Week 9

 Dear Parents,

        We took our math assessment over two digit addition with and without regrouping. The children have this skill learned, but now we have started two digit subtraction with and without regrouping. This becomes very confusing for them. A homework page came home tonight. Only about 2/3 of my class feels confident about doing this new skill. Please help your child work on subtracting  as well as adding. It is important that they are clear on how to do the steps of each kind of problem.

          I graded their first narrative writing and was so pleased with how far they all have come in their writing skills. We are now working on a narrative about our first day of school. I love reading all about their feelings and what they remember about our first day together. We are taking these to final copy as well.

          In social studies we learned all about Johnny Appleseed. We had an apple party in his honor. The children tried freeze dried apples, apple sauce, apple juice, and pieces of all f our favorite kinds of apples (with a little caramel dipping sauce, of course!) They had so much fun learning about this good citizen and tasting apples.

           In reading we read the story, The Great Fuzz Frenzy and took a comprehension test. We also learned about American Heritage Day and created a color poem.

            In science we began our new unit on energy. We are investigating through stations with sound energy. We are still testing our boats. This class is full of top notch engineers as their boats do not sink! Right now Angelina is winning. Her boat held 221 pennies!

 

 

Here are some important things coming up:

 

*1. It is time to have our Fall Conferences. They begin next week. Use this link to find a time that we can meet either by phone or in person. In person is best, as I have many beginning of year testing documents  to share with you, but understand if you need a phone conference instead. Looking forward to talking to all of you about your hard working second graders! Thank you to those of you who have already signed up!

 

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0B4CAFA82AA02-fall2

 

 

*2.It’s time for the 21-Day Challenge sign up!  Please note: For legality reasons parents must sign their students up.  Students are not permitted to sign up alone. For more information, please see the attached flyer.

 

 

*3. Monday, October 3rd is the first General PTA Meeting - please attend - free pizza! Yum!!  

 

*4.Counselor’s Corner:  Mrs. Moore’s October Newsletter ( See Attached Flyer about the Whole Child Series):

 

https://www.smore.com/58n41

 

*5. Dear Parents,

 

Field Day at our school will be Thursday, October 6, 2022.  Please sign in at the front office to watch your child participate.  Please make sure you bring your Driver’s License/photo ID with you to the office the day of field day.  

If the weather is hot, please apply sunscreen BEFORE sending your child to school (teachers will not apply sunscreen for their students).  Likewise, if the weather is chilly, please send a light jacket with your child.  Please send a water bottle labeled with your child’s name.  Your child’s teacher has indicated below the color your child is asked to wear on Field Day.  These will be their fun teams for all field day activities.

  

RED                             GREEN                       YELLOW                   BLUE

 Hansvi                        Jaicee                        Jordan                       Kobe

 Samad                         Ava                            Angelina                   Jaden

Ana                               Uriah                          Martin                      Prithak

Isobel                           Yohan                         Violet                        Donovan

 Bryce                           Hannah                       Zackary                     Itiya

                                                                              Ian                            Lilly

 

 

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Field Day Schedule

9:30 - 11:30                               Field Day (First Session)

Grades 3rd, 4th & 5th Grades

 

12:30 – 2:30                              Field Day (Second Session)

Grades Kindergarten, 1st & 2nd Grades

             

**Pre-K teachers will communicate to Pre-K parents details about their field day!

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I’m looking forward to a fun-filled and active day!

Coach Ray

Week 8

 Dear Parents, 

          We are doing a great job of learning how to add two digit numbers with and without regrouping. Please continue to support this difficult skill at home. I want this to become ingrained in their memory as it becomes confusing when we start subtracting with regrouping.

            In writing we are finishing up a final copy of our personal narrative and beginning another one by mapping our writing before we draft on a graphic organizer. We are thinking through our account of our first day of school in a beginning, middle, and end format. We are practicing writing good opening and closing sentences. I was so excited about their creativity as they began drafting their beginnings.

              In reading we learned all about Freedom Week and Constitution Day.  We signed our own classroom constitution, learned about the history of our flag and researched 4 American Symbols.

             In science we took our unit assessment and ended the unit by changing and combining matter to build a boat. The goal was to be able to hold up 10 pennies without sinking. So far Donovan’s boat is in the lead as it took 198 pennies to sink his boat. More boats will be tested on Monday.

