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!

 

 







NOVEMBER MCMONTHLY NEWS

      ***Please wear Patriotic colors this Thursday, Nov. 7^th

       and next Monday, Nov. 11^th to honor our Veterans***

         ***BOOK FAIR this Wednesday through Friday***

 

 

We welcomed Halloween with open arms and had a fantastic time celebrating!  Now, our thoughts focus on being thankful and embracing this wonderful time of year.

 

 

 

Writing

We have been working on Informational writing, beginning with “How To” books.  We are experts at many things, so we’re excited to continue writing “All About” books revolving around topics we know well, as well as topics which we will research.  (Many of us have been doing this already during our extension block as a special interest!)

Reading

Our reading also takes us to non-fiction topics.  We continue working on strategies for tricky words, but we’re also paying attention to non-fiction features and how we can learn so much more than we imagined by really paying close attention!

Math

 

2-D and 3-D shapes have been our recent focus, and we’ve made some cool creations with pattern blocks (geoblocks).  We’re also adding to our vocabulary, as we learn about quadrilaterals, measuring the area of a rectangle (by pretending it’s a chocolate bar!), the difference between rows and columns, and much more!  We are moving on to more sophisticated work and explaining our thinking with adding “strings” of numbers, breaking apart bigger numbers to add and subtract, and using real-life story problems to help us understand and think through these concepts.

Social Studies, Science,

and other News

We have begun our Time for Kids issues and love learning about some important current events (and ways to understand magazines and other non-fiction text.) 

Our recent science enrichment program was fantastic, with many experiments with force and motion.  We learn more about composting soon! Spanish is also muy bien! There’s so much going on!

 

 

NOVEMBER BIRTHDAYS

 

Wed, Nov. 20:  Gregory Garabet

Fri., Nov. 22:  Bo Vrooman

Sat., Nov. 30:  Sofia Schimmeck

 

 

REMINDERS

Tues., Nov. 5:  Election Day,

No School for Students; Staff Dev.

Wed. – Fri., Nov. 6-8:  Book Fair

Thurs., Nov. 7:  Veterans Day Program

Fri., Nov. 15:  Scholastic Orders due (just in case you didn’t find anything at the Book Fair!)

Wed., Nov. 27:  Progress Reports Home; Early Dismissal

Thurs. – Fri., Nov. 28 – 29:  Thanksgiving Break, no school

SPECIAL NOTES

 

• Thank you, Everyone, for participating in Fall for Math last month!
    
  
• Thank you for helping with the Soldier Care Packages, Unicef collection, and Unicef Boograms!

 

 

 

·         Thank you, Families, for your help in making our Halloween celebration a success!

• Continued thanks to our Room Moms, Jane Glassmeyer and Elizabeth Svedlund!
• Continued thanks to all volunteers and for all the work you do with your children at home!
• Scholastic Book Clubs: 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 an older catalog, you can still do so.)
• Dreambox Info is attached from Central Office

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a Terrific Team!

BOO!

Halloween is just around the corner!
Boograms are due this Friday, October 18th!

MR. FORSHAW'S INFO

Please check The Hoot for Mr. Forshaw's link to some information on our Investigations program!

A free parent workshop is being offered at Teachers College for project schools on Tuesday, October 29^th.   If you're interested, please contact Jean Clinton or Jackie Doty.  Here is a link to the event description: http://readingandwritingproject.com/workshops-study-groups/event-details.html?id=523

Overview of K-5 Curriculum

Meet the Literacy, Math and Technology Curriculum Coordinators for the elementary schools.  Learn how curriculum has been adjusted for the Connecticut Common Core State Standards, how instruction is shifting to prepare students for the Smarter Balance assessments in 2014-15, and how technology is supporting students in this learning.

Sponsored by
Darien Public Schools K-5 Parent Workshop Series

Save The Dates

Darien Public Schools K-5 Parent Workshop Series 2013-2014

OVERVIEW OF K-5 CURRICULUM October 15 at 7:00 PM* & October 16 at 9:30 AM Hindley School *note change in date

STANDARDS OF PRACTICE IN MATHEMATICS November 20 at 9:30 AM & December 11 at 7:00 PM Holmes School

READING & WRITING CONNECTIONS January 8 at 9:30 AM (snow date 1/22) & January 29 at 7:00 PM (snow date 2/12) Royle School

TECHNOLOGY TO SUPPORT LEARNING March 26 at 9:30 AM & April 2 at 7:00 PM Ox Ridge School

OCTOBER MCMONTHLY NEWS

HAPPY FALL!

Thank you for a wonderful first month of school!  We are getting into the swing of things with all the new routines at Ox Ridge!

Reading – we are remembering what makes a book Just Right and are thinking about the whole story before, during, and after reading, We continue to tackle tricky words with many word strategies and are remembering how important it is to distinguish between basic short and long vowel spellings.

Word Study – We are so excited to have begun our new Word Study (Spelling) lists.  It’s important to remember the patterns instead of just memorizing words. 

TIP:  At the end of every week, save your words! Keep the words in a journal or place them in an envelope at home.  Keep the envelopes inside of a shoebox and review your old lists, along with your new words. 

You’ll be surprised at how quickly you’ll become an expert at many word patterns!

 

 

Writing – we have been writing stories about small (important) moments from our lives, how to stretch sentences and stories, and what to include in our stories.  We are also setting goals in how to be even better writers than we already are!

We are finishing our first writing unit on Small Moment stories.  We have been setting goals, stretching our sentences, and are beginning to study the craft and technique of amazing authors such as Jane Yolen, 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!

