Murray's Marvels

April 2009

 Well, it's hard to believe it is almost May!  Wow!  Where did the time go? 

I wanted to thank our room mothers for helping to organize snacks for CRCT testing.  I also wanted to thank all the parents who donated snacks for the class, provided snacks for their own child, and wrote notes of encouragement to their child.  We had a very positive atmosphere for testing and the children were well-fed.  The children really appreciated all the "extras".

    As we watch out caterpillars turn into butterflies and moths, we will branch out and learn more about other animal lifecycles.  Each child will be given the name of an animal to research.  Details on this project go home on Monday, April 27th.  Feel free to use these links to help.

Animal Lifecycle Links:

How to draw a lifecycle                     Jellyfish

aye-aye                                         grasshopper

emu                                              water strider

echidna                                         salamander

kiwi lifecycle                                   salmon  

kiwi                                               beluga whale

komodo dragon                                flying squirrel

kookaburra                                     Lifecycle of bird, fish, grasshopper

Plateosaurus     Plateosaurus part2     Bearded Dragon 

crocodile                                        gecko 

penguin                                          platypus         platypus lifecycle

dolphin                                           snakes 

ladybugs or ladybirds                         iguana 

lemur                                              newt

blue-tonued skink  

Rainbow Lorikeet 

Animal Lifecyles

flamingo 

APRIL 2009

 I hope everyone had a wonderful Spring Break and a Happy Holiday. 

     It was so good to see so many of you at Art in the Park on April 2nd.  I was amazed at all the wonderful art that Chalker students created!

 

     We have been reviewing for the CRCT in Language Arts and Math.  Please take the time to review all CRCT practice papers that come home with your child.  Discussing mistakes and pointing out why the correct answers are correct (as well as why other choices are not correct) will help your child learn this skill of elimination.

 

Science:  When we return from Spring Break, we will begin a unit on Lifecycles.  Some of the vocabulary words that we will be learning are:

metamorphosis

egg

adult

amphibian

reptile

 

Please remember to have your child complete the CRCT on-line testing so that he/she will be able to participate in the May 1st celebration.  The website is https://www.georgiaoas.org  

 

Calendar:

4/21 - 423 CRCT testing begins at 8:00 a.m.  Please give your child a healthy breakfast (very little sugar), and have your child to school and on time for these dates.  If your child is late to class, he/she will be required to remain in the office until there is a break (approximately 1 hour).  Once testing has begun, there can be no interuptions.  If your child misses a section of the test due to tardiness, or is absent during these days, there will be make-up days with another teacher.

4/24 Spirit Day:  Wear Chalker T-shirts or Chalker colors to school spirit!

4/24:  Family Fun Night

 

Thank you:

Thanks to Mrs. Anderson for doing some special photocopying for me and for helping out during Writer's Workshop.  It has been great having your help during this time.  I know the students have enjoyed having you come in.  Thanks also to Mrs. Weidman and Mrs. Washington for coming in to do photocopying.  Your help is such a time-saver for me.  Thanks also to Mrs. Godfrey for providing a special treat as we left to go home for Spring Break.  Everyone was so thrilled!

 

March 2009

 

Math:  This week we have been learning about measurement.  We learned about inches, feet, and yards.  Today we learned more about centimeters and meters.  We are getting to be great at using rulers!  Next week, we will be reviewing graphing and two-step problem-solving.

 

Language Arts:  This week we learned about the dictionary and learned about Guide Words, syllables, and definitions.  Some of us are learning this very quickly.  We also read a story about a dog who was sent to obedience school.  The students wrote a persuasive paper about whether or not they think the dog deserves to go to obedience school or not.

 

Social Studies:  This week we reviewed the different parts of our government (city, state, and national) and the people who are leaders in those areas (the mayor, the governor, and the president).  We also learned about where they work (City Hall, the Capitol Building, and the White House).  They learned that we are all citizens and that citizens have certain rights.  Next week, we will learn about how we elect our leaders and the qualities we look for in a good leader.

 

Calendar

 

3/3  Early Release Day:  Students dismissed at 12:20 p.m.

3/8  Daylight Savings:  Turn clocks forward and check smoke alarm batteries.

