As soon as your child learns the uppercase letter that starts their name, they can begin writing their name in cursive in class!! When you leave a comment on this post, you can tell us something you noticed, something you are proud of or something you are still struggling with. Don’t forget to leave a comment so we know that you completed your homework. I loved the comments that have detail (specifics) AND followed the rules of writing!
Second Step
This week we learned how to take responsibility. Student will further cement their knowledge of the problem-solving steps by using them to come up with positive solutions to interpersonal problems. This lesson sets positive norms for how students should handle situations where they have hurt someone else’s feelings or upset someone else. In particular, students work on coming up with ways to make amends, so problems are resolved rather than escalate.
Upcoming Events
Monday, March 27, 2017
Lunch: Chicken Alfredo
Watch Cursive Week 9 Video, comment and practice (due Wednesday)
Tuesday, March 28, 2017
Lunch: Turkey and Cheese Croissant
Watch Cursive Week 9Video, comment and practice (due Wednesday)
Online Registration for current students begins
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Lunch: Meatloaf
Watch Cursive Week 9 Video and comment by today
State of Schools at DVMS: 2nd grade is performing
Thursday, March 30, 2017
Lunch: McRib
Club Yearbook Pictures
Phonics Paper comes home today due tomorrow!
Friday, March 31, 2017
Lunch: Nacho Bites
Celebrating Our Greatness!
Making sure to respect our reader and work hard on our spelling
Becoming more detailed in our artwork AND in our writing. Elaboration is very important especially in helping our reader to understand our text.
Learning how important directions are in every subject area
As soon as your child learns the uppercase letter that starts their name, they can begin writing their name in cursive in class!! When you leave a comment on this post, you can tell us something you noticed, something you are proud of or something you are still struggling with. Don’t forget to leave a comment so we know that you completed your homework. I loved the comments that have detail (specifics) AND followed the rules of writing!
Science
Second Step
This week, we practiced the first part of STEP problem solving process wish is Say the problem without blame. In order to do this we need to calm down and then state what we want or need. Can your child take the following scenario and practice saying the problem without blame?
Scenario
Student A wants to play with other friends but Student B only wants student A to play with them. They are using words like you always play with them and you never play with me.
How could you follow the first part of STEP?
Upcoming Events
Monday, March 13, 2017
Lunch: Cheeseburger
“available” note card comes home, due Tuesday
Watch Cursive Week 8 Video, comment and practice (due Wednesday)
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
Lunch: Corn Dogs
Watch Cursive Week 8 Video, comment and practice (due Wednesday)
Wednesday, March 15, 2017
Lunch: Tater Tot Bake
Spring Pictures: Students will have to have had a form turned in to get their pictures taken
“taste” and “range” note card comes home, due Wednesday
Watch Cursive Week 8 Video and comment by today
Board of Education Meeting DHS 7 pm
Thursday, March 16, 2017
Lunch: Shamrock Chicken Nuggets
Happy Birthday Mrs. Pitzer
Phonics Paper comes home today due tomorrow!
Friday, March 17, 2017
Lunch: Cheese Pizza
Wear Green
Report Cards!
Celebrating Our Greatness!
Learning all the lowercase cursive letters and beginning the journey into uppercase letters
6 Seussville Citizens automatically leveled up on the Super Improver wall for watching and completing all 7 weeks of cursive thus far
The chance starts over this week! Are you up for the challenge?!
Prioritizing assignments in Canvas (leaning management system)
Focusing on saying problems without blame
Writing stories that have problems and solutions
Determining Importance by finding the main idea and supporting details
Going on a Fraction Investigation all thanks to Google Docs!
This week we are finishing up lowercase letters and starting uppercase! As soon as your child learns the uppercase letter that starts their name, they can begin writing their name in cursive in class!! When you leave a comment on this post, you can tell us something you noticed, something you are proud of or something you are still struggling with. Don’t forget to leave a comment so we know that you completed your homework. I loved the comments that have detail (specifics) AND followed the rules of writing!
Second Step
It’s that time of the year where we are all feeling a bit cranky with our friends. Check out Kid President share 20 things we should say more often:
Which one can your family say over the weekend and next week at school?
