WHAT TALENT!!!!

   WHOO WHEE does the Wyman School have talent.  All who attended would certainly agree that the show last night was MAGNIFICENT.  Every act was brilliant and I may be biased but I think the second graders stole the show.  What a fantastic opportunity it was to showcase our mad crazy skills and develop some serious confidence.  It was AWESOME!!!

Back in Full Swing

     Welcome back.  I hope everyone had a wonderful vacation.  Although I didn't go away, I had lots of fun with my boys.  All the students seem to be well rested and back into the routine, which is good because we are busy, busy, busy.

     We have been reading more Froggy books by Jonathan London.  We read some before vacation and LOVED them so I went to the library and stocked up.  We have TONS and the children are begging me to read them.

      We also got some really exciting news today.  My great friend is a second grade teacher in South Carolina (which is why I "allowed" my daughter Kaycie to go to Clemson because I knew my friend could be there if needed-I actually narrowed her out of state search to the Carolinas ) and her class has agreed to be our PEN PALS.  The children are EXCITED and we are going to start writing ASAP.  I promised that our letters would be ready to mail by the end of next week.  YIPPEE

     February is almost over.  That means spring is just around the corner.  Tomorrow we have library so remember to return those books.  The talent show is this Friday and my understanding is that we have some VERY TALENTED second graders performing.  I'm super excited for that.  Next Wednesday, March 6th, is walking Wednesday, lets win that trophy back.   Friday, March 8th, is our field trip.  We will be back in time for lunch so nothing special needs to be done there.  March 14 is a half day, so mark those calendars.

     As always, never hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.  Parent/teacher communication is essential and never a bother.

LOVE

      I feel sooo loved!  Being a teacher totally rocks......especially on Valentine's Day when I'm  flooded with so many tokens of love.  I appreciate it all and thank everyone from the bottom of my heart.

Sampling of my goodies

     We read one of my favorite books for Valentine's Day today,  Froggy's First Kiss.  I love the surprise ending.  It's POSITIVELY what I would expect from my sons when the time comes.  HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!!

Valentine's Day

     I hope everyone enjoyed being snowed in for a few days.  I did!  Although, I was ready to head back to school this morning.  We have a lot to do before Feb. vacation.  This week we will be presenting our animal projects to each other.  We will have the spelling test we missed on Friday, on Wednesday.  That gives us a day to review the words in class.  We will celebrate the 100th day of school with some fun writing assignments. And most importantly, we need to decorate our Valentine mailboxes for our party on Thursday.  As with our Halloween and Christmas parties, the children should bring in their OWN extra snack and drink for Valentine's Day.  They should also bring in Valentines to share with their classmates: 6 boys and 8 girls.  Don't forget Miss Dulong our high school helper.  She would make 9 girls.  The students made their own class lists last week but I will send another one home Tuesday to ensure no one is accidentally overlooked.  Please remember NO SWEETS are allowed to be passed around and shared.  So be sure your child's Valentines do not include any candies.

     Congratulations, it seems like my note home last week worked.  Most students are hitting the XTRAMATH hard and scores are rocketing.  Keep up the good work!  There are quite a few first graders that are already on subtraction.  At the rate everyone worked last week,  those first graders will have NOTHING on us!!!!!

Special Guest

       
      On Monday  Danielle, a high school junior, stayed with us for the day as part of a job "shadowing" program.  Teaching is ABSOLUTELY her calling.  She is a total natural.  The kids took to her immediately and we had a great day.  I think staying for the whole day is perfect.  She really got a chance to see what a school day is like.  She said she liked it.  I sure hope we didn't scare her away (hee hee hee).

     The dioramas are coming in and boy are they great.  I'll start posting some pictures soon.  We have started taking the information from the homework sheet and turning it into paragraphs.  It's going SMOOTHLY.  WHOO HOO.  Next week we will be ready to present our projects to the class.

