Week ending 9/19/14

Hi Families,
I hope you've been able to get out and enjoy the fall weather!  It's beautiful!  I'm glad many of you could come in for Open House.  I hope you found the evening informational and helpful.

A few things to remember:
* All the Open House items that would have been passed out are now on my website under "Open House".  Please take a look when you can.
* Thursday, there is no school.  Enjoy the day with your families.
* A reminder about dismissal…please send a note in the morning or tell me the day before if your child will have a change in how they go home.  It's really important, for all the students' safety, that I know where they are going after school.  Sometimes a parent will want to take a friend, yet there's been a miscommunication, and the parent shows up to get the child.  It can make everyone worried until it's worked out.  We don't want that to happen.  Any child going home with someone different (unless you've told me otherwise), will need a note or I'll be calling you.  Thank you so much for your help with this.
* Picture day is October 1st so be sure to sign up online or send in the form.  Thanks!
* I've been having a glitch somewhere on my blog so it's not posting correctly.  The most current one may post but then one from January as well.  I'm working with the IT person to fix this!

I'm going to try something different with my blog posts…it's a 3, 2, 1 format.  Hope you like it!

3 skills we worked on this week: We worked on reading a thermometer and telling the temperature.  We practiced making connections to the read aloud story, Sheila Rae the Brave by Kevin Henkes.  We started working on our small moments narrative writing and we're focusing on telling the story across 5 fingers to be sure we have enough but also talking about the details that are really important.

2 questions to ask you child: What are some words you can use to describe (any object you choose) if you were observing it?  What is our morning meeting greeting we've been doing lately?  (Hint: What's the news?)

1 thing to try at home this week: The penny plate game we learned in math is a great way to work on addition skills!  Hide 10-15 pennies (be sure to tell your child how many) under the plate.  Have your child turn around and then put some pennies on top of the plate.  Now, ask your child to say how many are on the plate and how many are hiding.  Now your child hides pennies for you.  It's a great activity for addition and subtraction skills and number sense.

Enjoy the weekend!
Megan

Just testing again!

Open House Schedule

Below is our schedule foe Open House this year:

6:00-6:25          PTO meet and greet- Gymnasium

6:30 to 6:55 PM:  Principal and PTO Welcome- Auditorium 

7:05 to 7:35 PM:  Grades 1: in the first grade classrooms

                     Grade 2: in ART room - then back to our classroom for a few minutes

                     Kindergarten: in Auditorium

7:05 to 7:35 PM:  Grades 3-5 families meet with Special Area teachers

• In Library       Art, Library, Music, P.E.H.W
• Room 210         Special Education Teacher, Speech & Language Therapist, Psychologist, Social Worker and Inclusion Facilitators
• Room 216         Curriculum Resource Center- Literacy Coach and Math Coach

7:40 to 8:10 PM:  Grades 3: in the third grade classrooms

                      Gr. 4: in Room 203

                      Gr. 5 in Auditorium

7:40 to 8:10 PM: Grades K-2 Special Area teachers in library

• In Library       Art, Library, Music, P.E.H.W
• Room 210         Special Education Teacher, Speech & Language Therapist, Psychologist, Social Worker and Inclusion Facilitators
• Room 216         Curriculum Resource Center- Literacy Coach and Math Coach  

Questions to ask your child….

If your house is like ours, asking your child "What did you learn today?", may get you a "Nothing" or an "I don't remember."  I can tell you that we really did work and learn all day!  Asking questions about their day is a great way to learn how their day went and what they're learning.
Here's some questions to help get you started from Creativefamilyfun.net and other ideas …

• Who did you sit by at lunch?
• Who did you play with at recess?
• What did you do in your special?
• What math skill did you practice today?
• What activities did you do in morning meeting?
• Did you have science or social studies today?  If yes, what did you do?
• Did anything surprise you today? 
• Tell me something nice that you did for someone today.
• Did someone do something nice for you today?
• What did you write about today?
• What book did your teacher read to you today?  What do you like about that book?
• What book did YOU read (or listen to) today?
• Did anything make you sad today?