3/11 Banking Day

3/19 Report cards go home

3/26 School Pictures

3/27 Spirit Day

 

Thank you 

Ms. Wiedman, Ms. Washington, and Ms. Anderson have been very helpful with photocopying.  Ms. Anderson has also come in to help with Writer's Workshop.  Thank you so much for all your help.  I really appreciate everything you do.

 

FYI

1.  If you wish to help out in the classroom, please let me know.  I could still use help with Writer's Workshop on Mondays.

2.  Last Friday, a yellow paper came home about CRCT homework.  This is required homework.  I check the website every Friday to see who has completed the assigments for that week.  Those students who complete all the assignments through the week of April 13th will be rewarded.

3.  This upcoming week will be the last week for me to accept February Reading Logs for a Pizza Hut pizza coupon.

4.  Look for a letter to come home about breakfast being offered at Chalker.   

  I wanted to thank everyone for all the thoughtful gifts, candy, and cards I received on Valentine's Day.  The students were so proud of their Valentine boxes and had a wonderful time exchanging Valentines with their friends.  Thank you for allowing time for your child to prepare for this fun time.

 

Language Arts:  This week we learned about writing a persuasive paper.  We read The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and reviewed the old Three Little Pigs story.  Students were divided into two groups:  One group believed that the wolf was innocent and the second group believed that the wolf was guilty.  This upcoming week, we will begin writing another persuasive writing piece and students will complete this independently.

Math:  This week we learned about measuring in inches, feet, and yards.  We also learned that 12 inches equals 1 foot, and 3 feet equals 1 yard.  We practiced converting inches into feet, inches into yards, and feet into yards.  We also reviewed temperature in degrees Farenheit. This upcoming week, we will be learning about centimeters.

 

Social Studies:  February is Black History Month.  We have had fun learning about Martin Luther King, Jr. and Jackie Robinson as leaders of Civil Rights.  We started a unit on government by learning about Jimmy Carter.  This upcoming week, we will be learning about human rights and the beginning of our country's government.

 

Thank You:

Many thanks to Ms. Washington, Ms. Wiedman, and Ms. Anderson for coming in to photocopy for the class and for the teacher.  Thanks to Ms. Anderson again, for coming in to help the students with Writer's Workshop.  I appreciate all of you for taking time to help.

 

Calendar

2/27:  Spirit Day:  wear your Chalker colors to show school spirit!

 

F.Y.I.

1.  Now that the weather is getting colder, please send your child to school in a warm winter jacket.

2.  Reading Logs for February are due the first week in March.  If you child wants to receive a Pizza Hut certificate, please have him/her send in February's Reading Log.

February 2009

 

Happy February!

 

It was great to see you at conferences.  I was happy to be able to share so much information about your child.  Thank you for taking the time to meet with me.

 

Math: This week we began working into the thousands as we compared equations.  We also practiced skip-counting (counting by 2's, 3's, 4's, 5's, or 10's) numbers in the hundreds.  Next week, we will be counting up and counting back to make change.  Practice counting bills and coins at home.  Write the amount two different ways using the cent sign and the dollar sign. 

 

Language Arts:  This week, we practiced writing dialogue using quotation marks.  We learned about the "igh" spelling pattern and brainstormed words we knew that fit that pattern.  We also practiced adding the suffixes "ed, s, es, and ing"to verbs.  Next week, the students will write a short skit with finger puppets using quotation marks correctly.  We will also be working on learning the difference between a fact and an opinion.  This is a difficult concept for many second graders.  Practicing this at home could help. 

Social Studies:  Next week, we begin our unit on Civil Rights with another look at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We will begin by reading facts about Dr. King and the students will create a fact chart in class.

 

Calendar:

2/4:  Early Release Day:  Students are dismissed at 12:20.

2/5:  PTA  7 p.m.  2nd grade students will be performing.

2/11:  Banking Day

2/12:  Jump Rope for Heart

2/13:  Classroom Valentine exchange (a class list will be coming home shortly).

2/16:  Presidents' Day:  No school

2/20:  BINGO Night

2/27:  Spirit Day:  wear your Chalker colors to show school spirit!

 

F.Y.I.

1.  Now that the weather is getting colder, please send your child to school in a warm winter jacket.

2.  Reading Logs are due next week.  If you child wants to receive a Pizza Hut certificate, please have him/her send in January's Reading Log.

