Mrs. Holton's Herald

May News

It is hard to believe that this year is almost over.  We have a lot of things going on before the end of school.

Important Dates to Remember

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--Remember to put sun screen on your child and send in a water bottle.

May 19th- Students share  their " Bare Books" with other second graders.

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

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

May 23rd- Last Day of School!

Our Curriculum for May

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

Writing- "Bare Books", Response to Literature

Science- Life Cycles

April News

The Biography book reports were great and all learned a lot of about a variety of people. Students also  made their personal life time lines in the  computer lab.

A special thanks to Mrs. Bishop for teaching our Junior Achievement Lessons. She did  such great job and the students looked forward to her coming each week.  Thanks Mrs. Bishop.

The students are doing exceptionally well with multiplication and division. We are playing games, making arrays, and using the multiplication table to learn our facts. Our purpose is for the students to understand the concept.  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". When dividing just make equal groups.

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

CRCT test for second grade is April 23, 24, and 25.  Remember to give your child a good breakfast and get plenty of sleep each night.  Please have your child at school on time(7:55).  If they are late they will not be allowed in the classroom after the CRCT test has started.

Our class is an official " Green Class " in Cobb County!   Please ask your child what they have learned about recycling and protecting our environment!

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

Writing- Response to literature

Science- Life Cycles

Dates to Remember:

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

March News

Thanks for coming to the second grade "Friends" play.  The students worked very hard and were very excited to have you come to see their performance.  We celebrated the play and everyone getting on the 20 wall with donuts and juice. YUM!!!

The students did a great job with their character reports and costumes.  They especially enjoyed the "Character Walk"  showing off their characters to other second graders.

We have had a great time learning about Australia  and enjoyed our visit from the Australian Bakery.  The student learned many interesting facts about life "down under".

This months Unit is on the Sun, Moon and Stars.  We used the Smartpad and students were able to identify parts of Orion and the Big Dipper.  You may visit this site from home on the second grade "ikeepbookmarks" website.  The address is ikeepbookmarks.com and the account is mv2, no password.  We will be visiting the Star Lab on Wed.12th to learn more about the Night Sky.

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 and on the laptops in school. If you need your child's login again please let me know.   This practice is so beneficial in preparation for the CRCT.

Specials Dates in March:

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

March 12-  STAR LAB in the media Center 

March 14- end of 3rd nine weeks

March 17- Book Fair

March 20- report cards sent home

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

March 27- Biography book report due. Instructions have been sent home and is also attached along with a rubric used to evaluate your child's presentation.Download biography_br_reminder.doc

Download march_rubric.doc

March 27-Silent Auction and Teacher Auction-6:00-8:00.  The auction helps to raise money for technology. Mrs. Bergeron, Mrs Babbit and I will be auctioned to the highest bidder for an afternoon of making treats and "DANCE, DANCE, REVOLUTION" . Start saving your money now!

March 29- 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.

Thanks so much to Mrs. Faunce and Mrs. Wieskopf for providing some fantastic "Valentine Fun" for the class.

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

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. Finally, we showed Video Streaming, which is a site which contains short videos that  reinforce/compliment the curriculum. Your child my access many of the sites we use at school by going to the "ikeepbookmarks" site I mentioned above. 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.

As always, thanks for your support!!!

February News

Thanks to everyone for taking time out of your busy schedules to meet with me for conferences.  It was nice to sit down with you to go over your child's progress.

Math- Comparing Fractions, Measurement- length and temperature, Money- making change, and Numbers to thousands. Download math_unit_3_parent_letter.doc

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.  Also continue to work on addition and subtraction facts.

Social Studies - Students are enjoying our study on Japan's culture and the rotation to different classes.  They are learning about Japanese food, poetry, music, geography, traditional clothing, and more. 

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.  Ask your child about "stop, drop, and roll"

February Book Report-  Wednesday, February 27th we will have our Character Book Walk. All second grade students will dress up as a character from a book they have read this month. Please make the costumes very simple; such as a hat, sunglasses, hold an item that was mentioned in the story or decorate an old tee shirt. After the character walk, the students will talk about their book and character to the other students in the class. There is no written report this month. The students usually enjoy the character walk. I look forward to seeing all the different book characters!

Important Days to Remember

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 15th - Heroes Essay contest- ( if they want to enter

February 18th & 19th- Student Holiday

February 22nd- Six Flags Reading Log due

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

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

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 the class. Also, we will create our bags at school, so no worries on your part!

Thanks for your support.

Gloria Holton

January News

Welcome back and Happy New!! I hope everyone had a wonderful winter break! I had a great break and 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 Mrs. Faunce and Mrs. Weiskopf for the great winter party! The students had a wonderful time! I know you loved your cute snowmen families.

Mountain View has some exciting news!!!

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.

For this 9 weeks our specials schedule will be on a 6 day rotation. I will have students write 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.

Our January units of study are:

Math- Comparing Fractions, Measurement- length and temperature, Money- making change, and Numbers to thousands. Download math_unit_3_parent_letter.doc

Science- Energy and Motion  Download parentnews.doc      

Download PushPullparentnews.doc

Important Dates to Remember:

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- I will send home instructions with the details about this report. Download bookreport_reader_choice.doc

Thanks for your support, Gloria Holton

December News

I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends. 

I can't believe that it's already December!! The students have been working hard and are showing growth in so many areas. For the next few weeks, we will be working on the following:

Math: We will continue to work on addition and subtraction regrouping but will start working on Geometry skills beginning December 3rd. Please continue to work with your child on the basic addition and subtration at home. We will also be working on telling time to the 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. Also continue to have your child practice counting money.  Everyday experience is the best way to master both these concepts.

