UNDER CONSTRUCTION

WE'VE FINALLY ENTERED THE BLOG;
THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE!

END YEAR REMINDERS

This Thursday is our musical!  You will love it!  It begins at 2:15 but please come early for a good seat.

The Memory Share had to be cancelled due to work that needs to be completed and our large number of rehearsal to prep for Thursday's show.  Sorry for the inconvenience!
Tuesday, June 3rd is Field Day from 10:00 - 11:30 (raindate is Tuesday, June 10th)

Thursday, June 12th is the 2nd Grade Breakfast from 9:00 - 9:45 am (8:45a.m.) set up.

Looking forward to seeing everybody!

2nd GRADE MCMONTHLY NEWS

***Mark Your Calendars for some Family Activities

nearing the end of this school year***

Thurs., May 29 – Mrs. McG’s Class Memory Share, 1:15 in Classroom

Thurs., May 29 – 2nd grade Musical, 2:00 in Common Room,

                                “The Binding Tale of Beethoven’s Bookworms”

Tues., June 3 – Field Day, 10-11:30 (rain date 6/10)

Thurs., June 12 – 2^nd Grade Breakfast; set up at 8:45; breakfast 9:15 – 9:45

Thank you to all the families for your marvelous support while we had Maureen Carroll in our class student teaching!  We’ve had a wonderful time with her and have learned a ton of information!  Thanks for contributing to her overflowing, new book bag!  We’re glad we’ll still see Mrs. Carroll around the building.

LANGUAGE ARTS

We have worked hard in our grown-up non-fiction Book Clubs and have taught one another about our topics and being team players.  Closer to June, we will be reading and role-playing with fiction, folktales, and fairy tales.  Our “poet’s eyes” in writing have blossomed, and we will soon move on to writing lab reports and more non-fiction.

 

 

MATH

The mathematicians worked very hard on fractions and measurement.  We now begin working with huge numbers in understanding place value, adding and subtracting double-digit numbers, using clocks and money and word problems while we skip count, notice odds, evens, and other number patterns and strategies.

SCIENCE

We will continue to study plants and soil, and add earthworms and hatching ladybugs to our science lab work!

MAY/JUNE BIRTHDAYS

May 9:      Blake Wilks

May 19:    Will Glassmeyer

June 16:   Sean McGahren

 

SUMMER BIRTHDAYS

 

July 7:      Sydney Du

July 11:     Rigsbe Conze

July 26:    Ryan Girlamo

August 1:  Jack Wood

 

REMINDERS

May 5-7:       Book Fair (open 8:30 a.m.)

Wed., May 7^th: 2-Mc Field Trip, 9:15 to Sellecks Woods (please wear outdoor shoes)

Fri, May 9: Scholastic orders due

Mon., May 12^:  Henry & Mudge Field Trip to the Lyman Auditorium, (9:15 departure)

Wed., May 14:  Darien Library Summer Reading Presentation

Fri, May 23:  Wear red, white, and blue

Mon, May 26: School closed, Memorial Day

Thurs., May 29: 2-Mc Memories, 1:15

Thurs., May 29: 2nd grade Musical, 2:00

Fri., May 30:  School Spirit Day:  Bring a Stuffed Animal      

Tues., June 3:  Field Day. 10:00-11:30   (raindate June 10)

Thurs., June 12:  2^nd Grade Breakfast   9:15 – 9:45   (set up 8:45)

 

Wednesday, June 18:  Last Day of School for Students

 

·        Scholastic Book Club order forms will still go home this month even though our Book Fair takes place May 5-7.  If you didn’t find the books you’re looking for, please place your order on the Scholastic Book Club hard copies, or online by Friday, May 9^th.  The final set of order forms will go home the last week of May.  Thanks! 

