Ms. Rich and Her Sensational Second Graders

The Last Blog

2008-06-12T06:52:00.001-07:00

Hello Everyone!

It is just before seven on the last day of school. Yesterday your child brought home more work to do then days in the year. I was cleaning out my filing cabinets and stuck in everything under the sun. I don't expect it to be completed but I know it's always nice to have.

Today your child will come home with their report card. If you need to talk to me about it please call me tomorrow at school before the party or e-mail me. I will be disabling our group and this blog next week.

The party is at 100 Pacheco. If you need directions please call me or e-mail me directly.

I have to tell you how much I have appreciated all of your hard work this year. Your children are amazing people and I have truly enjoyed being their teacher. I can't thank each of you enough for making this such an amazing year. It is hard to see them go but I know that third grade will be an amazing year for each of them. Thank you again for all of your support. Your children can't thank you yet for all of the time and energy you put into their education, but I can. It makes my job so much more fulfilling to work with parents like you. I will really miss this class next year but I can hardly wait to hear them come back and talk about their new experiences year after year!

Have a wonderful summer.

Final List of Who is bringing what!

2008-06-04T09:27:00.000-07:00

Here is what was asked for and who is providing it:

Hot dogs- Carson
Chicken- Carson
Buns- Briggs
ketchup and mustard- Nathan
Napkins- Catie
Utensils- Jonathan
Plates- Jonathan
Cups- Jonathan
Water- Anthony
Water- Catie
Apple Juice- Briggs
Apple Juice- Olivia
Lemonade- Molly
Lemonade
Potato Salad- Charlie R.
Potato Salad
Pasta Salad- Catie
Pasta Salad- Camille
Chips- Olivia
Chips- Catie
Fruit- Olivia
Veggies-
Dessert- Ms. Rich

We have not heard from the following families: Emily, Jessie, Lauren, Michael, Mitchell, Nicholas, and Summer.

Please let us know if you are coming and what you are bringing.

So far Jeannie and Wendy have said they would help set up. Can anyone else help?

Party Party Party!

2008-06-03T08:47:00.000-07:00

We are just a little over a week away from the class party on the 13th. I hope you all can make it if you have not yet replied to the evite please do so directly to me.

We are still looking for one more pasta salad, one more potato salad, drinks, fruit, and veggies. If you can bring anything else please let me know directly. Also we are looking for people to help Lisa set up. I will get there as soon as I can but I can't leave school until I have officially checked out for the school year. If you can come by a little early to help Lisa please let us know ASAP.

See you all soon!

Boxes!

2008-05-20T11:08:00.000-07:00

If any of you have boxes and you would be willing to donate them to me I would really appreciate it. I need them for my classroom move!

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-09T09:36:00.001-07:00

I just would like to take a moment and say Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful room 8 moms!

The homework is going to kick up a notch between now and then end of the year. This week it will be in a packet form. There will be a reading log and something to do every night that will need to be turned in on specific days. Starting the week of the 19th the kids will be practicing the homework organizer for third grade.

Science Materials Needed!

2008-05-08T08:52:00.000-07:00

Here it is again! I would love a small container of each of the soils (think 10 cups or so)

Top Soil
Sandy soil
clay soil

These can be jars used for canning or from the spaghetti sauce. The idea is we're going to be looking at the strained dirt in them
clean glass jars (10)- no lids needed

We need a small roll of this
window screen

newspaper (not the comics)
clean empty milk cartons (18)
florist wire
bird seed ( small bag)
round flat stones (20)

Thank You

2008-05-08T08:49:00.000-07:00

A huge thank you for all of the beautiful flowers and cards. It is so nice to be thought of. Another huge thank you to all of the moms and dads who helped with the Spring Fling Project. It turned out SO cute. If you get a chance it will be in our room until tomorrow morning at 10:30. Come check it out!

A couple of weeks ago I asked for science materials and have received one milk carton. Please check back through the blogs and discussion boards to see if you can send anything in.

Thank you so much!

Sarah

Snack Schedule

2008-04-28T09:42:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to post the snack schedule somewhere besides in the upcoming events section for Room 8.

Tuesday: Dial Family
Thursday: O'Brien Family

Tuesday: K.Ruiz
Wednesday: Gibbons
Thursday: is still open!

Thank you all for your help!

Updates

2008-04-25T14:06:00.000-07:00

Please make sure you sign up for the google group. I sent you an invitation but if you didn't get it please sign up.

There is no homework next week. Or minimal homework. We will have spelling and multiplication facts for the combos this week. The kids also still have to work on fluency and do the questions.

I sent home excerpts from a great book entitled Yardsticks by Chip Wood. It's a great read and I highly recommend it. It has age appropriate books in the back and great resources for parents.

Carson's family has offered to let us have an end of the year party at their house. We could do it one day after school or even that Friday after school gets out. Is anyone interested in doing this? I will put it as a discussion for the google group so please answer!

Also the testing schedule has changed. We are still testing the same days but we are testing from 10:30 to 12:15 instead of 8:30 to 10:15. The test won't take this long but we allow as much time as the students need. On Wed. May 7th we will test at 8:30am.

White Board Markers

2008-04-23T13:30:00.000-07:00

We are looking for skinny white board markers. If you have any at your work or at home that you are willing to donate please let me know.

We have started a unit on natural resources. If anyone has access to any of the following materials would they please send them in. We are going to be doing some neat science/art projects using natural resources. Please note on the message board on the blog what you are willing to send in so that we don't have double ups.

Top Soil
Sandy soil
clay soil
clean glass jars (10)- no lids needed
window screen
newspaper (not the comics)
clean empty milk cartons
florist wire
bird seed
round flat stones (20)

Testing Schedule

2008-04-23T13:24:00.000-07:00

Our testing schedule for next week will be Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 8:45 to 9:45. The following week it is scheduled to be given during the same time block but on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

Please make sure your child gets a good nights rest, eats a good breakfast, and is at school on time.

2008-04-18T13:08:00.000-07:00

How about now?

Is this working?

