Classroom Culture:
“…We must build a classroom culture of achievement – a culture in which students are inspired to work hard to attain success, a culture in which students are motivated to learn, a culture in which students collaborate with their peers to bring the whole class to higher levels of achievement. Ultimately, creating this powerful classroom culture will make it easier to ensure that your students meet your ambitious goals for behavior and for academic performance.” -via Teach for America here.
Reading Goal
Reading and a love of literacy is a life skill that is established early in a student’s education. This year, I will challenge the class to read (collectively) 2,015 books in the 2014-2015 school year! The best way to become a strong reader is to read, read, and read some more. So in that spirit, each student will pledge to read at least 10 books each month in order to help our class make our goal for this school year.
Students will track the books they read on a reading log. Library books and books read at home can also count. Establishing an Outstanding goal will keep our class focused and driven towards achieving excellence!
Morning Meeting
Each day in second grade will start with MORNING MEETING. Students are invited to the carpet to give and receive a friendly greeting, play a team-building, energizing game, share stories or special happenings with the class, and prepare for what learning will take place that day. Morning Meeting is a special opportunity that allows our class to gel together as a team, iron out sticky situations that may negatively impact our learning, and to celebrate each other.
Below is the resource packet about Morning Meeting (presented at TFA Institute 2009) – Morning Meeting Workshop Packet.
Be Kind, Be Prepared, Be Smart.
These three short sentences describe how I expect students to engage with me and others in our class. I teach students the general concept of malleable intelligence. Yes, this is a complex concept usually reserved for older students, but the spirit behind it can be very motivating for young children.
Essentially, intelligence is your brain's muscle; if you want it to grow, you have to work it out. People aren't born smart. Smart people are hard workers. This idea is empowering for children, especially those who are weak in a learning area (not a fluent reader, struggles with math facts, experiences writer’s block, etc). At a basic level, intelligence teaches children that meaningful practice is a good way to become proficient and excel.
We begin our study of intelligence with a discussion of all the things a baby can’t do which a second grader CAN do. Students create an elaborate list (walk, read, skateboard, use a fork, tie shoestrings, etc). Then, we talked about how students know how to do things babies don’t. The final answer is this: learning and practicing a skill makes you an expert.
Class Cheers
I encourage students to cheer for their classmates as they succeed and take on challenges.
I like Dr. Jean’s cheers and chants.
Some of the class cheers we use can be found here:
Cheers 01-08
Cheers 09-16
Cheers 17-24
Cheers 25-32
Character Education Lessons and Activities, 7 Habits of Happy Kids
Bucket Filling
Fizzy Mess
Self-Control Bubbles
Peace Doves
The Being
The Dot
The Paper Heart
Friendship Web
Classroom Management
Jacobs students follow R.O.A.R.S. values – Respect, Organization, Accountability, Responsibility, and Self-Control. These rules apply in the classroom, cafeteria, bathrooms, resource classes, hallways, school buses, and field trips.
Students will track their progress on R.O.A.R.S. values daily via a color change chart. Each color translates to a number of Jags Bucks (reward dollars) to be earned each day:
Jags Bucks can be cashed in for rewards every other Friday. Students will brainstorm and generate a list of desired reward opportunities.
Rewards include:
$50 Lunch with the teacher
$50 Lunch with a buddy (in the classroom or on the stage)
$20 Sit at the teacher’s desk for the day
$20 Change your seat to sit anywhere you want
$15 Stinky feet (no shoes in the classroom)
$15 , Slipper feet (wear slippers in the classroom)
$20 Write in pen for the whole day
$25 Free choice during computer station
$10 Sticker
$15 Hat day (in the classroom)
$30 Help in another classroom
$30 Honorary safety patrol
$10 Homework pass (Jackie)
$30 Extra recess
$20 Read a book to a kindergarten class
$30 Bring a stuffed animal friend
$50 Wear your pajamas to school
$20 Read a book to our class
$10 Bring a book from home for the teacher to read
$30 Bring a toy for the day to play with at recess only
$30 Chew YOUR OWN gum in class
$20 Teacher’s helper
Student Jobs
Every student in the class will apply for and be assigned a class job. Class jobs are a great way to help students learn responsibility and to take pride in helping our class run like a well-oiled machine. Jobs include roles such as: line leader, librarian, paper passer, messenger, and secretary. Some jobs have multiple positions. There are enough jobs for every single student to have one. Students who complete their job well each week will be paid $1 in Jag Bucks. Jobs rotate on a quarterly basis.
A complete list of class jobs and responsibilities can be found here: Class Jobs.
Classroom Procedures
Establishing procedures and routines are essential for maximizing precious instructional time during the school day. Specific instruction on class procedures is taught during the first six weeks of school. Students are given ample time to understand, practice, and review class procedures. In time, procedures become a part of a student’s routine in class.
Our class will use the following classroom procedures this year:
Lining Up
– Student jobs include Line Leader, Door Holder, and Caboose.
– Line up in line order at all times (even after lunch, recess, and resource).
– Line order is posted near the door.
– Stand directly behind the person in front of you and face forward.
Hallways
– The line leader will know when and where to stop the line at certain points in the hallways.
– Walk silently in the hallways (using Quiet Coyote hand signal).
– Keep hands by your sides at all times (no touching or leaning on the walls).
– Keep your feet in one square outside of the red.
– When you see friends in the hall, give them a silent wave.
Morning Procedures
Mornings in our classroom are quiet, peaceful times. Talking and sharing happen during Morning Meeting.
– Enter silently.
– Read and respond to the Morning Meeting message.
