I can't believe my time in this class is almost done. The time really flew by. Tomorrow is my last day and then I will be here on Jan. 2nd to help with the transition. I am so sad to be leaving. I feel so grateful that I was able to spend the last few months with such an amazing group of kids. They really are such caring, genuine, helpful kids. I couldn't have asked for a better class. I could go on and on but I'm sure you already know how great your kids are! Mrs. Manders is excited to come back because I have been keeping her up to date with everything and she knows what a nice class she is coming back to. I know the transition will go smoothly for everyone.
The students finished up their world map projects this week and you should have seen them come home yesterday with their grade. We went to the computer lab yesterday and tried a new website: maps101.com. They got to play a game that focused on the cardinal directions and also tried completing a world map puzzle at different levels.
In math, the students have been learning different strategies for adding 2-digit numbers and regrouping. They will be continuing this unit after break as well.
Just a reminder that the CogAt practice tests will be the week they get back from break. Also tomorrow is hibernation day so the kids can wear PJs and we will be watching a movie.
Thank you all so much for a great first half of the year and for all your help and support. I will be back to visit as often as possible!
Have a wonderful holiday!
Lia
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Let it Snow!
I hope everyone is enjoying our first big snowfall! It doesn't make driving fun but the kids are loving it!
This week in math we are adding numbers to 100, estimating based on groups of 10, distinguishing between odd and even numbers, and adding two-digit numbers.
In Reader's Workshop, we finished up our unit on Wondering about fiction texts. We read many books and students wrote down any questions they wondered about. We learned that usually our questions were answered in the story but not always. Students also practiced this in their independent reading books. This week, students were given their new word sorts. They should be practicing at home as well as in school. We met with our 5th grade buddies and read the book Snowflake Bentley. Then they made their own snowflakes. It was a lot of fun!
In Writer's Workshop, we finished up our letter-writing unit. Students are in the process this week of finishing their final copies of their letter to their 5th grade buddy. They also wrote an acrostic poem about snow, which they will illustrate so we can hang them in the hallway. We have been learning about past, present and future tense verbs and will start learning about irregular verbs this week.
We completed our weather unit in Science. Students enjoyed learning about and practicing how to measure weather and observe weather changes. They measured wind by using windsocks outside and observed clouds to predict weather. They also learned about types of severe weather and how to be prepared for dangerous weather.
We started Social Studies this week. The students will be learning about our world. So far, they learned about the 7 continents and 4 oceans. This week, they will be labeling and coloring in a blank world map. This project will take a few days.
Just a reminder that book orders are due tomorrow 12/12. Also, our winter party is scheduled for Thursday, December 20th at 1:30.
I am so sad my time in this class is coming to an end. They are such a fun, and caring group of kids!
Stay warm!
Monday, November 26, 2012
2nd Quarter Begins!
I hope everyone had a nice break and holiday! We have 4 full weeks left until winter break and a lot to get done! We started our writing unit on letter writing before break and will continue this week. So far, the class has written to me and their writing partners. We have also discussed the 5 parts of a friendly letter. They will continue writing letters to various people, including a family member and their 5th grade buddy. This is a fun unit and the students are really enjoying it!
We finished up our author study on Kevin Henkes. We read many of his entertaining books. The students were able to make many connections to some of the characters in these books since Kevin Henkes writes most of his books about experiences familiar to children. We made a class graph, charting our favorite Kevin Henkes books, created a class book about a time when they felt brave, based on Sheila Rae, the Brave, compared characters in the books using a Venn diagram, and made posters about each of the Kevin Henkes mouse characters they read about. This week we will be starting our reading unit on wondering. In this unit, the students will be listening to many books and practicing stopping to think about what they are wondering.
Please continue to practice word sorts with your children at home. A new sort went home today.
In science, we are starting our last chapter in weather. The last chapter we finished focused on weather changes and patterns. A graded quiz will be coming home today as well. This next chapter focuses on weather tools and how weather is measured.