2008-04-18T12:16:00.000-07:00

I'm testing the new google group to see if it works!

Week in Review

2008-04-18T11:36:00.000-07:00

PARENTS!!!! Please remember to log on and take the parent survey for the district. We need your input!

The standard for multiplication in second grade is to have the 0,1,2,5,10's memorized. I introduced multiplication to your kids this week. We are just getting the strategies down to figure out the answers. You may start practicing with your kids. Please have them show you how to make an array or use one of their strategies.

Please let me know ASAP if you are willing to donate snacks for testing week!

STAR TESTING

2008-04-17T08:50:00.000-07:00

The time is upon us. I would like to set up a snack schedule. I am hoping you guys will donate food to the class.

We test for six days over a two week period. I am looking for items to feed the kids on the test days. Things like apples, crackers, pretzels,cheese sticks, juice boxes, grapes etc. All items should be ready to go (snack packs) so that I don't need to prepare anything. Please don't send cookies or fruit snacks as they have too much sugar.

If you are willing to donate food please let me know.

Classroom Update

2008-04-14T10:43:00.000-07:00

Welcome Back! We hit the ground running today. We started our first story in our next unit. We read about the First Americans and then split into partners to research and record information about the different people. We will continue to do this all week. We also began working on multiplication today. This process is more pointing out using skills they already know to find the answer to a multiplication problem. For example making five equal groups of four and skip counting. This would look like 4, 8, 12, 16, 20. Or 5x4

We began our unit in science on the earth's natural resources. If you have any great rocks that show the different type of rock such as igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic place consider sending it in or sending a photo of it in.

We are also starting a project about what people do when they loose teeth from around the world. The kids will end up making a book that looks like a tooth.

Have you had your HEART training? What is HEART Training? It's stands for Homeowners Emergency Action Response Team and the spring session starts this week. The session consists of two sessions that last four hours long and one sessions that lasts seven hours long. It will teach you essential skills of what to do if we have a disaster.

The first session is this Thursday, April 17th from 6pm to 10:00pm. The class will cover CPR training and hazardous materials. The CPR certification lasts for two years.

The next class is Thursday, April 24th from 6:00 to 10:00pm. The second session covers fire and burn prevention as well as disaster first aid.

The final session is on Saturday, April 26th from 8:30am to 4:00pm. The last session will cover disaster preparedness, urban search and rescue, and wildland urban interface.

The cost of the class is $40. All of the classes are held at Station #2 (450 Atherton Ave).

For more information please contact Sandy Wargo at 878-2623 or swargo@novatofire.org

Parent Talents

2008-03-24T14:17:00.000-07:00

Okay... does anyone know how to scrap book and would be willing to make our Special Person pages? I have 19 beautiful photos and I would like them mounted onto special paper. I am typing the pages and then that needs to be mounted onto special paper as well. Finally both the picture and the writing will be mounted onto paper. The photo is black and white if that helps get your ideas going. Please let me know ASAP if you can help. I'd like this up by Thursday but I know it's short notice. I am going to try and go by Ben Franklin tonight for paper ideas.

I hope to see you all at the rally this afternoon!

Conference Schedule

2008-03-20T09:12:00.000-07:00

Here it is in all its glory. It was also sent home on Thursday in the homework folder!

Friday: 3/21
8am Dial
2:5 O'Brien
3:15 Timberman
3:45 L.Ruiz
4:15 Allen

Monday: 3/24
8am Pratt

Tuesday: 3/25
7:30 Gernhard
8:00 Obert
2:45 Van Weele
3:15 Mac Donald (phone)
3:45 Garcia (phone)

Wednesday: 3/26
7:30 Gibbons
8:00 Buscaglia
4:15 K. Ruiz

Thursday: 3/27
8:00 Hagerty (phone)
2:45 Ceresa (phone)
3:45 Ramirez (phone)
4:15 Rudy (phone)

IF you need to make changes or would like to come in instead of having a phone conference please e-mail me at srich@nusd.org

Long Time Gone...

2008-03-20T07:59:00.001-07:00

I have missed blogging and there is lots to share!

My most important point on this entry is this. This is by no means a political page and I mean to remain neutral as elections are fast approaching. This is one issue that none of us can be neutral on- school budget cuts. It hurts us all and in some ways we won't see the affects until many years down the road. I have had many of you ask me how it will effect us here at Rancho and what you can do to help. Here is the best way I know how:

There are lots of cuts. Some that you will feel directly at Rancho are:
Library Clerk time reduction, librarian cuts, office clerk cuts, funding for certain school programs, and there is still a chance that third grade class size reduction could get cut.

What can you do?

On Monday, March 24th at 3:00pm at Novato High School there will be a rally against the budget cuts. It is a place for students, parents, community members and teachers to speak out against the budget cuts. We really want to show the governor and the people in Sacramento that we won't take these cuts lying down. Make signs, wear blue and white or your Rancho clothes and come to the rally on Monday afternoon. We are walking as a school from Rancho to the high school.

Write letters! Write letters to the governor and our state representatives. There are letter formats on the Rancho website and on the NUSD website.

Finally I urge you to stay informed. The district has an area on their website that talks about all of the proposed cuts. Please keep reading this and looking for any new information.

I appreciate your support and I know that together we can make sure these cuts don't happen!

A Week In Review

2008-02-29T13:50:00.000-08:00

Language Arts:

We continue on our quest to expand our thinking process while we read. This week I turned the tables on the kids and had them ask the questions. We talked about thinking and how a lot of comprehension questions depend on inference and background knowledge. We talked a lot about thinking about things that aren't obviously stated and how answer questions that seek hidden information. We will keep working on this.

Writing:
We wrote a poem about the winter, edited and typed it in the computer lab. We also started our own in class dinosaur research for a dinosaur guessing project. Next week we will use the dinosaur research the kids do at home for a different writing project. We will also be recopying a dinosaur poem and working on a project if the dinosaurs came back.
Next week we will be starting a three part writing project. The kids will be creating a book where they write one story about a funny memory from when they were a baby, one story about themselves now, and a story about what they think they will be like when they grow up. We will finish just in time for Open House! So I am sure you will love looking at them.

