Happy Holidays

Wow! I work with the best families ever!! We had so much fun today and the kids are great decorators!  The second grade teachers became live Christmas trees during our sing-a-long today. We even had a special visitor!

Mrs. Byrd is all smiles in her decorations. 

Second grade teachers dressed to the nines! Tinsel and all!

Yours truly!

We were a little sad to see that we could only bring three kids to decorate. So, when we got back to the classroom the kids decorated me... again! I had a lot more garb on the second time around! This is all possible because of you and your huge hearts! Thank you for donating so many canned goods to families in the Brazos Valley. Many families will have food this Christmas because of your help!

On another note, our class brought the most box tops this six weeks! We had a popcorn party today! 

Once again, thank you for your giving hearts towards myself, our children, and our community. I couldn't ask for better families to work with. I am the luckiest teacher ever!

Introducing...

Meet our elf, Chip. He appeared in our room on Monday while Mrs. Shumbera read us a story. Chip was sent to our classroom by Santa. Chip watches our behavior and reports it back to Santa every night by flying to the North Pole. However, if anyone touches Chip he could lose his magic. We hope this doesn't happen! Here are some of the places we have found Chip so far this week. 

Food for Families food drive

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!! I work with the best people ever! Our class donated a total of 290 cans for our food drive!! Our class brought the most cans and second grade won overall!

Our prize will be milk and cookies with Mrs. Hamilton. Plus, it looks like I need to get my limbs ready for some tree decorations! All of our second grade teachers are going to be dressed up like a Christmas Tree!

From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much again for donating. The food will be a blessing to people in our community.

Spelling Words and weekly skills for Dec. 4th-8th

The (w) sound in the beginning or middle of a word = w (wig)

wet
win
went
wind
wish
wash
with
west
wept
swing
sweet
twist


In reading, we are discussing schema (what we already know about a topic) and how it grows as we read nonfiction.

In math, students are learning money, adding doubles, and adding doubles plus one.

In science, students are studying force and motion.

Spelling Words Nov. 28-Dec. 2nd

The (e) sound in the beginning or middle of a one-syllable word= ee (feet)

The (e) sound at the end of a syllable in a word with 2 or more syllables- e (even)

The (e) sound in the middle of a multisyllabic word= e-consonant-e (athlete)

street
seek
complete
athlete
behave
retire
secret
female
sleep
teen
compete
beet


In reading, we are talking about schema (what we know about a topic) and how it helps us in reading. In addition, we are learning how to read to learn, or gain new information. This week we are reading a story about penguins. Ask your child what new facts they learned about penguins.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We would like to wish your family a Happy Thanksgiving. We are thankful for the opportunity to work with wonderful students and parents, which make our job so much fun!

Enjoy the week with your family... no spelling or math homework!

November 14th- 18th

Here are this week's spelling words:

The (e) sound in the beginning or middle of a one-syllable word= ee (feet)
The (e) sound at the end of a syllable in a word with 2 or more syllables = e (even)

feed
fever
meet
elect
need
select
green
even
keep
eleven
greet
behind

In reading, we are working on identifying nonfiction text features such as: title, index, table of contents, glossary, etc.

In language arts, we are continuing our study of adjectives.

Have a great week!

This week's skills

This week we are working on the following skills:

• We are writing a "How To" story. Students are working on stories that tell the reader how to do something. 

• In reading we are studying the difference between Fiction and Nonfiction books. When you read to your child, challenge them to read a variety of books, including Nonfiction books. 

• In grammar we are studying the difference between nouns, verbs, and adjectives. 
• Nouns- person, place, animal, or thing. Something you can touch
• Verb- action word or something you can do. 
• Adjective- a word that describes a noun or verb

Thank you for practicing these skills at home. I really appreciate it! 

Spelling Words

The (j) sound before a,o, or u= jam
The (j) sound before e, I, or y= gem

Jam
Germ
Just
Gentle
Jump
Gym
Job
Gem
Jog
Giant
Gigantic
Joke

Field trip

We are excited about our field trip to KBTX and Tanglewood park tomorrow. Please make sure you wear your SWV shirt (black one) and bring a sacked lunch in a plastic bag with your child's name on it.

Space is limited at KBTX. However, if you would like to join us at the park we will be there at 10:30.

Oct. 31st- Nov. 4th Spelling Words and Skills

The (th) sound = th (that)
The (th) sound = th (think)

that
than
then
math
with
teeth
thick
those
bother
thunder
this
bath

In reading this week, we are looking at the differences between a fiction and a non fiction book. Look around your house for books and have your child tell you if the book is fiction or non fiction. It is important that they can tell you why! :)

This week's reading skill: Retelling a story

This week in reading we are practicing how to retell a story. In order to do this we use our hand. A picture of the hand can be found here. The breakdown is listed below.

Who: Who are the characters?
What: What is the problem?
Where: Where did the story take place?
When: When did the story take place? (Time of day, time of year. etc.)
Why: Why did the author feel this story was important? (Author's purpose)
How: How was the problem solved?

This is a great tool to use at home when you read with your child. One way to make it more fun with your child is to get a garden glove and write the words on the glove. The kids can put it on to retell the story.

On Friday, students will have to label a hand on Friday for their test. Happy Reading!