We also started our new math geometry unit today. It is only 3 lessons so we will be testing on Friday already. We will be focusing on properties of squares, rectangles, and triangles and finding perimeters, as well as learing about parallel lines, parallelograms and quadrilaterals. I sent home a ruler with a few students who said they didn't have one at home for homework. If your child borrowed one please make sure it comes back Friday. Thank you!
Have a great week!
We finished up our author study on Kevin Henkes. We read many of his entertaining books. The students were able to make many connections to some of the characters in these books since Kevin Henkes writes most of his books about experiences familiar to children. We made a class graph, charting our favorite Kevin Henkes books, created a class book about a time when they felt brave, based on Sheila Rae, the Brave, compared characters in the books using a Venn diagram, and made posters about each of the Kevin Henkes mouse characters they read about. This week we will be starting our reading unit on wondering. In this unit, the students will be listening to many books and practicing stopping to think about what they are wondering.
Please continue to practice word sorts with your children at home. A new sort went home today.
In science, we are starting our last chapter in weather. The last chapter we finished focused on weather changes and patterns. A graded quiz will be coming home today as well. This next chapter focuses on weather tools and how weather is measured.
We also started our new math geometry unit today. It is only 3 lessons so we will be testing on Friday already. We will be focusing on properties of squares, rectangles, and triangles and finding perimeters, as well as learing about parallel lines, parallelograms and quadrilaterals. I sent home a ruler with a few students who said they didn't have one at home for homework. If your child borrowed one please make sure it comes back Friday. Thank you!
Have a great week!
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Friday, November 2, 2012
Fall Party Fun!
Thank you to all the parents who contributed or volunteered at our fall party. The kids had a great time doing relay races, making a fun craft and eating yummy snacks! Pictures will be up on the website soon!
We had a lot of exciting experiences this week, including our Fall party, meeting our 5th grade buddies and mix-it up day at lunch. The mix-it up day gave students a chance to sit with students from a different class to learn more about them. They really enjoyed this!
In Reader's Workshop, we started an author study on Kevin Henkes. Over the next couple of weeks we will be reading and comparing many of his books and doing a variety of activities to go along with them. Today we read Sheila Rae, the Brave and each child wrote about a time when they felt brave. Their writings will be made into a class book!
In Writer's Workshop, we are still finishing up our friend narratives. The children learned editing marks to use when editing their writing. We also started talking about scary sentences to give us ideas for our scary stories.
In Math, we began our 3rd unit, which is on story problems. We will be solving and creating different types of story problems for the next few weeks. I sent home the Unit 2 test today. Please go over it with your child. You should have also seen their spelling test sent home yesterday.
In Social Studies, the children learned about the voting process and practiced it by filling out a registration form, researching the topic (Should recycling be a law?), getting a ballot and voting.
We will be going to the new computer lab once a week now. This week the students practiced typing with Dance Mat Typing.
**Reminder-Lauren Larson benefit is Sunday at the Prior Lake VFW from 4-9. You can buy tickets at the door if you haven't bought them yet.
Have a great weekend!
We had a lot of exciting experiences this week, including our Fall party, meeting our 5th grade buddies and mix-it up day at lunch. The mix-it up day gave students a chance to sit with students from a different class to learn more about them. They really enjoyed this!
In Reader's Workshop, we started an author study on Kevin Henkes. Over the next couple of weeks we will be reading and comparing many of his books and doing a variety of activities to go along with them. Today we read Sheila Rae, the Brave and each child wrote about a time when they felt brave. Their writings will be made into a class book!
In Writer's Workshop, we are still finishing up our friend narratives. The children learned editing marks to use when editing their writing. We also started talking about scary sentences to give us ideas for our scary stories.
In Math, we began our 3rd unit, which is on story problems. We will be solving and creating different types of story problems for the next few weeks. I sent home the Unit 2 test today. Please go over it with your child. You should have also seen their spelling test sent home yesterday.
