Mrs. Holton's Herald

Boosterthon Fun Run

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We are very excited about the Boosterthon Fun Run on Wednesday, May 6.  Our class will participate in the run from 11:00-12:15.  We will  have a late lunch at 12:36 so be sure to send in a nutritious snack for the morning.  Our class has chosen "Mountain Climbers" as our team name!

Thanks so much for helping your child with their pledges.   Our class has done a great job with only 15 students. 

If you would like more information about the Boosterthon  Fun Run, please visit their website : www.boosterthonsuperfan.com

More May news to come.

I hope to see you all at the Fun Run!!!!!!!!!!

,

We are very excited about the Boosterthon Fun Run on Wednesday, May 6.  Our class will participate in the run from 11:00-12:15.  We will  have a late lunch at 12:36 so be sure to send in a nutritious snack for the morning.  Our class has chosen "Mountain Climbers" as our team name!

Thanks so much for helping your child with their pledges.   Our class has done a great job with only 15 students. 

If you would like more information about the Boosterthon  Fun Run, please visit their website : www.boosterthonsuperfan.com

More May news to come.

I hope to see you all at the Fun Run!!!!!!!!!!

April News

I hope all had a wonderful spring break!  April is a very short but busy month.

Thanks for helping your child complete the moon calendars.  I hope you enjoyed watching the different phases throughout the month. We really enjoyed  learning the different phases of the moon and discussing everyones observations. 

The  Biography Timelines and presentations were excellent. The students did a great job with their timelines and presenting!  All learned many facts about the famous people from the reports.This was the last book report of the year!

As I am sure you know, the CRCT testing starts Tuesday 21st- Thursdays 23rd for 2nd grade. The upper grades will test until the 27th.   Please remember that the school will be closed to any visitors on the days of the CRCT from 7:20 through the end of testing, about 12:00.  Visitors may only go in the front office.  Please have your child to school on time.  If they arrive after the test begins they will not be able to enter the classroom.  Also, remember to have your child get a good nights sleep and good breakfast. Please have your child continue to complete the online practice test.  https://www.georgiaoas.org 

April Curriculum 

Math- We will continue to learn how to multiply, make arrays,how to read a multiplication chart, divide things into groups, add and subtract 3-digit numbers with regrouping. Students will not be required to memorize multiplication facts, although many children begin to learn them from the work they are doing in the classroom. The focus for division will be on various ways to divide groups. Students should keep practicing math facts, counting money, and making change.  These skills will be assessed again at the end of the year. Thank you for your continued support at home.

 

Science- We will study life cycles of different living things. We will observe a seed, plant a seed, look at fungi, and hatch butterflies. This is a great unit and the students usually enjoy learning about life cycles.

 

Language Arts-Writing-We will be writing stories in response to literature in both  shared and independent reading. In addition, we will be working on expanding our writing by using more details, using more exciting adjectives and verbs, and by including conversation when appropriate. 

 

Reading-Students will continue to read both fiction and non-fiction books.  They will be reviewing different texts as they learn to respond to what they have read by making connections.  Students will be focusing on the 5 elements of a story, text-to-text, text-to self, and text-to- world connections, and their opinion of the book.

 

A special thank you to Mr. Finchum, our Junior Achievement Volunteer. He conducted lessons about our community, the economy, etc. and related these  concepts to our students. They will surely miss him every Wednesday morning!

 

Thanks for your continued support.

 

March News

Thanks for coming to see your talented children at the Friends Play.  The students did a great job and were so excited to have you there. It's March and hopefully we will begin to see some spring weather. We are coming to the end of our 3rd 9 weeks and on into our 4th and last 9 weeks of the year. This year is going by very quickly. .

Please continue to have your child take the practice tests for the CRCT. Students may take any of the tests that have been assigned to 2nd grade.CRCT will be given the week of April 20th.

Character book reports were terrific.  Everyone enjoyed sharing their outfits and books.  The March reports are biographies.  We have been to the media center and checked out books.  Directions have been sent home and are attached.  Reports are due April 2. Download March 09

Our in house field trip, Star Lab was wonderful! The students learned a lot about the stars and constellations. We are looking forward to our next field trip to the Chattahooche Nature Center March 26.

