Our holiday learning experience!

I can't even begin to explain how much fun the class had today! I took several pictures and videos so you could see what we did . We had a great parent turn out and it could not have been done without you all. Thank you so very much to all of you who helped. I will be sending out am email asking permission to post the pictures and videos of the kids. I understand some parents may not want their kids on the internet.

The next few days we will be wrapping up the quarter and doing some cleaning. Today the class took their first case 21 tests. They did an amazing job staying focused, quiet, and bubbling. They are growing up so fast!

Traditional starts today....

...so busses will be later than we have become accustomed to. 

TCE is on twitter and will be posting as busses depart if you want to follow them @turnerCreekES

I also joined the bandwagon and will be tweeting @ksimmonstce

But we have a long weekend coming up, and we track out next Friday, which is also an early release.

More family time with your precious children. :)

Have a great week!

Awesome Alliteration!

Our reading lesson for the next few days....alliteration!

August 11-15

Specials for the week: computer, media, pe, music, and art

This past week we took our third math test of the quarter. We continue working on breaking down word problems to identify what information it is giving us, what we need to find, and what operations we can use to solve them. We focused on using various operations to solve problems. This is an opportunity for them to use one or two of the strategies we have been practicing. 

Next week we will focus in two step word problems, doubles, and odds and evens.

This past week we practiced one of our math games. We have been lucky enough to have a little time each week to practice our math games before they are homework on Wednesdays.

In writing we just finished our sequencing story. We started the week by drawing four pictures of an event that recently happened. We then talked about how the order of events is important when writing a story. They glued their pictures to paper in order and then wrote a few sentences about what was happening in each picture. They then revised and edited before completing a final draft.

Next week we will be stepping back from the writing process and spending some time on making our writing better by showing, not telling, and focusing on being more descriptive.

In reading we are also working on sequencing and story elements. We have started writing responses about what we read each day. As I read aloud, I have been modeling various strategies to share my thinking. (Crop qvs: making connections, sharing reactions, opinions, making predictions, asking questions, visualizing, and summarizing. They are not expected to use all the strategies, but we are talking about them as ways to share our thinking.) We are beginning to learn about non fiction and the various text features. 

specials for the next 3 weeks

I am sorry I am having issues integrating my google accounts so the margins are messed up and I am having some issues not being able to post word documents.

Simmons specials for the week 8/18-8/22

Computer

Media

PE

Music

Art

Week of 8/25-8/29   Computer

Guidance

PE

Music

Art

Week of 9/1-9/5 MONDAY NO SCHOOL

Guidance

PE

Music

FRIDAY EARLY RELEASE

August 4-August 8

Yesterday I emailed a sign up genius link to everyone. I had some trouble getting the times slots working. The three main needs as of right now are a Friday folder stuffer and a copier on Mondays. These can both be done at any time that is best for you. The last is a math helper in Friday afternoon from 12:40-1:20. This I will be for enrichment and would involve pulling a small group to work out and discuss some challenging activities

Http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4EA8AF2DABFC1-volunteering

Math-we are working on breaking down collection problems as well as change plus/change minus problems. We are basically looking at how to look at what information the problem is giving and what it's looking for. There will be an assessment towards the end of the week.

Reading-we are still working on using context clues to find the meaning of challenging words. We also started working with non fiction to identify the main parts.

Writing-we continued working on our narratives and most students finished their second drafts. We are focusing on writing as a process, that even though they may have finished their second draft, it is not necessarily a final copy. This week we will practice sequencing and using transition words.

Social studies- we worked through the first unit in our text book and learned about citizenship, volunteering, and service in our homes, schools, and communities.

writing...

I just wanted to share some things we are working on in writing this quarter. We are using a plan to create a draft and this week we are focusing on what we can do to make our writing better. Today we talked about what a complete sentence was and how we can add more details. I did the first set of sentences, but the class created the rest using our spelling words. The last sentence was a run on, so we talked about how to turn it into two complete sentences. The class did a great job today and I wanted to share it. (Plus this is something that they can practice as they write their 6 sentences on Wednesday)

He jumped.

He jumped high.

He jumped high on the trampoline.

Derreck jumped high on the trampoline.

Derreck did a somersault as he jumped high on the trampoline.

My shin hurts.

My shin hurts because I was playing soccer.

The grass is brown.

The grass is brown because it is dead and dry.

The grass is brown because we haven’t had rain.

The car shines.

The car shines because I polished it.

The car shines because it just got painted and polished.

The car is really shiny because we just got it.

The car is shiny because the sun is shining on it.

The snake is scary.

The snake is scary because some can bite.

Snakes are scary because of their fangs.

