Mrs. Beaver's Best Buddies

May 5, 2008

Dear Best Buddies,

   Here is another busy season we're in! Even though we're counting down to the last day of school, we are still learning. In order to produce life long learners, we need to show  our children that learning doesn't take place just 180 days a year. Continue reading, writing, practicing math facts, and learning new things.

We made it through the Georgia CRCT. I do believe the students were not stressed and focused well. Thanks for sending in the water bottles and big snacks. Please continue to do so. We're back to our 12:15 lunch and the students need something to get them through the day.

Best Buddy Authors are working diligently on our Bare Books.(These won't be bare for long!)

This time of year finds us assessing a lot. Please try to have your child at school daily and on time. I would also appreciate your speaking with your children about  the preciousness of others. This is  usually the time of year that "He said, She said" begins and best friends can become enemies all of a sudden. I have found with my personal children that they will talk more readily at bedtime. Try some pillow talk with your child to see how things are going at school.

Dates to remember:

Monday 5-05-08        80th Anniversary Celebration

Thursday 5-08-08      8:30-9:00 2nd grade Awards in Classrooms

Friday 5-09-08           ALL BOOKS DUE TO THE MEDIA CENTER

Monday 5-19-08         Second grade students to share Author Books with each other.

Tuesday 5-20-08        8:30-9:30 Second grade students to share Author Books and other

                                 writing with their parents.

Thursday 5-22-08        End of the year celebrations/ Everything comes home.

Friday 5-23-08            Last Day of school, no book bags allowed on buses.

Friday 5-30-08             Report Cards mailed

Wow! Now that's a full calendar. I want to thank each of you for reading the blog and being apart of your child's education this year!

Kind Regards,

Deanna Beaver

April 2, 2008

Dear Best Buddies,

   March was certainly a busy month for us! I appreciate all of you who introduced your students to the night sky and the many faces of the moon. Learning about day and night is something that we all learned "back in the day", but how often do we really think about it? It's just part of our busy lives. Our biography time lines were very interesting. We learned about a variety of people. Students should have brought their personal life time lines home that we created on the computer.

We are moving into Life Cycles  of Plants, Insects, and Animals. I know the Botanical Gardens will be a very worthwhile experience. Please remember to dress your child appropriately for the weather and walking.

Congratulations to Alyssa whose reflection entry was awarded third place in the state of Georgia! We are very proud of Alyssa and all of the other students who participated in the PTA Reflections Program.

A special thanks to Mrs. Stahlman for conducting our Junior Achievement Lessons. She's such a pro that she revamped the lessons to get the students more excited and involved! We even held our own council meeting. I, of course, was the mayor! That's my kind of politics!

Continue practicing  for the CRCT. We are doing things at school  also. A special thanks to Mr. Stahlman for running some of our practice sheets. Practice never hurt anyone!!! That is , if we practice the correct way!

Once again, the students wrote a persuasive letter to me trying to persuade me why they would the best student for a particular job. Some gave more reasons than others, and some did not even apply for a job. Just like in the real world, there are  jobs, you just have to go out and get them. Another life skill  taught in the Beaver Lodge.

The students are doing exceptionally well with multiplication. We are playing games, making arrays, and using multiplication tables to learn our facts. Our purpose is for the students to understand the concept. When you are practicing at home, ask your child to "show" you 3x4. An "Array" would be constructed with 3 rows and 4 columns. Try it and see if your child can identify the "factors" and the "product".

Flat Stanley is visiting us from Rhode Island. Flat Stanley is a character in a book that gets flattened and has many adventures. Matthew's aunt is a second grade teacher there and her class has written to us as pen pals. They sent Flat Stanley to find out more about our state Georgia. If you have any artifacts you may be willing to donate to send to her class, pictures, post cards, etc. please feel free to send them in.

You may have a visitor join you for spring break. Each student has designed his/her own Flat Stanley.  He would love to go anywhere you would like to take him. Hey, he went with my personal family to Williamsburg and Washington, D.C. eight years ago! He folds up into a fanny pack really well.

