Weekly Update 12/18/15

Hello Families!
We've been very busy here in room 250!
A few reminders:

• Next week, Wednesday is our last day with a regular 3:00 dismissal.
• There is no creative arts next week as that session has ended.  
• Please remember to send your child with a jacket as it gets chilly during recess now.  
• Thank you to everyone who donated and/or helped with our project today…they loved it!

What's been happening in room 250?  

3 math skills we've practiced are writing and solving comparing word problems, problem solving both addition and subtraction, and adding and subtracting fluently within 20.

2 writing skills we've focused on are creating introductions that will make the reader want to read more and adding more to the page.

1 fun activity we did this week was snow globes!  

Here's a pic from today's activity…Enjoy!

Week ending 12/11/15

What a great week!  We've accomplished so much, had wonderful weather, and a great morning meeting this morning!  I'm so glad so many of you could make it today.  I understand it can be difficult attending activities but there will be other things this year.  

Important information:

• We need more mason jars, regular medium size (not too tiny and definitely not large) for a project next week.  I know AC Moore or Michael's usually has them.  Target too, I believe.  
• Next week is our last full week before the holiday break.
• Break starts on Wednesday the 23rd.  Dismissal on the 23rd is 3:00…same as a regular day.  There may not be extended day so please check with them if needed.  
• Break ends after New Years when we will return on that Monday.
• If your child will not be here, please don't hesitate to let me know. Thanks!

3 skills we practiced this week were making change using coins, picking out the most important facts about a person's life based on the biographies we chose, and how we need to be very specific about writing the "How to" portion of our informational books.  Ask you child about how I put on my sweater and made a jelly sandwich.  ;)

2 activities we did at morning meeting today were "What's the News?", where we can all greet our neighbor and share something important we want the class to know, and "Rainstorm" which is a great movement activity and helps us wake up first thing in the morning!

1 activity we worked on today was Hour of Code.  Students worked with a program where they gave the instructions for the character to move.  They loved it!  Be sure to look at our school website on the library page…you can get on it there too and have some more fun!

Have a great weekend!

Week ending 11/20/15

We have had a very busy week in room 250!  The Heritage Bear project was due today.  Thank you to everyone who brought it in on time.  They look awesome!  Over the next few weeks we'll be sharing them and asking questions to each other.

Important information:

• Special snack should be coming in on Wednesday.  Please remember to include a drink and a snack.  Bags are coming home today with your child, so please write on the front their name and why you are thankful for them. 
• Dismissal on Wednesday, November 25, is at 12:00.  NOT 12:30 so please plan accordingly.
• Social/Emotional morning will be held on Friday, December 11.  We hope you can join us to see what morning meeting is all about!

3, 2, 1 things you need to know about our week:

In math we have been working hard on 3 math skills:  finishing up our addition strategies using open number lines and splitting numbers and we've also started working on counting objects in an organized way and understanding place value (hundreds, tens, and ones).

2 activities we've been working on in reading workshop is focusing on finding non-fiction text features using a Non-Fiction Features Scavenger Hunt and writing out own book to show what we've learned about non-fiction features and their purpose.  

1 thing Adam wants you to know is we have math challenge work that can be complicated but fun.

Week ending 11/13/15

Hello Families!
We had a great pajama day in class today!  We also had a special  visitor…illustrator Ralph Masiello joined us for a great lesson on illustrating and idea building!  Students listed to his ideas, how he got started being an illustrator, and what types of projects he's working on now.

Here are a few pictures from today!
Enjoy and have a good weekend!

Week of 11/2/15

Happy November!
I can't believe it's November already!  Can you?  Thursday was our 40th day of school!  It has been a warm week, so it's been great to get outside and enjoy the weather!
A few important reminders coming up:

• Continue checking in on your child's homework and returning the packet on Fridays.  We had a conversation this week about reading every night and how important it is!
• Wednesday, the 11th, there is no school.
• Thursday, the 12th, at 12:30, we are going to the book fair.  It is up to you if you choose to send money with your child.  You may also join us if you'd like…it is about 20 min.  Students are bringing home a wish list they wrote after previewing the options today.  Please keep in mind that tax is NOT included.  Please send money in a zip loc bag with their name on it and I have asked them all to not be purchasing toys.  If you're ok with that, please find a time they can go with you.  Thanks for your cooperation in advance!
• On Monday, you will receive a cut out bear and directions.  We are having students make "Heritage Bears".  This can be worked on over the next 2 weeks and is in addition to homework.  
• Wednesday, the 25th has dismissal at 12:00 (NOT 12:30).  There is no school the 26th and 27th. 

