February in the Know

I enjoyed meeting with those of you who signed up for the optional mid-year conference. We will meet again in May for end of year conferences. Our theme this month is weather, which seemed especially appropriate last week! We have some fun trips planned this month including a trip to Greenhill Art Gallery in Greensboro.

Valentine's Day is this Friday; contrary to what was mentioned in the Panther's Den, we are distributing Valentines to our class ONLY.  If you decide to participate, your child will only need 10 Valentines. Writing "to" and "from" is optional.

Please continue to work on Xtramath and read daily with your child. The reading log may seem to be unnecessary, but I have tried to make it as simple as possible. However, doing this homework is a critical step to teach accountability. Learning this now will save a lot of heartache next year especially if they are transitioning out of primary. 

We have been working with some JYA (9th-12th grade) students on Friday who have been teaching us some Latin! We are currently practicing numbers 1-10. It has been so neat to see how excited our class gets when these big kids come in, and the JYA kids are great with our class.

Please note the following dates:

• 2/13 library trip 
• 2/14 11:00 dismissal
• 2/17 school closed for President's Day
• 2/25 field trip to Greenhill Art Gallery

Our kids are showing off the necklaces they made while learning the Roman numerals for I-X

Keegan and Kendall are showing their school spirit on the 100th day of school. 

January in the Know

I hope that everyone had a wonderful break! January is always a good time to reflect as well as set goals for the future. This month I will start mid-year assessments and make goals for the remainder of the year. We are also switching up our schedule just a bit to allow for more individualized time with the kids. Since the first day of school we have been counting down to the 100th day of school; we will make it to the 100th day this month, and we will have a special day packed with "hundred" themed activities including a trip to the Dollar Tree. Our themes for January are: house and home, Asian culture & Chinese New year. The following are a few important dates:

• Mon. 1/6 first day back for students
• Thurs. 1/9 library trip
• Mon. 1/20 school closed
• Tues. 1/28 100th day- field trip to the Dollar Tree 

A huge thank you to Mrs. Montgomery and Mrs. Garner for planning our class Christmas party, and thank you to Mrs. Tapia for teaching a lesson on Christmas in Mexico. The time and effort you put into making a special event for our kids is very much appreciated, and I know the kids had a blast!

November/December In The Know

November and December are always busy months, and we have a lot of fun and exciting things planned to do before the end of 2019! Our themes for November are Native Americans, Pilgrims, turkeys and forest animals. We have been working on our "thankful books" with Mrs. Tiffany, and we have created some new stations for our guided reading rotations.  Our next trip to the library is this Thursday, and our next class theme day is Turkey Day, which will be on Friday, 11/22. We will bake bread, make butter, build fine motor skills through a special craft and learn about the the early settlers who came to America.

December always goes by so quickly! There is always so much to do and not a lot of time to do it in.  We should be receiving our class books back from Student Treasures Publishing soon; we'll be combining our book reading and class Christmas party this year which will be on Friday, 12/13. We are excited about our Christmas Around the World unit featuring: Scotland, Italy, Sweden, Mexico & the United States. If your family has any traditions we would love to have you be a "guest speaker" in the classroom! Please let me know ASAP if you would like to participate.

The following are a few important dates:

• 11/7- library field trip 
• 11/11- school closed for Veteran's day
• 11/22- class "Turkey Day" 
• 11/26- 11:00 dismissal 
• 11/27-12/2- School closed for Thanksgiving
• 12/12- library field trip 
• 12/13 @ 12:45- class book reading (Parents encouraged to join us!)
• 12/13 @ 1:00- class Christmas party (Parents encouraged to join us!) 
• 12/19- pajama day- 11:00 dismissal 
• 12/20-1/6- school closed for Christmas vacation

The following are Show & Tell themes: 

• 11/8- book
• 11/15- toy
• 11/22- kid's choice
• 12/6- book
• 12/13- toy

We had a great time at our class Halloween party! Here are a few snapshots from the day: 

Class Books!

Please check your child's backpack for fliers about Student Treasures Publishing. We are finalizing our class book, and we will send it off to be published next week. If you would like to receive a copy of the book please complete the form and return it to school ASAP. We need to send off the parent forms with the manuscript on 10/22, so I'll need those forms before Wednesday, please.

Show and Tell

Show & Tell is something that I had gotten away from a few years back because I wanted to keep our time purely academic, or at least what I considered academic. However, more and more research has come out in support of the responsive classroom and the value of teaching "no-tech" communication skills. The more I have researched, the more I believe show and tell time is valuable and academic. Of course show and tell builds community, and the kids have fun, but it also gives the kids the opportunity to communicate and share by building the following skills: speaking and listening, how to be an audience and introduce themselves, how to ask inquiry based questions, make connections between student responses and experiences, anticipate and observe, practice critical reasoning skills, practice storytelling, use and listen to vocabulary, use descriptive language and increase confidence. It's also a great opportunity for those kids who struggle with speech to practice speaking in front of a group in a safe space.

Show and tell for our class is every Friday. The show and tell topics for October/November are the following:

• 10/18- book

• 10/25- toy

• 11/8- book

• 11/15- toy

• 11/22- kid's choice 

October in the Know

Dates at a glance:

• 10/10- library trip (books are due)
• 10/30- end of 1st trimester/ "pumpkin day" 
• 10/31- students may wear costumes/ class party at HP library/ 11:00 dismissal 
• 11/1- teacher workday

This month we will learn about autumn and the changing seasons. We will have our "pumpkin day" on 10/30. During this day, we will use pumpkins to explore concepts in STEM. Our class party will be off campus this year due to our only being in school until 11:00. The High Point Public Library does a wonderful job with Halloween activities, and they have offered to open early that day so that our class can take part in the festivities! We strongly encourage kids to wear costumes, but no super scary costumes or masks, please. 

New reading logs went home last week, and new Fundations packets will be coming home soon. We will start working on this year's class book tomorrow! Our theme is "The ABCs of Christmas." Be sure to look for fliers in your child's folder soon. It is completely optional to purchase a book; however, most of the kids usually want one. This is a fun opportunity for our class, and an excellent opportunity for them to go through the writing/publishing process. Please note this in not a fundraiser, and the school does not receive any profit from the sale of the books. 

We have partnered with JYA this year for reading buddies! On Wednesdays the high school students come to our classroom and they get the opportunity to read to, and be read to by our class! I'm excited about this partnership, and I know the kids are too. 

The following are a few snapshots from our apple farm trip! Thank you so much to the parents who helped chaperone. 

Book Club Opportunity

I wanted to add this to the blog- This is a wonderful opportunity for our 2nd graders. If you had to choose one after school activity, I would highly recommend this one; Mrs. Davis does an amazing job with this book club!

 Book Club: Chocolate Fever- Sign up by 9/26! Mrs. Davis will be offering a fall book club for 2nd-6th graders. Book Club is on Tuesdays and will be 10/1, 10/8, 10/15, 10/22, 10/29, 11/5, 11/12, and 11/19. Book club is $50 and includes a copy of the book for all members. Any participants who need transportation to Covenant after school program after Book Club must let Mrs. Davis know upon registration. To register, contact the front office.