Science:
We are going to get more into the science side of fossils next week. We will be tying it into art and writing. If you have fossils at home please feel free to send pictures of them in with your child or if you can send the fossil in.

Please remember that next Thursday is Multicultural day. Your child can dress from a country that you have visited or one they have clothing from. I am going to wear a sweatshirt I got in Italy and a t-shirt I brought back from Africa.

Four Day Weeks Seem Longer then Five Day Weeks!

2008-02-01T09:34:00.000-08:00

I can't believe this week is over. Four day weeks (especially two in a row) are really hard. You still have to get all the standards in but in a shorter period of time! Yikes!

I hope the e-mail list is working. Please remember to check the blog for the weekly calendar. That won't get e-mailed to you.

Lots of kids got homework alerts this week for not turning in the fluency page (not the log... I was laxed on that as I messed up a lot of people). There are questions that have to be answered on the back of the page and turned in on Friday. I know this reading is a lot harder but it is at a 2.5 level which is where all of your kids should be at this point of the year. I put a new log in your folder. Please use red for your first read and blue for your second. You should have three logs recorded by the end of February.

There is NO READING LOG, MATH LOG, OR POEM again next week. We are going ot be doing a time line instead. Please make sure your child does their personal best on this. I have shown my time line and given them examples. The time line is due next Friday. I expect colored pictures that have lots of detail (no ants in the snow, people that are all one color, or one color colored in the background to fill up the page.

If you need the class list for Valentine's please let me know. Valentines are due on February 13th. You must have one for everyone in the class if you are going to do them. Please let me know ahead of time if your child is not planning on participating in Valentine's Day.

Testing the Direct to E-mail Account

2008-01-31T09:21:00.001-08:00

I am just testing whether or not this works. If you get this post will you please e-mail me at srich@nusd.org to let me know that it went through.

If you have anyone else you would like added to our blog list please let me know. I believe I have made it so that you can make comments directly on the blog. This is great if you have any questions you would like answered or if you would like to make an announcement yourself.

E-mail List

2008-01-30T13:34:00.000-08:00

Please fill out the form being sent home tonight with your e-mail address. I will be subscribing you to our blog. If you would like more then one person sign up for the blog please just include their name and e-mail address.

Cultural Food Day

2008-01-30T08:14:00.000-08:00

We are having a Cultural Food Day on Friday, February 8th. All of the kids have a chance to bring in a special food from their culture. You may purchase the food or make it yourself. This is a great chance to celebrate your heritage. It's not required to participate but I encourage everyone to do it if they can.

Walking Field Trip

2008-01-30T08:07:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday, February 6th from 10:30 to 11:00 Mr. Gardner and the Safe Routes to School program will be taking the kids on a walking field trip. Permission slips went home today and are due by Monday. If your child does not have a permission slip they may not go. The Safe Routes to School program has talked to the kids about bike and walking safety. Now they are going to put the walking part into action by having the kids take a walking field trip through the neighborhood. We need two or three parents to volunteer. Please contact me ASAP if you would like to attend the field trip. The field trip will take place during their regular P.E. time. The students are still expected to wear lace up or velcro tennis shoes.

E-mail me at srich@nusd.org

Parent Teacher Conferences

2008-01-29T08:57:00.000-08:00

I know conferences next to the spring report card are not required but I like to do it for those who would like to. I will post a schedule on Friday and it will just be first come first serve on who gets what spot. You can e-mail me directly if you have a specific time you would like at: srich@nusd.org

Also I am collecting e-mail addresses. I am going to be subscribing you to my blog. Then every time I post something it goes directly to your e-mail box and you don't have to worry about when to check it.

I hope that this will make the blog a better way for us to communicate.

Homework: There is no reading or math log this week. Please make sure that the family tradition and the ancestor report come in on time. We are doing other projects that are related to them in class. If they don't have their family tradition written down they cannot make a construction paper quilt piece. If they don't have their ancestor report they can't share it with the class or make a family tree on Friday afternoon.

Thanks for all of your hard work!

Week In Review

2008-01-24T13:25:00.000-08:00

Math:

This class has really done a great job learning regrouping with addition. We are going to start working on regrouping with subtraction on Tuesday. This will be much more difficult for the kids but I know they can do it. I will not test on addition regrouping until next Friday.

Language Arts:

We are going to be reading our last camouflage story next week. Our next unit is on dinosaurs! This will be lots of fun.

Writing:

We wrote a how to story. I published our group story about how to blow a bubble on the blog. I hope all of you got to read it with your child. The kids wrote how to brush your teeth. On Thursday I had brought my toothbrush in and brushed my teeth based on their instructions. The kids added what they needed to add and then copied their final draft into their writing books.

We wrote poems about snowflakes and typed them in the computer lab. The kids changed the font size, centered their writing, and changed the font type. We made snowflakes using coffee filters. We colored one side and then sprayed them with a water bottle. The next day we opened them up only to find a beautiful colored snowflake.

On Tuesday we are going to start brainstorming for our immigrant letters. The kids are going to pretend that they are immigrants coming to America and writing letters to people from the old country. They will choose a country and create a story. It's one of the best writing projects we do all year.

Social Studies:

In the homework next week the kids need to come up with a family tradition. They will write five sentences about it and bring it to class. Starting on Wednesday we will make a picture using only construction paper to make a traditions quilt.

Don't forget the Ancestor Doll is due on Tuesday. Please make sure it is cut out.

Harcourt Web Site

2008-01-23T08:09:00.000-08:00

I have also added a direct link to the Harcourt Website. It's under Parent Resources. Your child can not only practice their math facts but there are activities to practice for our new chapters. Your child should also be working on the activities for chapters 10, 11, and 12. If you have any questions please contact me.

Festival of Sailing

2008-01-23T07:59:00.000-08:00

I have posted a link for the Festival of Sailing. It is at the end of July but it gives a chance for kids to take tours of tall ships. There are all sorts of programs that your family can participate in. It's a pretty neat opportunity. I will post other links about interesting events, activities or websites. If you have any please let me know and I will post those as well!

