New blog

Hello, all!

As many of you know, I got married this past summer. With that comes a new last name. Which means a new blog!


I will now be Mrs. Daniel, so you can find new updates and such at

teachingmrsdaniel.blogspot.com/


Hope you all had a great summer!

5/26/2015

I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend. The Engneering Expo was a blast.  The students loved showing off their work.  Thank You parents for supporting us and your kids.

 

  We have only a couple more weeks of school.  We want to finish strong.  We wil be reviewing problem and solution in Reading, and stepping up to 3rd grade in Math to prepare our students for next year. 

 

The last day of school is June 5th.  It is a half day.  Enjoy the rest of the week and stay dry.

14 days left!

 

 We have quite a busy week this week! First, parent conferences are this week!  Make sure you have a time scheduled to meet with your child’s teacher!  We cannot wait to share all of the wonderful things your child has done this year and the progress they have made!

Also, we have our Engineering Expo on Thursday, May 21^st!  Your kids have been working so hard on their projects and can’t wait to show off what they have learned and what they have made!  Please join us from 1:00-2:30 as our students present their projects.

This week we are continuing with our Step Up to Grade 3 in math as we prepare your children for 3^rd grade level math.  We are working hard on our engineering projects in IC!  In reading, we are reading the story “Pushing Up The Sky” and are working on problem/solution.

MAP testing and TPRI testing are wrapping up and we are ready for a great last 3 weeks of school! A few important dates coming up are:

May 22: This was originally a student holiday, but because of snow days earlier in the year, we DO have school on Friday, May 22!

May 25: Memorial Day-NO SCHOOL!

June 2-3: Maker Space Camp at school

June 4: Assemblies and Class Parties

June 5: Last Day of School!

 

Have a great week!

Important dates coming up

We are down to our final month of school and there are many special events to tell you about this week.

Today, Tuesday, May 12 is STAAR Retake/ Retest day.  Visitors are not allowed in the building today.

Please return all library books to the school library.  They are beginning their end of year audit.

This Friday, May 15^th is the School Dance from 6:00-7:30 p.m.  Parents are expected to attend the dance with their children. 

In second grade we are MAP Math testing this week (May 11-15).

Next week, May 18-22^nd, all second grade teachers are conferencing with parents.  Make sure you schedule an appointment with your teacher.

Mrs. Nachman- May 18

Ms. Cantu- May 19

Mrs. Middlebrooks- May20

Ms. Bradley- May 20

Ms. Flusche- May 22

The Engineering Expo is on May 21^st, 2015

Parents are encouraged to attend and see “where ideas become the next big thing.”

Come celebrate with us, our student accomplishments.

1:00-2:30    Kindergarten, 1^st, & 2^nd Presentations

8:00-10:30   3rd, 4^th, & 5^th Presentations

 

5 Weeks left!

Hi Parents!

We officially have 5 weeks left until summer! These next couple of weeks we will be doing a lot of testing in second grade. We have reading MAP this week and math MAP next week.

This week in math: We are working towards getting the students ready for third grade. We are spiraling back around and covering topics from the beginning of the year like place value, adding and subtracting in the hundreds place, and number sense.

In Reading this week: We are working on comparing and contrasting as well as problem and solution. However, our main focus is the MAP test. Please make sure that they are getting a good night sleep and having a good breakfast.

In other news, our last parent newsletter went home on Monday. Keep an eye on the dates as we have lots of fun and important things coming up at the end of the year!

Also, we had a great time in the learning commons last week doing language arts stations. I loved how engaged and excited they were.

 

MAP Dates and End of Year Parent Conferences

 

 

 

For those wanting to sign up for Parent Conferences, here is the link! I will send this in an email in a couple of days.

 

www.SignUpGenius.com/go/20F0F4AADAB2EAAF49-endofyear



Field Trip TOMORROW!

Hi Parents!

Tomorrow is our first and only field trip in 2^nd grade! We will be going to the outdoor learning center. If your child is in Mrs. Nachman or Ms. Cantu’s class, then they will be leaving around 9:15. If your child is in Ms. Bradley, Ms. Flusche, or Mrs. Middlebrooks class, they will be leaving at 11:15.

 

Please have you child wear jeans and old tennis shoes tomorrow. Since it has been raining the past two days, we suggest to bring a rain coat or parka if able. Please no umbrella as they will be tough to manage.

 

As the trails will be VERY muddy, please have an extra pair of shoes that the kiddos can wear when they get back to school.

Thank you very much, and we look forward to our trip tomorrow!

