Bergeron's Book Buddies

It's May

It's hard to believe that May is here, and our school year is almost at an end! It has been a great year and I have really enjoyed the opportunity of getting to know and teach your children. May will be a very busy month because we have several fun activities planned, but we also have several skills to learn in our curriculum.

Math- multiplication, division, 3-digit addition and subtraction with regrouping, problem solving

Reading- Judy Moody Saves The World, Endangered Animals, Readers' Theatre

Writing- "Bare Books", Response to Literature

Science- Life Cycles

Our class needs help with our "Bare Books"! If you can come to our class and help the students any day and any time during the week of May 12th- May 16th we would be very grateful! Please send me a note or e-mail and let me know the day and time you can help.

Here are a few dates to mark on your calendars:

May 5th- Mtn. View's 80th  Birthday Celebration

May 8th- End of the Year Awards in our classroom- 8:30- 9:00- Parents are invited!

May 9th- All books due back to Media Center- last day to take AR tests

May 12th- AR picnic

May 14th- K-2 Field Day

May 16th- 3-5 Field Day

May 19th- Students read their " Bare Books" to each other

May 20th- Author Celebration in the classroom- 8:30 to 9:30- Parents are invited as the students read their books and share their portfolios with their parents.

May 21st- 2nd grade end of the year celebration

May 23rd- Last Day of School!

Thanks so much for your support,

Cindy Bergeron

What's Happening in April?

       Thanks so much to Mr.Kratcoski for teaching Jr. Achievement to our class! He did a wonderful job and the students learned a lot about our community. Thanks also to Mrs. Kratcoski for teaching a Jr. Achievement lesson to our class! She did a wonderful job and the students really enjoyed all the lessons.

     Thanks to Mrs. Wohlert for helping our class during center time and art! Thanks to Mrs. Geiger for going with the class to the Botanical Gardens! It was a windy, cold, and rainy day but the students enjoyed the field trip, and they learned a lot about plants and our environment.

  The students did a great job with the biography timelines! They followed the directions and they learned about many different people who made a difference in the world.

Thanks for the beautiful flowers, cards and candy! I truly appreicate your kindness!

Please Help! Our class needs more #2 pencils! We are out of pencils and we will be taking the CRCT in two weeks.

  Our class is an official " Green Class " in Cobb County! I have taught 5 environment friendly lessons to the students! Please ask your child what they have learned about recycling and protecting our environment!

    Please continue to have your child take the CRCT practice tests on-line. It will help them to feel more confident during our week of testing.

Our curriculum for the last nine weeks of school:

Math- multiplication, division, 3-digit addition and subtraction with regrouping

Reading- We just finished  reading Ginger Pye,( ask your child about this great book) and we will read Judy Moody Saves The World.

Writing- Response to literature

Science- Life Cycles

Here are some dates to mark on your calendar:

April 7th- 11th- Spring Break/no school- Have a wonderful Spring Break!

April 16th- Volunteer Luncheon

April 22nd- Earth Day- Students will celebrate this day by helping pick up trash on the playgrounds.

April 23rd-25th- CRCT testing

April 28th-May 2nd- make-up days for CRCT

   Thanks for your support!

Cindy Bergeron

Websites to reinforce 2nd grade standards

www.ikeepbookmarks.com

www.aaamath.com

www.bookadventure.com

www.arcademicskillbuilders.com

www.enchantedlearning.com

www.factmonster.com

www.mathfactcafe.com

www.abcteach.com

March Matters

  Everyone enjoyed the Character Book Walk! The students did a great job  with their costumes and talking about their book character.

   The students learned many interesting facts about Australia. Please ask your child what they learned about the "land down under."

Please let your child go on line and take some of the practice CRCT tests that I have assigned for the class. Please make sure that your child takes tests from all the second grade teachers. I have already assigned the tests for them, which covers reading, phonics, vocabulary, grammar, language arts, and many different math skills. We will take some practice tests  in class, using the lap tops.

March Curriculum-

Math- Place value of 3 and 4 digit numbers. Please review adding and subtracting  2-digit numbers with regrouping, as we will begin regrouping with 3 digit numbers very soon.

Writing- Persuasive Writing

Science- Space/phases of the moon, changes of the seasons

Thanks so much to Mrs. Johnson for providing a "Valentine Snack" for the class.

Thanks so much to Mrs. Wohlert and Mrs. Greiger for helping the class during center time. We appreciate all of your help!

A very big thanks to Mr. Kratcoski who has volunteered to teach Jr. Achievement to our class! The students really enjoy these fun lessons about our community!

