Unity Day

     This Wednesday is Unity Day.  A day to take a stand and unite against bullying.  We have been asked to wear orange to show our support to this worthy cause.
     This week we will be starting to read Frog and Toad stories.  There are many different stories in this series and they are fun.   Perhaps we'll even have time for a frog/toad craft.  We finished reading Amber Brown is Not a Crayon and will now move on to Vampires Don't Wear Polka Dots, a Bailey School Kids book.  I'll do all the reading in this chapter book because I only have one copy.  It's a fun story about a class that thinks their new teacher is a vampire.  I have many different titles in the Bailey School Kids series and I'm hoping that they will be inspired to read more of them after this one.  It's always a class favorite.
   
   

WE WON!!!!!

WHOOP WHOOP    I told you......it's FANTASTIC!  We can proudly display this in our class for the ENTIRE month.   We won by a landslide.  We had an astounding 92% of our class walk to school today. (I rode my bike)  We were ecstatic and wrote about it in our journals.  We also had art for the first time this week.  It was an exciting day.

Walking Wednesday

     One Wednesday a month will be "walking Wednesday".  Children are encouraged to walk to school that day.  If walking is just not an option then carpooling is encouraged.  The class with the highest percentage of walkers will get a SUPER COOL trophy to keep in their class for the month.  I'm not going to lie........I WANT THAT TROPHY.  I'll post a picture of it soon.  It's a beauty.  We have a whole year to win it and my fingers are crossed.  Lets hope the weather cooperates for walking tomorrow.
     Tomorrow is spelling challenge test day and the last day to return pledges.  We had another lucky raffle winner today.  She'll be enjoying a movie at Showcase Cinema with her free pass.  Mrs. Reybitz  visited and played memory today with both classes.  We practiced our words and everyone won 2 prizes.  Be sure to introduce yourself to Mrs. Reybitz if you get a chance.  She is fantastic and new to Woburn.
     We have started our science unit on space today.  I sent home a calendar to fill in the phases of the moon for the month of October.  This isn't for a grade.  I'm hoping the students check out the moon enough this month to see the pattern in the changes.  Certainly, if they bring it in at the end of the month, they will get a sticker and big smiley face but if it gets lost in the shuffle, no worries.
       In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.  You know what that means?  Monday is a DAY OFF.  A special shout out to Christopher for believing the world was not flat.  I hope everyone enjoys their long weekend.

Spelling Challenge

     We have a winner!  One lucky student in our class won a gift certificate to McDonalds for bringing in his spelling challenge pledges.   The forms are due on Wednesday but tomorrow they will be having another raffle for anyone who has already passed them in.  Mrs. Concannon was our special guest this morning.  She played hangman with the combined second grade classes to help us practice our words.  It's was super fun and we were thrilled to have her.  Our spelling challenge test will be on Wednesday and I'm CONFIDENT we will all get perfect scores.

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