What a year!

This has been a truly amazing school year, and I'm sad to see the kiddos leave my room.  I've learned so much from each of them, I have a ton of memories to look back on, and experiences which have made this school year one of my favorites (it's a very close second to my first year of teaching 8 years ago!).  Your students have each made fantastic academic progress and I'm very proud of all their successes.

Before you hear it from someone else, I will not be returning next school year.  I've been wanting to move to Colorado for many years now, and I feel the time has come for it to happen- both personally and professionally.  I have loved working for this school district!  At first, I viewed my move from Bella Vista E.S. 4 years ago as a VERY disguised blessing.  As it turned out, it was the best thing to have happened for me at the time, and I feel blessed to have had the chance to be considered a Dust Devil.  PdS has been a fantastic school to work at, and I'm sad to leave it.  I wish I could take everyone with me to CO!  This move will be a learning experience, pushing me further in my passion for teaching.

If you didn't receive your child's report card yesterday, it is in the main school office.  If your student left school prior to Thursday, their personal belongings from their desks are in the main school office as well.
 
Good luck to the kids in 3rd grade, they are all going to be amazing in the coming school year.  Again, many thanks for all of your support and involvement!



Have a great summer vacation with your family wherever the road may take you.


Elizabeth Townsend
PDS
Second Grade

The last week!

WOW...I can't believe it's the last week of school!  We have so many things going on this week:

• Tuesday- Field Day.  Students are welcome to bring a change of clothes for after the water-related activities, but they are not necessary.  What is necessary, however, is at least a change of shoes and socks and a towel.  The kids are going to get pretty wet.  Students are asked to not wear or bring swimsuits of any kind.  We'll also be having our End of the Year Ice Cream Social, so it's sure to be a messy and exciting day!
• Wednesday- Play.  The students will be performing their play for you beginning at 12:30.  The two plays will take approximately 45 minutes.  Afterwards, we will be doing some room cleaning.  If you wish to sign out your kiddo early, they won't be missing anything academic.  The kids will also be getting their yearbooks signed and cleaning out their desks.
• Thursday- last day!  The last day is a 1/2 day.  There will not be any school lunch served.  I will be finishing grades and attendance while the kids are watching a movie.

Thank you for all you do!

Elizabeth Townsend

PDS
Second Grade

515-2970

elizabeth.townsend@svps.k12.az.us

Oh my goodness!

My apologies for not up keeping our blog here!  Just a few notes to let you know what's going on in our world:

• Science Week:  The students will be rotating to various science-related activities throughout the week. They always prove to be A LOT of fun for kiddos, so I'm sure they'll enjoy them again this year.  The activities will interrupt our daily schedule, but I've planned accordingly so we will still get work completed.
• I Love to Read:  This event is also week-long, and will take place next week.  The students are taking home a bright green sheet which will outline what is celebrating each day.  The week is sure to be plenty of fun as well!
• Galileo testing:  We JUST received the schedule so we'll be benchmark testing this week and possibly next week.
• Class play:  The kids have been practicing their plays and are ready to make their puppets.  I will be having them perform for the other second grade classes and you as well once I get a schedule together.  We should be ready to begin performing next week.
• We will be having an Unbirthday celebration the last week of school.  This will celebrate the summer birthdays, as well as birthdays missed of new kiddos who arrived after their birthday occurred.  Enclosed in your students' mail is a form requesting items.  This form is only for students who have a late May, June, July, or early August birthday.

News

May 7           1/2 day early release at 11:30.  Teacher in-service

May 22         Students' last day.  Early release at 11:30.  NO LUNCH.

Birthdays

May 4           Madelyn

May 11         Hayley

May 19         Antony

May 28         Jamila

May 29         Joel

Thank you for all you do!

Elizabeth Townsend

PDS
Second Grade

515-2970

elizabeth.townsend@svps.k12.az.us

The Toucan Squawk, Apr. 7 - 11

Hello families...I hope everyone has had a wonderful week!  We finished testing today...YAY!!!  We'll celebrate tomorrow with a snack...shhhh!  :-)  We'll be continuing our new writing project, a problem and solution story.  We started on the organizer today, and will continue through next week.  We will also begin a Problem Based Learning project about creating a zoo.  Mrs. Sullins found the idea on Beyond Textbooks- where we gather some of our curriculum materials for lessons- and she created a schedule to introduce the projects.  We'll be integrating math, science, and writing within several of the various projects.  It's sure to be a fun set of projects that will take the kiddos through May to complete.  For math, we'll begin working on arrays.  This is a useful strategy for comprehending multiplication.         


News

Apr. 25             Progress Reports


Birthdays

Apr. 6               Azia
Apr. 13             Emilia




Thank you for all you do!



Elizabeth Townsend
PDS
Second Grade
Elizabeth.townsend@svps.k12.az.us
515-2970

Testing Week!

Hello families! The students are taking their Stanford 10 test this week, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday! The students have prepared for this test the whole school year, and I know they are ready for it. To prepare for the next three days, please remember the following:

1. Schedule all doctor's appointments after testing has been completed. Once a test has been started, the students cannot go back to that test they missed. This is a state mandate, not by the school or the district.
2. If you think your student is sick, keep them home. This is obviously not something we teachers like to mention, but again- if a student starts on a test, and then ends up leaving during the day- they cannot continue that test.
3. Make sure your student gets plenty of sleep the night before each testing day. A tired mind cannot function while trying to pay attention to something as important as this test.
4. The same goes for a full tummy. Please make sure your student has a healthy and full breakfast the morning of the test. I'll have the chance to give the students a snack prior to starting, but the morning should get off to a good start by having a great breakfast.

I'll be giving homework this week, just not the full amount.  Students will receive a reading log and lined paper to practice their spelling words for Friday's test.



Thank you for all you do!


Elizabeth Townsend
PDS
Second Grade
515-2970
elizabeth.townsend@svps.k12.az.us

Opps!

In the rush of the afternoon, the report cards were not sent home.  My apologies about that.  They are ready to go home on Monday.



Have a great weekend and thank you for all you do!



Elizabeth Townsend
PDS
Second Grade
elizabeth.townsend@svps.k12.az.us
520-515-2970

The Toucan Squawk, Mar. 24 - 28

Hello families...I hope everyone had a wonderful Spring Break with their kiddos!

We have started reviewing concepts from the school year for the upcoming Stanford 10 test.  This week, the students have taken practice tests.  We'll be discussing the questions and answers as a class.  We don't have a writing project this week, but we will start on our next project next week- an Easter Bunny-themed writing!

Tomorrow is picture day!  The class will be taking individual pictures tomorrow morning.

Grade reports will go home on Friday.  They will also include everyone's latest STAR reports. 


News
March 28          Grade reports go home.

Birthdays
Peyton              March 29



Thank you for all you do!


Elizabeth Townsend
PDS
Second Grade
515-2970
Elizabeth.townsend@svps.k12.az.us