We had a very informative lesson on Native Americans Thursday!

Thank you to Leta’s Mom, Shannon Poole for coming to read to us today!  We enjoyed having you!

What a SUPER SURPRISE!  Thank you so much to my sweet, sweet, families for my class baby shower today!  It was so much fun to open gifts, eat treats, and to be able to talk about Scarlett’s arrival.  Your children will ALWAYS hold a special place in my heart – especially sharing special moments like these!  I can’t wait to tell Scarlett all about it and them when she grows up!  I feel like she already knows ALL their voices!  🙂

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

Academics

ELA:  We continued to read Mayor Hubble is in trouble by Dan Gutman this week for our class novel. This has been a great novel to reinforce political words such as candidate, election, debate, campaign, and podium.   Our reading block also continued its focus on spelling and spelling patterns as well as inferences and inflections.  We took a spelling test on some spelling patterns we have been studying as well.  Lastly, we began Lesson 9 Wordly Wise.

Writing:  Students took to the computer lab this week to publish the final drafts of the story they had been editing the week prior.  We will continue to practice typing our final drafts in Word documents.  The students certainly enjoyed seeing their work come to life on the computer and feel VERY official.  You can help your child at home by teaching them the basics of typing such as proper spacing, font, sizing, color, etc.

Math:  We took Chapter 5 Math test and continued our practice of subtraction with re-grouping and solving multi-step word problems.

Social Studies – Native Americans and Pilgrims

Students of the week:

N/A – Short week!

Important Dates:

11/22- Thanksgiving dessert at 2:00

11/22 – Mrs. Saxon’s last day before maternity leave.

11/23-25 – Thanksgiving Break

12/8:  Class Photos

12/15:  Holiday Luncheon – Students and Parents

12/16:  Holiday Concert

12/17:  Breakfast with Santa

12/22:  Winter Break Begins

Reminders:

• The “FUNK” is out there and certainly had a hold of our class this week.  I hope everyone is back and feeling 100% very soon.
  
• There will be no homework next week or over Thanksgiving break.  WOO! HOO!  Enjoy your time with family, play outside, READ!  I am so grateful for my wonderful family and class.
• Please don’t forget to send in your items for our class dessert on Tuesday, the 22nd!
• Mystery Reader Dates until I return (1:00 – 1:30):
• November 18th:  Shannon Poole
• December 2nd:  Carrie McCarthy
• December 9th:  Carol Alford (Belle’s Gramma)
• January 13th:  Julie Alford
• January 27th:  Kara Pound
• February 10th:  Ryan Held
• February 24: Serena Arbuthnot

Students enjoyed hands-on activities during the Colonial Presentation on Monday!

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

Academics

ELA:  We began Mayor Hubble is in trouble by Dan Gutman this week for our class novel. This is a hysterical novel that has students laughing out loud.  This book ties right in with the election and we are finding similarities and differences in Mayor Hubble is in Trouble’s election compared to the presidential election.   Students also chose new AR reading goals for the quarter and took a practice DE test in reading in math to see their growth since August.  I will send home scores with interims on the 16th.  Please keep in mind this was a practice test.  Our reading block also focused on spelling and spelling patterns as well as inferences.    Lastly, we took our Lesson 8 Wordly Wise test.

Writing:  EDIT. EDIT. EDIT.  Students picked a story from their non-fiction writing this week to edit.  This is certainly a process – we practiced adding punctuation, what makes a complete sentence, capital letters, and temporal words to help organize our writing.  We had peer reviews and will type (SO exciting!) our final drafts next week.

Math:  Math concepts cover this week were:  writing equations to represent subtraction, adding to find differences, and re-writing 2-digit subtraction.  These students took on this challenge with ease and I am so impressed with their growth and progress in subtracting with re-grouping!

Social Studies – Veterans and VOTING

Students of the week:

Liam and Emi

Thank you for being independent PROBLEM SOLVERS this week!

Important Dates:

11/11 – No school – Thank you to all our Veterans!

