Life in Seussey Second

Soaring to greatness by thinking great thinks!

The Life Cycle: Seussville Style!

September18

We recently wrapped up our science unit on the life cycle of the Painted Lady Butterfly.  In order to celebrate, I created this video to highlight our fascinating exploration!  Can your child tell you each stage and how this insect transforms in each one?  What was their favorite part of this science unit and why?  Please leave your comment in the comment section.

The Pitzer Post!

September18

2P Class Logo~*The Pitzer Post*~

Sept. 21-25, 2015

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 3 (week one)
Phonics Words:  cheat, flea, speed, treat, wheat, fell, never, bread, people
Sight Words: I’ve, run, fell, fire, never
Vocab Words: fascinate, exploration,  journal
Grammar Skill: Telling and Asking sentences with end punctuation

Math

Chapter 2: Addition to 1,000
Vocabulary
: add, place value chart, regroup
Objectives:

  • Use base-ten blocks to add numbers without regrouping
  • Use base-ten blocks to add numbers with regrouping
  • Add up to three-digit numbers without regrouping
  • Add up to three-digit numbers with regrouping
  • Solve real-world addition problems

This is a great chapter to brush up on math facts.  Check out this great website:   http://www.mathfactspro.com/mathfactfluencygame.html#/home
Students can practice basic facts and it allows you to pick the operation, how many problems and then reports how long it takes you to answer.  There of course is a paid version but the free version is just as great!  You can also use flashcards and or the Flash to Pass App.  If you are having trouble with when to practice you can try a little bit each night or designate certain nights of the week for practice; whatever works the best for your family.  I know third grade teachers highly appreciate as much fact fluency as possible!

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Visit this blog post for an explanation of our math chapter test rubrics: Math Chapter Test Rubric Info  

Science

We wrapped up our unit on life cycles, by comparing and contrasting a butterfly’s life cycle with a chicken, turtle and a plant.  Check out these videos we watched:

Life Cycle of a Chicken: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tof5b1Qs_OE
Life Cycle of a Turtle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Rdnd3iZw2g
Life Cycle of a Plant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXzOi7-nx_w

Can your child share what is the same and what is different about the life cycle?  We did talk about how the animals/plants are different but what about the cycle is the same or different?  Which life cycle did they find most fascinating and why?  Next week, we will begin our next unit: relationships of bodies in our solar system.  This will go perfectly with our literacy series which focuses on the moon.

Essential Questions:
1. What is an orbit?
2. How many planets are in the solar system?
3. Can you identify the planets in order from the sun by name?
4. What are the four seasons?
5. What are the phases of the moon?

Vocabulary: solar system, orbit, rotation, axis, constellation, crater, phase, season

Check out this videos to get your brain thinking ahead:

Second Step

Our focus skill next week is being assertive.  It is important to ask for help when we need it.  We learned there are three ways to ask: passively, aggressively and assertively.  Assertively is the best way to ask.  You make sure your shoulders and head are up, make eye contact and speak in a firm but respectful voice.   Next week we will be working on identifying feelings.  The ability to identify others’ feelings using physical, verbal, and situational clues is essential to developing empathy.  Accurately identifying feelings helps students make friends and avoid conflicts with peers.

This week we earned 12 Second Step stickers.

STAR Reports

Today you are receiving the results from your child’s recent STAR assessment. The Dunlap School District gives students the STAR Reading and STAR Math assessment in the fall, winter, and spring.  STAR assessments are computer-adaptive tests designed to give teachers accurate, reliable, and valid data quickly in order to make instructional decisions.  Each test is individualized where the questions are altered as the student is taking the assessment.  For instance, as students answer questions correctly, the questions become more challenging.  Whenever a question is missed, the program alters to a question which is less challenging.  Assessments are made up of approximately 35 questions and calibrates continuously. Parents should keep in mind that this assessment is a snapshot of your student’s skills, just one tool that is used by educators and results can be influenced by many factors.

During our SIP day on Wednesday, September 16th, teachers  discussed the data from these assessments and will plan instruction and support for each student.  Throughout the school year, progress monitoring will be used to continue instructional planning during PLC times on Wednesday afternoons.  If you have any questions about your child’s results, you may contact your child’s teacher for more information.