Upcoming Events
Monday, March 6, 2017
Lunch: Hot Dog
Book Fair Dress Up Day: Yellow, Blue, and White
“freight” note card comes home, due Tuesday
Watch Cursive Week 7 Video, comment and practice (due Wednesday)
Tuesday, March 7, 2017
Lunch: Homemade Chili and Crackers
Book Fair Dress Up Day: Crazy Socks
“consume” and “distribute” note card comes home, due Wednesday
Watch Cursive Week 7Video, comment and practice (due Wednesday)
Read A Breakfast Story out loud (Signed slip and book due Wednesday)
Parent’s Club Meeting @7pm
Wednesday, March 8, 2017
Lunch: No Lunch
SIP ½ Day of School 11:15am dismissal
Book Fair Dress Up Day: Crazy Hair/Crazy Hat
Watch Cursive Week 7 Video and comment by today
Thursday, March 9, 2017
Lunch: Chicken and Waffles
Book Fair Dress Up Day: Pajamas
Phonics Paper comes home today due tomorrow!
Friday, March 10, 2017
Lunch: Bosco Sticks
Grand Event for Book Fair at Lunch
Book Fair 2:45pm-6pm
Celebrating Our Greatness!
Learning cursive letters: n, m, v, y
Celebrating Dr. Seuss’ Birthday!
Trying green eggs and ham made my Mr. Pitzer! He woke up at 5am to make us breakfast!
Navigating Canvas to submit assignments
Reading rubrics to make sure we understand the guidelines for an assignment
Checking our grades and reading Mrs. Pitzer’s feedback in Canvas
Adapting to changes, inconsistencies, and difficulties with technology
Their homework is to watch the video and leave a comment on the blog. When you leave a comment on this post, you can tell us something you noticed, something you are proud of or something you are still struggling with. Don’t forget to leave a comment so we know that you completed your homework. I loved the comments that have detail (specifics) AND followed the rules of writing!
Science
What do bears, cats, dolphins, and horses have in common? They’re mammals! We’ll be spending some more time classifying different types of animals during the next few weeks. Here are some questions to get you thinking!
How would you describe a mammal?
Are there other types of animals besides mammals?
What is a habitat?
What is a food chain?
What is the difference between endangered and extinct?
Second Step
This week we started working on applying all of our Second Step skills so far.
Focus attention
Listen
Use self-talk
Be assertive
Name our feelings
Calm down strategies
Use S.T.E.P to solve problems
Upcoming Events
Monday, February 27, 2017
Lunch: Chicken Patty
“bounty” note card comes home, due Tuesday
Watch Cursive Week 6 Video, comment and practice (due Wednesday)
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Lunch: Sub Sandwich
“various” and “produce” note card comes home, due Wednesday
Watch Cursive Week 6 Video, comment and practice (due Wednesday)
Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Lunch: Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
Watch Cursive Week 6 Video and comment by today
Thursday, March 2, 2017
Lunch: Chicken Noodles
Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!
Friday, March 3, 2017
Lunch: Pizza Bread
Spirit/Popcorn Day
Celebrating Our Greatness!
Learning cursive letters: d, g, and q
3 Seussville Citizens leveling up on the Super Improver Wall
In this weekly post, you will find information about the academic content and special events happening in the upcoming week.
Literacy (Reading & Writing)
Click the link to view our upcoming theme skills! Theme 11 (week one)
Phonics Words: don’t, I’ll, wasn’t, we’ve, you’re, early, without, doesn’t, your
Sight Words: We have learned all of the second grade sight words for second grade!
Vocab Words: nourished, farming, maintain
Grammar Skill: personal pronouns
Math
Chapter 11: Money
Vocabulary: $1 bill, $5 bill, $10 bill, $20 bill, cent sign, dollar sign, decimal point, table Objectives:
Recognize $1, $5, $10, and $20 bills
Show and count money using coins and bills to $20
Write money amount using dollars and cents
Write dollars as cents and cents as dollars
Compare amounts of money using tables
Use bar models to solve real-world problems involving addition and subtraction of money
Their homework is to watch the video and leave a comment on the blog. When you leave a comment on this post, you can tell us something you noticed, something you are proud of or something you are still struggling with. Don’t forget to leave a comment so we know that you completed your homework on time. I loved the comments that have detail (specifics) AND followed the rules of writing!
Second Step
This week, we continued to learn how to solve problems using the STEP acronym:
Say the problem: without blame Think of solutions: safe and respectful Explore consequences: what will happen Pick the best solution: make a plan.
How can your child use these new strategies at home?
Upcoming Events
Monday, February 20, 2017
No School – President’s Day!
