Mrs. Freeland's Weekly Newsletter

Mrs. Freeland's Weekly Note

November 28-December 2

Student of the Week:

Our Student of the Week was Tyler Bonham.  Nice work!

 

Santa’s Workshop:

The 2^nd grade classes will be participating in “Santa’s Workshop” on Monday, December 19.  Each classroom will host either a craft or Christmas activity.  The children will be rotating though each room during the morning.  We are asking that each child bring in $1.00 by December 15^th to help cover the expenses of the craft/gift materials.  We are also in need of CDs for a craft in Mrs. VanderVelde’s room.  Do you have any old CDs that you no longer listen to and would be willing to donate?  We need one per child.  The children are really excited to be “elves” for the morning and to make all of the fun Christmas presents for their families! 

Book Orders:

December Book Orders are due Wednesday Dec. 7^th so that they may be back before Christmas break. If you would like your order to be a gift, please let me know and I’ll contact you when it arrives.  

Looking Ahead:

Monday, December 12^th-

Delayed Start- School begins at 10:00 am

Monday, December 12^th-

Christmas Program in High School Gymnasium

at 7:00.  Students need to be in the High School Multi-Use room at 6:40. 

Monday, December 19^th-

Santa’s Workshop in the morning

Tuesday, December 20^th-

Classroom Christmas Party in the afternoon.  Each child will need a small gift for every boy and girl in the class. 

Wednesday, December 22^nd-

Christmas Sing-Along in the morning and school-wide movie in the afternoon.

Reading Unit 2 Test:

We took our Unit 2 Reading Test this week.  The children were assessed on comprehension and phonetic skills that we have been learning and practicing over the last several weeks.  Many of the children did very well!  Please look for it in your child’s Friday Folder and discuss the results them.  

Math:

In math we have been learning about telling time, exchanging money, and using the Two-Rule Frames-and-Arrow grid problems. The vocabulary for the lessons we have been working on is:

·         Analog Clock: A clock that has both an hour and minute hand

·         Clock Face: The part of an analog clock that contains the numbers, hour and minute hands

·         Digital Clock: A clock that shows the time in number : minute format

·         Predict: To make an educated guess/estimate

·         Range: The span between the lowest and highest data points/numbers

·         Middle Number: The number in the middle of a range of numbers

·         Picture Graph: A graph in which pictures represent data gathered

·         Bar Graph: A graph in which a bar represents data gathered

·         Make Change by Counting Up: To make change between two values by counting up from the smallest to the largest.

      ·         Two Rule Frames-and-Arrow Problems: A diagram that consists of frames connected by arrows used to represent number sequences. Each frame contains a number, and each arrow represents a rule that determines which number goes in the next frame. These frames-and-arrow diagrams use two rules indicated by solid and dashed arrows.

Christmas Information:

For those of you who like to plan ahead with your Christmas shopping, I would like to share with you the plans for our Christmas Class Party.  If you’re not ready to think about Christmas shopping yet, just save this information for a later date! 

We will be celebrating Christmas in our classroom on the afternoon of Tuesday, December 20^th.  At this party we will be exchanging gifts.  Every child will need to bring in a small item for each classmate.  These gifts should all be the same item.  The only exception would be getting something different for the girls than the boys.  We currently have 26 children in our class who will be celebrating Christmas, 14 girls and 12 boys.   You might want to look for low-cost packaged items that can be divided among the students.  Dollar stores usually have a large selection of these types of items, along with the birthday party section at Wal-Mart, Meijer, etc. Some suggestions are pencils, erasers, a marker, ruler, glue stick, pad of paper, coloring book, fun pad, magnet, stamp, bookmark, tape, stickers, bouncy ball, sticky notes, mini-can of play-dough, chap stick, hair tie/barrette/jewelry for girls, small toy car for boys, etc.  Each student will deliver the gifts during our Christmas party into bags that we will decorate at school.  These gifts do not have to be wrapped, but you can if you would like to.  I know the children will enjoy opening their Christmas bags!  If you have any questions, please call or write.  Thanks for your help!

NOTE: Christmas Party

Last newsletter I made a mistake in listing the day of the class party, the number of children in our class, and the number of boys and girls. To reiterate, we have 26 children—14 girls and 12 boys. The Christmas party will be the afternoon of December 20^th. I apologize for the error and any inconvenience it may have caused. 

Science:

We have started our unit on Properties of Matter.  This week we focused on describing objects and substances according to their properties (color, size, shape, texture, hardness, liquid or solid, sinking or floating).