– Go to your desk. Unpack EVERYTHING. (Students do not go back and forth to backpacks during the day, except to retrieve lunch materials.)
– Take your belongings to the coat racks. Hang your backpack on a hook, filling in the back hooks first. Lunch boxes are stored on the shelf. In colder seasons, coats are stuffed inside backpacks.
– Return to your desk.
– Put your red daily communication folder and WS/HW journal on top of your desk. (I will come around to each desk to check/collect folders and WS/HW.)
– Begin Daily Language Practice morning work in journal.
– Read independently until announcements and Morning Meeting.
Afternoon Procedures
– Stack the materials you will need for home on top of your desk (WS/HW journal, communication folder, library books, graded classwork, etc).
– Wait quietly for your team to be called to pack up.
– When called, go to your mail box to get your red folder and mail.
– Go to the coat rack to retrieve your belongings. Take everything back to your seat.
– Put your materials in your backpack.
– Put your coat and backpack on and go to the carpet to your carpet spot.
– When the whole class is on the carpet, listen to me read from our novel (ongoing) until dismissal time.
Getting the teacher’s attention
– Only students who raise their hands will be recognized.
– Our class will use non-verbal hand signals.
– For bathrooms, put two fingers in the air.
– To trade your pencil, put one finger in the air.
– For a water break, put three fingers in the air.
– To ask a question or comment during our learning, put your whole hand in the air.
– Students will receive a nod “yes” or “no” in response to their non-verbal hand signals.
Pencils
Our class works based on a community system of pencils. I collect some of each student’s yellow no. 2 pencils at the beginning of the year and store them. Each day, I put out new pencils to be sharpened by the Pencil Police. The green cup is for sharpened pencils and the red cup is for dull/broken pencils. Only the Pencil Police (class job for two students) will handle the electric pencil sharpeners. Pencil Police sharpen dull pencils at the beginning and/or end of the day.
Pencil Management
– If a pencil becomes dull or broken, put one finger in the air.
– When given permission, trade your dull pencil for a sharp pencil.
– The dull pencil goes in the small black cup and the sharp pencil comes from the large black cup.
Bathrooms (Whole Class)
– Our class takes whole group bathroom breaks on regular school days. Exceptions include testing days, field trips, special performances, or time constraints.
– A girl and boy will serve as Bathroom Monitors. Bathroom Monitors allow three students into the bathroom at a time.
– There is no talking in the bathrooms.
– Get two pumps of soap.
– Wash hands for five seconds (singing happy birthday or counting one-one thousand, two-two thousand…).
– Get two paper towels and dry hands.
– Quickly return to the line. (Often the class is playing a quiet review game in the hallway while others are using the restroom.)
– Whole class bathroom breaks will last no longer than five minutes.
Bathrooms (Individual Students)
– If you need to use the bathroom, put two fingers in the air to let Ms. Ward know.
– Students are only to use the bathrooms at the front of the school near the office.
– Students have unlimited access to the bathroom, unless it becomes an issue.
Paying Attention SNAP
– SNAP means to Stop Now and Pay Attention
– When a classmate is speaking, students will SNAP the speaker.
Ready Position
– Ready Position is being tucked into your desk, facing forward, hands folded on top of your desk.
If You Can Hear My Voice…
I often use the call and response: “If you can hear my voice, clap once…If you can hear my voice, clap twice.”
– Over the years, this has become my favorite tactic to pull students’ attention towards me. It does not require yelling, special bells, or other materials (which makes it useful everywhere, including field trips, the cafeteria, etc).
– I say the lines using a normal, conversational voice. Students nearby will hear the call first and clap.
– After the first clap, other students around the room will hear the second call and join in the clap.
– At the start of the year, it is not unlikely to take 5 or 6 claps to gather everyone’s attention. However, as the year continues, I expect every students’ attention to be entirely on me by the third call/clap.
Remind 101:
I have opened a Remind 101 text phone tree for our class. It is free! You can also email to join.
I will send reminders to your phone of quizzes, projects, events, inclement weather, etc. This is the first time I have tried this type of technology. I look forward to hearing what you think.
“…We must build a classroom culture of achievement – a culture in which students are inspired to work hard to attain success, a culture in which students are motivated to learn, a culture in which students collaborate with their peers to bring the whole class to higher levels of achievement. Ultimately, creating this powerful classroom culture will make it easier to ensure that your students meet your ambitious goals for behavior and for academic performance.” -via Teach for America here.
Reading Goal
Reading and a love of literacy is a life skill that is established early in a student’s education. This year, I will challenge the class to read (collectively) 2,015 books in the 2014-2015 school year! The best way to become a strong reader is to read, read, and read some more. So in that spirit, each student will pledge to read at least 10 books each month in order to help our class make our goal for this school year.
Students will track the books they read on a reading log. Library books and books read at home can also count. Establishing an Outstanding goal will keep our class focused and driven towards achieving excellence!
Morning Meeting
Each day in second grade will start with MORNING MEETING. Students are invited to the carpet to give and receive a friendly greeting, play a team-building, energizing game, share stories or special happenings with the class, and prepare for what learning will take place that day. Morning Meeting is a special opportunity that allows our class to gel together as a team, iron out sticky situations that may negatively impact our learning, and to celebrate each other.
Below is the resource packet about Morning Meeting (presented at TFA Institute 2009) – Morning Meeting Workshop Packet.
Be Kind, Be Prepared, Be Smart.
These three short sentences describe how I expect students to engage with me and others in our class. I teach students the general concept of malleable intelligence. Yes, this is a complex concept usually reserved for older students, but the spirit behind it can be very motivating for young children.