 

 

* Pumpkin Projects, Fair Tickets, and Progress Reports came home today.

 

*Here are the links to the Enrichment Calendar. Here you can view when we have PE, so that your child has on gym shoes:

 

September 2022

 

October 2022

 

 

*Hello CRE families!  Thank you for making our Fall Book Fair a huge success!  It was a fun week filled with books, smiles and more books!  I loved seeing all the students' excitement as they walked into the library to see it transformed into the Book Fair!  In the words of one of our littles, "it was magical!"

 

Thank you to our wonderful volunteers for all of their hard work and commitment!  I would also like to thank all of the families who were gracious enough to make book donations to our teachers.  The teachers were so happy to receive the books and I was so happy to see their smiling faces!  Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

 

There is still time to shop our online Book Fair!  If you are interested, please visit the link below.  The store will close Friday, September 23 at midnight.

 

CRE online Book Fair:  https://bit.ly/CREbookfair

 

Week 7

 Dear Parents,

        In Math this week we took our Topic 1 Assessment. Your children did a great job! On Tuesday we began adding two digit numbers by adding the tens and ones mentally. It really helped to put T for tens and O for ones over the digits we were adding. At first the ones were added to equal one digit numbers. Later in the week we were adding two digit numbers with regrouping of our ones. We used ten frame boxes as well as unifix cubes to see what actually happens when we regroup. In the ten frames we would build our two numbers and move our counters to make a ten. It is really easy to add ten to a number, just ask your child. We also worked some problems vertically. We did a few at a time with me running to check to make sure every child could get the right answer independently. They did a great job! I was so proud of all of their effort.

          In writing we are working on two pieces. We are finishing up our books using a real author as a mentor and we began writing a narrative about recess. We will take the narrative through the writing process.

          In Reading we connected to kindness week with our stories. First we read Being a Good Citizen. We created a class circle map of what makes us a good citizen. Then Lilly became our first Leader of the week. She shared her poster, then we discussed what makes Lilly a good citizen. I am looking for next week’s leader, but four children still need to turn in their posters. We watched a video called “ Get Involved” and talked about how we can get involved in our school and community. We read a scholastic News article called “We Are Good Citizens” and discussed the right choices children could make using 4 different scenarios. We Read 10 Black Dots and The Dot on International Dot Day. We then created pictures using 10 Dots. It was wonderful to watch a video of Peter H. Reynolds drawing and painting a picture with dots. Last, we watched a video “All About Elephants” and worked on a Building Community page as a class. 

 

         In Science we had many chances to watch matter change. We had a challenge to choose materials to keep an ice cube from melting. We timed how long it took each cube to melt. We were surprised that an ice cube surrounded by cloth in a plastic cup beat the thermal cup. We also put a gobstopper in a cup of water and timed four different observations. Both the water and the gobstopper looked different every time. We watched videos and wrote down information we learned on a graphic organizer. We finished the week with a talk read, talk write activity.

            

 

*Field Day Volunteers here is the link to sign up: Field Day Volunteers - Voly.org

 

* Look in Friday folders for the district reading assessment letter, istation and individual pictures

 

 

Week 6

 Dear Parents,

              I hope you all had a wonderful weekend with your fmilies and enjoyed the extra day together. We got the week started on Tuesday by representing and solving addition/subtraction problems (daily intentional problem solving) and are learning to solve problems in many ways. We also began looking at addition problems as doubles/near doubles. We found out that if we know the answer to a doubles fact, we can quickly add the answer to a near doubles problem.We learned that it does not matter what order the addends are in. We can switch the numbers around and we still have the same answer. We then learned to add three numbers together by adding the first two to get an answer, then adding the third number to that answer. We learned how to quickly add ten to any number 0-9. Just ask your child! On Friday we reviewed Topic 1 and we will take the assessment on Monday!

                In writing we continued learning more about the tools/charts that can help us read and write. We are getting good at using a dictionary, alphabet chart, consonant cluster chart, and using writing tools that are available in the room. On Thursday and Friday we focsed on our upcoming holiday- Patriots Day. We wrote an acrostic poem about peace.

                 We began our guided reading groups this week! We also began reserching using the website facts4me. E were researching interesting facts about Texas. We completed a book for a social studies grade. We also read the story It’s Only Stanley. We talked about the setting and how it influenced the story line. We made a prediction how we thought the story would end.