Please have a wonderful spring break. Don't forget the sunscreen!!

If you're staying in town, try some day trips to all that our Atlanta has to offer. While your out, pick up a free Atlanta Magazine, Points North, it has a great article about video games. Having surgery soon? Read this article. You can find them at most restaurants.

Kind Regards,

Deanna Beaver

March 13,2008

Dear Best Buddies,

March is becoming a very busy month. We are excited about the fun activities that are happening at school and home. The students had a blast looking at the night sky in the the Star Lab. I hope you and your family have enjoyed learning about the night sky as well. The waxing and waning moon is a neat thing to observe. I still have a difficult time identifying constellations but the students seem to be experts! This is one time I'll let them win the challenge!

Tonight I sent home some reminders about the March Book Report. I also included a self timeline to be completed by next week. Each entry  only has to be a sentence. Please encourage your children to make their sentences interesting.

As far as the PTA Cultural Arts assignment goes, I returned your children's December assignment in case you wanted to use this tradition instead of rewriting another one. Please send the one in the sheet protector back to be included in your child's portfolio at school.

Multicultural Arts Week is the 24-28. We have an assembly on Monday sponsored by our PTA.

We are continuing to practice and focus on CRCT concepts and test taking skills. Please review work that is sent home and visit the CRCT website to practice at home.

I have also sent a great news article on "Being Smart ". I really agreed with a lot that this author had to share. I hope you will take the time to read over it as well.

The silent auction is quickly approaching. Mrs. Liddicoet and I will auction our time to play a board game with the highest bidders. Treats may also be involved. The money is donated to our wonderful foundation!Let the games begin!

Movie on the mount is set for March 29th. Maybe the weather will cooperate with us this time.

Thanks again for the emails, phone calls, and agenda notes. This allows me to keep in touch with you as well.

Kind Regards,

Deanna Beaver

March 5, 2008

Dear Best Buddies,

    What a great way to tell about a book! Everyone was in character dress and was able to talk about their book. Thank you for helping your child with this project.  Our next book report deals with a time line. I will send specific instructions at a later time.

    We are practicing this week for our Friends Play/ Musical on Friday at 8:30. The students will bring an official invitation tomorrow. We hope everyone will be able to attend. We start promptly at 8:30.

    The Australian Bakery was a nice treat. We ate our goodies at school . You may want to visit them on the Marietta Square sometime. Ask your student what "Slip, Slap, and Slop" means. Down under was a great place to visit. But  we will travel far north to the celestial skies.

   We are learning about the sun, moon, and stars, and may even throw in some planets along with it! 

   I received a great compliment from a student last week. Student said, " This day was fun. Why didn't we do any work?" Well, we played math games, read with partners , performed a Readers Theater ,wrote stories, learned more about Australia, etc! I try to give the students a variety of ways to accomplish tasks. Yes, they may have to fill in the blanks sometimes, but they have also worked with partners to solve problems in reading and math. Why partners? The smaller the group, the more participation you have. This is a definite life skill that students need to acquire in order to get along in society. Very few of our students will be sitting at a desk by him or herself  when they graduate. Allowing cooperative groups to be a  part of learning, makes it a natural event. There are three or more on occasion depending on the activity we have planned.Ask your children how they  are using questioning webs when they . I am also encouraging more dialog in their writing. They may overuse it at first, but with practice in real writing, it will become a natural task.

    We missed you at technology night. I hope everyone got the websites that I sent home  in the Buddy Folders. Please keep this list in a safe place and visit these sites with your child.We will be using the Smart Board with our classes this week.

   Speaking of computer practice, please continue to go on the CRCT practice site. All of the second grade teachers designed tests and assigned them to each class. We will also be practicing test taking strategies on hard copies in school.Please stress the importance of always looking at your own paper. Some of our students have found out the hard way that their next door neighbor may not be correct! Now that's a life lesson to live by!