Essentially, intelligence is your brain's muscle; if you want it to grow, you have to work it out. People aren't born smart. Smart people are hard workers. This idea is empowering for children, especially those who are weak in a learning area (not a fluent reader, struggles with math facts, experiences writer’s block, etc). At a basic level, intelligence teaches children that meaningful practice is a good way to become proficient and excel.
We begin our study of intelligence with a discussion of all the things a baby can’t do which a second grader CAN do. Students create an elaborate list (walk, read, skateboard, use a fork, tie shoestrings, etc). Then, we talked about how students know how to do things babies don’t. The final answer is this: learning and practicing a skill makes you an expert.
Class Cheers
I encourage students to cheer for their classmates as they succeed and take on challenges.
I like Dr. Jean’s cheers and chants.
Some of the class cheers we use can be found here:
Cheers 01-08
Cheers 09-16
Cheers 17-24
Cheers 25-32
Character Education Lessons and Activities, 7 Habits of Happy Kids
Bucket Filling
Fizzy Mess
Self-Control Bubbles
Peace Doves
The Being
The Dot
The Paper Heart
Friendship Web
Classroom Management
Jacobs students follow R.O.A.R.S. values – Respect, Organization, Accountability, Responsibility, and Self-Control. These rules apply in the classroom, cafeteria, bathrooms, resource classes, hallways, school buses, and field trips.
Students will track their progress on R.O.A.R.S. values daily via a color change chart. Each color translates to a number of Jags Bucks (reward dollars) to be earned each day:
- A glittered STAR can be earned for exceptional behavior. Students with a star can earn an extra $2.
- If a student ends the day on GREEN, he or she earns $1.
- If a student ends the day on YELLOW, he or she can still earn $1.
- If a student ends the day on BLUE, no money is earned or paid.
- If a student ends the day on RED, he or she will pay $1 of their Jags Bucks.
Jags Bucks can be cashed in for rewards every other Friday. Students will brainstorm and generate a list of desired reward opportunities.
Rewards include:
$50 Lunch with the teacher
$50 Lunch with a buddy (in the classroom or on the stage)
$20 Sit at the teacher’s desk for the day
$20 Change your seat to sit anywhere you want
$15 Stinky feet (no shoes in the classroom)
$15 , Slipper feet (wear slippers in the classroom)
$20 Write in pen for the whole day
$25 Free choice during computer station
$10 Sticker
$15 Hat day (in the classroom)
$30 Help in another classroom
$30 Honorary safety patrol
$10 Homework pass (Jackie)
$30 Extra recess
$20 Read a book to a kindergarten class
$30 Bring a stuffed animal friend
$50 Wear your pajamas to school
$20 Read a book to our class
$10 Bring a book from home for the teacher to read
$30 Bring a toy for the day to play with at recess only
$30 Chew YOUR OWN gum in class
$20 Teacher’s helper
Student Jobs
Every student in the class will apply for and be assigned a class job. Class jobs are a great way to help students learn responsibility and to take pride in helping our class run like a well-oiled machine. Jobs include roles such as: line leader, librarian, paper passer, messenger, and secretary. Some jobs have multiple positions. There are enough jobs for every single student to have one. Students who complete their job well each week will be paid $1 in Jag Bucks. Jobs rotate on a quarterly basis.
A complete list of class jobs and responsibilities can be found here: Class Jobs.
Classroom Procedures
Establishing procedures and routines are essential for maximizing precious instructional time during the school day. Specific instruction on class procedures is taught during the first six weeks of school. Students are given ample time to understand, practice, and review class procedures. In time, procedures become a part of a student’s routine in class.
Our class will use the following classroom procedures this year:
Lining Up
– Student jobs include Line Leader, Door Holder, and Caboose.
– Line up in line order at all times (even after lunch, recess, and resource).
– Line order is posted near the door.
– Stand directly behind the person in front of you and face forward.
Hallways
– The line leader will know when and where to stop the line at certain points in the hallways.
– Walk silently in the hallways (using Quiet Coyote hand signal).
– Keep hands by your sides at all times (no touching or leaning on the walls).
– Keep your feet in one square outside of the red.
– When you see friends in the hall, give them a silent wave.
Morning Procedures
Mornings in our classroom are quiet, peaceful times. Talking and sharing happen during Morning Meeting.
– Enter silently.
– Read and respond to the Morning Meeting message.
– Go to your desk. Unpack EVERYTHING. (Students do not go back and forth to backpacks during the day, except to retrieve lunch materials.)
– Take your belongings to the coat racks. Hang your backpack on a hook, filling in the back hooks first. Lunch boxes are stored on the shelf. In colder seasons, coats are stuffed inside backpacks.
– Return to your desk.
– Put your red daily communication folder and WS/HW journal on top of your desk. (I will come around to each desk to check/collect folders and WS/HW.)
– Begin Daily Language Practice morning work in journal.
– Read independently until announcements and Morning Meeting.
Afternoon Procedures
– Stack the materials you will need for home on top of your desk (WS/HW journal, communication folder, library books, graded classwork, etc).
– Wait quietly for your team to be called to pack up.
– When called, go to your mail box to get your red folder and mail.
– Go to the coat rack to retrieve your belongings. Take everything back to your seat.
– Put your materials in your backpack.
– Put your coat and backpack on and go to the carpet to your carpet spot.
– When the whole class is on the carpet, listen to me read from our novel (ongoing) until dismissal time.
Getting the teacher’s attention
– Only students who raise their hands will be recognized.
