Week of November 9

The tree that were are observing in Science is changing!!!

In math our focus will be on multiplication for the next 3 weeks.  Students will be working on mastering their multiplication facts.


Mid Quarter Grades are suppose to go out on November 19.  Be on the look out.  I will send a reminder when I have sent them home.


The following are pictures from the Halloween.  We had some great costumes!!

Week of October 26

RED Ribbon Week!!  There will be special events happening each day this week:

Monday- Wear Red

Tuesday-  Crazy Sock Day

Wednesday- Wear Your Favorite Sports Team Gear

Thursday- Hat Day

Friday- Bring your costume to school (Students will get to wear these at the end of the day)

           There will be a 10-15 minute parade in the school for students to show off their costumes.

In math this week:  We will finish chapter 3:  Understanding multiplication.  We will take the test next week.

For science we will continue with our pumpkin observations.  

There will be Walk-to-read everyday this week.  

Week of October 12th

Greetings Families,

This week is a 4 Day week.  There is NO school on Friday.  The following week will be Parent Teacher Conferences.  If you have not gone online to sign up for a time Please do so this week.  Call in to the office if you need help or go on to the ASD website.  I am looking forwarded to meeting with you about your child!

Important Dates:

October 16:  NO School
October 21 & 22:  Parent Teacher Conference.  Students will be let out at 12:30.
October 23:  No School


This week in class:

Math:  Students just finished there graphing assessments last week.  They will bring them home tonight to make corrections.  Students that make corrections on their test will receive 1/2 a point back to boost their grade.
     We are beginning MULTIPLICATION!  Students are excited about this.  We will begin by looking at arrays to help students understand the concept.

Social Studies:  The scholiastic reader are coming in!  We will be reading the scholastic news and having discussions on current events.

Walk-to-Read:  Students in my group will continue to work on Text Connections.  Also, they will get their spelling words on Monday and will take their test on Friday.  We have began working on weekly vocabulary as well that goes along with the read aloud story.  Students will work on the vocabulary this week and take the test next Tuesday.

Here are our New Student Council Representatives for our class!!

Congratulations Tyler and Karah!!

Week of October 5

Hello Wonderful Families!!

This week at school:

Math:  We will be finishing chapter 2 on graphing.  The test will be on Wednesday.

Writing:  We have started working on story ideas.  Students will select their personal narrative idea this week.

Reading (Walk-to-Read):  This week students will learn how to make connections with text.  They will learn about text-to-self connections, text-to-text connections, an text-to-world connections.  There is a combination of fiction and nonfiction text in this weeks.

Dates to Remember:

October 9, Friday:  Red Ribbon Walk to Buckner Field
October 16, Friday:  NO SCHOOL!

Week of September 28

Important Dates:

September 30th:  PICTURE DAY!!!
*This is the last week for running club.

This week in class:
Math:  This week we will continue to work on graphing.  Our focus will be on picture graphs and bar graphs.  Students will have a quiz on graphs, Tuesday.

Science:  We will take a look at our class tree this week.  Students will take some of the leaves we collected and compare them with a classification chart.  We will sort the leaves based on simple and compound and continue to record our finding in our science journal.

Walk-to-Read (WTR):  Students in my WTR group will focus on visualizing and using illustrations to gain meaning from text.  The lessons this week are the building blocks for developing  stronger comprehension strategies throughout the year.  (This concept will be covered in most of the WTR classes.)  Students should begin receiving spelling homework from their WTR teachers this week.

Writing:  I will begin working on publishing stories with the class.  Their first stories will focus on writing about moments in their life that they remember.  We call this a seed story or small moment.  Students will start the prewriting and drafts this week.

Week of September 21st

I would like to thank everyone that came out Friday night for open house.  I know your child/children enjoyed showing you around and telling you about their days at school.

What we will be learning this week:

Math:  Students will finish the chapter 1 math assessment on Monday.  We will begin chapter 2 studying data and graphs; using picture graphs and data charts to solve problems.  This is a continuation of a skill that students learned in second grade.

Reading;  We will start the week talking about inferencing and "author and me" questions.  These questions require students to combine what they already know with what they've read in text.  So the focus will be inferencing and drawing conclusions.
      Important  Walk-to-Read is scheduled to begin Wednesday.  Look for the letter being sent home on Monday!  It will explain our Walk-to-Read and who your child's teacher will be for reading, writing, and spelling.  Because of this change there will be NO spelling this week.

Social Studies:  We will continue this with introducing Alaska studies.  We will begin with our many state's symbols.

We had a good turn out on Wednesday at the Running Jamboree.  Here are some pics of the event:

Week of September 14

Math-  This week in math students will be finishing Chapter 1, reviewing subtraction.  The end of chapter math test is scheduled for Friday.  Thursday nights homework for math will be a review of chapter 1.

Reading-  This week students will be working on questioning techniques.  Good readers ask questions before, during, and after reading.   Students will work on answering explicit (right there) questions as well as think and search questions.  Questions are to be answered in complete sentences and these expectations will be set starting this week.

Social Studies- Students will begin Alaska studies this week.  We will start with where we are in relation to the rest of the US as well as our size comparison.

Homework-  There is spelling work this week.  Look at the planner for the times each activity should take.  Students also practice and work on their words at school during the day.  Please keep the planner in the plastic sleeve.  I check the planners everyday.  Thank you!