Upcoming Events

Monday, September 21, 2015

  • Lunch: Cheese Pizza
  • Fire Drill
  • “fascinate” note card comes home, due Tuesday
  • Addition w/ regrouping Paper, due Tuesday

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

  • Lunch: Taco Tuesday
  • National Ice Cream Day
  • Bring Library Books back!
  • “exploration”  and “ journal” note card comes home, due Wednesday

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

  • Lunch: Chicken and Waffles
  • Read Out Loud: Missing Moon Mystery (book and signed slipped returned)

Thursday, September 24, 2015

  • Lunch: Mini Corn Dogs
  • Chapter 2 Math Test!
  • Phonics Words Practice Paper comes home, due Friday

Friday, September 25, 2015

  • Lunch: Sub Sandwich
  • National Coffee Day!
  • Homecoming VS Morton
  • Parade at North Park at 4pm

 Celebrating Our Greatness!

  • We have 19 Wockets on the Super Imrpover Wall!
  • First Library Visits (We have Library every Tuesday!)
  • We started AR! Please encourage your child to take quizzes on good fit books, balance their reading diet and try to answer the questions with at least 85% accuracy.
  • Butterfly release! *sniff* We miss all the fluttering!
  • Reading Stamina: we are up to 26 minutes! (Our goal is 40 minutes)
  • Learning Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind –> Make a Plan (see pictures for discussion points at home)
  • Regrouping in the ones place
  • Currently reading Charlotte’s Web
  • We have had students AND parents make comments on our blog.  If you haven’t left a comment yet this weekend is a great opportunity to give that a try!
  • Math JAM Session! This is where we are going to spend extra time journaling (or exploring) about math.  Today we had 4 areas of exploration. It was so much fun to explore manipulatives, solve problems with a friend, practice facts, and see that there is more than one way to solve a problem.  Which area was your child’s favorite and why?

Second Grade in Pictures!

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Meet the Newest Seussville Wockets:

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The First 2015-2016 Edition of the Pitzer Post!

August21

2P Class Logo~*The Pitzer Post*~

August 24-28, 2015

In this weekly post, you will find information about the academic content and special events happening in the upcoming week. 

  • The reading and writing lotus diagram will give you a dashboard view of the next week’s Reading Theme skills
  • I will post a copy of the Math in Focus home letter from the chapter we’re learning, as well as other ways you can support your child. (Math test dates will be posted, but please be aware these can be subject to change based on our rate of learning and understanding.)
  • Our Second Step target skill for the week will be shared so you can check in with your child on how they are using that at home and school!
  • I will also include reminders of upcoming events that affect your child.
  • Finally, I’ll be sharing some photos of the week and reflecting on some celebrations as well!

I hope you find this to be valuable information as you communicate with your child about their week of learning!

Literacy (Reading & Writing)

Click the blue link below to view our upcoming theme skills!
Theme 1 (week one)
Phonics Words: chart, graph, phone, thick, trash, hop, I, checkup, chef
Sight Words: our, hill, watch, sister, fun
Vocab Words: cabin, visit, memory

Math

We will begin Chapter 1: Numbers to 1,000.

Chapter 1: Place Value
Vocabulary
: hundred, hundreds, thousand, standard form, word form, expanded form, greater than, less than, greatest, least, more than

Objectives:

  • Use base-ten blocks to recognize, read, and write numbers to 1,000
  • Count on by 1s, 10s, and 100’s to 1,000
  • Use base-ten blocks and a place value chart to read, write, and represent numbers to 1,000
  • Read and write numbers to 1,000 in standard form, expanded form, and word form
  • Use base-ten blocks to compare numbers
  • Compare numbers using greater than and less than
  • Compare numbers using the symbols for greater than and less than
  • Order three-digit numbers
  • Identify the greatest and least number
  • Identify number patterns

This chapter will be the core of our math learning this year and will give us vital skills we that will come up again in future chapters.

Please view the home letter to see our chapter objectives, as well as activities you can do to support your child at home!

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Second Step

This week we learned what it meant to be respectful.  We practice this every day because we are being ROYAL (Respect Others, Yourself, and Learning)!

Next week, we will learn how to focus our attention and listen, even when there are distractions.  We are also working on the goal of being caught using our second step skills.  We want to earn 7 second step stickers a week!  How will your child try to earn one of those stickers?

