Newsletter 9-28-12

        Check out the blog for a picture slide show of our Johnny Appleseed Day celebration last week.  You can see pictures of all the fun things we participated in and there are lots of adorable kids too!

Thursday, Oct. 4, is Parent Teacher Conference day.  If I requested a conference with you, the confirmation form is stapled to the blue paper newsletter that comes home with your child on Friday.  We do not have enough time slots to meet with everyone on this day, so we schedule about half of our conferences for this day and the other half will be scheduled for January 22.  If you are not scheduled for a conference and would like to meet with me before the next conference day, please drop me a note.  I'd be happy to schedule a time to meet with you after school one day soon.

Spelling words for next week:
brain   faint   snail   strain   tray   hill   chin   smile   bike   write   played   mail   rain   name

Our spelling tests are on Thursdays.

Upcoming events:

Oct. 4 – Parent Teacher conferences
Oct. 23 – PTO meeting at 5:30pm
Oct. 25-26 – Fall Break / No school

The Writing Process, part 4

     The biggest part of our book is writing it.  We use words and pictures to tell our story.   Using lots of detail in our pictures helps to share our story with our reader.  When we finish that hard work, we are ready to revise and edit next!

Johnny Appleseed Day

     We took lots of pictures of our second graders enjoying Johnny Appleseed Day.  Click on the video link below to view.

Newsletter 9-21-12

     Today we had Johnny Appleseed day!  We observed and drew 6 different types of apples.  Then we got to taste them to see how they were different.  In Mrs. Shofner's class we got to taste different foods made from apples.  We played a smartboard game about apples with Mr. Lucas.  Mrs. Hays hosted a special guest, Johnny Appleseed.    We talked about what life was like long ago and what apples were used for.  Then we got to press our own apple cider on a vintage cider press that is over 80 years old.  We learned that making cider is hard work!

Spelling words for next week:
broke   choke   cute   flake   spine   bag   map   snake   skate   rain   black  crash   made   make

Our spelling tests are on Thursdays.

Upcoming events:

Sept.25 – PTO meeting 5:30pm
Oct. 4 – Parent Teacher conferences
Oct. 23 – PTO meeting at 5:30pm
Oct. 25-26 – Fall Break / No school

The Writing Process, part 3

     After we finish our cover, we tell our story to a partner.  We count the parts of our story on our fingers so we know how many pages we need.  Abby is telling her story to Shawn and they are counting the parts.

The Writing Process, part 2

      After we gather our ideas, we choose one and make our cover.  We include a title and a picture that will give our readers a clue what our story will be about and we include our name as author.  Here are some of our awesome covers!

The writing process, part 1

     At the beginning of the year, we practiced telling stories, true stories about ourselves.  This was in preparation for writing books in writing workshop.  After we told our stories to each other, we completed a planning page.  Here are some pictures of our planning pages.  There are 4 boxes, each with a possible book cover for a story we make into a book.  Here are Emma's and Abby's Upcoming Books planning pages.

Newsletter 9-14-12

      This week in reading we have been practicing making connections in reading workshop.  When we listen to our thinking voice when we read, we can make connections to things we already know to help us understand.  We are also building our stamina for reading.  Stamina is doing anything for a long time without getting too tired or giving up.  We are improving each day!

A few of us have published our first books in writing and more are soon to come.  We are writing personal narratives.  A personal narrative tells the true story of something that happened to you. Boy, did we have lots of stories to tell when we were gathering ideas!

In math we finished up our subtraction facts topic and we are now working on word problems.  We are doing a great job on our fact sheets too.  Keep up the good work!

Spelling words for next week:
cast   quit   rent   stock   trust   teeth   wheel   white   fish   chick   then   those   who   shook

Our spelling tests are on Thursdays.

Upcoming events:

Sept. 6 – Open House 6-7:30pm, also PTO Book Fair
Sept.25 – PTO meeting 5:30pm
Oct. 4 – Parent Teacher conferences

Early Weather Dismissal Forms

     I sent home a form with most students tonight about early dismissal.  This lets us know what the plan is for where your child should go just in case we should dismiss early.  Please send this back as soon as possible.
     The book fair is open through Thursday!  Tomorrow is the last day!

Book Fair

     We are going to the book fair as a class Tuesday afternoon.  Your child is welcome to bring money to spend at that time, or just browse.  The book fair will be open through Thursday this week.

Newsletter 9-6-12

        The book fair is open through Thursday morning, Sept. 13.  The book fair is a great way to purchase good books for your family library and to support your PTO.  Students may bring in money any day the book fair is open to purchase books.

        The school fundraiser ends on Tuesday, Sept. 11.  Please return all order forms and envelopes with money collected by that date.  Make sure your child's name is on both the envelope and the order form.

Spelling words for next week:
chart   graph   phone   thick   trash   bride   smile   tree   sky   drill  our   sister   I   truck

I will also be giving a dictation sentence on the back of the test.  It will include some spelling words from our current list.  One point will be counted for each spelling word and for a capital at the beginning and for a period at the end. Our spelling tests are on Thursdays.

Upcoming events:
Sept. 6 – Open House 6-7:30pm, also PTO Book Fair
Oct. 4 – Parent Teacher conferences

Open House

     Thursday, September 6, is Open House here at Syracuse Elementary.  The school will be open from 6:00-7:30 pm and I will be waiting in the classroom to meet you.  Your children look forward to showing you around their school and classroom.  I look forward to meeting my students families.  Hope to see you there!

A new way to practice spelling words

     I just signed our class up for a new way to practice spelling words.
Go to www.spellingcity.com in the spelling practice tab.
Click the "find a list" tab.
Type "Julie Hays" in the search term box and and click the "search" button.
Click "Julie Hays" when it pops up.
Click "list for 9-6-12 test " (or whatever the date for the test is)
Click on one of the round buttons that says, spelling test, teach me, or play a game.
Do a fun spelling activity!

I have signed up for the free service, not the premium service so not all choices are available, but the there lots you can choose from.  Have fun practicing your spelling words!