3, 2, 1 things you should know about this week…

3 non-fiction text features we've been learning to identify are photographs (to show something), captions (to tell about the picture), and diagrams (to show what something is or to show inside something).

2 skills we've been working on in writing is using different writing styles to make our books more interesting.  We can make our words bigger to add excitement, such as "When we arrived my whole family was excited, excited, and even more excited then when we left!" We can also uses ellipses to help us keep the reader in suspense, such as "We arrived at the hotel and saw something strange…"

1 thing Logan wants you to know is we went to look at all the available books at the book fair.

Here are some pictures from our music performance this morning from Crocodile River Music.

Pumpkin Activity

Hi Families!
Instead of a regular blog today, I wanted to share how great this morning was!
* I did want to remind you that Thursday, the 5th, is an early release day with dismissal at 12:30.
We had a great math activity this morning!   Students voted which pumpkin they thought would be the one with the most seeds.  Then each group pulled the pulp out of the pumpkin and made a pile of seeds.  After that they estimated how many seeds they had in their pumpkin.  Then it was time to count!  Each table did a great job making groups of 10 to count the seeds more easily!  Our results are below…we were amazed at the number!
The students did an amazing job!  They really worked together, shared materials, kept pulp under control and on the table, helped each other if they finished before another table, kept voices at a good level and worked so carefully on counting!  They even earned a baseball from me!  Very proud of them all! Thank you to everyone who donated pumpkins!
Here are some pics from today!  These were before things got really messy!
Enjoy the weekend!

Week ending 10/16/15

Hi Families!
It definitely feels like Fall around here.  The weather is beautiful with the sun during the day and jackets at night.  I hope you all have time to enjoy all the activities Fall has to bring!

Important Information:

• If you haven't yet, please sign up for conferences.  They are about 15 minutes long WITH your child.  Here is the link: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4ea8a928a20-deking2

3, 2, 1 things you need to know about our week…

3 skills we've worked on in math are name collection boxes, completing fact families, and solving story problems by identifying the key information, underlining what they problem is asking, and showing our work.

2 moments were I've seen students really show their care for each other were when one student dropped their snack on the ground, the others were ready to jump in and help him clean up without being asked.  Another time was when one of our students lost his tooth, the entire class clapped for him and his smile said it all.  They really are a great group of students that have empathy and show how they care for each other.  

1 very important skill we practiced this week was homework!  Here's what you need to know...

• Beginning Monday, 19th, students will receive a homework packet.
• The entire week is laid out for you and all the sheets you need are there.
• On Monday, students will read for 20 minutes and write the title of their book, then check that off.  They will complete the math sheet listed there, then check that off.  Then they will complete the Fundations practice, and check that off.  
• The packet is designed to do each night on that night, not all on one night or skip around.  The math and Fundations for Thursday will be taught Thursday so it's important that it's done that night.  Please do not jump ahead.
• The packet should be kept in their RED FOLDER.  They will take it out to work on it and then put it back in and go back and forth to school.  They will only pass it in on Fridays. I explained to them that it is their responsibility to keep it in their folder.  
• If there is a page that is difficult for your child or takes too long, please rip it out and send it in the next morning (even if it's not Friday).  This will help me review it with the student that day instead of waiting.  
• We will be watching to see how it's going the first few weeks.  Please let us know if you have any questions.  

Week ending 10/9/15

We've had a busy week in room 250!  We had picture day, our first all school meeting, and cleaned the room for Open House.  I was happy to see everyone who was able to attend.  If you could not attend, you can still see our presentation on my website, under the Open House tab.  There is no school Monday, for Columbus Day.  

3, 2, 1 things we want you to know about this week…

3 skills we worked on in writing were learning to write better beginning, adding endings that may make the reader wonder what will happen and that wrap up the story nicely, and being detectives with our writing to see if it makes sense,  sounds right, and looks right.  

