The Toucan Squawk, Sept. 24 - 29

Hello families!  I hope everyone has enjoyed their week so far.  The students survived their first full day with a substitute!  I'm so happy they did super Monday.  Except for a mishap with math, everything was accomplished AND the substitute left a really positive note about their behavior.  I'm very proud of their positive choices!

The t-shirts are done, and they came out SO cute!  I'm looking forward to taking pictures of the kids wearing them once everyone has finished.  There are a couple which need to be painted still, but once they are done I'll be sure to take pictures.  The kids painted them last Friday, and each table had a different color- turquoise, purple, orange, and green.  A HUGE thank you goes to Mrs. John for helping with the painting!  It was awesome to have an extra set of hands to pass out paint, encourage the kids to stay in the lines, and direct traffic as they finished.

And speaking of a HUGE thank you, another one goes to Mrs. Padilla for donating the fantastic new treasure chest to the class. 

It went from this...

 

to this...

!!

It has much more space, and the kids are able to find what they want much easier.  More HUGE thank yous go to all the parents who have donated items to fill said treasure chest and for Freetime.  The kids love them and have made their shopping experience much more fun.

Thank you to everyone again for making our class feel so loved and supported!

Our field trip for the school year is coming up speedy fast- October 16th, which is the Tuesday after Fall Break. Permission slips will be going home tomorrow. Please fill out and return as soon as possible. Please also indicate if you will be able to chaperone. I'll attach a note regarding this to the slip. Depending on the space on the buses, we may need chaperones to drive their own vehicles, but hopefully we won't have to do that this time around.  For the field trip, your student will need to wear long jeans and sneakers. We'll be doing a lot of walking, especially through the corn maze and when choosing the pumpkins from the field. A jacket or sweater is also suggested. This can be tied around their waist when it's not needed. Students will also need to bring their own lunch, as they will be having lunch there at the farm.  Students are invited to wear their toucan shirts, but it's by no means a must- just a fun suggestion.  It's SUCH an exciting trip, and they'll sure to be wiped out when we return!

This week, we are reviewing double digit addition with and without regrouping, as well introducing double digit subtractiong with and without regrouping. It went surprisingly well today, so knock on wood it will continue to be as smooth. We tried using the manipulatives, Base Ten blocks, but I honestly think that may have been even more confusing for some of the students. We'll continue using them, but some may realize they won't need them anymore as they are working through the concept. We are also starting a new science experiment, surface tension with putting water on coins. It's a pretty neat experiment, and the kiddos will surely like it.


News
Sept. 26                 Teacher in-service, 1/2 day early release at 11:30.
Oct. 5                     1/2 day early release at 11:30.
Oct. 8                     Columbus Day, no school.
Oct. 8 - 12             Fall Break, no school.
Oct. 19                   Report Cards go home.
Oct. 31                   Teacher in-service, 1/2 day early release at 11:30

Birthdays
Sept. 28 Hawkins
Oct. 24 Isaiah
 
Thank you for all you do!

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

September 21...tomorrow!

We will be painting shirts tomorrow!  We will be using permanent fabric paint to create our class t-shirts.  PLEASE send your child to school tomorrow wearing clothes that they can paint in.  It can be something they can put over their regular clothing.  We will try our best to be neat, but accidents happen.  Thank you for your support!

The Toucan Squawk, September 17 - 21

Oh dear, it seems I've been neglecting my updating!  My apologies about that.  We've been super busy on center rotations (which are going fantastic!), finishing writing projects, and learning new math concepts.  In the homework packets for this week you may have noticed double digit addition.  It has been, admitedly, a scary journey...but the kids are beginning to realize they need to start in the ones column and not the tens.  We started today adding 100s as well, and they were pretty excited seeing how they could add those numbers as well.  Their introduction to place value and expanded notation in the beginning of August has definietly been useful this week.

The students are finishing their "scarecrow writing" (personal narrative of a small moment).  They look great posted on the wall!  They have also been working on their "noun pumpkins" (favorite person, place, and thing).  Both projects have come out super cute, and I'm sure they'll be excited to bring them home.  They'll be going home at the end of November, to make room for displays for holiday projects...Quarter 2 is always such an exciting time of the year!

