Tag Archives: updates

A Few Updates…

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Hi Families,

I hope that you are enjoying this BEAUTIFUL day!!!!!!  As we prepare for a new week ahead, here are some dates/activities that you may find useful:

* If you haven’t filled out the CONFERENCE survey from Mrs. Reagan, please do so as soon as possible.  We will be scheduling conferences on Thursday and then sending home your child’s conference time :).

* The TURKEY TROT is TUESDAY!

* Fall/Halloween Party – Wednesday, October 31 from 12:45 – 1:45.  MANY THANKS to the parents that are providing supplies for the party.  Everyone is welcome to join us.  The children should bring their costume along to school in a plastic bag.  They will be able to change into them at 12:40 to prepare for our fun together.  Please keep in mind that  plastic weapons are not allowed at school.  Also, we prefer to have the kiddos refrain from scary masks.  Thanks for your understanding and your support!

 

Updates for September 24, 2012

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In just three short weeks, it is amazing to reflect on all of wonderful small moments we have shared already as a second grade family!    The kiddos are adapting into our daily routine very nicely and we are looking forward to a fun week ahead.  Here are a few things to keep in mind this week:

* WALK A THON – Wednesday September 26: 10:20 – 11:00  WE WOULD LOVE TO HAVE YOU JOIN US!

* WALK A THON money due on Friday September 28.

* FUN FEST NIGHT (Eagles Stadium)  – Friday September 28:  4:30 – 7:00.  Come and dunk Mr. Jurewicz, Mr. Kookier and Mrs. Burdis

*  Reading Counts will be starting October 1.  Look for details to follow later in the week.

*  We will visit the library on Friday for the first time as second graders 🙂

Looking forward to another great week :).  Make sure to check the blog for updates pertaining to our instruction, our second graders are working so hard!

 

Updates for the Week Ahead

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Hi Families,

Here are a few things to keep in mind as we start a new week together:

* Homework Packet #1 is due TOMORROW SEPTEMBER 17, 2012. If homework is returned on time, children receive an extra penny… WOOHOO!!!!

* PICTURE DAY IS TOMORROW SEPTEMBER 17 in the morning

* Do you have any extra decks of cards around your house? We would LOVE to have them here at school for further math practice and games 🙂.

*  Our second graders will also begin handwriting this week…. WOOHOOOO!!!!!

*  Addition and subtraction strategies continue to be our focus in math and any extra practice you can provide your child at home is helpful.   There are many games linked on our blog that provide a great way to practice using +/- strategies.

Here’s to another FABULOUS week!!!!

Mrs. Kuieck

Updates for the LAST WEEK of School :(

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Families,

I am having a hard time realizing that it is the last week of school!!!!    This is a bittersweet week for me…  my second grade babies that have become part of my life are moving on to third grade and all of the summer fun!   They are ALL so very special to me, and it is hard to say goodbye.  So….. for now we are going to enjoy the last few days together and treasure up a few more memories :).

Important Things To Note:

*  Please send in a paper or plastic bag to school on Tuesday as we will be sending home lots of goodies :).

*  2/3 Field Day is on THURSDAY JUNE 7.  We will be outside for the majority of the day, so please dress your child for the weather and lather up with sunscreen.  Also, please send in a water bottle labeled with their name.    We will be having a normal lunch schedule that day.  We would love to have you stop by and check out the fun!

*  Last Day of second grade is on FRIDAY JUNE 8.  We will be celebrating by eating our lunches outside at 11:40 and having an extra long recess.  You are welcome to come and join us if you would like.

 

Here are some things we are working on as our last week as second graders:

Writer’s Workshop:  This week we will be writing letters to third grade students and asking any questions that we about moving up.   The third graders will write back to us and then we will visit a third grade classroom on Friday morning.

 

Daily 5:  We have been learning how to keep a Reading Journal containing our thoughts, connections, inferences, questions and retelling of books we have read.   We will be sending these home on Wednesday with a challenge for our second graders.   If children continue to use their reading journals throughout the summer and turn it in in the fall, they will earn a sweet treat from me :)!   They have all worked SO hard this year, continuing the reading routine this summer will be SO beneficial!

