Find out what's happening in our classroom and stay up to date on information!
Friday, December 1, 2017
Monday, November 20, 2017
Newsletter 11-20-17
Happy Thanksgiving!!! I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend.
Just a quick reminder (although most of you know from conferences) the big packet of Unit 2 math stuff is the unit that we are just starting. We have just finished Lesson 8 (double digit subtraction). Next week we will be starting lesson 9! :)
Just a quick reminder (although most of you know from conferences) the big packet of Unit 2 math stuff is the unit that we are just starting. We have just finished Lesson 8 (double digit subtraction). Next week we will be starting lesson 9! :)
Friday, November 3, 2017
Newsletter 11/6/17
Here is what has and will be happening in our classroom! Have a great weekend and see you all next week Thursday for conferences!!
Also please have your child wear their WE RUN T-shirt to school on Monday (11/6/17). It is the prize assembly in the morning. :)
Also please have your child wear their WE RUN T-shirt to school on Monday (11/6/17). It is the prize assembly in the morning. :)
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Halloween and Newsletter
It is almost Halloween!!! I don't know how we are this far into the school year, but next Tuesday, October 31st is the WES Halloween parade! For those of you that are new to Windsor, your child will be able to wear their costume to school on Tuesday and right away in the morning they will be walking in the Windsor parade. :) Please send your child with a change of clothes for after. Parents are welcome and encouraged to come and see your child walk with their classmates. After the parade you are welcome to come and take pictures in our classroom. As of right now, the parade will be taking place outside the school (but we are told that it may change if the weather is bad).
I also have some students that have come up with a classroom newsletter of information that they think parents might want to know each week. They did a great job of coming up with some important stuff for next week and writing an awesome small summary of our learning from this short week.
Here is the "newspaper" that they came up with for you:
We have worked hard on wrapping up the first units of writing (personal narratives/real stories) and reading (working on various strategies that 2nd graders use to read accurately, fluently and remember what they read). In reading, we sorted out all of the strategies that we learned so far into what they really help us do. Also, there are a few kids that will still be sharing their personal narratives with the class next week, but most kids have been bringing all of their narrative stories home this week in a bright yellow "folder" - so watch for that coming. They have worked very hard on their published pieces!
One more quick thing: in math next week we are finishing up the first unit which was mostly about completing story problems and ways to add and subtract numbers. We will be taking time next week to review and prepare for our "end of the unit" math test that we will be taking towards the end of the week.
Have a wonderful weekend and I hope to see you on Tuesday for the parade!!! :)
Friday, October 6, 2017
Happy Weekend!! If you missed Open House, please read this with your child!! :)
Happy Friday everyone!!
I know that there was so much going on Thursday night that many of you were not able to make it to Open House. On Thursday, the class brainstormed some of the things that they would want to show and tell about to whoever they brought. I also told all the kids that couldn't make it to Open House that I would put pictures up of what they wanted to show, so that they could still tell you all about what they've been up to so far.
Here are some of the things they came up with:
Here are some of the things they wanted to tell you about what we have been learning. They have all been working so hard!!!
Kids have been recommending great books to others..ask them about their book recommendation project:
How we recommend books to others in the classroom:
Ask your child what they wrote on their acorn as their Favorite part of 2nd grade:
They came up with some great ideas to put on our class contract. Ask your child why we put a crumpled heart up by our class contract, or what we learned with some tubes of toothpaste:
They also wanted you to guess which one is them. :)
I can't tell you how proud I am of this class and how hard they have been working together this year. Thank you for all that you do for your kids. Have a wonderful weekend!!!
-Mrs. Balczewski
I know that there was so much going on Thursday night that many of you were not able to make it to Open House. On Thursday, the class brainstormed some of the things that they would want to show and tell about to whoever they brought. I also told all the kids that couldn't make it to Open House that I would put pictures up of what they wanted to show, so that they could still tell you all about what they've been up to so far.
Here are some of the things they came up with:
Here are some of the things they wanted to tell you about what we have been learning. They have all been working so hard!!!
Kids have been recommending great books to others..ask them about their book recommendation project:
How we recommend books to others in the classroom:
Ask your child what they wrote on their acorn as their Favorite part of 2nd grade:
They came up with some great ideas to put on our class contract. Ask your child why we put a crumpled heart up by our class contract, or what we learned with some tubes of toothpaste:
They also wanted you to guess which one is them. :)
I can't tell you how proud I am of this class and how hard they have been working together this year. Thank you for all that you do for your kids. Have a wonderful weekend!!!
-Mrs. Balczewski
Friday, September 22, 2017
News for Next Week!
Happy Weekend!!!
I hope that you are enjoying time with the warm weather!
Just a few quick reminders for next week:
-On Monday we are going to be using our "Tiny Topics Notebooks" (if they are at home, please send them)!! :)
-Next week we are going to be spreading our love for reading by doing a project about our favorite book. We will not be doing this until later in the week, but if your child has a favorite book that they have read at home, I encouraged them to bring it in (so that they can use examples from the story when they write about it). They don't need the book if they know it well, but some may want to bring it in.