– Our class will use non-verbal hand signals.
– For bathrooms, put two fingers in the air.
– To trade your pencil, put one finger in the air.
– For a water break, put three fingers in the air.
– To ask a question or comment during our learning, put your whole hand in the air.
– Students will receive a nod “yes” or “no” in response to their non-verbal hand signals.
Pencils
Our class works based on a community system of pencils. I collect some of each student’s yellow no. 2 pencils at the beginning of the year and store them. Each day, I put out new pencils to be sharpened by the Pencil Police. The green cup is for sharpened pencils and the red cup is for dull/broken pencils. Only the Pencil Police (class job for two students) will handle the electric pencil sharpeners. Pencil Police sharpen dull pencils at the beginning and/or end of the day.
Pencil Management
– If a pencil becomes dull or broken, put one finger in the air.
– When given permission, trade your dull pencil for a sharp pencil.
– The dull pencil goes in the small black cup and the sharp pencil comes from the large black cup.
Bathrooms (Whole Class)
– Our class takes whole group bathroom breaks on regular school days. Exceptions include testing days, field trips, special performances, or time constraints.
– A girl and boy will serve as Bathroom Monitors. Bathroom Monitors allow three students into the bathroom at a time.
– There is no talking in the bathrooms.
– Get two pumps of soap.
– Wash hands for five seconds (singing happy birthday or counting one-one thousand, two-two thousand…).
– Get two paper towels and dry hands.
– Quickly return to the line. (Often the class is playing a quiet review game in the hallway while others are using the restroom.)
– Whole class bathroom breaks will last no longer than five minutes.
Bathrooms (Individual Students)
– If you need to use the bathroom, put two fingers in the air to let Ms. Ward know.
– Students are only to use the bathrooms at the front of the school near the office.
– Students have unlimited access to the bathroom, unless it becomes an issue.
Paying Attention SNAP
– SNAP means to Stop Now and Pay Attention
– When a classmate is speaking, students will SNAP the speaker.
Ready Position
– Ready Position is being tucked into your desk, facing forward, hands folded on top of your desk.
If You Can Hear My Voice…
I often use the call and response: “If you can hear my voice, clap once…If you can hear my voice, clap twice.”
– Over the years, this has become my favorite tactic to pull students’ attention towards me. It does not require yelling, special bells, or other materials (which makes it useful everywhere, including field trips, the cafeteria, etc).
– I say the lines using a normal, conversational voice. Students nearby will hear the call first and clap.
– After the first clap, other students around the room will hear the second call and join in the clap.
– At the start of the year, it is not unlikely to take 5 or 6 claps to gather everyone’s attention. However, as the year continues, I expect every students’ attention to be entirely on me by the third call/clap.
Remind 101:
I have opened a Remind 101 text phone tree for our class. It is free! You can also email to join.
I will send reminders to your phone of quizzes, projects, events, inclement weather, etc. This is the first time I have tried this type of technology. I look forward to hearing what you think.
September 20, 2013
I hope everyone enjoyed the brain break. I know I did. I am looking forward to hearing the travel brochure reports to day. The students have been working so hard and I have seen some amazing projects. We will also be having our Geography/map test today to finish out the unit. We will have one last review this morning before we take the test this afternoon. We will not have yellow folders today. I will send them home next week. Have a fantastic weekend!
September 16, 2013
We have started another busy week continuing our learning of geography and finding some interesting facts about a city we chose with our class partner. We will be making a travel brochure to highlight some fun facts about a city somewhere in the world. We will turn these in on Friday. The students will share what they found about the cities and why we should travel there. I can't wait to hear what they found.
The students have lots of flexibility and the brochures can be as simple or complex as the students' choose. We are also finishing our Math unit on graphing: pictographs, bar graphs, pie charts, and line graphs. We have practiced many different types of graphs and today enjoyed a Starburst sweet treat from Soleil to test out our graph skills.
We have established our morning routine and morning work and will continue to read The Dragons of Blueland finishing our trilogy this week. Today was the first day we switched classrooms for Word Study. Our class split between 5 teachers every Monday (introduction) and Friday for the assessment. We will continue to follow the regular routine for word study homework each night. We will also have Word Study classwork to help reinforce the patterns, and like the old saying goes," practice makes perfect." You are all off to a fantastic start.
Review, review, review is the name of the game this week. 5 minutes per subject each night will help them to be prepared for the Friday tests in Geography and word study. Our math test on graphing will be on Tuesday and I know they will ACE it! Keep at the nightly reading and get lost in a great book. We will begin our new Social Studies unit next week-Ancient Greece . We will learn about architecture, the birth of democracy, culture, and more.
Remember to ask your child what they have learned each day.
September 8, 2013
I am gearing up for another great week at school. We will continue our review of addition, add on subtraction and hone our skills with fact practice to prepare for our multiplication adventure. We start our 2 week unit in government, begin our shared reading and daily 5 groups for guided reading, word study-abbreviations of months and days-building on last week, and our weekly reading record (due each Friday). I am looking forward to reading some of the creative stories and seeing where our adventure takes us.
Get a good night's rest and know I am excited to spend another week with you! Back to School Night is Wednesday starting at 6pm. We will write a note to parents sharing some of what we have learned this first week and what we are going to be learning in the weeks to come. See you tomorrow.