PE REMINDER

2008-01-22T15:13:00.000-08:00

Remember tomorrow is our PE day. Please make sure they have tennis shoes on or with them. If they do not have them on they will not be allowed to participate in PE because it is a safety issue.

How To Blow a Bubble By: Room 8

2008-01-22T13:40:00.000-08:00

This story was written by room 8 today. I am posting it so the kids can try to blow a bubble using their directions. This is also written assuming that the kids have already taken a piece of bubble gum out of the package but not out of the wrapper.

First unwrap your favorite kind of bubble gum. Next put the gum in your mouth and start chewing. You want the gum to get soft. Then you flatten the gum on the roof of your mouth with your tongue. Let the flattened gum fall on your tongue. Push it towards the point of your tongue and start to put the tip of your tongue through it. Don't push so hard that you make a hole. You want to fold the gum in half over the tip of your tongue (kind of like a pocket). Then push your tongue against the roof of your mouth or the back of your teeth. You want to do this as you are opening your mouth and sticking your tongue out a little bit. You do this so that the gum won't go flying out of your mouth as you blow. Gently blow air so that is goes between your tongue and the gum. The gum should slowly expand.If you blow too fast it will pop so be careful. Don't blow a bubble so big that it gets stuck in your hair. Remember when you are done with your gum put it in a piece of paper in the trash can.

Information for the Week Ahead

2008-01-18T14:08:00.000-08:00

PE ANNOUNCEMENT: As of Wednesday, January 23rd (our next PE class) all students not wearing laced up or velcro tennis shoes will not be allowed to participate and will sit on the bench. This is a safety issue. Tennis shoes are a requirement for PE. This will now be strictly enforced!

Sentences: I have wrote the warning on several of the student's spelling tests or comprehension papers. From now on sentences without a capital letter or end mark will be given zero points. We double check our answers on dictation sentences so there is no reason that at this point in the year they should be making that mistake.

Ancestor Doll: Our first ancestor's project was sent home tonight. It is due Tuesday, January 29th. The kids should decorate a doll as if it were an ancestor from long ago who lived in another country. It must be decorated as a person from a country that your family immigrated from. It does not need to be someone specific just a person from a country you are from.

I am considering making part of the homework paperless (ie I would put it online and you could check it over the weekend to get that weeks poems, assignments, etc.)What do you think?

OOPS

2008-01-17T12:12:00.001-08:00

So most of you have noticed by now that I totally goofed and sent home the wrong fluency passage. Some of you might not have a log either. I will send home more logs this week in the homework folder.

Highlights this week:

Language Arts: Continuing to read about camouflage. We made puppets of animals and wrote three facts and three opinions about our animal. We also did water color paintings and then drew in animals camouflaging. We are working on suffixes and subject verb agreement. We continue to work on parts of a sentence and the parts of speech.

Writing: We began a biography poem on Martin Luther King Jr. Next week we will be writing a winter poem. They will type the poem in the computer lab on Thursday. We will also be starting to write a how to paragraph (directions paragraph). We are focusing on taking steps in our writing, organization, and writing fluency. This will be a fun piece. We first will write a class piece of "How to Blow a Bubble". Then the students will do an independent writing piece of "How to Brush your Teeth" As they are reading I will actually brush my teeth as per their instructions. It's a very fun writing project.

Science: We finished up our unit on balance. We will be starting our social studies unit about our ancestry next week.

Math:We reviewed time and calendars last week. Next week we continue on our pursuit of regrouping with addition. It is going pretty well but regrouping does get harder when you begin three digit addition and any type of subtraction.

It's been awhile

2008-01-14T08:58:00.000-08:00

Yes it has been a long time since my last post about life in Room 8. A lot has happened sine we cam back from winter recess. We have finished unit 2 and time. We will keep working on time as many of the kids are still not grasping the more difficult concepts. Much of telling time is developmental. I will be sending home some more review pages this weekend if I think you child needs them. Like in the past they will have a month or so to work on them and then I will retest them again.

We have moved on to double digit addition and this week we will work on addition with regrouping. This is something that gets harder when the kids don't know their math facts. I think we should be pretty good with addition regrouping but regrouping with subtraction is usually much harder. Regrouping is what we used to know as carrying and borrowing. These are the terms we use and I would appreciate you reinforcing them at home.

We are beginning our ancestors unit and finishing up science. Please keep reading this for updates about the units!

Holiday Party

2007-12-17T08:21:00.000-08:00

Our holiday party is on Wednesday. We will be eating pizza during lunch and watching the Secret of NIMH. Please do not send a lunch with your child on Wednesday. Only send a snack for recess time. This is very low key and should be lots of fun.

Math Blaster

2007-12-10T13:13:00.000-08:00

I have had a few kids come ask me today about buying Math Blaster the computer game we have in the computer lab. This is for kids ages 6 to 8 or 7 to 8. It has all of our standards and it moves to their individual level. I highly recommend it if you are interested in purchasing a computer game for your child. I know you can purchase it for under $30 on Amazon. There are other broader math blasters if you have kids of multiple ages.

Weekly review

2007-12-10T06:56:00.001-08:00

Homework:

Some of you may have noticed that the homework does not say study math facts but instead it says practice time and money. Everyone has loose change so money is fairly simple to practice. Most of the kids can count money. They still have some difficulty accurately changing from one type of money to another while counting. For example if they are counting by quarters and suddenly must move to nickels. That is hard stuff. Here are some ways you should be helping your child practice money.

Counting:
Have them pull out a handful of change. Have them sort the coins from greatest to smallest and count the amount. On a piece of paper have them draw the coins and write the amount. Have them take that amount and make it in a different way. Once they have a grasp on this have them use the fewest coins.

Problem Solving:
Tell them you have ___ coins in your pocket. None of the coins are bigger then a ___ which means you would have ____ in your pocket. Tell me the different combinations of coins I could have and how much each value is worth.

