Thank you to Soliel’s Mom, Mrs. Heather, for being our first Mystery Reader this week!  We enjoyed listening to “Who Will I Be?” By Abby Huntsman.  Students had a great conversation about what they do for OTHERS!  SERVANT LEADERSHIP at its finest! 

NEW (TO US!) TECHNOLOGY IN OUR CLASSROOM!  We are so excited to have 3 additional desktops bringing our total number of devices to 10!  WOO HOO! A special thanks to Mr. Kenny for getting us all set-up!

Thank you to Emma’s Dad, Mr. Brandon, for being our second Mystery Reader this week!  He read one of my ALL TIME favorite books – “Tikki Tikki Tembo” by Arlene Mosel!  We enjoyed figuring out who had the longest name in our class… although it had no comparison to Tikki-tikki-Tembo-No-Sa-Rembo-Chari-Bari-Ruchi-Pip-Peri-Pembo’s 50 letters! 

What LEARNING and GROWING went on in room 217 this week:

Academics

ELA:  Class Novel:  Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White; vocabulary and context clues, closed and open syllables

Writing: rough drafts/sloppy copy and edits

Math:  Measurement

Science:  living and non-living

Students of the week:

Kai and Amelie

Thank you for being task-oriented and honest this week!

Important Dates:

• Monday January 28	Kick off Florida Celebrate Literacy Week! *Schoolwide DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) **If the weather is nice, I’d like to take the class outside to read!  PLEASE PACK A TOWEL!
  Tuesday January 29	“Read My Shirt Day”-Wear a shirt with words (school appropriate) on it that others can read.
  Wednesday January 30	*The Idiom Parade(feel free to substitute any type of figurative language)
  Thursday January 31	“Newspaper Day”-Wear black and white and read all over! Maybe even, talk about the newspaper.
  Friday February 1	View a digital version of a book on school’s closed circuit TV to “Snuggle Up with a Good Book One View at a Time”.

• 1/29:  Permission slip and $3 due for traveling zoo
• 2/5:  SAC Meetingat 3:00 in Media Center
• 2/8:  BIOGRAPHY RESEARCH REPORT DUE
• 2/7:  Interims
• 2/14:  Whitney Lab traveling zoo
• 2/15:  Teacher in-service day, student holiday
• 2/18:  Presidents Day – Student/teacher holiday
• 2/21:  PTAO Meeting at 6:00 pm, STEM NIGHT!  Come see me!
• 2/22:  Mystery Reader:  Donna Swan

Reminders:

• Don’t forget to bring in canned food and non-perishable items for our SOUPER BOWL Challenge next week!  What side are you on – Patriots or Rams?!

• Save the date!  2nd Grade Swim Week – May 6 – 9 (make-up date May 10)

Comparing measurements with non-standard and standard units!

Happy 8th birthday to our RAVENOUS READER Tati!

Congratulations to Luca for making it into the MILLION WORD CLUB!!!  We are proud of you!

What LEARNING and GROWING went on in room 217 this week:

Academics

ELA:  Class Novel:  Cam Jansen and the Snowy Day Mystery by David Adler; finding the MAIN TOPIC in a text; context clues

Writing: continued non-fiction writing

Math:  Measurement

Science:  Scientist Feauture –  Dr. Bath’s contributions to ophthalmology

Social Studies:  The contributions of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Students of the week:

Katelyn and Anastasia

Thanks for showing creativity and being CARING this week!

Important Dates:

• 1/18:  Report cards on HAC
• 1/21:  MLK DAY – Student/Teacher holiday
• 1/24:  Mystery Reader – Brandon Goldberg
  

  Monday January 28	Kick off Florida Celebrate Literacy Week! *Schoolwide DEAR (Drop Everything and Read)
  Tuesday January 29	“Read My Shirt Day”-Wear a shirt with words (school appropriate) on it that others can read.
  Wednesday January 30	*The Idiom Parade(feel free to substitute any type of figurative language)
  Thursday January 31	“Newspaper Day”-Wear black and white and read all over! Maybe even, talk about the newspaper.
  Friday February 1	View a digital version of a book on school’s closed circuit TV to “Snuggle Up with a Good Book One View at a Time”.