2 things you should know about homework are that we are going to start practicing homework in school next week so students understand what they are expected to do and we are planning to begin homework at home on the 19th.

1 thing Angela wants you to know is that this week we switched seats in the classroom.  (Helps keep everyone on their toes :))

Week ending 10/2/15

Hello families!
We've had our first full week!  I can't believe it!  It's great to really be in a routine and go through the whole week as scheduled.  The weather has been crazy and keeping us on our toes.  I hope it clears out for the weekend for those wonderful Fall activities!

Important information:

• Thursday is an early release day with dismissal at 12:30.  If there are any changes to the usual, please let me know.  
• Thursday night is also Open House for us.  Ms. McManus sent out an email to families regarding times.  Please remember it is an adult only event.  Look forward to seeing you!  
• As the weather keeps us on our toes, please try and have a sweatshirt in your child's locker in case they get cold or send them in with one in the am.  The room can be varying temps and the students go out for recess as well.  
• Please remember we are trying to be a nut free classroom.  Any nut items can be eaten at lunch.  Thanks for helping with this.  

3, 2, 1 things we worked on this week…

3 reading strategies we worked on this week were sounding out words carefully and slowly, continuing to choose just right books, and making connections to the texts we read and hear to our own lives.  These are all strategies we'll practice all year long.  

2 science activities we worked on were observing the lima bean seed and talking about how seeds travel.  Ask you child to tell you two ways sends travel.  

1 thing Kaya wants you to know is that we played a few math games this week in class.  He really liked Top-It.  (We played Top-It which you can play with a deck of cards, Penny Plate which you can play with 10 pennies and a paper plate, and Grab Bag Addition which you can play with a bag and any 20 objects that you can take turns pulling out.  Ask your child how to play these games.)

Week ending 9/25/15

It's Friday!  I think every one is ready for the weekend!  I hope you and your families are doing something fun and I can't wait to hear all about it Monday!  Monday will be our first full week of school.
Important information:

• As the weather changes, please be sure to send in a jacket or sweatshirt for the mornings or recess times.
• Please be sure your child wears sneakers on Wednesdays and Thursdays for physical education.

3, 2, 1 things we worked on this week were…

3 skills we practiced in math were measuring each other with cubes, comparing numbers using greater than, less than, and equal to, and practicing review problems in math boxes.  

2 books we listened to in read aloud were Miss Brooks Loves Books and I Don't to focus on choosing books that they really enjoy and Slowly, Slowly Said the Sloth to focus on sounding out words carefully and slowly.

1 thing Andrew wants you to know that he was surprised by what the art room looked like.  There were really comfy bean bag chairs.  

Here's a look at some of our math measuring…

Week ending 9/18/15

Hi Families,
We've had a great week!  We've worked on a lot of routines and expectations and have spent time practicing.  Practicing now saves time later!  It's been warm but I think next week will have more September like weather, at least we hope!
Important information:

• Please continue to send in dismissal changes in a note.  It's so helpful!
• Please continue to meet me outside to pick up your child and encourage them to high 5 me before leaving.  This helps me check off each student.  
• Next week there is no school on the 23rd, Wednesday.  

3, 2, 1 things you should know…

3 parts of Responsive Classroom we worked on this week were: setting up our rules and signing them, talking about Rest Stop and how it can help us relax, calm down, take a break, and get refocused on our work, and we learned a clap game in morning meeting.

2 writing activities we completed were the writing prompt and writing about our summers.  The writing prompt was asking them to write a small moments story about anything they wanted, as long as it was true.  They worked really hard!  After I look them, I'll have a better idea of where each child is in their writing journey.  

1 thing Jayden wants you to know about school this week is we practiced telling time and reading books.

