Happy Spring

Happy Spring and Happy Easter

                                                                                                           

                                                                                                                March 21, 2016

Dear Parents.

Thanks for making Parent Teacher Conferences great!!  Friday was definitely a packed day, but it was very fun to meet with so many families to discuss the progress of your student.  I only have a handful of conferences for this week and I am looking forward to visiting with these families as well!

Math
This past week students spent time exploring fractions.  So far students have worked on naming fractions of a whole, recognizing the unit fractions one half, one third, and one fourth.  Students have also worked on identifying, reading, and writing fractions.  

 We worked on describing fractions by saying 3/4 of the shape is green.
3/4 is 3 out of the 4 equal parts. 

Our work in  fractions will continue this week with an assessment on Thursday.  Here's this week's homework.

Monday	IXL  U.4-Which Shape Illustrates a Fraction?
Tuesday	IXL U.9- Order fractions With Like Numerators
Wednesday	Review Worksheets
Thursday	No Homework--Happy Spring Break

Language/Writing
In language students have been working on correctly placing commas in writing.  We practiced writing friendly letters to place commas in the date, greeting, and closing.

Part of our language time was spent working on reciting poetry.  This falls under our speaking standards.  The poem students recited was called "On St. Patrick's Day".  As a class we came up with motions to go with the poem.  On St. Patricks Day we recited the poem to Mrs. Marsh's kindergarten class, Miss Garcia's class, and the front office staff.
Projects
Our new project is focused on plants.  Last week students soaked and planted bean seeds.  Each child planted 3 seeds.  The first seed will receive sun and water, the second seed will receive sun and no water, and the third seed will receive water and no sun.  It will be interesting to see how well the plants grow.

This week will be busy as we count down the days to till Spring Break!!  Wishing you all a safe and fun-filled Easter and Spring Break.

Sincerely,
Anne Bloomfield

Welcome to the 4th Quarter!!

                                                                                                    March 14, 2016

Dear Second Grade Families,

I'd like to say a BIG thank-you to all the parents and family members that were able to come to the special events last week.  First, our drama performance, "Giraffes Don't Dance" was a smash hit.  The students with the direction of Mrs. Berg put on a fabulous show.  Secondly many of you came back to hear students present their animal projects.  I was very pleased that we had so many guests visit our "zoo".

Well here we are in the first week of the 4th quarter.  If the first three quarters have seemed to pass in a snap; I can't image how quickly the last quarter will pass!  

Math
Our week in math continued to be all about word problems.  We worked on word problems related to money and measurement.  Students have been working extremely hard on reading, understanding, and solving word problems.  We ended our week with an assessment.

As we enter the 4th quarter, students will be exploring fractions.  We will be looking at wholes versus fractions, as well as halves, thirds, fourths, sixths, and eighths.  

Homework for Week 29

Monday	IXL U.1 - Equal Parts
Tuesday	IXL U.2 - Halves, Thirds, Fourths
Wednesday	Fraction worksheet
Thursday	IXL U.3 - Identify the Fraction

Language

In language students are working on 2 very important punctuation marks that are often confused, the comma and the apostrophe.  Students will be learning about where commas are used in dates, letters, lists, and in writing the names of cities with their states.  They will be using apostrophe's in contractions and possessive nouns.

  Writing/Projects

Writing was all about putting the finishing touches on our research papers on animals and on our maps of where our animals are found in the wild.  The week concluded with students getting to share their animal reports with everyone that visited our zoo!  

Although this project took quite a while to complete, I was very pleased with the finished product!  Many thanks to those that were able to join us on Thursday!!

Wishing you all a Happy St. Patrick's Day and a Happy 1st Day of Spring!


Sincerely,
Anne Bloomfield

Good-bye Third Quarter

                                                                                                      March 7, 2016

Dear Bighorn Parents,

This week marks the end of the 3rd quarter of school and I can't believe it!!  Everyone should have received a notification from Sign-Up Genius to sign up for a Spring Conference.  The primary day for conferences is Friday, March 18th but I also have some times available for Monday, March 21 and Tuesday, March 22.  My goal is to meet with every family so please let me know if an alternative date and time needs to be set up.

Math
In math we have been spending lots of time on word problems.  While this is a skill that students have worked on weekly throughout the year, Miss Garcia and myself have been keeping it as our main focus during the past week.  Out of the 26 standards for math there are 3 standards that involve word problems.  Those standards involve word problems that have 2 steps and/or that deal with numbers within 100, use money, and measurement.  

Since all the prerequisite standards have been taught and our work has been extensive on word problems throughout the 2nd and 3rd quarters, students will continue to work on word problems this week and beyond.  

Here's the homework for the week...

Monday         IXL P.14 Add and Subtract Money up to $1.

Tuesday        Word Problem Worksheet--Money

Wednesday   Word Problem Worksheet--Measurement

Thursday       IXL G. 16 Add  Four or More Numbers Up to 2 Digits

Language
Our time in language was spent with producing, expanding, and rearranging complete simple and compound sentences.  Students did a fantastic job taking a very simple sentence and making it more complex by adding adjectives, adverbs, a "where", or a "when".
My dog ate.
Last night, my little dog quickly ate all the dog food in the pen before my bigger dogs could eat.

Students also practiced rearranging sentences.
Last night, before my bigger dogs could eat; my little dog quickly ate all the dog food in the pen.

This standard was assessed on Tuesday.
The rest of the week we reviewed and assessed on collective nouns.

Writing/Projects
Writing takes time...I realize it seems like forever but students are finally working on their final drafts of their animal research projects.  Students are also busy working on their maps that go with where their animal is from.   

Special Event
Speaking of research projects...
The students of Room 17 would like to invite you to listen to their research papers.  They will be sharing their papers on Thursday, March 10th from 3:15-3:45 in Room 17 and in the hall outside Room 17.  Please plan on stopping by to learn about a variety of animals.

Sweet brothers!!

It was not a big picture week for Room 17, but I did want to share a couple of gems from March 2nd (Dr. Seuss' Birthday).  Mrs. Mori and Mrs. Mc Ellhannon arranged for some time for the 2nd and 3rd graders to enjoy the 5th graders reading some Dr. Seuss books to them.  It was really sweet just watching the interaction of the older students reading to the younger students.

Spring weather is slowly creeping in (although March can be very winter like).  Softball, baseball, and lacrosse practices have begun and next weekend (Sunday, March 13th) it will be time to spring forward by setting our clocks ahead by 1 hour.  Busy, busy times, remember not to get caught up in the rush!

Sincerely,
Anne Bloomfield