                  In science we finished our first unit on the properties of matter and took our assessment. Having to prove our scientific thinking was difficult at first, but all in all we did a good job! We began our second unit called Changing and Combining Matter by predicting what would happen to a marshmallow when we added heat. Boy, were they surprised! We cannot wait to observe many other changes made to matter in this unit.

 

*A Note From Mrs. Hernandez, our Librarian:

 

Hello CRE Families!

 

Please save the date for our upcoming Book Fair!  The Book Fair will run in the library September 13-23!  We are in need of volunteers!  If you are interested please visit the Voly link below to register:

 

https://lewisvilleisd.voly.org/opportunity/view.html?id=72877

 

All volunteers will receive a $5 voucher to spend a the Book Fair!

 

You can also check out our Fair Website here to learn more about it!

 

https://bit.ly/CREbookfair

 

We can’t wait to see you at the Fair!

 

Mrs. Hernandez

hernandezv@lisd.net

 

Week 5

 Dear Parents,

         We’ve had another great week of learning together! I have been busy assessing your children so that I know just what to do to help them grow in all subject areas. These assessments will be shared at our fall conferences. With 22 students, it has taken me a bit longer this year. Guided reading time has been taken up with pulling students one by one to test them . I was planning on starting this week, but next week will begin our small, guided reading groups. 

           In math we have been working on finding numbers on both closed and open number lines. We have ordered, compared, composed and decomposed two digit numbers. We took our unit assessment on Thursday.

            In writing we have been using authors as mentors and been working on our own books. We are learning that we can be really creative writers and illustrators. We are using our spelling dictionaries and being fearless spellers! I can’t wait to read their first books!

             In reading we have read a story about matter which connected to science and filled out a booklet with the information we learned about matter. We read Picture Day Perfection and created mental pictures of the main character as he went through his day. We took our assessment on Thursday.

              In science we have been on several matter hunts as we observed the properties of solids and liquids in our room. We had hands on experience as we classified matter by their properties. We saw two short films on Discovery Education called “What is Matter?”  and “Observing Matter”. 

         

 

*Here is an ESL brochure from Ms. Olivera: ESL brochure 

 

 

*Here is the monthly S’more from Mrs. Moore, our counselor:

 

https://www.smore.com/s7ubw

 

*See the attached information on our upcoming kindness week. During this event we will have a grade level challenge of participation. More information to come soon!

Week 4

 Dear Parents,

       We will be starting the 4^th week of school next week. So far most children are getting into the routines and bringing what they need to turn in to class. Here are a few reminders:

1. Spelling lists and sight words go home on Mondays. They are assessed on Fridays.
2. Your child’s blue folder should come to school every day. This is our behavior information as well as important messages/papers between parents and myself. Make sure that if you put a paper in the blue folder you remind your child to take it out of the folder when he/she gets to the room and give it to me. I do remind the class to check the folder. Again, I am instilling a sense of responsibility.
3. Reading folders and books go home and back to school every day. There may be up to 3 books in the folder at  time. We switch out one- two books every week. Rereading familiar text is vital in establishing fluency. Your child will use these books to fill out their reading logs. They may read other books, but make sure it is a good fit book. The rule is if there are 5 or more words in a paragraph-sized page that your child can’t read, it is too hard for them to practice reading.
4. Reading logs stay in their backpacks and are filled out by your child Monday-Thursday. On Friday they turn it in for me to check.

 

                 In math this week we worked on creating and decomposing two digit numbers. We looked at a hundred’s chart and learned how to quickly add or subtract 10 from a number by getting on the number and either moving up a row or down a row. We played the game get to 100. We were introduced to the games collect $.50 and collect $1.00. We practiced filling out 100 charts and adding number strings. Please practice counting coins with your child. We start with the largest valued coin and add them in order to the least valued coin. If you had 2 dimes,  a nickel, 2 quarters and 3 pennies, your child would add: 25 + 25 + 10 + 10 +  5 + 1 + 1 + 1 = $0.78.

               In Language we are working on reading with fluency and isolating sounds in words. We are thinking, then getting our words down in complete sentences. We are using our dictionaries to help us spell words correctly. We are learning to have a beginning, middle and end in our narratives. We have started our own book using other authors as mentors. We can choose as an author/illustrator where we put our pictures and words. We can write words large or very small. We can use speech bubbles.

