants readers to take away from the story. We decided the theme was that everyone has a job to do and all jobs are important! 

          In science we started our unit on sound energy. We were challenged with a task to create a device that helps students hear across a distance. We listened to many sounds and decided what they were and that sound involved movement that causes vibrations or sound waves. 

       

       *   It’s time to sign up for Fall Conferences. Click on the link below to get to my sign up Genius. When signing up, please let me know if you would prefer an in person conference or a phone conference. If you could, please type your name and your child’s name in the comment box. I have a lot of beginning of  year testing information to share with you and prefer that we meet in person in my room, however, if you cannot meet in person I will do my best to update you over the phone. If none of the times provided meet your schedule, please let me know and we will work something out.

 

Link to Sign up Genius:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0B4CAFA82AA02-44938067-fall

 

*CRE "Stuff the Pumpkin" Food Drive

Coyote Ridge ES is joining the other schools in LISD in our annual food drive for families in need. Hunger hampers a student’s ability to learn, concentrate and perform well. In 2009, Texas was one of five states with the highest rate of “food insecure” children under 18. The Stuff the Pantry drive, a joint effort between Christian Community Action (CCA), Metro Relief, and Lewisville ISD, will help provide food for LISD families throughout the year.

We will be collecting food donations October 2^nd - October 27^th .  We will collect food and keep score this entire week! We will see which class has the most donations by the end of the month! 

The following items are worth 2 points: 

• Pie Filling
• Canned Fruit
• Canned Vegetables
• Evaporated Milk
• Canned Yams
• Instant Potatoes

 All other items are worth 1 point each.

The class with the most points will receive extra recess, and Bendy the Soup can!! We can’t wait to see who will win!! 

FAQs: 

Where do we put the food donations? The Student Lighthouse Team will be in charge of counting and collecting all food items from individual classrooms. Please have your child bring his/her items to their classrooms, and collections will take place at each room every day. 

If you are donating large numbers of items that can't be easily carried to the classrooms, you may clearly label the lot with the teacher's name and bring them to the front office. Thank you in advance if you're able to assist in this effort to help out families in our community! 

CRE Events Team

 

 

*This is Coyote Ridge’s 8^th year using the Leader in Me Program. To continue growth and learning at home, we will send home a newsletter each month that will focus on a different habit. By the end of the year, we will have discussed all 8 Habits at school and home. If your family participates in ALL 8 Newsletters, you will be showcased in our school as a Lighthouse Family!

• In your child’s Friday Folder is the October Habit Newsletter. Attached to the newsletter is an activity that corresponds with the monthly habit of October, Habit 1: Be Proactive. There is also a QR code that you can scan and listen to a story with your child and ask discussion questions given from the newsletter. Please assist your child in completing the activity and sign/return the activity sheet to their homeroom teacher by Wednesday, October 11th. 
• October 11^th is Be Proactive Day! We want to see the entire school wear YELLOW for Habit 1 on Wednesday!
• We will be tracking grade level participation for returning the activity sheet. The grade level with the highest percentage of participation for October will receive extra recess!

 

*As we have rainy day dismissals becoming more frequent, here are some reminders: second graders will be kept in the gym or the front hallway during a rainstorm during dismissal time. A teacher will walk them to your car. Please pull into the car pick up line as normal. 

Week 8

 Dear Parents,

        I apologize that you were not receiving my weekly e-mail. I send it EVERY week. If you do not receive it by Saturday afternoon, please e-mail me to let me know. Apparently group distribution lists can be corrupted at any time , then don’t send. The only fix is to create a new list which I have done. Hopefully all will go smoothly from here on.

        In math this week we switched from two digit regrouping in addition to subtraction. The class is doing very well. This is one of the harder skills we learn in second grade. I am so proud of their efforts and lots of sparkly stars have been earned.

        In writing we are focusing on a group narrative. We are using the skills we have learned as a class to write even better narratives by using various transition words, adding feelings, adding details, and editing for correct spelling and punctuation. We also learned about abbreviations, common nouns and proper nouns.

        In reading we looked at two mentor stories, read them together and discussed the central idea of one and the author’s purpose of the other. We made a class book following the pattern of The Important Book. Their pages are precious, so I will make a copy to put in their memory pocket.

         In social studies we listened to a Brainpop Jr. about Johnny Appleseed. We tasted apple juice, freeze dried apples and Apple Jacks Cereal! WE used our ap skills to follow directions and work on the United States map. They were surprised that two of our states are not touching the other 48 states!