Week ending 9/11/15

Welcome back to school!
We've had a great week!  I've really enjoyed meeting and starting to get to know each of our students this year!  This week has been filled with getting to know you activities, learning and practicing expectations and routines, attending specials, and getting our room set up to be "ours".  We will spend a great deal of time over the next month or so learning about each other and learning about our room.  We will practice expectations and routines so each of them knows what I'm expecting and what to do.  We practice, model, and help each other.  The more we practice now, the less we do later and the smoother the year goes.
Important information:

• Specials:
• Monday: Art
• Tuesday: Music
• Wednesday: Physical Education (don't forget your sneakers)
• Thursday: Physical Education (don't forget your sneakers)
• Friday: Library (don't forget your books)
• There is no school on Monday.  
• Thank you for helping with dismissal by coming to get your child and checking in with me before leaving.  I'm asked all the students to say good bye and high five me before leaving.  It's very important to be sure I know who the students go with and as I'm getting to know each of you, this is very helpful!  Don't forget that if there is dismissal changes, please send a note in.

3, 2, 1 things you need to know about our class this week…
3 books we read this week were: Brand New Pencils, Brand New Books, First Year Letters, and Chrysanthemum.

2 skills we practiced in math were telling time and how the calendar works.

1 thing Gabriel wants you to know about 2nd grade is we need to be quiet during fire drills.
Have a great weekend!
Mrs. DeKing

Weekly Update 6/19/15

Hi Families!
We are in the home stretch!  I can't believe how quickly it has gone by!   Are you excited for summer?  We plan to camp, visit family in NY, and head to Disney with my family.  I look forward to long warm days for the beach and bike rides!  I'm sure you all have your own plans and I look forward to hearing about the summer when the kids return in the fall!

* Don't forget to keep sending kids in with sneakers or sandals (no flip flops).
* If you have any last library books at home…please be sure to send them in!
* School ends on Wednesday, the 24th, with dismissal at 12:00!  

It was nice to see so many of you at our celebration on Monday!  The students are so proud of themselves for all they've accomplished and persevered through this whole year!   I am very proud of them and I know you are too!  Thank you so much for your help and support this year.  It truly takes many people to keep a room happy, healthy, and full of learning!  I appreciate your support for me, but more importantly for your children!  Without you, they would not achieve all they could and would not have bloomed so nicely!

I hope you all have a wonderful summer, full of sun, fun, and exciting adventures!
I am honored to have had each of your students this year and I look forward to seeing them next year across the hall!
Have a wonderful summer and keep in touch!

Megan DeKing

Week of 6/12/15

We are in the home stretch!  I can't believe how soon school will been ending for our year!  I am so impressed with how far the students have come and I can see where they are headed!

Important things to know…

• Monday is our celebration!  Please join us to see your child's work from the year and a few presentations.  Please wait by the auditorium and at 8:45, we'll come down and get you when we're ready to go!  :)
• Tuesday is Color Day.  Your child brought home a sheet yesterday regarding their color and other hints for Color Day. (The rain date is the Thursday.)
• Step Up is Friday, the 19th.  Our 2nd grade classes will be meeting with the 3rd grade teachers to hear about next year and see the teachers face to face.  They can ask questions and get a sense for  what's to come.  Talk to your child about it…they may be excited, nervous, or have questions.  I can't wait to hear what they think!
• The last day of school is Wednesday, the 24th, with dismissal at 12:00.  

We've been working on many things to get ready for our celebration, finishing up our opinion writing unit, continue working on our poetry reading unit, learning more about Ghana, and then later next week we'll be doing some fun writing for poetry, end of year activities in reading and writing, and more!  

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Week ending 5/29/15

It's been a beautiful week!  We're all so in love with this weather and I hope it continues into June!
Here's some important things to remember:
* Please be sure your child has sneakers or sandals with a back in school.  Sneakers on PE days especially.
* Yesterday an email was sent regarding homework and an end of year project.  Also, one about behavior at the end of the year.  Please be sure to read them when you can. :)
* On Tuesday, we had an evacuation drill to the Temple.  The students did fantastic!  We could evacuate for a number of different reasons such as no heat in the building and it's important for students to know where to go and what it would look and feel like.  It's the same reason we practice fire drills.
* The Museum of Science field trip is June 8 for the whole day so it's very important your child is here on time and ready to go.  A different email will go home next week with specifics.
* Keep June 15th open for a celebration in the morning.
* June 16th will be Color Day.