APRIL MCMONTHLY NEWS

***Mark Your Calendars for some Family Activities

nearing the end of this school year***

 

Fri., March 28 – School Spirit Day:  Wear/bring PJs or a bathrobe

Tues., April 1 – Classroom Spirit Day:  Wear clothing that clashes for April Fools

DATE CHANGE:

Thurs., May 29 – 2nd grade Musical at 2:15 (come early for good parking)

 

 

IN LIKE A LION,

OUT LIKE A LION,

BUT THE LAMB WEATHER IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER!

LANGUAGE ARTS

 

Please remember to keep reading and writing with old spelling patterns as we learn new patterns in Word Study.  Having 2 weeks with our lists is really helping us to get to know them much better!

We have been working hard with our grown-up Book Clubs, digger deeper into stories, characters, and sharing info with other book club members.  We soon move on to non-fiction Book Clubs.  In Writing, we have begun Poetry and are realizing that poems are another way to spread a special message.  Please encourage your children to look at objects using “a poet’s eyes.”  For example, “My dog’s tail is a waterfall” (because it’s so fluffy.)  They can also listen to commercials as some actors describe objects with a poet’s eyes (a Dunkin Donuts coffee colada might be described as something like, “A coffee colada splashes in your mouth like a surfer in the waves.”  Have fun!



 

 

MATH

 

We have been working super hard with money and clocks!  We’ve begun to concentrate even harder on the tricky idea of 5-minute intervals.

Keep practicing with some real-life math problems involving spending money and the passage of time.   

We also move on to measurement, using non-standard units (cubes, hand-spans, teddy bears) as well as standard (inches and centimeters).  The kids will enjoy estimating and then measuring objects around the house.

SCIENCE

 

Thanks to our enrichment committee, the students recently participated in two wonderful programs:  Lego Robotics and Soil.  The students designed their own lego cars and even made them move!  With the Stamford Nature Center scientists, the students were able to compare soil, silt, and clay from different locations around Darien and are begninning to learn how these environments effect the growth of plants and other organisms.  The students continue their study of plants and soil throughout April and May with plantings, observations, and other experiments.  The upcoming Earth Day is a way to remind us all about caring for the environment (and the students are the first ones to remind us how to do that with their great ideas!)

 

BIRTHDAYS

April 9:        Christopher Jaskiewicz

April 21:      JR Struk

REMINDERS

**Thurs, April 3: Scholastic orders due**

Fri., April 4:  Darien Town Projects due

April 14 - 18: School closed, April vacation

 
 

The Springtime gets so busy at Ox Ridge with a myriad of activities. 

Please be on the lookout for schedule changes and additions.

 

 

A TON OF THANKS

• We thank Mrs. Maureen Carroll, for jumping right into 2^nd grade with us, as she continues her student teaching experience.  Her expertise has been so valuable, and she has joined the children in their learning journey in an incredibly enthusiastic way!
• Thanks for your support for "Box Tops for Education!"
• Thank you, Volunteers, at school and with your home support!
• We are a very lucky classroom.



 

 

MARCH MCMONTHLY NEWS

 

UPCOMING EXCITEMENT:

Dr. Seuss’ Birthday is this weekend! 

Next Monday, March 3^rd (or Tuesday, if there’s a snow day):

Please wear Wacky Hats or Socks!

Bring a Dr. Seuss book from home if you wish!   

IN LIKE A LION,

OUT LIKE A LAMB?

 

It sounds like March will start like a lion and will hopefully turn into lamb-like weather soon !  You will be amazed at how fast time will fly once spring really arrives. 

 

NEW MEMBER OF OUR CLASSROOM!

 

We welcome Mrs. Maureen Carroll, who is one of Ox Ridge’s Interns this year!  We are extremely lucky to have Mrs. Carroll joining us in our classroom as our Student Teacher until early May.  She has been a teacher in a private elementary school setting for 23 years.    She knows our building and students well.  I know that you and the students will love her!