September 6, 2013
We have made it! We have learned what to do in an emergency, taken our math and language arts pre-tests, reviewed strategies to help up add (tally marks, base 10 blocks, counting on, place value, and Mrs. Maloy's Old Lady Math) and we have learned about scientific investigation and what a scientist "looks like." We have a wonderful class and I am so excited for a fantastic first nine weeks with them. If you have not signed up for Remind 101, I hope you give it a try. We will have a quiz in math (addition and subtraction using the strategies we have reviewed) next week and a quiz in science (scientific investigation). We will also start our weekly reading record to be turned in each Friday. Thank you for all of your support. Week 2 is going to be another GREAT week.
September 3, 2013
Welcome back! We are off and running and this new year is promising to be the best year yet. I will be
adding review materials to this website weekly and have listed a few basics to start out. I hope you enjoy it!
If needed, I can be reached at [email protected] .
July 29, 2013
I cannot believe we have made it through summer school and have 3 days left. Where did the time go? We have had fun reading stories, playing new games and some old favorites, and found some fun new learning websites to practice and hone our skills. We will be having a small open house on Thursday, July 31 at 11:30-12:00. We will be sharing a school rap we created and play a few of the games we play to improve our skills and have some fun. We will end our open house with watermelon slices to close out our summer school experience. Thank you for sharing your children each morning with me. I have enjoyed each day and look forward to seeing them continue to grow and improve in the months to come.
July 8, 2013
First week of summer school is under our belts and a fun Fourth of July behind us...Now, it's time for more summer school fun. We have assembled our reading groups and have already established our daily routines. This week, we will be reviewing problem solving skills in math and our word study words will be focusing on the short e (like in
"bell"), long ea (e sound like in "speak"), and ee (long e sound like in "feet"). We are playing WORDO (like Bingo) and earning extra free time at computers. I will send home a packet of math worksheets each Thursday with extra practice sheets for the remainder of the summer to keep the student's skills sharp. Please remember to sign the pink sheet I send home on Wednesdays back on Thursdays. We will have a word study quiz on Thursdays.
My goal for summer school is to keep them prepared for third grade and make improvements where needed to bring up any deficiences. Our summer school started on July 1st and continues toAugust 1st. We meet at Reams Elementary School from 8:00am-12:00pm Mondays-Thursdays. If your child will be absent, please call the school, email me , or send in a note to let me know. Thank you.
In the summertime, my homework is to read, read, read. Summer is a time to head to the library, choose books you might not have chosen during the school year and get lost in a new adventure. I am reading Jeannette Walls book, The Glass Castle and am going to start a third grade mystery series to check it out before I send out my list for my students. It is not unusual to find me at the Midlothian Library after school is out quietly sitting in a chair reading a book. Feel free to stop by the library and sit quietly and we can read together. I usually read Monday-Wednesday from 12:30-1:30pm. If Im not there, pick out a book, find a comfortable spot and I might pop by to say hello. If you have any questions, you can email me at my school email listed above or at Reams Elementary School Mondays-Thursdays 7:45am-12:30pm. (804-674-1370).
June 18, 2013
Summer is here and I am having fun thinking and planning all of the activities for this coming school year. Pinterest has some great ideas so make sure to check out my page. Today is cloudy which will give me time to go through some of my binders from second grade and organize for the fall. I hope you are enjoying time with your family and are keeping up with your reading. I stopped by the library yesterday and picked out a new book. I am looking forward to relaxing on the couch with my puppies, Salt and Pepper, and getting lost in a good book. Summer school at Reams Elementary starts on July 1st and I can't wait to see my friends from this past class and meet some new friends. Be prepared and keep up with your reading; I have lots of fun games to play with you!
June 5, 2013
Kite projects started today and WOW! The children were so creative and it has really shown in their final products. They used many different mediums like decorative duct tape, cloth, mylar, our China dragon masks, and even garbage bags to make their kites. Students shared with the class their inspiration for their designs, where they found their materials and how they constructed their kites. We will hear the remaining presentations tomorrow. On Friday, we will be taking the kites outside to test them for flight. Be sure to check out the pictures of our kites. We have also invited the other second grade classes to come on a tour of our kite gallery. Great job, everyone!!
We have completed our Reading benchmark and again, the students have exceeded my expectations and their success is below. We started the year with only 5 students at benchmark- reading on level- and now, 19 students are at or above benchmark with a few continuing to make daily progress. I am confident their love for reading will continue to flourish over the summer. Keep reading at least 20 minutes a day.
Please remember to return the China take home books by Friday with your daily sign in page to receive credit for your nightly reading. We have a China test tomorrow to wrap up our unit and will complete our kite presentations. We also have our Word Study test on Friday. We are working on (gn, kn, wr) words where the first letter is silent. Please review these so we can end word study with a bang. Get your spinners ready...Probability quiz on Friday. Remember, "What are the chances out of the whole group?"
Next week, I have planned a theme for each day; bring your favorite board game day(Monday-no electronics, please), bring your favorite stuffed animal day(Tuesday), Mulan madness(watch Mulan to enrich our China unit Wednesday), beach party(Thursday), and pajama/popcorn party(appropriate dresscode required-Friday) to end the year. I am very proud of everyone's hardwork. Keep it going. Only 7 days to go till summer vacation.
I hope everyone enjoyed the brain break. I know I did. I am looking forward to hearing the travel brochure reports to day. The students have been working so hard and I have seen some amazing projects. We will also be having our Geography/map test today to finish out the unit. We will have one last review this morning before we take the test this afternoon. We will not have yellow folders today. I will send them home next week. Have a fantastic weekend!
September 16, 2013
We have started another busy week continuing our learning of geography and finding some interesting facts about a city we chose with our class partner. We will be making a travel brochure to highlight some fun facts about a city somewhere in the world. We will turn these in on Friday. The students will share what they found about the cities and why we should travel there. I can't wait to hear what they found.