3.  We are currently collecting money for a Chalker family who lost everything in a fire.  Fortunately, no one was injured.  This happened in December around the holidays.  There is an empty milk jug in the classroom for students to donate spare change.  If you are interested in helping out with a larger donation, the office would be happy to provide you with details.

 

Thank you:

Thank you to Mrs. Washington and Mrs. Wiedman for making photocopies.  Thank you also to Mrs. Anderson for helping out at Writer's Workshop.  I really appreciate all your support. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 2009

  I hope that everyone had fun ringing in the New Year.  The two week break was such a wonderful opportunity for us all to connect with family and friends.  It was difficult for some of us getting back into the swing of things, but we did it!

 

Language Arts:  This week we learned about homographs (words that are spelled the same, but are pronounced differently, and mean different things).  For example, I dove into the water.  I saw a white dove on a tree.  These two underlined words are homographs.  Next week, we will review the spellings of the words "two, too, and to and there and their." 

 

Math:  This week we finished our unit on geometry.  We had so much fun making our toothpick and marshmallow geometric sculptures!  Next week, we will begin a unit on fractions.

Science:  This week we started a unit on Space.  We learned about some of the constellations and created sun dials to use next week when we discuss the earth's rotation causing day and night.  We will also have the opportunity next week to participate in the Sky Lab planetarium that will be set-up in the Media Center.

 

Social Studies:  We will be learning about Martin Luther King, Jr. and his message of peace.

Health:  We have had an exciting week with the firefighters coming into the classroom to teach us about fire safety.  Next week, we will continue learning about fire safety and practice what we have learned inside the fire house trailer that the firemen bring to school.

Calendar of Events:

1/14:  Banking Day

1/19:  Martin Luther King, Jr. Day/ No school

1/22:  The 100th Day of School (Wow, the time has really flown)!

1/26 to 1/30:  Parent/Teacher conferences.  Students are dismissed at 12:20 for the whole week.

1/30:  Spirit Day:  Wear you Chalker colors (green and gold) to show school spirit!

NOVEMBER

                                              

 Languge Arts:

We have been learning how to improve our questioning skills when we read. Asking questions helps the reader to connect to the story or book. The students have begun to realize that it is OK to ask questions while reading a book or a story. Later on, we will learn how to find out some of the answers to our questions. 

In Language Arts, we have also reviewed antonyms, and spelling words with a silent e at the end. 

In writing, we have started writing informational paragraphs about animals.

Math: 

In math we have finished a unit on addition with regrouping (carrying).  We have now started a unit on subtraction with and without regrouping (borrowing).  I have found that this can be one of the most confusing math concepts in 2nd grade.  For that reason, I will be sending home a poem that we use to help students with this concept.

Science:

We have finished our unit on energy with a lesson on pushes and pulls.  The students had a wonderful time trying to figure out a way to move a toy car without using their hands.  They were only to use a piece of clay, a sheet of paper, and a toothpick.  They came up with some interesting inventions.

Social Studies:

Next week, we will begin a unit on Georgia's Heroes From Long Ago.  We will be learning about Tomichichi, Mary Musgrove, and James Oglethorpe.

Health:

We have just finished a unit on nutrition with the Little D Nutrition Expedition program.  Everyone has enjoyed learning about all the food groups and the many ways they help your body.

F.Y.I.    

Picture retake day is this Wednesday, November 12th.  If you wish for your child's picture to be retaken, simply send back the entire packet of pictures on or before Wednesday, November 12th.

Thank You!

I wanted to give a huge thank you to our Roommothers:   Ms. Wiedman and Ms. Washington for a wonderful Fall Festival basket and a terrific Fall Jamboree.  The students loved the goodie bags and the food center was a big hit!  Thank you so much for all the work you do to help.

I also wanted to thank Ms. Wiedman and Ms. Washington for helping me out by photocopying.  This is such a big help to me.

Thanks also to parents who have sent in playground equipment.  The students are having a wonderful time playing with everything.

Calendar of Events: 

11/11:  Veteran's Day

11/11:  Five Guy's Night

11/12:  Banking Day

11/12:  Picture Retake Day

11/13:  Papa John's Pizza Night

11/19:  Stevi B's Night

11/21:  Spirit Day:  Wear your green and/or gold to show Chalker school spirit.