Watch Cursive Week 5 Video, comment and practice (due Wednesday)
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
Lunch: Grilled Italian Chicken on Bun
DHS Cookie Sales
“nourished” note card comes home, due Wednesday
Watch Cursive Week 5Video, comment and practice (due Wednesday)
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Lunch: Spaghetti
Watch Cursive Week 5 Video and comment by today
“farming” and “maintain” note card comes home, due Thursday
Read The Great Watermelon Contest out loud (slip and book returned)
Thursday, February 23, 2017
Lunch: Alphabet Chicken Buddies
Phonics Paper comes home (due tomorrow)
Friday, February 24, 2017
Lunch: Cheese Pizza
Celebrating Our Greatness!
Learning cursive letters: u, w, c, o and a
Practicing connecting o and a when writing cursive words
Focusing during Spotlight on Grammar so we can learn about collective nouns
Enjoying our Valentine’s Day party (thank you to all who volunteered their time and supplies)
Surprise visit from Mrs. Pitzer, Mr. Pitzer, and baby Oliver
Showing off our smartness and wrapping up the CoGAT testing
Due to CoGAT, we will not be starting a new math chapter. This would be an excellent time to practice basic facts. Have your child make their own flashcards. We have been been saying the whole fact out loud. For example if the flashcard says 2 + 3, instead of a student only answering 5, they would say 2 + 3 = 5. Facts 1-20 for both addition and subtraction must be mastered by then end of second grade.
CoGAT Testing
Next week, during our math instruction, we will begin taking the COGAT testing. CoGAT Tests –The Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) are administered to all students in 2nd and 4th grades. This exam provides information about the level and pattern of cognitive development of students that may not be captured by grades or other academic measures. The test measures general and specific reasoning abilities which are influenced by both in school and out of school experiences. It provides information on a student’s ability to learn new tasks and solve problems. These abilities are assessed in three ways: Verbal, Quantitative, and Nonverbal. The verbal exam measures verbal inductive and deductive reasoning skills and includes items such as: verbal classification, sentence completion, and verbal analogies. The quantitative portion of the exam includes quantitative relations, number series, and equation building. The Nonverbal test presents novel problems to students using geometric shapes and figures in which students must use strategies for dealing with new material. CogAT tests will be administered the week of February 22nd. For more information regarding CogAT tests go to http://www.riversidepublishing.com/products/cogAT7/learnmore.html
Cursive
Week 4 Lowercase Letters are: u, w, c, a, o
Their homework is to watch the video and leave a comment on the blog. When you leave a comment on this post, you can tell us something you noticed, something you are proud of or something you are still struggling with. Don’t forget to leave a comment so we know that you completed your homework. I have been noticing the last 2 weeks, we have been forgetting. If you get an oops slip, remember it is your job to still watch the video and post on the blog. I just know we can get back on track and look forward to seeing your reflections!
Second Step
Next week, we will learn how to solve problems using the STEP acronym: Say the problem, think of solutions, explore consequences, and pick the best solution. Once they’ve calmed down and stated the problem without blaming, students are ready for the next three problem solving steps. Think of solutions builds cognitive skills and helps students avoid jumping at the first idea that comes to them, thus preventing hasty and possibly more aggressive responses. Emphasizing the importance of safe and respectful solutions builds prosocial norms and help students employ perspective taking to think about the effects of their actions on others. The third step, explore consequences, helps students think through cause and effect and avoid solutions that will cause more problems.
Upcoming Events
Monday, February 13, 2017
Lunch: Meatball Sub Sandwich
“participate” note card comes home, due Tuesday
Watch Cursive Week 4 Video, comment and practice (due Wednesday)
Bring your decorated Valentine’s Day box
Be as creative as possible
Please have a hole already cut that is large enough to fit Valentines
Make sure to have a Valentine for each member of our class
CoGAT testing begins
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
Lunch: Heart Nuggets
“influence” and “emergency” note card comes home, due Wednesday
Watch Cursive Week 4 Video, comment and practice (due Wednesday)
Valentine’s Day Parties @1:45pm
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Lunch: Hot Dog
Watch Cursive Week 4 Video and comment by today
Board Meeting @ 7pm
Thursday, February 16, 2017
Lunch: Chili and Crackers
Phonics Paper comes home (due tomorrow)
Friday, February 17, 2017
Lunch: Bosco Sticks
Celebrating Our Greatness!
Learning cursive letters: p, r, s, and t
Exploring rounding and estimation via a HyperDoc
Being flexible and understanding in our first full week with Mrs. Stoller
Studying our teeth in science class
Creating a media recording for a phonics assignment in Canvas
I was pretty proud of the comments that were posted on last week’s cursive video. I love hearing what you are most excited to write. I would love to see more specific comments on the focus letters of the week. Don’t forget to keep working on past letters/words too. I already have noticed improvements from last week so you should be very proud of you hard work.