     Our first field trip is coming up.  We will be attending a theater performance at Chelmsford High School the first week of March.  Both the kindergartners and first graders will be joining us.  A notice will be coming home very shortly with all the facts.

     I think we have the hang of telling time.  Keep on practicing.  Money will be sneaking up on us.  Make sure your child already knows the names and amounts of each coin.  It will make their math lives much easier.

     Tomorrow is Walking Wednesday.  I forgot to remind everyone.  I hope we win that trophy back.

REMINDER:  Gym Wednesday, Parent/Teacher conferences Thursday,  Xtramath 4 times a week

Great Day

     We really had a great day today.  The children were working hard and were on task all day.  What a difference a day when everyone is on the same page makes.  We got so much done and had fun doing it.  Here are some highlights.  We measured our Souper Bowl chain.  It was 7 yards and 24 inches long.  We used the yard sticks we made to measure.  We estimated and then counted how many links on our chain-88 links.  How fabulous is that?  Mrs. Connolly will make sure that all the food items collected are delivered to a family in need and we thank her for all her work in coordinating this event.

     Last week the fifth grade had a reading day as part of a fundraiser for their class activities. As part of that, they came and read with us.  We all read a Cam Jansen book.  Today we met up with them again to read some more of our story.  It was a great success and enjoyed by all.  Mrs. Raposa and I are hoping to team up again before the year is through.

     We are telling time, so practice on an analog clock (the kind with a face and hands).  It's tricky if the students don't have experience because most of the clocks they see are digital.

     We have been reading about habitats and animal adaptations which coincide with our animal projects.  We will be turning our informational sheets, that have been completed, into paragraphs within the next week.  Be sure to work on your diorama.  Mrs. Cotter's class has completed theirs and they look great.    Here's a friendly reminder, this should be fun for your student and it's THEIR project.  Enjoy!!

     This week we've been reading stories about Big Anthony and Strega Nona by Tommie DePaola.  We have a few more yet to read and they've been fun.

     Report card go home on Friday and next Thursday, Feb. 7, from 2:45-4:45 is conferences.  I plan on sending home a form for time requests tomorrow.  Let me know if there is a particular time that works best for you and I will try to be as accommodating as I can.

     Today, all around, was great.  The children were well behaved, we got a lot of work done, I had a great/informative meeting with Mrs. Zottoli and Ms. Cotter. I received a nice note from a parent making me feel appreciated and I even had time to clean up my desk and brought lots of stuff home to sort (your child knows how much a cluttered desk freaks me out).  Here's to more days like today!!!!

   

GERMS

     We've got 'em.  There was A LOT of coughing, sneezing and nose blowing today.  We went through one LARGE box of tissues and even had to bring them along to gym class.  Tomorrow morning we will attempt to disinfect our room with Clorox wipes.  At the rate we are going we will be running out soon so please consider picking up some wipes or tissues for the class the next time you are shopping.

     The children all seem to be happy with the animals they've picked for their projects.  A student from next door already finished her diorama and shared it with our class today.  Your child should now have an excellent idea of what is expected.

     We are so close to our goal of making our Souper Bowl chain reach across the chalk board.  I thank you for your generosity.  We have just a little over a yard (we made our own yard sticks today) of paper chain left to make it and two weeks to do it.

     We started our Me on the Map book today.  We've finished only two ovals of our book (the first page of our handout).  Ask your child to tell you all about it.

     Tomorrow we are having a guest reader.  Mrs. Zotolli is going to come in and read a story about Ruby Bridges.  We learned a little bit about Ruby while reading about Martin Luther King Jr.  There is a perfectly good reason why I couldn't read the story to the class.  Want to know why?  You can ask your student that too.

      Term 2 ends this Friday.  Today we "reviewed" how second graders work.  We made and signed a poster that is hanging in the front of the room to remind us.  It includes.......writes neatly, reads directions carefully, checks his/her work, starts and finishes on time, writes name on paper, asks questions when needed etc.  All things that we ALREADY know but we NEEDED refreshing and I'm expecting results. :-)