May 7

Hello Parents!

Another week has flown by. Our field trip on Friday was a success! Thank you for those of you that volunteered. Were you as exhausted as I was?

I hope you all saw the Monday folders that came home today-they were packed with important information. One of the most important things in there was a math test that we took last week. It is a cumulative test of things we have learned this year. I will be giving a similar one next week. This test follows the exact criteria of the math section of their report card.  If you can take some time and go over problems they missed, or give them similar problems to practice on, that would be wonderful. We will be reviewing all this week in class as well, but I just can’t get to everyone one-on –on.  I did not grade the1 minute timed fast fact portion of the test. Some of them were confused on that part. Let me know if you have questions, or would like me to send home any practice materials. The internet is a wonderful resource full of websites for practicing math, or worksheets to print out.

A little highlight in our class right now is our writing. As a final project, I have given each student a small hardback book that they are choosing to use any way they like. They have been loving this project. I have been blown away by their creativity. We have quite the variety- Books about black holes, football, or hamsters, joke books, fairy tales, How-to books, etc. It has been a task to manage it all and keep everyone going, but they are so entertaining! I am excited for you to see the finished product.

We finally earned a class party today. We will be doing it on Thursday, May 10^th. They chose to have a  “camping” themed party. They are allowed to wear their pajamas, bring a blanket, and any treats to eat around the “campfire”. I will bring some treats as well.  

15 days left of school! Blows my mind! As much as I am ready for a break, it will be a sad day. I have loved this year. Thank you for having wonderful children. Talk to you soon!

Miss Jensen

Field Trip

Hello Parents!

 I am excited for our field trip this week! I think it is going to be a lot of fun. A few things to remember-

-I still don’t have everyone’s permission slip back. I sent home an extra copy in Monday folders today for those that I haven’t received yet. Please get those back to me tomorrow. The lunch count has to be in by the morning.

-We also just got things approved to have a COMMON DAY on Friday. I think this will make things much smoother. That means everyone will arrive at 8:00 am and go home at 2:15.  THERE WILL BE NO 2^nd TRACK! I will be sending a note home tomorrow about that that needs to be signed. Please send it back ASAP, just so I know you got the memo.

-Friday is supposed to be beautiful weather. We will be outside for a large portion of the time. Remember sunscreen!

-Some students were asking me about bringing things on the field trip-money, games for the drive, etc.  We are asking that no one bring anything. There won’t be a need to have any money and having to carry things around the whole time will be more of a hassle.

-I have had 4 parents respond to chaperoning so far- I will get in contact with you tomorrow. If you can, send me an email if you know you want a sack lunch from the school.  If there are others that may want to come, you are welcome to join us, but would have to provide your own transportation.

Let me know if you have other questions! Hopefully we all survive!

April 23

Hello Parents!

We have another wonderful week planned.

Math: Measurement

Reading: I will hopefully be finishing up reading testing this week. We also just performed some plays today for one of the 1st grade classes. I wish you had all been there. They were hilarious! I split them into groups and just let them adapt a short story into a play. They were so creative.  Not only did they have fun, but working on plays is so great for reading comprehension and fluency. It really requires them to get into a story and character.

Writing: We are doing some “How to” writing this week. I have let them write about whatever topic they want. They have been really entertaining.

A few highlights:

“How to make friends”

“How to catch a butterfly”

“How to get strong”

“How to break your let”

“How to use the bathroom” (typical 2nd grade)

“How to sink the Titanic”

Science: We got our caterpillars on Friday, and they have brought a lot of life into our classroom.  They each got to pick their own and give it a name. They should be in our class for about the next 2 weeks.

Do any of you have any time to spare in the next few days? I have been putting together the animal books we wrote as a class and would love an extra pair of hands to compile pages or do some binding. Let me know if you would like to help.

I hope you all saw the note about our fieldtrip coming up on May 4th. Don’t forget to fill out the paper and send it back! It should be a lot of fun.