Earlier I sent home information and an email with the websites and logins for our Math and Social Studies series.  I hope you have been able to help your child login and explore these sites.  We now have the login information for our Science. 

 Science:  www.thinkcentral.com  Select State, county, school, then username is your child's Cobb County student number(in their agenda) and password is education.  On the home page you will click the computer monitor that says Library. Click on HSP Science Book/ E book.  Choose a chapter and then a lesson . Look for the “play” button to get the audio version.

 

For Social Studies www.eduplace.com/services

The user name is cobbstudent2 and the password is password

 

For Math Book:

Please refer to the previous sheet I sent home with directions and your student number. Remember the password is holton.

 I hope these resources will be a benefit for you and your child.

 

This month is Read Across America month.  We have been reading Dr. Suess books.  If you would like to come in to be a mystery reader and have a favorite Dr. Suess or any other book please let me know.

 

 

February News

Thank you so much for coming in for conferences.  It was such a pleasure to be able to sit down and discuss your child's progress.  It so nice to have all the support that you have given the class all year long.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me here at the school by phone or email. 

Please remember to have your child practice the CRCT online.  I sent home a new copy of the login instructions at your conference.  There are many different tests they can take in different subject areas.  Please read through the questions with your child and talk about test taking strategies.  It will be very beneficial to your child!

The book reports for January were awesome!  Students wrote  letters to the author, advertisements, and made dioramas. Everyone did a great job!  I could tell that the students practiced their presentations at home. This really did help because they were very much at ease giving their oral presentation.

February Book Report- Character Parade- Students read a book on their level and they dress up like a character from the book. We will have a Character parade on the 2nd grade hallway the last week in February. There will not be any written work required for this book report. Students will talk to the other students about the book they read and their character. Please keep the "costumes" simple, such as; a hat, sunglasses, or a prop to represent their character. Attached are more directions...Download Feb book report 2

Language Arts - Fact or Opinion, Dictionary skills- words with multiple meanings, Parts of speech - nouns, verbs, pronouns adjectives, and subject-predicate. We are also covering synonyms, antonyms, compound words, homophones, homographs.  Be sure to point out these types of words whenever you are reading with your child.

Writing- Persuasive paragraphs

Math- fractions, place value to thousands,  comparing and representing 3 and 4 digit numbers, counting back change, measurement and temperature.

Science- stars, sun, shadows, seasons, night and day, phases of the moon.

Social Studies- Civil Rights, Martin Luther King, and Jimmy Carter- We are also learning vocabulary- patience, honor, compassion, nonviolence, courage, equality, freedom, liberty, civilty,  human rights. and volunteer.

Important Dates:

Feb. 4 - Early Release Day

Feb.13 - Valentines Exchange- We will be exchanging valentines on Friday, February 13, 2009. No one is required to participate. However, if your child does decide to pass out cards, he/she should include everyone in the class.  A class list will be sent home.

Feb. 11th - Heros Essay Due!

Feb. 16th - Presidents Day - No School

Feb. 20th - Spaghetti Dinner and teacher spelling bee!  I will be serving!  Please come and join the fun.

Feb. 24th - Six Flags Reading Logs Due!!

February 25th- Star Lab for our class at Mtn. View

February 27th- Character Book Walk

 

January News

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

I hope all of you had a wonderful break.  It was really great but now it is time to settle back into our regular school routine.  We have many new concepts to learn this nine weeks.

Our specials schedule is back to a six day rotation. The class is squaded into 3 groups.  Please refer to your child's agenda for the days that they have PE.

 January’s book report is Reader’s Choice. Directions will be sent home that describe the choices available for presenting the book report. The report is due on Thursday, January 29, 2009.

   

 We will be going on our field trip to

Fernbank

History

Museum

on Thursday, January 15, 2009. Thank you for all of the volunteers that agreed to help chaperone this exciting trip. Due to the amount of volunteers from each class, we will probably ask parents to carpool behind the buses. I will send a note home to give more details.