 

Math:   We have wrapped up our study of beginning multiplication, division and fractions.  This week we will be concentrating on reviewing key concepts from this year and also answering questions in MEAP format.

 

Social Studies:   This week we will conclude our study of the history of Hudsonville.  We have learned so many things already!!!  Did you know that area that we now know as Hudsonville was thought to be wasted land because it was so wet and wooded?  Our ancestors from the Netherlands knew exactly how to care for wetland and turned it into  bountiful farmland.   Hudsonville was even nicknamed The Celery City.

 

Here’s to a GREAT week ahead!!!

Mrs. Kuieck

Updates for May 21, 2012

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It is hard to come to  the realization that there are only 13 1/2 days of school left!   I am not ready to let my little sweeties go quite yet.  We had a great week together celebrating JUST WRITE, meeting our Liverpool friends Miss McDermott, a visit to Pell Greenhouses and wonderful weather….. YEAH!    We have loads of learning and fun adventures ahead so buckle up :).

DATES TO KEEP IN MIND:

* FRIDAY MAY 25 – Last Day of Library ( NO BOOK CHECKOUTS, JUST RETURNS)

*  MONDAY MAY 28 – No School: Memorial Day

*  JUNE 8 –  2/3 Field Day ( More details to follow)

*  JUNE 9 – DISMISSAL AT 12:50  We will be eating lunch at school, you are more than welcome to join us.  I will let you know the exact time as we get closer.

* THIS WEEK WILL BE THE LAST WEEK OF HOMEWORK :)!

 

Writer’s Workshop:   Each of the children planned, constructed and edited their own piece for our spring assessment.    It was wonderful to see them use all of the strategies that we have learned this year and put it altogether on their own.   This week we will be concentrating on grammar and mechanics, specifically ending punctuation and adding word endings ( -ing, -ed, -s) following our various “rules”.

 

Daily 5:    By the end of this week, I hope to be completely finished with end of the year reading assessments.   This is a great time of year to reflect on all of the growth the children have made!  This week, we will be analyzing non-fiction text and creating Reading Counts type questions for another second grade classroom to answer.  I am sure this will be a hit!   It not only will be fun, but the kids will be using their knowledge of comprehension strategies.

 

Word Study:   We will be reviewing ALL of the words we have learned this year.

 

Math:  Last week we experimented with the opposite of multiplication, division.  We approach division as equal shares or repeated subtraction.  This topic is covered at a very basic level.   A BIG area of our concentration in the next week or so will be fractions.   To practice at home, here are a few apps that we will be learning here at school and that you can purchase/download on your device at home:   PIZZA FRACTIONS and  CANDY FACTORY.

I will also be adding links to other websites that provide further practice under the MATH PRACTICE LINKS.

 

Science:    This week we will be wrapping up our unit on plants, including understanding the job of each of the plant parts as well as the life cycle.  Look for a study guide to come home on Thursday.

 

Have a great week!

Mrs. Kuieck 🙂

Updates for May 14, 2012

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WOOHOOO……  This week is going to be full of adventures.  Please note these events:

*  FIELD TRIP TOMORROW MAY 14:  PLEASE BRING A LUNCH FROM HOME

*  SECOND GRADE JUST WRITE CELEBRATION:  Thursday May 17 12:45 – 1:30.  Parents are invited to share in this celebration with their children.  We would love to have a special guest for each one of our second graders.  Please let me know if your child will NOT have a special guest coming.

*  We will be having a student teacher from Hope/Liverpool University in England as a guest in our classroom this coming week.   This is a great opportunity for children to learn about education in other countries as well as appreciate differences in communities.

*  We will begin typing classes daily starting this week……. YEAH!!!!!

 

Writing:  This week we will be doing our end of the year writing assessments.  I am so proud of our little writers!!!!!!

 

Daily 5:  I continue to be amazed at the progress each one of the students has made in the area of reading….  little pumpkins!!!!   We are continuing to apply our comprehension strategies to various text and reviewing decoding strategies.