Science & Social Studies

This week got our brains thinking like scientists!  We drew what we thought a scientist looked like and used our very own science text book to find science words.

Upcoming Events

Monday, August 24, 2015 

  • Lunch: Cheese Pizza
  • “cabin” vocab notecard comes home, due Tuesday
  • Please click the link for Vocab Card HW information: Vocab Cards Intro

Tuesday, August 25, 2015 

  • Lunch: Beef Tacos
  • Lockdown/Code Red Drill
  •  “visit” and “memory” notecards come home, due Wednesday
  • Back to School Night (for parents only) 6:30pm

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

  • Lunch: Chicken and Waffles
  • PLCs Early Dismissal at 2:15pm
  • Asha in the Attic story comes home, due Thursday

Thursday, August 27, 2015

  • Lunch: Corn Dogs
  • Phonics Words Practice Paper comes home, due Friday
  • Dunlap Days Family Night

Friday, August 28, 2015

  • Lunch: Sub Sandwich
  • School Picture Day!

 Celebrating Our Greatness!

  • We earned a ton of Pitzer cash
  • First Sale! What passes did your child buy?
  • We finalized our mission statement and our plan on a page! Mission Statement 2015-2016 Plan on a Page 2015-2016
  • Working on reaching 10 minutes of reading stamina.
  • Laughing and giggling during Sideways Stories from Wayside School
  • Seeing Mrs. Pitzer’s and our class reading log on Goodreads
    • These logs can be accessed year round on the front page of the blog on the far right hand side
  • Balloon Release! We are ready to show how big our brave is this year!
  • Book Tasting where we find books that were “appetizing” to us
  • 2nd grade is something to tweet about!  Please be sure to follow us @PitzersLearners and check out some of our hashtags: #2Procks, #2Preads, #2Pwrites, #2Pmath, #2Pwonders, #2Plearns, #dgsroyals, and #2P4Fchat (we tweet with Mrs. Pitzer’s sister’s classroom which is 4th grade at Ridgeview)
  • We used the iPads for the first time
  • The ROYAL Purple Pens
  • Reader Dudes: who we think about when we write.  Great writers constantly think about their audience and purpose

Second Grade in Videos and Pictures

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First Day in Seussville + ROCK STARS?!

August17

August 17, 2015 was our day!
We’re off to great places! We’re off and away!

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What a great first day in Seussville.  Your child experienced so many fun things today.  Here are some highlights you want to be sure to ask them about:

1.) Making creations out of play dough (what did your child make and why)
2.) Learning how to earn Pitzer cash (ask your child how much they earned today)
3.) Tweeting our first classroom tweets (Follow as @PitzersLearners)
4.) Learning what kind of passes they can buy with their Pitzer cash (what pass is your child trying to save up for?)
5.) Creating beautiful butterflies that are unique

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6.) Decorating our writing journals with pictures/stickers of our favorite people and things
7.) It’s a Rock Star life for a DGS royal! We attended our first rock concert where our teachers all danced and sang!

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Our DGS Staff!

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Your child should bring home their take home folder every day and bring it back to school the very next day.  I just know they will be responsible second graders.

What a Seussey Rock Star first day of school! I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings…

Second Grade in Pictures

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Seussville: A Legendary Preview!

August7

Attention Soon to be Seussville Citizens:

Second grade will be “Seussified” with all the “thinks you can think!”

Feel to let your creative juices flow.

Embrace your inner Seuss.

Become a skilled collaborator.

Sit back, relax, and get lost in your favorite book while snuggled up on our classroom couch.

Be a part of the enchanting transformation of a butterfly.

Multiply and divide your way to mathematician status.

You’re famous! Learn to sign your autograph in perfect cursive.

Concentrate on improvements that will grant you Seusstastic learner status!

You won’t just be a rock star…you’ll be a legend!

Let the experience begin!

Your Mayor of Seussville,

Mrs. Pitzer

Seussville in Review!

May27

Dear Students;

It is hard to believe the second grade is quickly coming to an end.  We have learned so much and have had an absolute blast in the process.  I am so very proud of each and every single one of you for all your hard work, dedication, creativity, progress and suessey-ness.  As you take your next step in your elementary school journey, know that I am always right down the hall and I look forward to watching all the wonderful things that will happen to you!  Also know that no matter where your journey takes you, I will always be excited to hear from you.  You have brains in your head and feet in your shoes and you can steer yourself any direction you choose!  Show your third grade teachers all the amazing things I was able to see this year, be a good friend and an excellent listener.  This summer make sure to play, relax and keep on reading!  I just know that you will.  I will never forget you and just know that YOU ARE going places. Today is your day! You’re off and away!