If it’s OK with you, Mrs. Carroll would love to sit in during some of our conferences.  If you prefer that she does not, please drop me a note or an email.  No problem at all; no hard feelings.   If you’re OK with her sitting in on our conference, thank you in advance!

 

LANGUAGE ARTS

We have been enjoying non-fiction and fiction reading, still  paying close attention to the author’s message.  (We LOVED our special visit from Brian Pinkney!)  We move on to Book Clubs, series reading, and Readers Theater.  In writing, we have been working hard  to convince others of how we feel on certain topics.  We  can’t wait until the parent judges come join us in a few weeks to hear our persuasive writing!

MATH

We have enjoyed the challenge of adding numbers several “times” over again and are currently reviewing number patterns to help us understand skip-counting strategies with big numbers.  We’ll soon move on to “parts of a whole” (fraction concepts).

 

 

***SOCIAL STUDIES***

We have been learning some research and presentation skills in our Library and will continue to do so to help with the Darien town project.  The students are very excited to begin their home projects!  All second grade teachers have loved the ideas the children are beginning to talk about! 

 

***Students, please send in your favorite picks by March 10th, so we can send home the official research letter soon after that.  Thanks much!

 

 

BIRTHDAYS

 

Thurs., March 6:  Eloise Svedlund

Sat., March 8:  Gavin Piersol

 

REMINDERS

 

Mon., Mar. 10:           Scholastic orders due

(going home on Monday 3/3)

Mon., Mar. 10:             Darien Town Project picks due

March. 12-14:  Conference week,

Shortened days

Thurs., March 20:  Spring Activities

March 25:  Soil Enrichment Presentation

Fri., Mar 29:  No School, Good Friday

Mon., April 1:  No School, Staff Dev.

 

SPECIAL NOTES

 

• Thanks for the continued box tops.  The collection continues through May.
• Continued thanks to our Room Moms, Elizabeth Svedlund and Jane Glassmeyer and all families for all the work you do with your children supporting our second grade learning!

 

Winter Highlights and Monthly News

SECOND GRADE McMONTHLY NEWS

February, 2014

 

 

100 Day and other

Notable Events in February

 

 Incredibly, the 100th day of school should arrive on Friday, February 7th! (date updated after Wednesday's snow day) The second graders will be cheering on the first graders, as the first graders dress up as if they were 100 years old!  (The 2^nd graders enjoyed that last year!)

The second graders continue with their efforts to bring in 4 cans of rice (each student) if they are able by Thursday, February 6th.  This will help our whole school’s effort in contributing 100 of several items to those in need.

Last week, we jumped back into the science principles of Matter with a wonderful presentation entitled “What’s the Matter?” by the Stamford Nature Center.  We thank Lisa Piersol and Karla Schimmeck for helping us on such short notice.  The students learned about the properties of Matter and performed many cool experiments!  We are thankful to the Enrichment Committee for making the event possible. 

 

 

VALENTINES DAY

 

With Valentines Day just around the corner (Friday, February 14^th), all students are encouraged to make/buy Valentines for one another.  We will be celebrating in school.  Feel free to bring in Valentines early if they’re ready.  Please try to have all Valentines in by Wednesday, February 12^th.  A class checklist is included in today’s student mailboxes.

 

LANGUAGE ARTS

 

We have had a few changes with our Word Study spelling words.  Due to our inconsistent New England weather and our fast-paced schedule, several groups will be practicing lists for 2 weeks.  This extra practice with our tricky patterns will help us with writing as well as reading.  

*Please remind children to check their work – remind them that when they re-read words they’ve written, they need to be sure to have at least 1 vowel in every syllable of a word.

 

In reading, we have recently wrapped up our character unit, but will continue to dig deeper into our books – both fiction and non-fiction, paying close attention to the author’s message for the characters, the bigger lessons that we can learn,  retelling important parts, and the text features  of non-fiction books.  We will also work on word accuracy and fluency.

