Polar Express Party next week, Our Nut Free Zone Classroom, and Practice Math 36 Club!

Dear Parents! 
The time seems to be flying by so quickly! I can't believe that Christmas is almost here! I wanted to send out one more blog post before Christmas break.

I just wanted to send out a reminder that our classroom is a nut free zone. We have three children in our class with nut allergies. I've noticed that several children have been bringing things with nuts or peanut butter for snack time. Please make sure that this doesn't happen any more. I'd hate to have any child not get to eat their snack because it has nuts in it, but I can't have any child getting sick from being around the nuts either. So I ask for your help and cooperation in helping our classroom stay nut free.

Did everyone see the invitation that came home today for next week's Polar Express Party? We are all so excited for this fun day. Here are some tips to help make the day run smoothly.

• Your child can wear pajamas or a robe, but make sure they are appropriate for the weather. They can be worn over regular clothing if they wish.
• The children can bring slippers to change into once they get to class and the party starts. Make sure they have good shoes to wear coming to school and going home at the end of the day.
• If your child wants to bring a pillow and a blanket, please put it in a large garbage sack with their name on it. They can also bring a stuffed animal friend but it needs to be small enough to fit in their backpack or the garbage sack. They can also bring treats to eat while watching the movie and snuggling with their animal in the afternoon.
• Please make sure your child brings a small gift, $5.00 and under, for the gift exchange. It's best if you can send something that would work for either a girl or a boy.

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One last reminder, when Christmas is over and school hasn't started back yet, please take the time to help your child practice their Math 36 club facts. There are only two children that have passed off the addition so far and I want every child to have their name placed on the Math 36 Club chart in our classroom. There are so many kids that are so close to passing off but need just a little extra practice. Let's make 2018 a great year by having everyone pass off their addition and subtraction math facts.

Halloween Information, Book Orders, Parent-Teacher Conferences and a Literacy Tips

{Happy Halloween}

I wanted to give you some information about Halloween celebrations next week. 

• Costumes:Children can come to school in their costumes. Please remember that they can not be wearing masks but can have painted faces. Also, don't bring any props that are weapons. 
• Halloween Party: The party will be at 10:00 a.m.. We're grateful for the parents that have been planning the party for the class. If you want to send any candy to contribute to the party that would be great.
• Halloween Parade: The parade will start at 2:00 p.m. If there is good weather we will parade outside around the perimeter of the school. In case of bad weather, we will parade through the gym.

{October Book Orders}

This month's Book Orders are only being done online at Scholastic.com. If you wanted to order this month you have all Saturday to go and order books. I'll not be closing the order until late Saturday, October 28th. Remember that my teacher code is HLCVM. 

Parent-Teacher Conferences will take place on November 8th and 9th. You can start signing up this coming Monday. An email will be sent out with instructions of how to sign up. This year we will be using Skyward to sign up for conferences. It's so important that you and your child come so we can discuss their progress so far in 2nd grade and celebrate their successes. 

The week of conferences will be a 4 day school week and Thursday will be a short day with no school on Friday, November 10th. 

{Literacy Tips}

Animal Report Time, Picture Day on Wednesday, October Book Report & Literacy Moment

Animal Report Time

We are studying about a variety of animals at school. We are also learning about how to read and gather information in a book or an article. We will be doing the

Animal Report here at school. I just need you to help your child get a book on an animal or print out something from the Internet on an animal and send it school. The children are very excited to get working on their reports. Many of the students said that they had a book at home they could bring or they could find one at the library. Thanks for your help with this project.

Picture Day On Wednesday October 4, 2017

Please remember that tomorrow is our school picture day. All of the children will be having their picture taken regardless if you paid or not. If you want your child's picture for home remember that you could also pay for them online as well as send the money and order to school. The pictures will be taken in the morning before lunch time.

October Book Report

The month of October is always such a busy one. I told the children it would be a good idea to get the October Book Report done and turned in before all of the fun after school October activities start happening. Remember, that any book can be read, Take Home Reading Book, books from home, or from the public library. The September Book Reports were all very good. The children read them out loud to each other and now there are so many more books that the children are interested in reading. Thanks for your support with this! 

