dressel

The Dragons had a great time on Field Day.  Thank you Mrs. Newhouse for sending in the water.

Two weeks left!!!  I can't believe it.  We are working on class placement for next year, and I don't want to give up my dragons!!!! 

Next week we will continue with our Australia unit in social studies. The Australian Bakery will visit us on Friday. This will be a great opportunity for the children to taste foods from Australia.

We will have our last spelling test on Tuesday.  This week we had our final spelling bee, and our two winners Matthew Brubacher and Desiree Reyes will represent our class in the second grade spelling bee tomorrow. 

In reading we continue our book called Gooseberry Park.  It is a book about friendship told through the use of animals.  We are enjoying the character called Murray!!!  Ask your dragon about him.

If you have not sent in your registration card for next year and your envelope with 3 stamps, please do so by Friday.

Have a fun weekend, and we'll see you on May 20th for our Amelia Bedelia Fashion Show.                                                         Linda

May 1, 2008

This cannot be May!!!!  Time sure flies, when you have a wonderful class and wonderful parents!!!

Hope that you have marked your calendars for our Amelia Bedelia Fashion Show on May 20th at 8:30.  It will be a special day.  If you have questions about your child's costume, please email me, and I'll try to clarify the information.

This Saturday morning the PTA grounds committee with the help of Boy Scouts will be working on our school flower beds.  If you can help, please bring shovels and join the fun.  Mrs. Whalen is interested in improving our beds and the dragons would love to see the second grade garden improved. 

On Friday, May 16th we will receive a visit from the Australian Bakery.  Forms are coming home on Friday.  This will be a great way for the students to experience Australian foods.  I, in fact, need one helper parent that day to help organize and pass out the food.  If you would like to volunteer, please let me know.  Along with our Australia unit, the dragons are working on researching an animal which lives in Australia.  The choice is theirs, but I have encouraged them to choose one they know little about.

Our second grade spelling bee will be next Thursday.  Right now our class is having a number of spelling bees to find our best spellers.  We will then have a final bee to choose 2 to represent us in the grade wide bee. 

Next week we will read Gooseberry Park.  This is another fabulous book by Cynthia Rylant.  It is a treat!!! 

Our timed tests continue.  We will go to the x8's next week.  These take ALOT of practice, but what a benefit they have. 

Have a great weekend!!!  We are still awaiting the arrival of our butterflies.

Linda

April 22, 2008

The big news in our class is not that we have started the CRCT's, but that our caterpillars are spinning into their pupa stage of their lifecycle!!!  We will soon move them into the butterfly house and watch for their metamorphis. 

Thank you to all of the parents who have sent snacks for CRCT treats.  Today, we completed the reading part of the CRCT, and it was very manageable for the dragons.

Next week we will read Amelia Bedelia books, and the dragons will each get their part for the fashion show.  I hope that you have that date on your calendar.  We are also busy working on bare books.  These require a lot of writing, but will be an adorable keepsake.  Our social studies unit will begin on Australia.  The children will be assigned a research project on an Australian animal.  Information will come home next week. 

Our timed tests move to the X7's next week, and we will finish our unit on addition with regrouping.  Two end of the year math tests will be given.  These will be placed in your child's portfolio for their third grade teacher. 

Another end of the year project on persuasive writing will be completed next week. 

As you can see, we are busy, busy, busy!!!!!! 

April 17, 2008

It's that time again!!!  Yes, the CRCT will begin on Wednesday next week.  Our second grade tests will be on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  All tests will begin the first thing in the morning and be completed by 10:15. 

Things to remember to help your child do their best.  Since we have worked hard all year, and will continue to do so, it is too late to study.  Review, yes, but study no.  First of all, please have your child review the tests on line.  Use the code that was sent home during conferences.  We have completed practice tests in class, so this will just add to that practice.  Next, make sure that your dragon is in bed early every night before testing.  Have them up early in the morning, so that they are not rushed and have time to eat breakfast.  Our testing is in the morning, so snack time will not be until later.  All students need to be in school as early as possible so that they are not hurried in the morning.  Each morning after announcements, we will move desks and begin as soon as possible.  I want to make sure that everyone has the time needed to finish all tests.  Lastly, the students know that this test is important, and that they need to do their bests, but I do not want them to be afraid of the tests.  I have told them that they know everything to be successful and just need to think carefully about their answers.    Once the tests begin, no one can come to the classroom, so if a student is late, they will have to make up the tests.