In Social Studies, the children learned about the voting process and practiced it by filling out a registration form, researching the topic (Should recycling be a law?), getting a ballot and voting.
We will be going to the new computer lab once a week now. This week the students practiced typing with Dance Mat Typing.
**Reminder-Lauren Larson benefit is Sunday at the Prior Lake VFW from 4-9. You can buy tickets at the door if you haven't bought them yet.
Have a great weekend!
Friday, October 26, 2012
Reading and Writing and Math Oh My!
It was great getting to talk to all of you at conferences! We are lucky to have a class filled with caring, helpful students. We have finished our first chapter on Weather. The students learned about different types of weather and how the sun affects Earth. We are switching to Social Studies for a few weeks and will continue Weather next month. In Social Studies, we discussed our local government and focused on the rights and responsiblities of citizens. The students came up with great examples of how they can be good citizens in their communities as well as in our classroom! Next week we will be focusing on voting and do a mock vote in our classroom.
In Reader's Workshop, we are finishing up our unit on making connections. The students have been practicing making connections to various books through partner sharing, post-it notes and reading responses. They also completed Venn diagrams to find similarities and differences between them and a character we read about. We also started our new word sort this week. You should have gotten the copy of their sorts at home with ideas for practicing them.
In Writer's Workshop, the students have been working on personal narratives about a friend. We discussed the importance of adding descriptive words in their writing and they practiced adding some to their stories. We also wrote letters to Lauren Larson, a third grader who is battling cancer.
In math, we started our Measurement unit. The students have been practicing using a centimeter ruler to measure the sides of squares, rectangles, and triangles and also learned how to find the pertimieter. We will take the Unit 2 test on Monday.
Our Fall party is Wednesday the 31st at 1:30 for those who would like to attend!
Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Quinn
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Working hard in 2nd Grade!
We have been very busy the past week! This class is so helpful and caring towards their classmates and I love to see that!
In math we are continuing to practice solving and writing adddition and subtraction equations and story problems. The students have also been taking weekly addition timed tests and have alreday been showing progress with their scores.
In Reader's Workshop, we are focusing on making connections with fiction text. Students are working on noticing when a book reminds them of something in their life or something they've read before. They practiced using post-its to mark a spot in their book that they made a connection to. This is a great strategy to practice at home as well! As you may have noticed the October reading calendar is different from last month. I thought this would be more challenging and fun for them. If they complete 20 activities, they will have lunch in the classroom with me!
In Writer's Workshop the students have been busy writing personal narratives. Some of the topics they have written about are something they like to do with their family, something scary or memorable that happened to them etc. We have been practicing adding descriptive words to our stories as well.
We started our Weather unit in science and did an experiment to see how the sun affects the temperature of water. We also finished up our leaf observations.
Lia
**Reminders**
The book fair starts today Oct 10th. You can order on-line by going to the link below
Conferences start tomorrow Thursday Oct. 11th in the PM
Friday, September 28, 2012
Welcome Fall!
We have been having a busy week! I am truly enjoying getting to know all of your children.
Fall is officially here and we have been observing how the trees outside have been changing. Each student picked a tree that they will be observing throughout the year and recording/sketching the changes they see each season. We also learned about leaves and sorted them by their characteristics (shape-simple or lobed, margin-smooth or toothed, etc).
In math, we are continuing to practice strategies for addition as well as relating addition to subtraction. The students have been doing this by making Math Mountains, Partner Houses and drawing pictures.
We have been practing alphabetizing in grammar and continuing in our handwriting book. In Reader's Workshop, students learned how to recommend books to their classmates and have been filling out recommendation cards when they finish a great book. We have also been learning how to write responses to our reading.
As you know the students had their math MAP test this week and will be taking the reading MAP test Tuesday Oct. 2nd. Make sure your child gets plenty of rest the night before and eats a healthy breakfast in the morning.
Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Quinn
**Reminders**
Fall is officially here and we have been observing how the trees outside have been changing. Each student picked a tree that they will be observing throughout the year and recording/sketching the changes they see each season. We also learned about leaves and sorted them by their characteristics (shape-simple or lobed, margin-smooth or toothed, etc).
In math, we are continuing to practice strategies for addition as well as relating addition to subtraction. The students have been doing this by making Math Mountains, Partner Houses and drawing pictures.
We have been practing alphabetizing in grammar and continuing in our handwriting book. In Reader's Workshop, students learned how to recommend books to their classmates and have been filling out recommendation cards when they finish a great book. We have also been learning how to write responses to our reading.
As you know the students had their math MAP test this week and will be taking the reading MAP test Tuesday Oct. 2nd. Make sure your child gets plenty of rest the night before and eats a healthy breakfast in the morning.
Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Quinn
**Reminders**
- Chip Shoppe fundraisers due Tues. Oct. 2nd
- Reading MAP test-Tues. Oct. 2nd
- Bring library books Monday
Dodge, Duck And Donate
Homecoming is Friday, October 5 at Dan Patch Stadium. Watch the game and then stay to play dodge ball.
The Laker Educational Foundation (LEF) is sponsoring the game with proceeds benefiting Friends of Wolf Ridge.
Register now and save.
$10/person or $35/household.
Walkins:$15/person. Ages K-12 & Adults.
Every player will receive a bandana.
Go here to register.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Busy Week!
It has been another exciting and busy week in Second grade! We had our first all-school meeting, as well as our Chip Shoppe fundraiser kick-off.
In math we have been learning addition strategies, such as counting on, finding unknown partners or break-aparts and using Math Mountains and Partner Houses. We started learning about common and proper nouns and made a list of examples from our classroom. We are continuing to set up Reader's Workshop by practicing expectations, discussing fiction and non-fiction books, practicing strategies to solve unknown words, and learning how to monitor our reading. Science has been busy as well! The students have spent a lot of time outside making scientific drawings of observations and using their senses to describe their observations. We also discussed signs of Fall, including events that occur in our lives as well as in nature.
In Writer's Workshop, students have been practicing drawing sketches to help them get ideas for writing. They are doing a great job with this! Monday the 17th was Constitution Day so students learned why our constitution is so important and did a fun activity.
**Reminders
In math we have been learning addition strategies, such as counting on, finding unknown partners or break-aparts and using Math Mountains and Partner Houses. We started learning about common and proper nouns and made a list of examples from our classroom. We are continuing to set up Reader's Workshop by practicing expectations, discussing fiction and non-fiction books, practicing strategies to solve unknown words, and learning how to monitor our reading. Science has been busy as well! The students have spent a lot of time outside making scientific drawings of observations and using their senses to describe their observations. We also discussed signs of Fall, including events that occur in our lives as well as in nature.
In Writer's Workshop, students have been practicing drawing sketches to help them get ideas for writing. They are doing a great job with this! Monday the 17th was Constitution Day so students learned why our constitution is so important and did a fun activity.
**Reminders
- Early Release Day is Wednesday September 26th at 1:50
- Math MAP testing is Thursday, September 27th
Friday, September 14, 2012
Getting Into a Routine!
This week has been busy! The class has done a great job adjusting to a new teacher and getting the routines down. I am truly enjoying working with your children. They each add a little something special to our classroom. I know that the next few months will be a wonderful experience.
We are in full swing now with our math curriculum. I hope the letter I sent home will assist you in helping your children with their homework. If a concept seems diificult for your child, don't worry. We will be revisiting them often throughout the units. The students took their first math timed test for addition. They will take one each week to help practice their math facts. We started grammar this week and have been learning about the different types of sentences. We continued to set up for Reader's Workshop by choosing book nooks for independent reading, reviewing expectations, learning how to choose "just right" books, and creating our reading goals for the year. We also have been setting up for Writer's Workshop and began our first unit today! Yesterday we took a tour of our outdoor nature areas, including the butterfly garden and bird sanctuary.