 

*The Leader in Me Monthly family letters begin this week! BE A LIGHTHOUSE FAMILY by completing the family activity and returning it each month. The students are awarded a special certificate at the end of the year.

 

*There will be no sight words or spelling words this week.

 

*See the attached Watch Dogs Flyer- We LOVE having visits in our classroom from our dads!

Week 7

  Dear Parents,

         In math this week we began adding two digit numbers using hundreds charts, mental math, ten frames and number lines. We are beginning to learn how to add and regroup on paper as well. This is a very hard concept for second graders at first, but with practice, we will get it! We took our assessment on Friday.

         In writing this week we wrote our BOY narrative about a recess time in which they had lots of fun. I scored the rough draft on our LISD narrative rubric . We spent the week editing, revising and publishing this narrative. Now we will choose topics by ourselves to write our own narratives. I will share them with you during our upcoming conferences in October. I will be sending up a sign up genius in the next few weeks. We will be taking this writing through the writing process. 

         In reading we learned all about constitution Day and how it started. We also learned about our flag and what it represents. It is a symbol of our great country. We learned that the flag has 13 stripes and 50 stars to represent the first thirteen colonies and now our fifty states. We also began researching our American Symbols. 

          In science we have been changing the physical properties of matter as we cut, bent, broke, folded, added heat and removed heat. We planned our steps and documented them in our science notebooks. We did a talk read talk write activity after our investigations. We took smaller pieces and made something that could have a different purpose than the individual pieces. We took a picture of our creations. We had the task to create a bridge as a group! We had to work together and make a plan. Learning can be so much fun!

 

*Important Swim information, a pumpkin project and 6 week progress reports, and Texas State Fair tickets are in the Friday folder. Please look at the papers in the folder, take them out and return the folder on Monday.

 

*A parent shared with me that she hasn’t been getting my e-mails for two weeks. I send one every Friday. If you don’t receive it, please let me know. You can always  go to this link in my signature line to see past letters: http://carpenter2nd.blogspot.com/

Week 6

 Dear Parents,

       In math this week we began adding two digit numbers using hundreds charts, mental math, ten frames and number lines. We are beginning to learn how to add and regroup on paper as well. This is a very hard concept for second graders at first, but with practice, we will get it!

       In writing this week we wrote our BOY narrative about a recess time in which they had lots of fun. I scored this on our LISD narrative rubric and will share it with you during our upcoming conferences in October. I will be sending up a sign up genius in the next few weeks. We will be taking this writing through the writing process. 

       In reading/social studies we learned about Patriots Day and wrote an acrostic Poem about peace. We also learned about Habit 1 of the Leader in Me Program- Be Proactive, I’m in charge of me! We learned about being in charge of our own weather and sometimes changing our thoughts so we can have a better day. We read about friendship, read a friendship poem and made friendship bracelets. We read the Scholastic News The Kindness Challenge and filled out a comprehension page for a grade. On Friday we listened to The Dot  and created are own Dot artwork for International Dot Day!

        In Science we began our new unit on changing matter. We are learning that by adding/taking away heat, cutting, bending, or breaking matter we change some of the physical properties.

         A big thank you to the parents who sponsored our class for popcorn and punch day. We all had popcorn and punch! We had three more donations of snacks for our bins so we are good for now! Thank you for helping me provide for our class.

Week 5

 Dear Parents,

             This week in math we started a unit all about addition strategies. We learned that when adding two numbers together, the order of those numbers does not matter. We learned about adding doubles and near doubles, as well as how to add three numbers by looking for two numbers first, then adding the third. We learned to look for numbers that make a 10. We learned how to use a number line and a hundreds chart to add. We began using our reflex app to practice our facts so that we can memorize them and do them quickly.

            In writing we continued our book writing project and learned about three charts that we can look at to help us spell. We viewed an alphabet chert, a consonant cluster chart and a word wall chart. We are also getting more proficient at using our spelling dictionaries. We learned about the VCe  pattern in words as we studied words with the long o, e, and u sounds. We learned that synonyms are words with the same meaning.

           In reading we read listened to a read aloud, It’s Only Stanley and predicted the end of the story. We read The Great Fuzz Frenzy as a class as we practiced connecting the text and used visuals to help us understand the text. We read the story What’s the Matter? as a connection to our science unit about matter. We sorted matter as solids, liquids, or gases.

           We finished up our unit on matter this week as we looked at many objects and classified them by their physical properties. We sorted objects by different properties and wrote about it in our science notebook. We read articles about matter and discussed the vocabulary: temperature, flexibility, texture, solid and liquid. We took our assessment on Thursday.