 

 Parent Conferences will be the January 26th - 30th.  I will begin scheduling this week. You will receive your students report card during that meeting.  I am looking forward to meeting with all of you.

 

January Curriculum

 

Math-fractions, comparing and representing 3 and 4 digit numbers, counting back change, measurement and temperature

Reading- Comprehension homework will be sent home every Monday.

Writing-Persuasive writing

Science- stars, sun, shadows, seasons, night and day, phases of the moon

Social Studies- Civil Rights, Jackie Robinson and Martin Luther King

Important dates to remember:

January 5th- teacher work day

January 9th-Parent scheduling letters are sent home

January 15th- Fernbank Field Trip

January 19th- Martin Luther King Holiday

January 29th- Book Reports due

January 26-30- teacher- parent conference

I am looking forward to meeting with  each ofyou at conferences.

As always, thanks for your support.

November News

We are now in our 2nd 9 weeks and the students are working hard learning all the new concepts.

Thank you to Mrs. McDonnell and Mrs. Nelson for the fun Fall activities.  Students made bookmarks, Fall necklaces and had a yummy snack while they played a Fall contraction bingo.  Students had a great time!

The students presented their October book reports to the class, and they did a great job! The reports are in the hallway near our classroom, if you would like to see them.  Directions have been sent home for the November "Book Talk".  We visited the media center and checked out books that could be used for the reports.  Please remember that your child should select a book that they have not read before and it should be on their reading level.

Curriculum for November

Math- Telling time to 5 minutes, Two-digit subtraction with and without regrouping.  Both of these are difficult concepts and require a lot of practice. 

Language Arts- Informational Writing- Students are writing "How To" stories(simple directions)  telling how to do some of their favorite activities. They have also written letters or postcards telling about one of our famous early Georgia heroes.   

Reading- Story Elements( setting, characters, main Ideas, events, plot, solution) and                      Non-fiction text features(Table of Contents, glossary, bold words, captions, index,etc.)                    

Please make sure that your child reads for 20 minutes every night.  After your child has read the book, please ask him/her to retell you the story. This is a great reading strategy. Our class goal is to have all 15 students on the 12 AR wall this nine weeks. Several of our students are on the AR wall already!

Spelling- Please continue to have your child practice words that were missed on the spelling tests. Words are reviewed all year, especially, there, their and they.

Science- Energy and Motion/ Pushes and Pulls- Students will rotate to different classrooms, where they will complete some fun activites to explore and investigate energy and motion.

Social Studies- Students will read about and discuss the lives of historical figures in Georgia history, James Oglethorpe, Mary Musgrove, and Tomochichi. 

Dates to Remember

November 13th- Thanksgiving Lunch for 2nd grade.  Please RSVP so preparations can be made.

November - 20th- November book report due- Book Talk- more information will be sent home.

November 24th- 28th- No school- Thanksgiving Holidays

Thank you for all of the wonderful books donated to our classroom during our book fair. We are enjoying reading them.

Thank you for all of the donations to Performing Arts! We will be attending the Nutcracker on Friday, December 5, 2008. This will be a great experience for your children to see a live ballet performance.  We have also had various programs during our early release days. This would not be possible without your support.  If you have not sent in your Performing Arts permission I will be sending a second copy home. The signed form is required for your child to be able to attend the ballet, The Nutcracker, at the Cobb Civic Center on Dec. 5th.

As always thanks for you support!!!

October News

     It's hard to believe that the first 9 weeks of school is over.  We have been so busy learning that the time passed by so quickly.  The students have been working hard.  They have enjoyed learning about Georgia and the Creek and Cherokee.  Last week we finished our Matter rotation in different classrooms exploring and  experimenting with dissolving, melting, tearing, and squeezing matter .  We will finish our unit on Matter this week.

