Tuesday, June 29, 2010

My, How They Have Grown!

We are at 2 1/2 days and counting. It will be both great to see them move on to third grade and sad to see them go. We have been having a great time making fish mobiles, coloring symmetrical butterflies, painting pet rocks, learning about the meaning of multiplication (using arrays and circles and stars) and enjoying making birthday books for our friends.

Tomorrow, Wednesday June 30th we will have field day from 9-11 am. We will have the Fantastic Falcon Award Assembly at 1:15 pm. The rest of the day will be spent doing math, writing and reading together.

Thursday we will clean and stack our desks then participate in water day from 11-11:30, have lunch, long recess to dry out, school wide video. (Remember to wear clothes that can get wet and will dry quickly. A big towel and a blanket, pillow and healthy snack for the movie.)

Friday we will be watching the 6th Grade/Faculty Softball Game, have recess, have a party with games and activities, token store, pizza and pop and a special treat and entertainment. We will then pass out the report cards and say our farewells.


It has been a real pleasure sharing my days with your children. They are a talkative, rambunctious bunch but I have grown to truly love them and respect their talents and differences. I will miss your children and their wonderful enthusiasm. Thank you for sharing them with me for a while.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Just 2 More Weeks

What's Been Happening?
In the last few weeks we have read biographies and made posters about the people we read about. We have learned about autobiographies and read a book called "When I Was Young in the Mountains" by Cynthia Rylant. Now we have begun writing our own autobiographical books called, "When I Was Young". We have also read and learned about Tall Tales. We have been learning songs and practicing for our musical production. We completed our CRT testing and other class testing. We produced some fine chalk art with our 5th grade buddies and learned how to do some projects with origami. On the 10th we went on our field trip to Red Butte Gardens and had a lot of fun learning about plants and animals. We also participated in the bike rodeo and learned some great rules for safety. Last Thursday students shared their talents and I was quite impressed by the wide variety of talents. Students have also been working on finishing up goals for their Fantastic Falcon Awards. I am nearly finished with individual reading testing for the students. We have been very busy still learning and having fun.

What's Coming Up?

Our pet day is this Thursday June 24th. Parents or older sibling must bring the pets by 8:30 and stay to take them home after the Pet Show. Please help your child practice what they are going to say and do with the pet. This is meant to be an oral language experience for the students so please let them do the talking. You may prompt them if needed but it would be best to help them prepare beforehand. We will be seeing pets from other classes on Mon. Tue. and Wed. Each child needs to bring a fist sized rock to school on Tuesday so they can paint it as a Pet Rock.

Thursday we will have recess and Popsicles with our 5th grade Buddies.

We will be practicing our mini-musical "Stone Soup" this week to be prepared to put it on for parents, siblings, grandparents, etc on this Friday June 25th at 9:15 in the gym.


I still need parent helpers as the children's portfolios need to be put together and we still have some books to assemble for next year's students. I also need help taking down the bulletin board and general help with the students also.

SPELLING The spelling test on the second grade word wall will be on Thursday morning at about 10:30. The list was sent home last Thursday. These are words the students have practiced, been tested on and used all year. It is a list from the USOE of words that second graders should know by the end of the year. They will be asked to spell 25 words at random from the list. We will be doing class spelling bees preparing for the 2nd Grade Spelling Bee next week.

We are excited to see if our butterflies have emerged over the weekend. I am supposing some did and the others will emerge this week. After they have all emerged we will release them. It will be a happy-sad time.

Friday June 25th is the absolute last day to finish goals for the Fantastic Falcon Award.

Next Week - The Last Week

Monday June 28th - Tote Trays will be coming home to be cleaned. Some good cleaners are Goo Gone, SOS pads or cleanser. Please make sure all marks are removed. Leave number stickers on the tote trays. These tote trays cost over $7.00 each and must be reused. We appreciate your help in cleaning them and getting them ready for next year's students. They should be returned no later than Wednesday June 30th.

Tuesday June 29th - 2nd graders will trade autographs in the gym. In the afternoon we will have the Spelling Bee. (Parents are not invited due to lack of room.)

Wednesday June 30th - Return all tote trays. Field day 9 - 11. 3 parent helpers are needed. Fantastic Falcon Awards Assembly is at 1:15 in the gym.

Thursday July 1st - We will wash and clean the desks and chairs and stack them. The school sponsors a "Water Day" on this day. Students are encouraged to wear shorts and tee shirts that will dry quickly. (Not Denim.) They can wear flip flops or take their shoes off. (They cannot wear just swimsuits.) The sprinklers will be turned on from 11:00 - 11:30 for some water fun. The students can then eat their lunch and play outside while they dry off. Each child is encouraged to wear sunblock and bring a big towel. They can also bring a blanket and pillow and healthy snack to use in the classroom in the afternoon as we watch a school-wide movie.

Friday July 2nd - The students watch a softball game played by the faculty and the 6th graders. They have a recess and then we will be having a class party. It will be the final token store where the students can spend the tokens they have earned. The students are also working on earning points towards having pizza and pop and maybe ice cream at the party. They need to bring their backpack or a doubled grocery bag to put their purchases in to carry them home in.

Keyword - "Great Kids - Great Year"

In the midst of all of these activities we will be finishing our “When I Was Young” books, finish our reading for details activity with books about leaves, roots, flowers and seeds, read some class books just for fun, and work more on basic math facts and models of multiplication and division. We will review some of the vocabulary we have learned this year and use it in a writing assignment and maybe do some puzzle races and engineering competitions, (building with blocks). I also have a few art projects that we will work into our schedule when we can. We will keep busy and learning as much as we can until the last day.

Parents,

Thanks so much for your support this year as parents, and as parent volunteers. Thanks for supporting the token store with donations and for all you have done to help support your child, our class and me during this year. Keep them reading and thinking over the summer and have fun doing it.

Gratefully yours,
Mrs. Liz Taylor