Spelling Words Oct. 24-28th

The Floss Rule
If a one-syllable word ends in f, l, or s immediately after a short vowel, the (f) sound is ff, the (l) is ll, and the (s) is ss.

hilll
staff
still
grass
stuff
tell
less
dress
glass
call

Spelling Words October 3rd - 7th

The (u) sound in a syllable that ends with a consonant = u (cup)
The (u) at the end of a word or at the end of an unaccented syllable= a (alike, sofa)

This weeks words:
bump          away
extra           just
across         about
stump         apart
alone          run

Thank you for working with our second graders on these words!

September 26th-30th Spelling Words

This week we are studying the following rule:

The (ng) sound in the middle or end position = ng (king)
The (ng) sound before the (k) sound or the (g) sound = n (sink)

sang                pink
honk               long
bank               king
song               hang
bang               ink

Missing!

We have a book from our classroom library missing. If you wouldn't mind, please check around your house and see if it was brought home by accident, I would really appreciate it! The title of the book is: "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules".

Thank you!

Scholastic

Scholastic book orders are due on Friday!! You can order online or use the order form on the book orders. :) Happy Reading!

September 12th - 16th Spelling Words

Here are this week's Spelling Words:

doze
nose
use
rose
pole
close
cute
woke
mule
rode
role
tune
home
joke
wrote
ice cube

I will not check homework every day but it is still important for students to complete homework every night! Thanks!

September 6-9th Spelling Words

Here are the spelling words for this week:

1. wet
2. rest
3. left
4. plum
5. hot
6. lunch
7. job
8. spot
9. spend
10. nut
11. get
12. hug
13. mud
14. help
15. net
16. not

 Spelling homework is the same every week. The only difference.... the words!

Monday: Write each word 5 times.
Tuesday: Write each word in a sentence
Wednesday: Write the consonants in blue and the vowels in red: hot
Thursday: Write the words in alphabetical order

In addition students have reading homework. This week I sent home a reading log. Students should read for 10 minutes every night and document it on the reading log. Students may read any book of their choice for right now. Once I am able to assess reading levels, your child will bring home books from the classroom to read. We went to the library today, so students should have books to read from. Thank you for all of your help and encouraging your child in reading and spelling at home!

Wow!!

Thank you for sending in all of the boxtops. Our class collected 650 box tops!! We will celebrate with a pizza party on Thursday! Keep collecting and thanks for supporting Southwood Valley!

Scholastic

Scholastic book orders came home on Friday! If you are interested in ordering online (and having the luxury of paying by credit/debit card), visit the Scholastic website! Our class code is GVDNK. For every online order you place, our class gets $3 to spend on a book! It's very handy. Happy Reading!

Parent Orientation

Parent Orientation for second grade is tomorrow night. 6 PM! See you there!

2 days in...

Wow! We have had a busy and exhausting first few days of school! We have spent a lot of time practicing routines and becoming familiar with our school family. Here are some reminders so far.

• Students may bring a healthy snack. We eat snack during our recess time, so please send something that doesn't require a utensil. 
• Please send in a picture of your family for our friends and family board. I promise you will get it back at the end of the year! 
• A huge packet of papers came home this afternoon. Please return these by Friday. 
• Me Sacks are due on Friday! 

Mrs. Byrd and I are very excited about this school year and working with your children. Please email us if you have any questions or concerns.

Welcome!!

Welcome to our classroom blog! I will use this information to keep you up to date on classroom events. I am very excited about this year and look forward to working with you. :) If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me!

Facebook made my day!

Well, not really facebook. :) A lot of my former students are at the age where they are getting Facebook accounts. One of my past students and I are now Facebook friends and the first thing he post on my wall was, "omg i miss you". I should cringe at the grammar, but it made my heart melt. Those moments remind me why I am a teacher. :)

Ch Ch Ch Changes!

As you may have noticed, the name of my blog has changed. I am no longer a fourth grade teacher, so my tales would not be of such. I am entering back into the world of primary grades! No... not kindergarten. While I enjoyed kindergarten, I'm not sure if I would want to teach kindergarten again. The kids were great but I also enjoy independent kids!

Starting in August I will join the Fabulous Five team in Second Grade!! I am so pumped! I will miss my fourth grade team mates but I am looking forward to a new experience. I am also looking forward to teaching a primary grade again. I have always wanted to teach second grade. With all of the things I will miss, there is one thing I will not miss... standardized testing! When you teach 3rd grade or higher, it's a part of your life. I learned the strategies to teach kids, became a better writing teacher (I still had a lot to learn!), pulled my hair out, cried over results, celebrated results, and stressed WAY too much!

During the past three years in 3rd and 4th grade I have had some challenges. Every year I would get some kiddos that already hated school, which broke my heart. :( I took on those kids every year and did what I could to help them enjoy school again. They still had a long road ahead of them and I hope they enjoy every year after! Life is too short to hate something you are doing for most of your day. So, I hope I inspired some of my kids to love learning, read more, appreciate the adults in their lives that care for them, and desire to become MORE... to build a great future with the knowledge that they can do anything they set their mind to. My saying stays the same, thanks to the great artists in Journey.... Don't stop believing! Ever! And I hope, that my students past, present, and future know that I will ALWAYS believe in them and expect the best for them.

Onward... to second grade... a new adventure in the life of Mrs. Edugator!