     Please continue to review homework with your children. It may be several days before I go over it and they would have practiced and learned something the wrong way. This also helps you stay involved in your children's learning. So many times, parents assume that as they get older, students do not need  their assistance. Everything that I read in research says that students  with parents involved in schoolwork are higher achievers. Remember, checking, assisting and doing are all different verbs!

I need your help with some manners issues. It seems that some of our students are not being respectful to adults. Instead of first time obedience, there is constant reminders to do this or not to do this. It seems to have surfaced just recently. Please reinforce with your children the importance of obeying those in charge of you, teacher, substitute, or parent volunteer. Also, my motto for my personal children as well as Best Buddies has  always been,"Think of the preciousness of others." We need to encourage children to think what is best for the other person. I have also reminded them that if they didn't have anything nice to say, not to say anything. Sometimes we forget that rudeness is not cute!

    Specials Dates in March:

March 7 -Friend's Play at 8:30 Parents and siblings welcomed. Please help your child memorize their part.

March 8- Movie on the Mount! This is a great way to mingle with your Mtn. View Friends on the back lawn. Our new partners in education, Back Yard Burgers, will be serving hamburgers and hot dogs! The proceeds of this event go to RELAY for LIFE.

March 11- Best Buddies will visit the STAR LAB in the media Center 

March 24- This begins our Multicultural Week. More information to come.

Coming Soon...Silent Auction and Teacher Auction. Mrs. Liddicoet and I will be auctioned to the highest bidder for an afternoon. Start saving your money now!

Please continue to contact me with your notes and phone calls. I do try to respond as quickly as possible.

Kind Regards,

Deanna Beaver

   

February 4, 2008

Dear Best Buddies,

     A special congratulations to Alysa and Richard for winning  PTA's Reflection contest at the Cobb County Level!!!!!! Their work will now be sent  to the state for judging. We are really proud of their  efforts!

    We are learning about  the Japanese Cultural through our Japan Rotation. Because our rotation takes place in the afternoon after lunch, we have not been outside. We are also learning about Fire Safety. The Cobb County Fire Department  sends fire fighters to  our schools to instruct the students on proper fire safety.  Thanks for returning the homework sheet.

   We are enjoying our Foundation paid, Mrs. Newhouse in the computer lab. She has shared a great website to help your children with keyboarding skills. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/  Have fun!

Dates to Remember in February:

2-6       Early Release Day

2-7      Class and individual pictures

2-7       Mountain View Art Show

2-18 and 2-19 Student Holidays

2-14     Valentine Card Exchange

2-14      Second Grade Performing Arts/ Sounds from Japan

2-15       PTA's Honoring our Heroes Contest Due

2-22        Six Flags Reading Log Due ( Alyssa and Julia have already  turned theirs in!)   

2-26     Technology Fair Night

2-27      February  Dress Up (as the main character) Book Report Due

              Students will present an oral summary of their book to the class.

2-28       Mountain View Flag Contest Due

   Yes, we will exchange Valentine Cards on February 14, 2008. If your children choose to pass out cards, please make sure that there is one for each student in Best Buddies. Also, we will create our bags at school, so no worries on your part! Treats are always accepted, however, please be considerate of our students with peanut allergies.

Help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please make sure your child is having a hearty breakfast in the mornings. We usually don't have snack until 9:30. They also need to bring healthy snacks. I realize some of our dears are a little picky. Please make sure they like the the snack, otherwise they won't eat it!

Thank you for the donations of glue sticks and erasers and pencils! I do believe the children are having these for snack! Check with your child periodically to see if they have enough.

I can't apologize for teaching your children about persuasive writing! I know that some of you may need to visit the Humane Society soon to get your kids off of your backs.  But for those of you who have to visit Japan, good luck! They are really catching on to the idea that they have to have opinion sentences to back up their request. Maybe you could persuade them  in the Letters Home Journal to do something for you! Just an idea.