The students have lots of flexibility and the brochures can be as simple or complex as the students' choose. We are also finishing our Math unit on graphing: pictographs, bar graphs, pie charts, and line graphs. We have practiced many different types of graphs and today enjoyed a Starburst sweet treat from Soleil to test out our graph skills.
We have established our morning routine and morning work and will continue to read The Dragons of Blueland finishing our trilogy this week. Today was the first day we switched classrooms for Word Study. Our class split between 5 teachers every Monday (introduction) and Friday for the assessment. We will continue to follow the regular routine for word study homework each night. We will also have Word Study classwork to help reinforce the patterns, and like the old saying goes," practice makes perfect." You are all off to a fantastic start.
Review, review, review is the name of the game this week. 5 minutes per subject each night will help them to be prepared for the Friday tests in Geography and word study. Our math test on graphing will be on Tuesday and I know they will ACE it! Keep at the nightly reading and get lost in a great book. We will begin our new Social Studies unit next week-Ancient Greece . We will learn about architecture, the birth of democracy, culture, and more.
Remember to ask your child what they have learned each day.
September 8, 2013
I am gearing up for another great week at school. We will continue our review of addition, add on subtraction and hone our skills with fact practice to prepare for our multiplication adventure. We start our 2 week unit in government, begin our shared reading and daily 5 groups for guided reading, word study-abbreviations of months and days-building on last week, and our weekly reading record (due each Friday). I am looking forward to reading some of the creative stories and seeing where our adventure takes us.
Get a good night's rest and know I am excited to spend another week with you! Back to School Night is Wednesday starting at 6pm. We will write a note to parents sharing some of what we have learned this first week and what we are going to be learning in the weeks to come. See you tomorrow.
September 6, 2013
We have made it! We have learned what to do in an emergency, taken our math and language arts pre-tests, reviewed strategies to help up add (tally marks, base 10 blocks, counting on, place value, and Mrs. Maloy's Old Lady Math) and we have learned about scientific investigation and what a scientist "looks like." We have a wonderful class and I am so excited for a fantastic first nine weeks with them. If you have not signed up for Remind 101, I hope you give it a try. We will have a quiz in math (addition and subtraction using the strategies we have reviewed) next week and a quiz in science (scientific investigation). We will also start our weekly reading record to be turned in each Friday. Thank you for all of your support. Week 2 is going to be another GREAT week.
September 3, 2013
Welcome back! We are off and running and this new year is promising to be the best year yet. I will be
adding review materials to this website weekly and have listed a few basics to start out. I hope you enjoy it!
If needed, I can be reached at [email protected] .
July 29, 2013
I cannot believe we have made it through summer school and have 3 days left. Where did the time go? We have had fun reading stories, playing new games and some old favorites, and found some fun new learning websites to practice and hone our skills. We will be having a small open house on Thursday, July 31 at 11:30-12:00. We will be sharing a school rap we created and play a few of the games we play to improve our skills and have some fun. We will end our open house with watermelon slices to close out our summer school experience. Thank you for sharing your children each morning with me. I have enjoyed each day and look forward to seeing them continue to grow and improve in the months to come.
July 8, 2013
First week of summer school is under our belts and a fun Fourth of July behind us...Now, it's time for more summer school fun. We have assembled our reading groups and have already established our daily routines. This week, we will be reviewing problem solving skills in math and our word study words will be focusing on the short e (like in
"bell"), long ea (e sound like in "speak"), and ee (long e sound like in "feet"). We are playing WORDO (like Bingo) and earning extra free time at computers. I will send home a packet of math worksheets each Thursday with extra practice sheets for the remainder of the summer to keep the student's skills sharp. Please remember to sign the pink sheet I send home on Wednesdays back on Thursdays. We will have a word study quiz on Thursdays.
My goal for summer school is to keep them prepared for third grade and make improvements where needed to bring up any deficiences. Our summer school started on July 1st and continues toAugust 1st. We meet at Reams Elementary School from 8:00am-12:00pm Mondays-Thursdays. If your child will be absent, please call the school, email me , or send in a note to let me know. Thank you.
In the summertime, my homework is to read, read, read. Summer is a time to head to the library, choose books you might not have chosen during the school year and get lost in a new adventure. I am reading Jeannette Walls book, The Glass Castle and am going to start a third grade mystery series to check it out before I send out my list for my students. It is not unusual to find me at the Midlothian Library after school is out quietly sitting in a chair reading a book. Feel free to stop by the library and sit quietly and we can read together. I usually read Monday-Wednesday from 12:30-1:30pm. If Im not there, pick out a book, find a comfortable spot and I might pop by to say hello. If you have any questions, you can email me at my school email listed above or at Reams Elementary School Mondays-Thursdays 7:45am-12:30pm. (804-674-1370).
June 18, 2013
Summer is here and I am having fun thinking and planning all of the activities for this coming school year. Pinterest has some great ideas so make sure to check out my page. Today is cloudy which will give me time to go through some of my binders from second grade and organize for the fall. I hope you are enjoying time with your family and are keeping up with your reading. I stopped by the library yesterday and picked out a new book. I am looking forward to relaxing on the couch with my puppies, Salt and Pepper, and getting lost in a good book. Summer school at Reams Elementary starts on July 1st and I can't wait to see my friends from this past class and meet some new friends. Be prepared and keep up with your reading; I have lots of fun games to play with you!