11/16 – Interims go home (only P’s or I’s are indicated)

11/16:  Picture make-up day

11/17 – Native American Presentation

11/22- Thanksgiving dessert at 2:00

11/22 – Mrs. Saxon’s last day before maternity leave.

11/23-25 – Thanksgiving Break

Reminders:

• Congratulations to Ennis King for being voted by our class for showing the character counts pillar of CITIZENSHIP this month – You rock!  Ennis also made it to MULTIPLICATION on math facts in a flash this week!  He has been working hard to reach this goal for weeks and we couldn’t be prouder of this SUPER STAR STUDENT!
• Turkeys turned out AWESOME!  They are on display in the hallway outside of our classroom.  If you get a chance, come check them out!
• Thank you to the McCarthy’s, Gassert’s, and my B.F.F (?!? not sure who this was ?!?!) for donating to our classroom library by purchasing books at the Book Fair on my wish list!  These books are already being read by students in our class and will be loved on for years to come!  🙂
• With colder weather approaching, please make sure names are written on all outerwear so it doesn’t end up lost FOREVER!  🙂

Fire prevention program at school on Monday!  Ask your child to show you the correct way to STOP! DROP! AND ROLL!

Thank you to Emi’s Mom, Elena Laguardia, for being our Mystery Reader this week!  We enjoyed having you!

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

Academics

ELA:  Students practiced STAMINA this week while reading their novels of choice for D.E.A.R.  We will continue our class novels next week.  Our reading block also reviewed alphabetical order and introduced dictionaries!  Students enjoyed scanning through to find new words and using guide words to help discover them quickly.  Some students shared they definitely preferred the Websters online dictionary over the “old school” way.  Ha!   We also read the Big, Bushy Mustache and compared and contrasted traits in a fictional vs. non-fictional story.   Lastly, we took our Lesson 7 Wordly Wise test.

Writing:  We continued to read some incredible fictional animal stories this week  such as Beardream and Ducky.  Students were challenged to write their own realistic fictional story including ideas from their own lives.

Math:  Whew!  Math has been interesting this week.  We began subtracting numbers that required borrowing from the tens place.  We have taken the advice from the Tortoise and Hare and remembered slow and steady wins the race.  Challenge your child with some subtraction facts this weekend that require regrouping such as:

23

-18

_______________________________

Social Studies – Native Americans

Enrichment:  We played a fun game from Tin Man Press called “Play by the Rules.”

Students of the week:

Stella and Nicholas

Thank you for showing kindness and extra effort this week!

Important Dates:

11/7:  Colonial Presentation – In school field trip

11/7:  Turkey in disguise take-home project due

11/11 – No school

11/22- Thanksgiving dessert at 2:00

11/22 – Mrs. Saxon’s last day before maternity leave.

11/23-25 – Thanksgiving Break

Reminders:

•   I am still missing 1 report card envelope!
• Turkey’s in disguise are due Monday, November 7th!
•  I hope you received the letter regarding my maternity leave.  Mrs. Streit is a certified teacher who previously taught 2nd grade.  She took a break from teaching in St. Johns County to help her husband with their farm in Costa Rica for part of the year.  She continued to sub when she returned to St. Augustine the second part of the year.  The students have worked with her a few times and I am certain she will do a phenomenal job until I return.  I spent A LOT of time and effort creating 12 weeks of plans to help keep our classroom running as usual.  As sad as I am to leave this great group of kids, I know this is an important time for me to be with my family.  I plan to return March 1st.
• Students have placed the remainder of  Wordly Wise vocab job directions in their journals.  They will be due the beginning of each month and will add the vocab they are currently working on that month.
• Congratulations to the following students for having PERFECT ATTENDANCE for the month of September:  Brooke, Ennis, Caenan, Nicholas, Leta, Nolan, Emi, Honora, Stella, Sam, Gaby!!  WOO! HOO!  October did not count due to the hurricane.

We had so much fun at the Character Parade today!  Thank you for sending in items for our Halloween celebration!  The students really enjoyed our Halloween celebration – thank you for contributing items to make this happen.  I hope to see everyone tonight at the Fall Festival!  It is going to be a blast!