Kind Regards,

Deanna Beaver

January 28,200

Dear Best Buddies,

     Thank you for coming to conferences to discuss your children's progress. I hope all of your questions were answered, if not, please feel free to contact me.

      We have been doing so many exciting things in class. Ask your students about digging for fossil fuel. Yes, we have been discussing different forms of energy. What are man-made sources and natural resources of energy? We will start our social studies unit on Japan  this week. A special thanks to all of you who sent in our $1.00. This will cover food, and art expenses that will make the students' learning experience more meaningful. We are also learn ing about fire safety in health.  This will be on-going for a couple of weeks.

      Don't forget to go on to the CRCT website with your students. I want to remind you about a previous website I mentioned that deals with math. It's called www.aaamath.com  when you reach this site, you may choose the concept that your student is having difficulty with. There is adding/ subtracting, fractions, money, calendar, etc. Remember as I spoke to you at conference , I stressed application of skills, not just recall.

Continue to work with your students counting money and  making change. I have a great idea that you may choose to use to help with this skill. Set aside (or let your child earn) a certain amount of money in a jar. Every time they want to watch T.V., charge them a certain amount. Extra bedtime story? Charge them! Dessert after a meal? Charge them! Going over to a friend's house? Charge them! How could we practice making change with this concept?

    This nine weeks our class goal is to read  360 minutes! Not only will they meet their goal, they will also be a member of the Six Flags Reading Club! If they complete the orange log and return it by February 22, they will also receive a ticket to Six Flags! I know that most Best Buddies will read way beyond this goal! The best thing about reaching our goal is that the students will get to eat breakfast with Mrs. Huff and Ms. Medders! 

    Please review and keep for reference the blue phonics rules i sent home. This will let you know what your students are learning at school to help them in their writing,spelling, and decoding of words.

   We are working on persuasive writing this nine weeks!  I know you enjoyed reading about the things that your students tried to persuade you to buy.  Best Buddies did  a fantastic job of  persuading me which job they should have for this nine weeks. I decided  that if they could convince me of their qualifications, they could have it. That meant that some of them share a responsibility. Ask your student which job they have. If they do not have a job, they did not write a persuasive paragraph asking for  one.

     Some students have shared their book reports already. Please remember that this activity gives our students the opportunity and experience to present in front of the class. So far, everyone is doing great! I wish I had time to read all of these books!

Kind Regards,

Deanna Beaver

January 8, 2008

Dear Best Buddies,

   I hope you all had a very restful holiday break. I really enjoyed spending time with my family and friends. Our ten year old kitty, Jellybean passed away. We were sad and decided to get two new nine month old kittens. Life is now fun, fun, fun, at the Beaver House. LOL!

    Mountain View would like to welcome Deborah Newhouse, our new computer teacher in the computer lab. She will be instructing our students on correct keyboarding and word processing skills. We are so excited to have her with us! In order for everyone to be able to utilize the computer lab, we have a new  six day specials rotation . I will send home a copy for you to keep up with where your child will be going  each day. Please look at the key and the calendar. Best Buddies are #2.  It may be helpful to wear tennis shoes daily since we go outside on a regular basis to run and play.

   We will also be having a visiting artist from North Carolina, Zelda Grant. The students will be working with her on a specific art project that they will be able to take home that day. A special thanks to Mrs. Greiss for arranging for her to come to Mountain View.

Don't forget that we're not in school on January 21 in order to observe Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday. Conference week is January 22 - 28.  Letters will be coming home soon. Students will be released two hours early.

Don't forget to read to your child in addition to your child reading 20 minutes every day/night. Please go over your child's homework with them nightly. Research has shown that immediate feedback helps students retain information for a longer period of time.

Kind Regards,

Deanna Beaver

December 5, 2007

Dear Best Buddies,

Tis the season to be writing thank you notes. What a life skill! I have a rule at my house that it(the gift) can't be used until you have written a note of appreciation. This really works! Occasionally they even write one without my prompting.