Literacy Moment

Comprehension is a huge factor in your child becoming a better reader. They need to understand what they read. Here are some Comprehension strategies you can use as your child reads to you every day. 

Welcome to the Staley Review! Fall Festival, Spelling,Volunteering, and Take Home Reading in this post.

Welcome to the blog for my class. I hope that all of you will become followers of the blog. I hope to keep up with the blog, even though I post at my other blogs with my hobby of reviewing books online. 

Some things to think about that are upcoming soon:

{Fall Festival} 

Thursday, September 21, 4:30pm – 7:30pm
Please buy your tickets and plan on coming to Eastlake's Fall Festival.This is such a fun event every year and we raise money
for our school. I will be there helping out around 4:30 right at the beginning. Come for the fun, games, and food.

{Literacy Spotlight: Finding Right Fit Books}

{Spelling this Week}
I will be gone this Friday so I will be giving the spelling test on Thursday this week. Please have your child practice their words early on in the week so they'll be ready to take their spelling test Thursday morning. Thank you for your help with this. 



{DIBELS testing on Tuesday}
Please make sure that your child is at school on Tuesday. District people will be at Eastlake to test all students grades 1-3 on their reading skills. This test will be helpful to let us know how to help your child improve in their reading.

{Take Home Reading}

Take Home Reading Books were sent home for the first time last week. They were sent home in a gallon size baggie with a white piece of paper and your child's name on it. Please do not throw the baggie away. This is used to keep the books safe and transfer books upstairs to trade out old books for new titles. Also, make sure after your child has read the book that you, or whomever listened to the book being read, that they initial on the white paper next to the date of when the book was checked out to your child. A new book will not be sent home with your child until the paper has been signed. If a book is ever lost, you will need to send $6.00 to school to pay for the lost book before another book will be sent home with your child. I hope that this clears up any questions. Books will be traded out every Monday and Thursday.

{Volunteering-New Times Added}

Thanks to all of the volunteers that have come into the classroom and helped out. It means a lot to me and the children to have your there. I went into the September schedule and put in a few slots for the afternoon as per request from a few parents. I will also be adding more afternoon slots in October before the month starts.

Last Week of Homework,Pet Day is Friday and Field Day Too!

I wanted you to know that this week is the last week for homework and the last week for spelling! 

Can I hear some shouts of Hooray? I want the last two weeks of school to be fun as we finish up the ABC days and finish our Dinosaur Reports that we are doing at school. Make sure to turn in all work by Friday then I'll start correcting everything and putting things into Skyward for final report cards.

PET SHOW

This week is our pet week and our class's day for the Pet Show will be this Friday at 8:45. If you plan on bringing your family pet, your neighbor's pet or Grandma's pet, please send back the note with the name of the pet and what kind of animal that will be coming to visit us at school. We'll be meeting outside on the playground by the portable that is next to the bike rack (on the west side). So far I've only seen one slip come back, but I've been absent from school attending a workshop for a few days and I'll be back to school on Thursday, so if you've sent it back today, I've not seen it yet. If you have any questions, please send me an email and I'll answer them when I get home from the conference I've been attending. 

Field Day is coming soon and I'll be needing 2-3 parents that are willing to come and help me with the class out on the field. If you think you can come and help out for a few hours, please send me an email at sheila.staley@jordandistrict.org

Thanks, Ms. Staley!

RAD Kids Schedule and Volunteers Needed

Here is the schedule for RAD Kids at school from May 15th-the 26th. They need at least 2 volunteers every day of RAD Kids class from 9:00-11:00 and 5 volunteers the day of graduation on the 26th. Here is the link to go to in order to sign up to volunteer. https://www.volunteersignup.org/CJB7Y

The children will be divided into two groups Group A and Group B and then you can see what days your child will be attending RAD Kids. 

2 Week Schedule
Class		radKIDS Material
Day 1: May 15th	Group A		Day 1
Day 2: May 16th	Group B		Day 1
Day 3: May 17th	Group A		Day 2
Day 4: May 18th	Group B		Day 2
Day 5: May 19th	Group A		Day 3
Day 6: May 22nd	Group B		Day 3
Day 7: May 23rd	Group A		Day 4
Day 8: May 24th	Group B		Day 4
Day 9: May 25th	Both		Finish/Skills

***Day 10: May 26th is Graduation in the gym***

Group A:

Ford, Abe, Gavin, Madysen, Jake, Halle, Rajko, Wes, Luke, Sofia and Lexi

Group B:

Eliza, Gwen, Sebastian,Colin, Holly,Taylor,Isaac, Korbin, Reese and Hayden.