Dates to Remember:

Wednesday 9/16:  Beach Lake Cross Country Running Jamboree at Chugiak HS @ 5
Friday 9/18:  Open house begins @ 5
Friday 9/18:  PTA Back to school dance @ 6:30

**Students pictured below are working on their open house projects!!

Week of September 7

Here is what we are studying this week:

Spelling:  We will begin studying our words this week.  I plan to send home words this Friday for students to study for next week.

Reading:
This week we will be working on making connections within a text.  The 3 types of text connections are:  Text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world.
Students will be working on vocabulary journals to go along with our read aloud of the week.  This weeks book is Roxaboxen, by Barbara Cooney.  There will be a vocabulary test on Friday.

Math:
Math this week will focus on addition and subtraction with some regrouping and borrowing.  We did this last year, so this is a review for most of the students.

Science:
Last week our classes adopted the tree below.  We will be observing the changes in this tree over the entire year.  This week we are going to take a closer look at leaves and the different types of leaves.

Week of August 31

We are off to a good start!  This week in school:

Reading:  Students are still working on setting up a routine.  This week we will continue to go over the expectations for class work as well as homework.  Students will explore reading a variety of books and find good fit books.

Math:  This week students will be reviewing adding and subtracting 2 and 3-digit numbers and rounding numbers.

Science:  This week we will be studying changes in nature.  We are going to adopt a tree and observe it all year long as part of our science curriculum.  We will collect leaves and seeds in nature and do some investigations.

Homework:  Students will have a fluency page this week as well as a reading log.  The fluency page is due on Friday.  Students read the page for 1min.; then record the number of words they read correctly.  This year they should do it 3 times each night.  There are comprehension questions on the back.  Students must be able to look back in the text to answer these questions.  Please remember to sign your child's reading log and planner sheet.

Welcome to 3rd Grade!!

Recommended Supply List

v  2 Mead composition notebooks (no spirals)

v  3 plastic folders with brads & pockets

o   math: purple

o   reading-writing: blue

o   science/SS: green

v  1 pencil pouch/box

v  48 Ticonderoga pencils

v  1 -24 package of crayons

v  1 pack of washable markers

v  1 pack of colored pencils

v  4 dry erase markers

v  2 bottles of liquid glue

v  4 Large size glue sticks

v  2 Erasers

v  1” 3-ring binder

*Please put your child’s name on their supplies, even individual markers.  This helps keep them organized. 

     Not required, but very helpful

v  2 containers of Clorox wipes

v  1 box of Kleenex

v  1 box of gallon plastic baggies

v  1 box of sandwich plastic baggies

v  Book-bag (no wheels)

v  1 bottle of Hand sanitizer

14 Days Left

Thursday, May 7th        Choir Concert, 6:30pm

Friday, May 8th              LIBRARY BOOKS DUE

                                             

Wed., May 13th                Band Orchestra Concert, 9:30am

Thursday, May 14th          Last Day for Running Club

Friday, May 15th             Field Day, 1:00-3:10pm (10 stations)

Saturday, May 16th       Kids Color Run 

Monday, May 18th         PTA Book Fair

Wed., May 20th             2nd Grade End of the Year Picnic to

                                             Cottonwood Park

Seuss Week

   Dr. Seuss Spirit Week

Students at Ursa Major Elementary will be celebrating Dr. Seuss' 
birthday beginning March 2, 2015 thru March 5, 2015. Dr. Seuss 
would have been 111 years old this year! All students are 
encouraged to participate in our theme spirit week.                                         

Monday: Crazy Hat Day
Tuesday: Mix-Match Day...Author Visit
Wednesday: Crazy Hair Day
Thursday: Pajama Day

Our Spring Break begins on Friday, March 6th thru Friday,
 March 13th. The students will return to school on Monday, 
March 16th.

 

Click on the link to see books written by Shelley Gill:

http://shelleygill.com/

Student Treasures

Our class is almost done with our book.  The information listed below will help you pre-order the book.  In April/May, we will have a celebration for each of our authors.

Order Form

Last Years Book

Sample Pages

How to pre-order Online:
Website: https://www.studentreasures.com/preorder.aspx

School State: Alaska

School City: Fort Richardson

School: Ursa Major Elementary School

February 14, 2015

This week is a modified schedule at school.

Monday:  NO School!!  Presidents' Day

Wednesday:  1/2 day  Release @ 12:30

Thursday:  1/2 day  Release @ 12:30

Friday:  NO School!!  Teacher Work Day

100th Day Portraits

100th Day!

Parents and Students,

The 100th Day of 2nd Grade is this Thursday, January 30, 2015. 
It's the prefect time to celebrate the number 100!

We will be working on a variety of activities to celebrate the 
100th day of school!

Dates to Remember:
January 29th      Chapter 5 Math Test (subtraction and regrouping)
February 5th      Progress Reports
February 6th      Field Trip--Ice fishing at Jewel Lake
February 13th    Valentines Exchange (bring in boxes on the 12th)
February 16th    Week of Parent Conferences
February 16th    President's Day, No School
Fridays              Spirit Day...Wear blue and yellow

January 26, 2015

We are studying different types of soils in science.  Here are some pictures of students investigating worms!!