Upcoming Events
Monday, February 6, 2017
Lunch: Cheese Burger
“contribute” note card comes home, due Tuesday
Watch Cursive Week 3 Video, comment and practice (due Wednesday)
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
Lunch: Corn Dogs
“police” and “volunteer” note card comes home, due Wednesday
Watch Cursive Week 3 Video, comment and practice (due Wednesday)
Parent’s Club Meeting @7pm
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
Lunch: Turkey/Cheese Croissant
Pass It On (book and signed slip, due Thursday)
Watch Cursive Week 3 Video and comment by today
Thursday, February 9, 2017
Lunch: Chicken Nuggets
Phonics Paper comes home (due tomorrow)
Friday, February 10, 2017
Lunch: Cheese Quesadilla
Celebrating Our Greatness!
Welcoming Mrs. Stoller to our classroom a few days early!
Being flexible and understanding
Celebrating 100 days of learning by learning about life in 1917 via a HyperDoc
In this weekly post, you will find information about the academic content and special events happening in the upcoming week.
Literacy (Reading & Writing)
Click the link to view our upcoming theme skills! Theme 9 (week two)
Phonics Words: barge, charge, large, page, stage, than, water, badge, package
Sight Words: while, may, than, pull, head
Vocab Words: government, duty, election
Grammar Skill: Helping Verbs (has, have, had)
Math
Chapter 10: Mental Math and Estimation
Vocabulary: sum, difference, number line, about, round, nearest ten, estimate, reasonable Objectives:
Relate sum to the addition operation
Add numbers with up to 3 digits mentally with and without regrouping
Relate difference to the subtraction operation
Subtract up to 3 digit numbers mentally with and without regrouping
Use a number line to round numbers to the nearest ten
Use rounding to estimate sums and differences
Estimate to check reasonableness of answers
BASIC FACT EMERGENCY:
Please be practicing basic facts for both addition and subtraction at home
Students must master these facts 1-20 by the end of 2nd grade
You can use flashcards and instead of your child just saying the answer, have them read the whole problem and then the answer out loud
Focus on accuracy
Have your child create their own flashcards
If you ever find yourself doing these facts in your head, ask your child if they can help you with the answer
Give students an answer and see if they can tell you addition and subtraction equations that equal that number
Cursive
Week 2 Lowercase Letters are: f, k, i, j
Congratulations to a great first week in the cursive books. I enjoyed reading all of your comments and appreciated the honesty when you were struggling. We were able to practice at school and a common area for improvement is making sure to slant our letters. We can do this by slanting our paper and practicing! Cursive handwriting papers will comes home with students on Friday so you can see how they are doing.
I know this first video was our longest blog video to date. Please keep in mind the first couple are this way due to it being a new concept. They will get shorter. To help your family out with this, please feel free to watch a letter a night instead of all at once. Blog videos are posted with the Pitzer Post on Friday afternoons and viewing/commenting must be done by Wednesday morning!
Second Step
This week, Mrs. Barra our school counselor kicked off Kindness Week. We celebrated by focusing on kind actions and words. What are some of the ways you were kind this week?
Fun-tivities
Tuesday, January 31 we have the 2nd-3rd grade music program. Please have your child wear baseball attire! Do they have their lines memorized?
Wednesday, February 1st we will be celebrating The Global School Day of Play. Global Day of Play 2017
Upcoming Events
Monday, January 30, 2017
Lunch: McRib
“government” note card comes home, due Tuesday
Watch Cursive Week 2 Video, comment and practice (due Wednesday)
100th Day of School!
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Lunch: Grilled Cheese and Soup
2nd/3rd Grade Dress rehearsal Assembly 10:15am
2nd/3rd Grade Music Program 6:30pm (wear sports attire)
“duty” and “election” note card comes home, due Wednesday
Watch Cursive Week 2 Video, comment and practice (due Wednesday)
Wednesday, February 1, 2017
½ day of school (SIP Day; students are Dismissed @ 11:15am)
Watch Cursive Week 2 Video and comment by today
GLOBAL SCHOOL PLAY DAY!
Be sure to check out the letter that was sent home above
Parents welcome 10am-11am
Thursday, February 2, 2017
Lunch: Chicken Tenders
Carnival Kick-Off at Morning Announcements
Phonics Paper comes home (due tomorrow)
Friday, February 3, 2017
Lunch: Pizza Bread
Spirit Day/Popcorn Day
Reading Camp out 9:30am-10:00am (stuffed animals, blankets, pillows, and or visitors are welcome)
Please RSVP if you are planning on attending
Celebrating Our Greatness!
