A Great Start!

We have had a great start to our year! Students are remembering to fill each other's buckets and are working hard every day to move their clip up. This week students learned about the weather in science, counting up and back to solve addition and subtraction problems in math, and enjoyed reading our weekly story. Next week in math, students will learn how to work through word problems. We will be reading one of my favorite stories, Mr. Putter and Tabby Pour the Tea, and in science, we will be looking at how weather affects people and animals. We will continue to practice our classroom and school rules and we will continue to go over expectations. I was so proud of my students today during a spelling game. When classmates got out, many students said, "Nice try!" and "It's okay!" I'm so happy to have a class full of encouraging, kind students! Students have also been great about turning in homework. Here's our homework schedule: Mon- Math, Spelling, Tues- Math, Spelling, Wed- Read 10 minutes, Spelling, Thurs- Math, Spelling. Math is due the next day and the entire spelling packet is due on Friday. Students will also have a spelling test and comprehension test on Fridays.

We are working as a grade level team to determine the needs of our students. As we work with them and pre-assess them, we will group students accordingly to meet individual needs in the classroom. I know all students learn in different ways and on different levels. I will work hard this year to help every student move forward!

A student in the education program at NKU will be joining us starting next week a couple days a week! I'm excited to have extra hands in the classroom, and I know students will love to have another friendly face around.

Thank you so much to parents willing to volunteer! It's amazing to me the difference a little extra help can make! I appreciate it so much!!

Please work with your child on continuing to follow classroom expectations and rules, specifically not talking while I am talking. I know it will be a process, and we will continue to practice following expectations daily.

Thanks for working with me this year! I know it's going to be a great one!

Mrs. Zink

Welcome to the 2012-2013 school year!!

It was so wonderful getting to meet such amazing students and parents last night at Ready-Fest!! I am looking foward to a great year, and I'm excited for all of the wonderful things that will happen in second grade! There are some changes taking place that will help to make our year even better!

This year, we will be talking about bucket-fillers. Bucket fillers are those who say and do things to build others up. When you do those things, it also fills your own bucket. Bucket dippers are those who say and do unkind things to others. Those people have empty buckets. Each student has a bucket that they will be able to fill when they do something kind for someone else. They can also fill someone's bucket by writing them a kind note. So here is to having all of our buckets full! We will be having an assembly on the first day of school to introduce these ideas to students.

Also new this year is our behavior clip chart. Every morning, students start on the green, ready to learn. Throughout the day, they have the change to move up towards super students, or down to teacher's choice or parent contact. This system allows for students to redeem themselves through the day if they have to clip down in the beginning of the day for some reason. Class rewards will be given to those who repeatedly have great days! Both the fill the bucket and clip chart are school-wide, which will make it nice if students switch to a different class for reading or math time during the day. Consistency is a great thing!

I am going to try my best to keep this blog current this year with the latest news and updates from our classroom, as well as what we are learning. Here's to a wonderful year!! Let's make the most of it!! Can't wait to see all of my students on Wednesday!! Enjoy these last few days of summer break, but look foward to an awesome year!

Happy Friday

We had another great week! We earned the compliment trophy by having 41 compliments last week! There was some great learning going on this week too! In science, students learned about the properties of objects and even made their own objects out of different materials. They made posters describing all of the properties of their objects. Groups made a marshmallow forest and skyscraper! In math, students were able to use arrays and repeated addition to find the total number of objects.

Students have been doing great about doing and turning in their homework! Keep up the great work!

Here is a fun website for students to practice their addition facts: Addition Baseball

http://http//www.prongo.com/math/addition.html

Next week, students will be learning about subtraction within 100, the government, and irregular plural nouns.

Week Full of Fun

We had such fun this week learning about firefighters and fire safety. Students enjoyed a visit from Fireman Joe and learned how to prevent fires and what to do in case of one. We read several books on firefighters and other community helpers. In math, students reviewed addition strategies, made several fact families, and played math games on our Smartboard.