Thank you to Mrs. Leth for being our Mystery Reader and for all your hard work in making our booth at Fall festival a success!  We couldn’t do it without all our amazing parent volunteers! 

Thank you for all the donations for our class party!  Everyone had a great time!

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

Academics

ELA:  We have officially wrapped up Esio Trot by Roald Dahl.  Roald Dahl uses incredible vocab in his books which makes his novels increasingly interesting to read.  Our reading block also introduced alphabetical order which was fun to practice and focused on reading non-fiction stories.   Lastly, we began our lesson 7 Wordly Wise vocab.

Writing:  We read some incredible fiction stories this week involving animals such as Dogzilla, Brave Charlotte, and Honk!  Prima Swanerina.  Students were challenged to write their own fictional animal story that included descriptive language, temporal words, and dialogue.  We are still in the process of writing these creative stories!

Math:  We have completed Chapter 4 in Math and I was incredibly impressed with how well the students took on addition with regrouping.  We even made it to quadruple adding and students were begging for more numbers to add.  What a group of mathematicians!

Social Studies – Native Americans

Enrichment:  Growth vs. Fixed Mindset – for more information:  https://www.mindsetworks.com/science/

Students of the week:

Brooke and Jaxon

Thank you for showing responsibility and integrity this week!

Important Dates:

10/28:  Report Cards sent home  (initial date of 10/24 pushed back due to hurricane)  PLEASE RETURN ENVELOPES ON MONDAY!

10/31:  Book Fair Preview at library – 9:00 am (First class!  Woo hoo!)

11/1:  Re-schedule date for the firefighter presentation

11/4:  Vocab journals due – I have sent home lesson 1-5 words to help find similarities between words in lessons 1-7.  I hope this helps!

11/7:  Colonial Presentation – In school field trip

11/7:  Turkey in disguise take-home project due (more info to come next week!)

11/11 – No school

Reminders:

• Please return report card envelopes Monday!
• If you are interested in a conference, please mark so on the envelope or contact me at [email protected]
• Please remember “P’s” are A.O.K!  We are just beginning 2nd quarter and a lot of 2nd grade standards are PROGRESSING during 1st quarter.  It is a marathon, not a sprint!  🙂
• One of our goals for our school improvement plan this year is improving absences and tardies.  Please make your best effort to have your child present each day and on time!  Thank you!

How is it already so close to the end of October?  We had a VERY busy and productive week!

On Monday we had the Jaguars visit for a pep rally.  The cheerleaders and coaches gave great speeches on STAMINA and PERSEVERANCE as well overcoming adversity after Hurricane Matthew.  We also heard from representatives from the Red Cross and City Commissioners.

Tuesday was our field trip to Rype and Readi.  This was a GREAT, kid-friendly environment that helped our students learn more about farming!  We had three rotations: feeding the animals, visiting the market, and touring crops the farm was producing to learn more about agriculture.  The students also got to taste test of some products grown at the farm such as muscadine grapes and sugar cane.  We ended the trip with a picnic outside and each child receiving a mini pumpkin to take home.  Even through the sun-showers and mosquitoes, everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves and learned something new.  You can check out their website here:    http://rypeandreadi.com/

On Friday students who met their goal for this quarters AR incentive enjoyed extra recess and a snow cone!  Congratulations to Caenan McCarthy who was our top point earner for the class AND 2nd grade with over 100 points!  WOW!

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

Academics

ELA:  Students began our current class novel Esio Trot by the INCREDIBLE Roald Dahl.  Class novels have helped students build fluency and inflection in their reading.  Our reading block also reviewed base words, reviewed adding and sorting -ed to words, and focused on reading realistic fiction.   Lastly, we took our lesson 6 Wordly Wise vocab.