 

Word Study:  Ready for some sad news?  This week is our last week of new spelling words 🙂  I know, dry your tears.

Our words are:  last,  never,  us,  left,   end

 

Math:   Here is our new buzz word… MULTIPLICATION!  The kids are very excited about this new venture.  Our goal in second grade is to expose the children to multiplication in concrete ways included count bys, groups and arrays.   We will also be talking about fractions towards the end of the week.

 

Have a great week!!!!!

Mrs. Kuieck 🙂

 

Updates for May 7, 2012

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We had an absolutely AMAZING day on Friday, supporting Spencer Meyer in the FUN RUN!!!!   Thanks again for all of the your support.    This week is filled with many fun learning adventures.

 

Writer’s Workshop:   The boys and girls have learned the strategy of thinking of a special person, feeling or place and then remembering ALL of the small moments surrounding that topic.  We created MANY ideas and were able to plan out our stories and begin writing them down.  This week we will be using an organizer to guide our stories to ensure that we have an exciting lead, juicy details and a fabulous ending.  Being careful to include dialogue, feelings and similes will also leave an impression on our readers.

 

Daily 5:  I have one word for my little readers…. WOW!   I have begun end of the year assessments and am completely thrilled with each of their progress.   This week we will be continuing to look at fiction and non fiction text and using strategies to answer comprehension questions.   LAST DAY FOR RC IS MAY 11.   A report will be coming home TODAY containing your child’s progress towards their goal.

 

Math:    EXCITING NEWS!!!!!  This week we are beginning of study of multiplication concepts… WOOHOOO!!!  We will begin with a study of multiples and count bys as we transition to the abstract task.  The kids are always so very excited about this new adventure.   Please check out this parent letter.

Word Study:   Our words for this week are ( UNIT 26):  line, set, own, under, read

Science:   We have finished our Earth’s Land and Water Unit and will be beginning a study of plant life.  We have a few websites linked on our blog that provide fun ways to learn about plants.  You can find them under the science tab on the right hand side of the screen.   Brenda Raterink from MSU Agriculture will be coming in to talk with us about plants on Wednesday.  We also have a field trip next week Monday to PELL GREENHOUSES….. YEAH!

Here’s to a great week ahead!

Mrs. Kuieck

Updates for April 30, 2012

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Well… I am VERY excited to be back with my kiddos tomorrow!!!  We had a nasty chest infection in our house last week and we are FINALLY making our way back to healthy :).

We have a BUSY schedule schedule this week, with lots of learning adventures and fun activities.

 

Writer’s Workshop:   We are a little behind from last week, so we will be wrapping up our study of reviews on Tuesday with a celebration… YEAH!!!  We will then be refreshing our memories in the area of small moment writing ( personal narrative stories) in preparation for our end of the year writing “assessment”.  It is truly amazing how much each of the children has grown as a writer.

 

Daily 5:  This week we will be looking at various non fiction texts and using a few of the comprehension strategies that we have learned to answer questions about the text.  I will also be starting end of the year reading assessments ( HARD TO BELIEVE!!!!!).  Through informal conferences that I have had with children, I am thrilled with their growth and can’t wait to marvel at their reading!

 

Math:   Our topic of study will be triple digit addition and subtraction problems.  This will require quick recall of both + and – facts.  Any extra practice that you could provide at home would be helpful.  Here are a few apps that are available for the ipod touch and iphone that are fun for the kids and GOOD for them :):

* SPEEDO MATH  ( FREE)

* ARITHMETIC INVADERS  ( FREE)

 

Science:  We will spend a few days this week reviewing how water moves through various  landforms and bodies of water.  Our assessment will be on Thursday.  Look for a study guide to come home on Wednesday.   Our next unit of study will be PLANTS… YEAH!!!!

 

Word Study:   After this week, we only have TWO new word lists…. I know, try not to shed a tear :).