Our class earned close to 30 compliments this week for helping others, using manners, and following classroom and school rules! We are hoping to earn the trophy!

Next week, students will be reading about a special school, practicing addition to 1,000, and studying American symbols and patriotism!

After a great week, have a great weekend!

A Great Start!

We had a great first few days of school! It was a lot of fun getting to know students and seeing them enjoy getting to know each other. We already practiced our classroom rules, learned how to use the awesome SMARTboard, read some fantastic books, practiced skip counting, celebrated two birthdays, and earned 12 classroom compliments! This week, we are jumping into reading, writing, math, and science! Daily homework will begin Monday. Let's make it an awesome week!

Thanks!

Thanks to all the students and parents who came to Readi-Fest tonight! There was a great turn out. It was so great meeting everyone! I must say, I have one SPECTACULAR class! The decorated cut-outs for the bulletin board turned out great. I have some real artists on my hand! Also, thanks to parents for volunteering to bring in additional supplies for our classroom! It is very much appreciated! Enjoy these last few beautiful days of summer break!

Three Cheers for a New School Year!

Welcome Parents, Guardians, and Students!

I am so excited to start a new school year with you! We are going to have a great time learning and exploring together! The first week of school we will be going over routines, getting to know each other, and adjusting to a new year. We will look at classroom and school expectations and we will jump into reading and math. Below are a few items of importance to help make this year successful.

Behavior Expectations

1. Respect others, yourself, and school and personal property.

2. Be kind with your words and in your actions.

3. Follow directions.

4. Listen carefully.

5. Work quietly. Do not disturb others who are working.

6. Work and play safely

Color Change System

Purple- Awesome Day!!

Green- Good Day!

Yellow- Warning

Orange- Note home

Red- Call home

*Students on purple at the end of the day will receive a treat. Students who remained on green or purple all week will be able to participate in 10 minutes of reward time on Fridays.

Homework Cards

Students will get stamps on a homework card for doing homework and having their planners signed each night. They will also get a free stamp when they have a "purple" day. On Fridays, students with 10-15 stamps may choose a reward pass.

Compliment Cards

Earn a compliment card for using manners, helping a friend, or doing your very best. One name will be drawn each day for a treat.

Class Compliments

Earn class compliments from me or other adults. Fill the party jar with compliments to earn a class party.

Homework

A Spelling/ Reading Packet will go home each Monday to be completed and turned in on Fridays. There will be an assignment for each day. Math skill reviews will be sent home each day and is expected to be turned in the next school day. There will be no homework on Fridays. All homework sent home will be practice of skills taught in the classroom that week. Check out the homework page for additional information on more specific homework assignments.

Supply List:

*2 packs of pencils

*Crayons

*Markers

*Scissors

*2 Glue Sticks

*1 Block Eraser

*1 Spiral Notebook

*1 Two-Pocket Folder

*1 Zippered pencil bag

Daily Schedule

8:15-9:00 Daily Language and Math Review, Journal Entries

9:00-10:30 Reading (RTI Switch)

10:30-11:05 Writing

11:05-11:25 Organized Physical Activity

11:25-11:45 Read Aloud

11:45-12:10 Lunch

12:10-1:40 Math

1:40-2:10 Science/ Social Studies

2:10-3:00 Specials (M-Art, T-Library, W-Music, Th-P.E.(gym shoes required), F-Computer)

3:05-3:26 End of day review

3:26 Dismissal

Zink Link

Weekly newsletter is sent home on Fridays in Friday Folder. Students will return empty Friday Folders on Monday.

Star of the Week

Star of the Week will be announced in The Zink Link. On Mondays they will share pictures from home, Tuesday read their favorite book, Wednesday show and tell about something that is important to them, Thursday they are the teacher helper, and on Friday they may share a store bought snack (optional)

We are going to have a blast this year. I'm so glad you are a part of it! Three cheers for a new school year: Hip, hip, hooray!!