• 1/29:  Permission slip and $3 due for traveling zoo
• 2/5:  SAC Meetingat 3:00 in Media Center
• 2/8:  Mystery Reader – Heather McMandon
• 2/7:  Interims
• 2/14:  Whitney Lab traveling zoo;
• 2/15:  Teacher in-service day, student holiday
• 2/18:  Presidents Day – Student/teacher holiday
• 2/21:  PTAO Meeting at 6:00 pm, STEM NIGHT!  Come see me!
• 2/22:  Mystery Reader:  Donna Swan

Reminders:

• Save the date!  2nd Grade Swim Week – May 6 – 9 (make-up date May 10)

Happy New Year!  Students focused on goal-setting this week!  They created “New Year, New Me” mobiles to hang above their desks to remind them of their goals.  Ask your child what they plan to STOP and START in 2019!

Speaking of goals and resolutions… students read “Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days!” by Stephen Manes.  Day 1 of the challenge was to wear a broccoli necklace for 24 hours.  Moral of the story – NO ONE IS PERFECT… and that is o.k.!  Practice makes progress… not perfect.  🙂

Measurement at work with partners

Thank you to Mrs. Charalambous for being our guest reader today!  We enjoyed hearing “Mr. Peabody’s Apples” by Madonna and “Probuditi!”  by Chris Van Allsburg. What great lessons on the importance of HONESTY and NEVER under-estimating the power of a younger sibling!  😉  We also super appreciate the delcious and nutritious snacks – Popcorn, veggie straws, pretzels, sardines, seaweed, and Vienna sausages! HA!  Believe it or not, ALL snacks were consumed!  

What LEARNING and GROWING went on in room 217 this week:

Academics

ELA:  Class Novel:  Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days by Stephen Manes; the importance of following steps in a process; antonyms, synonyms, root words

Writing: Recording Facts

Math:  Measurement

Science:  The Human Body

Students of the week:

Colvin and Gianna

Thanks for having accountability and being KIND this week!

Important Dates:

• 1/17:  PTAO meeting at 8:35 am
• 1/18:  Report cards on HAC
• 1/21:  MLK DAY – Student/Teacher holiday
• 1/24:  Mystery Reader – Brandon Goldberg
• 1/29:  Permission slip and $3 due for traveling zoo
• 2/5:  SAC Meetingat 3:00 in Media Center
• 2/8:  Mystery Reader – Heather McMandon
• 2/7:  Interims
• 2/14:  Whitney Lab traveling zoo;
• 2/15:  Teacher in-service day, student holiday
• 2/18:  Presidents Day – Student/teacher holiday
• 2/21:  PTAO Meeting at 6:00 pm, STEM NIGHT!  Come see me!
• 2/22:  Mystery Reader:  Donna Swan

Reminders:

• Save the date!  2nd Grade Swim Week – May 6 – 9 (make-up date May 10)

Thank you to all parents who donated, served, set-up, and cleaned-up for our breakfast celebration today!  We had so much fun!  

Wishing you all of the Hope, Wonder, and Joy that the Season can bring!

Have a safe break, enjoy your time with family, and I will see you all next year! 

*Major incentives for students who read 1 or more chapter books over break and get an 80% or higher on their A.R. test!*

From Ms. Sasha (our fabulous Yoga instructor!):  Directions for making calming jars:

The kids wanted me to share these instructions with you guys.  If you want the jar to separate faster then cut the glue amount in half.  I think it’s a good idea so the young kids don’t have to wait too long to see the results of their calm minds.  Have a great holiday!!

https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instructables.com%2Fid%2FDIY-Calming-Glitter-Jars%2F&data=02%7C01%7Cmeghan.saxon%40stjohns.k12.fl.us%7C20574df82fc54e6e38b008d66524e18e%7Cb3b3d057fc124f3f92f472be6e844351%7C0%7C0%7C636807606458065354&sdata=hQiTKyGq9cJP6YlwY2DjfL12zc72gIyAPt7EuxC7F%2FE%3D&reserved=0 

Money, Money, Money, Money……..MONEY!!

Practicing our interview skills with partners this week in writing!

Thank you to Mr. Chaconas for being our Mystery Reader today!  We enjoyed hearing Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus (a true story!) by Chris Pehal and Rock Star Santa by Gayle C. Krause.  What a great mix of the TRUE meaning of Christmas – family and giving, as well as HAVING FUN this holiday season!

