I'm not sure about you but I'm happy to see March tomorrow!  This brings us a little bit closer to Spring! 

This week: 
Wednesday:  Read Across America Day  (we have 3 parent readers, thank you!) 
AND - it's walk or bike to school day. We are in a healthy competition with a couple other local schools..... Let's see what kind of participation we can get! All the meeting places where the children can walk with teachers are listed on the Tritt website. 

In the classroom: 

Math:  money: quarters, nickels, dimes, pennies
 ~values of and comparing those values

Language Arts: 
Prefixes
Commas: letter greetings & closings - will use in our persuasive opinion writing later this week.
 Comparing and contrasting folktales and fairy tales. 
r- influenced vowels (sort 25)

Writing:  Opinions - finishing up our opinions on whether Red Riding Hood should or should not have been allowed to go to Grandma's house alone.  

Science:  Shadows - from all the rain last week..... hopefully getting to a couple of our shadow experiments this week! Wrapping up our Science unit. I know moon watching was difficult with all the rain. We chart is using this site in the classroom: 
www.calendar-365.com/moon/moon-calendar.html 

STEM:  Making Oobleck 
 

Looking ahead..... 
Next week: 

Book Fair Week! - starts the 7th
8th - Picture Day
Friday - Trip to the Cobb Safety Village

Welcome Back! 

Coming up! 
 THIS Thursday!:
- Doughnut Day - Relay for Life fundraiser
Doughnuts are $1 each - they may bring in money in the morning and purchase - up to 2 each.  :) 
Pre-order forms came home before break for those orders of a full dozen to be delivered to the carpool line. 
AND.... Friday! 
Scholastic Book orders are due by this Friday. Mrs. Woolley will submit the order electronically from the website. Please get all orders in by Friday evening. 

Friday night - February 26th - School Dance - Time frames for each grade level are listed on the Tritt Website  ---- 2nd/3rd grade is 7:00-8:00. This is not a drop off event. Come dance to the 80s with your child(ren). It will be fun!  Pre-order tickets online for $3 each - tickets are $4 at the door. 

March 2nd:   
Walk & bike to school day (information can be found on the Tritt website) 
Also: 
READ ACROSS AMERICA DAY :) 
~~~~ I am looking for volunteers that would like to come read to the class that day (even a relative).  We would especially love it if readers have a STEM related profession. Please email me if you would like to come in!  [email protected]

Upcoming Field Trip: 
March 11th : Cobb County Safety Village 
Permission forms are coming home today - there are 3 sides to complete. Please send back in ASAP. No money due. 

what's happening this week:

Math:  problem solving - 2 steps

Language Arts:
Shades of meaning (words with similar meaning) and continuing with prefixes.
Word work:  r influenced vowels sort 25 (vocabulary words)
~ Fairy Tales / Folk tales
We will be comparing and contrasting a few different versions of Little Red Riding Hood this week. (we will use these stories and data in small groups as well as independently)

Science: Shadows. We created shadow sticks last week. We used our Math standard of measurement to measure the shadows at various times of the day. We will continue this week with another shadow experiment -  if the sun comes out!
~ We are briefly discussing the phases of the moon in class. I am sending home an observation sheet for them to observe the moon nightly and record what they see on the form. They can keep them somewhere safe at home to record or keep them in their orange folders. Up to you! We will chart this daily in class as well.

Writing: Opinion Writing - sun's position and shadows 

Have a great week! 

 

A day late - the blog locks me out at times. It let me in today.  :) 

Shout outs! 
First things first..... a BIG Congratulations to Gavi Surden, Nick Jannone and Masha Kozhanova  for earning spots in the Tritt Talent Show!! Come out and cheer them on at the Pope Auditorium on February 11th!  Can't wait! 

February Birthdays!  Happy Happy Birthday!! 
Patrick Linton - February 13th
Ansley Hudgins -  February 26th 

another shout out!  - I am extremely proud of these kiddos for their hard work on 2nd grade sentences, chunking words into syllables in order to spell better and just overall better work on their writing. Hard work pays off!  

They will earn extra recess on Friday for the effort they have been showing!!!. I believe in developmentally appropriate expectations. I also think high expectations yield higher results. They are doing GREAT!  Give them an extra hug tonight for working hard! 

Needs: 
We have some upcoming STEM lessons that I need some help with materials for: 

Bottle tops (plastic ones) from water bottles, soda bottles, juice bottles, whatever. When you finish one, wash them and send them in... we'll need at least 25 so the more we have the better.  
ALSO,,,, cardboard. Empty snack, cereal & cracker boxes will work best. I know we all have these laying around. Send them to the classroom before you put them into your recycling can, please. 
Thank you! 

Upcoming: 
Revved up kids this Friday morning - 1st meeting

Next Thursday, February 10th - Field Trip - Performing Arts - Sleeping Beauty

Valentine Centers:  Friday, February 12th  - 11;15-12:00 
Please send in all Valentine cards and your decorated collection box next week but by February 11th

update on MATH GROUPS and READING GROUPS: 
These are going great! I'm able to assess, enrich or help the kids better in my small groups by meeting with them at least 3 times a week. They are getting the hang of the transitions and doing well.  They rotate through a center and independent work while I meet with groups. (about 15-20 minutes each).  Each activity is an extension of something we are working on (math in math rotations and either reading, language arts, vocabulary or something we are working on in Social Studies and Science) during literacy centers. 

 Curriculum up until Winter Break  (Feb 15-19 --- no school)

Math: 
adding up to 4 (2-digit) numbers and
problem solving (one step problems up to 100) Addition and subtraction. This means word problems. Word problems need to be answered in numbers and words. 

Reading: 
Folktales, Fairy Tales  - elements of each kind - comparing and contrasting different kinds.
We will also be reading a lot through our Science Curriculum - 

Writing:  
More Opinion writing 
(sun's position and shadows) 

Language:
we are still working on apostrophes and how they work with language:   ]
contractions and possession or ownership (and what those words mean) 
We will also be working on prefixes 
Shades of meaning verbs and 
Vocabulary will be R influenced vowels (next week) 

Science: 
Sun, Moon and Stars 
~ compare - contrast our sun ( a star) with other stars by using physical attributes (size, brightness, patterns)
~ determine how the shadows of various objects change during the day depending on the position of the sun. 

Hope your week is going well! As always, please send me any questions you may have. 
Leslie Davis