In writing, we are thoroughly enjoying starting to write convincing letters about some of our favorite books, real-life interests or opinions in our Writing About Reading/Persuasive Writing unit.  We actually do a lot of persuading without even realizing it!  Most importantly, we are learning to prove, or explain why we feel a certain way. 

MATH

 

We continue with work “reading” tables and charts and recognizing shapes in our unit of “How Many Floors/How Many Rooms” unit.  Your children will use architecture skills as they create cube buildings and sketch floorplans in our current unit, focusing on growing patterns with ratios and equal groups  (our secret -  A hint of repeated addition/ multiplication concepts) and repeating patterns and number sequences.



BIRTHDAYS

Thurs., Feb. 6:   Ashley Stockdale

Mon., Feb. 10:  Connor Harwick

 

REMINDERS

 

 

Fri., Feb. 7:  100^th Day of School

Fri., Feb. 7:  Scholastic Due

       So orders will arrive before break

Fri., Feb. 7:  100^th Day Can contributions

Fri., Feb. 14:  2^nd marking period ends

Fri, Feb. 14: Valentine Celebration

Feb. 17 - 21:Presidents Week/ Vacation

Mon., Feb. 24:  Conference sign-up notes home

Fri., March 7^th:  Progress Reports Home

Wed.,Feb. 26:Author Visit, Brian Pinkney

SPECIAL NOTES

 

·         Please remember to include all your classmates when you make/write your Valentines!

·         We will be making 100^th Day creations in class; no need to send in any goodies.

·         When the chilly/snowy weather comes, please label all cold weather gear and send to school with your child in some kind of “snow gear bag.”  Thank you for helping the children stay organized with their belongings!

·         Thank you for your support in sending in the “Box Tops for Education.” Please keep them coming!  This year, the Student Council is not counting by classes; they are having a school-wide goal of collecting box tops!

• Continued thanks to our Room Moms, Elizabeth Svedlund and Jane Glassmeyer, and for all Volunteers!

 

 

January McMonthly News

***Please send in one old shoebox with a lid.  Thank you!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

It’s so nice to be back with the children again!  In Social Studies, we will focus on our own classroom community as we begin Superstar of the Week and learn new tidbits about one another.  We will also continue promoting STAR traits and will start “catching” people doing random acts of kindness in our classroom as well as the whole school.

LANGUAGE ARTS

This month, we continue to dig deeper into literature as we study characters, the deeper meaning of stories, and what important lessons we can learn from some authors.  We will do this in reading as well as writing our Realistic Fiction stories.  We will also start practicing cursive handwriting!

MATH

We have been working with tens and ones, in trying to understand place value concepts.  We soon will work on being scientific mathematicians as we collect data, organize information, and set our info to equations.  Along the way, we’ll dabble in basic clock concepts, coins, and fact families.

JANUARY BIRTHDAYS 

We will be celebrating all summer half birthdays this month!

 

July 11:  Rigs Conze

July 7:  Sydney Du

July 26:  Ryan Girlamo

August 1:   Jack Wood

REMINDERS

Mon., Jan. 13:  Scholastic orders due

 

Mon., Jan. 20: Martin Luther King Day/

 

                No School/No Word Study

 

Fri., Jan. 24:  Shoeboxes due

 