SANTA FACE PUZZLE CHALLENGE:  Your child created a Santa face using the following triangles below.  The only rule is that the smaller triangles must stay WITHIN the larger triangle (there is no cutting or folding).  You may add eyes, a mouth, and color your hat once you figured out where the pieces fit.  

We ended up with some pretty interesting Santa faces!  I sent home a blank sheet with triangles for families to try at home! Your child knows the correct answer! Good luck!

What LEARNING and GROWING went on in room 217 this week:

Academics

ELA:  Class Novel:  Miss Holly is too Jolly by Dan Gutman and Horrible Harry and the Holidaze by Suzy Kline; dissecting vocabulary, -or , -ist, -er suffixes and spelling patterns

Writing: Non-fiction stories, interviewing

Math:  money and time

Social Studies:  Maps

Students of the week:

Kolton and Amelie

Thanks for being conscientious and prepared this week!

Important Dates:

• 12/15:  Breakfast with Santa
• 12/18:  wrapped book due for book exchange
• 12/19:  items due for class breakfast
• 12/19:  Polar Express Day!  Wear your school appropriate pajamas to school!  No slippers!
• 12/21:  Class breakfast party – 9:15 – 10:00 – (Let me know if you can volunteer to help cook or serve!), class book exchange immediately following
• 12/21:  2nd quarter ends; early release
• 12/24-1/4:  Winter Break

Reminders:

• Please start humming the  Twelve Days of Christmas…Now read this! 🙂

  On the last week before break my teacher gave to me… permission to dress festive all week!

  Monday: Holiday Jewelry

  Tuesday: Holiday Socks

  Wednesday: PAJAMA DAY FOR POLAR EXPRESS!

  Thursday: Holiday Headwear

  Friday: National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day, so we should join in, right?

Old Town Trolley Tours has partnered with INK! (Investing in Kids), a non-profit supporting St. Johns County public schools for the first annual Holiday Tree Contest!  Students and teachers from each school decorated their designated trees at Old Town Trolley Headquarters in St. Augustine with their favorite themes.  R.B. Hunt decorated their tree as a lighthouse.  Voting can be done daily on any and all devices beginning December 4th through 10:00 a.m. on December 20th.

The winning school will be announced on December 20th at 12pm.The school’s tree with the most votes will win $1,000 so please vote for the R. B. Hunt tree daily!  The link to vote is below:

trolleytours.com/holidaytreecampaign

• *Math homework will only be sent home Monday – Wednesday next week.  No reading log will go home… I will expect students to continue reading daily throughout break! ;)*

August 9, 2016

Hard at work!  I have enjoyed observing student strategies in sorting and adding money this week!  

We enjoyed celebrating Ms. Jarocki  today!  Congratulations!  We know she will make an exceptional teacher!  Thank you for working so hard with children in our classroom!  We love you!

Happy birthday to Cash!  8 is great!

What LEARNING and GROWING went on in room 217 this week:

Academics

ELA:  Class Novel:  Winter According to Humphrey by Betty Birney; describing the connection between scientific ideas or concepts in a text, -or and -ist suffixes and spelling patterns

Writing: letters and editing with partners

Math:  MONEY!

Social Studies:  Character Counts pillar – Responsibilty… Congratulations SOLEIL!

Science:  People in Science:  Dr. Mei-Yin Chou

Students of the week:

Tati and Aiden

Thanks for being considerate of others and organized this week!

Important Dates:

• 12/11:  Class Pictures
• 12/15:  Breakfast with Santa
• 12/18:  wrapped book due for book exchange
• 12/19:  items due for class breakfast
• 12/21:  Class breakfast party – 9:15 – 10:00
• 12/21:  2nd quarter ends; early release
• 12/24-1/4:  Winter Break

Reminders:

Old Town Trolley Tours has partnered with INK! (Investing in Kids), a non-profit supporting St. Johns County public schools for the first annual Holiday Tree Contest!  Students and teachers from each school decorated their designated trees at Old Town Trolley Headquarters in St. Augustine with their favorite themes.  R.B. Hunt decorated their tree as a lighthouse.  Voting can be done daily on any and all devices beginning December 4th through 10:00 a.m. on December 20th.