3, 2, 1 things we've worked on this week…
3 math things we completed were Kojo's Math to begin learning about arrays and groups or sets of numbers, and the Unit 11 and end of year assessment.  The end of year assessment will help you know which skills your child can practice over the summer.

2 writing skills we worked on were understanding what a book recommendation is and how to provide support for our opinions.

1 thing Mary wants you to know is that we are reading and writing about biographies on famous people.

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Week of 5/22/15

Hi Families!
It's been so nice this week and we love getting outside for recess!  Yesterday we enjoyed getting out and letting our butterflies go.  It was beautiful to see!

A few important things:
* Our field trip to the Museum of Science is on June 8th, a Monday.  More info to come on that.
* Often at this time during the year, we spend a lot of time checking our behavior and making sure we're still on track.  Please check in with your child about expected behavior and keeping it together as long as possible! Thanks for your help with this!
* We will be having an end of year celebration on Monday, June 15th first thing in the morning.  More details to come!

3, 2, 1 things we've learned this week…

3 math skills we worked on were creating arrays as the first step for multiplication, subtracting money using dollar signs, and working on our addition and subtraction problem solving skills by focusing on the numbers and choosing which strategy would work best.

2 skills we practiced in writing were checking to be sure we have capitals in the correct spot and correct letter formation of our opinion letters.

1 technology project we've been working on is a wordle.  Don't know what a wordle is?  You'll have to wait till our end of year celebration. ;)


Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

What did we learn this week?

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Week of May 4

It has been beautiful out!  Are you all enjoying the weather?  I hope so…we have!  We've stayed out a little longer at recess to enjoy these temperatures and blue skies!  We have had a busy week in room 250!  Can you believe there's only 32 more days of school!

Important Information:

• Please remember to put sunscreen on your child before leaving the house in the morning.
• Don't forget to send in sneakers on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for physical education.
• If you child is wearing sandals, please be sure they are sandals that have straps and not flip flops.

3, 2, 1 things you should know about our week…

3 skills we've been working on with our opinion writing are: making our letters about books more interesting by retelling part of the story, keeping our audience in mind by talking to the reader and not giving away the ending, and we started looking at a checklist that will help us be sure we have all the different parts/ideas of an opinion letter.  **Ask you child which character or book they are writing about and what their opinion is.  

2 take aways from our CAP presentation on Monday were to be sure to say "NO!" if a stranger tries to talk to you or makes you a little nervous.  We also talked about sticking up for ourselves and sticking up for our friends.

1 thing Judah wants you to know about this week is we learned different ways to split numbers when adding in math.

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Week ending 4/10/15

We've had quite a busy week!  We've started new units, such as Folktales, and are working on finishing up other units, such as China and math Unit 9.
Important information:

• Monday is Red Sox day…wear Red Sox gear or red, white, and/or blue to cheer on our team!
• Vacation is April 19-26.  Please let me know if your child will be out before or after.  Thanks.
• May 7th, a Thursday, is an Early Release day.

3, 2, 1 things you should know about our week…

3 learning ideas we worked on in social studies are: China's Forbidden City was built with many features to protect the Emperor and keep others out.  China has rural and urban areas, as many cities do, and we watched a video describing two children's days and how they differ based on where they live.  We learned about Yikang's day and compared it to our day, our routines, and activities.  Ask your child about one of these ideas.  We will be finishing our China lessons next week and then complete an alphabet book on China after vacation.  

2 math skills we have been practicing are comparing lengths of objects and understanding what capacity means.  We will finish Unit 9 this week and next week will begin Unit 10 on place value, money, and making change problem solving.  

1 thing Advik wants you to know about fables is that fables are stories that are not true and there are animal characters.

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Week ending 4/2/15

Hello Families!
Instead of a regular blog post this week since it's a short week…I wanted to call attention to a two activities we participated in.  In the post below you'll see what happened at the Chinese Cultural Center.  Below are some pictures from todays in school program called Life Cycles from the Museum of Science.
Ask your child their favorite part and what they've learned!
Enjoy!

Chinese Cultural Center

Hello families!  I tried to email some pictures but it didn't seem to send to anyone so I thought I'd post online for everyone to see!  We had a wonderful time and the students were so well behaved and interested in everything!
Enjoy!