Thurs. Jan. 30:  Activity Afternoon

SPECIAL NOTES

• Please label any extra gear, such as boots, snowpants, mittens, and hats.  
• “Box Tops for Education” are being collected by the Student Council.  You will see the red and white rectangular shapes on certain types of packaged food boxes.  Please check the expiration date, cut them out, and send them in with your children so they can help earn $$ for our school or a worthy need connected to Darien Public Schools.
• Thank you, Volunteers, especially during our busy month of December!  Thank you in advance for this exciting, second part of the year!
• SUPERSTAR OF THE WEEK  is a chance for the students to have a portion of a week that is special for them, so the rest of their classmates can honor them (and perhaps learn something new about their friends).  The students are picked at random the week prior and a letter will be sent home that describes what it’s all about.  Basically, it’s a chance for them to bring a treasure or two from home to school for 3 days of a week.  It’s a good idea for the Superstar to have 2 or 3 reasons why it’s a special treasure (perhaps a notecard will help, but they don’t have to do that, nor do they have to do a poster.) 
• Regular Friday sharing will only take place if students write out a few sentences on their treasures.
• New Year Student Tip to Build up Vocabulary and Word Study Patterns:  Keep track of your words by writing them down in a notebook at home and then reviewing old words as each new week begins.  You will feel proud of all you know!
• Beginning this month, all children are encouraged to take more pride in their work in not rushing, being careful, neat, and checking their work.  Our homework packet is expected to be turned in on Fridays, but children can earn homework passes if they feel they need to skip a night.
• I feel very proud of your children!  They work hard, and they are kind, compassionate students!

 

 

December McMonthly News

 

Students are welcome to bring PJs, bathrobes, and slippers for the Holiday Party 12/18

Reading and Writing

The second grade readers and writers have had a blast with our non-fiction units.  They’ve discovered that they are experts at many things and have been writing lots of “How-To” and “All About” informational books.  We are sure that some of them will continue with their interest in their spare time!

In reading, we will start to pay closer attention to what characters want and need.  We are noticing their traits, feelings, and are learning more about everything that happens in a story by closely following characters and their adventures throughout a book.

We will soon begin Realistic Fiction writing, where we can write about characters that face real-life problems.  We can even take something that happened and stretch that story a little bit, and then can “try out” different ways the problems can get solved. 

 

Math

We have been working so hard with numbers:  problem solving with tricky number stories, adding more than two numbers at a time, learning how to combine numbers differently and split them up, in order to make addition and subtraction a little easier. We will now work more with skip counting by twos, fives, and tens, odds, evens, and place value with tens and ones.

 

Social Studies and other News

We have concentrated on our nation’s events and respect in our school community.  With the election, we have learned what communities in U.S. states do, along with our own town community.  In Science, we’ve dipped into matter and experimented with different objects in force and motion.

 

DECEMBER BIRTHDAYS

Fri., Dec. 27:         Griffith Crouse

Sun., Dec. 29:           Riley Meyer

 

REMINDERS

Tues., Dec. 2:  Author Visit, Peter Lourie

Dec. 3 – 6:     Conferences, short days

Mon., Dec. 9:   Scholastic Orders due

Wed., Dec. 18:  Class Holiday Party

Students are welcome to bring PJs, bathrobes, and slippers

Fri., Dec. 20:  Early Dismissal

12/21 – 1/1/14 – December break, no school

 

DECEMBER CAMPAIGNS 

• Toys for Tots – Sponsored by; U.S. Marine Corps  - bring in unwrapped toys for needy children  (toddlers through teens) through Dec. 13^th.

• Gingerbread Classes are 12/9-12/13.  Lots of fun!

• Scholastic Book Clubs: I only received one catalog in the mail this month, but there are still many other catalogs from which to choose online.  This month’s deadline is the morning of Monday, Dec. 9^th so that those books will arrive before we depart for Dec. vacation (you can still order after that, but your books might not arrive prior to the break.)  Each month, there are many other wonderful book choices listed in specialty catalogs, in addition to the usual 2 or 3 catalogs which are sent home in the children’s school mail.  If any catalogs for which you are searching do not appear as the top recommended, they are still available by selecting the “Shop By Flyer” option at the top of the Parent’s page next to your child’s name.  (For example, if you’d like to order from a previous month’s catalog, you can still do so.)

 

SPECIAL NOTES

 

·         I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

·         Thank you in advance for your time during Conference week!

• Continued thanks to our Room Moms, Elizabeth Svedlund and Jane Glassmeyer!
• Continued thanks to all volunteers and for all the work you do with your children at home!
• Thank you for your new Playground support!