 

* We are flying through snacks. If you’d like to donate the individual packages of goldfish for our snack bin, it would be appreciated. I have had one donation and am very appreciative to Mrs. Walker! Please send a snack and water bottle every day. I know we all run out sometimes, and that is what our snack tub is for.

 * Tutoring starts this Monday- tutoring students all brought their forms back! We will start Sept. 11^th. Please be here at 3:45 to pick up your child.

 

*See the attached popcorn and punch flyer from the PTA. The forms and money are due next Wednesday, no change will be made. They are $1.00 each or $5.00 to sponsor a whole classroom.

 

*Important Lunch time information: If your child buys their lunch, they are also allowed to buy snacks/ ice-cream. The lunch ladies by law are not allowed to tell your child no when they purchase multiple snacks and/or ice- creams. You may block snacks or put in a weekly dollar amount that your child may spend each week. This could prevent you from getting a large lunch charge. Please talk to your child about not buying snacks or ice-cream and giving it to friends. We do have a life threatening allergy in our class. Food is not to be shared in the cafeteria. Thank you for your help with this. 😊

Week 4

 Dear Parents,

          This week in math we have been practicing many skills: counting a group of coins, then figuring out how many more cents are needed to make a dollar, time to the hour and half hour(Chant: minute, long word long hand, hour short word, short hand), using a hundred’s chart to add number strings and using a number line to compare numbers.

           In writing we focused on being authors by looking at what real authors do in their books. We can write large words (to show shouting), small words ( to show quiet talking), write words at the top, middle or bottom of a page, put only pictures on a page and use speech bubbles. We can’t forget that our story needs to have a beginning, middle and end. We are excited about being authors of our own books!

           In reading our focus was on characters. We learned more about how to look for external and internal traits as we read the story Picture Day Perfection. We discussed several higher questions as this story took a surprising twist at the end. We took a comprehension check over this story. We also learned about Labor Day and why Monday is a holiday. 

           Science has been so much fun this week as we went on a scavenger hunt in our room to look for objects with certain properties. We observed frozen/ unfrozen gummy worms, frozen/ unfrozen popsicles and blown up/ not blown up balloons to compare their properties. Did the size, shape, mass, color or texture change? Did the state of matter ( solid/ liquid) change? We maybe even got to eat the unfrozen gummy worm! We classified matter as flexible/ not flexible, hotter or colder, heavier/lighter, solid/liquid, its shape and texture.

 

*The first three weeks’ grades can be found now on Skyward. I start off the year giving a lot of support, directions and chances to do things the correct way. You may notice that grades are very high. I feel as an experienced teacher that to grow successful students, they must first feel successful. Once work habits are established I give less and less support until your child is working independently on all graded papers. Many of the children have very high grades this three weeks. As a group, they are great direction followers. Thank you for partnering with me this year to help your child learn and grow in his/her independence.

          * We are flying through snacks. If you’d like to donate the individual packages of goldfish for our snack bin, it would be appreciated.

 

Week 3

 Dear Parents,

       This week in math we continued our lessons with money, students were assessed if they recognized, knew the name and the value of each coin, and began lessons on base ten numbers. We are currently working on two digit numbers. We put them in a t/o box to show how many tens and how many ones a number has. We learned tens can be called towers and ones can be called left overs. Then we built these numbers with blocks! When we put check plus done together at the top of a page it means we solved each problem as a class. We do this quite a lot when learning a new math skill.

        In writing we are learning that we can start a story by drawing pictures, then add the words. We think, picture it and put it on paper. We need to be sure that our story has a beginning, middle and end. The class is doing a good job of using their personal dictionaries to help them spell difficult words.

         In reading we took our first comprehension assessment of Clark the Shark. We read the story, discussed each page and then listened to a recording of the story. We went over a graphic organizer and all the questions that were on the assessment. The children could use their reading books and spelling dictionaries to complete the test. Since it was a test, it could be retaken for a 70% if it was not passed the first time. I support the children quite a bit at the beginning of the year as they learn and grow. I read each question to clarify and gave them time to answer. As they become more independent, I let them work more independently. We also read our first Scholastic News article. We will use these as  reading grades in the future as there are comprehension pages that go with each article. 

          In science we finished up our first unit on science safety. We began our new unit on matter. We will be learning about the properties of matter.

We chose items around the room and described them using their properties. We looked at a slideshow and watched a discovery education short movie.