EX: I have three coins in my pocket. None of the coins are bigger then a nickel. What kind of coins are in my pocket? Answer: Pennies and nickels
Tell me the different combinations of coins I could have and how much each value is worth.
Answer:
1. two nickels and no pennies= ten cents
2. two pennies and no nickels= two cents
3. one penny and one nickel= six cents

Making Change:
You have fifty cents and you bought a piece of candy for forty-seven cents. How much change would you get back?
Help your child find the answer to questions like these by having them count on from the cost of the item to the amount of money used. This is the way you are supposed to count on change but most people don't do it that way. You can make it more complicated by having them use nickels, dimes, and quarters. If you really want to challenge your child use change and dollars. DO NOT DO THIS UNLESS THEY HAVE MASTERED COUNTING ON IN CHANGE IN THE FIRST TWO WAYS.

Money in action:
Give your child a budget. Have them use a catalog or a newspaper add to spend pretend money on things. I would recommend only using a dollar at this point but you can try for more. Please remember that they cannot regroup at this point. Regrouping is what we learned as borrowing and carrying. It is not called that anymore. Please make sure you are using the proper language if you are going to work on this with your child.

We are also working on telling time. Right now we are making time to on the hour, half-past, quarter after, quarter to, twenty-five to, and twenty to. This is a REALLY hard concept that most of the kids are not developmentally ready for. You might see a very big difference in your child being able to do it and understanding what they are doing. This is okay .This is very age appropriate. They might not get it now but as we keep working on it they will get it. Although many of the kids won't get the twenty to or quarter after business. They should all be able to tell you which is the minute hand and which is the hour hand. They should all be able to read a digital clock, write on an analog clock, read an analog clock, and make a specific time on the clock when give that time.

Show me 8:30
Show me 8:45
Can you think of another way to say 8:45?
How many minutes are in an hour?
How many minutes are in a half-hour?
How many minutes are in a quarter of an hour?

Language Arts:
We finished our unit on Kindness and are not moving on to Animal Camouflage. We will be working on lots of non-fiction reading. It should be very fun and interesting for them.

When we are focusing on comprehension questions for our kids we only ask the very basic ones. Meaning we only ask them to think on the most basic level and not have to take a concept out of the passage, mix it up in their brain and then put it back out again. A standardized test does ask them to do this. Here are some words I am encouraging them to use when asking questions or thinking about texts. Here are some questions that you can use to encourage a deeper way of thinking for your child. Some of you may recognize this as Bloom's Taxanomy of Higher Level Questioning.

Remembers: This is when we check for basic facts about people, places, or things.

When does the story take place?
Where did ________ live?
Who is the main character in the story?

Key words: who, what, where, when, how, describe, define, choose, and select.

Understands: This checks understanding and memory.

Describe what happened after ___________.
Explain how ___________ arrived at __________.
How are ______ and _______ related.

key words: give an example, explain, summarize, demonstrate, infer, show, classify, facts/opinion, and condense.

Applies: This shows the ability to check knowledge of the facts, rules, and principles.

How would you feel if_______?
Predict what will happen next.
Do you think _________?

key words: predict, identify results of, judge the effects of, tell how, when, where, and why, tell what would happen if.

Analysis: break into smaller parts

Compare _________ to __________.
Analyze how ___________ lived or acted.
Which event was most exciting? Why?

Key words: distinguish, conclusions, identify, theme, main idea, relationships between, and point of view.

Evaluates: help you decide the value of the information gained.

Predict what will happen next.
Recreate an event in the story using animals instead of people.
What is your opinion of __________.

Key Words: appraise, h=judge, criticize, defend, compare, and find the errors.

Creates: Use basic information and combine it to create a new pattern or whole.

Which character in the would you like to be? Why?
How would story be different if it were to take place in another country?
Create a different ending for this story or event.

Key Words: create, compose, develop, propose an alternative, how else would you, do, make, design.

This is all information I got from the conference I went to right after Thanksgiving. I will be sending home another sheet with more Bloom's words on it for you to have a copy of at your house. I hope this helps!

Letter to the President

2007-11-30T14:18:00.000-08:00

We have written letters to the president. Please send a stamp with your child to class on Monday. If you have any extras please feel free to send them along as people are bound to not remember them. The kids will be using their addresses on the envelopes so that they can get some mail to their own address. Please feel free to send the letter into class to have your child share with everyone.

Writing

2007-11-30T08:47:00.000-08:00

So your child has been assigned writing for homework. I have chunked it so that they are not faced with the daunting task of writing for more then a small period of time each day. Kids burn out of writing very easily. For some kids it really helps for them to dictate what they are thinking or to write notes about what they can write. For others drawing pictures is how the pre-write. Some kids just like to jump in and start writing. How they do it is totally up to them.

Typically in any writing assignment I am looking for these eight qualities.
Title
Idea
Organization
Voice
Word Choice
Sentence Fluency
Conventions
Next Step

In this piece because it is so structured I am looking for the following:
Organization
sentence fluency
word choice
conventions
neatness

I hope this helps.Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions. There is no math log, reading log, or poem this week.

Volunteers Needed

2007-11-27T21:09:00.000-08:00

On December 7th we are learning about Hanukkah. If you are intereseted in coming in and making potato pancakes for the class please let me know. We will have our celebration around 9:30 am, but volunteers can come at 9:00. I only need one or two parents at the most for this.

On December 14th we'll be making holiday crafts. We will need four volunteers to man glue guns for the snowmen. If you can come help make snowmen and other holiday crafts please let me know ASAP. We will be working from 2:00 on. Volunteers should plan on arriving by 1:45pm.
E-mail if you are interested!

Optional Thanksgiving Work

2007-11-16T08:16:00.000-08:00

I sent home an optional language arts packet in the Friday Folder. This DOES NOT need to be turned in and it is up to you if you choose to do it. Your child should read the story and then do the packet that follows. This is your choice if you and your student would like to do this work. I always try to provide work over the break for those families that would like it. I have also sent home the homework for the week after break. The first log is not checked until Tuesday as usual.