Starting cursive!
Navigating the blog videos, learning how to post strong comments and taking responsibility for practicing at school and home
Today was a big day in Seussville, because we graduated to a brand new listening guide. Normally during the stories that are associated with each literacy theme, the listening guide involved making word predictions and sketching images we create in our minds. As we listened to the book, we would stop periodically throughout the story and add words, circle words we had heard and sketch our pictures. While these are all vital skills that help build a strong foundation in reading, it was time to kick it up a notch.
2 years ago I met with all K-5 teachers in the district where we all participated in a lesson with the book The Giving Tree. As the book was read to us, we filled out a listening guide that we thought was an excellent way to help students dig deeper into the text. One of the big shifts in Common Core is having students move beyond surface level (literal) thinking while reading. Instead, students need to focus on generating inferences, using evidence from the text to synthesize new ideas, and form opinions supported with reasons from the text. We are proud to announce that not only does this new listening guide have all that BUT it also allows for students to practice all of our comprehension strategies! WIN WIN!
First students are given clues to engage their thinking before they read the text and then they are offered a question. Today the question was: Who will win the election and why? While we listened to our listening story, Grace for President, students were encouraged to be thinking about this question. They were told that at some point I would stop reading and they would fill out their thoughts in the first box. Students were encouraged to answer the question and tell why they felt that way. You will notice that there are 4 boxes at the top with the same phrase in each box: What do you see & think? Just as with the old listening guide, I would stop periodically and ask students to record their thoughts about the question. We started recording in the first box and then the second time in the second box and so on. We practiced what listening would look like and I was able to model what should be going on in our brain while we were listening. As we read the text, we talked about how our opinion or reasons may change and that is ok. After students recorded their thoughts, they were able to share at their tables and with the class. This helped us to see how other students were thinking and gave us ideas for what to think about next time.
Once the first 4 boxes were complete we took all of those ideas, and synthesized them into a “big reveal”. Basically we thought about what we discovered while reading the text and how it answered the question. I was most impressed at how everyone took the challenge head on and tried their very best. After the first couple of boxes, students were digging deeper into the meaning of the text than they had ever before AND supporting their reasons with evidence from the text. The last box was used to record thoughts they heard that they agreed with or found fascinating.
Please feel free to use this new listening guided at home with your child when they bring the big book home or better yet have them teach it to you. This is also a wonderful item to use while reading other books too. You don’t always have to write it out and you can change the question to be anything you want. For example, it can be about a character, theme, plot, etc.
Encouraging your child to dig deeper into the meaning and support their reasoning with evidence from the text will help them soar into the category of a wild reader! Happy reading!
Please be practicing basic facts for both addition and subtraction at home
Students must master these facts 1-20 by the end of 2nd grade
You can use flashcards and instead of your child just saying the answer, have them read the whole problem and then the answer out loud
Focus on accuracy
Have your child create their own flashcards
If you ever find yourself doing these facts in your head, ask your child if they can help you with the answer
Give students an answer and see if they can tell you addition and subtraction equations that equal that number
Cursive
Week 1 Lowercase Letters are: l, e, h and b. WHOO-HOO! Our first instructional video teaching you the first four letters of cursive is available for you to watch:
Parent packets were sent home today and student can grab extra practice paper from school at any time to use at home. Their homework is to watch the video and leave a comment on the blog. When you leave a comment on this post, you can tell us something you noticed, something you are proud of or something you are still struggling with. Don’t forget to leave a comment and make sure you comment on this post so we know that you completed your homework. I just can’t wait to see our class be responsible citizens by watching the video and commenting every week!
Remember:
Students will be responsible for and must watch the weekly video and comment on the blog by WEDNESDAY of each week.
Since this is the first video, it is a bit longer. The more we get into cursive the shorter the videos will be.
If you are worried about making time for the videos, please feel free to watch a little each night and then just comment when you are finished.
Use the FREE app Cursive Writing at home…it’s a great resource! Cursive Writing App
We will practice the letters throughout the week at school, so it is important to watch the video and be prepared.
Students will not be allowed to write in cursive during daily work until we have learned all of the letters.
Mrs. Weiss and I are 21st century teachers that are super pumped to teach your 21st century learner the joys of cursive writing.
Science
Next week, we will begin our unit on Personal Health!
Essential Questions: What is the food pyramid? Why do we need to learn about food and health? How can I use the food pyramid in my life? How can I use the scientific method to learn about my teeth? What are the four types of teeth? What are the different parts of a tooth?