Live Food Chain Lesson Provided by the Outdoor Learning Center

 

Second graders immersed themselves this last two weeks in researching all about insects and animals.  They learned about life cycles and adaptations made by their animal/ insect to survive.   They selected three interesting facts about their animal and insect to share in their reports.  They drew scientific labeled pictures to identify body parts of their insect and their drawings of the animal included it’s habitat. 

 

Our studies on insects and animals concluded with a live food chain lesson provided by the Outdoor Learning Center education staff.  The entire grade level experienced a lesson in the Christie Learning Commons that they will never forget.  The sun transfers energy to the plants which are producers and then the consumers take over the remainder of the food chain.  This is when the lesson really grabbed the student’s attention.  Live hissing cockroaches were the first consumer introduced that feed on grass.  They were followed by a toad that eats the cockroaches and then a type of lizard that changes color who feasts on the toad.  Next to be introduced, in the same live fashion, was the snake, who was afraid of the noise and tried to hide up the sleeve of the presenter.  The final consumer in the food chain was a live baby alligator.  No animals were harmed during this lesson; however, it’s my opinion that the students will never forget what they learned and witnessed today at Christie Elementary School.

Open house and Field Trip Information

HI parents!

Welcome Back from Spring Break! I hope you had a restful week and a ready to come back.

We, as teachers, have seen so much growth, not only in academics but height! They are getting so big and starting to act like 3^rd graders now.

This week is open house. It will be on Thursday March 19^th from 6:00 to 7:30.  We look forward to seeing you there.

Our field trip is coming up fast, as it will be on April 15^th. If you would like to volunteer, please contact your child’s teacher by March 27^th as there is paperwork that needs to be completed. We would love volunteers! Look for information that will come home soon.

This week in science we are learning about plants. This would be a great week to take a stroll through a garden and have your child tell you what they’ve learned.

In math, we are currently working on measurement. Our focus this week is on inches, feet, and yards.

In reading we are continuing to work on summarizing and drawing conclusions.

President's Day Week

Hi Parents!

I hope you are having a great 3 day weekend. We had a wonderful Friendship party this past Friday. Thanks to all the parents who came by or donated food to the party.

This upcoming week, students will be working on an engineering unit. Students will complete 3 of these engineering units this year. These units will teach students about the engineering career path, as well as the Engineering Design Process. This week's Engineering unit will have to do with membranes and skin.

Last week we finished our math unit on geometry. To celebrate it, we created bubble wands out of 3D shapes.   We used our knowledge of vertices and edges to create cubes and pyramids. It made for a very fun afternoon.

This upcoming week we will be starting our venture on time. Please work with your student at home on telling time.

Parent Conferences and Fractions

Hi Parents!

We have had a wonderful two weeks back to school. We have been focusing hard on fractions. Starting this we, we are going to change our focus to geometry and shapes.

 

In reading we are focusing on cause and effect. However, the main thing we are doing is our TPRI test which is the reading test I give to the students at the beginning, middle, and end of the year. I can’t wait to share the results at our parent conferences!

 

Speaking of parent conferences, I am trying something new with the sign up .Next week I will email this link out to everyone, but for now readersof this blog get first dibs. Please use the link below to sign up for one of the times I have listed.

www.SignUpGenius.com/go/20F0F4AADAB2EAAF49-middle

MLK week

Reminder: NO SCHOOL ON MONDAY, time to celebrate MLK

 

 

We're off to a great year and your kids are learning about so many things.

 

In Language Arts we've been learning about cause and effect and main idea. When your child

reads, take a minute when their done and ask them what happened in the story and what was the effect of that event. Or ask them what was the "Main Idea" of the book/story.

 

In Math we are learning about fractions and the kids are getting it. The students appear to like fractions. We have covered halves, fourths, eighths, and whole parts.

 

In IC we wrapped up patriotism with several videos of the kids singing patriotic songs. The songs will be aired on the morning announcements as time permits.

Our new unit is about our government. Your student is learning about our local, state and federal government.

Thanks for keeping up with your kids through our second grade blog.

Also, my conferences will be on February 6th, please look out for a link to schedule conferences or a paper going home.

Welcome Back!!

Hi Parents!

I hope that you had a wonderful time with your students on break. I missed them!

Please remember to send students to school with a coat. It’s going to be very cold for the next couple of months. Also, snack would be very much appreciated. 7:00 to 12:30 is a long time to go without any food.

In math this week we are focusing on fractions! Keep an eye out for things that are cut into halves, fourths, and eighths and have you child identify what fraction it is.

In reading we are working on cause and effect. Keep up with those reading logs! You can have your child write about something that happened during the day. Then have them write what was the cause and what was the effect.

No tutoring this week!

Tutoring will start on the 20^th of January and last until 4:30.