Here are somes date to mark on your calendar:

March 4th- Early Release

March 7th-  2nd Grade Friend's Play- Parents are invited- 8:30 am

March 12th- our class goes to Star Lab- in school field trip

March 14th- end of 3rd nine weeks

March 17th- Book Fair

March 20th- report cards sent home

March 24-28th- Multi Cultural Week- activities everyday for students

March 27th- Silent Auction- 6:00-8:00- Mrs. Holton and I will be auctioning time with us to make a snack and play Dance Dance Revolution! Yes, we will dance to the music as well! It would be a great idea if students from both classes got together to place a bid for this fun time, so that we could have students from both our classes! We have not set the date for this dance party yet.See you at the auction!

March 27th-  March book report due- "Get Real "   Students read a biography book and then complete a timeline about the life of the person they read about. More information will be sent home about this book report.

    Thanks so much for everyone who came to Technology Night. Second grade teachers showed parents  a new fun way to assess students on the  curriculum using  "Beyond Question. " Next, we showed parents different websites we use in class to teach the curriculum, and we let them explore sites using the lap tops. Finnally, we showed Video Streaming, which is a Cobb County site which contains short videos that  reinforce/compliment the curriculum. I will   try to link several of the web sites that we use in class, so that your child can practice the activities at home. As always, be very careful with the Internet. Double check and make sure that these websites are still valid before you let your child on them. I will also send home a hard copy of websites that we gave out to parents on Technology Night.

                                                           Thanks for your support,

                                                           Cindy Bergeron

March Matters

  Everyone enjoyed the Character Book Walk! The students did a great job  with their costumes and talking about their book character.

   The students learned many interesting facts about Australia. Please ask your child what they learned about the "land down under."

Please let your child go on line and take some of the practice CRCT tests that I have assigned for the class. Please make sure that your child takes tests from all the second grade teachers. I have already assigned the tests for them, which covers reading, phonics, vocabulary, grammar, language arts, and many different math skills. We will take some practice tests  in class, using the lap tops.

March Curriculum-

Math- Place value of 3 and 4 digit numbers. Please review adding and subtracting  2-digit numbers with regrouping, as we will begin regrouping with 3 digit numbers very soon.

Writing- Persuasive Writing

Science- Space/phases of the moon, changes of the seasons

Thanks so much to Mrs. Johnson for providing a "Valentine Snack" for the class.

Thanks so much to Mrs. Wohlert and Mrs. Greiger for helping the class during center time. We appreciate all of your help!

Here are somes date to mark on your calendar:

March 4th- Early Release

March 7th-  2nd Grade Friend's Play- Parents are invited- 8:30 am

March 12th- our class goes to Star Lab- in school field trip

March 14th- end of 3rd nine weeks

March 17th- Book Fair

March 20th- report cards sent home

March 27th-  March book report due- "Get Real "   Students read a biography book and then complete a timeline about the life of the person they read about. More information will be sent home about this book report.

    Thanks so much for everyone who came to Technology Night. Second grade teachers showed parents  a new fun way to assess students on the  curriculum using  "Beyond Question. " Next, we showed parents different websites we use in class to teach the curriculum, and we let them explore sites using the lap tops. Finnally, we showed Video Streaming, which is a Cobb County site which contains short videos that  reinforce/compliment the curriculum. I will   try to link several of the web sites that we use in class, so that your child can practice the activities at home. As always, be very careful with the Internet. Double check and make sure that these websites are still valid before you let your child on them. I will also send home a hard copy of websites that we gave out to parents on Technology Night.

                                                           Thanks for your support,

                                                           Cindy Bergeron

Fabulous February

  February is a short month but it is a very busy month.Please remember to look at the February calendar in your chil'd agenda for the special schedule. We are now on a 6 day rotation because of the lessons your child receives in the computer lab. 2nd graders are learning keyboarding this month. They will also do a special project on the phases of the moon later this month.

Reading- I am sending home a short paragraph every Monday night for homework. Students should read this independently and answer the comprehension questions about the story. I want them to go back in the story and hightlight the answers. This is great practice for the CRCT. This counts as their 20 minutes of reading.

   Math-  We are studying fractions, measuring, and addition and subtraction with regrouping of 3- digit numbers this nine weeks. Please review addition and subtraction with regouping of 2- digit numbers at home, as this will make it easier for them when we get to 3- digit numbers.

Social Studies- The students rotate to a different 2nd grade teacher each day and they learn about the Japanese culture. Please ask your child what they have been learning. The students seem very excited about these lessons.

Science- Energy and Motion- We will end our unit this week. Here are a few of the activities we did during our study of Energy and Motion: touched a heating pad, looked at different sources of light and heat, made hot and cold tea, made pin wheels,  pushed and pulled objects,  watched the wind blow the flag,  we watched cars moving,  made Puff Mobiles and raced them in the hallway, learned a song about Motion, read about motion and we wrote in journals. This was really a hands on unit and one the students enjoyed.

