Christmas party fun

 Party fun and games - Thanks so much for making it a fun time, Mrs. Brunner, Mrs. Taylor, Mrs. Snavely, and helpers!

Performing reader's theater for Miss Smith's kindergarten class

Newsletter 12-18-15

     Thanks so much for collecting items for the food drive.  We really helped stock up the food pantry!    Thanks also for participating in spirit days to benefit families through Heifer Project International.  It was a fun week.

    Merry Christmas!  See you next year!

Upcoming events:
Dec. 21-Jan. 1 Christmas Break
Jan. 4 – classes resume
Jan. 21 – Parent Teacher Conferences
Jan 21 – family involvement activity 3:30-6:30 in the Happy Place
Jan 25 – weather makeup day
Jan 25 – PTO meeting 8:30am in Happy Place

Get the seesaw app to see your child's gingerbread trap video

This year we're going to use a new tool to share what we're learning in class called Seesaw. Your child will have his or her own learning journal, and you can get notified when your child adds new items. It's completely private -- only you can see your child's journal outside of class.

Your child is bringing home a sheet with a QR code to scan for sign up
or
Click below to sign up -- it takes just 30 seconds.

seesaw link

Once you sign up, you can download the Seesaw Parent app for iPhone or Android, or access your child's journal on the web.

Thanks! 

Twins day!

Box top winners!

    We won the grade level contest for box top collection.  We watched a video and had ice cream bars.  Thanks PTO!

Newsletter 12-11-15

    Thanks so much for refilling our snack cabinet!  We should be good to go for awhile.

    We will finish up counting money next week and we will test on it before break.  Remember to keep involving your children in authentic money counting activities so they can get better at handling it!

    We had the highest box top collection in our grade level!  Today we got ice cream bars and watched a movie.  Thanks for helping us earn this reward.

    We are still collecting items all next week for the food drive.  Please help stock up the food pantry!   

Upcoming events:
Dec. 18 – 12:45 class Christmas party
    1:45 all school singalong in gym
Dec. 21-Jan. 1 Christmas Break
Jan. 4 – classes resume
Jan. 21 – Parent Teacher Conferences
Jan 21 – family involvement activity 3:30-6:30 in the Happy Place
Jan 25 – weather makeup day
Jan 25 – PTO meeting 8:30am in Happy Place

Newsletter 12-04-15

        Our snack cabinet is empty.  If you are able, the students would enjoy some healthy snacks to refill it!  Thank you!

We've been working hard on our all about books in writing workshop.  They are informational books to teach our readers something.  We chose a topic we know a lot about.  We've got diagram pages, zoom in pages, how to pages, and more.

Math time is filled up with counting money.  You can help at home by counting change with your child.  Just empty your pocket and have a go!  So far we are up to pennies, nickels, and dimes.  Quarters next week...

We go to the Penguin Patch Shop Tuesday morning at 10:30.  If you would like your child to purchase gifts there for your family or others, please send money in an envelope labeled with their name.

Upcoming events:
Dec. 7 – Music program for Grades 4 and 5 at 7:00 pm in gym
Dec. 21-Jan. 1 Christmas Break
Jan. 4 – classes resume
Jan. 21 – Parent Teacher Conferences
Jan 21 – family involvement activity 3:30-6:30 in the Happy Place
Jan 25 – weather makeup day
Jan 25 – PTO meeting 8:30am in Happy Place

Holiday Traditions

In Mrs. Hays' family, we always make eggnog when we decorate the tree.  So we made some at school when we decorated the tree for our classroom.  It was a day for trying something new.  Most of us really liked it!

Here is the recipe.  It is WAY better than store bought.

1 cup milk
1/4 cup eggbeaters (These are pasteurized, unlike regular raw eggs.)
2 T sugar
1 dash salt
1/2 t vanilla

Combine all ingredients.  I like it best after it is mixed in a blender.  It makes it nice and frothy.

Newsletter 11-27-15

     I will be out of state on Nov. 23 and 24.  Mrs. Boyer will be our guest teacher.  
I will be back on the 30th!  Enjoy Thanksgiving with your families.

    NO HOMEWORK NEXT WEEK!

    HaysCorner is now on Twitter!  Follow us- @hayscorner111 .

Since our report cards no longer have an explanation key at the bottom, 
I thought I'd include this information.

