I am so sorry it's been so long since I last updated our class blog, but better late than never! We had a wonderful November and December in Room 5, with holiday activities, painting with the Junior Center, and a phenomenal holiday potluck! I would like to deliver a big "thank you" to Dana Sheanin who came in to teach the kids about Hanukkah. Also, many thanks to all of you who made such scrumptious traditional eats for our potluck!

January will be an exciting month in Room 5! We will be going on a field trip to see the Chinese Acrobats at Zellerbach Hall on January 20th, and the Marine Mammal Center will be bringing the "Whale Bus" to the MPR on January 16th. We will be continuing our science unit on Balance and Motion and will also be writing animal research reports in conjunction with our OpenCourt theme of animal camouflage. In mathematics, we will be finishing up with our money unit and then moving on to fractions. I also to plan to have the students begin literature circles with chapter books in the coming weeks.

I hope you are all having a fabulous winter vacation and Happy New Year to you all!

Love and hugs,
Mrs. Green

Hi Everyone! Sorry it's been so long since I've updated our classroom blog. The busy bees of the Room 5 Hive continue to impress me more every day with their knowledge, skills, and eagerness to learn! We are all looking forward to a fabulous Halloween parade and party tomorrow. I'd like to give a "shout-out" to all those of you who will be contributing something for the party! Thank you!

The students have been doing some amazing writing, and I hope you all get a chance to see their "Pilgrim's Day" pieces in the front hallway. They just completed their first OUSD Benchmark Assessment this week and I will review results with you when we have our conferences. I will begin to schedule conferences with you all after the Feast.

In mathematics, the students have all learned to add two digit number with regrouping, also known as "carrying". I was amazed at how fast the students grasped this new concept. We will be moving on to subtraction with regrouping soon, and I am also introducing the students to multiplication on an ongoing basis.

We have had multiple rehearsals for the upcoming Feast program and the kids are doing very well with the memorization of their speeches. We will have 2 rehearsals this coming week with the other second grade classes.

That's about all I have to say for now. I hope all of you Feast volunteers have checked out your station on the J.M. website. Please feel free to come see me with any questions you may have regarding the Feast. If you need to get into the P.T.A. shed, let me know.

Take care,
Mrs. Green

Greetings to thee and thy family! We are now in the midst of our Feast curriculum. The students have been learning about the Pilgrims' journey on the Mayflower and their daily way of life. They are also learning about the Wampanoag and their way of life. They all received their character names and speeches yesterday and were super excited! We will have our first rehearsal in our classroom on Friday afternoon, but I've told the kids they don't need to have it memorized by then. I do recommend they work on their speeches each night.

For those of you who are volunteering at the feast, I want to remind you to go to the Joaquin Miller website to check out what you need to do for your station. If your station requires you to go in to the PTA shed, let me know and we can go over there together.

In mathematics, we are working on addition with regrouping (otherwise known as carrying). We are also working on problem solving strategies and skills.

Our current OpenCourt unit them is Kindness and the students will be writing creative stories related to kindness in the coming weeks. They just recently finished their Case of the Missing Mealworm stories. Come check them out on the bulletin board outside our classroom.

In science, we are continuing to observe our mealworms. Two mealworms have now transformed into darkling beetles! We also still have milkweed bugs, which are almost all adults now.

I'd like to send a shout out to those of you who have been helping with math centers, reading/writing groups, the computer lab, the library, and Scholastic book orders. Thank you all so much for your time and effort!

I have not scheduled teacher/parent conferences yet, as I am waiting to see if I will have a day with a sub to do them. I will send an email when I have more information.

Take care,
Sara Green

Hi All! There's so much going on in Room 5 these days!
*We've been studying insects and have butterflies, mealworms, and milkweed bugs in our classroom. We even got to watch one butterfly coming out of its chrysalis!
*We're continuing our "Sharing Stories" unit in OpenCourt, and all students are welcome to bring in their favorite books this coming Friday.
*We've been learning about prefixes and suffixes, action verbs, pronouns, common and proper nouns, and the long 'a' spelling patterns.
*In math, we've been reviewing addition and subtraction strategies and place value. Ask your kids what the expanded form of 72 is!
*We've also been learning some geography skills. We've talked about cardinal and medial directions, the 7 continents and 4 oceans, and different types of landforms and bodies of water. This past week we did a U.S. map scavenger hunt for major rivers, mountain ranges, the Great Lakes, and other locations.
*The students are also finishing their first piece of writing. They wrote about an important or exciting event in their lives. They followed every step of the writing process: prewriting, drafting, revising, proofreading/editing, and publishing. I hope to have them up in the hallway soon.
*Lastly, we're finishing up the book, The Witches, which I'm sure you've heard about. We'll probably watch the movie in the near future (when the teams all reach 20 points). We'll complete venn diagrams while watching the movie to compare and contrast it to the book. Hopefully, they'll say they like the book better than the movie!