Dear Parents;

I give you back your child, the same child you confidently entrusted to my care last fall.  I give them back, inches taller, months wiser, more responsible, and more mature than they were then.  Although they would have attained this growth in spite of me, it has been my pleasure and privilege to watch their personality unfold day by day.  I give them back reluctantly, for having spent nine months together in the narrow confines of a classroom, we have grown and we shall always retain a little bit of each other.

Ten years from now if we met on the street, your child and I, a light will shine to our eyes, a smile to our face, and we shall feel the bond of understanding once more, this bond we feel today.  We have lived, loved, laughed, played, studied, learned, and enriched our lives together this year.  I wish it could go on indefinitely, but give them back I must.  Remember that I shall always be interested in your child and their destiny, wherever they go, whatever they do, whoever they become.  Their joys and sorrows I’ll always be happy to share.

Thanks for your support and all that you have done to make our year complete!

Check out our year as a Seussville citizen in our video below.  Here’s to a successful year of learning and for the many more successful years to come.  Remember Dr. Seuss says, “Don’t cry because it’s over.  Smile because it happened!”

What was your favorite part of second grade?  What did you enjoy learning the most?  I would love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below!

Meet the World’s Next Book Critics!

March11

We have 10 students who have published their responses to literature (book reviews).  Please use TAG to post in the comment section:

TAG You’re It!

Tell the writer something you like!
Ask the writer a question!
Give the writer a positive suggestion!

Our authors would love to hear from you and we appreciate feedback to make us stronger writers!

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posted under ROYAL, TAG, Writing | 3 Comments »

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

February27

Seussville was all a flutter this morning to celebrate the birthday of Dr. Seuss!  We started off by wearing mismatched clothes and wacky socks to school and having breakfast.  We gobbled up green eggs and ham, doughnuts, Fruit Loops and orange juice. (Thanks Mr. Pitzer for waking up at 5am to make us green scrambled eggs, Mrs. Andrews who came in to help serve us and Mrs. Ellis who stopped in to celebrate too!)

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After our bellies were full of yummies, we listened to the Cat in the Hat.  We learned that Dr. Seuss wrote this book based on a list of high frequency words that young children would know.  We then shared all the rhyming words we heard and turned them into a poem of our own.  We tried to rhyme as many words as we could and some of us even made up words just like Dr. Seuss. Check out some of our writing:

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Next it was time to gear up our creative juices and create our own Cat in the Hats.  The trick was we couldn’t use scissors or pencils.  We could only tear the paper.  It made from some very “Seussey” cats.

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Then it was time to snuggle up with some of our favorite Seuss books either with a friend or on our own.  We ended the day watching Horton Hears a Who!  What a “Seussey” day for sure.  Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! Thank you for all your wonderful, silly and wacky books!

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Hats off to you, Dr. Seuss!! (Mrs. Pitzer used the Cat Cam App to take these photos!)

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Dr. Seuss + Wacky Socks + Mismatched Clothes = ???

February26

Hmmm, did this little number show up in your mailbox today?  What kind of day do you think we are in store for?  Can you guess what will be for breakfast?

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posted under ROYAL, TLAP, Wonder | 5 Comments »

7 Habits of Happy Kids!

February26

Seussville started a new read aloud today: The 7 Habits of Happy Kids by Sean Covey.  The Second Street Cafe was reading it and we were inspired by them to also give it a try.

In this story, we follow the actions of woodland creatures from 7 Oaks. They teach us a lesson about how to follow the habits in order to be happier people.  Today we read about Habit 1: Be Proactive (you’re in charge).  This chapter followed the adventures of Sammy Squirrel who was bored, bored, BORED.  After we read the chapter, we talked about what the habit meant and how we can be proactive.  We then illustrated a poster to go with this habit.

Please be sure to ask your child about what habit we are working on.  Be sure to follow our Twitter feed and check the Pitzer Post for a picture that will provide you talking points at home.  It will even provide you with “baby steps”.  These are ways and activities you can try at home that embody that habit!

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