Report Card Explanation Key

A 90-100%

B 80-89%

C 70-79%

D 60-69%

F 59% and below

E Excellent

S Satisfactory

N Needs improvement

U Unsatisfactory

CR Credit

NC No credit

   Upcoming events:
Nov. 23 – PTO Meeting 5:30pm in Happy Place
Nov. 25-27 – No school – Thanksgiving Break
Dec. 7 – Music program for Grades 4 and 5, 7:00 pm in gym

Our Thankful List

          We just finished reading Junie B. Jones, Turkeys We Have Loved and Eaten (and Other Thankful Stuff).  Our cadet teacher, Miss Zorn, decided we should bring in our own thankful bags and share what we are thankful for, just like they did in the book.  Here it is!

lucky gold coin

grandma and grandpa

family

creeper

mom and dad

seashells

Pokemon cards

big Pokemon cards

x box

bible

cops

house

brother and sister

minecraft guys

brothers and sisters

nana

monster

pet dog

ketchup

friendly

stuffed moose

bear

stuffed horse

Olaf

coffee

team

running

best friend Autumn

youth group

4H

sheep 

pigs

chickens

grandpa

best friend Taylor

family

FFA

dogs

Nonfiction text feature scavenger hunt

Today we went on a scavenger hunt for nonfiction text features in Gail Gibbons books.  We looked for things like: captions, diagrams, labels, graphs, maps, table of contents, glossary, index, cutaway, zoom in, and "how to" pages.  Whew!  That's a lot to look for!  We found a bunch!

Newsletter 11-13-15

     2 digit subtraction with regrouping is off to a good start.  Expect more 2-page homework nights Monday through Thursday next week.

    The Veterans Day program was super!  Check out the blog for pictures.

    We have been learning about sequence and signal words in reading this week.  Signal words help us determine what is important when we read. 

    HaysCorner is now on Twitter!  Follow us- @hayscorner111 .

    Upcoming events:
Nov. 23 – PTO Meeting 5:30pm in Happy             Place
Nov. 25-27 – No school – Thanksgiving                 Break
Dec. 7 – Music program for Grades 4 and 5
        7:00 pm in gym

Veterans Day

We had a wonderful Veterans Day program today.  Thanks to Mrs. Stump and all the students for their hard work!

Newsletter 11-5-15

       We tested on 2 digit addition with regrouping today.  We will begin our new unit next week on 2 digit subtraction with regrouping.  This is another big unit that takes a lot of work.  Expect more 2-page homework nights for awhile.

We learned about recycling paper this week.  Read more about it  and see pictures on the blog.

HaysCorner is now on Twitter!  Follow us- @hayscorner111 .

Upcoming events:
Nov. 6 – Teacher work day – no school for students
Nov. 11 – Veteran's Day program in gym – 10:00am
Nov. 23 – PTO Meeting 5:30pm in Happy Place
Nov. 25-27 – No school – Thanksgiving Break

Building story scenes with Lego

Today after we read silently to ourselves, we built a scene from our story with Legos.  This helps us understand setting and plot in the books we read.

Making paper

  We learned about paper and recycling today from the Kosciusko  County Recycling Depot.  We made our own paper!  First, you make a slurry from water and fiber.  You pour it over your mold, like this.

This is the slurry.

Then you press out the water.

 

Keep pressing!

 Then you take it off the screen.

 Set it out to dry for a few days.

Then you have your own recycled paper!

We love Junior Achievement!

Thanks to Mrs. Brunner for teaching our second graders about money, jobs, and our community in Junior Achievement this year. We learned a lot!

Newsletter 10-30-15

     2 digit addition with regrouping is going pretty well.  Thanks for the help with extra homework during this unit.  Help on homework is OK!

    We have been working on Character analysis in Reading Workshop.  Talking about character traits and what characters are like inside and out helps us understand our reading better.

    Thanks for all the treats for this afternoon and for your help with filling up our snack cabinet.  We really appreciate it!

    Upcoming events:
Nov. 5 – Muffins with Moms in gym and cafeteria
    7:45-8:15
Nov. 6 – Teacher work day – no school for students
Nov. 11 – Veteran's Day program in gym – 10:00am
Nov. 23 – PTO Meeting 5:30pm in Happy Place
Nov. 25-27 – No school – Thanksgiving Break

Spider web STEM challenge

We've been learning about spiders lately, so we decided to do a related STEM challenge.  The challenge was to build a realistic spider web out of dental floss.  Here are our webs.  Hope you catch lots of bugs to eat!

Making butter

   One of our reading groups has been reading a book about making butter.  We decided it would be fun to try!    First, we poured heavy cream and a little salt in a jar.  Then we shook it,  for a LONG time. 

It looked like this.

Then we spread it on banana bread.  

Was it yummy!  Many thanks to Preston's family for the wonderful bread!