Week ending 9/12/14

Hello families!  We've had a great first week!  We continue to take time to get to know each other, learn classroom routines and expectations, and start working on our academic skills.
Important information you need to know:

• Open House for parents is on Tuesday starting at 6:00 with meeting with the PTO followed by our principal and vice principal, then meet with classroom teachers in K-2 (GRADE 2 will be in the music room near the auditorium to start, then we will come back to our room for a few minutes to do an activity for your child), followed by 3-5.  I have added the important documents typically given out to my website, under the Open House tab.  Also added there is 2nd grade classroom policies and common language informationPlease see them there as they will not go home.  
• Our specials each week are: 
• Monday is library - bring your books back
• Tuesday is PE - remember your sneakers
• Wednesday is PE and music - remember your sneakers
• Friday is art - wear clothes that can become artsy
• If you haven't added yourself to my blog updates, please do on the blog page under "Follow me by email".  Thanks!

What's been happening in room 250?

We've worked a lot this week on coming together as a community.  We've written our hopes and dreams for the school year and they've been placed on the bulletin board so we can see them all year.   The class brainstormed classroom rules and each one of us signed them to be recognize we all agree to try our best to follow them.  I've also introduced our "rest stop" area.  This is a calming station in our room where students may go if I ask them to sit there after repeated redirection or they may choose to go when they're feeling sad, tired, frustrated, or upset.  Ask you child what they can do in rest stop and strategies for getting themselves ready to get back on task.

In literacy, we've started talking about why we choose different books (by genre, author, topic, etc.), the places we love to read, types/genres of books, and expectations of reading workshop.  We've also been building our reading stamina by reading to ourselves and charting the number of minutes we are a all reading.  The most we've read is 35 minutes!  We've talked about how reading is reading the words and "reading" the pictures.  This helps the students feel successful no matter where they are in their reading journey.  Next week, we'll talk more about how to choose a book that's just right for them.  

In math, we've worked on number scrolls, math boxes, coins, dollars, and telling time.  Much of unit 1 is practice to be sure we're all ready to continue on after the summer.  Next week, we'll be working in groups and with partners to practice our money  and addition skills and review temperature.

During writing workshop, we've been writing about our summers and next week we'll start talking about tiny seed stories to start our narrative writing unit.

Hope to see you all at Open House!  Enjoy the weekend!

:)

Week of 9/5/14

Hello families!

Can you believe the first week of school is over already!  It's gone by so fast!

Important information:

* Thank you for your help at dismissal.  I've been giving the kids a high five before they can leave so they have to tell me that you are there.  Doing that helps me learn your faces and assures the children are leaving with an adult.  

* If there are any changes at all to dismissal, please send in a note and have your child place it in the red box, "Notes for Ms. DeKing".  Emails can work as well if you know in advance, but sometimes the day of can be hard if I can't check the email or there is a connection issue.  Thank you for your help with this.  

* Open House is Tuesday, September 16th.  The schedule is: 6-6:30 PTO open house for families in gym, 6:30-6:55 Principal, Assistant Principal, and PTO welcome, 7:05-7:35 meet with K-2 in classrooms (3-5 families meet in library with special area teachers), and 7:40-8:10 3-5 classrooms (K-2 meet in library with special area teachers).  I hope you can join us!

* Thursday, September 25, there is no school.  

What's happening in room 250?

I think we are off to a great start!  We've been learning each other's names, the classroom routines, the schedule, getting morning work and morning meeting underway, and meeting new staff and friends.  It can take a few weeks for the routines to be solid in place and for things to run smoothly and faster.  Right now, as we learn new expectations, where items are in the classroom, how to use different materials, and adjust to a new year...things can take awhile to get done.  Once the routines and expectations are in place, things just fall into place and we all know what to expect and we accomplish ALOT!  

This week, we started talking about coins and the calendar.  We wrote about our week in 2nd grade, listened to many read alouds, worked on  portraits, and wrote our hopes and dreams.  Next week, we'll begin Fundations (phonics review), review clocks in math, and write our classroom rules.  We write our rules based on our hopes and dreams for the school year.  In order to meet our hopes for the year, which rules are most important for us to have?  We work together to create rules that are appropriate and easy to understand.  

During the month of September, we will be reviewing math topics learned in first grade, assessing reading to be sure they are in a guided reading group that is appropriate for their strengths and needs, and assessing their writing skills.  The assessing now, will help me understand where the students are in their learning and guide my instruction.  