11/24 - 11/28 Thanksgiving Holidays/ No School

12/1:  Back to school

 

I hope everyone has a fun, safe, and healthy Thanksgiving. 

                            

 

Language Arts:

Next week we will be working on vowel sounds.  We also be classifying words according to vowel patterns.  The October Reading Log was sent home in your child's folder so that your child can begin recording books and/or chapters that they are reading for homework.  I will be sending home Book It information so that your child can begin working towards a pizza coupon from Pizza Hut.

Math:

Next week we will complete our unit on 2-digit addition with and without regrouping (carrying).  We will begin a unit on subtraction strategies.  Please continue to encourage your child to continue with addition regrouping practice.  Please also continue to encourage your child to take Math Magician tests and bring in the results to school.

Science:

We will be completing our matter unit next week.  Then we will begin a unit on motion, light, and heat energy.

Vocabulary for next week:

energy                          solar energy

heat                             motion

light                             electricity

reflect                           friction

temperature                   thermometer

Health:

Our class will be attending a Kid Safety program in the Media Center on Monday and Wednesday of next week.  This is a wonderful stranger safety program presented in an informative and kid-friendly way.

Thank you:

Thanks to Mrs. Anderson for coming in at Writer's Workshop and cutting out book cover patterns.  The children really enjoy it when you come in to help them.

Calendar:

10/15:  Early Release Day:  Students are dismissed at 12:20

10/17:  Report cards go home

10/25:  Fall Festival 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

10/31:  Spirit Day:  Wear your green and/or gold to show Chalker spirit!

October 2008

Language Arts:

We are currently working on making connections when we read.  Those connections are:  Text-to-text, text-to-self, and text-to-world. 

We have also been working on learning the difference between to, too, and two. 

Next week, we will begin working on adding the suffixes "ed, ing, and s".  We will also work on adding "s" and "es" to make words plural.  We will review exclamatory sentences in our writing (sentences that require an exclamation mark at the end).

Math:

We will practice counting bills and coins.  Students will also be reminded how to write money amounts two ways:  ($1.20 or 120 cents).  After Monday, ask your child about "Hairy Money".  This is a fun and quick way to count up coins.  We will also review how to write numbers four different ways:  write it out in words, draw the base 10 blocks, write how many tens and ones, and write it out in expanded notation (34 = 30 + 4).  We will also continue our two digit regrouping (carrying) practice.

Science:

This week we will contiue our study of matter.  We will be learning about how matter can be changed.  We will emphasize the physical and chemical changes of matter.

Thank you:

Thank you to Mrs. Washington for photocopying papers and for typing the class directory.  Thank you also to Mrs. Anderson for doing some extra photocoping for me and for coming in to help with Writer's Workshop.  Thanks also to those parents who have followed Chalker policy by sending in nutritious birthday snacks.

Please have your child at school on time next week because we are doing assessments to prepare for report cards.

September 26, 2008

Language Arts: We are learning how to write Personal Narratives in our writing.  We wrote stories using Circle maps and Flow-maps about things we do at recess. We are also learning how to add supporting details to sentences within a paragraph.  We have also continued to learn about homophones (words that sound the same, but have different meanings).  Things are going well in Reading Group.  Please remember that homework includes 20 minutes of reading each night.  Reading Logs are due at the end of September.  These were given to you in your Open House folder.

Math  We finished our unit on addition strategies and have moved on to 2-digit addition with and without regrouping (carrying).  Some of us are using workmats and base 10 blocks to help us.

Social Studies:  We have completed our unit on Georgia Long Ago.  We had a wonderful time learning about the Creek and Cherokee Indians.  Look for your child's salt map to come home soon.  We are starting a Science unit on Matter.  If your child would like to bring in something interesting to share about Matter, we would love to see it.

Calendar

10/2:  PTA meeting 7 p.m.

10/3:  Sally Foster pick-up after school

10/4:  Sally Foster pick-up 9-1

10/8:  Banking Day

10/8:  Picture Day

10/15: Early Release Day 12:20 dismissal

10/17:  Report cards go home

10/25:  Fall Festival 10-4p.m.

10/31:  Spirit Day (wear green and/or gold to show Chalker spirit)