Bear of the Day is back by popular demand. Yes, the students wanted to take Beav home and write their won story. My only task for you as parents is to help your children revise and edit  the story. I expect every sentence to have capital letters and correct punctuation. I also am encouraging them to "stretch" their sentences to make them more interesting. Ask them about sizzling words! ( Adjectives are words that describe nouns.) Please refer to your child's "words to learn" lists and reinforce our basic priority words, short vowel words, and words that can be phonetically spelled.

For those of you have been visiting the CRCT website, don't worry if your children don't know everything. There are a lot of skills that we have been not introduced at this time of year. However, we will teach these skills in the very near future.

We have been telling time to the nearest minute. Please reinforce telling time by asking your child to tell you what time it is throughout the day. An analog (face) watch is a great gift idea. I received my first watch when I was in third grade.

Other small gift ideas may include: new crayons, pencils, erasers, stationery, and stamps. You may want to ask your child if they need these items  at school as well. And of course, books are always a special gift.

We are also counting change with money. The concept is to count up from the price to the amount you started with.  At school, we have "The Beaver Grocery Store". You could set up something at home as well. What about buying T.V. time?

Congratulations to our Reflection Medal Winners: Alyssa(3!), Anna, Richard, and Matthew. We know you can make a difference...

Congratulations to Parker for winning the Sally Foster  Funky Monkey Drawing. ( to arrive soon)

Don't forget that in lieu of the December Book Report, the students are writing about a favorite tradition they enjoy. This can be a family reunion in July. We will begin sharing as they start coming in, however, they are not due until December 19, 2007. Please refer to the blue half sheet that came home on Friday in their "Buddy Folder".

Please sign the poetry folder. This lets me know that the children are reading the poems to you and explaining the skills that we covered . Review all of the poems in the folder and count it as your child's twenty minutes  of nightly reading.

I will be sending a math page that tells about The Etowah Indian Mounds in Cartersville, Georgia. Because of your children's background knowlege on Native Americans, this wouold be a great family field trip over the winter holidays. There are so many places to visit right in our own backyard!

Thank you again for working with your children at home. I feel very fortunate to have a partnership with you.

Kind Regards,

Deanna Beaver

November 12, 2007

Dear Best Buddies,

    Thank you for reading with your child at home. You are helping them become  life long readers! To reinforce what I'm doing at school, stop your child after a page or paragraph and discuss what has just occurred in the text."What does that make you think of?" "What do you think the author is trying to say?"How did you know what that word meant, or did you know what that word meant?" These are questions that good readers answer automatically to themselves. This will also give you some insight into what your child is thinking during reading. Your child may mention "schema". It means, background knowledge. Readers activate schema before, during and after reading. Readers use schema to make connectionsbetween the text  ansd their lives, between one text and another text, and between text and the world.

Why should students read aloud? You may think," They know how to read, let them read silently." Research is saying that practicing reading aloud allows the reader to slow down and digest what he or she is reading, thus it increases comprehension. They still need to hear you read out loud to them to have proper models.

Speaking of Reading Aloud...Tomorrow night, November 13, 2007 is America's Biggest Bedtime Story. This correlates with our Book it Program.( October Pizza Hut tickets will be sent home today) John Lithgow will read The Remarkable Farkle McBride.

Just go to www.bookitprogram.com on November 13 beginning at 4:00 p.m. CST( viewable all night long) Please be prepared to answer some simple questions about the reading on November 14, 2007. These answers will be our chance to win some  great prizes!

Individual spelling practice  is coming home. Please use the "Words to Study" as a guide to help your child with these words. Point out these words in different reading material for your child to identify. As you can see, this is a spiral program and these words will be seen again and again. That is neat thing about Sitton Spelling. There is no one testing of the words. The students know the words when they can use them correctly in their writing.