Specials- Our Specials schedule has changed and we are on a 5 day rotation.                             Monday- Art                                                                                                                            Tuesday-Computer Lab or Guidance                                                                                            Wednesday-PE                                                                                                                           Thursday- Music                                                                                                                        Friday-PE                                                                                                                                     This makes things easier the 2nd and 4th 9 weeks. The 3rd 9 weeks we will go back to our class being in squads.

October Book Report-The students did a great job with their character puppets! The oral presentations were  very good and I could tell that they practiced at home. 

This month students will write a Story Map.  It is due Tuesday, October 28th.  Directions are attached.  Also information will be sent home with your child. Download oct. Book Report inst..doc   Please remember to help your child practice at home.

Math-  We w ill finish addition with regrouping this week. Then we will begin subtraction with and without regrouping, problem solving and telling time to the nearest five minutes and minute. We will also continue with counting money, and use dollar and cent symbols as well as decimal notation.

Reading- phonics, guided reading, and reading workshop, will continue.

Writing- Students will write informational paragraphs.

Social Studies- Historical figures of Georgia and their contributions.

Science-Energy and Motion

Dates to Remember

Oct. 10th- end of first nine weeks

Oct. 15th- Early Release

Oct. 17th- report cards are sent home

Oct. 25th- Fall Festival

Oct. 28th- October Book Report is due.

Thanks for your support,

Gloria Holton

September News

It has been a great month with the students  They are working hard and doing a great job. Thank you so much for a great Curriculum Night.  I appreciate all your support and I am looking forward to a great year.

Our first Book Report is due September 25th.  Directions will come home September 8 and are attached.  Have fun and use your imagination. Remember to have your child practice presenting their report.  The presentation will be graded.(refer to attached book report directions) Download september_book_report_08.doc

Units for September that we will be studying are:

Language Arts- Narrative Writing, Response to Literature - Making Connections, Making Predictions

Math- Representing and comparing numbers, Graphs and charts, counting money, addition with and without regrouping. ***Remember to practice math facts every night. Time test are on Friday.

Social Studies- Gerogia regions and rivers, Creek and Cherokee Cultures

Science- Matter

Important dates to remember:

September 10th- PICTURE DAY and Scholastic book order due

September 16th- Early Release Day 12:30

September 25th - Character Puppet book report due

Our first field trip is on Oct. 8th to the Funk Heritage Museum.  We will be learning about early life in Georgia.  More information will be coming home along with permission forms.

Thanks for your support!!!

Welcome Back

I hope all of you had a great summer.  I enjoyed meeting each of you at "Sneak-a-Peek" . Thanks to all the families who bought a supply that was on our "wish list".

Please continue to send all notes and homework in your child's "Red Take Home Folder." Please sign or inital your child's agenda nightly.

Curricuclum Night is on Tuesday, September 2, 6:30-8:00. Mrs. Huff will be going over the new report card for 2nd grade before coming to the classroom. Then I will be going over our schedules, expectations, homewrok policy, and curriculum for second grade.

We had a great first week of school! The students enjoyed getting to know each other and second grade. They went to the computer lab and met our computer teacher, Mrs. Newhouse. They also went to art class and met the new art teacher. The students did a great job with their homework, What's in the Sack?  It was fun to see what they put in their bags and what they enjoy. On Friday, the students wrote their first letter to home. Please respond to your child's letter and send the folder back to school on Monday.  Look for the green folder, Letters To Home, on most Fridays.

The media center opened this Monday and we checked out books.  Acceralerated Reader is up and running and some of the students have already taken test.  WOW!!!!    If your child has books that they read over the summer have them bring them in or make a list so they can also take test on their summer reading.

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

August Curriculum

Math- place value- What can I do with numbers?

Reading-fiction stories, reading strategies

Writing- narrative stories

Spelling-phonics/blending sounds, suffixes, contractions

Social Studies- maps, globes, cardinal directions, " Where We L:ive" 

Writing- narrative stories

I hope everyone got my email last week. If you did not get an email from me please let me know.  If you have not already done so, please remember to go onto the Blog and subscribe, so that all Blog entries will be emailed to you automatically.

I look forward to being part of your child's learning experience in 2nd grade.