FRANKENSTORM

Hurricane?  What hurricane?  We are too busy to let Frankenstorm get in our way!

The Shoe Game in Math

Meeting an amazing author, Patricia Polacco

The Friday before Frankenstorm...

ANOTHER BUSY WEEK

Here we are, learning about composting with Mrs. Batson, Mrs. Almy, and the Darien Environmental Group!

 

Mid-McMonthly News

A chilly, funny-weather day for most of us in our 2nd grade class...
Check out the leaves that have fallen off already!

THE PUMPKIN FAIR IS IN TOWN!
Head on over to Tokeneke this weekend to enjoy the Pumpkin Fair from 10am until 4pm Saturday, October 13th!

FALL FOR MATH
Fall for Math takes place for the weeks of October 15th and 22nd.  Feel free to do all 2nd grade homework, or just Word Study and Fall for Math - whatever works for you and your family's schedule.  Please be sure to log your minutes on the sheet from your Take Home Folder!

LUNCH BUNCH
The Lunch Bunch program has been re-organized a bit this fall.  Details to come.

FUN SITES
scholastic.com  (Go to the Student Activities tab)
squiglysplayhouse.com

UPCOMING DATES

Book Fair - Monday through Wednesday, Nov,. 5 - 7
No School - (Election Day) Tuesday, Nov. 6
Picture Retakes - Wed., Nov. 7
Veterans Day Program - Thursday, Nov. 8  (wear red, white, and blue)

SNAPSHOTS OF WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING

 



Gathering new ideas for writing - Ideas are everywhere!



Writers Celebration with some other 2nd grade buddies!

OCTOBER NEWS

 

SECOND GRADE MCMONTHLY REVIEW

AND UPCOMING NEWS

SEPTEMBER WRAP-UP

By Many Student Reporters

 

BIRTHDAYS

 

Wed., Sept. 19:   Michael Mostofi

Thurs., Sept. 27:  Mathison Hole

Sun., Sept. 30:  James Caliendo

 

Reading – we learned what makes a book Just Right, practiced how to make our words sound smooth, thought about characters and the whole story before, during, and after reading, and how to be a good reading partner.

Writing – we wrote stories about small (important) moments from our lives, how to stretch sentences and stories, and what to include in our stories.

 

Math – We worked with addition, subtraction, doubling, tens place, and the tricky fact families.  We are sharing with each other about how we figure out the answers.

Science and other News – We made observations outside and noticed how the seasons are changing.   We had an assembly on the World Language Program.  We are learning Dreambox on the computer.

NEWS FROM MRS. MCGETTIGAN

We are finishing our first writing unit on Small Moment stories.  We soon turn to our writing unit called Authors as Mentors where we’ll study the craft and technique of amazing authors such as Ezra Jack Keats and Donald Crews.  We’ll try some of their cool stuff in our own writing.  We will also work on learning to make our writing better so others will want to pull it off the shelves and read it – like they do with other favorite authors!

In reading, we are tackling tricky words with many word strategies and we’re also remembering how important it is to distinguish between basic short and long vowel spellings so we’re ready for trickier words inWord Study and in books we are now reading.

Math brings us to reviewing basic 2-digit numbers, odds and evens, doing more complex problem solving, and becoming expoerts and doubling. Later this month, we delve deeper into 3-digit place value.

BIRTHDAYS

 

Mon, Oct. 8:          Brea Church

Wed., Oct. 24:         Trevor Herget

 

REMINDERS

 

Mon., Oct 8: Columbus Day, no school

Oct. 15-26:  “Fall for Math” (details to come)

Thurs., Oct. 25: Patricia Polacco visit

 

SPECIAL NOTES

·         Be on the lookout for some visiting authors soon (right around Book Fair time!)
 

·         I can’t thank you enough for sending in all the supplies in September.  The 2^nd graders have quite a lengthy list, so we appreciate all you have sent in!
 

·         Thank you for  coming to Open House.  It was pleasure to see the families who were able to attend.  If you were not able to, I certainly understand.  If you did not receive the paperwork, please let me know (and another time, I can show you the children’s photographs!)
 

·         Thank you advance for volunteering in our classroom.  The students and I are excited that most activities are starting this month, especially with Mystery Guests, our first Activity Afternoon, and our Halloween celebration later this month.
 

·         Two separate lunch-bunch permission forms went home earlier in September.  If you filled out one or both, you are all set (we’re sorry about the duplicates).  If you’d like your child to participate in lunch bunch and you need a new form, please let me know.
 

·         Continued thanks to our Room Moms, Allison Melich and Shelby Smith!
 

·         Star Wars enthusiasts:  There is a special “Star Wars Reads” gathering at Barnes and Noble next Saturday 10/6 from 1-3pm.  Come dressed as your favorite Star Wars characters for lots of excitement…

 

Some first photos of this year!