There will be a packet coming home soon that you must fill out with a permission slip or your child will not be able to attend the RAD Kid classes.

This is a wonderful program and I'm so excited that your children get this opportunity to learn important safety skills. 

Welcome Back, Pet Rocks, Rad Kids, and other fun things!

Welcome back on track! We are on the countdown to the end of the year. We have 9 more weeks of school left and a lot of learning still to do. There will still be many fun and interesting things ahead for 2nd graders.

We have started our rock unit this week. So far everyone is loving what we're learning and having fun. Please help your child find a rock about the size of a baker potato,(about 4x3 ) not too small and not too large,to bring to school. We are going to use this rock for some investigations during class and making it our pet rock. Do your best to find one that will work in class tomorrow. I told the kids about it on Monday and several have already brought them to school. We also were able to look at many varieties of igneous rocks today. I think the most popular was the Obsidian rocks. Tomorrow we'll be looking at Sedimentary and Metamorphic rocks. I love doing these engaging activities with my class. The energy in the room was amazing! 

Our turn for the Rad Kids Program will be starting on May 15th and ending with the graduation on Friday, May 26th.(Put that down on your calendar!)  The children will be split into two groups and go to Rad Kids on alternating days. They would like to have at least one or two parents come to each Rad Kids session each day to help the instructor. I will be sending home a note with your child's group and what days they will be going to Rad Kids so that way you can volunteer on the day they are attending. Our sessions will be in the mornings from 9:00-11:00. 

FUN ACTIVITIES TO COME!!

There will be more information coming soon about many other fun activities like the 2nd Grade Bike Rodeo, Character Charades, Field Trip to the Natural History Museum, and the ever popular Pet Day. So keep your eyes open for when the information will be coming home if you don't hear about it sooner from your children, who I know are already excited about many of these. 

Thanks for all that you do and still taking the time to help your child with homework and reading every day!

If you need to contact me,please remember to email me at

sheila.staley@jordandistrict.org 

Tomorrow, Book Orders and Reading Calendars, Book Reports and Upcoming Parent-Teacher Conferences

It has been a long Winter and hopefully, Spring is truly around the corner. Even so, please make sure to always send your child to school with a coat or jacket. There are still some days where it will be a bit chilly outside when the wind is blowing. Thanks for your help with this.

{Read-A-Thon} 

This has been a great Literacy Week at school as we've celebrated Dr.Seuss and his books. Tomorrow morning for 30 minutes the whole school will be dropping everything and reading. It would be helpful if you'd help your child pick out 2-3 books to bring to school tomorrow for the Read-A-Thon. If your child is reading chapter books, sending one would be a great thing! We've had fun learning new things this week about Dr.Seuss and his books. Did you know that he wrote 50 books? In 2015 a new Dr. Seuss book was published. The manuscript was found in his things and had been written before he passed away in 1991.

 Also, tomorrow is crazy hair day and wear Eastlake Spirit wear or black and red clothing. Oh, and we still have homework due, and spelling test at the beginning of our day.

 {Book Orders Due Friday, March 3rd}

 Just a quick reminder that book orders are due tomorrow. You can either send in the order form to me at school with a check, or you can order online at scholastic.com with our class code HLCVM.This will probably be the last book order before Easter and our next off-track time, so if you wanted to order some books for Easter, now's your chance. 

{February Reading Calendars 

and Book Reports} 

Please remember to turn in the February Book Reports and February reading calendars. You can still turn them in until next Monday for your child to receive the reading award and incentive if they met the month's reading goal. Remember that the school goal is for children in 2nd grade to read 20 minutes each day.

{Heads Up}  

D track's Parent-Teacher Conferences will be on 

March 22nd and 23rd. More information will be coming home soon about how to schedule your appointment to come and visit with me about your child and their progress and success in 2nd grade!