The winning school will be announced on December 20th at 12pm.The school’s tree with the most votes will win $1,000 so please vote for the R. B. Hunt tree daily!  The link to vote is below:

trolleytours.com/holidaytreecampaign

• Thank you to everyone who donated to our fabulous tree and to Ms. Chaconas for putting everything together!  It looks amazing!  Hopefully we will have a winner or two from our class! 🙂

Congratulations to Abby for making it into the MILLION WORD CLUB!  We are proud of you, hey, we are proud of you!

We had a lot of birthdays this week –  all girls with names that start with “A”!  Happy 8th birthday to Anastasia, Abby, and Amelie!

What LEARNING and GROWING went on in room 217 this week:

Academics

ELA:  Class Novel:  Totally Disgusting by Bill Wallace; how images/diagrams support text, -er and -est suffixes and spelling patterns

Writing: fictional stories

Math:  triple digit addition and subtraction with re-grouping

Social Studies:  Map Skills

Science:  Changing Matter

Students of the week:

Kaia and Dimitrios

Thanks for being hard-working and honest!

Important Dates:

• 12/1:  Childrens Author – Harvey E. Oyer at Lewis Flagler Auditorium at 11:00.
• 12/3:  Festival tree due
• 12/4:  SAC meeting – 3:10
• 12/7:  Ms. Jarocki’s last day! 🙁
• 12/11:  Class Pictures
• 12/15:  Breakfast with Santa
• 12/18:  wrapped book due for book exchange
• 12/19:  items due for class breakfast
• 12/21:  Class breakfast party – 9:15 – 10:00
• 12/21:  2nd quarter ends; early release
• 12/24-1/4:  Winter Break

Reminders:

• Please label water bottles, coats, hats, etc.  We have a lot of items that have gone missing!
• Don’t forget the special guest speaker at Flagler College this Saturday from 11:00-2:00.  It’s a great FREE event for kids!
• HARVEY E. OYER III
  Harvey E. Oyer III is a fifth generation Floridian and is descended from one of the earliest pioneer families in South Florida. He is the great-great grandson of Captain Hannibal Dillingham Pierce and his wife Margretta Moore Pierce, who in 1872 became one of the first non-Native American families to settle in Southeast Florida. Oyer is the great-grand nephew of Charlie Pierce, the subject of this book series. Many of the stories contained in this book series have been passed down through five generations of his family. Oyer has won numerous awards for his Adventures of Charlie Pierce children’s book series.
  MEET & GREET
  CHILDREN’S AUTHOR
  Lecture, Meet & Greet and Book Signing,
  11:00 AM to 12:30 PM, Lewis Auditorium
  Reading, Activities and Chick-Fil-A Lunch,
  12:30 PM to 2:00 PM, Markland House & Solarium*
  FREE, Children Friendly
  *Reservation required by
  emailing [email protected] or calling 904-826-8572

We were BLOWN away by the country research presentations!  From Powerpoints, to tri-pods, to artifacts, to videos, to TONS of native food, we LEARNED so much about this big, beautiful world we live in!  Bravo!

Wishing you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I am so grateful for each child in my class and a job I love coming to every day.  Be safe, read like crazy, and I’ll see you Monday! 🙂

Country Research Project Presentations!  Soleil presented on Nicaragua (where her family lived for 13 years!) and Tati presented on India (which she has visited!) We learned so much!  Great job, girls!

Thank you to Mr. McClarnon for being our mystery reader today!  We enjoyed the history behind “The Camping Trip that Changed America” by Barb Rosenstock!

HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY, LUCA!

What LEARNING and GROWING went on in room 217 this week:

Academics

ELA:  Class Novel:  Molly’s Pilgrim by Barbara Cohen; comparing/contrasting stories, -le spelling patterns

Writing: fictional stories

Math:  Chapter 5 Math Test; triple digit addition and subtraction with re-grouping

Social Studies:  Native Americans

Science:  Changing Matter

Students of the week:

N/A

Short week ahead!

Important Dates:

• 11/16:  Interims sent home
• 11/19:  Country research project due
• 11/21-23:  Thanksgiving Break
• 12/3:  Festival tree due
• 12/4:  SAC meeting – 3:10
• 12/7:  Ms. Jarocki’s last day! 🙁
• 12/8:  St. Augustine Christmas Parade
• 12/11:  Class Pictures
• 12/15:  Breakfast with Santa
• 12/21:  2nd quarter ends; early release
• 12/24-1/4:  Winter Break

Reminders:

• Country Research Projects will be presented November 19 and 20!