Guest Reader

     As part of the school spelling challenge, 2nd grade was treated to a special guest reader. Mrs. Alison Wackrow read three books to the combined second graders.  She did a fantastic job and the students really enjoyed it.

     We voted on which "wear a word" shirt I should wear Friday.  There was an overwhelming vote for a Patriot Tee.  I'm sort of disappointed, I was pushing for the Clemson one.  It's SUPER comfy and they are playing BC  this week.  I may have to make an executive decision and override the vote.

Say Cheese

      Another reminder that picture day is this Thursday.  It's been a crazy week.  I always have BIG plans and the week flies by with me only denting the list.  We have been reading Mr. Putter plays.  Not sure the children this year love reading plays as much as in the past.  I think they are wanting to perform.  Not sure I have the energy time for that.  We'll have to wait and see.  We read a lot of plays during the year.  As their reading improves, they will be able to READ more in character and hopefully that will be enough for them.  

      We also started reading Amber Brown is not a Crayon.  Actually for the first half chapter we started listening to it on CD.  The narrator was AWFUL.  So we stopped the CD and I took turns with some students reading aloud.    We have finished two chapters about Amber and her best friend Justin.  It inspired us to write and illustrate a paragraph or two about our best friends.  

      In honor of the spelling challenge, Friday is "wear a shirt with words" day.  I've narrowed it down to either my Red Sox, Patriot or Clemson Tiger tee.  (Easy to narrow seeings how those are my only wordy shirts).  It's a tough decision.  Maybe I'll have the kids vote on it tomorrow.  The principal also gave the whole school a challenge to spell MASSACHUSETTS correctly.  I'm proud to say that I was the star speller one student came so close.  He just forgot to double the last T.  I think that is super impressive.  Now I know who my go to speller will be when I get stumped.  Don't forget to keep plugging away at xtramath.  Memorizing those facts will make life easier.

PICTURE DAY

     This Thursday is picture day.  You know what that means.  I'll oversleep and rush into school with bed head and yesterday's make-up on.  It aways seems to be the way.
     We just finished up a great week.  We have been reading Poppleton stories.  Ask your child to tell you what I love most about Poppleton and the Grapefruit.  I laugh every time I hear that story. Next week we will continue reading more stories from Cynthia Rylant (Poppleton's author).  We will read lots of stories from the Mr. Putter and Tabby series. We'll even become characters and read them as plays.  That always seems to be something my students have enjoyed.   She is also the author of the Henry and Mudge series, all easy to read beginner chapter books. We also plan on reading an Amber Brown book by Paula Danziger, another series that is at a reading level step above Cynthia Rylant's.  I have that book on CD so we may do some listening from that.
     I hope everyone is enjoying this blog.  My hope is that this blog will give you a peek at what is going on in class.  I know how frustrating it is, as a parent to ask "What did you do at school today?" and get the answer "nothing" or "I don't know".  Hopefully, this will give you and your student a springboard for some great conversations.  Happy first day of fall.  GO CLEMSON

Computer Time

Today we went to the computer lab and started our XTRAMATH journey.  The children took their online placement tests and should be playing at the right level for them.  Hopefully, you received your instructions on how to set up XTRAMATH at home.  XTRAMATH is a timed math program that progresses in difficulty as children master facts.  After addition, it moves onto subtraction, then multiplication and even division for those who are up for the challenge.  It's important that you sign up correctly because your child can earn certificates and get credit from the reports the program generates for me.  One of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for math is to memorize math facts up to twenty.  This program will certainly help do that. 

Spellingcity is another fun site.  This one is for practicing our spelling words.  Search for POTAMIS in the search teacher window and our lists are there for you to explore.  The links to both spellingcity and xtramath are right on this page under links for easy access.

Reminder: Wednesday is an early release day.  Dismissal is at 12:30.  Thursday is OPEN HOUSE NIGHT from 6-8.  Please make every effort to attend.  I have so much to share. 

Big Week

Well it really isn't a big week but it IS the first full week of school and we are jumping right into it.  Hopefully we all make it through.  Today we started in on some of our reading and workbooks.  I can't remind you enough to READ with your children EVERY NIGHT.  I'm telling you, it will make a WORLD of difference.  We also went to the computer room.  We had a firedrill and worked on cool posters that we will hang out in the hall for all to view on back to school night, which is next Thursday, Sept. 20th from 6-8.  Don't forget to mark your calendars.  Wednesday, we have gym and this Thursday, the Woburn Police Department will be presenting a program on bicycle safety to the first and second graders.  BUSY BUSY BUSY

Here's a little something that made me smile from last week.  The children were asked to write what they were most looking forward to this year.  Some wrote recess, others wrote math (yippee).  There were two that had me giggling.  One student was looking forward to the last day of school (can't blame him) another was looking forward to third grade.  Apparently, that student can't wait to get out.  hee hee

First Day

Phew! We all survived. It was a great day! We played a get to know each other game. We had to ask classmates questions and they put their initials on our sheet if it matched them. Apparently, I was the the only one who wears glasses so I got to fill out that square on everyone's paper.  We played an I Have, Who Has game to see how much we knew about the school.  We then read a book titled First Day Jitters.  Ask your child about the surprise ending. We talked about things that may have made us nervous before school started and even wrote about a few of them.  I told them I was afraid the children would be mean.  We had recess that EVERYONE thought was much shorter than last year (it wasn't).  The students wrote a bit about themselves and what they enjoyed this summer.  We even had a practice fire drill.  Our classroom had to double as the lunch room today because of elections.  It was a fun day. Hopefully everyone is willing to come back tomorrow because we have GYM (always a class favorite) so please wear appropriate shoes.

Help Wanted

Today was the first "official" working day for teachers. I'm exhausted but pretty close to being ready for the children to start on Thursday. I hope they are excited.

I could use a little help. I would appreciate if someone was willing to do some cutting out at home. It's not a lot, I promise. Just some game cards I laminated. I also would love if someone would be willing to tape up some notebook covers, about 6 of them. I know that sounds weird but it's another easy task. Don't need any of it back until Monday. Please shoot me an email if you are interested. On back to school night I'll be doing some more recruiting so get ready.