The snake is scary because it hissed at me.

The snake is scary because it is venomous and might bite me. and It would hurt very bad.

July 28-August 1

This past week was very busy and we got a lot accomplished. This week we have another busy one in our hands! We will be taking our second math test of the year and we have been practicing for the past several days.

SCHOOL PICTURES ON FRIDAY!

Math-we practiced using many methods of adding: making a ten, using a number line, using a hundreds board, and using math mountains. Quiz Monday.

Reading-we continued working on identifying challenging words in our reading and using context clues to identify the meaning of the word. We took a brief quiz. There will be another quiz this week.

Writing-we continue writing our personal narratives. We are working on using a plan to generate ideas, then using the plan to create a draft. We are working on writing complete sentences, and beginning/middle/endings. 

Science-we worked on identifying the differences between solids, liquids, and gasses.

Social studies-we discussed the differences between what good citizens and bad citizens do. We worked on creating a definition for what a citizen is and different examples.

I wanted to take a minute to review a few things that the kids may be miscommunicating. Each night there is homework. The homework for each night is typed out in the assignment sheet. We did change the word study homework last week for open house. Each Monday your child will get their homework for the entire week. It does not all need to be completed in one night. As we dig deeper into the year some of the homework may not make sense until after the lesson has been taught. I'm attaching this weeks assignment sheet:

	Week of  August 4-8	Name	#
Monday	I read _________ minutes last night. Parent signature	·         Math: ·         Fact Strategy: Plus two ·         Letterland: ·         Day 1- read the words twice	Special COMPUTER
Tuesday	I read _________ minutes last night. Parent signature	·         Math:   ·         Math Mountains and equations ·         Letterland: ·         Day 2- look, say, cover, write, check ·           Wear sneakers for PE tomorrow	ART
Wednesday	I read _________ minutes last night. Parent signature	Math:  Game-Racing along homework page Letterland: Day 3- write 6 sentences	PE
Thursday yyyy	I read _________ minutes last night. Parent signature	Math: Day 16: Think about the Situation Letterland: Day 4-practice test	MUSIC
Friday	Total minutes read for the week                                        Mins. Parent signature	Any unfinished work from the week will be homework over the weekend.

Sign & return sheet on Monday after the weekend please! J________________________________

*Please note that we do not have specials on Friday. We will use that time for either extra recess or playing a math game*

OPEN HOUSE

Some inspirational videos to get you thinking:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5yCOSHeYn4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwlhUcSGqgs

Here are the slides from the power point:

Tidbits...

As a grade level we made a few changes, so I wanted to update you here.

Word study. Please be sure this is getting done each day. I will have look say cover copied on the back of each list weekly. This should be done each Tuesday. I check that all work is done daily. 

This week I am tweaking the work so there is less homework on Tuesday for open house. Please reference the assignment sheet. The daily homework is written each day. The day work is due, we will go over the work in class to see if there are any questions. If the work has not been done, it's impossible to go over specific questions.

*Open house is Tuesday, 7/29/14 at 6 pm. We will begin with a PTA clip and vote on the budget and then begin delving into second grade. :) I look forward to seeing you!
-If you can not make it, I will be posting the power point.


To make things easier at the end of the day, we adapted the links sheets. It will be on the back of the weekly assignment sheet. With this form, the children will only have to check the box to explain what they did to lose a link. If there are multiple checks for the day, that shows what multiples were lost for. 

LUCKY LINKS                       Name______________________   Date______

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Number of Links I have today…	Number of Links I have today…	Number of Links I have today…	Number of Links I have today…	Number of Links I have today…
I lost a link for not…	I lost a link because…	I lost a link because…	I lost a link because…	I lost a link because…
□ listening □ obeying rules □ following          directions □ using time           wisely □ doing my best                 work □ not working        well with others □ other     (see below)	□ listening □ obeying rules □ following          directions □ using time           wisely □ doing my best                 work □ not working        well with others □ other     (see below)	□ listening □ obeying rules □ following          directions □ using time           wisely □ doing my best                 work □ not working        well with others □ other     (see below)	□ listening □ obeying rules □ following          directions □ using time           wisely □ doing my best                 work □ not working        well with others □ other     (see below)	□ listening □ obeying rules □ following          directions □ using time           wisely □ doing my best                 work □ not working        well with others □ other     (see below)

Each week, students are given 10 links on Monday. If they keep all ten links by Friday they may trade them in for a jewel. Jewels will be spent at the class store for prize box items.

Teacher Notes:

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________                         _________________________________

              Teacher Signature                                                                Parent Signature

The teacher will sign this sheet and place it in the student’s Friday Folder.  Please sign and return this sheet every Monday. J