Upcoming Happenings

Thank you!

First of all - a BIG thank you to Mrs. Tara Smith for being such a wonderful substitute teacher!  I was out the entire week before vacation, and Mrs. Smith stepped right in to keep things going.

Thank you, Mrs. Smith!

NWEA Testing

Just a reminder that NWEA testing will be taking place the next three weeks.  Please make sure that your child is well rested and has had a relaxing start to the day, including a good breakfast.  One way to help your child feel ready for testing is to send in a short note of encouragement written to your child on the day of testing. This is just a suggestion that many have liked in the past.

Testing dates for Mrs. Pelkey's class are:

Wednesday, April 30

Wednesday, May 7

Wednesday, May 14

Our class will be testing from 8:45 - 9:45 each session.  Although we are assigned a time slot, this is not a timed test.  Your child is encouraged to take his/her time and will be allowed extra time if needed.

What else are we up to?

In math, we are about to begin a unit on fractions.  Our goal is to understand that a fraction is an equal portion of an object or of a set.  For example: one half can mean "one half of a cookie" (an object) or "one half of the class" (a set).  A parent letter with more information on our fraction unit will be sent home this week.

We are just putting the finishing touches on our biographies, which will soon be on display on our hallway bulletin board.  We are also in the middle of writing an informational text.  Using Earth Day as a springboard, students are going through the writing process to inform readers of ways to protect our planet.  We are applying what we know about introductions, examples and details, and conclusions.  We are also using peer conferencing and self-assessment to create a finished piece to be proud of.

Our mapping unit will soon begin to focus specifically on the geography of Maine.  This will help introduce our unit on Maine Native Americans.  In this unit, we will learn about Maine Native Americans of the past and present, as well as explore the use of traditional tales and Wabenaki art.

Magic Tree House

Ella, one of our classmates, came across a great website that she wanted to share.  For all of you "Magic Tree House" fans (and there are a lot of you), check out the following website:

http://www.magictreehouse.com/

Ella has had a lot of fun exploring all of the website's features, and hopes that you will enjoy it as well.

Thank you, Ella!

Current Events

Welcome, Miss Pacheco!

Mrs. Pelkey's Second Grade welcomes Miss Pacheco to our classroom!  Miss Pacheco is a first year Education student at Eastern Maine Community College.  She will be visiting our room one or two days each week, for the next several weeks, for field observation.  

Book Fair

The Center Drive School library has transformed yet again into an exciting selection of books for our Spring Book Fair!  As a result, we will not have our regular library time this Monday, March 10.  Our classroom will visit the Book Fair on Monday, March 17.  At that time your child may bring in money for purchasing books, or they may choose to make a "wish list", in case you needed suggestions for what to buy ;)

The Book Fair will be open during Parent/Teacher Conferences.
Our regular library time will resume on Monday, March 24.

What's Keeping Us Busy...

The cold weather certainly has not frozen the desire for learning in our classroom!  In math we have been working with patterns and ratios.  We have used linking cubes and pattern blocks to help us see the relationship between numbers in patterns.  We have also practiced filling in charts called "tables" and learned how to interpret the data that we have.  We continue to re-visit addition and subtraction strategies, as well as working with coins and telling time.  In the next couple of weeks we will focus more on adding and subtracting -- this time within 100.  We will spend more time on looking at numbers as ones, tens, and hundreds.

One of the new things we are trying as a part of our Reading Workshop is really focusing in on a "good fit" book (choosing it as an "Independent Read" book), and using a Reader's Notebook to record our thoughts, comments, questions, connections, and any other idea that comes to mind as we read.  This has really helped us to think about our reading and make good use of our reading time!  We have explored several biographies this month, and I cannot wait to see the students' presentations that they have done for their Reading Response.  Your child will bring home directions next week for conducting an interview.  We will then use the information from the interview to become authors of a biography!  This is a great way to participate in the connection between reading and writing.

Our main focus in Social Studies has been around Presidents Lincoln and Washington.  Once we wrap up our unit on concepts around our government and leaders, we will move on to a mapping and geography unit.  Specifically it will be our goal to look at the influence of geography on communities and the relationship between geography and industry or trade.

The month of March will also be a time for beginning a physical science unit on the movement of the earth and moon, water, air, and weather.  These concepts will also be explored throughout April.

Don't forget, Parent-Teacher Conferences are coming up in March.  Please be sure to sign up for a time for March 20 or 21.  I look forward to seeing you all then!