The fluency log will be due on Friday, November 30. I did not mark this on the homework but I did put it in upcoming events on the BLOG.

Checking In

2007-11-15T18:36:00.000-08:00

It was great seeing all of you at conferences. Many of you mentioned wanting to move on from math facts in the nightly math practice. I encourage all of you to do so. We are going to be working on our second chapter of money when we return from Thanksgiving Break and after that we will move on to time. Time is a concept that many of the kids won't master until the end of the year. That is fine. We will keep practicing throughout the year on time and money. They are conepts that take a while to master and they will get it in time. Just keep practicing.

We are still working on quotation marks, underlining, and commas. We have worked on commas in a list, commas at the begining and end of a letter, commas in a date, underlining a book title, underlining a movie title, using quotes around the title of a story, and quotes in a conversation. Please look over these papers as they come home in the Friday folder. If you are practicing writing at home please incorporate some of these in your writing practice.

I hope you all have a wonderfully relaxing break. Enjoy the time off! I will be out on the Monday and Tuesday when we return. I will be at a conference on differentiation. I will have lots of great insight to share when I return.

Happy Thanksgiving

Halloween Link

2007-11-15T10:27:00.000-08:00

Pumpkin Day Link

2007-11-15T09:46:00.000-08:00

Lack of Updates

2007-11-09T17:41:00.001-08:00

I am having trouble getting onto the blog from school. I will update the blog with more pictures of your beautiful children as soon as I can. I have really enjoyed meeting with so many of you these last few days. If you find your schedule changes and you have to cancel a conference please leave a message with the office. I don't always get a chance to check my voice mail or e-mail during conferences. Thanks!

The kids have been great especially with the shortened days. We have moved into money. Please work on making amounts of money with your child using various types of coins. We worked on making a dollar today with one type of coin and also with many kinds of coins.

Enjoy the three day weekend!

Halloween

2007-11-01T10:17:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Halloween parade and party. Thank you to everyone who made it a huge success!

Pictures

2007-10-31T17:06:00.000-07:00

I have posted pictures of kids who have returned permission slips. Many of the slips are still sitting on their desks. As soon as I get permission slips I will post pictures!I would really love to thank Lisa Marvier for taking such wonderful photos. She just opened a new studio on Grant Ave. called blink "ink". You can also check out her work at the gift boutique on Friday afternoon from 2pm to 5pm in the Multi Use Room.

Pumpkin Day Pictures

2007-10-30T14:40:00.000-07:00

We have wonderful pictures of Pumpkin Day! I would love to post them and have sent home a permission slip. It is due on Friday. I will post the pictures Friday. If I do not have your permission I will not post your child's photo. No names will be used. Please return the slip as soon as possible.

Update

2007-10-26T07:57:00.000-07:00

I think someone put this school year on warp speed and forgot to tell me. We are ending the first trimester and report cards are coming out. You will receive your child's report card at your conference. If you haven't turned in your white confirmation sheet confirming the time and date of your conference please do that immediately!

Homework Update:
As promised the fluency sheet has gotten more difficult. It will also incorporate five comprehension questions. There is a note attached to the fluency sheet this week. Please read it very carefully. Please ask your child the comprehension questions after the first read so that you can see how well they understood what they read. You do not need to turn this back in. The October fluency sheet is due next Friday. Please make sure it is completed and in the homework folder.

Homework Alerts: Friday, November 16th is the official end of the first trimester. Since report cards will begin going out on the 7th of November I will consider Monday, November 5th as a fresh start on homework alerts. If your child has received any homework alerts during the first trimester the slate will be wiped clean and they will be given a fresh start! Yeah! A chance to start a new!

Halloween Parade: The Halloween Parade will be on Wednesday, October 31 on the lower playground. It will begin at 8:45. Please attend if you are able to make it! Class we go on as usual until our Halloween Party after lunch. Please contact a room parent if you have questions or would still like to do something for the party.

Good Deeds Log: Our reading unit this month is on Kindness. Our story this week talks about the kindness of strangers. On Monday your child will be bringing home a good deeds log. They need to record one nice thing they did for someone on Monday night, Tuesday night, Wednesday night, and Thursday night. We will be recording their responses in a book on Friday in class. If they don't have it done not only will they receive a homework alert but they will also be unable to participate in the class activity. This should not be chore or something they are expected to do.

Stone Soup: During the week of November 12th we will be reading many different versions of the story "Stone Soup" in class. On Thursday, November 15th I would like all of the kids to bring in a vegetable (fresh or canned it's your choice) so that we can make Stone Soup in class and eat it on Friday. It will be a chicken broth based soup just in case your were curious.

Weekly Update

2007-10-19T06:48:00.000-07:00

We are racing through October! Parent conferences are fast approaching and I have not received white slips back from all parents. Please turn them in by Monday.

If you are able to volunteer from 12:40 to 2:45 on Friday I really need your help! We still need three more volunteers for our Pumpkin Math Activity. This is an activity the entire second grade is participating in. Each class is broken into five groups of four. Each groups is headed up by one parent leader who takes them through a series of really exciting and fun math activities that have to do with the pumpkin. Please e-mail me immediately or call me at school if you can help.

Attached to the kids homework this week is a parent survey. Please take the survey and turn it in by Tuesday. This is the same survey I posted online but only seven parents took it. I am trying again this way to see if I get more takers. Please take it again! Thank you! We are still working on addition and subtraction facts. As I assess for report cards I am concerned with how many students are still having trouble subtracting. Please keep practicing this at home and using the Harcourt Website to assist with math practice.

We had a great week. We have started our science unit on the Human Body. We did a lab on digestion on Thursday and will finish up on Friday with a lab on stomach bile and the small intestine. Next week we will work on bones.

We worked on synonyms and capitalization in class this week. We also did a retelling activitiy as well as a compare and contrast activity using the story the Mitten by Jan Brett. Your child should be coming home with a paper mitten and animals that they made in class. Please have them retell the story for you using the animals.