 

*Common Sense Media Agreement – This agreement is in your child’s Friday Folder. Please fill it out with your child. We had lessons during science and met with our librarian through Webex to learn all the rules we should follow while we are online. Your child can earn 3 stars for his/her  responsibility chart if he/she brings it back on Monday. I have also attached this agreement to my e-mail.

 

*Picture Day Flier- This is also in your child’s Friday Folder. Picture Day is Aug. 29^th. You can buy the pictures online or send the money in the envelope back to school before the 29^th.

 

* Please take all of. The papers out of the Friday folders each week and send them back to school on Mondays.

 

*A note from Coach Ray:

 

PE is off to a great start this year.  2^nd-5^th grades are in their volleyball unit and the younger students are practicing throwing and catching.  I have a few reminders to help your student be successful in PE.

 

• Please try to remember to send your students in tennis shoes on their PE days.  Flip flops are not allowed per LISD dress code and slides, crocs, sandals, etc are not safe for PE.  
• Students wearing dresses should wear shorts under their dresses as we sit and stretch every PE class.
• Please make every effort to begin teaching your student how to tie their own shoes!  This is a really important motor skill for ALL STUDENTS to learn.  Coach Ray will be doing a lesson with kindergarten and first grade students on how to tie.  However, that is not happening until October.  Students need lots of practice to achieve this skill; not just the 15 minute lesson in PE.  It takes patience and determination from the student (and parent) but they CAN do it eventually! 😊

Week 2

 Dear Parents,

       This week in Math we focused on counting coins.  We learned the names of the coins and their value. We learned to line them up from greatest value to the least value (putting the value on or above the coin), then we wrote how much money we had as we counted each coin. (25, 50, 60, 65) We can’t forget to put that cent sign! Please practice counting money! We will continue working on this skill next week.I will send a 100s chart home in their blue folder. It is easier to count up using the chart. I have taught them that a quick way to add a dime, or 10 cents to another coin value is to go down 1 row. They put their finger on 25 and hop one box below and land on 35. To add numbers 1-9 they need to go to the right and count their hops. If they get to the end of a row, they must go to the beginning of the next row down to continue counting.

       In writing we used books as inspiration for our writing notebook entries. We began conferring and learning to write on the lines using complete sentences. I loved reading their entries so far!

        In reading we learned that we read wherever we go. We learned how to make connections- text to text, text to self, and text to world. We began using our reading stamina and graphing our progress. We learned the three ways we can read a book and how to pick a just right book. We are learning the expectations during guided reading. Soon I will be working with reading groups and they must work independently.

        In science we learned what scientists do as we went to each second grade class to meet a different scientist. We learned that there are many kinds of scientists and discussed what they do. The children picked a scientist they might like to be when they grow up and wrote about what they study, where you might find them, the tools they use and what they think is cool about that scientist.

 

   * Home work clarification:  We usually will send 2 math homework pages, and one reading homework page home each week. Additionally your child needs to fill out their reading log, Monday- Thursday each week. I will check their blue folder each Friday. Spell checks will be on Fridays. Please help them study a little each night. On Monday your child’s list of 12 words go home. They will be spelling those words in groups 2 and 3. Group 1 is sorting cards right now. There are also 2-3 sentences that will be a separate spelling and language grade. This helps them understand how to write sentences and reinforces correct spelling in context.  The sight words are read on Fridays. I put three weeks of words together as 1 reading grade every 3 weeks. Homework should never take more than 30 minutes a night. If it takes longer, you may turn in what was done in that amount of time. I will send it back home in the Friday folder in case you would like your child to have more practice. I do not want to frustrate you or your child. The goal is to practice harder math skills at home and to support more reading.    

 

*2nd  Parent Orientation was last night. If you were unable to make it, an orientation packet is in your child’s Friday Folder. You can use this link below to access the PowerPoint. There are many useful links that you may need throughout the presentation. If you have any questions at all, please contact me.

 

Link to slideshow: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1wKFtts4trTMJE92549kVpYfX0o82ZAkw0vXoZ0PMp08/edit?usp=sharing

 

 

*As part of their back-to-school program, the Denco Area 911 District has provided lanyards so that each student may receive one for the start of the school year.  Dnco is the agency responsible for the operation of the 911 system, and their goal with this initiative is to help educate students on the purpose of 911 and the system's text-to-9-1-1 capability.  Denco has more educational resources available at denco.org/public-education.  For questions, please email PubEd@denco.org

 

 

Hello CRE families!  Our 2023-2024 Yearbook store is now open!  You can now pre-order the yearbook and if you choose to personalize it, Jostens is giving you 4 free icons to add to your personalization!  Visit our store by clicking the link below or scanning the QR code!