Valentine News

A paper was sent home last week, but I just want to remind families that Mrs. Pelkey's class will be having our Valentine's Day celebration on Thursday, February 13. Remember to please send in a card for everyone in the class, if you choose to participate in the optional card exchange.  A class list can be found on the back side of the Valentine notice that went home last week. 

Parents, please encourage your child to complete as much of the card writing as they can on their own.

I will bring in sugar cookies and juice.  Students will have the opportunity to frost and decorate their own cookies!

A student asked me if they can make their own Valentine holder at home to bring in.  The answer is : Yes, but it is not an assignment.  Please do not feel rushed to create a Valentine holder at home.  If you do make one, you can bring it in any time by Thursday.  Please make sure your name is printed clearly in a place where your friends can see it.

* For those who choose not to create a Valentine holder at home, we will have time and supplies available at school to decorate simple Valentine holders.

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone enjoyed some much needed family time together over vacation.  I am sure that our students will have several stories to tell about Christmas traditions, exciting activities, and power outages when I see them on Thursday.

Here's a look at some of our upcoming classroom units of study:

Math -- In math, we are continuing with Unit 3, which is the second of four units that focuses on addition, subtraction, and the number system.  We have already explored story problems with various unknowns, as well as odd and even numbers.  Now we will take a look at number patterns and develop fluency in skip-counting by 2's, 5's, and 10's.  We will also learn how to write a number in expanded form up to the hundreds place.  For example:  256 can be written 200 + 50 + 6.  We continue to work on becoming fluent in addition facts, now adding Plus 10 combinations to our studies (such as 23+10; 9 +10; and so on).  We are also continuing to work with telling time on an analog clock, figuring elapsed time, and working with adding coins and coin equivalencies.

Science -- In science we will briefly finish up an inquiry unit on magnets and will perform some experiments and apply new learning to observations we have made while exploring magnets; and then we will move into a unit on simple machines.  In this unit, students will learn about simple machines and use appropriate materials and tools to solve a problem or design a product.  We will also take a look at real world inventions and judge how well the product works.  

Social Studies --  We will be surrounded by the biographies of important people in the history of our country!  We begin with a study of Martin Luther King Jr.'s life and ideas.  Then we will move on to take a basic look at our country's government, democratic ideals, important symbols of our country, as well as being able to recognize key government leaders.  We will also study the lives of Presidents Washington and Lincoln.  People and events that we study this month will be added to our classroom Time Line.  All of our exposure to biographies will lead us into writing a biography of someone we know next month.

Writing -- In Writing Workshop, we will continue to improve our writing and apply concepts taught by using the writing process.  This includes drafting, conferencing, revising and editing.  Specially chosen pieces are honored through some form of publishing and/or sharing.  This month, students will work on writing opinion pieces which includes stating an opinion about a chosen topic in an introduction, and then adding supporting details.  Students will also work on creating a conclusion for their opinion piece.

Reading -- Reading is, of course, occurring throughout all areas of the day, including Reading Workshop.  Students continue to receive small group guided reading, as they learn to apply reading comprehension and decoding strategies.  As students make their way through second grade, it is important to point out that just reading words does not make a good reader.  Students are challenged to really think about the reading by connecting, responding, and discussing texts.  Second graders are always noticing vocabulary, phonics, and grammar concepts taught throughout the weeks in their own reading.  We are also thinking about the connection between reading and writing, as we take a look at author's craft and purpose for writing.

As you can see, we have so much ahead of us this month!  While I certainly enjoyed relaxing over vacation, I am eager to get back to school and work with your kiddos.

Some dates to keep in mind:

January Reading Responses will be due Friday, January 17 and Friday, January 31 (more information will be sent home on Monday 1/06)

No School (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day) -- Monday, January 20.

Super Fun Grinch Day!

What an absolutely busy and incredibly fun day we all had in kindergarten through second grade!  How the Grinch Stole Christmas was read and celebrated, activities kept us excited all day, and we ended with hot chocolate, a special snack, and a viewing of the Grinch movie.

A VERY SPECIAL THANK YOU to all the volunteers who helped us out today!  This day could not have been done without you.  Also, thank you to the PTG, who funded the event helping us to purchase needed supplies for our activities.  This is a day that students and staff look forward to every year.  Having such a supportive community helps to make it all happen.


A few photos of Grinch Goo:

CONCERT INFORMATION ---

IF Wednesday is a snow day, our concert will be held on Thursday, December 19 instead.