Homework Sheet Sept. 23-27 & a quick update

We have a busy week at school again, so I'm trying to keep the homework light. But your little one STILL needs to read 20 minutes every night! I know it's hard to do, I try doing it with my own munchkins and it's tough. But I promise you it's making a HUGE difference every day when we are building our reading stamina! We are up to 10 minutes now! We've been stuck at 10 for a few days, however, so keep doing what you're doing and we will be up to reading independently at 20 minutes before long!

 

Our school computer labs are finally ready for us to take our STAR reading and math tests! What that means is that your little reader will finally know what level book they are reading on! I know I've told them to find books that are 2.9 or lower, and you may have thought that's either too hard or too easy for them. As a class, we learned how to pick "Just Right" books, so your child should be using those skills to find books that are just right for them.

 

TES has been invited to the Pep Rally at THS this upcoming Friday morning. This is quite honestly one of my favorite events of the school year! There will be a permission slip headed your way soon!

 

{I have no idea why it's gray!}

 

Homework Sheet Sept. 16-20

This is Celebrate Freedom Week! Tuesday is Constitution Day. Please discuss with your child the importance of a Constitution. We will be creating one for our class and each student will sign their "John Hancock"! :) 

Science is Everywhere!

Unfortunately, I had to stay home from school on Friday because my gal had the pink eye. Pink is her favorite color, but let's keep it anywhere but IN her eyeballs, ok!

Anyway, she's my little explorer, so we were outside on the beautiful Friday morning enjoying the weather before the heat set in. She found an egg in the dirt that started a heated debate between the two of us. We ruled out that it could be a bird egg, and immediately started going down the list of reptiles. She thought it had to be a turtle egg and I just knew it was a snake. Thanks to Google and iPhones, we went straight to the Internet to browse images to compare.

Turns out, turtle eggs are typically rounder than this egg was. So, could this Momma be right? I was pretty sure I was...

 

 

After much convincing in the name of science, she and I cracked open the tiny egg. Another thing I was certain of what that this egg was a dud. It was found near another egg that had already cracked, so I innocently assumed this one wasn't following its sibling's lead.

 

WRONG!

 

You will notice in the video that it was not, in fact, a dud! This was one of those times I wish that smell-o-vision existed!

This thing was

SUPER.

DUPER.

STINKY!

 

The amount of comments from Facebook friends about this little guy was amazing! I love that we were able to educate people just by our curiosity! Remember- Science isn't just in textbooks!

It's everywhere! And it's FUN!

 

The Third Week

Using shapes to help subtract

 

 

Building STAMINA while we read.

we are at 8 minutes of reading without stopping now!

 

Writer's Workshop Mini-Lesson: Illustrating our Writing

(Don't laugh at my artwork!)

The picture started out with "me" and my "dog" as stick figures, the pencil sketch. I added a few colors, the students helped me label "Me" and "Molly", and they came up with the details to add to the picture. The final drawing looked much better than what we started with. Just like their pictures did! 

 

 

 Working on Writing. This week's topic was Sunshine and Lightning Moments. Sunshine Moments are those that make us happy and we enjoy. Lightning Moments are things we dislike, and maybe even scare us. These little friends had some interesting dislikes...

 

 

I had to tease my little friend about his Sunshine Moment. I have nothing against the Texas Longhorns, but I like to pretend I do when it comes to messing with my kiddos.

 

 This little dude had a hard time thinking of Lightning Moments... If only life were that great. His mom helped add a few things to it in the end: Chili, homework, making his bed, brother's baseball practice in the heat.

 

Remind 101

There's a new tool for communication that I think is pretty neat. I had it ready to go before Meet the Teacher Night, but I chickened out at the last minute! My daughter's teacher uses it also, so I figured if she's brave enough, then I can do it, too!

From what I have learned, it basically sends out a mass text and/or email when I have a notification for you. Instead of sending a message to each one of you individually, and other people getting your numbers, this is sent from a generic number.

For example, say I want to remind you all of an upcoming field trip. I can send a notice telling you when to return permission slips. In theory, it seems like a great idea! Let's try it out! Simply follow the directions on the image below.

 

Homework Sheet Sept. 9-13

Thanks to one of the brilliant moms of one of our students, she suggested I put the homework sheet on our class website so you can see it at any time!

20+ heads are definitely better than one! Keep those great ideas coming!

Updated Class Schedule

The past two weeks have felt like a juggling act, trying to see what lessons fit best at each time of the day. As of this moment, this will be our daily schedule. If any changes need to be made, I will let you know!