 

Yearbook store:  https://bit.ly/CREYB

 

 

Mrs. Clements and Mrs. Hernandez

Yearbook Advisors

 

*Student Dress  Code:

https://www.lisd.net/studenthandbook

 

With continued hot temps, we know your child needs to be cool and comfortable. As a reminder, the following district expectations will be monitored and addressed as needed by campus staff and administration. Thank you for your support. 

Week 1

 Dear Parents,

        What a great first week we had.  I absolutely adore your children. It is going to be a fantastic year. I look forward to partnering with you to help your child be well prepared for third grade. Please make sure your child brings a snack and a water bottle to school every day. If they forget a snack I do have a bin where they can get Goldfish or Cheezits. I will be asking for donations when I run out of snacks. I bought over 100 snacks so they should last a while.

         In math we set up our notebooks and learned about intentional problem solving. We talked about what questions we ask each other as well as how to figure out what the problem is asking. We learned about our math boxes and the manipulatives we can use to help us solve problems. We also learned about using number lines, part/part/whole boxes and number sentences. Next week’s math is going to focus on counting groups of coins. Please practice with your child at home this weekend and all next week as that will be our math focus. This can be a difficult5 skill for second graders.

         In writing we compared the writing process to creating a playdo sculpture with brainstorming, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. We set up our writer’s notebook and wrote about our first day of school. We also brainstormed ideas that are close to our heart that we could use as topics for other writings. We copied a poem to show our handwriting at the beginning of the year. They grow so much in this area. And , yes- after winter break we learn cursive.

          In reading/social studies we learned about our gathering spot, how to turn and talk with a partner as well as good listening expectations. We created a class treatment agreement about how we as a class should treat one another. We talked about good manners and completed a matching sheet. We took our first istation test so that I could see what level your child is reading. We worked on our reading stamina and quiet independent reading while staying focused on our book. On Monday we will begin our reading log. The students are to read 15 minutes every night , Monday-Thursday and mark it on the sheet found in their blue folder, behind their sticker chart. I check them each Friday.

        In science  we learned about what scientists do. We set up our notebook and had our first challenge. Ask your child- did they and their partner save Sammy?

      

* There is a digital copy of our second grade newsletter attached to my weekly e-mail to you. Additionally this week there is another attachment that has 3 papers in it. All you need to do is scroll down. There is are two sign ups from PTA as well as the free lunch sign up.

 

*Kindness Week is just around the corner. If you would like to buy a kindness shirt please purchase by August 18th to ensure you receive your shirt in time. LINK TO ORDER: https://lewisville.revtrak.net/hs/lewisville-hs/lhs-kindness-shirts/

 

* Our school is doing a school wide Class Dojo rewards system for behavior. Our class will start next week. Each child will get 1 point from me each day if they have a star on their behavior chart in their blue folder. They may receive more points from other second grade teachers or the enrichment team. I also do a sticker chart in my room for extra rewards. I found this works best with my second graders as it is a constant visual of their good choices.

 

Week 36

 Dear Parents,

    This week in math we focused on our economics unit with saving, spending and lending. We also had two days to take out End of Year CBA which had 25 problems to show all the skills we learned in math this year. 

     In writing they have been having fun writing their individual information booklets on their animals. I hope they are having fun making their habitat boxes. We can’t wait to share them on Tuesday!

     In reading we read the story Sea Otter Pups and reviewed our anchor chart about monitoring and clarifying as we read. We  could reread, look at the visuals, remember what we already know, and asked questions. We also read a Scholastic News article called “Save the Sea Cows”. We answered comprehension questions about the article. We also had a map skills page (Social Studies) on which we reviewed the states that border Texas. We saw that Texas borders a body of water and another country.

      In science we wrapped up our food chain unit and went into our last unit which is focused on environmental effects on animals. We are learning quite a lot about all kinds of animals and the children find it very interesting.

      I need to have a HUGE shout out to my field trip chaperones: Mr. Restorff, Mr. Nguyen, Amber Rice, Yessidey Stevens and Michelle Douglas!  You all are rock stars! We had a wonderful time and were able to stay dry as we had so much fun! 

      My second HUGE shoutout is to the parents who worked on our pillowcase project Mr. Restorff, Amber Rice, Michelle Douglas, Mrs. Maeng, and Yessidey Stevens. I could not do this job without all your support! It is greatly appreciated! Thank you for helping me give your children  fun and support while they learn.