Writing:  We added descriptive writing to characters of our choice in our journals this week as well introducing Authors Chair.  Belle was our first speaker and did a superb job describing Alexander from Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

Math:  We continued to practice 2-digit addition with re-grouping.  Students also practiced reading word problems that required 2-digit addition and the importance of lining up our tens and ones vertically.

Science:  Rocks were discussed and we observed different rocks around school.  We read great books such as Rocks: hard, soft, smooth, and rough and If you Find a Rock.

Students of the week:

Ennis and Belle

Thank you for showing GRIT this week!

G– Give it your all R – Re-do if necessary I– Ignore giving up T– Take time to do it right

Important Dates:

10/27:  Last day to donate books to kids affected by Hurricane Matthew

10/28:   Character Parade and Fall Festival 5:30-7:30

Per office:

Students are encouraged to dress up as their favorite storybook character.  It is best if students come to school in their costumes on Friday morning. If they cannot wear their costume over their school clothes, they are to bring a change of clothes with them. We also remind students that face-painting, hair-coloring or weapons (real or play) are not allowed.

10/28:  Report Cards sent home  (initial date of 10/24 pushed back due to hurricane)

10/28:  Class snack celebration items due

10/28:  Last day to donate books to kids affected by Hurricane Matthew

10/31:  Book Fair

11/1:  Re-schedule date for the firefighter presentation

11/4:  Vocab journals due

11/7:  Colonial Presentation – In school field trip

11/11 – No school

Reminders:

• Thank you for sending in delicious baked goods, gift cards, and books for victims of Hurricane Matthew!  I have been overwhelmed by the amount of thoughtfulness from the families in our class.  You guys rock.
• Please sign up for an item to bring in for our class Halloween Celebration on 10/28.   I will purchase any items no one chooses.  The students have worked SO hard first quarter and have been through a lot in October so we deserve to have a good time.  Work hard… play hard.  🙂
• I hope to see you all on 10/28 for the Fall Festival!  It’s going to be a blast!

Talk about Servant Leadership!  One student in our class baked banana bread for the kids in our class affected by the hurricane and another student made sculptures at home to pass out to families at Davis Shores.  My heart is so full!

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

Academics

ELA:  Students took time to independently read Flat Stanley and Stanley Flat Again by Jeff Brown.   These were some quick reads before we dive into our next class novel Esio Trot by the INCREDIBLE Roald Dahl.  I believe this is a book the children will really enjoy.  Our reading block also reviewed on sorting, recognizing, and spelling words with -oo, -ew, ow, and -ou, as rules and spelling patterns for adding -ing to words.   Lastly, we took our lesson 5 Wordly Wise Test.

Writing:  We practiced the pre-write skill of creating “webs” to think of details about our pets.   We also worked on telling more about characters in our favorite books.  We are continuing our practice of adding temporal and descriptive words to our writing as well as editing.  This is a fluid process!

Math:  Math was a BLAST this week!  We continued Chapter 4 and began adding two digit numbers that required re-grouping.  Having a strong number sense and understanding of ones, ten, and hundreds has really helped students catch on to this concept quickly.

Social Studies:  Community Service during Hurricane Matthew – not a 2nd grade standard, but none-the-less an important LIFE SKILL and CURRENT EVENT.  🙂

Students of the week:

Honora and Nolan

Thank you for showing perseverance this week!

Important Dates:

10/17:  Re-scheduled Gifted Screening (students already identified will not be tested.)  An opt-out letter was sent home today (September 30th) if you are not interested in having your child tested.

10/14:  1st Quarter ends

10/15:  October Scholastic Book Orders due – Class Code MBCQN – CHECKS OR CREDIT CARD ONLY – NO CASH

10/17:  FORMER Teacher Work Day.  This will be a make-up day for the hurricane on 9/2.  Students are expected to be at school this day.

10/17:  Field Trip forms and $4 due for in-school Colonial Field Trip.  If you have not turned in your form or money, I sent another slip home in your child’s red folder today.

