The Toucan Squawk, Nov. 5 - 9

Hello families!  I hope everyone has had a great week.  The students have completed their "My Pet Turkey" writing.  They wrote about what would happen if they kept their Thanksgiving turkey.  The class began writing after we read "'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving", written and illustrated by Dav Pilkey.  We have also been working on writing a letter to a soldier for Veteran's Day.  Fellow second grade teacher, Mrs. Holston, will be giving them to her husband who works at Fort Huachuca.  They will then be delivered to a group of soldiers who are currently serving.

We have also been working on counting money to $5.00.  The students were introduced to touch points with coins.  This has been an AMAZING strategy for the students learning to count money.  The class has grasped the concept of counting money easier and quicker than I expected, proof the Touch Points are definietly helping!  I sent home a letter on Tuesday explaining the concept.  Next week, the students will be taking home money homework.  This strategy will be very helpful as they continue working with money.

The students have worked very hard on their Election Journal.  They "voted for President" on Monday in the computer lab with the help of the kids from Mrs. Caputo's class.  On Tuesday, they voted in the classroom by putting their votes in a ballot box- well, it was a pink magazine holder, but it did it's job well!  Next we tallied our votes.  Each class shared their winners, and then we graphed our votes in a bar graph.  All four classes voted for President Obama!  The students have finished their journals, and they will be sent home next week once I have graded and recorded the grades.


News
Nov. 12                  Veteran's Day, no school
Nov. 16                  Progress reports go home
Nov. 21 - 23          Thanksgiving holiday, no school
Nov. 28                 Half-day early release at 11:30, teacher in-service

Birthdays

Nov. 21                  Mason
Nov. 23                 Kaylee

Thank you for all you do, and have a great Veteran's Day weekend!

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