 

SEPTEMBER NEWS

Greetings, Families!  We have had a great first 2 weeks of school!  Thank you for all the supplies, emails, and notes.  I hope you had a chance to attend the Class Coffee.  If not, please let our Room Moms know.  Our Room Moms are  Allison Melich (amelich@optonline.net) and Shelby Smith (shelbynyc@hotmail.com).

Annie and Owen are proud that their Moms are our Room Moms!

There is a lot going on at Ox Ridge this month!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

Sun., Sept. 9^th, 4:30-6:30           Family Picnic

Mon., Sept. 10^th:              Scholastic Orders due

(*you can place your orders online, or send the hard copies back to me by 9/10/12)

Mon., Sept. 10^th:              First 2^nd grade official homework home (due Fri.)

Wed., Sept 12^th:              World Language Assembly for students

Fri., Sept. 14^th:               Favorite books, family photos, and bus contracts due

Mon., Sept 17^th:               No school, Rosh Hashanah

Mon., Sept. 24^th:             Word Study begins

Wed., Sept. 26^th:         No school, Yom Kippur
Thurs., Sept. 27th:          Open House for Parents, time to be announced

BIRTHDAYS

Wed., Sept. 19^th:             Michael Mostofi

Thurs., Sept. 27^th:           Mathison Hole

Sun., Sept. 30^th:              James Caliendo

SPECIAL NOTES

v  The students are doing a great job learning our 2^nd grade routines.  Occasionally, some mail ends up back in our mail slot that has not been seen at home, or it falls out of a mailbox.  If you are missing one of the following papers, please let me know:

·         Family Picnic flyer

·         Second Grade News and class list from Friday, 8/31/12

·         Lunch Bunch permission slip

v 
Sharing will be on Fridays on a sign-up basis, so that everyone gets a chance to share a treasure throughout the month.  As the year goes on, the sharers will be asked to write up a short description of their sharing (I will keep you posted as to when that starts).

v  All Ox Ridge students have been asked to have a “bus-time book or magazine” available to help maintain peace (and promote reading!) in our hallways.  Please have your child bring a small book for that time.  

v  Ox Ridge Snack:  The children have the opportunity to order an afternoon snack from our cafeteria.  I have encouraged the children to talk to their families about how often, and if, they can buy this extra snack.  The snack money will be deducted from the students’ lunch accounts. 

v  If you still have your child’s summer reading journal, please send it in to class this coming week, so we can send along the good reading news to the Library!

v  Photo Day is this coming Tuesday, September 11^th.  Please take a peek at the photo packet that went home earlier this week.  The Lifetouch Company is doing their orders a little differently this year.

v  Please check our blog periodically for class updates and photos.  The 2^nd grade reporters will start reporting very soon!

v  Please feel free to call me at school with any questions or concerns (655-2579, ext. 1142).   You can also email me at cmcgettigan@darienps.org; I will respond as quickly as possible, but sometimes, due to our class schedule, duties, or meetings, I might not be able to respond until the end of the day.

v  I hope to see you all at the Open House evening when I will explain in more detail about our schedule, curriculum, homework, and class routines.  Please bring your calendars, as I will have our Conference sign-up sheet available that evening.

Thank you so much!  I look forward to working with your children during this exciting, second grade year!

Cathy McGettigan

cmcgettigan@darienps.org

FIRST WEEK NEWS

August 31, 2012

Greetings, Parents!

We have had a terrific, busy, first week of second grade!  Thank you all for sending in the classroom supplies and the paperwork.  Please take your time in filling out the paperwork over the next week or so. Thank you also for your emails and notes.  I can’t wait until this year really gets rolling! 

 

I will send a more detailed newsletter next week, but I wanted to touch base on a things:

·         Many second grade tidbits were in the first day letter.  The letter can be read on our class blog.

·         I have included a class list of our amazing students!
Our Room Moms are Allison Melich and Shelby Smith.  I thank them for volunteering!

·         Our class coffee is next Friday at 9:30 – 10:15.

·         Our snack time is in the morning.  Please read our nurse’s room message for some extra details about snack:

Please be aware that there are children in our class with life threatening allergies to peanuts and tree nuts.  These include peanut, almond, brazil, cashew, filbert, chestnut, hickory, macadamia, pecan, pistachio, walnut and pine nuts.  Daily snacks are to be individual and not shared.  I appreciate you taking this into consideration when preparing your child’s classroom snack.

·         Sharing will be on Fridays.

·         Photo Day is Tuesday, September 11^th.

·         Monday is Labor Day, so I will miss seeing your children!  Enjoy the long weekend!

Thank you so much.  I look forward to a great year.

 

Sincerely,

Cathy McGettigan