               In reading we read Clark the Shark, learned about setting (time and place). We took a comprehension check to see what your child remembered from our discussions. These are assessments and may be retaken for a 70. That means if your child did not get a passing grade on this assessment, they will meet with me discuss and read the story then retake the assessment. Even if they get 100% the second time, the grade marked down in the gradebook will be a 70. That paper will go home with a paper attached. Please sign the and note and send both the test and the signed note back to me.

                 In science we began our second unit called The Properties of matter. We are learning to describe objects by their properties and that everything round us that has size, shape, mass,  color or takes up space is matter.

 

Week 3

 Dear Parents,

        We had our first full week of learning! We are learning the routines and expectations. Please help your child by making sure his/her reading books stay in their backpacks as we will be starting reading groups next week. We took our first istation assessment and your child’s progress sheet will be going home with him/her  today in his/her coyote folder. Today, filled out reading logs were due for this week. Check your child’s log to see if they have a star or a note to complete it over the weekend to turn in to me on Monday. Completed logs will earn 3 stickers. The sticker number received will go down by 1,  for each day late. I am trying to instill a wish to complete work with positive reinforcement. I assure my second graders that they are responsible for their homework and folders because their parents already passed second grade.  😊 This year we are building your child’s sense of responsibility as well as his/her taking pride in always trying his/her best!

           In math this week we took a beginning of year assessment( 1^st grade skills) , a universal screener ( ten’s/ and one’s number sense), and saw if they could write numbers to 100. We continued learning our math routines, solving word problems and looked very closely at a penny, nickel, dime, and quarter. We learned the value of these coins and that we could trade five pennies for a nickel, two nickels for a dime, and two dimes and a nickel for a quarter. This is getting us ready to play the game Collect 50 Cents. We also decomposed the number 10 using blocks and recorded our different number strings. We  counted the pockets in our class, got a snap cube for each pocket and put it in a bucket. On Monday we will decide the best way to find out how many pockets were in the room on Friday!

             In Language we decoded many words with the CVC pattern and worked on our reading fluency. We are writing short narratives in our writing notebooks about what is close to our heart and also using ideas from mentor texts.

             In reading we heard the story I Like Myself and wrote 6 I like sentences on a large I. They are hanging in our classroom. We learned about Conflict Resolution, completed a TPRI assessment, and took our first istation assessment. This information will help me place your child in a leveled guided reading group. We wrote our treatment agreement which lists how we should treat each other in our classroom. We read the story Super Citizen and found the central idea and it’s supporting details. We also read the book Our Class is a Family and are creating a book about our class. 

              In science we started the week by rotating through all the second grade classrooms as our teachers dressed up as different scientists, shared what they do, wear, as well as tools they may use. We learned about science safety, signed our contracts and acted out our safety rules. We took a science assessment ( over 1^st grade information) to see what our students learned last year. On Friday Mrs. Hernandez joined the whole second grade on Webex to teach us about digital citizenship, how to be safe on line, and how to leave a positive digital footprint! As you can see we learned quite a lot this week!

 

*As always a digital copy of our Second grade Newsletter is attached. Also attached is a Flyer with QR codes to Join PTA and how to purchase Spirit Wear T-Shirts.

 

*Spelling lists will go home on Monday. We will test every Friday. Spell checks, along with daily work, are not able to be retaken for a 70. All other assessments may be retaught and reassessed for a 70.

 

*We had our Parent Orientation on Thursday evening at 5:00. If you were unable to attend you may look at the slide show by clicking on the link below. The packet we gave out on Thursday is in your child’s Coyote Folder which went home on Friday, if you were unable to attend. If you have any questions, please let me know.

 

Parent slideshow!

 

 

 

*A note from Coach Ray:

 

We are having a blast in PE.  However for our fun and learning to continue, I have two requests:

1. Please make every effort to send your student in tennis shoes every PE day.  Crocks, sandals, and the like are not safe for our activities.  PE is always the day after music.  To view the August rotation calendar, click HERE.
2. If your child has not learned to tie their own shoes yet, please consider spending some time working with them.  Per most pediatricians, it is developmentally appropriate for most children to learn this skill by age 6.  However, it is never too late.  Like any skill, it takes time, practice and patience.  I appreciate your help.

 

*Guidance S’more from our counselor, Mrs. Moore:

 

https://www.smore.com/u8k7r-coyote-ridge-elementary-school