Also, is there anyone who would like to take Geckster home that has not yet had a chance? If I don’t hear back from anyone, we will start round 2 for those of you that want to take him on again.  Thank you for being willing-it is one less thing for me to worry about on the weekends.

Let me know if you have questions. Have a wonderful week! Only 30 more days of school!

Miss Jensen

April 18

Dear Parents,

I hope you all had a wonderful spring break! I sure enjoyed a little rejuvenation! I have a feeling the rest of this year is just going to fly. Thank you all for making me feel so appreciated last week. You were all so thoughtful. I really feel lucky to be able to be with your kids everyday.

Here are a few things going on in our class this week:

Reading: I have started to do the final reading testing of the year this week. So far I have been so excited with the progress that has been made. I hope you are seeing it too!

Writing: I have been letting the students do some free writing of their choice this week. They have been writing stories about whatever comes into their mind, and they are pretty hilarious.

Math: Graphing/Measurement

Science: We have been discussing life cycles this week. We are going to be getting caterpillars hopefully on Friday of this week. We will have them in our classroom for the next few weeks, and we will be observing them as they go through their life cycle. I think this will be a lot of fun!

I also just wanted to remind you of raz-kids.com. There are hundreds of books online with comprehension questions that go along with them. The books can be found by level.  It really is an amazing resource- Take advantage of it!

Let me know if you have any questions. See you soon!

Miss Jensen

March 26th

Hello Parents!

We are beginning a new week and we have some great things planned. Here is a little peak into a few things we are learning…

Math: We have been doing some exciting things in math lately. We have been working on multiplication and division. They couldn’t be happier to finally be doing “times”.  It has been a good change from the place value and addition and subtraction stuff we were doing.  In doing multiplication in 2^nd grade, the focus is on their ability to count things in groups, and realize that multiplication is repeat addition. We aren’t worried yet about speed and memorizing, just introducing the concept and building a concrete concept of what “times” actually means.

Reading: We have been focusing on non-fiction books-analyzing their different structure and learning how to pull information from them.

Writing/Science: We are finishing writing our non-fiction animal book this week. It has been a great project for them. Having to make their own book has required them to really think about the different aspects of non-fiction writing. It has also given them a purpose to seriously edit and revise their work. A few students mentioned bringing in photographs of their animal from home-I am totally fine with that, but it is not necessary.

           

I also wanted to touch base on the gecko-Is there anyone else that would like to take him for a weekend that hasn’t gotten a chance? No one has signed up for this weekend. Let me know if that works for you.

We are also running low on glue sticks and tissues. If you happen to have any extra, I would love them!

Let me know if you have any questions!

Miss Jensen

Cookie Mix up

Hello!
A few of you noticed we got things mixed up with the cookie dough fund raiser packets. I did not realize they had names on them and just sent them home randomly. As long as you write your own name on the packet and cross out the sticker, it doesn't matter which one you have. Sorry to make things more complicated.
I hope you are all having a wonderful week. We have really been doing so much in our class lately. One of the highlights right now is the animal reports we have been writing. We will be making our own non-fiction book. They chose to make it all about animals and have each chosen an animal to research and write about. I have been so amazed with how engaged they have been in the project and their writing is really coming along. It is so exciting to see.
I so enjoy being with your kids everyday! I feel like they are making great progress. I hope you can see it too! As always, feel free to contact me with any questions or thoughts.

Miss Jensen

Jan. 30

Hello Parents!

I am really excited to get the chance to see you all this week. Hopefully you can make it to the time you signed up for!  Let me know if there is a conflict and I can squeeze you in somewhere else. 

The take-home reading program is really in need of a 2^nd grade volunteer for March and May.  If you could possibly help out, even half of the time, let me know. It would be every Monday for 1-2 hours.  Younger siblings are welcome to come along.

Thank you to those of you who  turned in your Jazz reading minutes yesterday. If you forgot, send them in as soon as possible. They are supposed to be in on Mondays.

Also, I want to do a project next week that requires small boxes. If you have any extra shoe boxes or tissue boxes, bring them in!

See you all soon!

-Miss Jensen