Crazy Classroom Antics

2007-10-16T12:13:00.000-07:00

I am still looking for three more volunteers to help on Friday the 26th for Pumpkin Day. If anyone is available and would be willing to help out from 12:40 until the end of the school day I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks!

Please keep working on the subtraction facts with your kids. I was very impressed with an addition timed test I gave today but when I gave a subtraction timed test the kids had a much more difficult time. We will keep working on it in class too!

Book orders are due tomorrow! Please get them in if you haven't already.

BOOK ORDERS!!!

2007-10-12T13:47:00.001-07:00

Book Orders are due on Wednesday, October 17th!!! Please get your book orders in!

Calling All Volunteers!

2007-10-11T09:26:00.001-07:00

The Lawrence Hall of Science is coming on Thursday, October 18th from 1:00 to 1:50. I am looking for ONE parent to come and help us make slime during that time. I can't have younger siblings that day, sorry. Please let me know if you would be interested in helping out.

There is lots of good stuff in the Friday Folder this week. Please make sure you are looking over everything. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to call! We will be doing a Pumpkin Math Activity on Friday, October 26th with the entire second grade. We are looking for volunteers and pumpkins! This is another day where we can't have siblings attend. Thank you for understanding.

Your confirmation notes for conferences were also in the Friday Folder. Please send them back right away. I just found out conferences can be held on Wednesday, November 7th after 2pm. I am willing to hold conferences then. If you would like to sign up for a 2pm, 2:30, 3:00, or 3:30 please let me know and I will change your time.

I am pretty good on magazines. Thanks to everyone who sent them in.

Hope you have a great weekend!

PALS

2007-10-10T11:01:00.000-07:00

We need PALS parents! Please e-mail if you are interested in being a PALS parent. We still need two days filled and parent alternates! You may bring younger siblings!

This Week in Homework...

2007-09-28T09:12:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder there is some extra homework coming home this week. Your child will be making a puzzle piece about themselves. It is due on Friday. There are directions attached to the puzzle piece itself. If you have questions call or e-mail me. I can't help you at 7pm on Thursday night so please encourage your child to start early.

I collected the first fluency log if it wasn't in your child's homework folder there is a yellow sticky note in it. Please return it on Monday. Please remind your child to put their name on EVERYTHING! Also you are only recording the fluency results twice. Once as a cold read and once after rereading it a couple times and taking it again on Thursday.

I did not get Flat Stanley addresses from all of the students. If I haven't already spoken to you and it is not in on Monday I will make arrangements for your child to write to someone. We will be starting the letters Monday afternoon and they can't write a letter if they have no one to write it to.

There is also a letter to you from your child with a pink sheet attached to it. That's their go home journal. Typically it's in journal form but the stapler broke and we couldn't fix it. While I am trying to solve my problem with the stapler I just sent this months section home. Your part is pink. Please write back to them and turn it in by next Friday. Thank you!

Are you really reading this thing?

2007-09-27T08:01:00.000-07:00

So are you? That's my burning question. Are you using the blog? That's what I wonder everytime I post something. I wonder if I am actually reaching my target audience.

We will be starting graphing next week and I have only four people's answers to the poll. I extended the time to respond. Please do not respond if you already have. The kids are going to create a bar graph of the results and take the same poll in class with me. Then we will compare the results. Please participate if you haven't.

We have moved on from addition and subtraction facts. I will be offering a place value parent tutorial/math facts on Monday after school at 3:00 pm. If you can't make it but would like to meet with me please e-mail me.

If I do not have your e-mail address will you please e-mail me your address. Thank you!

I hope you are all coming to Blues by the Lake this weekend. I am going to be volunteering from 2 to 5pm at the volunteer check in booth. I hope to see all of you there!

Flat Stanley's will be drawn on Friday and send out next Friday. Let me know if you are still having trouble finding someone for your child to write to. At this moment I have three people lined up who would be more then willing to help. One lives in Southern California, one is stationed with her husband in Lemoore at the Naval Base, and the last lives in Seattle. All great places to learn about and all great pen pals.

Keep checking the blog for updates!

Magazines

2007-09-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

If you have magazines at home that you are not using anymore, that you don't want back and might have some good pictures in them would you please send them to school. I am looking to do an ongoing writing activity throughout the year and find I am short on pictures. Thanks!

Rainy Days Begin

2007-09-20T14:24:00.000-07:00

I guess the weather has decided to turn cool early, or maybe this cold and wet streak won't last but it's here now! Please send your child to school with a coat, even if they refuse to wear it. I will see to them wearing it at recess.

We finished our subtraction unit and will be leaving math facts behind early next week. Please keep practicing at home and we will keep practicing here. We will begin place value at the end of next week. I will pass along more math activities in next weeks packet. I will also start sending home some reading activities you can do with your child as well.

I sent home a letter about Flat Stanley. We are going to read the book next week and start writing the letter the week after. Please find someone who your child can write to. If you don't have anyone out of the Marin or Sonoma County area please talk to me as soon as possible. I have friends who have done this before and are more then willing to do it again.

I have set up a parent poll on the blog. If you haven't done this already please take it. We are going to graph your results in class and then the kids are going to take the same poll in class and graph those results. We will then do a compare and contrast activity. This page is the main way I will be communicating with you this year. Please keep reading the blog to stay informed.

Last week in the computer lab your child took an Accelerated Reader (AR) leveling test. I have sent home the results. Please not that a child reading at the end of first grade is well within the range of this time of year. We are working on fluency and comprehension in class and if you would like to stop by and chat with me I can give you ideas and things to work on at home with your child.

We are working on communities right now. Some of you may have read their story on Life at the Dairy. We are learning about processors and distributors. Next week we will move into producers and consumers as well as goods and services. If any of you have a job that you think the kids would find interesting we are looking for people to come talk to second grade.

Picture day is on Tuesday. Our time is at 11:10... after recess. I will be gone in the morning for a training at the county office of Education but I will be back after recess. There will be a sub in the class and stations etc will go as planned.