As a reminder, the AR reports for each AR test the students take each day are not to be taken home...yet.  We had some confusion about this today, as well as some students not filling in their AR chart after each test they take.  Several students will need to spend part of their recess filling in their charts tomorrow to complete this task.  This was something we had discussed in August, and each student is held responsible for filling in this chart every time they take a test.  I'll be collecting the folders the Friday before Fall Break to do several things:
 
1.  "Sticker" reports of AR tests passed with an 80% or higher. 
2.  Separate out failed tests, and determine if each student will be able to move on to a higher reading level, or if they should continue reading the levels they are at. 
3.  Identify who has acheieved their Quarter 1 AR goal.  This will be counted as a grade in their "Reading" in my gradebook. 
4.  Staple in Quarter 2 AR reading levels and ranges.

Students will receive their folders back after Fall Break, and will then be able to take home all of the AR reports (both passed and failed).

All of the teachers will begin benchmark testing for the end of Quarter 1 data.  I will have the students take their STAR reading test and STAR math test (both on the computers) and running record reading test.  Running records are a quick assessment tool used by teachers to evaluate students' reading and comprehension.   They are used to help find students' reading levels, check their fluency, and find weaknesses in comprehension.  The testing will take place starting next Monday and will run through the week before Fall Break.

News
Sept. 26            Teacher in-service, 1/2 day early release at 11:30.
Oct. 5                1/2 day early release at 11:30.
Oct. 8                Columbus Day, no school. 
Oct. 8 - 12        Fall Break, no school. 
Oct. 19              Report Cards go home.
Oct. 31              Teacher in-service, 1/2 day early release at 11:30

Birthdays
Sept. 28            Hawkins
Oct. 24              Isaiah


Thank you for all you do!

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

The Toucan Squawk, Sept. 4 - 7

Hello families!  I hope everyone enjoyed their Labor Day weekend.  Tomorrow are our conferences.  If you are unable to make the scheduled time, please let me know.  We can go over our respective schedules and set up a new time.  I am also available by phone or by email.  Whichever is best for both of us.  I will have your child's STAR Reading report and progress report, as well as your ParentVue log-information. 

The students have been working through polygons and area of a rectangle in math.  For reading, the students have been reading "Round-up at Rio Ranch".  They also been super busy with taking AR tests and studying their spelling words. 

We started center rotations today.  The centers the students worked through were math, word work (spelling word study), reading from the reading series, and completing writing projects.  Overall, they went as smooth as a start could be.  We did hit a few rough patches with behavior and not following directions.  However, we're moving in the right direction so I definitely think things will be looking up next week.  With Thursday and Friday being half-days, I won't be able to pull as many centers, of course, as on a full-day.  We'll get as much done as we can these two shortened days, and then start full-force and fresh on Monday.  The purpose of center rotations is to practice and review what has already been taught, for the kids to become more independent workers, and for me to be able to work with all of the kids at least every day.  I'll work with each group of kids every other day in reading and writing.  This will give me the chance to check on everyone's progress in all subjects taught, as well as review skills not yet mastered.  In the afternoons, we won't have center rotations, but after the math lesson I do have a chance to sit with the kids who have not mastered a specific math skill.

On Monday I sent home your child's AR report.  My mistake for not getting these to the kids on Friday, so it will be my job to make sure they go home each Friday.  Each report had your child's reading level and range.  A few kids had not, at that moment, taken AR tests yet so I indicated how many your child will need to take by Friday to achieve their AR goal for the week.  Several students worked SUPER hard today and yesterday and were able to take the amount of tests I had indicated.  There are still a couple who need to reach their test goal, so we'll work hard at that tomorrow and Friday.  If a student's AR goal is not achieved by Friday, they will need to complete it during their Freetime.

I look forward to meeting with everyone tomorrow afternoon!

News
Sept. 6 and 7     Parent/Teacher Conferences, half-day early release at 11:30.
Sept. 12 Teacher in-service, 1/2 day early release
Sept. 26 Teacher in-service, 1/2 day early release

Birthdays
Sept. 23 Hawkins

Thank you for all you do!

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