Monday Message Nov. 28, 2016

Hello and welcome back!  I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I celebrated with a small family gathering, including my 26 year old twins who travelled home for the holiday. It was very special! 

The Gift of Giving:  I hope you enjoyed the bread that your children brought home from our exciting Bread Baking project!  You can find our slide show on the left side of this blog.

A View into the Classroom:  I am also sharing with you a picture from our classroom life, specifically math stations, and our Student Teacher Taylor St. Jean.  In my last blog post (below) I have included some information about curriculum that we are studying at school these days.

Homework this week:  This is described on the back of your child's reading log.  The only new item is Spelling!  I would like students to cut their words and sort them, as they do in class, one night.  On another night, please have them choose one idea from the "Menu" as a way to study their words.  There will be a test on Friday.  They did well last week!

Reaching Out:  Last Thursday I visited Plymouth and participated in an American Indian "Day of Mourning" over the treatment of native peoples since the early settlers arrived here. It was quite moving.  In our school culture of Service Learning, I thought the children would be interested to hear about it.  If you want to learn more check out this site:
http://www.uaine.org/.

Finally, please let me know if you would like to share a family tradition with our class.  You are welcome to come into the classroom to talk with students, or have your child prepare a short presentation.  I am happy to answer any questions or talk about your ideas.

Thank you!  Have a fantastic week!
Deborah Niles

Monday Message Nov. 21, 2016

Monday Message

November 21, 2016

What’s new in Room 6?  Here is a SHORT update, since I know many of you are getting ready for your Thanksgiving preparations and/or travels!

First, I hope you read the Homework Reminders on the back of the Reading Log. There are a few important items on the “Dates to Remember”.  If you didn’t see it in your child’s folder, click here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1inPO1Vy8B9L_aOfTIJbeSWY8VowubUeZP04qqwja1Ks/edit

Most importantly, we are baking bread on Wednesday!  

If you are coming to help, please arrive by 8:30 am. If you are sending supplies, please send them in tomorrow (Tuesday). I will be setting up after my meeting (which ends at 3:30)... if anyone can come in at that time please email me!! deborah_niles@wayland.k12.ma.us.  Thank you for all your support!  Your children and I really appreciate it!

Students are wrapping up a few units this month:

• In Math we are having a test tomorrow on our Place Value unit.  This forms the foundation for our work in adding and subtracting 2- and 3- digit numbers!  As a short break from our number sense work, our next unit will be on Fractions and Time.  Please help your child by starting to talk about telling time at home.  
• In Science we have finished up our Weather Unit.  We will continue to forecast and report on the weather, however.  This should be exciting as we move into the winter months!
• In Writing we are writing and sharing our Personal Narratives.  We will be moving into our unit on Opinion Writing soon- backed up by “evidence from the text”!
• Our first Spelling Test last Friday was a big success!  Words will start coming home the week after Thanksgiving.
• Those students who have been using Raz Kids regularly will be getting a report of their progress.  If your child has not been using it once per week, please ask them to do so, or let me know if this is difficult for them for any reason.

Thanks again for all of your support at home.  I wish all of you a happy, healthy and relaxing holiday weekend, full of great food and warm hugs!

Monday Message- November 7, 2016

November 7, 2016

Good Morning!  I hope you had a great fall weekend!

Social Studies

This is such an exciting time for our country, and we are feeling it in second grade.  Our fifth graders at Happy Hollow have organized a student voting experience, which we will participate in tomorrow.  We are getting ready by reading up on the election process as well as the candidates.  

Field Trip

Our Field Trip was a big success, after many postponements.  Thank you for your flexibility, and thanks to our wonderful chaperones for their help.  Andrew Munton, Lauren Alongi, Tom McGonagal, Liane Hage, and our Student Teacher Taylor St. Jean all helped to make this a fun and informative day.  Here are a few pictures; I will be creating a slide show once I receive them all!

Halloween

I hope you had a nice holiday if you celebrate.  We had fun making Veggie Skeletons, in honor of our Harvest, in the classroom.  Here are a few pictures from the day:  Lisa Moscoffian is putting together a slide show and I will post that as well.  

Conferences

As these are winding up I am so honored to be working with you in the education of your children.  This is a very special job, and one that I don’t take lightly.  They are very special, and I appreciate all of the feedback and support you give to me and the school community.  I look forward to working on their goals and celebrating their progress!  Again if you have any questions or concerns along the way please let me know.