Scholastic Book Orders

Our Scholastic Reading Club flyers will come home today, along with this letter. If at all possible, I highly encourage you to order your child's books online. When you do, not only do you earn free books for your child, but our class earns free books for our library as well! 

Please return your orders if you're paying by cash or check by Monday, September 16th. I will do my best to get all orders entered by that evening so that your children can get their books in a timely manner. 

OUR CLASS LOVES TO READ! 

Shop Online: scholastic.com/readingclub

One-Time Class Activation Code: L993Y

Dear Families,

Encouraging reading is one of the most important things we can do to help your child succeed. It can be tough finding the right books to keep them interested, which is why I am so excited that our class will be participating in Scholastic Reading Club this school year.

With Scholastic Reading Club:

•    Every book you buy earns FREE Books for our classroom library

•    You can choose from handpicked, grade- and reading-level-specific books for your child

•    You'll find the best values on a variety of formats, including eBooks

Each month, your child will bring home Reading Club flyers. Together you can choose from books hand-selected by teachers and experts, and then order online or by returning your order form and payment to me.

I'd also love some help growing our classroom Reading Club. If you'd like to help out, please let me know! I'm excited to get our class reading!

Thank you for your support,

If This Is Your First Time Ordering Online:

•     REGISTER at scholastic.com/readingclub

•     ENTER the Class Activation Code at the top of this letter

•     CHOOSE from thousands of print titles, value packs, and Storia eBooks

•     SUBMIT the order to me by the due date listed on the website

•     EARN FREE Books for our classroom too!

And then there were twenty...

Sadly, our class has already lost a student due to a move. I found out on Wednesday afternoon that we would have one less friend. One thing I'm always going to remember about this student was this comment:

"Mrs. Hart, how long have you been teaching?"

"5 years. :) "

"WOW! Then you must be an expert!!!"

Why, yes. Yes, I am an expert. 

{in my dreams...!}

A New Year

Phew! That week was a whirlwind! 

Between getting my own little people settled into their school and welcoming a brand new crop of 2nd graders, I'm surprised I'm still functioning! How did I not sleep away this entire Labor Day weekend??? 

I'm already infatuated with my new little friends SO much! They are absolutely precious to me and I'm so blessed and honored to share my days with them!

Many of my "new" friends aren't really new! I've either known them since before they were born, or I've had the pleasure to get to know them and their families just this year. 

Some are coaches' & teachers' kids, some are already familiar with our campus, and some are brand spankin' new. We all survived the first week of school together! I can't wait to explore this year together, to learn from each other, and develop a classroom family of our own. 

My goal for this page is to keep our families connected to our classroom. I hope to be able to give you that "fly on the wall" feeling when you wonder just what it is that we do in class each day. Naturally, I can't take pictures of every move they make during every lesson taught. And it's most likely that it could take a week to publish new posts. I also want it to be known that while I'm in charge of my little friends, their safety is top priority, even over their education. You will see pictures posted of them, but for their privacy, I will keep their sweet faces protected. 

Here's to a year full of Happy Little Harts! 

A Peek into the First Week

The first week of school is usually a blur for everyone. Our bodies are trying to figure out a new sleep schedule and our bellies are grumbling at odd times of the day. We are getting reacquainted with old friends and learning about new ones. In a nutshell, this week was filled with learning procedures in the classroom, as well as throughout the school building, playing "getting to know you" games, and reviewing basic knowledge from last year.

Writing about our summers and coloring a special "Welcome to 2nd Grade" page

 

Who doesn't love painting on a Friday afternoon?!?

 

Sharing our "Me Bag" presentations. Students had to bring 3 (or more) things in their bag that would tell us more about themselves.

Teaching the Teachers

I spent the better half of the first week in August at the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center in Downtown San Antonio among thousands of other colleagues from around the state. The 2013 CSCOPE State Conference was an amazing learning experience for me! I cannot wait to use all of the wonderful information that was given to us! 

We even had a little time to do some sightseeing, shopping, eating- you know, typical tourist stuff. You just can't beat walking around in 105* heat with 90% humidity! :P

Meet The Teacher Night

One of my favorite nights of the year is Meet the Teacher Night! I love getting to meet all of my new friends and their families! It's almost like New Year's Eve for everyone at school. Our classroom has been hibernating all summer, just waiting to be filled with people again!

 

I loved meeting all my new little friends and their families! Looks like we are going to have a GREAT year!