We will be doing other things in class next week too!!!!  Yeh!!!!  Our science unit on lifecyles continues, but this time with butterflies!!   Did you hear that our caterpillars arrived on Thursday?  So, we will be busy watching their growth and change.  We are still unearthing a seed each day to watch their stages and changes too. 

Our story next week is called The Hundred Dresses.  This is a chapter book , and we will read it most of next week. 

Our timed tests will move to the x6's.  Tomorrow we will make a game for practicing this fact. 

Hope to see you at the Braves game on Friday.  The Sope Creek chorus is excited to sing at the game.  Have a great weekend.

Amelia Bedelia Fashion Show

Mark your calendars!!!!  The last performance of the Dressel Dragons will be at 8:30am on Tuesday, May 20th!!  We will be performing an Amelia Bedelia Fashion Show as a thank you to all parents for the help they have been to the Dragons at school and at home. 

This performance will also include an Awards Ceremony honoring the Dragons themselves. 

Hope that you can be there!!!!!!!!!                                                                 

April 4, 2008

Hope that your Spring Break is relaxing!!!!!

Thank you for your involvement in our Freckle Juice Book Talk.  Thank you also to Mrs. Mittleider for the yummy cookies and Freckle Juice!!!and to Mrs. Brady for the wonderful muffins!!!!!  Mrs. Wooten was thrilled with her gifts, and she said that she hadn't had a birthday cake in years!!!!!  Thank you Mrs. Brady!!!!

Over Spring Break there will be no spelling words or Wednesday Reader.  Please spend any time you have on math facts and reading logs.  We will test on the x5's the first week back.

The class and I had quite a talk today.  I am receiving work that is certainly not up to par.  I read many selections in class today to emphasize the poor spelling, capitalization, and punctuation.  Please restate to your child the necessity of doing high level work.  Grades are falling, and this is not the time to have that occur.

The CRCT tests will begin on April 23rd.  Please no doctor's appointments during testing. 

reading log due Monday

Almost forgot!!!!!!!  Monday is the last day of the month, and our reading logs are due!!!!!!  Don't forget ........See you Monday!!!

March 27, 2008

Can you believe that it is baseball season already!!!???  Our Sope Creek chorus is singing at the Braves game on Friday, April 18th.  Tickets are on sale now for a Sope Creek section at the game.  The tickets are on sale in the front office.  Hope that you can come.

We have been working on Literature Circles in reading.  After finishing The Bears on Hemlock Mountain, we are moving on to Freckle Juice.  See note coming home in notebooks on Friday.  We will be reading it in a special way, and you are invited to come in on Wednesday for a special book talk.  Both parents and students will come together to discuss this book.  It is always a good time and will help you learn how to talk with your child about what they have read.  Please return the form by Monday.  We will also present Mrs. Wooten with her birthday treat that day.

Wow, did the x3's improve this week.  The extra practice really did the trick!!!  We had 10-11 students pass!!!!  Next week, we are on to the x4's.  A flip book came home today to help with practicing.  We also discussed the doubles twice strategy.  All should help us do this in ONE week.

Our lifecyles unit continues in science.  The field trip was wonderful.  Mr. Shockley took pictures and Mrs. Newhouse, Mrs. Gurr and Mrs. Agee helped with our touring.  We have been dissecting seeds this week.  This helps us discover the seed coat, food stored and embryo.  Next we will discover what controlling variables such as water, light and space do to the plant. 

Our chapter on Multiplication will end soon, as we begin the division chapter.

Please look up your CRCT practice #'s which I gave you at conference time.  It is time to practice.

See you on Wednesday..................Linda

March 19, 2008

Happy Spring Week!!!!

I am looking forward to our Tomie de Paola presentations tomorrow.  Our increased emphasis on reading is paying off, as you can see from the SRI scores that came home today.  Keep up the good work.  Remember that reading logs for March are due next Friday.  The goal is up to 450 minutes. 

Report cards are coming home tomorrow.  Please sign the card and return it in the unsealed envelop.  Math is getting harder, so please review homework each night and study math facts. 

Our next chapter in math is 22 and is on multiplication.  This will coincide with our timed tests facts.  The x3's are not going so well.  These are difficult and need lots of review.  We will test on the x3's again next week. 

In reading we will continue with literature centers with the book The Bears on Hemlock Mountain. 

In science we will continue with life cycles.  Our field trip to the Nature Center is on Tuesday.  Thank you Mrs. Newhouse and Mrs. Gurr for accompanying us. 

Have a great weekend....................Linda

Report Cards

Almost forgot!!!  Report cards come home on Thursday.  End of the grading period is March 14th!!!!!  No behavior reports on Monday, as I will be finishing report cards.