Fire Fighters are coming to 2nd grade  and they will teach 4 great lessons on Fire Safety. Please ask your child what they learned. Ask them to explain and  show you- stop, drop, and roll.

Here are a few important dates to mark on your calendars:

February 4th - Heroes Essay contest- ( if they want to enter)

February 6- Early Release

February 7- Picture Day and the Art Show

February 14th- Valentine's Day- Performing Arts/ Tales From Japan ( at school)

February 18th & 19th- Student Holiday

February 26th- Technology Night ( K-2) more info to come

February- 27th- Character Book Walk- more info will be sent home.

Thanks for your support,

Cindy Bergeron

January News

Happy New Years! I hope everyone had a wonderful winter break! I  had a great winter break and I really enjoyed the time off with my family!  Thank you again for the gift card the class gave me at the winter party. I truly appreciate your kindness. Thank you to Mr. & Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Wohlert for the great winter party! The students had a wonderful time!

I am excited about our new units and I am ready to begin our third nine weeks of school! Here are a few dates to mark on your calendars:

January 7th- student holiday

Jan.14th- 18th- Visting artist, Zelda Grant will be helping students with an art project

Jan. 21st- Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday- no school

Jan. 22nd-28th- parent-teacher conferences- report cards given at conference

Jan. 31st- Readers' Choice Book Report due-  a note was sent home with the details about this report

We are very excited to announce that Debra Newhouse, our new computer teacher, will begin lessons in the computer lab with  K- 1st and 2nd students this nine weeks. Our 2nd graders will  begin with learning keyboarding skills. She will also intergrate technolgy with some of the units we will study this nine weeks.

We are now on a 6 day rotation schedule for specials which will include the computer lab. I will have students write in the calendar in their agendas the specials they will have for each day during that month. This will help them to remember to wear or bring tennis shoes on P.E. days.

                                                                    Thanks for your support,

                                                                       Cindy Bergeron

December News

December will be a short but very busy month for us. Please continue to read the Books In A Bag with your child. New books will be given out on Thursdays. I did not give out new books during the Thanksgiving holidays, and I will not give out new books during the winter holidays because it is too easy for the books to get lost.

In place of the December book report, I would like to celebrate the cultural diversity of our class by giving the students the oportunity to share one of their favorite family traditions. Students may bring in a picture, an inexpensive item that represents the tradition, or a sample of a traditional food. If you would like to participate with your child's presentation please schedule a time with me. A note was sent home this week about this project. Please e-mail me or send in a note if you have any questions or concerns.The students and I really enjoy learning about  other traditions and cultures.

Math- We will study telling time and geometry this month. Please continue to have your child practice subtraction and addition with regrouping, so that they do not forget these important skills.

Social Studies- Colonial life and Jamestown

Here are a few important dates to remember:

Dec 3rd- AR party- Everyone in our class is on the AR wall ! WOW!

Dec  14th- We will have a Readers' Theater presentation of the book, The Gingerbread Boy, then we will make gingerbread houses out of milk cartons. I will send home a note asking for items for the students to use when they decorate their milk carton. Reading is fun and the students really enjoy Readers' Theater.

Dec. 18th- Math post test- money, telling time, subtraction with regrouping, and geometry

Dec. 18th- family traditions are due. Students may present their tradition to the class earlier if they are ready.

Dec. 20th- Classroom Winter Celebration

Dec.21st- end of the 2nd nine weeks

Have a wonderful winter holiday! Thanks so much for all of your support!

                                                              Cindy Bergeron

November News

Thanks so much to all the parents who helped with our Harvest Celebration! The students had a lot of fun! A special thanks to Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Wohlet and Mrs. Geiger who helped the students with their craft. Our class has been busy writing informational paragraphs. We made applesauce in the class and we also carved a pumpkin. Afterwards, students chose one of the activities and they wrote an informational paragraph. What a fun way to learn about paragraph writing!

Math- Please help your child at home practice  2- digit subtraction with regrouping. This is a very important skill for 2nd graders.

Please continue to practice math facts with your child. Instead of flash cards, try playing a fun game called Salute. Ask your child to show you how to play this game. You need a deck of cards and 3 players.

Social Studies- We will complete our unit on Native Americans  this week, and we will begin Early Settlers, Pilgrims,and Jamestown.

Here are a few dates to mark on your calendars:

Nov.15th- Thanksgiving lunch with 2nd graders in the cafeteria

Nov. 21st-23rd- Thanksgiving holiday

Nov. 29th- Book Talk Report- information was sent home this week. Students really enjoy this report. I will model a Book Talk in class for the students. We also saw a Reading Rainbow video, which models a book talk. All book reports are required work.

Thanks for your support