Math Packet

2007-09-18T18:49:00.000-07:00

Some of you may have noticed a math packet in the homework folder tonight. This is not math homework that needs to be turned in. It's just a study aide to help you work on the math concepts we are studying in class with your child. There are great games and activities you can do with them. It also contains the terms we use while teaching the concepts. You don't have to use it if you don't think it will help and it doesn't have to be turned in. Periodically I will be sending home papers and tools that you can use with your child for their reading or math log practice.

Harcourt Math Website

2007-09-14T11:13:00.000-07:00

If you would like a great math practice website here's the one our book publishes:

www.harcourtschool.com
go to online activities (red on far left)
click Harcourt Math
two rows of books will show up on the right of your screen
our book is in the bottom row. It is the third book from the left. It is yellow with a blowfish on it.
Click our book and a sign in page will appear
Password: Andrews
School: Rancho Elementary School
State: California
using it at home

press enter

it will take you to a page with grade levels and a picture. Below the picture are four words: click on That's a Fact to practice math facts.
If you are ready to move on click the two on the left of the picture. Only chose the two games from chapter 3. We have not covered the other subjects.

Classroom News

2007-09-13T21:41:00.000-07:00

Here we are two weeks into school and I already feel like the month is flying by. Family Dinner is tomorrow night and it will be Halloween before we know it. Everyone is transitioning really well in to second grade. I am really pleased with how well they are doing. I can't wait to see what the rest of the year will be like if this is how great it is now. I am very pleased with how much they seem to enjoy class and each other. In school on Thursday they all started singing together in class. It was a great moment to watch. It was one that doesn't typically come until much later in the year.

We are deep into subtraction now. Please practice math facts every night with your child. Having them memorized will make learning the rest of our math concepts so much easier. I introduced fact families to them on Thursday. This is a concept they went over in first grade but many of them are still struggling with the idea. If they are really understanding fact families they will know that 4+8=12 will be the same as 8+4. If you need any math practice ideas or manipulatives please don't hesitate to ask. Just give me a few days to get them together.

We started our first story this week in the Open Court Reader. We reviewed nouns and talked about proper verses common nouns. We worked on alphabetizing words. We even alphabetized our words to the third letter. We worked on syllibication and were introduced out first five smart words. We started our vocab dictionaries with all of the story vocabulary words. The kids took their first comprehension test this week. All comprehension tests are open book and in the beginning of the year I read all of the questions and guide them through the test.

We met with our buddy class, Mrs. Dees' fifth grade on Thursday afternoon. The kids took turns interviewing one another. We hope to meet with their class at least a couple of times a month since they seem to enjoy each other so much.

I hope to see all of you at Family Dinner tonight. Volunteering will begin next week. If you signed up please check the schedule in your child's Friday Folder.

Warm Weather Continues

2007-09-10T07:07:00.000-07:00

Although it has gotten cooler the warm weather is still here. I am all for keeping the kids hydrated and am fine with you sending them with a water bottle. If you are going to send one it needs to have a sports top, that way if it spills the amount of water everywhere is a lot less. I also encourage you to get a reusable water bottle. Water bottles you buy at the store such as Crystal Geyser etc are great but they are not meant for long term use. It's important that the water bottle goes home every couple of days to be washed. I will talk to the kids about it on this end but please remind them to bring it in first thing in the morning or at a break (recess or lunch). They will not be allowed to leave class to go to their backpack to get their waterbottle. The water bottle can sometimes be a distraction but after awhile they get used to it. Please do not send juice, vitamin water, or propel water. Thanks!

Back to School Night

2007-09-06T09:32:00.000-07:00

Hello to All!

Thank you to everyone who attended Back to School Night last night. It was great meeting all of you. Please don't wait until conference time to talk to me again. I am here early in the morning and afterschool as well. If you missed last night or need something clarified please don't hesitate to call or e-mail.

I can't tell you enough what a great group of kids you have. I really am enjoying getting to know all of them. I would love to get all of the yellow parent surveys back as soon as possible. Please remember to fill out both sides of the paper.As we're settling into our regular routine I am getting the chance to spend more time in small groups with the kids and one on one.I am so impressed with these kids. I am very excited about this school year.

We're off to a great start. We will start our first story in the Open Court series on Monday. We began working on addition word problems today and are moving on to subtraction facts next week. The math is going to start moving faster and faster. Please work every night on math facts to 20 in both addition and subtraction every night. If you would like more math strategies please come talk to me. We began our second short story today. They're writing a summer short story about one event from their vacation. The final draft is written on a pair of paper shorts.

Thank you for all of the items being donated to the classroom. If you volunteered to work in the classroom this year I will be contacting you with a finalized schedule. Please get back to me as soon as you can if the time works for you. If you signed up for a time I will give you that time but many of you didn't put a time down. Thank you all for your hard work and dedication to room 8. It makes such a difference!

Sarah Rich

Math Challenge

2007-09-04T18:23:00.000-07:00

Here are some tips on what to work on for the math logs besides this weeks math combinations.

1. Add three digits (under the number 9) together. Example: 4+7+2=13
Flip flop the combinations and give it to your child again to see if they understand the concept of order.

2. Work on both addition and subtraction facts to 20. The kids take beat the clock tests everyday in class. Memorizing their
math facts to 20 is a must!

3. Make up simple word problems for both addition and subtraction facts to help your child identify key words such as in all,
how many more then, how many fewer, greater then, less then, equal to.

4. Work on fact families: 4+7, 7+4, 11-7, 11-4

The math will get harder as the year goes on. Having a good math foundation is key to being successful in all math concepts. Having your facts memorized is the first step in this.

My Blog and welcome to it!

2007-08-21T14:01:00.001-07:00

Hello Room 8!

Welcome to my Blog. If you are reading this blog then you have managed to find your way to it. Please subscribe to my blog and check back as regularly as possible. I would like to use this is a way for you to stay on top of life in room 8. I will only be doing a newsletter every few weeks but I will be updating the blog on a regular basis. I will use this as a place to provide homework tips, updates, book lists, classroom wish lists, etc. It was great meeting you all tonight at Back to School Night and I look forward to seeing you throughout the year.

Sincerely,

Sarah Rich