10/18:  Rype and Readi Field Trip – please have students wear RB Hunt shirts, tennis shoes, and pack their lunch in a plastic ziploc bag with their name clearly written on the front.  If you are a chaperone, please sign in at the school first and then you may follow buses in your car or meet us there.  I will need one chaperone to take our cooler in your car.  **Slight time change – buses will leave Hunt at 9:30 and return at 1:00. **

10/20:  PTAO meeting

10/21:  AR incentive – Snow cones and extra recess!  Ask your child how close they are to their goal!

10/28:  (10/21 was incorrect date)  Character Parade and Fall Festival 5:30-7:30

10/28:  Report Cards sent home  (initial date of 10/24 pushed back due to hurricane)

10/31:  Book Fair

11/7:  Colonial Presentation – In school field trip

11/11 – No school

Reminders:

• We had five Hunt teachers and 2 students from our class severely affected by the Hurricane.  If you are interested in donating please contact Waynette Abbatonozzi at 547-7957.  I know gift cards have been very helpful at this time.
• As a class we voted to focus on BOOKS as our donation to kids on Anastasia Island who have been affected by Matthew. If you have any gently used books (all ages!) please send them on or before Thursday, October 27th.
• We would still love to have you as a volunteer for the Fall Festival!  Please contact me if you can give 30 minutes of your time that evening.  🙂
• You can pre-order bands for Fall festival.  They are $8 before the 28th and $10 at the door the day of the festival.  Make checks out to RB Hunt PTAO.  Let me know if you need a new form.
• A message from Mr. King the Principal at Sebastian Middle School:

Dear S.M.S., R.B. Hunt, Ketterlinus, Crookshank and S.A.H.S. Families:

 Our hearts go out to all those in our community who have been impacted by Hurricane Matthew, but especially to those families and students within our feeder school system. 

For this reason, Sebastian Middle School is opening its doors as a resource center this Saturday, October 15 from 8:00 a.m. – Noon. Our families are invited to pick up any supplies they may need—bottled water, nonperishable food , cleaning supplies, trash bags, paper towels, toilet paper, bed and bathroom linens, shoes, and clothing items (sizes from infant to adult).

Mr. King

Principal

Sebastian Middle School

904-547-3844

Families,

  School is officially back in session today following Hurricane Matthew.  If you are unable to send your child in, the district is being VERY lenient with absences.  Please let me know of any special circumstances with your family so I can be of any service.  I will take good care of your most precious treasures today – your children.  I hope all is well.  Please be in touch.

Due to the uncertainty of weather conditions resulting from Hurricane Matthew, all schools and district offices will be closed Thursday, October 6 and Friday, October 7.

All athletic events and extracurricular activities are canceled this evening and through the weekend.

Extended Day will be open and operating this afternoon.

Please visit www.stjohns.k12.fl.us for more information and updates.

Please be safe!

Students worked so hard to earn their laps for the Fund Run!  I bet they slept GREAT that night!

Thanks to Mr. McCarthy for coming in this afternoon and being our first Mystery Reader!

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

Academics

ELA:  We finished reading Totally Disgusting by Bill Wallace.  This book was full of adventure and fun.  The students and I quickly fell in love with the main characters Mewkiss the Cat and Barkus the Dog.  We are looking forward to our next big novel adventure on Monday!    Our reading block also focused on sorting, recognizing, and spelling words with -oo, -ew, ow, and -ou, as well as exploring text evidence.   Lastly, we took our lesson 4 Wordly Wise Test.

Writing:  We created FANTASY stories that included sight, sound, and temporal words.  We also paired up and listening to each others stories and responding with the prompt “I learned that…”

Math:  We continued our work in Chapter 3 by using equations to represent words problems.  We also practiced repeated addition.  Students immediately noticed that this skill appeared to tie right into multiplication – SO exciting!  Chapter 3 Math test will be on Monday.

Enrichment:  Students practiced analytical reasoning with an activity called “What’s that Dot?”

Students of the week:

Leta and Caenan

Thank you for being such good listeners!

Important Dates:

10/4:  Picture Day!  These will be individual portraits and not class pictures.