Writing letters home has been a wonderful experience for the students. I hope you can see the conncetion this is making between home and school. What a life skill! I may have to start this with my 14 and 16 year olds! Would they be as honest as second graders? I do try to help edit  the letters but may overlook some mistakes. I expect all writing to have capitals at the begining of a sentence and correct punctuation at the end. All short vowel words should be spelled corectly as well as words with silent "e".

In math we are continuing to practice addition and subtraction  facts to 20. Research shows that knowing your facts helps with all math operations. Our focus will be on using facts to help solve problems. This is promoting real life skills. The next time you're out at a resturant with your family, have your child solve problems on paper that you dictate. "There were thirty-seven elephants drinking chocolate milk. Some of the elephants stayed.  Twenty-nine left with a tummy ache. How can we find out how many elephants stayed to drink?" Let your child write the information that was given down, and then subtract. Remind them of our Rap Song- " More on top, no need to stop. More on the floor, go next door, get ten more....numbers the same, zero's the game!

Please dress your child appropriately for the morning weather. We never know when we may have a fire drill and have to stand outside.

I look forward to seeing some of you at our Thanksgiving Meal on Thursday, November 15, 2007.

Kind Regards,

Deanna Beaver

P.S.

Congratulations to Richard! I drew his name and was able to ride his bus last week. It was neat seeing the children's faces when they recognized that a teacher was aboard!

Also, Congratualtions to Leah for being our Chacter Word of the Month- Responsibility.

October 12,2007

Dear  Best Buddies,

     October is packed with lots of treats! Once again, we apologize for asking for so many donations at one time.  I know the students will be thoroughly enriched after attending these activities! I have tried to list all of the pertinent information and dates that will occur this month.

    Thanks to everyone who came out to Bruster's for ice cream. It was fun working on the other side,however I have decided to keep my day job! Relay for life is certainly a good cause to support.

10-17    Early Release -We go to specials at 8:30, and Lunch/Brunch at 10:15.

10-18     Picture Day- Bring payments that day, I am not suppose to keep money. If you do send it early, 

             your child can keep it in his/her backpack.

10-20     Fall Festival- I have a college class that day and will not be able to attend. Have fun! This will also

             be the first day of the book fair!

10-22     Report  cards go home. It's also  Bus driver Appreciation Day (What a job!)

10-25     Book Reports Due. Be creative. The sheet that we sent home is your graphic organizer, not the

             final report. Your child can design the paper anyway they choose as long as they include all of

             the information on the organizer.

10-26    Funk Heritage Museum-  We will get to see some reenactments of long ago. Native Americans,

           Pilgrims, and Colonials. Wear appropriate clothing for the weather. This is an outdoor activity.

10-29    Second Grade will see the Musical/Play "Firebird". Please send in performing arts permission

            slips  in order for your child to be able to ride the bus and attend. We will eat lunch at 10:30

            and leave around 11:30. We will return by 1:30.

10-31   Harvest Celebration- I'm sure our room moms have thought of some great ideas for us. They may

           even ask for your assistance. Thanks in advance!

Whew!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That was a lot! Thank you for signing the agenda daily and for signing the poetry folder. Please go over homework with your children. Several of them are bringing in incorrect work. Homework is practice and they need to practice it correctly.

Mrs. Warchol reminded me of a website to share with you. It is similar to Accelerated Reader. It has ten questions that students can answer after reading certain books. The best part is you can accumulate points for reading. I have used this with my personal children in the past. As an incentive, I told my kids that taking out the trash was just part of being in the family. However, reading was their job. When they were in first - fifth grade I would pay for chapter books. One Magic Tree house book plus one Book adventure test passed equaled $2.00. The longer the books, the more money. Harry Potter cost me $7.00!  It doesn't have to be monetary. Caleb (13 now) said he had forgotten about that and wanted to know if I would start the deal up again. My thoughts are ...he learned to love reading at an early age and that will stay with him forever! Oh yeah, the website: www.bookadventure.com

Kind Regards,

Deanna Beaver