Important Blog Post about Turkey Trot, Math 36 Club, Christmas Book Orders & Other Things! :)

Sorry, this first blog post is so late coming. I can't believe how busy this year has been so far. There is a lot of information that I wanted to relay to you.

1.Turkey Trot 

The annual 2nd grade Turkey trot will be next Tuesday, November 26th at 3:15 p.m. BTW, next Tuesday will be a full day of school before Thanksgiving Break. We will be trotting through the hallways in our Turkey Hats with our little turkeys' Gobbling! You can watch our parade from any of the hallways but more space will be available in the school entryway.

2. Math 36 Club

I hope that all of my students are excited to get practicing their math facts and joining the Math 36 club. If your child practices every night for 5 or 10 minutes this will help them so much! We have parents now coming that will be testing the students weekly. 

3. No Poke'mon Cards

 

I wanted to make sure that you knew that the students may not bring Poke'mon cards to schools. There have been many problems with fighting amongst students and cards being stolen, so the rule is to not bring them to school at all. Please help us with this by making sure your child is not bringing their cards to school.

4.Polar Express Party: Looking Ahead

The BEST party of the year is coming up in December!!

The Polar Express party will be on Tuesday, Dec. 17th, 2019. I know the kids are getting very excited and more information will be coming home soon. Laura Alvord is the mom that will be in charge of this party. She will have the sheet that many of you signed up on in August to help with the party. If you don't remember if you signed up or didn't get a chance to sign up, please email Laura here

@alvord.laura@gmail.com.

5.Scholastic Book Orders

The book order forms for Scholastic came home today in your child's Take Home Folder. This is the BIGGEST book order of the year. Just as I said in the note attached to the forms, if you want to order books for Christmas for your child, PLEASE let me know ahead of time whether you send the order to school or order them online. I will secretly keep the books in my closet until you want to come and pick them up. Every year parents take advantage of this sweet deal that I love getting to help you with.

6.Weather

Whether we like it or not, Winter is heading our way. This week starting on Wednesday, the weather will be getting chilly again. Please make sure that your child comes to school with a warm coat, hat, and mittens. If the temperature permits we really like to let the students go outside at recess time but I want to see them dressed appropriately. I hate to see kids coming in so cold after recess. Thanks for your help with this!

That's all for now! Sorry, this was so long and I hope to be able to keep up with this for the rest of the year. Most nights I spend correcting and entering grades in several places(Mastery Connect and Skyward etc.) I'd much rather be making these fun blog posts. Thanks for your support and for working with me to help your child succeed this year! Remember that you can always reach me at sheila.staley@jordandistrict.org

 

Polar Express Christmas Party, Christmas Book Orders, & Keep Reading!

Dear Parents! 

The time seems to be flying by so quickly! December is almost here! We are finishing the 15th week of school and we have made such great progress. Let's keep helping all children continue to learn through this busy holiday season. Make sure that your child continues to read every night/day or do the Lexia computer program for 20 minutes a day. Remember that doing Lexia will count on the monthly reading charts for the BOOK-IT reading program.

-November Book Report is due 

tomorrow: Nov. 30th.

JUST A REMINDER:

Christmas Book Orders are due tomorrow if you are planning on sending the order to school. If you plan to order books online, you can do that through Saturday evening(Dec.1st) at scholastic.com/bookclubs

You can order from the Nov. or Dec. book order forms. If you are ordering gifts, please send me an email and I won't send the books home with your child when they come in. I'll keep them in my closet until you can arrange a time to pick them up. Remember my special teacher code at scholastic is: HLCVM

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 children getting sick from being around the nuts either. So I ask for your help and cooperation in helping our classroom stay nut free.

Guess what is coming soon on Dec. 19th? 

Ms. Staley's Annual Polar Express Party!!!

We need more parent volunteers to help us that day or this party doesn't work well. Tara Ashby, Crew's mom, is leading this fun party for us but needs more parent volunteers or people to bring things. If you are willing to help, please e-mail Tara @ bluishandco@gmail.com

 We are all so excited for this fun day. Here are some tips to help make the day run smoothly. I'll send out a reminder email a few days before the party too.

• 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 bag 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 bag. 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 so many kids that are so close to passing off addition, but need just a little extra practice. Let's make 2019 a great year by having everyone pass off their addition and subtraction math facts.

More Information for Parents: Book Orders...Take Home Reading...New Incentive Program at School

Believe it or not? Here's another blog post! Hopefully this one won't be as long.

I sent October Book orders home on Friday. They are due this Friday, October 12th. If you send the order back to school, please don't send cash. It's truly easier to order your books online at scholastic.com. I want to get the order sent off this weekend so any Halloween books you order will be back in time for Halloween. When you order books, we get free books for our classroom. Thanks!

At school we've been trying to work really hard at not talking so much during work time. I've told the children we can whisper to our neighbors, but not be too loud so other's can get their work done. There has also been a problem where many students are talking while I'm teaching. I really want your children to learn as much as they can during 2nd grade so I can get them ready for 3rd grade. Please have a little chat with your child to encourage him/her to be good listeners. One of the things we've talked about to help us, is the saying...

"I Believe I Can Do It!"

I've told them they can do anything they set their mind to, whether it's math, spelling, or being great listeners. I would appreciate any and all help with speaking to your child about this.

I've also started a new incentive program in the classroom. They can earn Dragon Bucks by following classroom rules, including being a good listener. They have a card at their desk. If they have no X's on their weekly card by end of Friday, they will receive a $5 Dragon Buck that they'll be able to use at the class store at the end of the month. If they get no more than 3 X's by the end of the week, they'll earn 1 Dragon Buck. I think the children are excited about doing their best. 

Take Home Reading Books

Please make sure after your child has read their Take Home Reading Book that you initial next to the book they have just read. If there is no initial, they will not receive a new book. It's so important that each child reads every day. The Take Home Reading Program was started to help your child achieve this goal. Along with the Lexia Computer Program done at school and at home, this will help your child develop their reading skills and achieve the success in reading this year. Thanks for your help with this!