Spelling: Continue having your child work on their "words to learn".  Review the rules for adding suffixes s, ed, ing.  Have them tell you about "no ed" words(irregular verbs).

Social Studies: Colonial Days

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 holiday 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.

Dates to Remember

Dec. 3rd- AR party-  Everyone in the class is on the wall.  WOW!!!!!  Let's keep moving up on the AR wall.

Dec. 17th- Family Holiday Traditions are due.

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!

Thanks to Lisa Faunce for coming in and doing a wonderful Fall activity with the students.  They had a fun time decorating a big tree cookie which I'm sure was enjoyed by all.

November News

Thanks to Mrs. Faunce and Mrs Wieskopf for a fun Fall Celebration.  The students enjoyed making the fall trees, treat bags, Halloween magnets, and the yummy dirt treat.  They also made fall leaves to go on our seasonal tree that is part of our Science Unit on Changes. 

This month in...

Math- Continue to practice math facts.  They are getting more difficult and require more practice than previous weeks.  Also continue to practice counting money at home with your child.         

This month we are working on 2-digit subtraction with and without regrouping.  This concept is a difficult one and takes time and a lot of practice.  We use base ten blocks to help us model and solve problems before moving to paper and pencil.  If you need a set for home let me know.  You can also use dimes and pennies to represent the tens and ones.

Social Studies- We are finishing our unit on Native Americans and beginning Early Settlers.

Science- Changes in the seasons

Dates to Remember

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. All book reports are required work.

****Please remember to sign your child's agenda every night and remind your child to write the minutes they have read that night.  I check agendas weekly for the minutes each student has read that week.

Thanks for your support!!!!!

October Happenings!!!

October has come fast and we have a busy month.  We had a great trip to Turner field.  Thanks to the parents that accompanied us, Mr. Gentile, Mrs. Wieskopf, and Mrs. Myrthil.  We are now writing our personal narratives and sharing all the exciting things we saw and did.

We have two awesome field trips planned for October.  One is a Cobb County Performing Arts trip and the other is a trip to the Funk Hertiage Museum.  Please remember to return permission for both of these trips.

This month in...

Math- We will continue addition with regrouping and money for the next two weeks. Please  continue to help your child  at home with these two skills, along with the weekly facts.

Social Studies- We will begin our unit on Native Americans and Early Settlers.

Health- Nutrition

Science- Changes in the seasons

October Book Report

This month’s book report should follow a Story Map format. Your child should use the Story Map form sent home for the draft only and the white construction paper provided for the report.  The report must include story title, characters, setting, story problem, important events, and solution.  The students have been shown an example, but have been encouraged to be creative.  (Ex. A story about baseball, draw a baseball field and include required information.)  Students should be prepared to present their story maps to the class on Wednesday, Oct. 24^th.  Bring in draft, Story Map poster, and book for presentation.  Your child should select a book in their reading range.   If you have any questions, just let me know.

Important Dates to Remember

Oct. 9th- 5:30- 8:00  K-2 Brewster's Night for Relay for Life

Oct. 17th Early Release

Oct. 18th- Picture Day

Oct. 20th- Mtn. View's Fall Festival- 12:00- 3:00

Oct. 22nd- report cards go home

Oct. 22-26- Mtn. View Book Fair and Red Ribbon Week

Oct. 24th- Book Reports due- Detailed information will  be sent home, along with the constructuion paper.

Oct. 26th- Field trip to Funk Heritage Center- This field trip goes along with our new Georgia Standards for social studies.

Oct. 29th-  Field Trip to Cobb Civic Center to see Firebird (Performing Arts field trip)

****Please remember to sign your child's agenda every night and remind your child to write the minutes they have read that night.  I check agendas weekly for the minutes each student has read that week.

Thanks for your support!!!!!

September News

Thanks so much for the great turnout for Curriculum Night.  I enjoyed meeting with all of you.  Your children have settled in nicely to second grade and are already working hard.

Book Report - The September book report will be due Thursday, Sept. 27.  The students will read a book on their level, and make a paper bag puppet of one of the characters in the book. They should be prepared to present their puppet to the class and tell about the story and character.  I will send home a paper bag and more information about the project. Students should begin to select and read a book. We will go to the media center on Friday, Sept. 7th, and will encourage students to select a book for the report.

Accelerated Reader:  The class has been very excited about taking AR test.  Please continue to encourage your child to read nightly and have them tell you about what they are reading.  This is great practice for the AR test.  In second grade students need to have 12 points to get on the wall.

Math Facts: Flashcards for our first facts test (+2) were sent home on Friday.  Please practice a little each night to help your child build instant recognition. The test will be on Friday and a new set of flashcards (-2) will be sent home.

Spelling:  Check your child's agenda for their "Words to Learn" each Monday.  Please help your child practice their words a little each night.  You can refer to the list of different activities handed out at Curriculum Night.

Math:  Unit 1 is the study of place value, and reading, writing and comparing numbers to 100.

Social Studies:  We are learning about our community and how we use maps and globes. 

Parent Homework:  Thanks for a great beginning with the "Letters to Home".  Your children love reading the responses you have written.  Please remember to have your child return the folders to school on Monday.

Remember:  Have your child read every night and record minutes read.  Please sign agenda every day. 

Welcome Back

I hope all of you had a great summer.  Students have had a great first week settling in and getting to know each other.

Please plan on attending Curricuclum Night on Tuesday, August 28th, 6:30-8:00. I will be going over our schedules, expectations, and curriculum for first grade.

The media center opens on Monday 20.  Acceralerated Reader should also be set up so students can begin taking test on all the books they read this summer.

Remember to return the SURF summer reading pamplet so we can recognize your child for their hard work over the summer.

I look forward to being part of your child's learning experience in 2nd grade. Attached is our first Holton Herald newsletter.

Download nl_81707.ppt