June 5, 2013
Kite projects started today and WOW! The children were so creative and it has really shown in their final products. They used many different mediums like decorative duct tape, cloth, mylar, our China dragon masks, and even garbage bags to make their kites. Students shared with the class their inspiration for their designs, where they found their materials and how they constructed their kites. We will hear the remaining presentations tomorrow. On Friday, we will be taking the kites outside to test them for flight. Be sure to check out the pictures of our kites. We have also invited the other second grade classes to come on a tour of our kite gallery. Great job, everyone!!
We have completed our Reading benchmark and again, the students have exceeded my expectations and their success is below. We started the year with only 5 students at benchmark- reading on level- and now, 19 students are at or above benchmark with a few continuing to make daily progress. I am confident their love for reading will continue to flourish over the summer. Keep reading at least 20 minutes a day.
Please remember to return the China take home books by Friday with your daily sign in page to receive credit for your nightly reading. We have a China test tomorrow to wrap up our unit and will complete our kite presentations. We also have our Word Study test on Friday. We are working on (gn, kn, wr) words where the first letter is silent. Please review these so we can end word study with a bang. Get your spinners ready...Probability quiz on Friday. Remember, "What are the chances out of the whole group?"
Next week, I have planned a theme for each day; bring your favorite board game day(Monday-no electronics, please), bring your favorite stuffed animal day(Tuesday), Mulan madness(watch Mulan to enrich our China unit Wednesday), beach party(Thursday), and pajama/popcorn party(appropriate dresscode required-Friday) to end the year. I am very proud of everyone's hardwork. Keep it going. Only 7 days to go till summer vacation.
May 31, 2013
I can't believe we have 11 days to go until summer vacation. I am so proud of the children and their go get 'em attitude this week. We had a number of tests- benchmarks, unit quizzes, weekly tests and a math post test. Whew- I'm tired just listing them. They did a great job, took their time and it showed! They have also spent time writing about China and what it would be like if they could be in a New Year's Day dragon parade. I have loved reading them. Next week, we will be finishing up our unit on Ancient China, returning our take home China books, completing our LAST take home math packet and fluency page. Yippee!!! During the day, we will be playing China Bingo, Grammar Jeopardy, sharing our China Kite projects (on Wednesday) creating a class sized great wall of China out of our wooden math tub blocks and many other fun activities.
Reminders:
Monday will be our final day at The GRAP for swimming lessons so wear your bathing suits and prepare for a really fun day. We will be receiving t-shirts and the children will hand out their thank you notes to their teachers.
We are also in the running to win a party from the librarians for returning all of our books. If you have any library books at home, please return them on Monday so we can win this party!
Next week will be the last week to turn in all LATE work. If you have a packet (worth 100pts.), a project (worth 150pts), or daily work(5 pts EACH), turn them in to get credit. This could be the difference between honor roll and tootsie roll! Get going and get it finished!
See you Monday
May 20, 2013
When I arrived home from school, I turned on the news to see a very large tornado had destroyed so much in Moore, Oklahoma including Plaza Towers Elementary School. My family and I stopped for a moment to think about those teachers and students who were in the school and the families who are going to bed tonight with a heavy heart. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of the people who have been affected by this devastating storm.
May 19, 2013
We have 19 days left of school. We will be finishing fractions and habitats, and beginning our final social studies unit on China. In language arts, we will spend a few days learning about abbreviations as well as begin our review of grammar basics(noun, verb, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions, articles, and prepositions). In math, we will segway from fractions into probability before we start our review in preparation for our final benchmark. Please help quiz your child in addition and subtraction with and without regrouping. Every little practice adds up over time to lots of practice. See you on Monday! Remember, we are off to the pool until June 3rd.
May 15, 2013
The webpage is up and running. I am so excited! So much fun to have in such a short amount of time.
Friday folders continue to go home each Friday. Please make sure you are checking your child's backpack for important information coming home each week and a review of their behavior chart. This is to be signed by a parent each week and returned to me on Monday.
May 12, 2013
Happy Mother's Day! What a glorious day to celebrate mothers.
May 11, 2013
Tomorrow is Mother's Day and I hope you share the special project we completed on Friday with your special mom. Happy Mother's Day to all of our second grader's moms. They worked very hard and are very excited to share their gift with you.
April 7, 2013
I can't believe we have only 7 weeks to go before summer vacation! We have been working hard and are focused on the last big push to the end of second grade. We still have important lessons to learn and we need to continue to follow our class procedures and rules. I have so many fun activities planned that require concentration and following directions. Put on your thinking caps and let's get ready!
Thank you for helping to remind your children to complete the weekly Math/Language packet. This packet is graded and worth 100 points each week. I deduct 5 points if it is turned in late. They will also have an opportunity to make corrections to earn back half credit. I will continue to send home a
fluency practice page. Last week, I omitted this page because the packet was longer than previous weeks.
The children are enjoying their swimming lessons each week. Please remember, they must come to school wearing their swimsuits under their clothes and bring their undergarments in a bag with them.
We have just completed our measurement unit in math and will be starting place value (ones, tens, hundreds) and fractions (one fourth, one half, three fourths, one whole) next week. We will have a quiz for both of these units. We will continue with economy this week and have a test on Friday. We have learned about needs and wants, goods and services, capital, human and natural resources. Please continue to help review these concepts this week.
Next week, we will start back into science with habitats. We will learn about various habitats and the animals that live there. Please ask your child about what they have learned each day. It is a great way for them to share and review at the same time. They will also be working on a habitat project that will be due on Wednesday, May 15th. Each student will choose an animal, identify the habitat it lives in, prey or predator, foods it eats, its' shelter, and create a diorama and a report to give to the class. You should have received a rubric for this project last week.