Math – We have beem doing lots of “investigating” with our new Investigations program through lessons, games, and sharing with each other how we figure out the answers.  We’ve reviewed addition and subtraction, odds and evens, tens place, and the tricky fact families.  We are now doing more complex problem solving and have become experts at doubling. 

Science and other News – We made observations outside and noticed how the seasons are changing.   We have begun Spanish in our World Language Program.  We are just beginning to get into our Computer Lab routine.

BIRTHDAYS

 

Mon., Oct. 14:   Sadie Stafford

Mon., Oct. 21:  Caroline Jack

Mon., Oct. 21:  John Caliendo

 

 

REMINDERS

 

 

Mon., Oct. 7:  Scholastic Orders due

Mon., Oct. 14: Columbus Day, no school

 

 

Oct. 15 – Oct. 28:  Fall 4 Math

           (details to come)

 

Thurs., Oct. 31:  Halloween Activities

***You may wear your costume on Halloween (but no masks please)***

 

 

Tues., Nov. 12:  Photo Retake Day

**Please bring your original photos to the photographer on that day.  More payment details at Lifetouch.com



 

 

SPECIAL NOTES

·         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!)

A few items I wasn’t able to mention at Open House:

·         Extra lunch choices:  If your child does not care for the main Hot meal or the Alternate, they can always order Salad, Pizza, Bagel, or Deli Sandwich

·         A few students still need to bring in a few family photos for our rotating frame, classroom activity $$, as well as a favorite book from home.

 

·         If you didn’t get a chance to sign up for Conference Week, I will send a reminder with the open slots later this month.

 

·         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 and our Halloween celebration later this month.

 

·         Continued thanks to our Room Moms, Elizabeth Svedlund and Jane Glassmeyer!

SEPTEMBER MCMONTHLY NEWS

Greetings, Moms and Dads!  We had a great first week of school!  The children really seemed to settle into 2^nd grade quite quickly.  Thank you for all the supplies, emails, and notes. 

The 2^nd grade team does some corresponding with all 2^nd grade families, as we did on our First Day letter.  I will be sending home a monthly newsletter specific to our classroom.  Today’s newsletter will include important dates and info about how our class handles birthdays and some other special events.  Open House is not until the end of the month, so I wanted to be sure to spread the word about a few items ahead of time.

This year, our class Room Moms are Elizabeth Svedlund (ersvedlund@gmail.com) and Jane Glassmeyer (janiewatson@yahoo.com).  I thank them in advance for this huge undertaking!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

Thurs., Sept 5^th:                  No school, Rosh Hashanah

Sun., Sept. 8^th:                  Family Picnic, 4:30-6:30

Mon., Sept. 9^th:                  Scholastic Orders due

 (*you can place your orders online, or send the hard copies back to me by 9/9/13)

Mon., Sept. 9^th:                  First 2^nd grade official homework home (due Fri.)

Tues., Sept 10^th:                  Photo Day (class and individual)

Tues., Sept 10^th:                  2^nd Grade Coffee for Parents, 9:30 a.m.

Fri., Sept. 13^th:                  Favorite books and family photos due

Mon., Sept. 23^rd:                  Word Study begins

Thurs., Sept. 26^th:                  Open House for Parents, time to be announced

AUG/SEPT. BIRTHDAYS

Thurs., Aug. 29^th:                  William Bonner

Wed., Sept. 4^th:                  Kate Brown

Sat., Sept. 21^st:                  Matthew Aronsohn

Mon., Sept. 23^rd:                  Lila Debano

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 the following papers, please let me know:
•               pink first day letter from whole 2^nd grade team, with 2-Mc August/September “specials” schedule on the back
•       Birthdays:  I will send a birthday note home a few weeks prior to your child’s birthday, asking if you would like to come to the classroom to help us celebrate.  You are welcome to read a book or play a game (such as 7-up).  You are also welcome to bring clear popsicles, stickers, or other small goodies if you wish, but please don’t feel like you have to.  It’s up to you and your child how you’d like to celebrate!  July and August birthdays will be celebrated in January (just in time for a ½ year birthday celebration).
•     Mystery Guest:  Mystery Guest is a separate visit from birthdays.  When you choose a time for the year, I would recommend choosing a time a few months away from your child’s birthday, to spread out the classroom visits.  Typically, a Mystery Guest will read a few favorite family books, or, if they’d like to show us something they love (such as props from a hobby or job), that’s fine too!  The children will guess who the Mystery Guest is every Tuesday, so please stop at the office before coming to the classroom so the secretary can announce that you have arrived.  Both Birthday/Mystery Guest celebrations are approximately 25-30 minutes. 
•     Superstar Sharing will occur throughout the year.  It’s a chance for a student to be “superstar” for 3 days of the week where they bring in a special treasure and have a short, 5-minute share time.  The rest of us will make a book for the superstar later in the week.  A note will go home when it’s your child’s Superstar week (picked at random on Thursdays or Fridays for the next week.)
•     Regular sharing will be on Fridays on a sign-up basis, so that everyone gets a chance to share a treasure throughout the month if they wish.  In order to share, the sharers should write up a short description of their treasure (2 to 3 sentences).
•     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.  (This snack choice is different than extra snacks in the cafeteria that students are allowed to buy at the end of their lunch shift.)
•     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!
•     Photo Day is this coming Tuesday, September 10^th.  Please take a peek at the photo packet that comes home this week.
•     Please check our blog periodically for class updates and photos.  (I never put names with the photos, but if you don’t wish me to post your child’s photos, please let me know.)
•     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.
•     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.
•     I have included a list of our amazing students (that you'll see with Tuesday's newsletter that goes home)! I hope you have a chance to attend the Class Coffee next week.  If you cannot attend, please let our Room Moms know so they can let you know about our volunteer schedule for the year. 

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