**Reminders**
We are in full swing now with our math curriculum. I hope the letter I sent home will assist you in helping your children with their homework. If a concept seems diificult for your child, don't worry. We will be revisiting them often throughout the units. The students took their first math timed test for addition. They will take one each week to help practice their math facts. We started grammar this week and have been learning about the different types of sentences. We continued to set up for Reader's Workshop by choosing book nooks for independent reading, reviewing expectations, learning how to choose "just right" books, and creating our reading goals for the year. We also have been setting up for Writer's Workshop and began our first unit today! Yesterday we took a tour of our outdoor nature areas, including the butterfly garden and bird sanctuary.
**Reminders**
- Bring a forever book to share by Monday
- Fall Pictures are Friday Sept. 21st
Friday, September 7, 2012
A Great First Week!
Wow! The first week of school has flown by! We have been busy getting to know one another, learning classroom routines, practicing school rules and having fun together. Some highlights of the week include: setting up and organizing our classroom library, writing our hopes and dreams for the school year, learning new morning meeting games, and creating a self-portrait!
Today we did our first official math lesson from our new math curriculum, Math Expressions. Today, your child should be bringing home their first math homework assignment. Please help them complete this and have your child return it to school on Monday. You will also find a letter describing the program, which includes how to effectively help your child with their homework each night. Please cut out, fill out and return the bottom portion of the letter to school on Monday as well.
Mrs. Quinn was here Friday to get to know the kids better and see all of the classroom routines we've been working on. It was great to have her here!
I've enjoyed getting to know each child this week and look forward to a great year ahead! Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Today we did our first official math lesson from our new math curriculum, Math Expressions. Today, your child should be bringing home their first math homework assignment. Please help them complete this and have your child return it to school on Monday. You will also find a letter describing the program, which includes how to effectively help your child with their homework each night. Please cut out, fill out and return the bottom portion of the letter to school on Monday as well.
Mrs. Quinn was here Friday to get to know the kids better and see all of the classroom routines we've been working on. It was great to have her here!
I've enjoyed getting to know each child this week and look forward to a great year ahead! Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Meet Mrs. Manders
I am so excited to meet you all and begin another exciting school year! I am looking forward to being your child's teacher this year. Second grade is truly the best!
This is my tenth year teaching and my ninth at WestWood. I feel so fortunate to teach at such a fabulous school. My husband, John, and I live in Savage and are eagerly awaiting the arrival of our first child in a few weeks! We are expecting a girl and have been spending a lot of the summer getting ready to be parents. In June we took a trip to Whistler, British Columbia, which was absolutely beautiful. We went on a bear tour, saw some Olympic sights, went hiking and enjoyed some wonderful cuisine. I can't wait to hear about all of your summer adventures!
Even though I plan to only be at school a couple of weeks before my daughter is born, I am extremely confident that your child will have a wonderful experience while I am gone with Mrs. Quinn. I know you and the students will love her.
I look forward to working with you to make this a wonderful school year for your child!
This is my tenth year teaching and my ninth at WestWood. I feel so fortunate to teach at such a fabulous school. My husband, John, and I live in Savage and are eagerly awaiting the arrival of our first child in a few weeks! We are expecting a girl and have been spending a lot of the summer getting ready to be parents. In June we took a trip to Whistler, British Columbia, which was absolutely beautiful. We went on a bear tour, saw some Olympic sights, went hiking and enjoyed some wonderful cuisine. I can't wait to hear about all of your summer adventures!
Even though I plan to only be at school a couple of weeks before my daughter is born, I am extremely confident that your child will have a wonderful experience while I am gone with Mrs. Quinn. I know you and the students will love her.
I look forward to working with you to make this a wonderful school year for your child!
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