Here are our words for this week ( Unit 25):   should, give, big, air, home 

 

Also, we will be participating in the TEAM SPENCER FUN RUN on Friday May 4.  Please remember to wear orange and bring any donations that you have for the Meyer family to school by Friday…… WOOHOOO!!!

Here’s to a great week!!!

Mrs. Kuieck 🙂

 

Updates for April 23, 2012

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Hi Families!!!!!

This week is an important week!   To show our support for Spencer Meyer and all those with leukemia, we will be wearing ORANGE on MONDAY and on FRIDAY.   Thank you so much for  your continued support for our Georgetown family.

I am so proud of our second graders!  They are working hard and applying themselves in every academic area……. keep it up my friends!!!!  Here are some things that they have been up to:

 

Writing:  REVIEWS, REVIEWS, REVIEWS!!!!!   We have turned our classroom into a reviewer room.  Children are using strategies to construct a review leaving a meaningful impression on their readers, including interviews, leads, endings and detailed categories.  We will celebrate our work together on Friday with a writer’s celebration.

 

Daily 5:  This week we have been looking at different kinds of text and using comprehension strategies to answer various types of questions.  As a class, we have come up with some test taking strategies that could help us when we take formal reading tests.  These strategies include: 1.  Read the questions before reading the text.  2.  Try to read all of the text, no matter what it looks like.  3.  Use the process of elimination when answering questions to discover the answer that makes the most sense.  4.  Go back and reread the text to reveal the answer.

 

Science:  This week we will be wrapping up our study of Earth’s landforms and bodies of water.  Children have experimented with a “special” material to draw different landforms including mountains, plains, plateaus, hills, islands and peninsulas :).

Math:  We have begun a unit of place value and representing numbers in different ways.  This will be preparing us for three digit addition later in the week.  Below please find information pertaining to this unit of study.

Have a wonderful week :)!

Mrs. Kuieck

 

 

 

Updates for April 16, 2012

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Hi Families,

As the year continues to fly by, we are busily diving into our learning and getting ready for third grade (it is going to be hard to part with my little honeys!).    PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make sure to check our blog as well as the school blog for information pertaining to our busy spring schedule.

Here are a few tidbits regarding our studies….

Writer’s Workshop:  The boys and girls are writing reviews for various things including movies, restaurants, tourist attractions, video games and books.  We are focusing our reviews into three sections:  the introduction, THE MEAT ( concentrating on describing categories of importance including what it is like, who is it meant for, interviews and background information) and then a conclusion/rating.  I am amazed at the quality work that the children continue to put forth each and every.  We are REALLY concentrating on using punctuation at the end of sentences as well as beginning sentences with a capital letter.   Each of the reviews the children write will be compiled into their own book of personal reviews.

 

Daily  5:    Our focus for this past week has been comprehension, or understanding of text that we read.  One way that we have practiced this is by working with a partner and using The Question Spinner.  Through this process the children are asked their opinion, predictions of the story they read, descriptions of key events and/or recommendations.  This has also been a great opportunity to work on appreciating and respecting others while they are speaking.    This week we will be beginning a unit that will help us when answering questions about a piece of narrative text.  As the students prepare to take the MEAP for the first time in the fall, we want them to become familiar with multiple choice questions and be able to utilize test taking strategies.

 

Word Study:  Here are the words that we will be focusing on this week:   great, tell, men, small, say  ( Unit 23).  Make sure to visit the WORD STUDY link to practice these words online.

 

Math:  We will be wrapping up our unit on two and three digit subtraction with regrouping this week Wednesday with an assessment.  Please look for homework coming home tomorrow that will allow for a review of these concepts.

 

Science:  What a bunch of amazing scientists we have!!!!   On Friday we concluded our study of the properties of matter and WOW…… the kids had a blast doing all of our experiments!   This week we will enter into a study of Earth’s land and water with a study of landforms and bodies of water.   Check out this site for information about some of the earth’s landforms…. LANDFORMS.

 

Continue reading for 20 minutes each night, it makes such a difference in the reading lives of our children :).

Have a great week!

Mrs. Kuieck