The habitat project will count for three grades; one for writing, one for science, and one for reading. We will have books in the class and books available in the library for their research. They will also need to look up information from the public library or Internet at home. Please help them find the information. I look forward to learning about their animals.
Allergies are affecting all of us and we have depleted our classroom tissue supply. If you would like to donate tissues to the class, thank you. I sent a note home with report cards about low supplies (primarily pencils, glue, and notebooks). I will make a note in your child's agenda if he/she is in need.
On this site, I will list summer activities, events, learning websites and practice pages to keep your child's skills sharp to start third grade ahead of the curve. If you would like to schedule time to conference with me before the end of the year, you can contact me at [email protected] or call me at A. M. Davis.
I can't believe we have 11 days to go until summer vacation. I am so proud of the children and their go get 'em attitude this week. We had a number of tests- benchmarks, unit quizzes, weekly tests and a math post test. Whew- I'm tired just listing them. They did a great job, took their time and it showed! They have also spent time writing about China and what it would be like if they could be in a New Year's Day dragon parade. I have loved reading them. Next week, we will be finishing up our unit on Ancient China, returning our take home China books, completing our LAST take home math packet and fluency page. Yippee!!! During the day, we will be playing China Bingo, Grammar Jeopardy, sharing our China Kite projects (on Wednesday) creating a class sized great wall of China out of our wooden math tub blocks and many other fun activities.
Reminders:
Monday will be our final day at The GRAP for swimming lessons so wear your bathing suits and prepare for a really fun day. We will be receiving t-shirts and the children will hand out their thank you notes to their teachers.
We are also in the running to win a party from the librarians for returning all of our books. If you have any library books at home, please return them on Monday so we can win this party!
Next week will be the last week to turn in all LATE work. If you have a packet (worth 100pts.), a project (worth 150pts), or daily work(5 pts EACH), turn them in to get credit. This could be the difference between honor roll and tootsie roll! Get going and get it finished!
See you Monday
May 20, 2013
When I arrived home from school, I turned on the news to see a very large tornado had destroyed so much in Moore, Oklahoma including Plaza Towers Elementary School. My family and I stopped for a moment to think about those teachers and students who were in the school and the families who are going to bed tonight with a heavy heart. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of the people who have been affected by this devastating storm.
May 19, 2013
We have 19 days left of school. We will be finishing fractions and habitats, and beginning our final social studies unit on China. In language arts, we will spend a few days learning about abbreviations as well as begin our review of grammar basics(noun, verb, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions, articles, and prepositions). In math, we will segway from fractions into probability before we start our review in preparation for our final benchmark. Please help quiz your child in addition and subtraction with and without regrouping. Every little practice adds up over time to lots of practice. See you on Monday! Remember, we are off to the pool until June 3rd.
May 15, 2013
The webpage is up and running. I am so excited! So much fun to have in such a short amount of time.
Friday folders continue to go home each Friday. Please make sure you are checking your child's backpack for important information coming home each week and a review of their behavior chart. This is to be signed by a parent each week and returned to me on Monday.
May 12, 2013
Happy Mother's Day! What a glorious day to celebrate mothers.
May 11, 2013
Tomorrow is Mother's Day and I hope you share the special project we completed on Friday with your special mom. Happy Mother's Day to all of our second grader's moms. They worked very hard and are very excited to share their gift with you.
April 7, 2013
I can't believe we have only 7 weeks to go before summer vacation! We have been working hard and are focused on the last big push to the end of second grade. We still have important lessons to learn and we need to continue to follow our class procedures and rules. I have so many fun activities planned that require concentration and following directions. Put on your thinking caps and let's get ready!
Thank you for helping to remind your children to complete the weekly Math/Language packet. This packet is graded and worth 100 points each week. I deduct 5 points if it is turned in late. They will also have an opportunity to make corrections to earn back half credit. I will continue to send home a
fluency practice page. Last week, I omitted this page because the packet was longer than previous weeks.
The children are enjoying their swimming lessons each week. Please remember, they must come to school wearing their swimsuits under their clothes and bring their undergarments in a bag with them.
We have just completed our measurement unit in math and will be starting place value (ones, tens, hundreds) and fractions (one fourth, one half, three fourths, one whole) next week. We will have a quiz for both of these units. We will continue with economy this week and have a test on Friday. We have learned about needs and wants, goods and services, capital, human and natural resources. Please continue to help review these concepts this week.
Next week, we will start back into science with habitats. We will learn about various habitats and the animals that live there. Please ask your child about what they have learned each day. It is a great way for them to share and review at the same time. They will also be working on a habitat project that will be due on Wednesday, May 15th. Each student will choose an animal, identify the habitat it lives in, prey or predator, foods it eats, its' shelter, and create a diorama and a report to give to the class. You should have received a rubric for this project last week.
The habitat project will count for three grades; one for writing, one for science, and one for reading. We will have books in the class and books available in the library for their research. They will also need to look up information from the public library or Internet at home. Please help them find the information. I look forward to learning about their animals.
Allergies are affecting all of us and we have depleted our classroom tissue supply. If you would like to donate tissues to the class, thank you. I sent a note home with report cards about low supplies (primarily pencils, glue, and notebooks). I will make a note in your child's agenda if he/she is in need.
On this site, I will list summer activities, events, learning websites and practice pages to keep your child's skills sharp to start third grade ahead of the curve. If you would like to schedule time to conference with me before the end of the year, you can contact me at [email protected] or call me at A. M. Davis.