In the coming weeks, we will begin learning about the Pilgrims and Wampanoag. Remember to check out your feast station on the Joaquin Miller website if you are volunteering and check your child's backpack nightly!

Hope you've all had a lovely weekend!
Take care,
Sara

Hi All! It was so fabulous to see so many of you at Back-to-School Night this past Thursday. Thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to attend. I forgot to mention a few things...
1. The reading logs will be due each Friday.
2. A few kids have not been writing their spelling sentences for homework. They should be writing a spelling sentence for each word. I have told them this multiple times and it was in the homework letter as well.
3. If you are volunteering at the feast, you will be able to turn in receipts for reimbursement. Donations are always appreciated too!

The feast sign-ups filled up quickly. If you were unable to sign up for a station, but would still like to participate, please feel free to contact me. I will be meeting with the co-chairs soon and they will be contacting you regarding your stations.

Lastly, we still have several openings for both reading/writing groups (Thursdays at 8:30) and Math Centers (Wednesdays at 8:30). I would like to begin both of these groups as soon as possible, so please email me if you're interested.

Take care and happy weekend!
Sara Green

Hi to those of you who are checking the website! We've had another great week, albeit a HOT week! I wanted to thank you all for bringing in the supplies in such a timely manner! We no longer need 3 subject notebooks, so if you have not purchased one for your child yet, there is no need to do so. A few parents donated some extras and it is much appreciated. The time for Back-to-School Night has been set for 7:20 - 8:00 for grades K-2. It's an important night and I hope all of you can make it. You will learn more about the upcoming Thanksgiving Feast and will be able to sign up for a station of your choice. Take care, Sara

Hello Everyone! It has been a wonderful first few days and I am so excited about this new batch of kiddos! I just have a few things to share with you all. First, one of our students, Isabel, is allergic to peanuts, and there will be an informational sheet attached to next week's homework that her mother and I would like you all to read. Second, if you have not yet purchased pink erasers, please don't! I got a whole box of erasers from Ms. Obodozie. Third, the 3 subject wide ruled spiral notebooks can be purchased at Office Max and I also heard that they can be found at Rite Aid. Lastly, it is extremely hot in our classroom these days, and you may want to provide your child with a water bottle to help keep them hydrated during the day. It was 85 degrees in our room yesterday...ugh!

We are in need of jar lid donations for seed medallions to be made at the Feast (November 7th). Please don't toss those pickle and jam jar lids!! Bring them to Room 5!

I have most of the school supplies your child will need, however there are a few items I'd like you to provide if at all possible. The supplies I am requesting are: a 3 subject wide ruled spiral notebook, a folder for homework, a box of Kleenex (just one is enough), and a box of #2 pencils. Thanks in advance for your help with these supplies. I already have pencil boxes, crayons, markers, erasers, folders, gluesticks, etc. Oh, please don't buy any personal pencil sharpeners as they just make a big mess. Thanks!

I will be trying something new this year, and I'd like to tell you all about it! Our class will become a "Tribes" classroom this year. The Tribes Learning Communities curriculum was developed by several California teachers about thirty years ago. The main goal of Tribes is to use small learning groups to increase participation and peer support, and to "call forth the unique potential of every student".

The Tribes process centers around several "Community Agreements": attentive listening, appreciation/no put downs, the right to pass/the right to participate, and mutual respect. These agreements will be posted in the classroom and will be in lieu of "class rules". I encourage you to ask your child about the agreements in the weeks and months to come. Once the class has learned and understands the agreements, and we have completed multiple community-building activities, the students will be placed in small groups called "tribes". This won't happen until mid to late September, and your child will surely let you know of the exact date when we have one.

Another element of the Tribes process is the community circle. As a Tribes classroom, we will begin and end each day with a community circle. Students will learn to listen attentively and reflect on what their fellow students have to say.

Finally, you may hear your child use the term "I-Message" at some point during the school year. An I-Message is a statement of the speaker's feelings in response to the behavior of others. An I-Message does not convey judgment and is not a put-down. Notice the difference between the following examples:

You-Message: "Kim, you dummy, you're always cutting me in line!"

I-Message: "Kim, I feel angry when you cut me in line."

In conclusion, I look forward to initiating this program with the current group of students and I welcome your thoughts, questions, and input as the school year progresses. If you'd like more information on the Tribes program, please go to www.tribes.com.