10/10:  Gifted Screening (students already identified will not be tested.)  An opt-out letter was sent home today (September 30th) if you are not interested in having your child tested.

10/14:  1st Quarter ends

10/14:  Fire Safety Demonstration

10/15:  October Scholastic Book Orders due – Class Code MBCQN – CHECKS OR CREDIT CARD ONLY – NO CASH

10/17:  FORMER Teacher Work Day.  This will be a make-up day for the hurricane on 9/2.  Students are expected to be at school this day.

10/18:  Rype and Readi Field Trip – please have students wear RB Hunt shirts, tennis shoes, and pack their lunch in a plastic ziploc bag with their name clearly written on the front.

10/20:  PTAO meeting

10/21:  Character Parade and Fall Festival 5:30-7:30

10/21:  AR incentive – Snow cones and extra recess!  Ask your child how close they are to their goal!

10/28:  Report Cards sent home  (initial date of 10/24 pushed back due to hurricane)

10/31:  Book Fair

Reminders

• Fund Run was a BLAST!  Thanks to all the parents for coming out to cheer us on!  Our class earned over $1900 in donations!  Impressive!  I have contacted PTO with missing prizes from students.  Please let me know if your child didn’t receive an item they earned. Fund Run collection envelopes as well as additional information was sent home today in red communication folders.
• Thank you to Mr. McCarthy for being our first Mystery Reader!  The students really enjoyed your book!
• October is packed with exciting and busy activities.  Please make sure  your child comes to school everyday rested and prepared to learn!
• Fall Festival will be here before we know it!  Lauren Leth has planned a FUN witch hat ring toss game!  Please let me know if you are interested in volunteering for a 30 minute block to help run this!

Gettin’ down at the Fund Run Pep Rally!  Our class has some MOVES!

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

Academics

ELA:  We continued reading Totally Disgusting by Bill Wallace.  Our reading block also continued our focus on sorting, recognizing, and spelling r-controlled words as well as exploring text features in books.   Lastly, we began Lesson 4 Wordly Wise vocab.

Writing:  We created SCARY STORIES that included sight and sound words.  We also practiced pairing up and listening to each others stories and responding with the prompt “I liked your story because…”

Math:  We continued our work in Chapter 3 by practicing addition and subtraction facts.  We are seeing relationships and patterns between the two which is helping us become more efficient mathematicians! We also began “Mad Minute” this week with addition problems – one of our most intense times of the day!

Social Studies:  We continued our study on the Presidential Election and learned exactly where the White House is located and the history of White House pets!

Students of the week:

Saylor and Stella

Thank you for being such good listeners!

Important Dates:

9/20 – FUND RUN KICK OFF

9/29 – FUND RUN – 2nd grade time slot:  10:35- 11:25

9/30 FUND RUN RAIN DATE and vocab journals due

10/10:  Gifted Screening (students already identified will not be tested)

10/14:  1st Quarter ends

10/15:  October Scholastic Book Orders due – Class Code MBCQN – CHECKS OR CREDIT CARD ONLY – NO CASH

10/17:  FORMER Teacher Work Day.  This will be a make-up day for the hurricane on 9/2.  Students are expected to be at school this day.

10/18:  Rype and Readi Field Trip

10/20:  PTAO meeting

10/21:  Character Parade and Fall Festival 5:30-7:30

10/28:  Report Cards sent home  (initial date of 10/24 pushed back due to hurricane)

10/31:  Book Fair

Reminders

• Thank you for supporting our Fund Run this week!  This money will go toward purchasing NEW playground equipment!
• On the day of the Fund Run (Thursday, September 29th) please make sure your child comes to school in running shoes, shorts, and applies sun screen BEFORE they arrive to school.  Students are also welcome to bring hats and sunglasses to keep themselves cool.  I would also recommend sending in a cold water bottle (possibly freeze the night before) with your child’s name clearly labeled on the outside.  We will change into our Fund Run shirts the morning of the race.

• We are still in desperate need of volunteers for our Fall Festival.  Please email me with a time slot that will work for your family to make this fun event a success!