-We have started a very new math curriculum. It requires a lot of thinking about HOW we are doing math and explaining it. This is big jump for kids this year and it will be a challenging transition for most kids. I am planning on sending a Family Letter each week that comes with the new curriculum, but it does mention homework. We still have a no homework policy for the district, but if you would like to use the family letter to work on anything extra, feel free (do not feel like you need to do what the letter suggests). Sometimes I may attach the quiz that your child took at the end of a "lesson" (which is usually 5 days long). These quizzes will be challenging for your child in class because it is such a big transition in deeper thinking and explaining. Please don't be alarmed if they had a tough time completing the quiz (especially early on in the year), but you could use it to talk over more if they get a quiz sent home. This past week, our topic was fact families.
Next weeks Specials:
Monday: ***LIBRARY (bring books)
Tuesday: Art
Wednesday: Phy. Ed.
Thursday: Music
Friday: Phy. Ed.
Have a wonderful weekend!!!! :)
I hope that you are enjoying time with the warm weather!
Just a few quick reminders for next week:
-On Monday we are going to be using our "Tiny Topics Notebooks" (if they are at home, please send them)!! :)
-Next week we are going to be spreading our love for reading by doing a project about our favorite book. We will not be doing this until later in the week, but if your child has a favorite book that they have read at home, I encouraged them to bring it in (so that they can use examples from the story when they write about it). They don't need the book if they know it well, but some may want to bring it in.
-We have started a very new math curriculum. It requires a lot of thinking about HOW we are doing math and explaining it. This is big jump for kids this year and it will be a challenging transition for most kids. I am planning on sending a Family Letter each week that comes with the new curriculum, but it does mention homework. We still have a no homework policy for the district, but if you would like to use the family letter to work on anything extra, feel free (do not feel like you need to do what the letter suggests). Sometimes I may attach the quiz that your child took at the end of a "lesson" (which is usually 5 days long). These quizzes will be challenging for your child in class because it is such a big transition in deeper thinking and explaining. Please don't be alarmed if they had a tough time completing the quiz (especially early on in the year), but you could use it to talk over more if they get a quiz sent home. This past week, our topic was fact families.
Next weeks Specials:
Monday: ***LIBRARY (bring books)
Tuesday: Art
Wednesday: Phy. Ed.
Thursday: Music
Friday: Phy. Ed.
Have a wonderful weekend!!!! :)
Saturday, September 16, 2017
Our First Weeks!!
Good Morning!
As the first full week of school wrapped up I thought I would fill you all in on just a bit of what we've been up to!
Last week Thursday, we all got a "gift." If you see a tiny little notebook traveling around with your child, it is their new "Tiny Topics" notebook. We talked about how sometimes coming up with a topic to write a story about for writer's workshop is sometimes the HARDEST part! We also learned that topics or story ideas could come to us at ANY time. That's where this gift comes in. They can take these with them anywhere they'd like (although the goal would be to have them with at school for writer's workshop time each day). Anytime they think of a story idea, they jot it down in the notebook and can keep up the good writing!
For the first unit of writing, kids are learning and practicing "Personal Narratives" - a real story that happened to them in their lives. If you happen to think of "meaningful" topics with your child, encourage them to jot these topics in their notebooks!! :) It is easy for kids to forget special days they have had in the past, but you might be able to help them remember! We learned that meaningful story ideas are times we felt strong emotions. For example, the day you got a pet or had a surprise party the emotion was excitement. They could write a story about a scary time or a time that they were worried and how they got through it. This was our main focus last week and coming up we are going to learn all sorts of ways to make our stories more exciting to read!!
Reading update: I have to apologize in advance for the super long notes that I am going to be sending home in your child's new reading folder this week. It is all really important information on different ways to encourage kids to read at home and how to help them pick good fit books. Look for that coming home this week!!!
One more quick note: I forgot to tell the kids, but I will be gone at a conference this Monday. If you have a chance and think they would like to know, they will have a sub on Monday.
Thanks and have a wonderful week!
As the first full week of school wrapped up I thought I would fill you all in on just a bit of what we've been up to!
Last week Thursday, we all got a "gift." If you see a tiny little notebook traveling around with your child, it is their new "Tiny Topics" notebook. We talked about how sometimes coming up with a topic to write a story about for writer's workshop is sometimes the HARDEST part! We also learned that topics or story ideas could come to us at ANY time. That's where this gift comes in. They can take these with them anywhere they'd like (although the goal would be to have them with at school for writer's workshop time each day). Anytime they think of a story idea, they jot it down in the notebook and can keep up the good writing!
For the first unit of writing, kids are learning and practicing "Personal Narratives" - a real story that happened to them in their lives. If you happen to think of "meaningful" topics with your child, encourage them to jot these topics in their notebooks!! :) It is easy for kids to forget special days they have had in the past, but you might be able to help them remember! We learned that meaningful story ideas are times we felt strong emotions. For example, the day you got a pet or had a surprise party the emotion was excitement. They could write a story about a scary time or a time that they were worried and how they got through it. This was our main focus last week and coming up we are going to learn all sorts of ways to make our stories more exciting to read!!
Here is our Weekly Specials Schedule for Week of 9/18:
Monday: Art
Tuesday: LIBRARY - *Bring books back!!!
Wednesday: Music
Thursday: Phy. Ed. - **Bring shoes!!
Friday: Music
Reading update: I have to apologize in advance for the super long notes that I am going to be sending home in your child's new reading folder this week. It is all really important information on different ways to encourage kids to read at home and how to help them pick good fit books. Look for that coming home this week!!!
One more quick note: I forgot to tell the kids, but I will be gone at a conference this Monday. If you have a chance and think they would like to know, they will have a sub on Monday.
Thanks and have a wonderful week!
Friday, July 28, 2017
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