Thank you for helping your children feel positive and excited about school!  I can see their excitement and it's wonderful!

If you ever have any questions, don't hesitate to  let me know!

Mrs. DeKing

Jitter Glitter

Are you ready for Tuesday?  Don't forget to put the "Jitter Glitter" you received under your pillow!
Can't wait to see you all Tuesday morning in room 250!

Welcome to 2nd Grade in Room 250!

Hello Families!
I'm so excited to start school with you in just a few days!  I hope you had a great summer!  What was your favorite part?  I loved going camping and spending time on the Cape.  Are you excited to start school?  I know I am!  I have to tell you I'm a little nervous too!  You might be too but it'll be a great day!  We'll get to know each other, learn the names of our new friends, take a tour of the school, play some games, and  have snack.  We'll also have a special before we end the day together.  When you come to school…bring your curiosity, imagination, and willingness to learn (don't forget a small snack too :)).
Looking forward to Tuesday!
Mrs. DeKing

Final update for the year!

Hello Families!
I can't believe the school year is so close to being done!  We only have 5 days left after today!
Our last day of school is next Friday, the 20th, with a 12:00 dismissal.
It's been a busy week finishing up our unit on Ghana, practicing our math skills and challenging ourselves with math circle sums, writing poetry about our year and the summer, and having a closing circle each day to leave on a positive note.  We also finished sharing our projects!  They were fabulous and we learned so much!  A huge thank you so much to those that were able  to make it this past Wednesday to our celebration!  The students were so thrilled to share their work with you and share what they're proud of and their strengths. Don't forget…in the bag is the end of the year trick word test and math test.  Please look at these and use them to help your child get even more prepared for next year.
Don't forget to check out "What did we learn this week?" to see our favorite memory of 2nd grade!
As the year comes to a close next week, I want to thank all of you for your support and commitment to your child, me, and the whole class.  I feel very lucky to have had a wonderful group of students this year and I'm amazed at how far they've all come in their own ways!
I wish all of you a wonderful, safe, and happy summer and I look forward to seeing them in the hallways next year!
Thank you again!
Megan DeKing

Weekly Update 6/6/14

It's June!  I'm sure your child is very excited!  I know I am!  Did you get a chance to go to Springfest?  I took my daughter and she had a great time!  It's nice to see our families outside of school time.  I love this time of year…it's great to be finishing up units, work on some other activities that allow us to have some more fun and socially interact more, see their progress since the beginning of the year, and get outside with the better weather!
Here's some important dates to keep in mind…
* If your child hasn't brought in their projects yet, please do so on Monday so we have time to share!
* Wednesday is our parent celebration at 2:00.  We hope you can make it!  If you can't, don't worry, I'll still be sending all their work home that day.
* Tuesday, the 17, is Color Day!  It's a great day for fun, good sportsmanship, and lots of laughs!  I'll be sending home more info next week regarding t-shirt color.
* The last day is Friday, June 20.  Dismissal is at 12:00!

This week, we've been finishing up a lot of activities and started a few new ones!  In reading, we continue to work on poetry and noticing poetry features.  I've also completed the end of year assessments and they all improved so much!  We will keep working on poetry and also focus on some end of the year and summer books.  In writing workshop, we've been writing poetry such as list poems, place poems, haiku, cinquain, and a poem when two voices read.  It's been great to see their creativity come out!  We'll continue writing poems as well as start reflecting on the whole year.  We've also been taking a trick word test based on the trick words we've worked on through Fundations this year.  The test will go home in their bags on Wednesday.  Please look for it and practice any words missed over the summer so they are more prepared for next year.  In math, we've been reviewing all our units we've covered, including clocks, telling time, interpreting graphs, adding and subtracting, and problem solving.  We also took the unit 12 test and the end of the year test.  This will also go home and can give you an idea of somethings to practice this summer so your child doesn't lose anything learned.  In science, we let our butterflies go last week and it was awesome to see them fly away!  We now have a Cabbage White butterfly and hopefully will have one more soon.  We've made charts and diagrams of the butterfly and plant life cycle.  In social studies, we started working on Ghana by focusing on it's location and the parts of the flag.  We also had a great time before library!  We Skyped with our pen pals in New York!  It was a bit fuzzy and all but the kids loved it nonetheless!

I hope everyone has a nice weekend!
Megan